Opinion ID: 2486429
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Sentencing Order

Text: Following the Spencer hearing, the trial court sentenced McCRAY to death for the murders, assigning great weight to the jury's unanimous recommendation. In pronouncing McCRAY's sentences, the trial court determined that the State had proven beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of two statutory aggravating circumstances, both of which it afforded great weight: (1) McCRAY was previously convicted of a capital felony; and (2) the crime was committed in a cold and calculated and premeditated manner, without any pretense of moral or legal justification (CCP). The trial court found no evidence to support any statutory mitigating circumstances. [2] The court did, however, find a total of seven nonstatutory mitigating factors, all of which it afforded slight weight: (1) McCRAY was raised without a mother figure for half his adolescence; (2) McCRAY was raised by an absentee father; (3) McCRAY was raised in a negative and unstable family environment; (4) McCRAY was raised in an environment that involved drugs; (5) McCRAY received his General Equivalency Diploma; (6) McCRAY lacked parental guidance; and (7) throughout his youth, McCRAY suffered from mental illness issues. [3] The trial court ultimately concluded that the aggravating circumstances in this case far outweighed the mitigating circumstances and sentenced McCRAY to death for each of the four murders. On direct appeal, McCRAY raises eleven claims. [4] In addition to addressing each of these claims, we also address whether there is sufficient evidence to support McCRAY's convictions and whether the death sentence is proportionate.