Opinion ID: 2118216
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Sentencing Final Argument

Text: The defendant contends that the prosecutor's final argument in the sentencing phase of his trial was highly improper and placed him in great peril in two respects. First, he claims that the State improperly urged the jury to recommend the death penalty simply because state government had authorized it through the enactment and upholding of death penalty legislation. Citing State v. Sloan (1982), 278 S.C. 435, 298 S.E.2d 92, he asserts that such content in final argument is highly improper and prejudicial. In Sloan, the final argument had emphasized government approval of the death penalty in general and in the particular case stressing the involvement of the legislature, the governor, the arresting police officers, the grand jury, and the prosecutor. The Sloan court found this final argument to be improper in significant part due to the attempt to minimize the jury's sense of responsibility for the appellant's fate. Sloan, 278 S.C. at 441, 298 S.E.2d at 95. In reviewing the propriety of remarks during final argument, we first determine whether the prosecutor engaged in misconduct, and then assess whether any such misconduct placed the defendant in a position of grave peril or evinced a deliberate attempt to improperly prejudice the defendant. Collins v. State (1984), Ind., 509 N.E.2d 827; Burris v. State (1984), Ind., 465 N.E.2d 171; Maldonado v. State (1976), 265 Ind. 492, 355 N.E.2d 843. The allegedly improper remarks are contained in the following passage: [W]e've got the burden of proving the aggravating circumstances in this case to you beyond a reasonable doubt. And then you have the job of weighing the aggravating circumstances that have been proven to you against any mitigating circumstances that have been presented and then you make your decision on whether the death penalty is an appropriate penalty or not. Is the death penalty appropriate? Well, let's stop and think about that just for a brief moment. It is the law of the State of Indiana. Uh, the congress has uh, our legislature has debated the moral issues of the death penalty. The people of the State of Indiana have legislated the death penalty into law. The governor has signed it and it is on the books. And it is an alternative punishment. And that's why we're here. Now the death penalty has not been instituted for every murder case. That's why we have this entire list of aggravating circumstances. .. . Now, uh, should we decide uh, whether the legislators at this point, or is it our prerogative to take into our own hands and decide that the legislators and the people of the State of Indiana don't know what they're talking about. Record at 949-51 (emphasis added). The defendant contends that the portions of argument shown emphasized in the foregoing passage were highly improper and placed him in great peril. There are similarities between these final argument comments and those condemned in Sloan. When considering the comments in context, however, the jurors here were not being asked to abandon their sense of responsibility. This argument does not constitute misconduct. The defendant also contends that the prosecutor's final argument was improper because it touched on the value of the victim's life to family and loved ones, contrary to Booth v. Maryland (1987), 482 U.S. 496, 107 S.Ct. 2529, 96 L.Ed.2d 440. However, Booth and its rationale were expressly overruled and rejected in Payne v. Tennessee (1991), 501 U.S. ___, 111 S.Ct. 2597, 115 L.Ed.2d 720. As a newly declared constitutional rule regarding the conduct of criminal prosecutions, Payne should be retroactively applied to all cases pending on direct review. Griffith v. Kentucky (1987), 479 U.S. 314, 107 S.Ct. 708, 93 L.Ed.2d 649; Wilson v. State (1987), Ind., 514 N.E.2d 282; cf. Daniels v. State (1990), Ind., 561 N.E.2d 487 (retroactivity in cases pending on collateral review); see also Leonard v. State (1991), Ind. App., 573 N.E.2d 463.