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Olsen v. State4/14/2003
r a capital defendant's life is not admissible evidence because it does not pertain to that defendant's background, character, record, or the specific circumstances of the offense.
[ ] To be constitutional, a capital sentencing scheme must allow the sentencing authority to consider any relevant mitigating evidence regarding the defendant's character and background and the circumstances of the offense. Boyde, 494 U.S. at 377, 110 S.Ct. at 1196. Wyoming's statute defines a number of mitigating circumstances and includes a "catch-all" mitigating circumstances category permitting "[a]ny other fact or circumstance of the defendant's character or prior record or matter surrounding his offense which serves to mitigate his culpability." § 6-2-102(j)(viii). The plain language of this subsection indicates that this list is only a guide and not exclusive, signifying that in the sentencing phase of a death penalty trial the trial court has broad discretion to allow any evidence relevant to mitigating circumstances, and that, generally, a trial court will be within its discretion in admitting all mitigating evidence relating to the individual defendant.
[ ] Character is generally considered the sum of those attributes and features that make up and distinguish an individual. Merriam Websters Collegiate Dictionary 191 (10 th ed. 2000). The question before us is whether a witness's opinion as to whether the defendant should receive the death penalty is relevant mitigating evidence of the defendant's character. Olsen does not provide direct authority on the issue, and we found only two decisions addressing the issue. In State v. Moore, 585 A.2d 864, 894 (N.J. 1991), that court determined that
[a] witness's opinion on what punishment is appropriate reveals only the witness's own state of mind. It cannot reveal defendant's character beyond whatever may be inferred from admitted testimony on the witness's love for him.
That decision recognized, however, that although a trial court has the discretion to exclude a witness's opinion on an appropriate punishment, it is uniquely natural and human for some witnesses, especially close family members, to wish to plead for mercy. Given the impermissible inferences that might arise if a close relative did not plead for mercy while testifying, it was within the trial court's discretion to permit the testimony of one such as defendant's mother, as long as it was not cumulative. Id.
Georgia approaches the issue differently and applies the following rule:
although a defendant may present witnesses who know and care for him and are willing on that basis to ask for mercy on his behalf, a defendant may not present witnesses to testify merely to their religious or philosophical attitudes about the death penalty. Nor is a defendant entitled to present the opinion of a witness about what verdict the jury "ought" to reach. Childs v. State, 357 S.E.2d 48, 60 (Ga. 1987) (citations omitted); State v. Torrence, 406 S.E.2d 315, 318 (S.C. 1991); see also Barnes v. State, 496 S.E.2d 674, 688-89 (Ga. 1998).
[ ] By limiting mitigating evidence to that which is relevant to a defendant's character, it appears that Wyoming's statute intended to prohibit pleas for the defendant's life, pleas for mercy, and a witness's opinion about the appropriate sentence. Like victim impact evidence, such pleas and opinion are not evidence relevant under Wyoming's death penalty statutory scheme. However, we agree with the New Jersey court that, where a trial court determines that impermissible inferences would arise if family or friends were not to make a plea for mercy, it should permit the testimony unless unduly cumulative under the constitutional rule that evidence mus
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