McKoy v. North Carolina

In this case we address the constitutionality of the unanimity requirement in North Carolina’s capital sentencing scheme. That requirement prevents the jury from considering, in deciding whether to impose the death penalty, any mitigating factor that the jury does not unanimously find. We hold that under our decision in Mills v. Maryland, 486 U. S. 367 (1988), North Carolina’s unanimity requirement violates the Constitution by preventing the sentencer from considering all mitigating evidence. We therefore vacate petitioner’s death sentence and remand for resentencing.

I

Petitioner Dock McKoy,…