Opinion ID: 1124985
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Shifting the Burden of Proof to the Defendant

Text: Porter asserts that Idaho's capital punishment scheme violates defendants' rights to due process and equal protection, as guaranteed by the United States and Idaho Constitutions, but argues only that the statutory scheme results in cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the federal and state constitutions. Nonetheless, this Court has addressed claims similar to those raised by Porter and has found that Idaho's capital punishment scheme violates neither the United States nor the Idaho Constitution. In Osborn and its progeny, this Court concluded that the sentencing process does not unconstitutionally shift the burden of proof to the defendant. We reasoned that the weighing process is concerned primarily with presenting relevant information to the sentencing court so that it can reach a reasoned and considered decision. Osborn, 102 Idaho at 416-17, 631 P.2d at 198-99. See also Pizzuto, 119 Idaho at 772, 810 P.2d at 710 (determining that I.C. § 19-2515 does not violate the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution or Article I, § 6 of the Idaho Constitution); Creech, 105 Idaho at 370, 670 P.2d at 471 (concluding that the language of the statutory scheme is sufficiently narrow to avoid an arbitrary and capricious infliction of the death penalty). We, therefore, follow the previous decisions of this Court and conclude that Idaho's capital punishment scheme does not unconstitutionally shift the burden of proof to the defendant.