18 U.S.C. § 3591 — Sentence of death

This section sets the basic limits for when a federal court may impose the death penalty. A death sentence is never automatic: after conviction, a separate hearing must find that the required facts are proven beyond a reasonable doubt and that death is justified under sections 3592 and 3593.

For espionage (section 794 of this title) and treason (section 2381 of this title), a conviction alone makes the defendant eligible for a death sentence.

For any other federal crime that authorizes a death sentence, the hearing must also find at least one of these about the defendant:

• Intentionally killed the victim.
• Intentionally caused a serious injury that led to the victim’s death.
• Intentionally taken part in an act while expecting someone to be killed or intending lethal force to be used against a nonparticipant, and the victim died directly from that act.
• Intentionally committed a violent act while knowing it created a grave risk of death to a nonparticipant, showing reckless disregard for human life, and the victim died directly from the act.

Any one of the four is enough. Either way, the court must then weigh the aggravating and mitigating factors listed in section 3592 during the sentencing hearing required by section 3593. The result can be a death sentence only if those factors make death an appropriate punishment.

A person under 18 when the offense occurred cannot be sentenced to death, regardless of the crime or the facts proved. The age rule applies even if the person is tried or sentenced later.

There is a separate rule for leaders of certain large-scale drug enterprises. A defendant may face the death penalty if convicted of the specified continuing-criminal-enterprise offense and either:

• The enterprise involved at least twice the drug quantity or gross receipts that qualify an operation for the enhanced drug-kingpin offense; or
• The defendant was the enterprise’s principal administrator, organizer, or leader and tried to obstruct the investigation or prosecution by attempting to kill—or knowingly directing, advising, authorizing, or helping someone attempt to kill—a public officer, juror, witness, or that person’s family or household member.

The same sentencing process applies: the required facts must be established, the court must weigh section 3592’s factors, and death must be found justified. The under-18 exception applies here too.