Opinion ID: 1959682
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Constitutionality of Mitigation Instructions

Text: Johnson contends that the trial court erred in overruling his motion requesting that the court refrain from giving jury instructions MAI-CR 3d 313.40 to 313.48 because these instructions did not permit the jury to give full consideration to mitigating evidence. Specifically, Johnson challenges three different instructions. [8] The first jury instruction, based on MAI-CR 3d 313.40, requires jurors to consider whether one or more statutory aggravating circumstances existed. If the jury did not find beyond a reasonable doubt that there was at least one aggravating circumstance, then it was instructed to return a verdict of life imprisonment. The next instruction, which was patterned after MAI-CR 3d 313.41A, instructed jurors that if they found one or more statutory aggravating circumstances, they must decide whether there were facts and circumstances in aggravation of punishment that, taken as a whole, warranted the imposition of a death sentence. The final instruction, which was based on MAI-CR 3d 313.44A, stated that if the jury unanimously found that the facts and circumstances in aggravation of punishment, taken as a whole, warranted the imposition of a death sentence, then it must decide whether there were sufficient mitigating facts and circumstances to outweigh aggravation of punishment. If jurors find there are sufficient mitigating facts and circumstances, then they are required to return a verdict of life imprisonment. Johnson did not request that the court refrain from giving any of the MAI-CR 3d penalty-phase instructions during the instruction conference. Because he failed to object to the instructions, this issue has not been preserved for appeal and can only be reviewed for plain error. State v. Glass, 136 S.W.3d 496, 507 (Mo. banc 2004). Plain error requires a finding that the trial court's error resulted in manifest injustice or miscarriage of justice. Hensley v. Jackson County, 227 S.W.3d 491, 497 (Mo. banc 2007). To prove that an instructional error rose to the level of plain error, Johnson must demonstrate that the trial court so misdirected the jury that it is apparent that the instructional error affected the jury's verdict. Id. at 497-98. Johnson's main contention is that these instructions require the jury to focus exclusively on statutory aggravating circumstances and find that the evidence warrants the death penalty before examining mitigating evidence. He complains that the jury was essentially told to focus on the same aggravating evidence twice before being instructed to consider any mitigating evidence. Though he admits that both Missouri statutes and the United States Constitution require the jury to first consider whether a statutory aggravator exists, he alleges that MAI-CR 3d 313.41A, which sets forth when the jury may consider imposing the death penalty, was not necessary and was prejudicial. This Court has previously rejected this claim. State v. Middleton, 998 S.W.2d 520, 530 (Mo. banc 1999), the defendant argued that MAI-CR 3d 313.41A was unconstitutional because it required the jury to first find that aggravating circumstances warranted the death sentence before considering mitigating evidence. Id. This Court disagreed and explained that the jury's finding that the death penalty is warranted is not the same as deciding it shall be imposed. Similarly, in State v. Tokar, 918 S.W.2d 753, 770-71 (Mo. banc 1996), the defendant contended that MAI-CR 3d 313.42B did not allow for the proper weighing of the aggravating circumstances with the mitigating circumstances. MAI-CR 3d 313.42B, like MAI-CR 3d 313.41A, requires a jury to decide whether aggravating circumstances are enough to warrant the death penalty. In examining Tokar's argument, this Court found that under MAI-CR 3d 313.42B jurors did not need to consider mitigating circumstances unless they found that aggravating circumstances sufficiently warranted the imposition of the death penalty. MAI-CR 3d 313.42B does not ask a jury to impose the death penalty; it simply directs a jury to determine whether the aggravating circumstances are sufficient to warrant the imposition of a death sentence. As explained in Tokar, the language in this instruction is helpful to the defendant be cause it erects a barrier that must be passed before a jury can consider imposition of the death penalty. Id. at 771. Johnson's argument that the jury instructions in his case did not permit the jury to give full consideration to mitigating evidence is not meritorious, and there is no plain error.