Court Opinion

ID: 9428755
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:24:41.405259+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:15.046832
License: Public Domain

Justice Powell,
dissenting.
I am in essential agreement with the views expressed by Justice Marshall in Part II of his dissenting opinion, and *429with his conclusion that the death sentence was imposed under instructions that could have misled the jury. I would not hold, however, that the case must be remanded for re-sentencing by a jury.
The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit simply reversed and remanded, thus leaving it to the Georgia Supreme Court to determine whether resentencing by a jury is required in this case. It may be that under Georgia law the State Supreme Court lacks authority to resentence. If that should be the case, I would leave open — also for the Supreme Court of Georgia to decide — whether it has authority to find that the instruction was harmless error beyond a reasonable doubt.