Opinion ID: 1859644
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: unanimity instruction in sentencing phase

Text: The defendant argues that the trial court's instruction to the jury that they must unanimously agree on whether the statutory aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt violates his Eighth Amendment right to have each juror consider and give effect to mitigating circumstances. See McKoy v. North Carolina, 494 U.S. 433, 110 S.Ct. 1227, 108 L.Ed.2d 369 (1990), and Mills v. Maryland, 486 U.S. 367, 108 S.Ct. 1860, 100 L.Ed.2d 384 (1988). In McKoy and Mills , the Court held that sentencing schemes that permit jurors to consider only unanimously found mitigating circumstances in determining whether the aggravating circumstances are sufficient to justify imposition of death penalty impermissibly limit the jurors' consideration of mitigating evidence in violation of the Eighth Amendment. See McKoy, 494 U.S. at 438-44, 110 S.Ct. 1227; Mills, 486 U.S. at 383-84, 108 S.Ct. 1860. The challenged instruction read as follows: If you unanimously determine that at least one statutory aggravating circumstance have [sic] been proven by the State beyond a reasonable doubt and said circumstance or circumstances have been proven by the State to outweigh any mitigating circumstance or circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt, the sentence shall be death. We note that the defendant did not object to this instruction when it was given, nor did he raise it as an issue in his Motion for New Trial or in the Court of Criminal Appeals. Normally, the defendant's failure to take any action to call this issue to the trial court's attention will preclude review on appeal. Tenn. R.App. P. 3(e), 36(a). In any event, we note that this instruction fully complied with the requirements of Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-204(g)(1) (1991), requiring proof of at least one aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt and a determination that such aggravating circumstances outweigh any mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt. Furthermore, the trial court also instructed the jurors that [t]here is no requirement of jury unanimity as to any particular mitigating circumstance or that you agree on the same mitigating circumstance. This instruction satisfies any Eighth Amendment concerns under McKoy or Mills . This issue is without merit.