BLYSTONE v. PENNSYLVANIA
No. 88-6222
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued October 10, 1989-Decided February 28, 1990
494 U.S. 299
Paul R. Gettleman argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs was Stefan Presser.
Ernest D. Preate, Jr., Attorney General of Pennsylvania, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were Ronald Eisenberg, Hugh J. Burns, Jr., Ewing D. Newcomer, and Gaele McLaughlin Barthold, Special Deputy Attorneys General, and Robert A. Graci, Chief Deputy Attorney General.*
A Pennsylvania jury sentenced petitioner Scott Wayne Blystone to death after finding him guilty of robbing and murdering a hitchhiker who was unlucky enough to have accepted a ride in his car. Petitioner challenges his sentence on the ground that the State‘s death penalty statute is unconstitutional because it requires the jury to impose a sentence of death if, as in this case, it finds at least one aggravating circumstance and no mitigating circumstances. We hold that the Pennsylvania death penalty statute, and petitioner‘s sentence under it, comport with our decisions interpreting the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
On a September night in 1983, Dalton Charles Smithburger, Jr., an individual characterized at trial as possessing a learning disability, was attempting to hitch a ride along a Pennsylvania road. Petitioner, who was driving an auto carrying his girlfriend and another couple, observed Smithburger and announced: “I am going to pick this guy up and rob him, okay...?” His friends acquiesced in the idea. Once petitioner had Smithburger in the car, he asked him if he had any money for gas. Smithburger responded that he only had a few dollars and began searching a pocket for money. Dissatisfied, petitioner pulled out a revolver, held it to Smithburger‘s head, and demanded that Smithburger close his eyes and put his hands on the dash. Petitioner then pulled off the road and ordered Smithburger out of the car and into a nearby field. After searching his victim at gunpoint and recovering $13, petitioner told Smithburger to lie face down in the field. He later said to a friend: “He [Smithburger] was so scared. When I was searching him, his body was shaking.” 519 Pa. 450, 490, 549 A. 2d 81, 100 (1988).
Petitioner then ordered his victim not to move, and crept back to the car to tell his companions he was going to kill Smithburger. Petitioner returned to the field where, para-
Petitioner was charged with and convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, criminal conspiracy to commit homicide, and criminal conspiracy to commit robbery. The same jury that convicted petitioner found as an aggravating circumstance that petitioner “committed a killing while in the perpetration of a felony.”
The constitutionality of a death penalty statute having some “mandatory” aspects is not a novel issue for this Court. In Jurek v. Texas, 428 U. S. 262 (1976), we upheld a statute requiring the imposition of a death sentence if the jury made certain findings against the defendant beyond the initial conviction for murder. See id., at 278 (WHITE, J., concurring in judgment). A majority of the Court believed that the Texas sentencing scheme at issue in Jurek cured the constitutional defect identified in Furman—namely, that unguided juries were imposing the death penalty in an inconsistent and random manner on defendants. See Furman, supra, at 309-310 (Stewart, J., concurring). Thus, by suitably directing and limiting a sentencing jury‘s discretion “so as to minimize the risk of wholly arbitrary and capricious action,” Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U. S. 153, 189 (1976) (opinion of Stewart, Powell, and STEVENS, JJ.), the Texas death penalty scheme was found to pass constitutional muster. See Jurek, 428 U. S., at 276.1
It was also thought significant that the Texas sentencing scheme allowed the jury to consider relevant mitigating evidence. “A jury must be allowed to consider on the basis of all relevant evidence not only why a death sentence should be imposed, but also why it should not be imposed.” Id., at 271 (opinion of Stewart, Powell, and STEVENS, JJ.). On the same day that Jurek was decided, the Court struck down two capital sentencing schemes largely because they automatically imposed a sentence of death upon an individual convicted of certain murders, without allowing “particularized consideration of relevant aspects of the character and record of each convicted defendant before the imposition upon him of a sentence of death.” Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U. S. 280, 303 (1976) (plurality opinion); Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U. S. 325, 333-334 (1976) (plurality opinion); see also Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U. S., at 604 (plurality opinion) (“The mandatory death penalty statute in Woodson was held invalid because it permitted no consideration of relevant facets of the character and record of the individual offender or the circumstances of the particular offense“) (emphasis in original; quotation omitted).
