10. Petitioner did present evidence of two mitigating factors: (1) no significant prior criminal history involving violence; and (2) Petitioner was an accomplice whose participation was relatively minor. However, the facts of the crime do not support these mitigating factors. After having been fired for using obscenities at a customer, Petitioner recruited his cousin, armed himself, and returned that evening to the restaurant. At gun-point, Petitioner kidnapped and imprisoned two employees in the restaurant’s cooler. Those employees escaped. Petitioner then brought the store manager and another employee into the cooler, where he repeatedly shot each victim “execution style” in the back of the head. He then left with over one thousand dollars from the cash register and went directly to a nearby strip club. I would find the sheer cold brutality of this crime outweighs Petitioner’s lack of prior criminal violence. Further, the second mitigating factor simply cannot be proven in light of the guilty verdict.

See the full article from “Leagle.com”