Parsons v. Barnes

In Parsons v. Barnes, 871 P.2d 516 (Utah 1994) the Court held that a sentencer "cannot be allowed the opportunity to doubly weigh the commission of the underlying felony and the motive behind the underlying felony as separate aggravators." Id. at 528 Since robbery will presumably always be based upon the motive of pecuniary gain, we held that the defendant's motive in committing a robbery could not be considered as an independent aggravating factor. Id.