Court Opinion

ID: 9610353
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:40:03.70986+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:58.555021
License: Public Domain

Steffen, J.,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I concur in all aspects of the majority opinion with the exception of the opinion’s ruling concerning the Bruton issue in the penalty phase of Lord’s trial. In my view, the issue is of sufficient importance to warrant an expression of dissent.
The ruling in Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (1968), was directed specifically to the guilt phase of a defendant’s trial and prohibited the admission of a co-defendant’s confession against another co-defendant absent an applicable exception to the hearsay rule. The Bruton rule has retained its vitality in the context of forums constituted to determine the overriding issue of innocence or guilt because it is of critical importance that a determination of guilt occur within the degree of certitude reflected by the State’s evidentiary burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The right of the capital defendant to confront and cross-examine a co-defendant who may seek to minimize his own involvement at the expense of the defendant is consistent with the high qualitative demands on evidence competent for evaluation by a jury in its determination of innocence or guilt. Once a determination of guilt has been reached, however, the focus shifts to the form of punishment warranted, given the specific character and background of the defendant and the circumstances and gravity of the crime committed.
*46I strongly disagree with the assessment of my brethren in the majority suggesting that Bruton constraints are even more important to the penalty phase than in the guilt phase of a capital defendant’s trial. Bifurcated guilt and penalty phase criminal trials are unique to the capital case where a sentence of death may be imposed. Absent from the penalty phase of the trial is the compelling threshold determination of innocence or guilt. Guilt has been determined, and the task facing the trier of fact is confined to an evaluation of evidence bearing upon the nature and extent of the punishment deserved by the particular defendant and his particular crime.
With respect to the nature of punishment that may be imposed under Nevada law, the jury must find, beyond a reasonable doubt, the presence of one or more statutorily defined aggravating circumstances as a requisite to the availability of death as a sentencing alternative. See Gallego v. State, 101 Nev. 782, 791, 711 P.2d 856, 862 (1985). When aggravating circumstances have been found to exist, the defendant is thereafter scrutinized according to his individual characteristics. Id. “This process is facilitated by consideration of mitigating circumstances and other reliable factors relevant to the life of the defendant as a whole person. Only then may a sentencing authority render an informed judgment based upon the crime and the defendant who committed it.” Id. at 791, 711 P.2d at 862-63. Continuing, we declared that “[i]f the death penalty option survives the balancing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, Nevada law permits consideration by the sentencing panel of other evidence relevant to sentence. NRS 175.552. Whether such additional evidence will be admitted is a determination reposited in the sound discretion of the trial judge.” Id.
Under Nevada’s statutory sentencing procedure for capital cases, the Legislature has provided latitude to enable juries to fully concentrate on factors related to a defendant’s character and record. The language of NRS 175.552 thus provides that:
Upon a finding that a defendant is guilty of murder of the first degree, the court shall conduct a separate penalty hearing to determine whether the defendant shall be sentenced to death or to life imprisonment with or without possibility of parole. ... In the hearing, evidence may be presented concerning aggravating and mitigating circumstances relative to the offense, defendant or victim and on any other matter which the court deems relevant to sentence, whether or not the evidence is ordinarily admissible ....
Emphasis supplied. We have consistently recognized that the clear effect of the referenced statutory provision is to allow for the *47introduction of evidence “which is otherwise inadmissible, including evidence of character and special instances of conduct” because it is “relevant to the jury’s determination of the appropriate sentence for a capital crime.” Pellegrini v. State, 104 Nev. 625, 630, 764 P.2d 484, 488 (1988). See also Emil v. State, 105 Nev. 858, 784 P.2d 956 (1989); Milligan v. State, 101 Nev. 627, 708 P.2d 289 (1985); Jones v. State, 101 Nev. 573, 707 P.2d 1128 (1985). Moreover, it is well established in Nevada that the criteria, in addition to relevance, for the admissibility of evidence in the penalty phase is that it be credible, and not dubious or tenuous. See Jones, 101 Nev. at 578, 707 P.2d at 1132; Biondi v. State, 101 Nev. 252, 257, 699 P.2d 1062, 1065 (1985); Allen v. State, 99 Nev. 485, 488, 665 P.2d 238, 240 (1983). It is clear to me, therefore, that “the need for accuracy” referred to by the majority, although manifestly important, is not more so in the penalty phase than the guilt phase, as declared by the majority. If the majority’s premise were correct, the latitude accorded by NRS 175.552 and repeatedly recognized by this court, would be unacceptable. Instead, the statutory latitude embraces such evidence as hearsay that would be inadmissible during the guilt phase, providing the hearsay is not tenuous or dubious.
In the instant case, Detective Hatch was allowed'to read to the jury a transcript of co-defendant McDougal’s confession. The confession corroborated the guilty determination already reached and laid to rest by the jury in the guilt phase of Lord’s trial. The State successfully sought the introduction of McDougal’s confession in order to solidify the jury’s conviction concerning Lord’s guilt. The trial judge obviously viewed the confession as both credible and probative and a less than tenuous source of detail concerning the commission of the crime. Under our prior rulings cited above, the trial judge had the discretion to either admit or exclude the confession, and I am of the opinion that there is an inadequate basis for this court to conclude that the trial court’s ruling constituted an abuse of its discretion. Moreover, I agree with the Washington Supreme Court’s determination that Bruton does not apply to the penalty phase of a capital case. See State v. Grisby, 647 P.2d 6 (Wash. 1982) (en banc).
There is an additional reason why Bruton should not apply to penalty hearings, at least under Nevada law. In Nevada, if a trial judge views the State’s evidence as being insufficient to convict, the judge may issue a non-binding advisory instruction to acquit. If, after a verdict of guilty, the trial judge disagrees with the jury’s resolution of conflicting evidence, the judge may grant the defendant a new trial. A post-verdict ruling on the sufficiency of the evidence must be addressed to this court for disposition on appeal. See State v. Wilson, 104 Nev. 405, 760 P.2d 129 (1988).
*48In the instant case, there was no advisory verdict, no granting of a new trial, and no determination by this court on appeal that the evidence considered by the jury was insufficient to support its verdict. It is apparent, therefore, that Lord’s guilt has been finally determined. It was so determined by the trial court when it permitted the trial to proceed to a penalty phase without issuing an advisory instruction or granting a new trial.
Given the fact that the trial court did not see fit to intervene in the jury’s determination of Lord’s guilt, it seems proper to me that the court allowed the co-defendant’s confession as further corroboration of the correctness of the jury’s guilty verdict. The confession merely reinforced what the jury had already placed to rest, and thereby enabled the jury to focus with greater precision on the legitimate purposes of its penalty-phase deliberations. Indeed, when the matter is considered anew upon remand by a different jury, the jury will necessarily be informed that Lord’s guilt has been determined and may not be reconsidered. See Jimenez v. State, 106 Nev. 769, 801 P.2d 1366, (1990) (because guilty verdict was affirmed on appeal, defense counsel was not entitled to argue capital defendant’s innocence during new penalty hearing). The effect of such an instruction to the new jury will be essentially the same as hearing the confirmation of guilt through the co-defendant’s confession. I must therefore conclude that the Bruton rule has no place in the penalty hearing where the co-defendant’s confession would have no bearing on a determination of innocence or guilt.
For the reasons specified above, I respectfully dissent from that part of the majority’s ruling that applies Bruton error to a penalty phase of a capital case. In all other respects, I concur that judgment was properly entered pursuant to a jury verdict of guilty, and that the sentence of death must be vacated and the matter remanded for a new sentencing hearing where Lord’s witnesses may be heard on his behalf.