Court Opinion

ID: 9683296
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:26:14.848574+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:45.232391
License: Public Domain

BLACKMAR, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in all parts of the principal opinion relating to the affirmance of the conviction. I believe, however, that the death sentence should be set aside. Section 565.-014.3(3), RSMo 1978, enjoins us to consider “the defendant” in determining whether the sentence of death is excessive or disproportionate. The present defendant was 18 years old at the time the offense was committed. The principal opinion observes that the legislature imposed no restriction on the age of a person who could be executed. This Court still has its reviewing responsibility and is obliged to substitute its decision for that of the jury, if its assessment of the statutory factors governing sentencing indicates that this action is appropriate.
The history of capital punishment in Missouri shows that persons who were under the age of 20 at the time of commission of the offense have seldom been sentenced to death, or executed.
Of the cases decided under the new capital punishment law which are appropriate for comparison, four involve offenders age 19 or younger. These are: State v. Basker*496ville, 616 S.W.2d 839 (Mo.1981); State v. Greathouse, 627 S.W.2d 592 (Mo.1982); State v. Scott, 651 S.W.2d 199 (Mo.App.1983); and State v. Blair, 638 S.W.2d 739 (Mo. banc 1982). In the first three the jury declined to assess the death penalty.
Baskerville involved a triple murder in the course of a robbery. The defendant was 19 years of age at the time the offense was committed. The facts as set out in Judge Seiler’s Concurring Opinion were shocking and included the wanton killing of one person to obtain a gun, of a second because she was a witness, and of a seven year old boy without apparent reason.
Scott involved a defendant aged 16 years. The facts bear a remarkable similarity to the present case, involving multiple stab wounds, with the additional fact that a second person, who did not die, was repeatedly stabbed.
Greathouse involved the use of an axe followed by multiple gunshots inflicted by a 17-year old boy against his uncle.
There is no precise formula for comparison of horrors, but I am unable to see that the offenses involved in those cases were any less shocking or repulsive than what is involved in the case now before us.
Only in Blair was the death sentence imposed on a teenaged offender. The 18-year old defendant in that case had already served a term in the penitentiary, and had another stretch in jail. He undertook to kill a witness to a rape charged against a fellow prisoner, for a cash payment of several thousand dollars, and stalked his victim for several days. The record presented elements of willfulness, deliberation, and killing for pure gain which are not found in the present cases.
History shows that 35 persons were executed in the Missouri gas chamber following state convictions, prior to the invalidation of the previous death penalty statutes pursuant to Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 92 S.Ct. 2726, 33 L.Ed.2d 346 (1972). Only two of the 35 were under the age of 18 at the time of the offense. See State v. Lyles, 353 Mo. 930, 185 S.W.2d 642 (1945); and State v. Anderson, 386 S.W.2d 225 (Mo. banc 1963). Without lengthening this opinion by details it is sufficient to say that both cases involved willful killings incident to robbery, in which the defendants abused their victims prior to killing and also severely wounded other persons who might well have died.
One of the most aggravated murders in our history is that of Bobby Franks by Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold. The victim was abducted and brutally murdered by use of a chisel, while a ransom note was in circulation and the kidnappers continued their efforts to collect the ransom knowing that he was dead. The defendants retained Clarence Darrow and entered pleas of guilty. Sentencing fell to Judge John R. Caverly, Chief Justice of the Criminal Court, of Cook County, Illinois. The Judge paid little attention to Darrow’s psychological arguments but nevertheless decided not to impose the death penalty, explaining his reasoning as follows:1
It would have been the path of least resistance to impose the extreme penalty of the law. In choosing imprisonment instead of death, the Court is moved chiefly by the consideration of the age of the defendants, boys of 18 and 19 years. It is not for the Court to say that he will not in any case enforce capital punishment as an alternative, but the Court believes that it is within his province to decline to impose the sentence of death on persons who are not of full age.
This determination appears to be in accordance with the progress of criminal law all over the world and with the dictates of enlightened humanity. More than that, it seems to be in accordance with the precedents hitherto observed in this state. The records of Illinois show only two cases of minors who were put to death by legal process — to which number *497the Court does not feel inclined to make an addition.
Perhaps this view from a time when the death penalty was much more often imposed than it is now will furnish perspective. History tells us that Loeb was killed in a prison incident in the 1930’s, while Leopold served many years. After he was released on parole, he led a useful life.
Based on the above comparisons I do not believe that the law requires the life of this young man. In so stating I do not minimize the enormity of his guilt or the horrible details of the offense, but do urge youth as a proper factor for consideration.
I do have reservations as to whether there is compliance with the standards of Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420, 100 S.Ct. 1759, 64 L.Ed.2d 398 (1980). The defendant apparently decided to kill the elderly victim after he and his companion had raped her, in order to prevent identification, but only the “outrageously vile” aggravated circumstance was submitted to the jury. I am not persuaded that the stab wounds were inflicted with torture in mind. The defendant rather set out to kill but found that his weapon was inadequate, except when a vital spot was located. But Godfrey has always seemed confusing to me and the Supreme Court appears to have retreated from it in recent years. I rather rest my conclusion on comparisons and on the age of the offender.
The defendant has argued the incongruity of allowing a death sentence to stand while his accomplice goes free through an acquittal. If this defendant is in fact executed, future generations will sense irony in the situation, but inconsistent verdicts are to be expected so long as we have individual determination of guilt with trial by jury and free severance, which are established parts of our criminal law and procedure. The incongruity may be corrected by the Governor, if so minded. The statute does not authorize the courts to afford mitigation on account of these circumstances. There is no basis for comparison of punishment when the jury determines that one alleged participant was not guilty of any offense and cannot be punished at all.
The case should be remanded with directions to resentence the defendant to life imprisonment without probation or parole for 50 years.

. Chicago Tribune, Sept. 11, 1924, p. 2. See also 15 Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 393 (1925).