Double-Take at Double Jeopardy: Schiro v. Farley, A
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Authors
Wood, Nancy A.
Issue Date
1995
Volume
28
Issue
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
INTRODUCTION|Thomas Schiro awaits execution in the State of Indiana for a murder he committed in 1981. At his trial, the State of Indiana charged Schiro with three counts of murder. The jury found Schiro guilty on a count of felony murder but did not return a verdict on a count of intentional murder. At his sentencing hearing, the State asked the jury to recommend the death penalty by finding an aggravating circumstance of intentional murder. The jury unanimously recommended to the trial judge that the death penalty not be imposed. However, the judge overrode the jury's recommendation and sentenced Schiro to death.|On January 19, 1994, after numerous appeals, the United States Supreme Court in Schiro v. Farley affirmed the death sentence of Schiro. The Supreme Court held that Schiro's capital sentencing hearing and his judge-imposed capital sentence did not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution as applied through the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court's analysis focused more on detailing the gruesome facts surrounding the murder than on developing its jurisprudence of the Double Jeopardy Clause.|This Note will first explain how the Court reached its holding in Schiro. This Note will then examine the development of the case law addressing Schiro's two double jeopardy arguments: that his sentencing hearing amounted to a subsequent prosecution and that his capital sentence violated principles of constitutional collateral estoppel. This Note will then explore the deference afforded to jury decisions in capital proceedings. This Note concludes that had the Court faithfully applied its previous double jeopardy holdings, it would have overturned Schiro's judge-imposed death sentence...
Description
Citation
28 Creighton L. Rev. 445 (1994-1995)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law