South Carolina v. Gathers

Background

Demetrius Gathers was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for killing Richard Haynes. Haynes was a vulnerable man who carried religious items and a voter registration card and also had a short tract called the “Game Guy’s Prayer.” Those items were admitted into evidence without objection. At the sentencing phase the prosecutor read the prayer and argued the victim’s religious character and voter card showed the harm done, and the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed the death sentence relying on this Court’s earlier decision in Booth v. Maryland.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the jury could consider the victim’s personal characteristics when deciding whether to impose death. The Court held that Booth controls: juries may not rely on information about a victim’s personal qualities when that information is unrelated to the defendant’s blameworthiness. Here the Court found no evidence the defendant read the papers, the items were fortuitous, and the brief, dark-night rummaging did not make the content relevant to the crime. Because the prosecutor went beyond permissible comment about the circumstances, the Court affirmed the reversal of the death sentence.

Real world impact

The decision limits what prosecutors may put before juries in capital sentencing about a victim’s private life unless those facts clearly relate to the crime. Prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges must focus on material tied to the defendant’s moral culpability. Some death sentences affected by similar victim-character arguments may require new sentencing proceedings.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice White concurred. Justices O’Connor (joined by the Chief Justice and Justice Kennedy) and Scalia dissented, arguing Booth was wrongly decided and that some victim information is relevant to the harm caused and therefore should be admissible.