Steven Victor Wertz, Appellant v. State of Arkansas, Appellee

Summary

The court granted Wertz’s motion to recall the mandate, reversed his death sentences, and remanded for resentencing on both capital-murder convictions. It held that the single set of penalty-phase verdict forms did not violate the Sixth Amendment because the jury unanimously made the sentencing findings, but did violate the Eighth Amendment’s requirement of individualized and reliable capital sentencing because the record did not show which aggravators applied to which murder. The court further held that its failure to identify this issue on direct appeal was a defect in the appellate process warranting recall of the mandate. Justices Danielson and Wood, dissenting, would have declined relief, with Danielson seeking supplemental briefing on possible double jeopardy and Wood concluding that the requirements for recalling the mandate were not satisfied.