Opinion ID: 57390
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Voluntary Intoxication and Drug Addiction

Text: At the punishment phase, Smith and trial counsel reiterated the defense theory that Smith would not have committed the capital murder but for his intake of alcohol and crack cocaine. Of significance with respect to this category of evidence, in addition to the supplemental nullification charge, the trial court further instructed the jury regarding the definition of deliberately as used in the special issues. The court instructed the jury that: As used in the first special issue, the word deliberately has a meaning different and distinct from the word intentionally as that word was previously defined in the charge on guilt. The word deliberately as used in the first special issue means a manner of doing an act characterized by or resulting from careful consideration: A conscious decision involving a thought process which embraces more than mere will to engage in the conduct. While the Supreme Court has not explicitly considered evidence of intoxication or long-term addiction, the Court has determined that the Texas sentencing scheme is not invalid on its face; some, if not most, mitigating evidence is properly considered within the scope of the special issues. Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 276, 96 S.Ct. 2950, 49 L.Ed.2d 929 (1976). The touchstone of the Court's Penry jurisprudence is that jurors be able to give meaningful effect to all a capital defendant's mitigating evidence in the penalty phase. Abdul-Kabir, 127 S.Ct. at 1668 n. 14; Brewer, 127 S.Ct. at 1710, 1712-13. In light of the evidence and deliberateness instruction, the jury could have determined that Smith's drug and substance abuse hindered his ability to make a conscious decision to commit capital murder, which requires more than mere will. If the jury came to this conclusion, the jurors could have then answered the deliberateness special issue in the negative. Moreover, with regards to the future dangerousness special issue, the jury could have reasonably assumed that Smith would not have access to drugs in prison and possibly, that he would also receive rehabilitative services while incarcerated for his criminal behavior. As a result, Smith's proclivities toward violent, dangerous behavior in the future would lessen after overcoming his addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine. Accordingly, the jury was able to give full effect and express their reasoned moral response to Smith's evidence of voluntary intoxication through the special issues. Additionally, Smith argues that the jury should have been able to mitigate his sentence merely because he was addicted to drugs and therefore morally less culpable than another person. However, Smith does not cite, nor did independent research uncover, any case where the Supreme. Court considered drug addiction as a mitigating factor that reduces a criminal defendant's moral culpability outside its relevance to the special issues, nor does Smith articulate how the mere fact that he was a self-confessed drug addict reduces his moral culpability. Instead, Smith seems to be asking for an instruction that would allow a jury to dispense mercy on the basis of a sympathetic response to the defendant. Johnson v. Texas, 509 U.S. 350, 371, 113 S.Ct. 2658, 125 L.Ed.2d 290 (1993). The Court rejected this idea and even noted that such a rule might render capital sentencing arbitrary. Id. at 371-72, 113 S.Ct. 2658. Therefore, we affirm the district court's denial of habeas relief on this claim.