Opinion ID: 1936097
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 38

Heading: whether the circuit court failed to adequately instruct jurors on automatic requirements to impose a death penalty

Text: Jackson next argues that the circuit court erred in refusing to grant a variety of instructions which we characterize as mercy instructions. He first argues that the circuit court misconstrued the requirements of Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-101(2) and kept the jurors from being fully informed of their responsibilities in imposing a proper sentence by refusing to grant Instruction D-S-4, which reads simply: If any juror has any doubt as to the appropriate punishment then you shall not sentence Henry Curtis Jackson, Jr. to death. He further asserts that the circuit court erred in denying jury instructions D-S-7, D-S-9, D-S-10, D-S-11 and D-S-12A. With the exception of Instruction D-S-7, these instructions all expressly employ the term mercy or its synonyms, pity or sympathy. As to Instruction D-S-7, he contends that the jury was not properly instructed that it was not required to sentence him to death. We have held that mercy instructions are not required and further, that their issuance is within the discretion of the circuit court. Foster v. State, 639 So.2d 1263, 1301 (Miss. 1994); Jenkins v. State, 607 So.2d 1171, 1181 (Miss. 1992); Hansen v. State, 592 So.2d 114, 150 (Miss. 1991). In Jenkins, where no reversible error was found in the lower court's refusal to grant a mercy instruction, it was explained that: The recent decisions of this Court and of the United States Supreme Court enumerate that a mercy instruction is not required at trial. In Ladner [ v. State, 584 So.2d 743, 761 (Miss. 1991)], we held that a defendant has no right to a mercy instruction. Ladner, 584 So.2d at 761. In Saffle v. Parks, 494 U.S. 484, 492-93, 110 S.Ct. 1257, 1262-63, 108 L.Ed.2d 415, 427-28 (1990), the U.S. Supreme Court stated that the giving of a mercy instruction results in a decision based upon whim and caprice. Thus, the lower court was within its discretion when it denied the mercy instruction below. Jenkins, 607 So.2d at 1181. See Foster, 639 So.2d at 1299-1300 (instruction directing jury that it need not find any mitigating circumstances to return a life sentence found to be a mercy instruction). We therefore find no merit to these assignments of error.