State v. Dixon

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

O’HERN, J.

In this capital case the State does not disagree that the death sentence must be vacated. Point XIII of the State’s brief summarizes the point:

Defendant contends that the trial court's charge during the penalty phase with respect to the jury’s consideration of mitigating factors was erroneous in that it required the jury to unanimously find an alleged mitigating factor before it could be considered. The State is constrained to agree that the court’s charge with respect to the need for juror unanimity before finding the existence of a…