State v. Winkle

CALLISTER, Chief Justice:

The defendant was convicted, by a jury, of first degree murder and sentenced to death by the trial court who, undoubtedly influenced by language contained in some of the nine separate opinions of Furman v. Georgia,1 refused to allow the jury an opportunity to recommend life imprisonment. At the time of the sentencing Section 76-30-4, U.C.A.19S3 provided:

Every person guilty of murder in the first degree shall suffer death, or, upon the recommendation of the jury, may be imprisoned at hard labor in the state prison for life, in the discretion of the court.

The foregoing…