Opinion ID: 865371
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Instructions to Find An Enmund Factor

Text: ¶63. King argues that the trial court should have imposed a life sentence due to the jury’s failure to return a verdict that did not find any of the Enmund factors. King asserts that the May 29, 2007 court erred in finding that the jurors’ verdict was deficient only in “form” and not in substance and in overruling his counsel’s objections and motion for mistrial. A review of the record reveals that the jury did return a verdict containing no findings of any of the factors found in Miss. Code Ann. Section 99-19-101 (7), which King refers to as the “Enmund factors.” 16 After the State brought this to the trial court’s attention, the trial court held a conference regarding this matter outside the presence of the jury. Following the conference, the court read the following instruction to the jury: The Court instructs the Jury that the verdict you have returned to the Court does not completely conform to the form of the verdict as presented to you by the instructions of the Court. The Court instructs you to direct your attention to instruction number SSP-4A and to return your verdict, if you can, in a form consistent with your findings as required by instruction number SSP-4A and the other instructions of the Court. Please continue your deliberations. When the jury returned from further deliberations, they returned a verdict of death in the proper form.17 We have previously held that a judge may instruct the jury to return to 16 A jury must find that the defendant committed the killing, attempted the killing, intended the killing, or contemplated the killing, to levy a death sentence. Enmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782, 102 S.Ct. 3368, 73 L.Ed.2d 1140 (1982). Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19101(7)(Rev. 2000). 17 The second form is identical to the first form with the addition of the following: “We, the Jury, unanimously find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant actually killed.” 47 deliberations and re-examine the instructions in order to return a verdict in the proper form. In Taylor v. State, 672 So. 2d 1246 (Miss. 1996), the jury returned a verdict inconsistent with the form given in the jury instruction, as the jury did not make a specific finding as to the presence or absence of aggravating factors. The judge addressed the jury as follows: I understand the form of your verdict, but I am not sure that it reads completely as the Court would require to clearly establish your finding in the second, Part B of the instruction. If it is the decision of the jury, then the “whether” should be changed to the form that the jury finds “that there is.” You will need to return to the jury room and remove the word “whether” and make the instruction state where “there is,” so that it will be clear that you are making those findings. If you will give them this and let’s return to the jury room. Id. at 1274. In response to the defendant’s contention that “the oral instruction amounted to a direction to the jury to find aggravating circumstances,” this Court held that “the only question is that of whether or not the trial judge in his oral instruction to the jury said anything which would taint the verdict.” Id. The Court further held because the jury had the instruction with them, and the court directed the jury to re-form the verdict “if it is the decision of the jury,” there was no error. Id. Likewise, we find that the instruction given here by the trial court did not taint the verdict. The judge did not give the jury any specific instructions to find an Edmund factor as King suggests. The judge merely asked the jury “to return your verdict, if you can, in a form consistent with your findings as required by instruction number SSP-4A.” (Emphasis added). Accordingly, we find no error. 48