§3593 — Title 18 Crimes and Criminal Procedure | U.S. Code

Summary

The government must tell the court and the defendant ahead of time if it plans to seek the death penalty. The notice must be filed a reasonable time before trial or before a guilty plea is accepted and must say the government will seek death and list the aggravating facts it plans to prove. If that notice is filed and the defendant is convicted or pleads guilty, there must be a separate sentencing hearing. The hearing is usually before the jury that decided guilt, or a new jury, or sometimes the judge alone if the defendant asks and the government agrees. No presentence report is prepared. At the hearing each side may present any information about aggravating or mitigating factors. Rules of evidence are relaxed, but material can be kept out if it would unfairly prejudice or confuse the jury. The government must prove aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant must prove mitigating factors by a preponderance of the information. Aggravating findings must be unanimous; a juror may alone find a mitigating fact and have that count. If no aggravating factor is found, the court must impose a sentence other than death. Before jurors decide, the court must tell them not to consider race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, and jurors must sign a statement saying those things did not affect their decision.

Title 18, §3593

Crimes and Criminal Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)If, in a case involving an offense described in section 3591, the attorney for the government believes that the circumstances of the offense are such that a sentence of death is justified under this chapter, the attorney shall, a reasonable time before the trial or before acceptance by the court of a plea of guilty, sign and file with the court, and serve on the defendant, a notice—

(1)stating that the government believes that the circumstances of the offense are such that, if the defendant is convicted, a sentence of death is justified under this chapter and that the government will seek the sentence of death; and

(2)setting forth the aggravating factor or factors that the government, if the defendant is convicted, proposes to prove as justifying a sentence of death.

(b)If the attorney for the government has filed a notice as required under subsection (a) and the defendant is found guilty of or pleads guilty to an offense described in section 3591, the judge who presided at the trial or before whom the guilty plea was entered, or another judge if that judge is unavailable, shall conduct a separate sentencing hearing to determine the punishment to be imposed. The hearing shall be conducted—

(1)before the jury that determined the defendant’s guilt;

(2)before a jury impaneled for the purpose of the hearing if—

(A)the defendant was convicted upon a plea of guilty;

(B)the defendant was convicted after a trial before the court sitting without a jury;

(C)the jury that determined the defendant’s guilt was discharged for good cause; or

(D)after initial imposition of a sentence under this section, reconsideration of the sentence under this section is necessary; or

(3)before the court alone, upon the motion of the defendant and with the approval of the attorney for the government.

(c)Notwithstanding rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, when a defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty to an offense under section 3591, no presentence report shall be prepared. At the sentencing hearing, information may be presented as to any matter relevant to the sentence, including any mitigating or aggravating factor permitted or required to be considered under section 3592. Information presented may include the trial transcript and exhibits if the hearing is held before a jury or judge not present during the trial, or at the trial judge’s discretion. The defendant may present any information relevant to a mitigating factor. The government may present any information relevant to an aggravating factor for which notice has been provided under subsection (a). Information is admissible regardless of its admissibility under the rules governing admission of evidence at criminal trials except that information may be excluded if its probative value is outweighed by the danger of creating unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, or misleading the jury. For the purposes of the preceding sentence, the fact that a victim, as defined in section 3510, attended or observed the trial shall not be construed to pose a danger of creating unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, or misleading the jury. The government and the defendant shall be permitted to rebut any information received at the hearing, and shall be given fair opportunity to present argument as to the adequacy of the information to establish the existence of any aggravating or mitigating factor, and as to the appropriateness in the case of imposing a sentence of death. The government shall open the argument. The defendant shall be permitted to reply. The government shall then be permitted to reply in rebuttal. The burden of establishing the existence of any aggravating factor is on the government, and is not satisfied unless the existence of such a factor is established beyond a reasonable doubt. The burden of establishing the existence of any mitigating factor is on the defendant, and is not satisfied unless the existence of such a factor is established by a preponderance of the information.

(d)The jury, or if there is no jury, the court, shall consider all the information received during the hearing. It shall return special findings identifying any aggravating factor or factors set forth in section 3592 found to exist and any other aggravating factor for which notice has been provided under subsection (a) found to exist. A finding with respect to a mitigating factor may be made by 1 or more members of the jury, and any member of the jury who finds the existence of a mitigating factor may consider such factor established for purposes of this section regardless of the number of jurors who concur that the factor has been established. A finding with respect to any aggravating factor must be unanimous. If no aggravating factor set forth in section 3592 is found to exist, the court shall impose a sentence other than death authorized by law.

(e)If, in the case of—

(1)an offense described in section 3591(a)(1), an aggravating factor required to be considered under section 3592(b) is found to exist;

(2)an offense described in section 3591(a)(2), an aggravating factor required to be considered under section 3592(c) is found to exist; or

(3)an offense described in section 3591(b), an aggravating factor required to be considered under section 3592(d) is found to exist,

(f)In a hearing held before a jury, the court, prior to the return of a finding under subsection (e), shall instruct the jury that, in considering whether a sentence of death is justified, it shall not consider the race, color, religious beliefs, national origin, or sex of the defendant or of any victim and that the jury is not to recommend a sentence of death unless it has concluded that it would recommend a sentence of death for the crime in question no matter what the race, color, religious beliefs, national origin, or sex of the defendant or of any victim may be. The jury, upon return of a finding under subsection (e), shall also return to the court a certificate, signed by each juror, that consideration of the race, color, religious beliefs, national origin, or sex of the defendant or any victim was not involved in reaching his or her individual decision and that the individual juror would have made the same recommendation regarding a sentence for the crime in question no matter what the race, color, religious beliefs, national origin, or sex of the defendant or any victim may be.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, referred to in subsec. (c), are set out in the Appendix to this title.

Amendments

2002—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107–273 substituted “rule 32” for “rule 32(c)” in first sentence. 1997—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 105–6 inserted “For the purposes of the preceding sentence, the fact that a victim, as defined in section 3510, attended or observed the trial shall not be construed to pose a danger of creating unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, or misleading the jury.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1997 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 105–6 applicable to cases pending on Mar. 19, 1997, see section 2(d) of Pub. L. 105–6, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 3510 of this title.

§3593 Special hearing to determine whether a sentence of death is justified

Summary

Title 18, §3593

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Effective Date

Citations & Metadata