Opinion ID: 4549439
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the penalty-phase trial: pretrial motions

Text: ¶9 After Drommond pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, a penalty-phase jury trial was held. The jury‘s task was to decide whether Drommond should serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole or twenty years to life with the possibility of parole. ¶10 Before the penalty-phase trial, Drommond filed two motions relevant to this appeal. First, he filed a motion asking the trial court for confrontation rights at sentencing. The trial court denied the motion, holding that hearsay would be admissible at the penalty-phase trial if (1) it was reliable, (2) Drommond had the opportunity to rebut it, and (3) it was not unfairly prejudicial. Second, Drommond filed a motion asking the court to limit impermissible victim-impact evidence at the penalty-phase trial. The court held that victim-impact evidence would be admissible at the penalty-phase trial as long as it wasn‘t ―unfairly prejudicial‖ and didn‘t ―make comparative judgments about the worth of the victim‘s life in comparison to the life of the defendant.‖