Simmons Vs. Simmons: Court Cases
Roper v. Simmons
Argued October 13, 2004 – Decided March 1, 2005
Facts
In September of 1993, Christopher Simmons broke into the suburban St. Louis home of Shirley Crook with the intention to rob and possibly kill her. Simmons and a friend tied the victim up with duct tape and drove her to a nearby state park. At the park, Simmons pushed the victim, who was still alive, off of a bridge and into the Meramec River where she drowned. Simmons was 17 years old at the time of the murder. Before the crime, he had told several of his friends of the plan to burglarize a home and kill the occupants, noting that they could do it and “get away with it” (not get charged for it) because they were juveniles. 1
Simmons and his friends were arrested the following day, and Simmons confessed on videotape at the police station. He even agreed to re-enact the crime on videotape and returned to the park and demonstrated where Mrs. Crook had been pushed from the rail bridge. At trial the jury easily found him guilty. During the sentencing hearing the defense attorneys asked the jury to use Simmons’ age and the fact that he had no prior convictions as mitigating factors and not give Simmons the death penalty. However, the jury focused on the brutal and aggravated nature of …show more content…
Virginia (2002) when the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded, there has been a shift in the use of the juvenile death penalty that reflects society’s “evolving standards of decency.” A national consensus has developed since Stanford v. Kentucky (1989) in which the majority of states do not support the use of the death penalty for juveniles. Currently, 30 states prohibit the juvenile death penalty, and 12 of those states have banned the death penalty completely. In addition, since 1989, five states that previously allowed the juvenile death penalty have banned its use, either through legislation or through judicial
Argued October 13, 2004 – Decided March 1, 2005
Facts
In September of 1993, Christopher Simmons broke into the suburban St. Louis home of Shirley Crook with the intention to rob and possibly kill her. Simmons and a friend tied the victim up with duct tape and drove her to a nearby state park. At the park, Simmons pushed the victim, who was still alive, off of a bridge and into the Meramec River where she drowned. Simmons was 17 years old at the time of the murder. Before the crime, he had told several of his friends of the plan to burglarize a home and kill the occupants, noting that they could do it and “get away with it” (not get charged for it) because they were juveniles. 1
Simmons and his friends were arrested the following day, and Simmons confessed on videotape at the police station. He even agreed to re-enact the crime on videotape and returned to the park and demonstrated where Mrs. Crook had been pushed from the rail bridge. At trial the jury easily found him guilty. During the sentencing hearing the defense attorneys asked the jury to use Simmons’ age and the fact that he had no prior convictions as mitigating factors and not give Simmons the death penalty. However, the jury focused on the brutal and aggravated nature of …show more content…
Virginia (2002) when the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded, there has been a shift in the use of the juvenile death penalty that reflects society’s “evolving standards of decency.” A national consensus has developed since Stanford v. Kentucky (1989) in which the majority of states do not support the use of the death penalty for juveniles. Currently, 30 states prohibit the juvenile death penalty, and 12 of those states have banned the death penalty completely. In addition, since 1989, five states that previously allowed the juvenile death penalty have banned its use, either through legislation or through judicial