finding the death penalty not disproportionate where it was imposed in four of five other cases in which a defendant was convicted of a prior violent felony resulting in the victim's death
How later courts described this case
- finding the death penalty not disproportionate where it was imposed in four of five other cases in which a defendant was convicted of a prior violent felony resulting in the victim's death
- finding death penalty proportionate where death penalty imposed in four of five other cases in which a defendant had been convicted of a prior violent felony resulting in the victim's death
- prosecutor may argue to the jury about the demeanor of a witness, a matter which is before it
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Justice FRYE
dissenting as to sentence.
For the reasons expressed in the Chief Justice’s dissenting opinion in State v. McKoy, 323 N.C. 1 , 372 S.E. 2d 12 (1988), which I joined, I believe the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Mills v. Maryland, 486 U.S. ---, 100 L.Ed. 2d 384 (1988), requires that defendant be given a new sentencing hearing. Accordingly, I dissent from that portion of the Court’s opinion which rejects defendant’s argument based upon the holding of Mills . I concur in the remainder of the Court’s opinion.