WASHINGTON, USA - The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a ruling that overturned the death sentence for a murderer from California because the prosecutor told jurors that God sanctioned the death penalty for evil people.
The justices declined to review a U.S. appeals court ruling that Alfred Sandoval's right to a fair trial at sentencing had been violated by the prosecutor's closing argument that cited religious authority as support for the death penalty.
The prosecutor said that by sentencing Sandoval to death, the jury would be "doing what God says." The prosecutor said God sanctioned the death penalty for people like Sandoval who were evil and have defied the authority of the state.
The prosecutor told the jurors, "You are not playing God," and added that destroying Sandoval's mortal body might be the only way "to save the soul."
Sandoval was convicted of four murders and one attempted murder in Los Angeles in 1984.
The Supreme Court, without any comment or dissent, rejected an appeal by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer. He said the prosecutor's comments, while offensive, do not "run afoul of this court's teachings."
Lockyer said the appeals court could not marshal any direct authority from the Supreme Court to support its finding that the prosecutor's misconduct amounted to constitutional error.