NCJ Number
100018
Journal
Arizona Law Review Volume: 26 Issue: 3 Dated: (1984) Pages: 661-680
Date Published
1984
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This survey of Arizona Supreme Court case law examines the general statutory scheme of Section 13-703, an aggravation-mitigation statute that delineates the respective burden of proof for the prosecution and defense in capital proceedings.
Abstract
Under Section 13-703, the sentencing decision in first-degree murder cases is left to the trial court judge, who presides over a mandated aggravation-mitigation hearing. Evidence offered at the hearing allows the judge to decide whether the character and propensities of the defendant merit a death sentence. The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of one or more aggravating circumstances. The defense must provide uncontroverted, credible evidence tending to prove mitigation. Aggravating circumstances include prior convictions, grave risk of danger, murder with pecuniary gain, inmate murders, especially heinous or depraved murders, and prior felony crimes of violence. A sentence of death invokes an automatic appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court, which then reviews and weighs mitigating and aggravating circumstances. In its decisions, the Supreme Court has established limiting definitions for each of these aggravating circumstances to create a substantially objective sentencing analysis, thus circumventing arbitrary impositions of the death penalty. 154 footnotes.