Court Opinion

ID: 9454563
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 18:50:02.194593+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:34:10.144291
License: Public Domain

FAHY, Senior Circuit Judge
(dissenting) :
The court instructed the jury that in any case of carnal knowledge the law provides,
* * * the jury may in their verdict as to [sic] the words “with the death penalty.” If the jury without adding those words to their verdict should return a verdict of guilty, then the statute provides for a punishment by imprisonment to be imposed upon the defendant by the Court. Therefore, the *1006possible verdicts as to Count 1 in this case are 1, guilty; 2, not guilty by virtue of insanity; 3, guilty as charged; or 4, guilty with the death penalty.
As we held in Bailey v. United States and Humphries v. United States, 132 U.S.App.D.C. 82, 405 F.2d 1352, following United States v. Jackson, 390 U.S. 570, 88 S.Ct. 1209, 20 L.Ed.2d 138, the death sentence provision of our carnal knowledge statute is unconstitutional. Accordingly we know now, though we did not before Jackson, that the instruction based upon that provision should not be given. For reasons like those I set forth in my dissent from the affirmance of the convictions in Bailey and Humphries, I think the giving of the instruction in the present case was also error which requires a new trial.
As pointed out in United States ex rel. Hetenyi v. Wilkins, 348 F.2d 844 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, Mancusi v. Hetenyi, 383 U.S. 913, 86 S.Ct. 896, 15 L.Ed.2d 667, supported in its reasoning by Mr. Justice Fortas’ opinion in Cichos v. Indiana, 385 U.S. 76, 87 S.Ct. 271, 17 L.Ed.2d 175, in which he was joined by the Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Douglas, such an instruction placed before the jury an impermissible range of choice which leaves in its wake uncertainty whether a verdict of not guilty, or not guilty by reason of insanity, might have been rendered rather than the guilty verdict. The availability to the jurors of the more severe verdict might have led them to resolve doubts by turning to one which was less severe but which would not entirely acquit the accused of guilt. The verdict of guilt was not compelled, as this court deemed to be the situation, notwithstanding the erroneous death sentence instruction, in Springfield v. United States, 131 U.S.App.D.C. 166, 403 F.2d 572, 573.
The reason I take this position is that the defense of insanity was supported by substantial testimony which raised an issue which the court submitted to the jury for its resolution. Even though we assume the jury considered the case against the defendant as to what actually occurred to be strong, the jury might have been uncertain as to his sanity at the time. In that event the death sentence instruction could have led the jury to resort to the less serious verdict of guilty without the death sentence rather than not guilty by reason of insanity. Accordingly I would grant a new trial free of the death sentence instruction which we now know should not be given.