Dugger, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. v. Adams (489 U.S. 401)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 28, 1989 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 489 U.S. 401 · 109 S. Ct. 1211
- Decided
- February 28, 1989
- Term
- October Term 1988
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice White
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice White delivered the opinion of the Court. In this case we decide whether our decision in Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U. S. 320 (1985), provided cause for respondent’s failure to challenge the trial court’s instructions in accordance with state procedures. Respondent Aubrey Dennis Adams, Jr., was charged with the first-degree murder of 8-year-old Trisa Gail Thornley, and the State sought to impose the death penalty. At the start of jury selection for respondent’s trial, the trial judge undertook to instruct the prospective jurors on their “advisory” role under Florida law. The judge informed the initial panel of prospective jurors: “The Court is not bound by your recommendation. The ultimate responsibility for what this man gets is not on your shoulders. It’s on my shoulders. You are merely an advisory group to me in Phase Two. You can come back and say, Judge, we think you ought to give the man life. I can say, I disregard the recommendation of the Jury and I give him death. You can come back and say, Judge, we think he ought to be put to death. I can say, I disregard your recommendation and give him life. So that this conscience part of it as to whether or not you’re going to put the man to death or not, that is not your decision to make. That’s only my decision to make and it has to be on my conscience. It cannot be on yours.” App. 19-20. The judge had intended to…
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