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| NCJ Number:
|
NCJ 100018
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| Title:
|
Aggravating Circumstances of Arizona's Death Penalty Statute - A Review
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| Journal:
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Arizona Law Review Volume:26 Issue:3 Dated:(1984) Pages:661-680
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| Author(s):
|
W F Begley
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| Publication Date:
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1984 |
| Pages:
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20 |
| Type:
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Legislation/policy descriptions |
| Origin:
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United States |
| Language:
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English |
| Annotation:
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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:
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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. |
| Main Term(s):
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Sentencing factors |
| Index Term(s):
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Homicide ; Capital punishment ; Judicial decisions/ ; Arizona |
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To cite this abstract, use the following link:
http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=100018
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not available online, a link to the publisher's web site is provided.
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