Opinion ID: 2465246
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Premature Sentencing Decision

Text: Bussell argues that his Federal constitutional rights under the Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments were violated by the premature decision of the trial judge to impose the death penalty. He says that the final judgment had already been prepared and that the trial judge's report required by KRS 532.075(1) had been completed prior to the final sentencing hearing. He states that the trial judge had already made up his mind as to the sentence he would impose because the final judgment had been prepared and the trial judge's report completed. A careful review of the record indicates that the trial judge conducted a proper sentencing hearing and heard evidence and argument on behalf of the accused concerning the propriety of the death sentence. Whether the trial judge had prepared a tentative draft of a final judgment prior to the formal sentencing did not affect the fact that he heard and considered the evidence and the arguments before entering a final sentencing judgment. The trial judge followed the directions for sentencing set out in Matthews v. Commonwealth, Ky., 709 S.W.2d 414 (1986). The record does not support any contention that the trial judge refused to consider under any circumstances a reduction of the sentence as fixed by the jury. McClellan v. Commonwealth, Ky., 715 S.W.2d 464 (1986). The trial judge's report pursuant to KRS 532.075(1) is a standard questionnaire filed after the imposition of sentence in order to be forwarded to this Court with the court record. The trial judge's report is not prepared for the benefit of the trial judge but rather for the reviewing court. The record in this case does not support any argument that the trial judge refused to consider under any circumstances a reduction of the sentence fixed by the jury. McClellan, supra .