In Lockett, the Court provided further guidance on the nature of “relevant” mitigating circumstances, concluding that a sentencer must be allowed to consider, ”as a mitigating factor, any aspect of a defendant‘s character or record and any of the circumstances of the offense that the defendant proffers as a basis for a sentence less than death.” Ibid. (emphasis in original; footnote omitted). Last Term, we elaborated on this principle, holding that “the jury must be able to consider and give effect to any mitigating evidence relevant to a defendant‘s background and character or the circum-
We think that the Pennsylvania death penalty statute satisfies the requirement that a capital sentencing jury be allowed to consider and give effect to all relevant mitigating evidence. Section 9711 does not limit the types of mitigating evidence which may be considered, and subsection (e) provides a jury with a nonexclusive list of mitigating factors which may be taken into account—including a “catchall” category providing for the consideration of “[a]ny other evidence of mitigation concerning the character and record of the defendant and the circumstances of his offense.” See
Petitioner challenges the statute as it was applied in his particular case. This challenge essentially consists of a claim that his sentencing proceeding was rendered “unreliable” by the mandatory aspect of § 9711 for two reasons. See Woodson, supra, at 305 (there is a “need for reliability in the determination that death is the appropriate punishment in a specific case“) (plurality opinion). First, petitioner asserts that the mandatory feature of his jury instructions—derived, of course, from the statute—precluded the jury from evaluating the weight of the particular aggravating circumstance found in his case. Second, petitioner contends that the mandatory feature of the sentencing instructions unconstitutionally limited the jury‘s consideration of unenumerated mitigating circumstances. We address these arguments in turn.
At sentencing, petitioner‘s jury found one aggravating circumstance present in this case—that petitioner committed a killing while in the perpetration of a robbery. No mitigating circumstances were found.4 Petitioner contends that the mandatory imposition of death in this situation violates the Eighth Amendment requirement of individualized sentencing since the jury was precluded from considering whether the severity of his aggravating circumstance warranted the death sentence. We reject this argument. The presence of aggravating circumstances serves the purpose of limiting the class of death-eligible defendants, and the Eighth Amend-
Next, petitioner maintains that the mandatory aspect of his sentencing instructions foreclosed the jury‘s consideration of certain mitigating circumstances. The trial judge gave the jury examples of mitigating circumstances that it was entitled to consider, essentially the list of factors contained in
Three Terms ago, in McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U. S. 279 (1987), we summarized the teachings of the Court‘s death penalty jurisprudence:
“In sum, our decisions since Furman have identified a constitutionally permissible range of discretion in imposing the death penalty. First, there is a required threshold below which the death penalty cannot be imposed. In this context, the State must establish rational criteria that narrow the decisionmaker‘s judgment as to whether the circumstances of a particular defendant‘s case meet the threshold. Moreover, a societal consensus that the death penalty is disproportionate to a particular offense
prevents a State from imposing the death penalty for that offense. Second, States cannot limit the sentencer‘s consideration of any relevant circumstance that could cause it to decline to impose the penalty. In this respect, the State cannot channel the sentencer‘s discretion, but must allow it to consider any relevant information offered by the defendant.” Id., at 305-306.
We think petitioner‘s sentence under the Pennsylvania statute satisfied these requirements. The fact that other States have enacted different forms of death penalty statutes which also satisfy constitutional requirements casts no doubt on Pennsylvania‘s choice. Within the constitutional limits defined by our cases, the States enjoy their traditional latitude to prescribe the method by which those who commit murder shall be punished.
Affirmed.
JUSTICE BRENNAN, with whom JUSTICE MARSHALL joins, and with whom JUSTICE BLACKMUN and JUSTICE STEVENS join except as to Part IV, dissenting.
The hallmark of our Eighth Amendment jurisprudence is that because the “penalty of death is qualitatively different from a sentence of imprisonment,” Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U. S. 280, 305 (1976) (plurality opinion), capital punishment may not be imposed unless the sentencer makes an individualized determination that death is the appropriate sentence for a particular defendant. This Court has repeatedly invoked this principle to invalidate mandatory death penalty statutes for even the most egregious crimes. See Sumner v. Shuman, 483 U. S. 66, 85 (1987) (murder committed by inmate serving life sentence); Roberts v. Louisiana, 431 U. S. 633, 637 (1977) (murder of police officer); Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U. S. 325, 333 (1976) (plurality opinion) (all first-degree murders); Woodson, supra (same). Today, for the first time, the Court upholds a statute containing a
I
After a defendant is convicted of first-degree murder in Pennsylvania, the court must hold a separate sentencing hearing at which the jury determines whether the death penalty is warranted.
