Opinion ID: 476834
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Constitutionality of Montana's Death Penalty Statutes3

Text: 38 The legality of a sentence is a question of law reviewable de novo. United States v. McCrae, 714 F.2d 83, 84 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 1001, 104 S.Ct. 506, 78 L.Ed.2d 696 (1983).
39 The constitutionality of a death penalty statute is reviewed on the basis of the standards established in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 92 S.Ct. 2726, 33 L.Ed.2d 346 (1972), Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976) and their progeny. The primary concerns the Supreme Court has expressed in discussing the death penalty have been the need for guidance of the fact finder's discretion and an opportunity for review of the exercise of that discretion. The Court has thus upheld statutes providing for the sentencing authority's consideration of aggravating and mitigating factors, written findings stating reasons for imposition of the penalty, and a procedure designed to ensure review of the legality and appropriateness of the sentence. See Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978); Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 96 S.Ct. 2950, 49 L.Ed.2d 929 (1976); Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242, 96 S.Ct. 2960, 49 L.Ed.2d 913 (1976); Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976). These are, then, the guiding principles we will follow in determining whether Montana's death penalty statute is constitutional. 40
41 McKenzie claims that the crimes for which he was convicted contained aggravating circumstances which merely repeated elements of the underlying crime and therefore did not perform the required function of narrowing the class of persons eligible for the death penalty. Aggravating circumstances, he rightfully contends, must be found in addition to the crime itself and add something to the underlying elements before the death penalty can be constitutionally applied. See Zant v. Stephens, 462 U.S. 862, 103 S.Ct. 2733, 2742-43, 77 L.Ed.2d 235 (1983). 42 The Montana statutes, on their faces, require a finding that at least one aggravating circumstance, above and beyond the underlying crime, existed before the death penalty can be imposed. 4 It is readily apparent that McKenzie's conviction for deliberate homicide by means of torture required the jury to find more than just the elements of a simple homicide. They also had to find that Harding was tortured. This is one of the aggravating circumstances enumerated in the Montana statute. Also, McKenzie's conviction for aggravated kidnapping required more than just finding the elements of kidnapping--the jury was also required to find that Harding died as a result of the kidnapping. The aggravating circumstances found in Montana's death penalty statute add to the underlying crime, while at the same time narrowing the class of people eligible for the death penalty. 43 Furthermore, during sentencing, the trial judge found, before he sentenced McKenzie to death, that the following aggravating circumstances existed: (1) that the murder was committed in the commission of a felony; (2) during a sexual attack on the victim; and (3) it was a brutal, conscienceless, torture rape and deliberate killing of a human being. 5 McKenzie I, 557 P.2d at 1034. 44 Both statutes also specifically require that the death penalty be imposed only if there are no mitigating circumstances. The Montana Supreme Court held, in reviewing McKenzie's case, that these statutes could not be read in isolation, but had to be read together with other sentencing provisions. McKenzie (III), 608 P.2d at 450. The Montana court then pointed to sections of the Montana criminal code that provide for preparation of a presentence report setting forth the circumstances of the offense and the individual characteristics of the defendant. Id. (citing Sec. 95-2204 R.C.M. (1947)). The court noted that such a report provides the sentencing authority with whatever circumstances may exist in mitigation of the defendant's conduct. McKenzie (III), 608 P.2d at 450. Also, a defendant in a capital case is entitled to a hearing in which he may present testimony and other evidence in mitigation. Id. These statutes provide for ample consideration by the sentencing authority of any mitigating circumstances in a capital case. 45 McKenzie claims that the death penalty statutes themselves must contain these procedural safeguards and that a court cannot cure these statutory deficiencies by judicial construction in the case itself as was done here. He cites United States v. Harper, 729 F.2d 1216 (9th Cir.1984) which stated: 46 [I]t would certainly be anomalous to hold that the guidelines, which are required in order to limit the discretion of the sentencing authority, may be supplied by the sentencing authority itself.... The requirement that the discretion be suitably limited and directed clearly requires external limitations. 47 Moreover, the Court's opinions compel the conclusion that, whether the sentencing authority is the judge or the jury, the guidelines must come from Congress, not from the courts. 48 In light of the above, we believe it clear that the death penalty provision of the espionage statutes is unconstitutional. It cannot be saved by judicial formulation of the missing, but essential, statutory guidelines. 49 Id. at 1224-26. 50 While the Montana death penalty statute may not have these discretion-limiting, legislative guidelines within the statute itself, the Montana court was not creating these guidelines ad hoc, as was done in Harper. Instead, it was looking to external, legislatively enacted statutes which provided the needed guidelines for the sentencing judge. 51 Furthermore, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a death penalty statute where the Court relied in part on the construction placed on the statute by the state appellate court in the very case being reviewed. Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 272, 96 S.Ct. 2950, 2956, 49 L.Ed.2d 929 (1976). 52
53 The trial court judge, as the sentencing authority, made extensive written findings stating his reasons for imposing the death penalty. 54
55 McKenzie was entitled to, and as it turned out took great advantage of, his right to appeal the legality of his sentence. His case has been before the Montana Supreme Court four times and the United States Supreme Court three times. He also had the right to ask the Montana Sentence Review Division to review the appropriateness of his sentence. 6 He did this. The requirement that there be a procedure designed to ensure review of the death sentence was patently satisfied. 56 McKenzie also argues that the review by the Sentence Review Division did not ensure a review for proportionality. Comparative proportionality review is no longer constitutionally required in every state court death sentence review. Pulley v. Harris, 465 U.S. 37, 104 S.Ct. 871, 79 L.Ed.2d 29 (1984). Regardless, the entire purpose of an appeal to the Sentence Review Division is to determine the appropriateness of a death sentence. Therefore, a review for proportionality was provided McKenzie. 57 We find the death penalty statutes in question in this case constitutional. There are precise statutory requirements for finding aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and a procedure for fleshing out the facts with respect to such circumstances. There is appellate review at two levels, insuring that the sentence is both legal and proportional to the nature and class of crime.