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Text: S03400 - S03499                   Text: S Index
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Senate Amendment 3416

Amendment Text

PAG LIN
  1  1    Amend Senate File 365, as follows:
  1  2    #1.  Page 5, line 19, by striking the figure "4"
  1  3 and inserting the following:  "6".
  1  4    #2.  Page 8, line 6, by striking the words "before
  1  5 the same trier of fact".
  1  6    #3.  Page 9, by striking lines 11 through 33, and
  1  7 inserting the following:  "or the victim."
  1  8    #4.  By striking page 12, line 12 through page 13,
  1  9 line 19, and inserting the following:
  1 10    "3.  Except for good cause shown, as soon as
  1 11 practicable but not later than sixty days after the
  1 12 return of a verdict of guilty or the entry of a plea
  1 13 of guilty to a charge of capital murder, a panel of
  1 14 three judges shall conduct a separate sentencing
  1 15 hearing to determine whether the defendant should be
  1 16 sentenced to death or life imprisonment.  The panel of
  1 17 judges shall consist of the judge who presided at the
  1 18 trial or before whom the guilty plea was entered and
  1 19 two additional district court judges, to be appointed
  1 20 by the chief justice of the supreme court.  If the
  1 21 trial judge dies, resigns, is incapacitated, or is
  1 22 otherwise disqualified, a replacement for the trial
  1 23 judge shall also be appointed by the chief justice.
  1 24 The two additional district court judges, and any
  1 25 necessary replacement for the trial judge, may be
  1 26 selected from any judicial district in the state but
  1 27 the chief justice shall give preference in selection
  1 28 of judges to judges from the judicial district in
  1 29 which the case was filed or from adjoining judicial
  1 30 districts.  In selecting the district court judges for
  1 31 the panel, the chief justice shall select only those
  1 32 district court judges who are regularly sitting
  1 33 judges, except that the chief justice may select a
  1 34 retired justice of the supreme court or a retired
  1 35 judge from the court of appeals as one of the
  1 36 additional judges for the panel.  Any district court
  1 37 judge who is appointed to serve on the panel may be
  1 38 subject to disqualification as provided in sections
  1 39 602.1603, 602.1604, 602.1606, 602.1609, 602.1610, and
  1 40 602.1612.  The trial judge shall be the presiding
  1 41 judge for purposes of the sentencing hearing.  If a
  1 42 replacement judge has been appointed for the trial
  1 43 judge, the district court judges appointed to the
  1 44 panel shall choose a presiding judge from among
  1 45 themselves.
  1 46    4.  At the sentencing hearing, in addition to the
  1 47 evidence presented by the parties, the three-judge
  1 48 panel shall consider the certified transcripts of the
  1 49 trial.  Any evidence presented by either the
  1 50 prosecuting attorney or the defendant that the panel
  2  1 of judges deems relevant to the nature of the crime,
  2  2 and the character, background, and history of the
  2  3 defendant, including any evidence presented in the
  2  4 initial proceeding of the trial, and any matters
  2  5 relating to any aggravating or mitigating factors may
  2  6 be presented.  Any evidence which the panel of judges
  2  7 deems to have probative value may be received, as long
  2  8 as each party is given an opportunity to rebut such
  2  9 evidence, although the introduction of any evidence
  2 10 secured in violation of the Constitution of the United
  2 11 States or of the Constitution of Iowa shall not be
  2 12 authorized.  The prosecuting attorney and the
  2 13 defendant or the defendant's counsel shall be
  2 14 permitted to present arguments for or against a
  2 15 sentence of death.
  2 16    5.  The burden of proof as to each aggravating
  2 17 factor shall be beyond a reasonable doubt. There shall
  2 18 be no burden of proof as to proving or disproving
  2 19 mitigating factors.
  2 20    6.  After hearing all the evidence and arguments of
  2 21 the prosecuting attorney and the defendant or the
  2 22 defendant's counsel, the panel of judges shall
  2 23 unanimously determine whether to impose a sentence of
  2 24 death based upon special verdicts on the following
  2 25 issues:
  2 26    a.  Whether at least one aggravating factor has
  2 27 been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2 28    b.  Whether no mitigating factors exist which
  2 29 outweigh any aggravating factor or factors found to
  2 30 exist.
  2 31    c.  Whether the defendant should be sentenced to
  2 32 death.
  2 33    7.  The panel of judges shall not impose a death
  2 34 sentence unless it returns unanimous affirmative
  2 35 written findings on all of the issues in subsection 6.
  2 36 The sentence of the panel of judges, whether to death
  2 37 or to life in prison, shall be supported by specific
  2 38 written findings of fact based upon any aggravating
  2 39 and mitigating factors established and upon the
  2 40 records of the trial and the sentencing hearing.  If
  2 41 the panel of judges cannot unanimously agree on a
  2 42 sentence, it shall make a record of each judge's
  2 43 position and shall sentence the defendant to life
  2 44 imprisonment."
  2 45    #5.  Page 15, line 29, by striking the words "trial
  2 46 court" and inserting the following:  "three-judge
  2 47 panel".
  2 48    #6.  Page 15, line 35, by striking the words "trial
  2 49 court" and inserting the following:  "three-judge
  2 50 panel".
  3  1    #7.  Page 16, line 4, by inserting after the word
  3  2 "so." the following:  "Noncompliance with this rule
  3  3 without a showing of good cause shall result in the
  3  4 exclusion of the evidence sought to be introduced
  3  5 without further sanction." 
  3  6 
  3  7 
  3  8                               
  3  9 STEVEN D. HANSEN 
  3 10 SF 365.202 77
  3 11 lh/jj/28
     

Text: S03415                            Text: S03417
Text: S03400 - S03499                   Text: S Index
Bills and Amendments: General Index     Bill History: General Index

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