David Allen Sattazahn v Pennsylvania
DAVID ALLEN SATTAZAHN v. PENNSYLVANIA In a split decision the United States Supreme Court upheld Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court judgment of the death penalty in this case. This case spotlights the Fifth Amendment and the Fourteen Amendment challenging the Double Jeopardy clause and the Due Process clause determining whether the state of Pennsylvania can seek the death penalty at a retrial. The United States Supreme Court held that there is neither a Double Jeopardy bar nor a Due Process bar to Pennsylvania seeking the death penalty on retrial even though the jury deadlocked during the state hearing. On the evening of April 12, 1987, David Allen Sattazahn and his accomplice, Jeffrey Hammer, hid in a wooded area waiting to rob the manager of the Heidelberg Family Restaurant, Richard Boyer. Sattazahn carried a . ... Sattazahn ordered Boyer to retrieve the bag, but instead of complying Boyer tried to run away. Sattazahn and Hammer fired shots, and Boyer fell dead. ... The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania prosecuted Sattazahn and sought the death penalty. The jury convicted Sattazahn of first, second, and third degree murder, and various other charges. ... ” The trial judge, in accordance with Pennsylvania state law, discharged the jury as hung, and indicated that he would enter the required life sentence, which he later did. Under Pennsylvania law, “when a capital jury deadlocks at the sentencing stage of a proceeding, state law requires the trial court to enter a judgment imposing a life sentence.