Opinion ID: 2381990
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Instructions on Imposition of Sentence[12]

Text: Since we vacate Harris's sentence, it is not necessary for us to consider the validity of the instructions of which he now complains. At the new sentencing proceeding, if a jury is used, new instructions will be required. These must, of course, comply with the principles Judge Eldridge explained for the Court in Mills v. State, supra . What Mills contemplates is that: (1) each individual juror must weigh the aggravating factors and any mitigating factors that he or she finds persuasive, even if those mitigating factors do not command unanimous agreement, Mills, 310 Md. at 54-56, 527 A.2d at 13-14; (2) a mitigating factor upon which the jury is divided should not be answered no in the Findings and Sentencing Determination form, id. at 58, 527 A.2d at 15; and (3) `[i]f the sentencing authority perceives anything relating to the defendant or the crime which causes it to believe that death may not be appropriate, it may treat such factor as a mitigating circumstance and decide that it outweighs the aggravating circumstances.' Id. at 51, 527 A.2d at 11-12 (quoting Foster, 304 Md. at 475, 499 A.2d at 1254). To put the last proposition slightly differently, the judge should explain to the jury that a § 413(g)(8) mitigating factor is `anything relating to the defendant or to the crime which causes it [or any of its individual members] to believe that death may not be appropriate.' Mills, 310 Md. at 51, 527 A.2d at 11 (quoting Foster, 304 Md. at 475, 499 A.2d at 1254). At resentencing, instructions should be given that are fully consistent with Mills, Foster, and Scott v. State, 310 Md. at 281-291, 529 A.2d at 342-346. [13]