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Commonwealth v. Boczkowski3/23/2004
The intervening dispute over appellant's partially successful motion in limine then changed the circumstances. The Commonwealth emphasizes that the fact that it prevailed upon its interlocutory appeal shows that it pursued that appeal in good faith. Because it did not seek the death penalty for an improper reason and because the aggravating circumstance unquestionably did exist by the time of trial, the Commonwealth concludes that appellant is entitled to no relief.
This Court's power of review of a sentence of death is summarized in the Sentencing Code as follows:
(h) Review of death sentence.--
(1) A sentence of death shall be subject to automatic review by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania pursuant to its rules.
(2) In addition to its authority to correct errors at trial, the Supreme Court shall either affirm the sentence of death or vacate the sentence of death and remand for further proceedings as provided in paragraph (4).
(3) The Supreme Court shall affirm the sentence of death unless it determines that:
(i) the sentence of death was the product of passion, prejudice or any other arbitrary factor; or
(ii) the evidence fails to support the finding of at least one aggravating circumstance specified in subsection (d)[.]
(iii) Deleted.
(4) If the Supreme Court determines that the death penalty must be vacated because none of the aggravating circumstances are supported by sufficient evidence, then it shall remand for the imposition of a life imprisonment sentence. If the Supreme Court determines that the death penalty must be vacated for any other reason, it shall remand for a new sentencing hearing pursuant to subsections (a) through (g).
42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(h). The Code thus recognizes this Court's inherent power to correct errors, id. § 9711(h)(2), and also suggests specific statutory bases for relief from a sentence of death. Id. § 9711(h)(3).
Upon review, we find that this sentence of death cannot stand under Section 9711(h)(3)( i)'s proscription against sentences that are the product of passion, prejudice or any other arbitrary factor. Our capital sentencing scheme encompasses two separate decisions, one governing eligibility and one governing selection. See Commonwealth v. Trivigno, 750 A.2d 243, 257 (Pa. 2000) (Saylor, J., joined by Zappala and Cappy, J., concurring) (citing Tuilaepa v. California, 512 U.S. 967, 971, 114 S.Ct. 2630, 2634 (1994)).
In the eligibility determination, the statutory scheme must narrow the class of persons for whom the death penalty applies and justify the imposition of such penalty as compared to others found guilty of murder. See Lowenfield v. Phelps, 484 U.S. 231, 244, 108 S.Ct. 546, 554, 98 L.Ed.2d 568 (1988). One means of narrowing the class is by prescribing aggravating circumstances that must exist before the death penalty can be imposed, which serves to appropriately channel the sentencer's discretion. See Blystone v. Pennsylvania, 494 U.S. 299, 306-07, 110 S.Ct. 1078, 1083, 108 L.Ed.2d 255 (1990). The selection decision is implicated when the sentencer decides whether a defendant who is eligible for the death penalty should in fact receive that sentence. See Tuilaepa, 512 U.S. at 972, 114 S.Ct. at 2635.
750 A.2d at 258. In Pennsylvania, of course, the Sentencing Code narrows the class of eligible person through a list of specific aggravating circumstances. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 9712(d) (specifying eighteen aggravating circumstances). The complaint here does not involve the selection decision by the jury, but the death eligibility stage: i.e., whether the circumstances under which appellant became dea
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