540
Stevens, J., dissenting
supra, at 311). Lambrix does not contend that this exception applies to Espinosa errors, and our opinion in Sawyer v. Smith, 497 U. S., at 241-244, makes it quite clear that that is so.
* * *
For the reasons stated, the judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is
Affirmed.
Justice Stevens, with whom Justice Ginsburg and Justice Breyer join, dissenting.
Two propositions of law supported our holding in Espinosa v. Florida, 505 U. S. 1079 (1992) (per curiam): First, in a capital sentencing proceeding in a State where the sentencer weighs aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the Eighth Amendment is violated by a jury instruction that fails to define the "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel" (HAC) aggravating circumstance. Second, in a Florida sentencing proceeding the trial court must give " 'great weight' " to the jury's recommendation, whether it be for life or death. Id., at 1082. For these reasons, we concluded in Espinosa that constitutional error that taints the jury's recommendation presumptively taints the judge's sentence as well. Ibid. The two propositions supporting the Espinosa holding were well established when that case was decided. The first proposition dates back to 1980 when we decided Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U. S. 420, 428-429,1 and the second was announced by the Florida Supreme Court in
1 Godfrey, of course, held that Georgia's "outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible and inhuman" aggravating factor failed to adequately channel the jury's discretion. See 446 U. S., at 428-429. We found the "heinous, atrocious or cruel" aggravator unconstitutional in Maynard v. Cartwright, 486 U. S. 356, 359 (1988), and subsequently noted that application of Godfrey to the HAC instruction did not create a new rule. See Stringer v. Black, 503 U. S. 222, 228-229 (1992).
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