State of Arizona v. Jasper Phillip Rushing

Summary

The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed Rushing’s death sentence after concluding that, although the trial court constitutionally erred by permitting visible restraints without sufficiently specific justification, Rushing failed to establish the prejudice required under fundamental-error review. The court also rejected challenges to Rushing’s waiver of mitigating evidence, the penalty-phase jury instructions, the court’s response to the jury’s question about moral culpability, and the alleged prosecutorial errors. No separate opinions were filed.