Opinion ID: 6536852
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Petitioners' death sentences are disproportionate

Text: {117} Considering cases involving the same aggravating circumstances as well as other factually similar cases, we conclude that Petitioners' death sentences are statutorily disproportionate. As we have discussed, death sentences were not generally imposed in cases involving the same aggravating circumstances as either Fry or Allen . Neither the age of Allen's victim nor Fry's and Allen's attempted criminal sexual penetration provide justification for this sentencing disparity, as death sentences were not generally imposed by juries in cases involving similar facts. {118} Out of the entire pool of reliable comparison cases for either Fry or Allen , death sentences were imposed in only three cases, Clark , Gilbert , and Guzman . 27 Each of these three cases involved more aggravating circumstances than Fry and two involved more aggravating circumstances than Allen . Juries found three aggravating circumstances  for Gilbert and Guzman, two aggravating circumstances for Clark and Allen, and a single aggravating circumstance for Fry. Fry , 2006-NMSC-001 , ¶ 6, 138 N.M. 700 , 126 P.3d 516 ; Allen , 2000-NMSC-002 , ¶ 15, 128 N.M. 482 , 994 P.2d 728 ; Clark , 1989-NMSC-010 , ¶ 54, 108 N.M. 288 , 772 P.2d 322 ; Gilbert , 1983-NMSC-083 , ¶ 1, 100 N.M. 392 , 671 P.2d 640 ; Guzman , 1984-NMSC-016 , ¶¶ 17-19, 100 N.M. 756 , 676 P.2d 1321 ; Cheadle , 1983-NMSC-093 , ¶ 31, 101 N.M. 282 , 681 P.2d 708 ; see also Wilson, supra , at 272 (analyzing the distribution of death penalty cases in New Mexico and observing that the likelihood that a defendant would be sentenced to death increased with the number of statutory aggravating circumstances). Moreover, unlike Fry and Allen, Gilbert and Guzman were sentenced to death for murdering or attempting to murder two victims. See Guzman , 1984-NMSC-016 , ¶¶ 1, 3-5, 100 N.M. 756 , 676 P.2d 1321 ; Gilbert , 1983-NMSC-083 , ¶ 1, 100 N.M. 392 , 671 P.2d 640 . {119} Although Section 31-20A-4(C)(4) does not require perfectly symmetrical sentencing, it does require us to identify and invalidate the aberrant death sentence. Clark , 1999-NMSC-035 , ¶ 80, 128 N.M. 119 , 990 P.2d 793 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). As we have explained, a death sentence is disproportionate if juries do not generally impose a death sentence for similar crimes and there is no real justification for affirming the death sentence. Gregg , 428 U.S. at 205-06, 96 S.Ct. 2909 . The death sentence was far from generally imposed in cases similar to Fry or Allen and, mindful that our role is not to conduct a traditional proportionality review, we see no real justification for this sentencing disparity. The strikingly small number of similar cases in which a death sentence was imposed leads us to conclude that Petitioners' sentences are statutorily disproportionate to the penalties imposed in similar cases.