State v. Styers, 254 P.3d 1132

Styers was convicted of the 1989 murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, kidnapping, and child abuse of a four-year-old victim; the court sentenced him to death after finding three aggravators and no substantial mitigators.
This Court affirmed most convictions and the death sentence on direct appeal in 1993, with certiorari denied by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1994.
The Ninth Circuit later held this Court erred in independently reviewing the death sentence by failing to consider PTSD as a mitigating factor, and remanded for relief or a lesser sentence.
The State moved to have this Court conduct a new independent review, and this Court conducted briefing and arguments on the PTSD issue.
In independent review, this Court (i) again found the two aggravating factors valid, (ii) weighed PTSD as a mitigating factor, and (iii) affirmed the death sentence.
The dissent argued Ring requires a jury for aggravating findings in a new sentencing context, and that independent review in this setting improperly bypassed a jury.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Scope of review after Ring and finality issue	State: independent review permissible; Ring does not require jury findings here since aggravators were previously found	Styers: Ring applies to new direct-review-like proceedings and requires jury findings for aggravators	Independent review maintained; Ring retroactivity not triggered; aggravators deemed established for review
Whether PTSD mitigation must be weighed as substantial under §13-755	State: PTSD may be considered but weight is limited	Styers: PTSD provides substantial mitigation	PTSD weighed but given little mitigating weight; not sufficient to warrant leniency
Whether PTSD nexus to the crime is required for mitigation weight	State does not require a nexus for mitigation; consider overall evidence	Styers: must show nexus between PTSD and offense to obtain weight	No nexus shown; still considers PTSD as mitigating but with limited weight
Whether prior aggravators (age of victim; especially heinous/cruel) remain valid	Aggravators previously found valid; no error in independent review	N/A	Aggravating factors affirmed as valid for purposes of review
Procedural posture of independent review versus post-conviction relief	Court may perform independent review under §13-755 on direct review	N/A	Independent review proper; directive to affirm the sentence

Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002) (jury must find aggravating circumstances to impose death penalty; retroactivity limited)
Griffith v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314 (1987) (retroactivity of new rules on finality of cases)
Summerlin v. Summerlin, 542 U.S. 348 (2004) (finality and applicability of Ring in direct-review context)
Styers v. Schriro, 547 F.3d 1026 (9th Cir. 2008) ( Ninth Circuit held procedural error in independent review and required remedy)
Spears v. State, 184 Ariz. 277 (1996) (PTSD evidence can be mitigating but weight limited if not linked to conduct)
State v. Newell, 212 Ariz. 389 (2006) (mitigation evaluation weighs relationship to crime; potential lesser weight if no nexus)
State v. Tucker, 215 Ariz. 298 (2007) (weighting of mental-health evidence depending on connection to conduct)
State v. Ellison, 213 Ariz. 116 (2006) (mitigation impact limited where defendant could control conduct)