Opinion ID: 1664341
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Review of the Weighing of the Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances

Text: Having determined that a rational jury could have found the presence of two statutory aggravating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt, we now undertake to determine whether the evidence supports the jury's finding that these aggravating circumstances outweigh any mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury did not indicate which, if any, of the fifteen mitigating circumstances submitted by the trial court was properly supported by the evidence, but in undertaking this analysis, we will presume that the jury found all fifteen mitigating circumstances were raised and supported by at least some evidence. Nevertheless, based upon our own review, we conclude that the jury could have rationally concluded that the two aggravating circumstances outweighed any mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt. Both aggravating circumstances were clearly present beyond a reasonable doubt and were properly considered by the jury. The evidence shows that the appellant secreted the victim away by driving her to a discrete and remote location. The appellant then violently raped and assaulted the victim, while manually strangling her with such force as to render her unconscious. Although the appellant argued that he was under extreme mental stress during his gruesome crime, the testimony of Mr. Wilson and others to the effect that the appellant appeared to be acting normally both before and after the murder, certainly weighs heavily against his position. Further, we are unable to say that the jury improperly weighed any evidence concerning the appellant's unfortunate childhoodor that it improperly weighed any evidence of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or attention deficit disorderas there was no testimony, expert or otherwise, that any of these circumstances affected the appellant at the time of his offense or were otherwise responsible, directly or indirectly, for his behavior on March 17, 1990. Accordingly, we find that a rational jury could have concluded that both aggravating circumstances in this case outweighed any mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt.