Opinion ID: 609824
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Jury should have been informed of other sentences

Text: 51 Chandler contends that even if the jury did not have the power to recommend a sentence other than death, under Section 848(k) and applicable precedent, the jury should have been informed of the possible sentences Chandler would face if the jury did not recommend death. We review jury instructions de novo to determine whether they misstate the law or mislead the jury to the prejudice of the objecting party. United States v. Myers, 972 F.2d 1566, 1572 (11th Cir.1992), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 1813, 123 L.Ed.2d 445 (1993). The instructions must be viewed as a whole in the context of the trial record. Cupp v. Naughten, 414 U.S. 141, 146-47, 94 S.Ct. 396, 400, 38 L.Ed.2d 368 (1973); Peek v. Kemp, 784 F.2d 1479, 1492 n. 13 (11th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1047, 107 S.Ct. 912, 93 L.Ed.2d 862 (1987). Further, an error occurs only when there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury applied the instruction in an improper manner. Boyde v. California, 494 U.S. 370, 380, 110 S.Ct. 1190, 1198, 108 L.Ed.2d 316 (1990); see Estelle v. McGuire, --- U.S. ----, ----, 112 S.Ct. 475, 482 n. 4, 116 L.Ed.2d 385 (1991). 52 Initially, Chandler asserts that Section 848(k) requires that the jury be informed that he would face some other sentence, including the possibility of a life sentence without parole, if the jury did not recommend the death penalty. Section 848(k) instructs that after weighing the aggravating and mitigating factors and determining that the aggravating factors sufficiently outweigh the mitigating factors, the jury may then exercise its option to 53 recommend that a sentence of death shall be imposed rather than a sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of release or some other lesser sentence. 54 At sentencing the district court instructed the jury: 55 In deciding what recommendation to make, you are not to be concerned with the question of what sentence the defendant might receive in the event you determine not to recommend a death sentence. That is a matter for me to decide in the event you conclude that a sentence of death should not be recommended. 56 RXV-85. The district court also instructed: 57 If you do not make such a recommendation, the court is required by law to impose a sentence other than death, which sentence is to be determined by the court alone. 58 RXV-87. Chandler's argument, in effect, is that the district court's instruction was inadequate because it did not inform the jury that the sentence other than death included the possibility of life without parole. 59 We find that the district court's instructions adequately informed the jury under Section 848(k). The statutory scheme created by Section 848 provides that the jury alone has the power to recommend a sentence of death. If the jury does not make such a recommendation, the district court sentences the defendant. Nothing in Section 848 requires the jury to be informed of what sentence the defendant might receive in the absence of death. The district court's instructions were proper. 60 Chandler also suggests that applicable precedent, mandating that a defendant be allowed to introduce evidence relating to mitigating factors, requires that the jury be informed of the possibility that Chandler would receive a life sentence without parole if death was not recommended. The Supreme Court has defined mitigating factors as any aspect of a defendant's character or record and any of the circumstances of the offense. Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 604, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 2965, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978); see Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. 1, 4, 106 S.Ct. 1669, 1670-71, 90 L.Ed.2d 1 (1986). The range of possible sentences that Chandler might receive in the event the jury did not recommend death does not fall within this definition. Accordingly, the district court was not required to inform the jury of the possible sentences Chandler might face.