This case illustrates the effect of the mandatory provision of the statute. The jury found as an aggravating circumstance that petitioner had committed murder during a $13 robbery.
The prosecutor emphasized that each juror had sworn an oath to follow the law and that, in this case, the law mandated the death penalty:
“Under the law, if you have an aggravating circumstance and no mitigating circumstances, it is your duty to impose the death penalty . . . so each of you were asked last week when we questioned you whether or not, under the appropriate circumstances, you could impose the death penalty and each of you replied that you could. Each of you replied that you would follow the law, and each of you replied that whatever your duty was, you would follow it.” Id., at 23 (emphasis added).
“Our law doesn‘t permit the jury to impose the death penalty or impose a life sentence as they feel it should be, but rather there are certain specific times when the death penalty should be imposed and there are certain specific times when it should not be imposed. The court touched upon it and told you of aggravating and mitigating circumstances. The aggravating circumstance in this case is that this defendant . . . committed a killing in the perpetration of a felony. The felony in this case was the robbery. You have already made a determination by your verdict that this defendant was guilty of that robbery, so you have the aggravating circumstance. It is already proven and you already believed it. . . . You must determine from the evidence presented in this Courtroom whether or not there are any mitigating circumstances; if not, you must follow the law and impose the death penalty.” Id., at 22-24.
Hence, both the judge and the prosecutor emphasized that if the jury failed to find any mitigating factors, the legislature had determined that death was the appropriate sentence.
II
The majority does not dispute this description of the Pennsylvania statute or its application in this case. Rather, the majority holds that “the Eighth Amendment does not require that aggravating circumstances be further refined or weighed by a jury. . . . The requirement of individualized sentencing in capital cases is satisfied by allowing the jury to consider all relevant mitigating evidence.” Ante, at 306-307. That the majority cites no case to support this extraordinary conclusion is no surprise; careful analysis of our cases
A
The Pennsylvania Legislature‘s delineation of 12 aggravating circumstances represents an effort to comply with our command that “[b]ecause of the uniqueness of the death penalty, . . . it [may] not be imposed under sentencing procedures that creat[e] a substantial risk that it [will] be inflicted in an arbitrary and capricious manner.” Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U. S. 153, 188 (1976) (joint opinion of Stewart, Powell, and STEVENS, JJ.) (citing Furman v. Georgia, 408 U. S. 238 (1972)). In Furman, the Court held that vesting the sentencer with unbridled discretion to determine whether or not to impose the death penalty resulted in a system in which there was no objective way to distinguish between defendants who received the death penalty and those who did not. See id., at 309-310 (Stewart, J., concurring) (death sentences at issue were “cruel and unusual in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual. . . . [T]he petitioners are among a capriciously selected random handful upon whom the sentence of death has in fact been imposed“); id., at 313 (WHITE, J., concurring) (“[T]here is no meaningful basis for distinguishing the few cases in which [death] is imposed from the many cases in which it is not“). In Gregg, supra, however, the Court held that a State may impose the death penalty if the State adequately “guides” the sentencer‘s discretion in determining the appropriate punishment. 428 U. S., at 195 (joint opinion of Stewart, Powell, and STEVENS, JJ.); id., at 222 (WHITE, J., concurring in judgment). Thus, the Court has held that a State must “genuinely narrow the class of persons eligible for the death penalty and must reasonably justify the imposition of a more severe sentence on the defendant compared to others found guilty of murder.” Zant v. Stephens, 462 U. S. 862, 877 (1983). The legisla-
At the same time, however, the Court has recognized that the Eighth Amendment imposes a limit on a State‘s ability to “guide” the sentencer‘s discretion. On the same day that the Court upheld three death penalty statutes that “guided” the jury‘s discretion in imposing this sentence,4 the Court invalidated two mandatory death penalty statutes. Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U. S. 280 (1976); Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U. S. 325 (1976). The Woodson plurality rejected the argument that Furman required removal of all discretion from the sentencer, holding that any consistency obtained by a mandatory statute would be arbitrary because the consistency would not take into account the individual circumstances of the defendant and the crime. Woodson, supra, at 304. See also Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U. S. 104, 112 (1982) (“By holding that the sentencer in capital cases must be permitted to consider any relevant mitigating factor, the rule . . . recognizes that a consistency produced by ignoring individual differences is a false consistency“). A mandatory death penalty statute treats “all persons convicted of a designated offense not as uniquely individual human beings, but as members of a faceless, undifferentiated mass to be subjected to the blind infliction of the penalty of death.” Ibid. Thus, the Court held that the “fundamental respect for humanity underlying the Eighth Amendment requires consideration of the character and record of the individual offender and the circumstances of the particular offense as a constitutionally
