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5-4-616. Procedures following remand of capital case after vacation of death sentence — Retroactive application.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
5-4-616. Procedures following remand of capital case after vacation of death sentence — Retroactive application.
(a) Notwithstanding § 5-4-602(3) that requires that the same jury sit in the sentencing phase of a capital murder trial, the following shall apply:
(1)(A) Upon any appeal by the defendant when the sentence is of death, if the appellate court finds prejudicial error in the sentencing proceeding only, the appellate court may set aside the sentence of death and remand the case to the trial court in the jurisdiction in which the defendant was originally sentenced.
(B) No error in the sentencing proceeding shall result in the reversal of the conviction for a capital felony.
(C) When a capital case is remanded after vacation of a death sentence, the prosecutor may move the trial court to:
(i) Impose a sentence of life without parole, and the trial court may impose the sentence of life without parole without a hearing; or
(ii) Impanel a new sentencing jury;
(2) If the prosecutor elects subdivision (a)(1)(C)(ii) of this section the trial court shall impanel a new jury for the purpose of conducting a new sentencing proceeding;
(3) A new sentencing proceeding is governed by the provisions of § 5-4-602(4) and (5) and §§ 5-4-603 — 5-4-605;
(4)(A) Any exhibit and a transcript of any testimony or other evidence properly admitted in the prior trial and sentencing is admissible in the new sentencing proceeding.
(B) Additional relevant evidence may be admitted including testimony of a witness who testified at the previous trial; and
(5) The provisions of this section:
(A) Are procedural; and
(B) Apply retroactively to any defendant sentenced to death after January 1, 1974.
(b) This section shall not be construed to amend a provision of § 5-4-602 re
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 5-4-616
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
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Stable record: arkansas_code:legal_authorities:5-4-616
Source file: gov.ar.code.title.05.odt
Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded
Passage SHA-256: b5724c1e5b67561a20c4a70b865662135b5d4ad77bacad56168379aed386fe09
Source location: content.xml paragraph 6519
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5-4-616. Procedures following remand of capital case after vacation of death sentence — Retroactive application.
(a) Notwithstanding § 5-4-602(3) that requires that the same jury sit in the sentencing phase of a capital murder trial, the following shall apply:
(1)(A) Upon any appeal by the defendant when the sentence is of death, if the appellate court finds prejudicial error in the sentencing proceeding only, the appellate court may set aside the sentence of death and remand the case to the trial court in the jurisdiction in which the defendant was originally sentenced.
(B) No error in the sentencing proceeding shall result in the reversal of the conviction for a capital felony.
(C) When a capital case is remanded after vacation of a death sentence, the prosecutor may move the trial court to:
(i) Impose a sentence of life without parole, and the trial court may impose the sentence of life without parole without a hearing; or
(ii) Impanel a new sentencing jury;
(2) If the prosecutor elects subdivision (a)(1)(C)(ii) of this section the trial court shall impanel a new jury for the purpose of conducting a new sentencing proceeding;
(3) A new sentencing proceeding is governed by the provisions of § 5-4-602(4) and (5) and §§ 5-4-603 — 5-4-605;
(4)(A) Any exhibit and a transcript of any testimony or other evidence properly admitted in the prior trial and sentencing is admissible in the new sentencing proceeding.
(B) Additional relevant evidence may be admitted including testimony of a witness who testified at the previous trial; and
(5) The provisions of this section:
(A) Are procedural; and
(B) Apply retroactively to any defendant sentenced to death after January 1, 1974.
(b) This section shall not be construed to amend a provision of § 5-4-602 requiring the same jury to sit in both the guilt and sentencing phases of the original trial.
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Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
5-4-602. Capital murder charge — Trial procedure.
The following procedures govern a trial of a person charged with capital murder:
(1) The jury shall first hear all evidence relevant to the charge and shall then retire to reach a verdict of guilt or innocence;
(2) If the defendant is found not guilty of the capital offense charged but guilty of a lesser included offense, the sentence shall be determined and imposed as provided by law;
(3)(A) If the defendant is found guilty of capital murder, the same jury shall sit again in order to:
(i) Hear additional evidence as provided by subdivisions (4) and (5) of this section; and
(ii) Determine the sentence in the manner provided by § 5-4-603.
(B) However, if the state waives the death penalty, stipulates that no aggravating circumstance exists, or stipulates that mitigating circumstances outweigh aggravating circumstances, then:
(i) A hearing under subdivision (3)(A) of this section is not required; and
(ii) The trial court shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole.
(C) If the defendant was less than eighteen (18) years of age at the time of the offense, then a hearing under subdivision (3)(A) of this section is not required;
(4)(A) If the defendant and the state are accorded an opportunity to rebut the evidence, in determining the sentence evidence may be presented to the jury as to any:
(i) Matter relating to an aggravating circumstance enumerated in § 5-4-604;
(ii) Mitigating circumstance; or
(iii) Other matter relevant to punishment, including, but not limited to, victim impact evidence.
(B)(i) Evidence as to any mitigating circumstance may be presented by either the state or the defendant regardless of the evidence's admissibility under the rules governing admission of
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 5-4-602
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 5-4-602. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
5-4-603. Findings required for death sentence — Harmless error review.
(a) The jury shall impose a sentence of death if the jury unanimously returns written findings that:
(1) An aggravating circumstance exists beyond a reasonable doubt;
(2) Aggravating circumstances outweigh beyond a reasonable doubt all mitigating circumstances found to exist; and
(3) Aggravating circumstances justify a sentence of death beyond a reasonable doubt.
(b) The jury shall impose a sentence of life imprisonment without parole if the jury finds that:
(1) Aggravating circumstances do not exist beyond a reasonable doubt;
(2) Aggravating circumstances do not outweigh beyond a reasonable doubt all mitigating circumstances found to exist; or
(3) Aggravating circumstances do not justify a sentence of death beyond a reasonable doubt.
(c) If the jury does not make any finding required by subsection (a) of this section, the court shall impose a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.
(d)(1) On an appellate review of a death sentence, the Supreme Court shall conduct a harmless error review of the defendant's death sentence if:
(A) The Supreme Court finds that the jury erred in finding the existence of any aggravating circumstance for any reason; and
(B) The jury found no mitigating circumstance.
(2) The Supreme Court shall conduct a harmless error review under subdivision (d)(1) of this section by determining that a remaining aggravating circumstance:
(A) Exists beyond a reasonable doubt; and
(B) Justifies a sentence of death beyond a reasonable doubt.
(e) If the Supreme Court concludes that the erroneous finding of any aggravating circumstance by the jury would not have changed the jury's decision to impose the death penalty on the defendant, then a simple major
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 5-4-603
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 5-4-603. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
5-4-605. Mitigating circumstances.
A mitigating circumstance includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) The capital murder was committed while the defendant was under extreme mental or emotional disturbance;
(2) The capital murder was committed while the defendant was acting under an unusual pressure or influence or under the domination of another person;
(3) The capital murder was committed while the capacity of the defendant to appreciate the wrongfulness of his or her conduct or to conform his or her conduct to the requirements of law was impaired as a result of mental disease or defect, intoxication, or drug abuse;
(4) The youth of the defendant at the time of the commission of the capital murder;
(5) The capital murder was committed by another person and the defendant was an accomplice and his or her participation was relatively minor; or
(6) The defendant has no significant history of prior criminal activity.
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 5-4-605
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 5-4-605. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.