Lockhart v. Alabama

(1) Whether a judge"s death sentence, imposed by overriding a jury verdict for life imprisonment without parole, in part because the victim"s family asked for a death sentence, violates the Eighth Amendment"s prohibition on arbitrary and capricious death sentences; (2) whether judicial override, which has become isolated to Alabama and is increasingly rare even within Alabama, especially when the jury"s sentencing verdict is unanimous, now violates the Eighth Amendment because death sentences imposed in such a way constitute cruel and unusual punishment; and (3) whether, under Alabama"s capital sentencing scheme, the death penalty is only authorized if a determination is made that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances in the case, and whether, where a jury decides that aggravation does not outweigh mitigation, a trial judge"s decision to override that finding violates the defendant"s Sixth Amendment right to a jury verdict.