Opinion ID: 1444179
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Testimony concerning Richard Moran's case

Text: Appellant contends that his Eighth Amendment rights were violated because the jury's sense of responsibility was diminished when the state elicited testimony on cross-examination of James Jackson, who represented Richard Moran, about the appellate process in Moran's case. See U.S. Const. amend. VIII; Moran v. State, 103 Nev. 138, 734 P.2d 712 (1987). Appellant failed to object to Jackson's testimony, and we discern no plain or constitutional error. See Emmons, 107 Nev. at 61, 807 P.2d at 723. Appellant has failed to show that because of the nature of the prosecutor's reference to the process of appellate review, the capital sentencing jury failed to apprehend the gravity of its task in determining whether death is the appropriate punishment. Mazzan v. State, 103 Nev. 69, 72, 733 P.2d 850, 851 (1987). Here, the testimony the prosecutor elicited from Jackson about the levels and number of appeals in Moran's case did not diminish the jury's sense of responsibility and did not violate appellant's Eighth Amendment rights because the jury learned that Moran was executed, despite his numerous appeals. Further, the jury was instructed that if it sentenced appellant to death it had to assume that the sentence would be carried out.