State v. Benn

1 Analyses of this case by attorneys

  1. Capital Defense Weekly, April 3, 2006

    Capital Defense NewsletterApril 3, 2006

    We characterized our comparison of similar cases as a search for "family resemblances."InState v. Benn, 120 Wn.2d 631, 678-93, 845 P.2d 289 (1993), we conducted the most extensive search for first degree aggravated murder cases. After a survey of 31 cases from the trial court reports, we selected a pool of comparable cases in the same "genus or family" as Benn's n6 and concluded that this group of similar cases did not contain an arbitrary frequency of life without parole sentences over the death sentence.In State v. Brett, 126 Wn.2d 136, 212, 892 P.2d 29 (1995) (conviction vacated and remanded in In re Pers.