Opinion ID: 166976
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Life Without Parole

Text: 42 Under Oklahoma law, a prisoner sentenced to life without parole is not entitled to be released from prison. Hamilton argues the state trial court violated his right to due process at sentencing by denying his requests (1) to allow witness testimony, and (2) to submit an instruction explaining to the jury that he would not be parole-eligible. The OCCA rejected the claim on direct appeal. Interpreting the Supreme Court's holding in Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U.S. 154, 114 S.Ct. 2187, 129 L.Ed.2d 133 (1994), which requires juries to be informed about the option of life without parole, the OCCA concluded that defendants have no constitutional right to witness testimony or a jury instruction containing such information. See Hamilton v. State, 937 P.2d at 1011-12 (citing Trice v. State, 912 P.2d 349, 352 (Okla.Crim.App.1996)). Hamilton claims the OCCA's conclusion is contrary to or represents an unreasonable application of Simmons and more recent Supreme Court cases explaining its holding. 1 We disagree. 43 The Supreme Court in Simmons addressed whether due process required a state trial court to instruct the jury in the penalty phase of a capital trial that under state law the defendant was ineligible for parole. Simmons, 512 U.S. at 156, 114 S.Ct. 2187 (plurality opinion). The Court concluded that due process required such an instruction, but only under narrow circumstances: [w]here the State puts the defendant's future dangerousness in issue, and the only available alternative sentence to death is life imprisonment without possibility of parole, due process entitles the defendant to inform the capital sentencing jury — by either argument or instruction — that he is parole ineligible. Id. at 178, 114 S.Ct. 2187 (O'Connor, J., concurring in the judgment). The Supreme Court has reinforced this holding in subsequent cases. See Shafer v. South Carolina, 532 U.S. 36, 51, 121 S.Ct. 1263, 149 L.Ed.2d 178 (2001) (holding that whenever future dangerousness is at issue in a capital sentencing proceeding, due process requires the jury be informed a life sentence carries no possibility of parole); Kelly v. South Carolina, 534 U.S. 246, 122 S.Ct. 726, 151 L.Ed.2d 670 (2002) (where the state places a defendant's future dangerousness at issue in seeking the death penalty, the jury must be properly instructed as to the possibility of life without parole). 44 We have already examined Oklahoma's capital sentencing scheme in the wake of Simmons and subsequent Supreme Court authority. In Mayes v. Gibson, 210 F.3d 1284 (10th Cir.2000), we held that Oklahoma's three-option sentencing scheme— (1) death, (2) life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, or (3) life imprisonment— are consistent with the Supreme Court's rulings since the options do not create a false choice between sentencing petitioner to death and sentencing him to a limited period of incarceration. Id. at 1294. It is enough that the jury is provided the three choices. Providing further explanation, in Mollett v. Mullin, 348 F.3d 902, 909-10 (10th Cir.2003), we held that due process concerns arise under Simmons only when four factors are met: (1) the prosecution seeks the death penalty; (2) the prosecution places the defendant's future dangerousness at issue; (3) the jury asks for clarification of the meaning of `life imprisonment,' or a synonymous statutory term; and (4) the judge's response threatens to cause a jury's misunderstanding so the jury will perceive a false choice of incarceration when future dangerousness is at issue. Mollett, 348 F.3d at 914 (internal citations and quotations omitted). 45 Recognizing he can meet only the first two of these factors, Hamilton acknowledges his claim does not satisfy Mollett. Instead, he asserts our cases misconstrue the Supreme Court's holding in Kelly v. South Carolina, supra, and should be revisited. In Kelly (construing South Carolina law), the Supreme Court reversed a death sentence where the trial court did not adequately explain parole eligibility when the prosecutor raised the defendant's future dangerousness. We disagree with Hamilton's argument for two reasons. First, the Mollett court in fact examined Oklahoma's three-option sentencing scheme in light of Kelly and found it inapplicable. Mollett, 348 F.3d at 912 n. 3, 914-15, 917, 921 n. 6. Importantly, unlike in Kelly, Oklahoma's jury instructions provide a without parole option for the jury's consideration. Second, Hamilton points to nothing in the record on appeal that would suggest jury confusion. Without some reason to believe the jury actually was misled, Hamilton suggests a nearly per se presumption of confusion. Our prior cases foreclose that result. 46 Two final considerations influence our conclusion. First, our review of the record shows that Hamilton's counsel never sought to argue the implications of the life without parole option during closing argument. The court's earlier preclusion of witness testimony did not necessarily preclude comment at the argument stage. Additionally, the record discloses that Hamilton's counsel made a variation of this argument by stating, Cory Hamilton is going to die in the penitentiary. This could only suggest to the jury that the life without parole option would keep him in prison until death. 47 In the end, Hamilton's argument is, at best, a matter for our en banc review or certiorari review by the Supreme Court. Under existing precedent, capital defendants must show that the jury asked for clarification of the meaning of life imprisonment or the judge's instructions created the possibility of jury misunderstanding. Since Hamilton cannot establish either element, the OCCA's decision does not unreasonably apply Supreme Court law. He is therefore not entitled to habeas relief on this issue.