428 U.S. 153, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 49 L.Ed.2d 859
On November 21, 1973, Troy Gregg and Floyd Allen were hitchhiking north in Florida when they were picked up by Fred Simmons and Bob Moore in their car.1
Their car broke down.2 Simmons purchased another vehicle with some of the cash he was carrying.3 While still in Florida, the group picked up Dennis Weaver, who rode with them to Atlanta, where he was let out about 11 p.m.4
A short time later the four men stopped for a rest along the highway in Gwinnett County, Georgia.5 The next morning the bodies of Simmons and Moore were discovered in a nearby ditch.6
On November 23, after reading about the shootings in an Atlanta newspaper, Weaver communicated with the Gwinnett County police and related information concerning the journey with the victims, including a description of the car.7 The next afternoon, Gregg and Allen, while in Simmons' car, were arrested in Asheville, North Carolina.8 In the search incident to the arrest a .25-caliber pistol, later shown to be that used to kill Simmons and Moore, was found in Gregg's pocket.9 After receiving Miranda warnings and signing a written waiver, Gregg signed a statement admitting he shot Simmons and Moore but claiming self-defense.10
At the guilt stage of the bifurcated trial, a medical examiner testified that Simmons died from a bullet wound in the eye and that Moore died from bullet wounds in the cheek and in the back of the head.11 The examiner further testified that both men had several bruises and abrasions about the face and head.12 Gregg testified claiming self-defense after Simmons and Moore allegedly attacked with a pipe and knife, but the jury convicted him of two counts of armed robbery and two counts of murder.13
At the penalty stage before the same jury, neither side presented additional evidence.14 The trial judge instructed the jury that it could recommend either a death sentence or a life prison sentence on each count.15 The judge further charged the jury that in determining the sentence it was free to consider mitigating or aggravating circumstances.16 The judge instructed that death could not be imposed unless the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt one of the aggravating circumstances.17 The jury found the first and second aggravating circumstances and returned verdicts of death on each count.18 The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the convictions and the death sentences for murder after reviewing the record and comparing the sentences to similar cases, but it vacated the death sentences for armed robbery.19 The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari limited to the challenge to the death sentences under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.20
Whether the imposition of the sentence of death for the crime of murder under the law of Georgia violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution?21
The Eighth Amendment has been interpreted in a flexible and dynamic manner to accord with evolving standards of decency.22 It forbids the use of punishment that is excessive either in the amount or in the method of its infliction.23 The punishment of death does not invariably violate the Constitution when the sentencing procedures require the jury to consider the circumstances of the crime and the criminal and provide for automatic appeal to the state's highest court.24
No.25262728 The Georgia sentencing scheme requires the jury to consider the circumstances of the crime and the criminal before recommending sentence.29 It provides for automatic appeal of the death sentence to the state's highest court, which considers whether the sentence is disproportionate to the crime.30 In this case the jury found two statutory aggravating circumstances after hearing evidence that Gregg shot the victims during a robbery for pecuniary gain.31 The Georgia Supreme Court reviewed the record and compared the sentences to similar cases before affirming the death sentences for murder.32
The judgment of the Supreme Court of Georgia affirming the death sentence in this case should be affirmed.33
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Joined by Chief Justice Burger And Justice Rehnquist
Justice White concurs in the judgment of affirmance.34 He agrees that the Georgia sentencing scheme is constitutional because it provides for the exercise of guided discretion.35 The scheme requires the jury to find at least one statutory aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt before imposing death.36
The Georgia Supreme Court reviews each death sentence for proportionality and to ensure it was not imposed under passion or prejudice. In this case White agrees that the death penalty may be imposed under the new Georgia statutory scheme.37
Whether the punishment of death for the crime of murder violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments under all circumstances?38
The death penalty is not a form of punishment that may never be imposed, regardless of the circumstances of the offense, the procedure followed in reaching the decision, and the culpability of the offender.39 History and precedent support its constitutionality.40 It serves legitimate penological purposes of retribution and deterrence.41
No. The imposition of the death penalty for murder has a long history of acceptance in the United States and England.42 The Framers accepted it as the Fifth Amendment contemplates capital cases.43 Thirty-five states enacted new statutes providing for the death penalty after Furman.44 This indicates that contemporary standards of decency support capital punishment.45
The death penalty serves retribution by expressing society's moral outrage at particularly offensive conduct.46 It also serves deterrence for some categories of murder, although statistical studies are inconclusive.47
The punishment of death does not invariably violate the Constitution.
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Justice Blackmun concurs in the judgment.48 He refers to his dissenting opinion in Furman v. Georgia.49 In that dissent he expressed his views on the constitutionality of the death penalty under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.50
Blackmun maintains his position that the death penalty may be imposed under appropriate circumstances and procedures.51 He joins the judgment affirming the death sentences in this case.52
Whether the Georgia statutory system under which the petitioner was sentenced to death for murder is arbitrary, capricious, and irrational?53
A capital sentencing system that allows the sentencing authority unguided and unchecked discretion violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.54 The Georgia system avoids this constitutional defect by requiring specific jury findings of statutory aggravating circumstances and by providing for mandatory appellate review by the Supreme Court of Georgia for arbitrariness, support for aggravating circumstances, and proportionality.55
No. The Georgia statutory system requires the jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt one of ten statutory aggravating circumstances before imposing death.56 It allows consideration of any mitigating circumstances.57 It mandates that the Supreme Court of Georgia review every death sentence to determine if it was imposed under passion or prejudice, if the evidence supports the aggravating circumstance, and if the sentence is disproportionate to similar cases.58 In this case the jury found the murders were committed while engaged in armed robbery and for the purpose of receiving money and the automobile.59
The state supreme court conducted the required review and affirmed the sentences.60
The Georgia statutory system under which petitioner was sentenced to death for murder does not violate the Constitution on the ground that it is arbitrary, capricious, and irrational.61
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Justice Brennan dissents.62 He maintains that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment under all circumstances.63 The penalty is unusually severe and serves no penal purpose more effectively than a less severe punishment.64
It treats members of the human race as nonhumans and objects to be toyed with and discarded.65 This treatment violates the basic concept of human dignity that underlies the Eighth Amendment.66 Brennan would set aside the death sentences imposed in this case as violative of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.67
Whether the death penalty is a form of punishment that may never be imposed regardless of the circumstances of the offense, the procedure followed, and the culpability of the offender?68
No. The Georgia procedures guide the jury by requiring findings of aggravating circumstances and provide for appellate review.71 In this case the jury found the murders were committed during the commission of armed robberies and for pecuniary gain.72 These findings make the imposition appropriate under the circumstances of the offense and the culpability of the offender.73 The procedures satisfy the concerns identified in Furman.74
The death penalty is not a form of punishment that may never be imposed, regardless of the circumstances of the offense, the procedure followed in reaching the decision, and the culpability of the offender.
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Justice Marshall dissents.75 He argues that the death penalty is excessive because it is unnecessary to accomplish legitimate legislative purposes in punishment such as deterrence or retribution.76 An informed citizenry would reject the death penalty as morally unacceptable.77
The penalty is not necessary as a deterrent to crime.78 It is also unnecessary to further any legitimate notion of retribution.79 Marshall would hold that the death penalty is an excessive penalty forbidden by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.80