Opinion ID: 2103748
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 20

Heading: Jury as Judges of Law and Fact

Text: The defendant next argues that Section 19 of the Indiana Constitution, which declares that in all criminal cases the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the facts, renders the Indiana death penalty scheme violative of the eighth and fourteenth amendments of the United States Constitution. Without citation to compelling authority, he argues that Indiana juries are thus allowed to act with unguided discretion and that there is a distinct possibility that the death penalty may be imposed in an arbitrary and capricious manner. Notwithstanding Article 1, Section 19, a jury must exercise the right to determine the law under the guidance of the trial court's instructions and may not disregard the law nor arbitrarily reject the instructions of the court. Drake v. State (1979), 272 Ind. 302, 304, 397 N.E.2d 600, 602; Fuquay v. State (1991), Ind. App., 583 N.E.2d 154, 156. We decline to find any constitutional infirmity created by the jury's statutory and constitutional option to recommend against the death penalty.