recognizing that "the exercise of discretion ... will be judged by the amount of time the jury deliberates in light of the nature of the case and the evidence"
How later courts described this case
- recognizing that "the exercise of discretion ... will be judged by the amount of time the jury deliberates in light of the nature of the case and the evidence"
- affirming trial court's capacity determination made in off-the-record conference with parties without conducting contradictory hearing
- regarding "presumption of regularity”, i.e., state courts presumably follow their own law and procedures
- first-degree felony murder conviction and death sentence upheld even though the jury found that the defendant was under the influence of mental or emotional disturbance when he committed the murder and that the defendant’s capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform to the requirements of law was impaired
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Justice Brennan and Justice Marshall,
dissenting.
Adhering to our views that the death penalty is in all circumstances cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U. S. 153, 227, 231 (1976), we would grant certiorari and vacate the death sentences in these cases.