Opinion ID: 1728613
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: The Trial Judge's Statement During Sentencing

Text: The defendant next argues that the trial judge's comment to his counsel, Mr. Jones, I have ruled, it's a matter for the appellate courts, in connection with the objection to the State's use of the Faust, Hart and Gilmecki study, diminished the jury's sense of responsibility for imposing the death penalty and implied the jury's decision was not final in violation of Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985). We disagree. Caldwell involved a prosecutor's misleading argument, endorsed by the trial judge, that a jury's death sentence was not final but reviewable on appeal. The statement of the trial court in this case concerned an evidentiary ruling and was directed to the defendant's counsel, not the jury. The asserted Caldwell violation is without merit. See Johnson v. State, 797 S.W.2d 578 (Tenn. 1990); State v. Taylor, 771 S.W.2d 387, 396 (Tenn. 1989).