Opinion ID: 1847325
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: the death penalty is a disproportionate punishment in light of the grave uncertainty as to whether jerome smith actually killed the victim and other distinguishing features of this case.

Text: ś 77. In this issue, Jerome maintains that his sentence of death is disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime and the defendant. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-19-105(3)(c) (1994). Jerome cites Reddix v. State, 547 So.2d 792, 795 (Miss.1989) and Bullock v. State, 525 So.2d 764, 770 (Miss. 1987), to argue, inter alia, that since it was not conclusively proven that he was the actual triggerman a reversal of his death sentence is justified in this case. ś 78. Jerome argues that there was also compelling mitigating evidence presented at trial which showed that Jerome was under the substantial domination of his older brother, Clyde, with respect to the robbery of the victim's store and other actions engaged in by the two brothers. Jerome claims he suffered an impoverished, traumatic childhood as the last of nine children, since he was raised by siblings because his father was institutionalized in an insane asylum and his mother worked as a maid to save the family from starvation. Jerome urges this Court that in light of these factors, a death sentence for this 20-year old African-American youth is disproportionate under Miss.Code Ann. § 99-19-105, and thus should not be upheld. ś 79. The State argues that Reddix and Bullock are distinguishable from the case sub judice and are inapplicable. The State urges this Court to hold the death penalty was not disproportionate to the crime in this case considering the circumstances and Jerome's character. ś 80. In both Reddix and Bullock, a plurality of this Court found the death penalty to be disproportionate and remanded the case for the imposition of a life sentence. At the time of the trial in those cases Enmund v. Florida had not yet been decided. ś 81. In Reddix, the appellant was eighteen years of age at the time of the crime and suffered from mental illness and mild retardation. Reddix and his accomplice, Larry Jones, planned to rob Arthur Weinberger. Reddix distracted Weinberger while Jones hit him with a wrench. This Court in finding Reddix' sentence of death to be disproportionate discussed the holding in Bullock: Our proportionality decision in Bullock, rested on the fact that, with only two exceptions, no capital defendant has had a death sentence affirmed in this state where the sole finding was that he contemplated that lethal force would be used. Bullock, 525 So.2d at 770. We also noted that Bullock's accomplice, the actual killer, had received a life sentence, a point reinforcing our determination that justice required fixing Bullock's sentence at life imprisonment. Id. The same is true here.       Accordingly, we hold that Reddix' death sentence is disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar capital cases, considering both the crime and the appellant. Reddix, 547 So.2d at 794-95. ś 82. This Court has affirmed death sentences where the appellants were not the actual killers. In Stringer v. State, 454 So.2d 468 (Miss.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1230, 105 S.Ct. 1231, 84 L.Ed.2d 368 (1985), Stringer, while not the actual triggerman, was the instigator, the planner, the master-mind, and the one who directed the entire occurrence. According to the testimony of the two participants, the attempted armed robbery and the killing would not have occurred had it not been for appellant. Stringer, 454 So.2d at 479. In Leatherwood v. State, 435 So.2d 645 (Miss.1983), this Court affirmed Leatherwood's sentence of death although he did not do the actual killing. This Court found it sufficient that Leatherwood planned, schemed, and ultimately physically subdued the victim by choking him with a rope, while another stabbed and bludgeoned the victim to death. Leatherwood, 435 So.2d at 656. ś 83. More recently in Ballenger v. State, 667 So.2d 1242 (Miss.1995), the jury's sentence of death was unanimously affirmed by this Court even though Ballenger was not even present when the actual robbery and beating that resulted in the victim's death took place. In affirming, the Court held, like Stringer and Leatherwood, [Ballenger] instigated and planned the robbery of Ellis. Her actions secured others to kill. Id. at 1268. ś 84. The case at bar can be distinguished from all the above cited cases, in that the evidence presented at trial shows that Jerome, more than likely, was the triggerman. Henry Bryant, the boyfriend of Dot, testified that on the day of the robbery and murder, the brothers were at his house. He testified that Clyde discussed how to commit a robbery without getting caught. Bryant went on to testify that Jerome had in his possession on the day of the murder a shiny silver revolver. Carolyn Pearce also testified that Jerome was carrying a revolver following the murder. This testimony shows that Jerome had a revolver prior to and following the murder, and evidence showed that the victim was probably killed with a revolver. ś 85. As for Jerome's contention that he was under the substantial domination of Clyde when these crimes were committed, there is absolutely no evidence in the record to support this contention. What the evidence does show is that Jerome had a revolver on the night of the murder and that the victim was killed with a revolver. The evidence also shows that Jerome was in the liquor store on the night of the murder, because his palm print and fingerprint was found on a bag containing a bottle of liquor sitting on the counter. ś 86. This Court distinguishes this case from Reddix and Bullock because here Jerome's co-defendant was also sentenced to death. And, unlike Reddix, there is no evidence that Jerome suffered from any mental illness or retardation. ś 87. After considering all the circumstances, the Court finds that the death penalty was not disproportionate in this case.