Kansas v. Marsh
United States Supreme Court
548 U.S. 163 (2006)
Michael Lee Marsh II (defendant) broke into Marry Ane Pusch's home, shot, stabbed, and slashed her throat when she returned with her 19-month-old daughter, then set the house on fire, killing the toddler. A jury convicted Marsh of capital murder of the child and premeditated murder of Pusch, plus arson and burglary, and unanimously found three proven aggravating circumstances that weren't outweighed by any mitigating circumstances, resulting in a death sentence for the child's murder. The Kansas Supreme Court reversed the capital murder and arson convictions, holding that the state's capital-sentencing statute unconstitutionally favored death whenever aggravating and mitigating factors were in equipoise, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether a state statute that requires imposition of the death penalty when a unanimous jury finds aggravating circumstances are not outweighed by mitigating circumstances violates the Eighth Amendment.