Court Opinion

ID: 9676535
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 05:26:28.824674+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:49.259849
License: Public Domain

*545DONNELLY, Judge,
dissenting.
Whenever the death penalty is imposed in any case, “the sentence shall be reviewed on the record by the supreme court of Missouri” and this Court must determine whether such sentence “was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor * * § 565.035, RSMo 1986.
In Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420, 428, 100 S.Ct. 1759, 1764, 64 L.Ed.2d 398 (1980), the Court held “that if a State wishes to authorize capital punishment it has a constitutional responsibility to * * * apply its law in a manner that avoids the arbitrary and capricious infliction of the death penalty.” And the Court held that a death sentence cannot be permitted to stand when the circumstances under which it was imposed “create a substantial risk that the punishment will be inflicted in an arbitrary and capricious manner.” 446 U.S., at 427, 100 S.Ct., at 1764.
Given the circumstances in this case, I would set the judgment aside and resen-tence appellant to life imprisonment without eligibility for probation, parole, or release except by act of the governor.
I respectfully dissent.