Garcia v. Illinois, No. 83-5933

CourtUnited States Supreme Court
Writing for the CourtMARSHALL
Citation467 U.S. 1260,104 S.Ct. 3555,82 L.Ed.2d 856
PartiesLuis GARCIA v. ILLINOIS
Docket NumberNo. 83-5933
Decision Date25 June 1984

467 U.S. 1260
104 S.Ct. 3555
82 L.Ed.2d 856
Luis GARCIA

v.

ILLINOIS.

No. 83-5933.

Supreme Court of the United States

June 25, 1984.

On petition for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of Illinois.

The petition for writ of certiorari is denied.

Justice MARSHALL, with whom Justice BRENNAN joins, dissenting.

Petitioner was charged with committing a variety of crimes with an accomplice, including four murders. He was convicted, sentenced to death, and his conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Supreme Court of Illinois. 97 Ill.2d 58, 73 Ill.Dec. 414, 454 N.E.2d 274 (1983).

According to the Supreme Court of Illinois, the jurors were instructed that they could return guilty verdicts on the charges against petitioner "if they found that [he] had actually committed the crimes, or, alternatively, if they found that he was legally responsible for the conduct of the perpetrator under the Illinois accountability statute." Id., at 83, 73 Ill.Dec., at 424, 454 N.E.2d, at 284.a1 The Illinois Supreme Court concluded that the general verdict returned by the jury failed "to reveal whether the jury found him guilty of actually killing anyone or whether he was convicted on the basis of accountability." Id., at 84, 73 Ill.Dec., at 424, 454 N.E.2d, at 284. The Illinois Supreme Court held, however, that "[e]ven if we were to assume that [petitioner's] murder convictions rested in part or completely on a theory of accountability, the imposition of the death sentence under the circumstances present here was permissible." Ibid. The death sentence would be permissible because, in the eyes of the Illinois Supreme Court, "the uncontroverted evidence presented at trial concerning [petitioner's] conduct . . . clearly demonstrates that [petitioner] intended that lethal force would be employed." Id., at 85, 73 Ill.Dec., at 425, 424 N.E.2d, at 285.

Page 1260-Continued.

The Illinois Supreme Court was compelled to make this finding in order to preserve the State's imposition of the death penalty upon petitioner. The compulsion derived from this Court's decision in Enmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782, 102 S.Ct. 3368, 73 L.Ed.2d 1140 (1982). In Enmund this Court recognized "[s]ociety's rejection of the death penalty for accomplice liability in felony murders," id., at 794, 102 S.Ct., at 3375, by holding that the Eighth Amendment as incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits States from imposing the death penalty in the absence of a finding that a...

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57 practice notes
  • People v. Lego, No. 59908
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Illinois
    • 20 Febrero 1987
    ...469 U.S. 894, 105 S.Ct. 271, 83 L.Ed.2d 207; People v. Garcia (1983), 97 Ill.2d 58, 73 Ill.Dec. 414, 454 N.E.2d 274, cert. denied (1984), 467 U.S. 1260, 104 S.Ct. 3555, 82 L.Ed.2d 856), and the argument that the discretion vested in the prosecutor whether to seek the death penalty results i......
  • Flying Tiger Line v. Cent. States Pension Fund, Civ. A. No. 86-304-CMW.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 3th Circuit. United States District Court (Delaware)
    • 6 Febrero 1989
    ...Textile Workers Pension Fund v. Standard Dye & Finishing Co., 725 F.2d 843, 854 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1259, 104 S.Ct. 3554, 82 L.Ed.2d 856 (1984); Republic Industries v. Teamsters Joint Council No. 83, 718 F.2d 628, 641-42 (4th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1259, 104 S.Ct. 3......
  • Blackwelder v. Safnauer, No. 86-CV-1208.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Court of Northern District of New York
    • 17 Junio 1988
    ...Textile Workers Pension Fund v. Standard Dye & Finishing Co., 725 F.2d 843, 856 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1259, 104 S.Ct. 3554, 82 L.Ed.2d 856 (1984).21 However, they do establish a comparative standard that makes direct reference to the minimum educational standards that must be ma......
  • Templeton Coal Co., Inc. v. Shalala, No. TH 93-158-C-T/H.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 7th Circuit. United States District Court (Southern District of Indiana)
    • 4 Abril 1995
    ...denied sub nom. Sibley, Lindsay & Curr v. Bakery, Confectionery & Tobacco Workers Int'l Union of Am., 467 U.S. 1259, 104 S.Ct. 3554, 82 L.Ed.2d 856 (1984) (finding that the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendment's Act ("MPPAA"), requiring employers to pay a proportionate share of a multiemplo......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
57 cases
  • People v. Lego, No. 59908
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Illinois
    • 20 Febrero 1987
    ...469 U.S. 894, 105 S.Ct. 271, 83 L.Ed.2d 207; People v. Garcia (1983), 97 Ill.2d 58, 73 Ill.Dec. 414, 454 N.E.2d 274, cert. denied (1984), 467 U.S. 1260, 104 S.Ct. 3555, 82 L.Ed.2d 856), and the argument that the discretion vested in the prosecutor whether to seek the death penalty results i......
  • Flying Tiger Line v. Cent. States Pension Fund, Civ. A. No. 86-304-CMW.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 3th Circuit. United States District Court (Delaware)
    • 6 Febrero 1989
    ...Textile Workers Pension Fund v. Standard Dye & Finishing Co., 725 F.2d 843, 854 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1259, 104 S.Ct. 3554, 82 L.Ed.2d 856 (1984); Republic Industries v. Teamsters Joint Council No. 83, 718 F.2d 628, 641-42 (4th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1259, 104 S.Ct. 3......
  • Blackwelder v. Safnauer, No. 86-CV-1208.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Court of Northern District of New York
    • 17 Junio 1988
    ...Textile Workers Pension Fund v. Standard Dye & Finishing Co., 725 F.2d 843, 856 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1259, 104 S.Ct. 3554, 82 L.Ed.2d 856 (1984).21 However, they do establish a comparative standard that makes direct reference to the minimum educational standards that must be ma......
  • Templeton Coal Co., Inc. v. Shalala, No. TH 93-158-C-T/H.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 7th Circuit. United States District Court (Southern District of Indiana)
    • 4 Abril 1995
    ...denied sub nom. Sibley, Lindsay & Curr v. Bakery, Confectionery & Tobacco Workers Int'l Union of Am., 467 U.S. 1259, 104 S.Ct. 3554, 82 L.Ed.2d 856 (1984) (finding that the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendment's Act ("MPPAA"), requiring employers to pay a proportionate share of a multiemplo......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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