Court Opinion

ID: 9784519
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 20:46:59.833685+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:35:55.557289
License: Public Domain

ROBERT L. BROWN, Justice, concurring. I concur in the result. I write, however, to raise a concern. Our Criminal Code permits victim-impact evidence in capital cases, if it is relevant to punishment. Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-602(4)(A)(iii) (Repl.2006). Under Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808, 111 S.Ct. 2597, 115 L.Ed.2d 720 (1991), even though victim-impact evidence may be introduced, if it is so unduly prejudicial that it renders the trial unfair, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides a mechanism for relief. It is for the circuit judge to decide if the testimony is relevant or if it crosses the line and is unduly prejudicial. The problem is that the line between permissible and prejudicial is vague and undefined. Neither this court nor the General Assembly has provided the trial bench with guidelines for the admission of such evidence. [)4The State of Oklahoma has addressed the issue of victim-impact evidence and its Due Process Clause implications. There, the State must file a notice of intent to produce victim-impact evidence and detail the evidence it seeks to produce. See Cargle v. State, 909 P.2d 806, 828 (Okla.Crim.App.1995), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 831, 117 S.Ct. 100, 136 L.Ed.2d 54 (1996). Prior to offering any victim-impact evidence, the trial court is required to hold an in camera hearing to determine the admissibility of the proposed evidence. Id. The State is then limited to the evidence listed in its notice, and no other victim-impact evidence may be admitted. Id. Furthermore, no victim-impact evidence is admitted until evidence of one or more aggravators is in the record. Id. Oklahoma has also expressly defined what victim-impact evidence is admissible by statute. Okla. Stat. tit. 22, § 984 (2003). A “victim-impact statement” is “information about the financial, emotional, psychological, and physical effects of a violent crime.” Id. Only the victim and members of the immediate family are permitted to present victim-impact testimony. Id. In my concurring opinion in Hicks v. State, 327 Ark. 727, 940 S.W.2d 855 (1997), over ten years ago, I expressed my concern over the lack of guidance for the introduction of victim-impact evidence in Arkansas. I also called on the General Assembly or this court to fashion criteria for the introduction of such evidence. Trial courts still lack concrete guidelines by which to judge the relevance or prejudicial nature of victim-impact testimony. This critical issue needs to be addressed, and I commend the issue to this court’s Criminal Practice Committee for its consideration.