Opinion ID: 1444205
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 19

Heading: Nevada's death penalty statutes are constitutional.

Text: Middleton argues that Nevada's death penalty statutes fail to narrow the class of defendants who are death eligible. See, e.g., Arave v. Creech, 507 U.S. 463, 470-74, 113 S.Ct. 1534, 123 L.Ed.2d 188 (1993) (a capital sentencing scheme must direct and limit the sentencer's discretion to minimize the risk of arbitrary and capricious action and must genuinely narrow the class of persons eligible for the death penalty). He criticizes Allen, 99 Nev. at 488, 665 P.2d at 240, which cites NRS 175.552(3) and holds that the state may introduce evidence at a capital penalty hearing in addition to the aggravating circumstances set forth in NRS 200.033. He concludes that Nevada's statutes therefore fail to narrow the class of defendants who are death eligible. This argument is unpersuasive. This court did not hold in Allen that evidence outside the purview of NRS 200.033 could serve to render a defendant death eligible. Only enumerated aggravating circumstances pursuant to NRS 200.033 can do this. If a jury does not find at least one enumerated aggravator, then a defendant is not eligible for the death penaltyregardless of the evidence presented pursuant to NRS 175.552(3). See NRS 200.030(4)(a); NRS 175.554(3). [8] If an enumerated aggravator or aggravators are found, the jury must find that any mitigators do not outweigh the aggravators before a defendant is death eligible. NRS 200.030(4)(a); NRS 175.554(3). Even if the jury finds that any mitigators do not outweigh the aggravators, a death sentence is not automatic, and the jury must decide in light of all the relevant evidence whether it considers death the appropriate penalty. NRS 175.554(3); Geary v. State, 114 Nev. 100, 105, 952 P.2d 431, 433 (1998). At this final stage, evidence presented pursuant to NRS 175.552(3) can influence the decision to impose death, but this comes after the narrowing to death eligibility has occurred. [9] This evidence should be considered because each capital defendant must be treated as a unique human being and receive an individualized sentencing determination based upon his character and the circumstances of the crime. Homick, 108 Nev. at 136, 825 P.2d at 606. Middleton also argues that this court defines too broadly the scope of aggravating circumstances, specifically its definition of prior convictions and at random and without apparent motive. See NRS 200.033(2) and (9). Neither of these arguments applies to Middleton's case and needs to be addressed here.