Opinion ID: 2802105
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Appropriateness of Death Sentence

Text: Isom seeks our review of his death sentence for appropriateness. The Indiana Legislature has determined that in capital jury trials, the question of whether to sentence a defendant to the death penalty is determined by the jury, after which the trial court “shall sentence the defendant accordingly.” I.C. § 35-50-2-9(e). And here, correctly following the statutory mandate, the trial court sentenced Isom to death. Thus “[t]he factual predicates of a sentence—the eligibility for death or life without parole—are reserved to the jury by the Sixth Amendment” as well as by statute. Pruitt v. State, 834 N.E.2d 90, 121 (Ind. 2005) (citing Ring, 536 U.S. at 589). But death sentences are subject to our “automatic review” under Indiana Code section 35-50-2-9(j) and importantly, Article 7, Section 4 of the Indiana Constitution grants this Court, in all criminal appeals, the authority “to review and revise the sentence imposed.” Ind. Const. art. 7, § 4. “We have implemented this discretionary authority in all criminal cases through our adoption of Indiana Appellate Rule 7[(B)].” Baer, 866 N.E.2d at 764. The Rule provides: “The Court may revise a sentence authorized by statute if, after due consideration of the trial court’s decision, the Court finds that the sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender.” Ind. App. R. 7(B). Accordingly, the appropriateness of a death sentence, unlike the eligibility for a death sentence, is a matter left to the discretion of this Court. See Pruitt, 834 N.E.2d at 121-22. Nonetheless, a defendant must persuade the court “that his or her sentence has met this inappropriateness standard of review.” Childress v. State, 848 N.E.2d 1073, 1080 (Ind. 2006). In considering the nature of the offense, a term of years is the starting point the legislature selected as appropriate for the crime of murder. See I.C. § 35-50-2-3. However, alternative penalties of life without parole or death are available upon proof of certain proscribed 27 aggravating factors. See I.C. § 35-50-9-2. Here, the jury recommended death sentences upon a finding that the sole aggravating circumstance of multiple killings outweighed the proffered mitigating circumstances. The record shows Isom murdered his wife and his two, teenage stepchildren, who spent most of their lives with Isom as a father-figure. All three victims were shot to death apparently unexpectedly and without provocation inside their home. The autopsy of Cassandra’s body revealed multiple gunshot wounds to her chest, abdominal region, and back. The cause of her death was a shotgun blast to the top of her head evacuating her brain from her skull. Michael also sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was killed by a shotgun blast to his chest. Ci’Andria received eight separate entrance wounds to her body caused by three different weapons. Each victim was shot multiple times at close range. “We have usually regarded multiple murder as constituting weighty aggravation.” McManus v. State, 814 N.E.2d 253, 266 (Ind. 2004); see also Corcoran v. State, 774 N.E.2d 495, 502 (Ind. 2002) (concluding that a quadruple killing was weightier than Defendant’s proffered evidence in mitigation). Further, this Court has determined that a defendant is deserving of an enhanced sentence under facts where “the nature of the killings are brutal.” Brown v. State, 10 N.E.3d 1, 5 (Ind. 2014) (quoting Taylor v. State, 840 N.E.2d 324, 341 (Ind. 2006)). The record makes clear that the nature of the offense is a brutal triple murder Isom committed against his own family. The character of the offender, rather than the nature of the offense, presents Isom’s strongest support for revision. In many ways, his background was pretty solid and unremarkable. Dr. Parker’s testimony for example revealed in part that Isom graduated from high school, had good family support, went to work after graduating from high school, and apparently was reasonably successful. Isom had good educational accomplishment, minimal legal history, no prior psychiatric history, and he had not suffered from serious mental illness. Further, Isom had a successful marriage for twelve years, provided for his family, and had no history of domestic violence. According to Isom theses factors coupled with his lack of criminal history and incident-free term of incarceration weighs in favor of revising his sentence. We disagree. It appears to this Court that the nature of the offenses Isom committed far outweigh his otherwise favorable character. Under the facts presented here we cannot say that Isom has met 28 his burden to show that the jury’s unanimous recommendation, which the trial court properly imposed, was inappropriate.