Opinion ID: 1205526
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Other aggravators

Text: We also find ample support for the other aggravators. It is undisputed that Defendant was convicted of armed robbery, involving the threat of violence, while on parole, making him eligible for a life sentence. That conviction now makes him eligible for the death penalty. A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(1) and (2). Defendant also does not dispute that the murder was prompted by a desire for and an expectation of pecuniary gain. Killing for financial gain is an aggravating factor for imposing the death sentence. A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(5); State v. White, 168 Ariz. 500, 510-11, 815 P.2d 869, 879-80 (1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1105, 112 S.Ct. 1199, 117 L.Ed.2d 439 (1992). A pecuniary motive took Defendant to the victim's house and was the impetus for his other conduct during the ensuing robbery and killing. This qualifies him for the death penalty. State v. Fierro, 166 Ariz. 539, 551, 804 P.2d 72, 84 (1990). B. Mitigating circumstances We independently weigh the mitigating evidence against the aggravating circumstances to determine whether leniency is called for. State v. Barreras, 181 Ariz. 516, 520-21, 892 P.2d 852, 856-57 (1995). 1. Defendant's abusive family background The trial judge considered evidence of Defendant's abusive family background and did not find mitigating value in it. Citing a line of Supreme Court cases [17] requiring courts to consider family history for independent mitigating weight, Defendant calls the judge's finding unconstitutional. Although the judge rejected the evidence as a mitigating factor because he failed to establish a nexus between his family background and his crime, Defendant argues that the judge violated the law. Defendant misconstrues the Supreme Court cases culminating in Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 109 S.Ct. 2934, 106 L.Ed.2d 256 (1989). They hold only that a sentencer may not be precluded from considering, and may not refuse to consider, any relevant mitigating evidence offered by the defendant as a basis for a sentence less than death. Id. at 318, 109 S.Ct. at 2946. Having considered family background during the penalty phase, the sentencer must give the evidence such weight that the sentence reflects a reasoned moral response to the evidence. Id. at 319, 109 S.Ct. at 2947. The sentencer therefore must consider the defendant's upbringing if proffered but is not required to give it significant mitigating weight. How much weight should be given proffered mitigating factors is a matter within the sound discretion of the sentencing judge. State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 648, 832 P.2d 593, 665 (1992). We have held that a difficult family background is not always entitled to great weight as a mitigating circumstance. State v. Wallace, 160 Ariz. 424, 426-27, 773 P.2d 983, 985-86 (1989) (A difficult family background is a relevant mitigating circumstance if a defendant can show that something in that background had an effect or impact on his behavior that was beyond the defendant's control.), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1047, 110 S.Ct. 1513, 108 L.Ed.2d 649 (1990). We have since reaffirmed that family background may be a substantial mitigating circumstance when it is shown to have some connection with the defendant's offense-related conduct. White, 168 Ariz. at 512-13, 815 P.2d at 881-82. Defendant has failed to connect his family background to his criminal conduct. Defendant's sisters testified at the sentencing hearing that he was a small child with dyslexia and a bed-wetting problem and that he was physically and mentally abused by his overweight and diabetic mother. One sister related that his mother forced him to kneel in a box of rice when he complained that his leg hurt after falling from a wagon, and that she gagged him with a sock and bound his hands in the back of the car while on a family trip. These events, however, occurred when Defendant was young, years before he robbed and murdered at the age of 27. They do not prove a loss of impulse control or explain what caused him to kill. The trial judge considered this background and gave it little or no mitigating value. We do not disagree. 2. Other mitigating circumstances The trial judge considered all the statutory mitigating factors under § 13-703(G) and gave them no weight. She found some mitigation in Defendant's drug use because it may have impaired his ability to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. She found Barker's disproportionate sentence in relation to Defendant's a mitigating circumstance and gave it significant weight. Nonetheless, she concluded that the mitigating evidence was not sufficiently substantial to require leniency, even if any combination of only two aggravating factors is affirmed by this court. We have examined the record for mitigating circumstances and find the rather sparse evidence insufficient to overcome the weight of the aggravating circumstances. We therefore affirm the death sentence. C. Summary issues To preserve issues, Defendant also raised the following arguments, which we summarily reject. See Atwood, 171 Ariz. at 645 n. 21, 832 P.2d at 662 n. 21. 1. The equal protection clause requires sentencing by a jury This claim has no logical basis and has been rejected in State v. Landrigan, 176 Ariz. 1, 6, 859 P.2d 111, 116, cert. denied, 510 U.S. 927, 114 S.Ct. 334, 126 L.Ed.2d 279 (1993). 2. Arizona's death penalty statute insufficiently channels the sentencer's discretion This claim has been rejected in West, 176 Ariz. at 454, 862 P.2d at 214, and State v. Greenway, 170 Ariz. 155, 164, 823 P.2d 22, 31 (1991). 3. The death penalty violates Defendant's Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment This claim has been rejected by the United States Supreme Court in Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S. 639, 655-56, 110 S.Ct. 3047, 3058, 111 L.Ed.2d 511 (1990), and we reject it now.