Presnell v. Georgia

Background

A man was tried in Georgia for killing a child, kidnapping and sexually assaulting another child, and rape. The jury convicted him of rape, kidnapping with bodily injury, and murder, and imposed three death sentences. On appeal the Georgia Supreme Court threw out two death sentences because the jury’s rape verdict was ambiguous between forcible and statutory rape, but it left in place the kidnapping conviction and the murder sentence by relying on record evidence that the defendant had committed a forcible rape.

Reasoning

The central question was whether a state court may uphold a conviction or death sentence by using evidence of a crime the jury did not clearly find. The Court relied on earlier holdings that due process forbids affirming a conviction on an untried offense. It concluded the Georgia court could not constitutionally rely on a record-based finding of forcible rape to supply the “bodily injury” needed to make the kidnapping an aggravating circumstance. The Court therefore reversed the kidnapping conviction and vacated the murder death sentence and sent the case back for further proceedings consistent with this ruling.

Real world impact

The decision prevents states from using crimes the jury did not actually find to support a death sentence. The defendant’s kidnapping conviction and one death sentence were undone and the state must clarify or retry relevant issues. Two Justices separately noted they would abolish the death penalty altogether.

Dissents or concurrances

One Justice dissented, arguing the state court’s opinion was ambiguous and that the sodomy conviction might itself supply bodily injury, so the case should be sent back for clarification rather than vacating the sentence.