Lowenfield v. Phelps

Lowenfield v. Phelps
Argued October 14, 1987
Decided January 13, 1988
Full case name Lowenfield v. Phelps, Secretary, Louisiana Department of Corrections, et al.
Citations 484 U.S. 231 (more)
108 S. Ct. 546; 98 L. Ed. 2d 568; 1988 U.S. LEXIS 313; 56 U.S.L.W. 4071
Prior history 817 F.2d 285 (5th Cir. 1987)
Holding
The aggravating factor making the crime punishable by death may be found in the definition of the crime itself as long it is enough narrow and precise.
Court membership
Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Antonin Scalia
Case opinions
Majority Rehnquist, joined by White, Blackmun, O'Connor, Scalia; Stevens (part III, except the last sentence)
Dissent Marshall, joined by Brennan; Stevens (part I)
Kennedy took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. VIII

Lowenfield v. Phelps, 484 U.S. 231 (1988) is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the two jury polls and the supplemental charge did not impermissibly coerce the jury to return a death sentence, and that the death sentence does not violate the Eighth Amendment simply because the single statutory "aggravating circumstance" found by the jury duplicates an element of the underlying offense of first-degree murder.

Background

In 1984, Leslie Lowenfield, a Guyanese immigrant welder, was convicted of the 1982 killing his girlfriend, a sheriff's deputy, and four members of her family, including a 4-year-old girl.[1]

Opinion of the Court

The Court, in an opinion by justice Rehnquist, held that the trial judges's polling of the jury and supplemental Allen instruction did not coerce the jury to return a verdict of guilty. The Court also rejected a challenge that Louisiana's death penalty statute did not sufficiently narrow the category of defendants who are eligible for the death penalty. The aggravating circumstance in the case, intentionally killing more than one person was found by the jury in the guilt phase after returning 3 first degree murder verdicts.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Louisiana Executes Man, 34, Convicted of Murdering Five". The New York Times. 13 April 1988.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.