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Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. 1 (1986)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. 1 (1986)
Skipper v. South Carolina No. 84-6859 Argued February 24, 1986 Decided April 29, 1986 476 U.S. 1
CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Syllabus
Petitioner was convicted of capital murder and rape after a jury trial in a South Carolina court. The State sought the death penalty, and a separate sentencing hearing was held before the trial jury. Following the State’s introduction of evidence in aggravation of the offense, petitioner presented as mitigating evidence his own testimony and that of his former wife, his mother, his sister, and his grandmother. He then sought to introduce testimony of two jailers and a "regular visitor" to the effect that he had "made a good adjustment" during the 7 1/2 months he had spent in jail between his arrest and trial. The trial court ruled such evidence irrelevant and inadmissible, and petitioner was sentenced to death. The South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence, rejecting petitioner’s contention that the trial court had committed constitutional error in excluding the testimony of the jailers and visitor.
Held: The trial court’s exclusion from the sentencing hearing of the testimony of the jailers and the visitor denied petitioner his right to place before the sentencing jury all relevant evidence in mitigation of punishment. Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586; Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104. Pp. 4-9.
(a) The record does not support the State’s contention that the trial court’s ruling was no more than an application of rules restricting the use of lay opinion testimony. Pp. 5-6.
(b) Nor is there any support in the record for the State’s contention that the trial court’s ruling was not improper because it did not prevent petitioner from introducing evidence of past good conduct in jail, but only foreclosed the introduction of "irrelevant" evidence of his future adaptability to prison life. Pp. 6-7.
(c) And, contrary to the State’s suggestion, it is implausible, on the facts, to characterize the excluded evidence as cumulative, and its exclusion as harmless error. Pp. 7-9.
285 S.C. 42, 328 S.E.2d 68, reversed and remanded.
WHITE, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BRENNAN, MARSHALL, BLACKMUN, STEVENS, and O’CONNOR, JJ., joined. POWELL, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which BURGER, C.J., and REHNQUIST, J., joined, post, p. 9.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. 1 (1986) in 476 U.S. 1 476 U.S. 2. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=RTLHRYDN5EKDJPR.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. 1 (1986), in 476 U.S. 1, page 476 U.S. 2. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=RTLHRYDN5EKDJPR.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. 1 (1986). cited in 1986, 476 U.S. 1, pp.476 U.S. 2. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=RTLHRYDN5EKDJPR.
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