Cite as: 530 U. S. 156 (2000)
Stevens, J., dissenting
the record. Id., at 520-521, 450 S. E. 2d, at 361. The trial judge signed the entry of the judgment in the Domino's Pizza case 19 days after the end of the sentencing phase in Ramdass' capital murder proceeding. Ante, at 160. Therefore, the Virginia Supreme Court held that at the time "when the jury was considering [petitioner's] sentence" in the capital murder case, Ramdass was "not ineligible for parole" under state law, and thus Simmons was inapplicable.
II
The plurality begins by stating what it thinks is the rule established in Simmons: "The parole-ineligibility instruction is required only when, assuming the jury fixes the sentence at life, the defendant is ineligible for parole under state law." Ante, at 166. The plurality also adds a proviso: The defendant must be parole ineligible at the time of sentencing.4 Given that understanding, the plurality says "[m]aterial differences exist between this case and Simmons." Ante, at 167. But the differences to which the plurality points do not distinguish this case from Simmons.
The first asserted distinction is that, as the Virginia Supreme Court stated, Ramdass was not parole ineligible under state law at the time of sentencing. Ramdass might
4 Though the plurality does not include the proviso in its initial statement of the rule in Simmons, it repeats this requirement no less than 20 times in its 20-page opinion. See ante, at 159 ("when the jury considered his case"), 161 ("at the time of the capital sentencing trial"), 163-164 ("at the time of the jury's death penalty deliberations"), 164 ("when the jury was considering his sentence"), ibid. ("at the time of the sentencing trial"), ibid. ("at the time of his trial"), ibid. ("at the time of sentencing"), 165 ("at the time of the jury's future dangerousness deliberations"), 166 ("when the jury deliberated his sentence"), ibid. ("at the time of the sentencing trial"), 167 ("when the jury considered his sentence"), ibid. ("at the time of sentencing"), ibid. ("at the time of his sentencing trial"), ibid. (same), 168 ("at the time of the sentencing trial"), ibid. (same), ibid. ("at the time of his sentencing trial"), 169 ("at the time of his trial"), 171 ("at the time of his trial"), 176 ("at the time of trial").
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