Opinion ID: 778660
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: part four — mitigating factors

Text: Instructions : For each of the following mitigating factors, indicate the number of jurors who find the existence of each particular mitigating factor by a preponderance of the evidence; if none of the jurors find by a preponderance of the evidence that a particular mitigating factor exists, write the number 0 in the blank provided: . . . IV(C) Christopher Vialva was nineteen at the time of the offense. Number of jurors who so find, if any ____ IV(C) Brandon Bernard was eighteen at the time of the offense. Number of jurors who so find, if any ____ In response to both questions, the jurors wrote 0 in the blank. 17 455 U.S. 104, 102 S.Ct. 869, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 (1982) 18 476 U.S. 1, 106 S.Ct. 1669, 90 L.Ed.2d 1 (1986) 19 Dr. Mark Cunningham, a forensic psychiatrist, testified as follows: Q: Doctor, another thing that occurred in Chris' life — or Mr. Vialva's life was the fact that he was — considered himself of mixed race, and was confused about that in his childhood. Did you identify that as a risk factor in this case? A: Yes, I did, that there was significant confusion, and at different times in his childhood, he identified himself as being white, and then later mixed, and then later black, and the psychological records showed evidence of a lot of turmoil and confusion about that very essential who am I kind of question. Q: How does that affect a person? A: Well, when it was accompanied by some bigotry that he experienced early in childhood and by some peer rejection, then that aggravated the effects of it, that there was not a peer group that he easily blended with, and that's a separate risk factor ... In [Vialva's] case, he experienced some active peer rejection. When he's six years old and the other kids are calling him names and throwing rocks at him ... then it isn't just that he feels different, although that's part of it, but that he is actively being discriminated against.... R.V.24 at 3061-62. 20 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000)