Opinion ID: 604932
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: applicability of lowenfield

Text: 22 Although our decision is not based upon the merits of whether an intervening change in the law occurred, in the interest of completeness we address the Lowenfield issue. The district court held that the Supreme Court's decision in Stringer v. Black, 503 U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1130, 117 L.Ed.2d 367 (1992), undermines this Court's analysis of Petitioner's first claim when it was raised in his previous habeas corpus petition. The district court's Order does not explain how Stringer undermines the applicability of Lowenfield to this case. We, therefore, begin this discussion with a summary of Lowenfield. 23 In Lowenfield, the petitioner had been convicted of, inter alia, three counts of first degree murder. An essential element of those convictions was that the petitioner intended  'to kill or inflict great bodily harm upon more than one person.'  484 U.S. at 233, 108 S.Ct. at 548 (quoting La.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 14:30 A(3) (West 1986)). After a separate sentencing hearing, the jury returned death sentences on all three first-degree murder verdicts. The jury found the statutory aggravating circumstance of  'knowingly creat[ing] a risk of death or great bodily harm to more than one person.'  Id. at 235, 108 S.Ct. at 549 (quoting La.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 905.4(d) (West 1984)). The Supreme Court held that the duplicative nature of an element of the underlying conviction and the sole aggravating circumstance did not violate the Eighth Amendment. To pass constitutional muster, a capital sentencing scheme must 'genuinely narrow the class of persons eligible for the death penalty and must reasonably justify the imposition of a more severe sentence on the defendant compared to others found guilty of murder.'  Id. at 244, 108 S.Ct. at 554 (quoting Zant v. Stephens, 462 U.S. 862, 103 S.Ct. 2733, 77 L.Ed.2d 235 (1983)). 24 In Johnson's previous appeal, we held that [t]he Florida sentencing scheme as applied in Johnson's case 'genuinely narrows the class of persons eligible for the death penalty.' The sentencing court's individualized 'consideration of mitigating circumstances and ... exercise of discretion' were sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. 932 F.2d at 1369-70 (footnotes omitted). We rejected Johnson's argument holding that the fact that an element of the underlying conviction and one of the aggravating factors was duplicative did not invalidate that aggravating factor. The district court's Order granting the writ is based upon its belief that Stringer somehow undermines this analysis. 25 In Stringer v. Black, 503 U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1130, 117 L.Ed.2d 367 (1992), the Supreme Court held that when a sentencing jury, in a weighing state, considers a constitutionally invalid aggravating factor, the appellate courts may not assume it would have made no difference if the thumb had been removed from death's side of the scale. 503 U.S. at ----, 112 S.Ct. at 1137, 117 L.Ed.2d at 379. The issue in Stringer was the jury's consideration of the heinous, atrocious, and cruel aggravating factor. Nothing in Stringer indicates that there is any constitutional infirmity in the Florida statute which permits a defendant to be death eligible based upon a felony murder conviction, and to be sentenced to death based upon an aggravating circumstance that duplicates an element of the underlying conviction. 26 Stringer stands for the proposition that if Johnson's jury had considered an invalid aggravating factor, we must assume that that factor affected their weighing process. It does not hold that the consideration of the felony murder aggravating factor in this case is invalid. We hold that Stringer v. Black is not an intervening change in the law, which undermines the previous decision in this case, and that Johnson's successive claim constitutes an abuse of the writ. 27 Accordingly, we REVERSE the district court's Order granting the writ of habeas corpus, DISMISS the cross-appeal, VACATE the stay of execution, and instruct the district court to dismiss Johnson's petition. The Clerk is instructed to issue the mandate in this matter at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 7, 1993.