BROOKS v. THE STATE
34813
Supreme Court of Georgia
DECIDED SEPTEMBER 8, 1980.
246 Ga. 262
JORDAN, Presiding Justice.
Torture occurs when the victim is subjected to serious physical abuse before death. Godfrey v. Georgia, supra. Serious sexual abuse may be found to constitute serious physical abuse, House v. State, 232 Ga. 140 (205 SE2d 217) (1974). Hance v. State, 245 Ga. 856 (268 SE2d 339) (1980). A defendant who tortures the victim before killing the victim can be found to have a depraved mind. Hance v. State, supra.
Accordingly, this court holds that the present jury was authorized to find, consistently with the United States Supreme Court‘s holding in Godfrey that, beyond a reasonable doubt, the murder of the victim was of a type universally condemned by civilized society as “outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture or depravity of mind.” See Mulligan v. State, 245 Ga. 881 (268 SE2d 351) (1980).
As was noted in Dampier v. State, 245 Ga. 882 (268 SE2d 349) (1980), this case is also of the type wherein the sentence of death rests only partially upon
Therefore, under our decisions, the death penalty may also be upheld upon
Judgment imposing the death penalty reaffirmed. All the Justices concur.
DECIDED SEPTEMBER 8, 1980.
Aultman, Moore & Daly, James J. Daly, Jr., for appellant. Stephen Pace, Jr., District Attorney, Miriam D. Wansley, Assistant District Attorney, Arthur K. Bolton, Attorney General, Daryl A. Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
34813. BROOKS v. THE STATE.
JORDAN, Presiding Justice.
The United States Supreme Court vacated the death sentence affirmed by this court in Brooks v. State, 244 Ga. 574 (261 SE2d 379) (1979), and remanded said case to this court for reconsideration in
Having reconsidered the facts of the present case as directed, this court now reaffirms on two, independent grounds, the appellant‘s sentence of death for the murder of Carol Jeannine Galloway.
First, in the present case, the jury‘s verdict for the death sentence was predicated, not only on
“Where two or more statutory aggravating circumstances are found by the jury, the failure of one circumstance does not so taint the proceedings as to invalidate the other aggravating circumstance found and the sentence of death based thereon.” Gates v. State, 244 Ga. 587, 599 (261 SE2d 349) (1979).
Therefore, we reaffirm the appellant‘s sentence of death on the ground that the jury‘s finding of
Moreover, in the present case, the jury found that the appellant‘s murder of Ms. Galloway reflected, beyond a reasonable doubt, “depravity of mind” under
Torture occurs when the victim is subjected to serious physical abuse before death. Godfrey v. Georgia, supra; Hance v. State, supra.
In the present case, the victim died, not instantaneously, but a full two hours after being shot in the neck and abandoned by the appellant, death resulting from a slow but steady loss of blood.
Also, it is beyond question that the appellant seriously and sexually abused Ms. Galloway. See Hance v. State, supra (physical abuse includes sexual abuse for purposes of proving torture under
Finally, following his rape of Ms. Galloway, the appellant taunted his victim with her lost virginity and made her the target of his gun, said acts combining to cause her to scream uncontrollably. See Hance v. State, supra (physical abuse includes psychological abuse resulting in mental anguish to the victim in anticipation of physical harm).
Accordingly, this court reaffirms the appellant‘s sentence of death on the ground that, unlike the jury‘s finding of
Judgment imposing the death penalty reaffirmed. All the Justices concur, except Hill, J., who concurs specially.
DECIDED SEPTEMBER 8, 1980.
William S. Cain, Jr., for appellant. William J. Smith, District Attorney, Arthur K. Bolton, Attorney General, Daryl A. Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
HILL, Justice, concurring specially.
I concur specially for the reasons stated in Gates v. State, 244 Ga. 587 (7) (8) (261 SE2d 349) (1979).