Furman
v. Georgia and Gregg v. Georgia
Leslie
K. Penny
Module
3 Case Study 2
Chancellor
University
Furman
v. Georgia and Gregg v. Georgia
In the case of Furman v. Georgia, William Henry Furman
awakened the owners of a residence, William Micke and his wife, as he broke in
and started burglarizing their home (Furman v. Georgia , 2013). Mr. Micke entered the kitchen thinking it was
one of his children sleeping walking only to find Mr. Furman, "a poor,
uneducated, mentally ill African American" (Furman v. Georgia , 2013). Upon realizing he had been caught red handed,
Furman fled from the house and in his haste, tripped, accidentally discharging
the his weapon as he hit the floor, killing Mr. Micke instantly with a gunshot
wound to the chest (Furman v. Georgia , 2013). Police found Mr. Furman in the surrounding
neighborhood with the gun in question still in his possession (Furman v. Georgia , 2013). Mr. Furman was charged with murder and upon
being committed to a Georgia Central State hospital before his trial began, he
was determined to be mentally ill and psychotic (Furman v. Georgia , 2013).
Mr. Furman received a poor man's trial, given a lawyer
who got paid a court-approved fee of just $150, and his murder trial only
lasted one day where his insanity plea was rejected (Furman v.
Georgia , 2013). Mr. Furman was convicted of the murder of Mr.
Micke and was sentenced to death (Furman v. Georgia Case Brief,
2012). Even though Mr. Furman did not intend to kill
Mr. Micke, as he said in his testimony, it was nevertheless, a murder committed
during the commission of a felony which made him eligible for the death penalty (Furman v.
Georgia Case Brief, 2012).
Mr. Furman went on to appeal his murder conviction to the Supreme Court
stating that the death sentence for him constituted cruel and unusual
punishment (Furman v. Georgia Case Brief, 2012).
The Supreme Court was asked to consider the following
question: "Does the imposition and carrying out of the death penalty in
these cases constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth
and Fourteenth Amendment (Furman v. Georgia , 2013)? Luckily for Mr. Furman, "the Court held that the imposition and carrying out of
the death penalty in these cases constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in
violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments" (Furman v.
Georgia). Therefore, the Supreme Court, with a five
justice decision, reversed Mr. Furman's
conviction (Furman v. Georgia , 2013). This case holds great importance because,
while it did bring forth a moratorium on capital punishment across the country
which lasted until 1976 where the moratorium ceased, it "compelled states
to change their death penalty and criminal procedures laws to ensure that death
penalty cases were based on commonly known procedure and punitive deterrents
rather than arbitrariness" (Furman v. Georgia Case Brief,
2012).
In the case of Gregg v. Georgia, Mr. Gregg "was charged
with committing armed robbery and murder on the basis of evidence that he had
killed and robbed two men" (Gregg v. Georgia (No. 74-6257)). During the penalty stage, the jury was
instructed by the judge that it could either recommend a death sentence or life
in prison on each count and that the jury "was free to consider mitigating
or aggravating circumstances, if any, as presented by the parties" (Gregg v. Georgia (No. 74-6257)). The jury returned a sentence of death for Mr.
Gregg where the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence (Gregg v. Georgia (No. 74-6257)) "except as to
its imposition for the robbery conviction" (Gregg v. Georgia , 2013).
Mr. Gregg used his appeals process by challenging his
remaining death sentences for murder, "claiming that his capital sentence
was a 'cruel and unusual' punishment that violated the Eighth and Fourteenth
Amendments" (Gregg v. Georgia , 2013). The Court was asked: "Is the imposition
of the death sentence prohibited under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments as
'cruel and unusual' punishment" (Gregg v. Georgia , 2013)? In this case, Mr. Gregg came out on the short
end of the stick compared to Mr. Furman as the Supreme Court ruled in favor of
the state declaring "that a punishment of death did not violate the Eighth
and Fourteenth Amendments under all circumstances" (Gregg v. Georgia , 2013). The major differences between these two cases
is that Mr. Furman accidentally murdered another and was declared mentally ill
while Mr. Gregg deliberately killed another.
Works Cited
Furman v. Georgia. (n.d.). Retrieved 05 25, 2013, from UMKC School of Law:
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/furman.html
Furman v. Georgia . (2013). Retrieved 05 24, 2013, from enotes:
http://www.enotes.com/furman-v-georgia-reference/furman-v-georgia
Furman V. Georgia. (2013, May 24). Retrieved 05 25, 2013, from U.S.
Supreme Court Media OYEZ IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law:
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1971/1971_69_5003/
Furman v. Georgia
Case Brief. (2012). Retrieved 05 25,
2013, from 4LawScholl: http://www.4lawschool.com/case-briefs/furman-v-georgia
Gregg v. Georgia . (2013, 05 24). Retrieved 05 25, 2013, from U.S.
Supreme Court Media OYEZ IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law:
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1975/1975_74_6257/
Gregg v. Georgia
(No. 74-6257). (n.d.). Retrieved 05
25, 2013, from Legal Information Institute:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0428_0153_ZS.html
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