Opinion ID: 2075877
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: prosecutorial discretion to seek capital punishment

Text: Dawson argues that his death sentence should be commuted to life imprisonment, without the possibility of probation or parole, because penalty hearings were not held in other cases for defendants who were also convicted of Murder in the First Degree. According to Dawson, the current Delaware practice, whereby penalty hearings are not held following all first degree murder convictions, gives the prosecutor unbridled discretion in choosing cases in which to seek a death sentence. Following a conviction of Murder in the First Degree, the Delaware statute requires the jury to make two unanimous determinations: first, that at least one statutory aggravating factor is present; and second, that a sentence of death be imposed, after weighing all relevant evidence in aggravation or mitigation which bears upon the particular circumstances or details of the commission of the offense, and the character and propensities of the offender. 11 Del.C. § 4209. Consequently, during a penalty hearing, the prosecutor must prove the existence of both statutory requirements, beyond a reasonable doubt, to the jury's unanimous satisfaction. Although the prosecutor operates within an adversary system, his duty is to seek justice, not merely convictions. Sexton v. State, Del.Supr., 397 A.2d 540, 544 (1979). Similarly, the duty to seek justice requires the prosecutor to refrain from proceeding with a death penalty hearing, if the prosecutor makes an independent good faith determination that the State cannot meet its statutory burden of proof. The capacity of prosecutorial discretion to provide individualized justice is `firmly entrenched in American law.' McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279, 107 S.Ct. 1756, 1777, 95 L.Ed.2d 262 (1987) (quoting 2 W. LaFave & D. Israel, Criminal Procedure § 13.2(a), p. 160 (1984)). The United States Supreme Court has recognized that a prosecutor can decline to charge, offer a plea bargain, or decline to seek a death sentence in any particular case. Id. At the same time, that Court recognized the power to be lenient [also] is the power to discriminate,... but a capital-punishment system that did not allow for discretionary acts of leniency would be totally alien to our notions of criminal justice. Id. The question raised by Dawson is whether historically in Delaware, or in his particular case, there has been an abuse of prosecutorial discretion in seeking the death penalty. In examining claims of prosecutorial abuse in this area of the law, this Court has recognized a rebuttable presumption that criminal prosecutions, including decisions to seek the death penalty, are undertaken in good faith and in a nondiscriminatory manner. Albury v. State, Del.Supr., 551 A.2d 53, 62 (1988). Dawson has presented no evidence to support his allegation of historical abuse of prosecutorial discretion in Delaware, when deciding whether to seek the death penalty following a first degree murder conviction. With respect to his own case, for the reasons hereinafter stated, the record reflects overwhelming evidence to support the prosecutor's decision to seek the death penalty for Dawson. Thus, we conclude that Dawson has failed to sustain his burden of persuasion on this issue. Id.