Opinion ID: 2335942
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Inconsistent descriptions of the weighing determination

Text: Nunnery's requested instruction was properly rejected for an additional reason: it did not correctly state the weighing determination required by the Nevada statutes. Nunnery requested an instruction stating that death eligibility was contingent on the aggravating circumstances outweighing the mitigating circumstances. This misstated the statutory requirement, which is that there are no mitigating circumstances sufficient to outweigh the aggravating circumstance or circumstances found. NRS 175.554(3), (4); see also NRS 200.030(4). Nunnery is not alone in this, as the same misstatement has occasionally appeared in our opinions. See, e.g., Witter, 112 Nev. at 923, 921 P.2d at 896; McKenna v. State, 101 Nev. 338, 349 & n. 14, 705 P.2d 614, 621 & n. 14 (1985). This misstatement of the weighing determination is of no consequence in most instances because a conclusion that there are no mitigating circumstances sufficient to outweigh the aggravating circumstances generally equates to a conclusion that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances. The difference is of consequence, however, in the theoretical 50-50 case, where the mitigating and aggravating circumstances are of equal weight. Under the statutory articulation, the death penalty is still available in the 50-50 case because the mitigating circumstances are not sufficient to outweigh the aggravating circumstances. See Ybarra v. State, 100 Nev. 167, 173-76, 679 P.2d 797, 801-03 (1984) (discussing outcome of 50-50 case under Nevada's statutory scheme). The opposite is true under Nunnery's articulationthe death penalty would be removed as a sentencing option in the 50-50 case because the aggravating circumstances do not outweigh the mitigating circumstances. We take this opportunity to disavow any language in our prior decisions that is inconsistent with the statutory articulations of the weighing calculus. See NRS 175.554(3), (4); NRS 200.030(4)(a). [14]