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| Split Supreme Court Upholds Double Jeopardy Death Sentence |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 01/27/2003 |
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A divided U.S. Supreme Court upheld a death sentence Tuesday for a man tried twice for the same killing. David Sattazahn's first jury sentenced him to life in prison but the second jury sent him to death row. Sattazahn was convicted of the 1987 killing of a restaurant manager, but the jury deadlocked over whether to sentence him to death. Under Pennsylvania law the impasse automatically meant that Sattazahn got a life sentence. Sattazahn sought and won a new trial because of unrelated problems with the jury instructions given for his first trial. The second jury convicted Sattazahn anew, and prosecutors again asked for a death sentence. The Supreme Court's five-member conservative majority said that Pennsylvania prosecutors were well within their rights to seek a death sentence the second time. The four more liberal justices dissented, arguing that defendants in Sattazahn's position would face a 'perilous choice' over whether to appeal a life sentence. The Constitution guarantees that no one will be 'subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.' That means that once acquitted of a crime, someone cannot be tried over again. Double jeopardy protection does not apply in Sattazahn's case because the first jury did not acquit him, it merely could not agree on whether he deserved to die, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the court majority. If a defendant's first trial was flawed, however, a defendant in Sattazahn's position would face a 'perilous choice' of whether to appeal, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the dissenters. A defendant who faces the possibility of a death sentence may choose not to risk the appeal even if winning it could allow him or her to walk free. 'In other words, a defendant in Sattazahn's position must relinquish either her right to file a potentially meritorious appeal, or her state-granted entitlement to avoid the death penalty,' Ginsburg wrote. Sattazahn's case presented an extremely unusual circumstance, and it is unlikely the court's ruling will affect many other defendants. Still, the ruling is noteworthy as part of the court's broader look at the mechanics of the death penalty. |
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