Opinion ID: 1399654
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 26

Heading: Proportionality Review (Bartley's sentence)

Text: Epperson asserts that his death sentence is unconstitutional because it is disproportionate to the sentence imposed on co-indictee Bartley. We must disagree. Bartley entered a plea agreement with the prosecution in which he testified for the prosecution in this trial as well as another trial and ultimately received a sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of parole for 25 years. The other codefendant, Benny Hodge, was convicted of the same crimes and sentenced to death for the two murders. Hodge, supra . Simply because Bartley did not receive a death sentence does not elevate Epperson's punishment to the disproportionate quality under KRS 532.075. This Court has previously rejected a similar argument in Perdue v. Commonwealth, 916 S.W.2d 148 (Ky.1995), citing Standefer v. United States, 447 U.S. 10, 100 S.Ct. 1999, 64 L.Ed.2d 689 (1980). In addition, this Court has also held that sentences imposed on other defendants are not relevant in determining the validity of a death sentence or other sentence. See Marshall v. Commonwealth, 60 S.W.3d 513 (Ky.2001), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 1024, 122 S.Ct. 1622, 152 L.Ed.2d 633 (2002). The sentencing procedure in a capital case requires individualized determination on the basis of the character of the individual defendant and the circumstances of the crime. Cf. Tuilaepa, supra . The sentences imposed here do not constitute error.