Cite as: 512 U. S. 1 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
Lee Ann Jones Peters argued the cause for petitioner. With her on the briefs was Robert A. Ravitz. A. Diane Blalock, Assistant Attorney General of Oklahoma, argued the cause for respondent. With her on the brief was Sandra D. Howard, Assistant Attorney General.*
Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.
Petitioner murdered and robbed Roger Sarfaty in 1985. In 1986, he murdered and robbed Lloyd Thompson. Petitioner was tried separately for each murder. The Thompson trial occurred first, and an Oklahoma jury found petitioner guilty and sentenced him to death. Petitioner was then tried for the Sarfaty murder. A different Oklahoma jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death. During the sentencing phase of the Sarfaty trial, the State introduced a copy of the judgment and sentence petitioner received for the Thompson murder. Petitioner contends that the admission of evidence regarding his prior death sentence undermined the Sarfaty jury's sense of responsibility for determining the appropriateness of the death penalty, in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. We disagree and hold that the admission of this evidence did not amount to constitutional error.
In Oklahoma, capital trials are bifurcated into guilt and sentencing phases. Okla. Stat., Tit. 21, § 701.10 (1981). The
*A brief of amici curiae urging affirmance was filed for the State of Ohio et al. by Lee Fisher, Attorney General of Ohio, Richard A. Cordray, State Solicitor, Simon B. Karas, Deputy Chief Counsel, and Cordelia A. Glenn and Mary L. Hollern, Assistant Attorneys General, and by the Attorneys General for their respective States as follows: Winston Bryant of Arkansas, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Charles M. Oberly III of Delaware, Pamela Carter of Indiana, Mike Moore of Mississippi, Joseph P. Mazurek of Montana, Don Stenberg of Nebraska, Ernest D. Preate, Jr., of Pennsylvania, T. Travis Medlock of South Carolina, and Stephen D. Rosenthal of Virginia.
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