Opinion ID: 2590410
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Mandatory review of death sentences

Text: McConnell contends that the district court erred in rejecting his ineffective-assistance claim based on appellate counsel's failure to argue that this court has not articulated any standards for its mandatory review of death sentences pursuant to NRS 177.055(2). [11] Citing Dennis v. State, 116 Nev. 1075, 13 P.3d 434 (2000), McConnell claims that the only guidance this court uses is the following question: [A]re the crime and defendant before us on appeal of the class or kind that warrants the imposition of death? Id. at 1085, 13 P.3d at 440. McConnell argues that without standards, he was unable to litigate on direct appeal the issue of whether his sentence was excessive and that that deprivation prejudiced him because he was unable to show that his case was no more egregious than cases in which the death penalty was not imposed. In Dennis, this court explained that, although we no longer conduct proportionality review of death sentences, [12] our consideration of the death sentences of similarly situated defendants may serve as a frame of reference for determining the crucial issue in the excessiveness analysis under NRS 177.055(2). 116 Nev. at 1085, 13 P.3d at 440. When considering whether the death penalty is excessive, this court looks to whether various other objective factors are present, such as whether alcohol or drugs influenced the crime, the treatment of codefendants, and the defendant's mental state, prior history of violence, and age. Rhyne v. State, 118 Nev. 1, 16, 38 P.3d 163, 173 (2002). In other words, this court considers the totality of the circumstances surrounding the defendant and the crime in making a determination of excessiveness. Id. McConnell fails to specify how he would have benefited by more specific standards applied by this court in determining whether his sentence was excessive or that this court improperly concluded that his death sentence was not excessive. In particular, we observed in McConnell's direct appeal that he murdered Pierce with a shocking degree of deliberation and premeditation and without any comprehensible provocation and that [h]e presented no compelling mitigating evidence. McConnell v. State, 120 Nev. 1043, 1073, 102 P.3d 606, 627 (2004). We thoroughly considered whether McConnell's character and the crime warranted the imposition of death. Therefore, we conclude that McConnell failed to demonstrate that this claim had a reasonable probability of success on appeal and, as a result, the district court did not err in rejecting this ineffective-assistance claim without conducting an evidentiary hearing.