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ROACH v. AIKEN , 474 U.S. 1039 (1986)
474 U.S. 1039
James Terry ROACH
v.
James AIKEN, Warden et al.
No. 85-6155 (A-531)
Supreme Court of the United States
January 9, 1986
On petition for writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals
for
the Fourth Circuit.
The application for stay of execution of the sentence of death scheduled
for
Friday, January 10, 1986, presented to THE CHIEF JUSTICE and by him
referred
to the Court is denied. The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.
Justice BRENNAN, with whom Justice MARSHALL joins, dissenting.
I adhere to my view that the death penalty is in all circumstances cruel
and
unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments,
Gregg
v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 227 , 2950, 49 L. Ed.2d 859 (1976) (BRENNAN, J.,
dissenting). Accordingly, I would vacate the death sentence and remand the
case so that the state court can determine what sentence-other than
death-may be appropriate.
In addition, this case affords us an opportunity to address the important
question whether an accused may, consistent with the Eighth and Fourteenth
Amendments, be sentenced to death for a capital offense he committed while
a
juvenile. Although "[c]rimes committed by youths may be just as
harmful to
victims as those committed by older persons, . . . they deserve less
punishment because adolescents may have less capacity to control their
conduct and to think in long-range terms than adults." Twentieth [474
U.S.
1039 , 1040] Century Fund Task Force on Sentencing Policy
Toward Young
Offenders, Confronting Youth Crime 7 (1978). As we stated in Eddings v.
Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104 (1982):
"[Youth] is a time and condition of life when a person may be most
susceptible to influence and to psychological damage. Our history is
replete
with laws and judicial recognition that minors, especially in their
earlier
years, generally are less mature and responsible than adults. Particularly
'during the formative years of childhood and adolescence, minors often
lack
the experience, perspective, and judgment' expected of adults. Bellotti v.
Baird, 443 U.S. 622, 635 , 3043 (1979)." Id., 455 U.S., at 115 - 116
(footnotes omitted).
The need for solicitude for the particular susceptibility of juveniles is
well reflected by the facts of this case. The trial judge found that
petitioner acted under duress or under the domination of an older person,
and that he was suffering from mental retardation and a personality
disorder. See Roach v. Martin, 757 F.2d 1463, 1468-1469 (CA4) ( 1985). In
addition, petitioner now presents evidence suggesting that he suffers from
the debilitating effects of Huntington's disease. Under these
circumstances,
even accepting the Court's current interpretation of the Eighth Amendment,
sentencing petitioner to death may be inconsistent with the "
'evolving
standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society,' "
Gregg
v. Georgia, supra, 428 U.S., at 173 (1976) (quoting Trop v. Dulles, 356
U.S.
86, 101 , 598 (1958) (plurality opinion of Warren, C.J .)), and may
provide
no more than "marginal contributions to any discernible social or
public
purposes." Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 312 , 2764 (1972) (WHITE,
J.,
concurring). " Even if some percentage of adults are deterred by the
death
penalty, the deterrent effect tends to lose much of its power when imposed
upon an adolescent." Streib, Death Penalty for Children: The American
Experience with Capital Punishment for Crimes Committed While Under Age
Eighteen, 36 Okla.L.Rev., 613, 639 (1983). I would grant the petition for
certiorari to resolve this important issue, and would stay petitioner's
execution until we decide the matter. At the very least, in light of the
evidence suggesting that petitioner suffers from Huntington's disease, I
agree with Justice MARSHALL that the stay should be granted and the case
held pending our decision in Ford v. Wainwright, cert. granted, 474 U.S.
1019 (1985). [474 U.S. 1039 , 1041]
Justice MARSHALL, with whom Justice BRENNAN joins, dissenting.
