Court Opinion

ID: 9472589
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:05:04.186855+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:43:01.917761
License: Public Domain

GARWOOD, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I concur in Judge Politz’s persuasive opinion. These remarks are appended only to reflect my understanding that we do not hold that the death penalty may not be imposed upon “ ‘... a participant in the commission of the felony who lacked the requisite intent to murder but did take part in the actual killing ...’.” Reddix v. Thig-pen, 732 F.2d 494, 495 (5th Cir.1984) (quoting from Drake v. Francis, 727 F.2d 990, 997 (11th Cir.1984)). Here, however, it appears that the entire case was essentially tried on the theory, in full accordance with the then law of Mississippi, that it was not necessary, either for the felony murder conviction or for the sentence to death, to find that Bullock had either the intent to kill or any personal participation in the killing. It is not unreasonable to infer that Bullock’s jury may have reached the result it did despite concluding both that Bullock had no design to effect death and that the affray reached the level of being potentially fatal to Dickson only well after Bullock had backed away and ceased any personal participation in it. Had the case not been tried on the theory of the then Mississippi law or had Dickson died from the whiskey bottle blow to his head, we would have to assess the adequacy of the instructions in a materially different context.