Socorro Susan Caro v. California
DueProcess
Does California's death penalty scheme violate the requirement under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments that every fact, other than a prior conviction, that serves to increase the statutory maximum penalty for a crime must be found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt?
QUESTION PRESENTED Does California’s death penalty scheme, which permits the trier of fact to impose a sentence of death without finding beyond a reasonable doubt (1) the existence of one or more aggravating circumstances; (2) that aggravating circumstances outweigh mitigating circumstances; and (3) that the aggravating circumstances are so substantial that they warrant death instead of life, violate the requirement under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments that every fact, other than a prior conviction, that serves to increase the statutory maximum penalty for a crime must be found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.