Opinion ID: 771615
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Idaho's First Degree Murder Statute

Text: 80 Before 1977, Idaho law imposed the death penalty for all first degree murder convictions. See Idaho Code S18-4004 (1976) ([e]very person guilty of murder in the first degree shall suffer death). After the Supreme Court invalidated North Carolina's mandatory death penalty statute in Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280 (1976), the Idaho Supreme Court held that the Idaho first degree murder statute was unconstitutional. See State v. Lindquist, 99 Idaho 766, 768 (1979) (noting that the Idaho statute was virtually identical to the North Carolina statute). The Idaho legislature responded to Woodson by making two critical statutory changes: first, the legislature changed the language of 184004 to allow for the option of death or life imprisonment; 28 second, the legislature amended S18-4004 to incorporate a new statutory section. Under this new section, 19-2515, the trial judge, before the death penalty can be imposed, is required to find the presence of a statutory aggravating circumstance and then determine that the aggravating circumstance outweighs any mitigating evidence. See id. 81 As a result of the 1977 statutory changes, a capital defendant's conviction and imposition of the death sentence by the judge occur in two stages. First, Idaho must obtain a first degree murder conviction from the jury by proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed one of the crimes enumerated in Idaho Code 18-4003(a-f). 29 Second, the jury having found the defendant guilty of first degree murder, the judge must hold a separate sentencing hearing. Based on the evidence presented at the hearing, the judge must: (1) find beyond a reasonable doubt that at least one of ten enumerated aggravating circumstances is present; and then (2) determine that the aggravating circumstance(s) outweigh(s) any mitigating evidence. If the state fails to persuade the trial judge beyond a reasonable doubt of the existence of an aggravating circumstance, the defendant cannot be sentenced to death. Idaho Code 19-2515(h). Where a person is convicted of an offense which may be punishable by death, a sentence of death shall not be imposed unless the court finds at least one statutory aggravating circumstance. Idaho Code S19-2515(f). 82 In accordance with its statutory scheme, Idaho charged Hoffman with first degree murder on the ground that the murder was perpetrated by willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing. See Idaho Code S18-4003(a). The jury returned a verdict of guilty on the first degree murder charge. The trial judge then conducted a sentencing hearing without a jury, at which witnesses and the defendant testified. The judge found the presence of two statutory aggravating circumstances in Hoffman's case, determined that they outweighed the mitigating evidence, and imposed the death sentence.