Barlow v. State

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part Defendant's convictions for multiple charges and sentence of death for the murder of two people, holding that cumulative error deprived Defendant of a fair penalty hearing and that no relief was warranted on Defendant's claims regarding the guilt phase.

On appeal, Defendant argued that the district court erred by prohibiting him from arguing during the penalty phase that if a single juror determines that there are mitigating circumstances sufficient to outweigh the aggravating circumstances, the jury must consider imposing a sentence other than death. The Supreme Court agreed, holding (1) the district court abused its discretion by prohibiting Defendant's argument, and this error, in conjunction with other errors that occurred in the penalty phase, cumulatively deprived Defendant of a fair penalty hearing; but (2) no relief was warranted on Defendant's claims regarding the guilt phase.