Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances Essay Example

his wife worked and shot Gene Dietz, the owner, in the chest. Dietz’s brother attempted to halt him, but Wood pressed him away and went on where his wife was working. He placed his wife in some sort of hold, and shot her once in the chest as well as in the abdomen.

After committing this crime, Wood escaped the building and when he was approached by the police, he further attempted to shoot them. The officers quickly fired, striking Woods numerous times on his body. Wood was later taken to hospital where he went through broad surgery, before his trial began (Arizona Department of Corrections, 2015). Based on this case, there are various aggravating and mitigating circumstances that placed Wood on death row. It is important to note that the death penalty is a result of brutal murder, prospect dangerousness or killings with child victims.

One of the major aggravating circumstance that placed Wood on death row is grave risk of death to one or more persons in addition to the victim of the crime. In this case, he was convicted of more than one homicide, which were committed during the commission of the crime. While committing this offense, Wood used unauthorized remote gun to frighten, injure and kill the victims. This means that the offender committed the crime in a particularly cruel, depraved and heinous manner that it caused physical pain to the victim. The offense was extremely appealing in comparison to other crimes that had come before the court (Sarat, 2014). In respect to mitigating circumstances, the offender committed the offense because of significant provocation or impermanent emotional struggle from the stormy relationship he

had with his former girlfriend.

Without any doubt, Wood committed this crime due to extreme stress of breaking up with his girlfriend. The court may have considered his emotional state as a mitigating circumstance when sentencing him. Basically, this could not excuse Wood from committing murder, but provided a definite reason for his actions.

Additionally, the offender’s unique family circumstances may have contributed to his criminal conduct. During the trial, Wood’s lawyer could persuade the penalizing judge that the offender violent acts were attributed to the status of his family and relationship. The aggravating and mitigating factors of this case merited the sentence of death because the killings were committed in a brutal, cruel and heinous manner. Sarat (2014) argues that the brutality of a killing triggers judges’ desire for justice, and they may punish someone for the harm that he or she initiated. Wood also attempted to kill the officers who approached him, and this could have further triggered the judges to offer a death penalty. Actually, if the offender had a prior criminal record that comprises violent crimes, the judges could more likely sentence him to death. This means that the aggravating factors of this case weighed more than mitigating factors, thus influencing the judges to sentence Wood a death penalty.

Conclusion

It is evident to conclude that most trials in the United States depend on both aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Sentencing management requires to be precise as to what can be considered aggravating and mitigating factors as well as how they can be applied constantly. Based on the case selected above, the court may have considered the grave risk of death to one or more persons

in addition to the victim of the crime, as an aggregating circumstance and emotional state as a mitigating circumstance when sentencing the offender. The degree defendant characteristics, post-crime conduct and collateral significances should be encompassed as mitigating or aggravating circumstances. However, more research should be done on which aggravating or mitigating factors that effectively influences judgicial decision making in most cases.

References

1. Arizona Department of Corrections, (2015). Most Recent Execution. Retrieved 26 January 2016, from https://corrections.az.gov/public-resources/death-row/most-recent-execution
2. Carlan, P. E., Nored, L. S., & Downey, R. A. (2011). An introduction to criminal law. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
3. Carlan, P. E., Nored, L. S., & Downey, R. A. (2016). A brief introduction to criminal law.
4. In Sarat, A. (2014). Studies in law, politics, and society: Volume 63.