Exam 9: Aggravating and Mitigating Factors in Death Penalty Cases

The Court has held that anything can be admitted as a mitigating and aggravating factor and that such factors should be considered in the sentencing phase.

Structured discretion statutes require:

In Gregg v. Georgia, the Court indicated that the death penalty is to be reserved for only the most ________ acts of ________.

Some scholars have pointed out that future dangerousness is "always at issue" in capital cases.

Jury unanimity is required in regard to mitigating factors, and they must have supporting evidence.

Which case held that testimony about the victim and the impact of the crime on the victim's family is admissible as an aggravating factor in capital cases?

Mitigating factors focus on characteristics of a defendant such as:

Many capital cases heard by the Supreme Court have revolved around procedural and statutory issues involving aggravating and mitigating circumstances.

Structured discretion statutes are the rarest form of death penalty statutes.

Unanimity is not required for ____________ factors to be considered, while for __________ factors there must be a unanimous determination by the jury for such a factor to be present.

What are aggravating factors often based on?

Aggravating-only statues require the jury to first consider whether any aggravating factors exist.

One reason for not imposing the death penalty may be a jury finding that mitigating factors are present.

Mitigating circumstances are those that provide some level of explanation or justification (but not excuse or defense of the act) for the murder and are reserved for the __________ phase of capital trials.

Unanimity is not required for a mitigating factor to be considered, while for an aggravating factor the jury must be unanimous in its determination of the presence of such a factor.

The landmark case Payne v. Tennessee concluded that the admission of victim impact statements in the sentencing phase of a capital trial does not constitute a violation of the 8^th Amendment.

________ circumstances are factors that provide some level of explanation or justification (but not excuse or defense of the act) for the murder.

What are the two primary functions of aggravating factors?

In ________________, the Court upheld that psychiatric testimony about the future dangerousness of the defendant is an aggravating factor justifying the sentence of death.

The Court has generally held that virtually anything can be admitted as a _________ factor and that such factors must be considered by the sentencing authority at any stage of the process.