Cite as: 506 U. S. 40 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
tain. See, e. g., Stringer v. Black, 503 U. S. 222, 229-232 (1992); Clemons v. Mississippi, supra, at 748-752. Third, a state appellate court may rely upon an adequate narrowing construction of the factor in curing this error. See Lewis v. Jeffers, 497 U. S. 764 (1990); Walton v. Arizona, 497 U. S. 639 (1990). Finally, in federal habeas corpus proceedings, the state court's application of the narrowing construction should be reviewed under the "rational factfinder" standard of Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (1979). See Lewis v. Jeffers, supra, at 781.
Arizona's "especially heinous, cruel or depraved" factor was at issue in Walton v. Arizona, supra. As we explained, "there is no serious argument that [this factor] is not facially vague." 497 U. S., at 654. Respondents do not argue that the factor had been narrowed adequately prior to petitioner's resentencing. Thus it would have been error for Judge Roylston to give weight to the (F)(6) factor, if he indeed balanced the aggravating and mitigating factors in resentencing petitioner, and respondents now agree that the judge did engage in this weighing process. See Brief for Respondents 44 ("Arizona Is a Weighing State"). The Arizona sentencing statute provides:
"In determining whether to impose a sentence of death . . . the court shall take into account the aggravating and mitigating circumstances included in . . . this section and shall impose a sentence of death if the court finds one or more of the aggravating circumstances . . . and that there are no mitigating circumstances sufficiently substantial to call for leniency." Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13-703(E) (1989).
This provision governed petitioner's resentencing and remains unamended in relevant part. Read most naturally, it requires the sentencer to weigh aggravating and mitigating circumstances—to determine the relative "substan[ce]" of the two kinds of factors. And the provision has been con-
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