NCJ Number
91298
Journal
Williamette Law Review Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1982) Pages: 173-195
Date Published
1982
Length
23 pages
Annotation
In 1981 the Oregon Legislature amended the State's murder statute to provide for mandatory minimum sentences for certain types of murder, redefined the categories of aggravated murder first defined in 1977, and placed on the defendant the burden of proof concerning extreme emotional disturbance as a mitigating defense.
Abstract
The amendments resulted from the State Supreme Court's invalidation of major provisions of Ballot Measure 8, a 1978 initiative which reinstated capital punishment for murder and mandated a 25-year minimum sentence to be served without parole in noncapital murder cases. In State v. Quinn, the court held that the capital punishment provisions denied the defendant the constitutional right to trial by jury of all the facts constituting the crime. In State v. Shumway, the court found that the minimum sentencing provisions for ordinary murder meant that defendants were subject to disproportionately greater minimum sentences for unaggravated murders than they would have been for certain aggravated murders. The recent amendments preserve some of the policies embodied in the ballot measure and still satisfy the Oregon Constitution. The resulting statutory scheme assures that those who commit murder will be held accountable for their acts and that society will be protected without offending the defendant's rights. A total of 136 reference notes are provided.