Court Opinion

ID: 9588625
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:36:31.135837+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:43:37.803553
License: Public Domain

Justice Frye
concurring in result.
One of the preservation issues raised by defendant relates to the applicability of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Mills v. Maryland, 486 U.S. ---, 100 L. Ed. 2d 384 (1988), to the unanimity requirement for mitigating circumstances in determining whether death is the appropriate punishment in a given case. This issue is now pending before the Supreme Court of the United States. See State v. McKoy, 323 N.C. 1, 372 S.E. 2d 12 (1988), cert. granted, — U.S. —, 103 L. Ed. 2d 180 (1989). While I believe that Mills is applicable to North Carolina, see State v. Lloyd, 321 N.C. 301, 364 S.E. 2d 316, vacated and remanded on other grounds, — U.S. —, 102 L. Ed. 2d 18, reinstated, 323 N.C. 622, 374 S.E. 2d 277 (1988), Exum, C.J., and Frye, J., dissenting, assuming error arguendo, I would find the error nonprejudicial under the peculiar circumstances of this case.