Johnson v. Florida

Johnson v. Florida Greenawalt v. Arizona Tyler v. Georgia McManus v. Texas Harris v. California Nelson v. Georgia Strickland v. Georgia Brown v. Georgia Justus v. Georgia Groseclose v. Tennessee Rickman v. Tennessee Messer v. Georgia Dougan v. Florida Douthit v. Zant, Warden Ruffin v. Florida Harper v. Nebraska Rust v. Nebraska Peery v. Nebraska Palmes v. Florida

Johnson v. Florida, 454 U.S. 882 (1981)

Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Decided: October 5, 1981
Docket: Nos. 80-6610; No. 80-6614; No. 80-6671; No. 80-6675; No. 80-6702; No. 80-6749; No. 80-6786; No. 80-6839; No. 80-6844; No. 80-6864; No. 81-5062; No. 80-6877; No. 80-6949; No. 81-5026; No. 81-5046; No. 81-5048; No. 81-5056; No. 81-5157; No. 81-5158
Judges: Brennan, Marshall
Citations: 454 U.S. 882102 S. Ct. 36470 L. Ed. 2d 19150 U.S.L.W. 32501981 U.S. LEXIS 3856

Cited by 274 15 descriptions by later courts

Opinion of the Court

Text extracted by OCR from a scanned original; check the original for exact wording.

Sup. Ct. Fla.;

Sup. Ct. Ariz.;

Sup. Ct. Ga.;

Ct. Crim. App. Tex.;

Sup. Ct. Cal.;

Sup. Ct. Ga.;

Sup. Ct. Tenn.;

Sup. Ct. Ga.;

Sup. Ct. Fla.;

Super. Ct. Ga., Butts County;

Sup. Ct. Fla.;

Sup. Ct. Neb.;

Sup. Ct. Neb.; and

Sup. Ct. Fla. Certiorari denied. Reported below: No. 80-6610, 393 So. 2d 1069 ; No. 80-6614, 128 Ariz. 150 , 624 P. 2d 828 ; No. 80-6671, 247 Ga. 119 , 274 S. E. 2d 549 ; No. 80-6702, 28 Cal. 3d 935 , 623 P. 2d 240 ; No. 80-6749, 247 Ga. 172 , 274 S. E. 2d 317 ; No. 80-6786, 247 Ga. 219 , 275 S. E. 2d 29 ; No. 80-6839, 247 Ga. 298 , 275 S. E. 2d 52 ; No. 80-6844, 247 Ga. 276 , 276 S. E. 2d 242 ; Nos. 80-6864 and 81-5062, 615 S. W. 2d 142 ; No. 80-6877, 247 Ga. 316 , 276 S. E. 2d 15 ; No. 80-6949, 398 So. 2d 439 ; No. 81-5046, 397 So. 2d 277 ; No. 81-5048, 208 Neb. 568 , 304 N. W. 2d 663 ; No. 81-5056, 208 Neb. 320 , 303 N. W. 2d 490 ; No. 81-5157, 208 Neb. 639 , 305 N. W. 2d 354 ; No. 81-5158, 397 So. 2d 648 .

Dissent — Brennanmarshall

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Justice Brennan and Justice Marshall,

dissenting.

Adhering to our views 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, 231 (1976), we would grant certiorari and vacate the death sentences in these cases.

How later courts describe this case

Explanatory parentheticals written by citing courts — 15 in all; the most informative distinct ones are shown.

(finding that a conviction does not need to be affirmed on appeal for purposes of finding the aggravating circumstance of "previously convicted of another capital offense" in death penalty sentencing)

State v. Peterson, 667 So. 2d 199 (Fla. 1996)
(during testimony of prosecution witness, victim's father "lunged" toward defendant screaming, "He... he'll pay. You're liable ... you'll pay. You'll pay. You're liable. Oh! What you think ... oh you ... you're going to get it ... you.")

Clegg v. State, 655 P.2d 1240 (Wyo. 1982)
(Greenawalt and fellow inmate Tison escaped prison and murdered four people, including a 22 month old baby)

State v. Gretzler, 659 P.2d 1 (Ariz. 1983)
(three others present besides victim at time of shootout not "many persons" within statutory aggravating factor)

Proffitt v. Wainwright, 685 F.2d 1227 (11th Cir. 1982)
(death penalty imposed on defendant who, with aid of companion, abducted, raped, robbed and pistol-whipped seven-months pregnant victim)

State v. Brewer, 826 P.2d 783 (Ariz. 1992)
(no mitigating factors found; death sentence affirmed upon finding that defendant had previous convictions punishable by life or death and that those previous convictions were violent felonies)

State v. Nash, 694 P.2d 222 (Ariz. 1985)
(death penalty found proportionate based upon (i)(4) and (i)(5) aggravators where defendant solicited Rickman to murder wife; upon re-sentencing on other grounds, life sentence imposed)

State v. Austin, No. W1999-00281-CCA-R3-DD (Tenn. Crim. App. Mar. 6, 2001)
(no abuse of discretion when spectators and jurors were screened with metal detecting device)

State v. Lemons, 844 P.2d 378 (Utah Ct. App. 1992)

Cited by 274 cases

View all citing references →

Relies on it most ⓘ

Marvin Edwin Johnson v. Harry K. Singletary, Jr., Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections938 F.2d 1166 (11th Cir. 1991)
Marvin Edwin Johnson v. Richard L. Dugger, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections911 F.2d 440 (11th Cir. 1990)
State v. Gretzler659 P.2d 1 (Ariz. 1983)
Craig v. State510 So. 2d 857 (Fla. 1987)
Marvin Edward Johnson v. Louie L. Wainwright, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections806 F.2d 1479 (11th Cir. 1987)
State v. Moore553 N.W.2d 120 (Neb. 1996)

Most recent

State of Florida v. Jacob John Dougan, Jr.202 So. 3d 363 (Fla. 2016)
Lewis v. State24 So. 3d 480 (Ala. Crim. App. 2007)
Dorsett v. State944 So. 2d 1207 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2006)
Hawkins v. State933 So. 2d 1186 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2006)
Simmons v. State934 So. 2d 1100 (Fla. 2006)
Stephens v. State982 So. 2d 1110 (Ala. Crim. App. 2005)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 16

Depth	Case	Cited by
	People v. Harris, 623 P.2d 240 (Cal. 1981)	148
	State v. Greenawalt, 624 P.2d 828 (Ariz. 1981)	83
	Messer v. State, 276 S.E.2d 15 (Ga. 1981)	74
	Strickland v. State, 275 S.E.2d 29 (Ga. 1981)	49
	Justus v. State, 276 S.E.2d 242 (Ga. 1981)	41
	Tyler v. State, 274 S.E.2d 549 (Ga. 1981)	36
	Brown v. State, 275 S.E.2d 52 (Ga. 1981)	34
	Nelson v. State, 274 S.E.2d 317 (Ga. 1981)	29
	State v. Harper, 304 N.W.2d 663 (Neb. 1981)	22
	State v. Rust, 303 N.W.2d 490 (Neb. 1981)	14
	State v. Peery, 305 N.W.2d 354 (Neb. 1981)	7
	Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976)	6,081
	Palmes v. State, 397 So. 2d 648 (Fla. 1981)	113
	Ruffin v. State, 397 So. 2d 277 (Fla. 1981)	96
	State v. Groseclose, 615 S.W.2d 142 (Tenn. 1981)	92
	Dougan v. State, 398 So. 2d 439 (Fla. 1981)	12

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