Garden v. State

WALSH, Justice:

This is a direct appeal from the Superior Court’s imposition of a sentence of death upon the appellant, Sadiki Garden (“Garden”). Garden challenges his convictions on various procedural and evidentiary grounds but also asserts that the trial judge erred in overriding the jury’s recommendation in the weighing phase of the punishment determination. While we find no error in the guilt phase, we conclude that the trial judge erred in his consideration of the weight to be given to a jury’s determination that the aggravating factors did not outweigh the mitigating circumstances.…