Opinion ID: 2625939
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Heading: Historical Overview of Capital Punishment in Arizona.

Text: ¶ 7 Under Arizona's first penal code, a person convicted of first degree murder received either a death or prison sentence. [2] Revised Statutes of Arizona, Penal Code § 173 (1913). The jury, exercising its discretion, decided which punishment to impose. Id. In 1918, voters approved an initiative measure giving the trial judge authority to sentence a person to death for first degree murder in cases in which the defendant pled guilty. 1919 Ariz. Sess. Laws, Initiative & Referendum Measures 17, 18. In those cases, the trial court exercised the same discretion as did a jury. Thus, until the early 1970s, Arizona imposed the death penalty for first degree murder at the sole discretion of the jury or court. E.g., Ariz.Code § 43-2903 (1939); Ariz.Code § 4585 (1928); State v. McGee, 91 Ariz. 101, 111-12, 370 P.2d 261, 268 (1962) (The determination of punishment is wholly within the discretion of the jury upon their consideration of all aspects of the case.), superseded by statute as stated in State v. Lopez, 163 Ariz. 108, 115, 786 P.2d 959, 966 (1990); Hernandez v. State, 43 Ariz. 424, 429, 32 P.2d 18, 20 (1934) ([T]he question of punishment in first degree murder cases is wholly within the jury's discretion....). No statutory standards guided the determination of punishment. ¶ 8 In 1972, however, the United States Supreme Court decided Furman v. Georgia and held that standardless death sentencing procedures violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. 408 U.S. 238, 239-40, 92 S.Ct. 2726, 2727, 33 L.Ed.2d 346 (1972) (per curiam). According to Justice Stewart, complete jury discretion led to arbitrary and capricious imposition of the death sentence; given strikingly similar crimes, some defendants received a death sentence and others did not. Id. at 309-10, 92 S.Ct. at 2762 (Stewart, J., concurring). ¶ 9 Following the Furman decision, the Arizona Legislature enacted a new capital sentencing scheme. 1973 Ariz. Sess. Laws ch. 138. The legislation divided a capital first degree murder trial into two phases: a guilt phase and a sentencing phase. Upon a jury conviction of or a guilty plea to first degree murder, the statutes required the trial court to hold a sentencing hearing at which the state and defendant presented evidence of statutorily defined aggravating and mitigating factors. [3] Id. § 5. The trial court could impose the death sentence if it found at least one aggravating circumstance and no mitigating circumstances sufficiently substantial to call for leniency. Id. ¶ 10 Three years later, in Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme Court upheld Georgia's revised sentencing scheme against a claim that the death penalty was per se unconstitutional. 428 U.S. 153, 169, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 2923, 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976). The Georgia statute resembled Arizona's, except that, under Georgia law, the same jury heard both the guilt and sentencing phases. See id. at 164 & n. 9, 96 S.Ct. at 2921 & n. 9. ¶ 11 The Supreme Court reviewed Arizona's judge-only sentencing in Walton. The Court rejected an argument that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial required a jury, not a judge, to find the facts presented at the sentencing hearing. Walton, 497 U.S. at 649, 110 S.Ct. at 3055. In Apprendi, a non-capital case decided ten years later, the Court held that [o]ther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. 530 U.S. at 490, 120 S.Ct. at 2362-63. Although Justice O'Connor's Apprendi dissent questioned whether Walton could survive the Apprendi ruling, id. at 537, 120 S.Ct. at 2387-88 (O'Connor, J., dissenting), the majority distinguished capital cases as not controlling authority. Id. at 496-97, 120 S.Ct. at 2366. ¶ 12 Finally, in Ring II, the Supreme Court expressly overruled Walton in favor of Apprendi's Sixth Amendment approach. 536 U.S. at 608-609, 122 S.Ct. at 2443. According to the Court, [b]ecause Arizona's enumerated aggravating factors operate as the functional equivalent of an element of a greater offense, the Sixth Amendment requires that they be found by a jury. Id. (quoting Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 494 n. 19, 120 S.Ct. at 2365 n. 19). Capital defendants, no less than non-capital defendants, the Court concluded, are entitled to a jury determination of any fact on which the legislature conditions an increase in their maximum punishment. Id. at 589, 122 S.Ct. at 2432. Thus, any fact necessary to enhance the defendant's sentence beyond that authorized by the jury's guilty verdict must be found by the jury. ¶ 13 Following the Supreme Court's announcement of the Ring II decision, Governor Jane Dee Hull called a special legislative session to revise Arizona's capital sentencing provisions. On August 1, 2002, the legislature passed and Governor Hull signed into law Senate Bill (S.B.) 1001, containing several revisions intended to conform Arizona law to the Ring II mandate. S.B. 1001, 45th Leg., 5th Spec. Sess. (Ariz.2002). Under Arizona's amended sentencing procedure, the jury serving during the guilt phase of the trial also serves as the trier of fact during the sentencing phase. A.R.S. § 13-703.01.-C-.D (Supp.2002). Specifically, the jury will find and consider the effect of aggravating and mitigating circumstances and decide whether the defendant should receive a sentence of death. Id. § 13-703.01.D. ¶ 14 To determine whether we should vacate defendants' death sentences and either reduce to a life sentence or remand for resentencing under Arizona's revised procedure, we consider the following issues.