Opinion ID: 166399
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Invoking Sympathy for the Victims

Text: 145 Most troubling is Mr. Thornburg's contention that the prosecutor invoked sympathy for the victims during the guilt-phase closing argument: 146 Look at Donnie Scott. He's got a good job now. He's obviously off drugs. Who's to say he can't lead a very, very productive life? Who's to say Mr. Poteet, Mr. Shepard couldn't have done the exact same thing? 147 You know, is Mr. Thornburg today in Court, there's no question about that. Our legal system says this is his day in Court. But this is also our three victims' day in Court. This is Mr. Shepard's, Mr. Poteet and Mr. Smith. 148 . . . 149 Folks, we have three victims here who are not here today. Mr. Shepard, Mr. Smith and Mr. Poteet, they can't get up here and tell you on the witness stand how Mr. Thornburg slaughtered them. Shot them and left them to burn alive in the house. They can't get up here to tell us that. They're never going to be here. They're never going to testify. They're never going to be with their families for holidays, Christmases. 150 And you've got families here. This is also their day in Court, too, not just this defendant. 151 Tr. IV at 111-12. The prosecutor's comments that the victims may have led productive lives, could not testify at trial, and would never be with their families on holidays were irrelevant to proving Mr. Thornburg guilty of their murders. See Duckett v. Mullin, 306 F.3d 982, 991 (10th Cir.2002) (victim-impact statements improper in guilt stage). 152 Notwithstanding their clear irrelevance to Mr. Thornburg's guilt, however, the prosecutor's appeal was already implicit in the evidence. The jury knew that there were three men murdered, that they were shot and left in a burning house, and that they could not appear in court to testify. And because the evidence had shown all three victims to be drug and alcohol abusers, the prosecutor's speculation on their possible productive lives was most likely an attempt to avoid any jury nullification based on the victims' own reprehensibility. While condemning such comments during the guilt phase, we can doubt their inflammatory impact.