Opinion ID: 2301860
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Appellant's Penalty Phase Closing Argument

Text: Appellant's counsel said the following during his penalty phase closing argument: So I'm not asking that you guys give him a free pass, and I'm not requesting forgiveness for [appellant]. [Life imprisonment] is as a severe punishment and penalty as exists. [Appellant] will be in a cell that is probably 8 by 10 for the rest of his life. Okay. This isn't The Shawshank Redemption, where he's going to be roommates with Phil [sic] Robbins or Morgan Freeman and they're going to sing songs and Kum-By-Ya and warm fuzzy things. He's going to be in a men's penitentiary, and let me tell you, in there, there is a code. You know what people do to child killers? N.T. Sentencing Hearing, 11/16/09, at 128. The Commonwealth objected to this argument, and the trial court sustained the Commonwealth's objection. Appellant argues his counsel was entitled to latitude in arguing in favor of life imprisonment, and counsel was stressing that life imprisonment was a substantial and proportionate sentence for his crime. The Commonwealth responds that the trial court properly prevented appellant from appealing to the jury for sympathy, passion, or prejudice. The Commonwealth notes what happens to child killers in prison is not related to any of the statutory mitigating circumstances. The trial court reasoned it allowed great latitude to appellant's counsel during closing argument. Counsels' remarks to the jury may contain fair deductions and legitimate inferences from the evidence presented during the testimony. Commonwealth v. D'Amato, 514 Pa. 471, 526 A.2d 300, 309 (1987) (quoting Commonwealth v. Fairbanks, 453 Pa. 90, 306 A.2d 866 (1973)). However, there is no evidence in the record concerning the prison conditions, well-regarded motion pictures, or the treatment of child killers in prison. Accordingly, there was no evidentiary basis for this argument. We are thus unable to conclude the trial court abused its discretion in sustaining the Commonwealth's objection to this closing argument.