Woodson and its progeny are distinguishable from this case because the Pennsylvania statute allows the jury to consider mitigating circumstances. But once a Pennsylvania jury finds that no mitigating circumstances are proved by a preponderance of the evidence, it is required to impose the death penalty. The mandatory provision of the Pennsylvania statute may be effective in a smaller set of cases than the North Carolina statute at issue in Woodson. Nevertheless, the effect of the mandatory provision in both statutes is the same: it substitutes a legislative judgment about the severity of a crime for a jury‘s determination that the death penalty is appropriate for the individual.5
B
The majority is unconcerned that in this category of cases the mandatory provision deprives the defendant of an individualized sentencing determination. The nature of the individualized determination required by Woodson is derived from this Court‘s recognition that the decision to impose the death penalty must reflect a reasoned moral judgment about the defendant‘s actions and character in light of all the circumstances of the offense and the defendant‘s background. See, e. g., Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U. S. 302, 319 (1989); California v. Brown, 479 U. S. 538, 545 (1987) (O‘CONNOR, J., concurring). Just as a jury must be free to consider and weigh mitigating circumstances as independently relevant to
The majority cites only Lowenfield v. Phelps, 484 U. S. 231 (1988), for its conclusion that the jury need not consider the weight of the aggravating circumstance before imposing the death sentence. In Lowenfield, the Court upheld the Louisiana death penalty statute under which a jury could impose a death sentence even if the only aggravating factor found duplicated an element of the offense of capital murder.
This Court has never held that a legislature may mandate the death sentence for any category of murderers. Instead, a legislature‘s role must be limited to the definition of the class of death-eligible defendants. A legislature does not, and indeed cannot, consider every possible fact pattern that technically will fall within an aggravating circumstance. Hence, the definition of an aggravating circumstance provides a basis for distinguishing crimes only on a general level; it does not embody the type of reasoned moral judgment required to justify the imposition of the death penalty. See Sumner v. Shuman, supra, at 78 (legislative judgment does not “provide an adequate basis on which to determine whether the death sentence is the appropriate sanction in any particular case“) (emphasis added). The Pennsylvania statute provides a stark example of this constitutional flaw. It permits the jury to find an aggravating circumstance if the
Such a conclusion flies in the face of our reasoning in Sumner v. Shuman, 483 U. S. 66 (1987). In Sumner, we invalidated a statute that mandated death for a prisoner who committed murder while already serving a life term. Although the Court acknowledged the legislature‘s power to determine that the crime was sufficiently serious to make the defendants eligible for the death penalty, the Court held that the legislature had no power to conclude that the sole fact that the defendant was serving a life sentence justified the death penalty in every such case. Id., at 78-81. As the Court explained:
“Past convictions of other criminal offenses can be considered as a valid aggravating factor in determining whether a defendant deserves to be sentenced to death for a later murder, but the inferences to be drawn con-
cerning an inmate‘s character and moral culpability may vary depending on the nature of the past offense. The circumstances surrounding any past offense may vary widely as well. Without consideration of the nature of the predicate life-term offense and the circumstances surrounding the commission of that offense, the label ‘life-term inmate’ reveals little about the inmate‘s record or character. Even if the offense was first-degree murder, whether the defendant was the primary force in that incident, or a nontriggerman . . . , may be relevant to both his criminal record and his character. Yet under the mandatory statute, all predicate life-term offenses are given the same weight.” Id., at 81 (footnote omitted).
The majority dismisses Sumner as inapposite because the sentencing scheme in that case did not allow for the consideration of mitigating evidence. Ante, at 306, n. 4. But the discussion quoted above clearly relates to a legislature‘s power to define aggravating circumstances and precedes any discussion of the significance of mitigating circumstances. In fact, we went on to state that “[n]ot only [do the defendant‘s prior convictions] serve as incomplete indicators of the circumstances surrounding the murder and of the defendant‘s criminal record, but also they say nothing of [mitigating circumstances].” 483 U. S., at 81-82. In Sumner, the Court invalidated the statute because it precluded the jury from considering mitigating factors and because it prevented the jury from determining whether certain crimes were serious enough to require the death penalty.
