Opinion ID: 1598918
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: Describing the Murder as Torturous:

Text: ¶ 121. The prosecution made reference to the details of the murder in describing the incident. [MR GEDDIE:] ... Let's not forget in our deliberations the character of this murder. It was cruel. It was hard. MR. ELLIS: Objection, your Honor. THE COURT: Objection overruled. [MR. GEDDIE:] ... I'll submit to you that Mike did not have an easy death, could have been. That isn't what JoJo wanted. HeI'll submit to you that he was in a stabbing frenzy and during that frenzy, he not only stabbed the victim, but Phillip Hale, who tried to come and stop him, stabbed him in the foot. This man behaved in a wild manner to commit this terrible offense. And it was slow and it was a tortuous [sic] death. MR. ELLIS: Objection, your Honor. THE COURT: Objection will be sustained. Proceed. [MR. GEDDIE:] ... Remember, this is where we started with living Mike McBride, who liked to watch television, who liked to visit with people, who like to be a living, breathing human being, and this is what the Defendant left us, a tortured MR. ELLIS: Objection, your Honor. MR. GEDDIE: (Continuing) dead individual. ¶ 122. The State argues that describing this murder as torturous was a fair comment on the evidence. This Court agrees. The autopsy report revealed that McBride died from a combination of blunt force injuries to the head and neck caused by numerous blows to the head and back of the neck and exsanguination from the injuries to his face and neck. ¶ 123. The State relies on the United States Supreme Court holding in Tuilaepa v. California, 512 U.S. 967, 976, 114 S.Ct. 2630, 129 L.Ed.2d 750 (1994) where the Supreme Court stated that considering the detailed circumstances of the crime is constitutionally indispensable in capital sentencing. Id. Relying on the reasoning of the United States Supreme Court, this claim is without merit.