Opinion ID: 1270288
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Physical Torture

Text: Johnson argues the trial court erred when it submitted the aggravating circumstance of physical torture to the jury. We disagree. In determining whether to submit an aggravating circumstance to the jury, the trial court is concerned only with the existence of evidence, not its weight. State v. Smith, 298 S.C. 482, 381 S.E.2d 724 (1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1060, 110 S.Ct. 1536, 108 L.Ed.2d 775 (1990). The aggravating circumstance is properly submitted if supported by any direct or circumstantial evidence. State v. Butler, 277 S.C. 452, 290 S.E.2d 1, cert. denied, 459 U.S. 932, 103 S.Ct. 242, 74 L.Ed.2d 191 (1982). At trial, the State's expert pathologist testified Edwards died as a result of blood loss, and it took approximately ten minutes for her to die. The pathologist conceded he could not determine the order in which the blows were struck, and any one of the blows to the head may have rendered Edwards unconscious. The pathologist further testified the blows would have been painful if Edwards were in fact conscious. Johnson argues the evidence does not demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that Edwards consciously experienced pain during the attack. Consequently, the aggravating circumstance of physical torture should not have been submitted to the jury. In State v. Elmore, 279 S.C. 417, 308 S.E.2d 781 (1983), overruled on other grounds by State v. Torrence, 305 S.C. 45, 406 S.E.2d 315 (1991), we adopted the Georgia Supreme Court's definition of torture. See Hance v. State, 245 Ga. 856, 268 S.E.2d 339, 345 (1980). Under this definition, torture occurs (1) when the victim is subjected to serious physical abuse before death; or (2) when the victim is subjected to an aggravated battery before death. Elmore, 279 S.C. at 422, 308 S.E.2d at 785. Johnson contends that conscious awareness of pain is a necessary component of physical torture. We disagree. Physical torture is not predicated upon the amount of pain suffered by a murder victim. Although conscious awareness of pain may buttress the conclusion that the victim was subjected to serious physical abuse before death, its absence does not foreclose a finding of physical torture; the abusive and depraved nature of the homicidal assault is not erased solely because the victim mercifully may have been rendered unconscious at the outset of the attack. Here, Edwards suffered massive blows from a machete before finally bleeding to death. In addition to the pathologist's testimony, a SLED agent testified that the blood stain patterns indicated Edwards had fallen in one spot and then rolled to her final resting place several feet away. The agent opined that Edwards had rolled on her own after the initial blow. Moreover, photographs presented by the prosecution indicated Edwards had suffered a defensive-type laceration on her left index finger. Therefore, we conclude that the evidence warranted the submission to the jury of the aggravating circumstance of physical torture.