Fry v. Lopez

VIGIL, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

{1} In this case we revisit our statutory responsibility to ensure that the death penalty is reserved for the most heinous crimes. Since 1979, the New Mexico Legislature has directed this Court to ensure that "the death penalty shall not be imposed if ... the sentence of death is excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases." NMSA 1978, § 31-20A-4(C)(4) (1979, repealed 2009).

{2} In 2009, the Legislature abolished the death penalty as a sentencing option for murders committed after July 1, 2009.1 Today, *1092Petitioners Robert Fry and Timothy…