Hitchcock v. Dugger, Florida Department of Corrections (481 U.S. 393)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 22, 1987 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 481 U.S. 393 · 107 S. Ct. 1821
- Decided
- April 22, 1987
- Term
- October Term 1986
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Scalia
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court. We have held that in capital cases, “‘the sentenced” may not refuse to consider or “ ‘be precluded from considering’ ” any relevant mitigating evidence. Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U. S. 1, 4 (1986) (quoting Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U. S. 104, 114 (1982)). See also Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U. S. 586, 604 (1978) (plurality opinion). Certiorari was granted in the present case to consider petitioner’s contention that he was sentenced to death under a Florida statute that operated in a manner inconsistent with this requirement. 476 U. S. 1168 (1986). H On July 31, 1976, 13-year-old Cynthia Driggers was strangled to death. At the time of the murder, both Cynthia and petitioner resided with Richard Hitchcock, who was Cynthia’s stepfather and petitioner’s brother. Petitioner initially confessed to the murder, stating that he had killed Cynthia after she threatened to tell her parents that she and petitioner had engaged in consensual sexual intercourse. At his trial for first-degree murder, however, petitioner recanted and testified that it was his brother Richard who murdered Cynthia, after finding out about the intercourse. The State contended that petitioner had sexually assaulted Cynthia and then murdered her to avoid discovery. Petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. After unsuccessful appeals and…
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