C
The Court‘s suggestion, ante, at 303, that Jurek v. Texas, 428 U. S. 262 (1976), supports its holding in this case reveals
The mandatory language in the Pennsylvania statute, however, does deprive the jury of any power to make such an independent judgment. The jury‘s determination that an aggravating circumstance exists ends the decisionmaking process. In addition, whether an aggravating circumstance exists is generally a question of fact relating to either the circumstances of the offense,11 the status of the victim,12 or the defendant‘s criminal record.13 In many cases, the existence of the aggravating factor is not disputed. Finding an aggravating circumstance does not entail any moral judgment about the nature of the act or the actor, and therefore it does not give the jury an opportunity to decide whether it believes the defendant‘s particular offense warrants the death pen-
III
The Court‘s refusal to recognize that the “mandatory aspect” of the Pennsylvania statute deprives the defendant of an individualized sentencing hearing is contrary to reason. Rather than address the merits of petitioner‘s claim, the majority summarily concludes that the Eighth Amendment is “satisfied” because the jury may consider mitigating evidence.15 Although our cases clearly hold that the ability to consider mitigating evidence is a constitutional requirement, it does not follow that this ability satisfies the constitutional demand for an individualized sentencing hearing. The “weight” of an aggravating circumstance is just as relevant to
IV
Even if I did not believe the Pennsylvania statute unconstitutionally deprives the jury of discretion to impose a life sentence, I would vacate petitioner‘s sentence. I adhere to my belief that the death penalty is in all circumstances cruel and unusual punishment. Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U. S., at 227 (BRENNAN, J., dissenting).
Notes
“(1) The victim was a fireman, peace officer, or other public servant concerned in official detention . . . , who was killed in the performance of his duties.
“(2) The defendant paid or was paid by another person or had contracted to pay or be paid by another person or had conspired to pay or be paid by another person for the killing of the victim.
“(3) The victim was being held by the defendant for ransom or reward, or was held as a shield or hostage.
“(4) The death of the victim occurred while the defendant was engaged in the hijacking of an aircraft.
“(5) The victim was a prosecution witness to a murder or other felony committed by the defendant and was killed for the purpose of preventing his testimony against the defendant in any grand jury or criminal proceeding involving such offenses.
“(6) The defendant committed the killing while in the perpetration of a felony.
“(7) In the commission of the offense the defendant knowingly created a grave risk of death to another person in addition to the victim of the offense.
“(8) The offense was committed by means of torture.
“(9) The defendant has a significant history of felony convictions involving the use or threat of violence to the person.
“(10) The defendant has been convicted of another Federal or State offense committed either before or at the time of the offense at issue, for which a sentence of life imprisonment or death was imposable or the de-
“(11) The defendant has been convicted of another murder, committed either before or at the time of the offense at issue.
“(12) The defendant has been convicted of voluntary manslaughter . . . committed either before or at the time of the offense at issue.”
The dissent attempts to undermine our reliance on Jurek v. Texas, 428 U. S. 262 (1976), by arguing that the requirement of individualized sentencing was fulfilled under the Texas death penalty statute in a way not allowed by the Pennsylvania scheme through the jury‘s consideration of special findings required to be made before death could be imposed. Post, at 320-323. The dissent ignores the fact that the three-Justice opinion in Jurek concluded that the Texas statute fulfilled the requirement of individualized sentencing precisely because one of the special findings had been construed by Texas courts to permit the consideration of mitigating evidence. Jurek, supra, at 272 (opinion of Stewart, Powell and STEVENS, JJ.) (“Thus, the constitutionality of the Texas procedures turns on whether the enumerated questions allow consideration of particularized mitigating factors“). Nowhere in that opinion was it implied that the mandatory feature of the Texas statute was constitutional only because a jury could still weigh other factors under a particular construction of the special findings when it found no mitigating circumstances.
For this reason, the Court‘s discussion of the facial validity of the statute under Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U. S. 302 (1989), and Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U. S. 586 (1978), is irrelevant. Ante, at 305. We did not grant certiorari to determine if the statute allows sufficient consideration of mitigating circumstances as required by Lockett. We granted certiorari to consider whether a State may mandate the death penalty when the jury finds no mitigating circumstances. The jury‘s ability to consider mitigating evidence is not germane to the question presented.