Opinion ID: 1763781
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the death penalty is constitutional.

Text: Hunt contends that the death penalty, as implemented and carried out in Kentucky is unconstitutional because it does not narrow the class of persons eligible for the death penalty; because there is insufficient statutory guidance for imposition of the death penalty; because the death penalty, as applied in Kentucky, is discriminatory; because prosecutorial discretion makes arbitrariness inherent; and because there is a danger of executing the innocent. The constitutionality of the death penalty statute is well settled. Appellant's assertion that Kentucky's death penalty statute operates in a discriminatory and arbitrary fashion is without merit. Thompson v. Commonwealth, 147 S.W.3d 22, 55 (Ky.2004). Further, KRS 532.025 provides adequate standards to guide the jury in its consideration and imposition of the death penalty. Finally, the death penalty is not imposed arbitrarily or capriciously in Kentucky. Fields v. Commonwealth, 274 S.W.3d at 419. We have repeatedly ruled that Kentucky's death penalty statute is not unconstitutional, and Hunt has presented nothing new which causes us to change that conclusion. Chapman v. Commonwealth, 265 S.W.3d 156, 163 (Ky.2007).