Opinion ID: 1262473
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: sufficiency of evidence regarding future dangerousness

Text: During the penalty phase, Eaton moved to strike at the conclusion of the Commonwealth's evidence and again at the close of all the evidence. The court denied both motions. The jury returned a sentence of death, having unanimously found after consideration of [Eaton's] history and background that there is a probability that he would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing serious threat to society. In contending that the Commonwealth failed to produce sufficient evidence to indicate that he would pose a future threat to society, Eaton ignores the evidence which reveals that he committed four unprovoked and seemingly irrational murders, and related crimes, within a 24-hour period. Additionally, Eaton joked about his crime spree to Holley and, while incarcerated, fashioned a deadly weapon with which he planned to assault a guard in an escape attempt. After considering this, and the evidence introduced in mitigation, we conclude that there was ample evidence presented by the Commonwealth to support the jury's finding that Eaton posed a continuing, serious threat to society.