The State of South Carolina intends to execute petitioner James Terry
Roach
tomorrow, January 10, 1986, at 5 a.m. At approximately noon today, four
hours after he presented his federal habeas claims to the Court of Appeals
and was denied all relief, petitioner came to this Court, seeking a stay
of
execution and a writ of certiorari. Among other claims, Roach's counsel
contends that Roach has been rendered so mentally incompetent by
Huntington's disease that his execution would offend the contemporary
standards of decency embodied in the Eighth Amendment. One month ago, this
Court granted certiorari to resolve the issues whether the execution of
the
presently mentally incompetent offends the Eighth Amendment and, if it
does,
what process is due a condemned prisoner who might lack any understanding
of
the penalty he faces. Ford v. Wainwright, cert. granted, 474 U.S. 1019
(1985). Because in the 17 hours allowed it by the regime of Barefoot v.
Estelle, 463 U.S. 880 , 103 S. Ct. 3383 (1983),* this Court has decided to
allow Roach to go to his death while the question of his execution's
constitutionality is yet to be resolved, I must dissent from the denial of
petitioner's application for a stay of execution.
In 1977, several months before his 18th birthday, petitioner pleaded
guilty
to two counts of murder and charges of criminal sexual assault, kidnaping
and armed robbery. At the capital sentencing hearing, a psychiatrist
appearing on Roach's behalf testified that while Roach was mentally
retarded, he could not, at that time, be diagnosed as suffering from
Huntington's disease. Huntington's disease is an inherited disorder of
movement, personality, and thought that often does not manifest itself
until
an individual has reached adulthood. Roach v. Martin, 757 F.2d 1463, 1473
(CA4 1985). After considering this and other mitigating factors, however,
the trial judge sentenced Roach to death on both murder counts. The
conviction and sentence were upheld on direct review, State v. Shaw
Roach), 273 S.C. 194, 255 S.E.2d 799 (1979), and this Court denied
certiorari, 444 U.S. 1026 (1980).
In his first federal habeas petition, Roach urged that he had indeed
inherited Huntington's disease from his mother, who had [474 U.S. 1039 ,
1042] already been diagnosed as having that disorder in an
early stage.
Roach further alleged that, were he given the opportunity to prove this
fact, he could raise doubts as to both his competency to stand trial and
the
appropriateness of his death sentence. It appears that Roach did not press
any claim of his present incompetence to be executed, for, in affirming
the
District Court's denial of his habeas petition, the Court of Appeals
concluded:
"[E]ven assuming arguendo that Roach does in fact have the
Huntington's
gene, in which case HD [Huntington's disease] will inevitably manifest its
symptoms, we can see no way that this fact alone would alter Roach's
conviction and sentence. In other words, a determination today that Roach
has the HD gene would not affect the findings that Roach was sane at the
time of the offenses and that he was competent to stand trial, and is now
competent." 757 F.2d, at 1474.
The petition now before this Court, however, goes beyond mere allegations
that Roach suffers from an as-yet-unmanifested genetic disorder.
Accompanying his petition is an affidavit by Dr. William H. Olsen, a
distinguished neurologist who, less than two weeks ago, was the first
neurologist to have examined Roach in the last five years. Dr. Olsen not
only found that there is a "reasonable degree of certainty" that
Roach
suffers from Huntington's disease, but also made a preliminary finding
that
Roach suffers from the mental deterioration that is a characteristic
symptom
of the disorder. Dr. Olsen's conclusion, though admittedly preliminary,
raises substantial doubts as to whether Roach has any understanding that
he
is scheduled to die tomorrow morning. Certainly, nothing in the State's
papers assuages these doubts.
Neither this Court nor the State of South Carolina is now in a position to
ascertain whether Roach is indeed sufficiently competent to face his
execution with the dignity that is the final right we allow even the most
heinous criminals. What we can do is allow Roach's counsel and experts the
time and opportunity to make such a showing. The Court's refusal to do so
even while it prepares to hear a case in which another condemned man
raises
a similar claim, provides yet another stark example of the arbitrariness
with which the death penalty is administered in the United States today. I
would grant the stay and defer consideration of Roach's petition for
certiorari pending this Court's decision in Ford v. Wainwright, supra.
Footnotes
[ Footnote * ] See Note, Summary Processes and the Rule of Law: Expediting
Death Penalty Cases in the Federal Courts, 95 Yale L.J. 349 (1985).
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