Jones v. United States

527 U.S. 373 (1999)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Jones (D) kidnapped Private Tracie McBride from Goodfellow Air Force Base and brought her to his house and sexually assaulted her. D then took her to a bridge and struck her in the head with a tire iron until she died. D was charged with kidnapping with death resulting to the victim. The government decided to seek the death penalty. D was tried and found guilty. The sentencing guidelines for death required that the Government prove beyond a reasonable doubt at least one of the statutory aggravating factors set forth in section 3592(c). The jury found that two of the factors had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. They found this unanimously; that D had caused the death of Tracie during the commission of another crime and that he committed the offense in a heinous, cruel, and depraved manner. Once D had become death-eligible, the jury had to decide if he should receive that sentence. The jury deadlocked on mitigating factors. D was sentenced to death and appealed because the jury was not informed of what would happen if they deadlocked.