Court Opinion

ID: 9772835
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 17:31:05.988351+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:48.738015
License: Public Domain

WINTERSHEIMER, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent because I believe the jury which sentenced Tamme was fully aware of its responsibilities regarding the death sentence, and the references at trial to other offenses were relevant and the defendant received a fundamentally fair trial.
The questions propounded during the individual jury selection did not tend to reduce the responsibility of the jury for imposing the death penalty. My examination of the record indicates that the remarks of the prosecutor were not continuous or pervasive or an intentional attempt to minimize the responsibility of the jury. A careful review of the entire proceedings does not support the position that the comments of the prosecutor infected the trial with unfairness which resulted in a denial of due process as denounced in Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320,105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed. 2d 231 (1985). When considered in context, the challenged comments of the prosecutor are insignificant and present no basis for reversal. Here, the isolated remarks in question are similar to those in Skaggs v. Commonwealth, Ky. 694 S.W.2d 672 (1985); Harper v. Commonwealth, Ky. 694 S.W.2d 665 (1985); and Kordenbrock v. Commonwealth, Ky. 700 S.W.2d 384 (1985).
Jury selection required two days. Tamme selects nine words, phrases or questions which he argues are grounds for reversible error. None of these phrases, either individually or collectively misled the jury. The jury selection process, taken as a whole, did not undermine the responsibility of the jurors in regard to the imposition of the death penalty. The jurors were not repeatedly exposed to the complained of references. The prosecutor did not dwell on any of the challenged remarks. The references were only a very small part of *56the total information presented to each of the 62 different jurors over the two-day period. The responsibility of the jurors was not diminished.
During the almost one-half hour penalty phase summation by the prosecutor, the word “recommendation” was used only three times. The summation emphasized the responsibility of the jury. Defense counsel also placed the responsibility for sentencing squarely on the jury.
Generally, evidence of other crimes is inadmissible except in very limited circumstances. See O’Bryan v. Commonwealth, Ky. 634 S.W.2d 153 (1982). Here the references to other offenses were admissible and relevant to the killings. Collateral criminal activity can be relevant when connected in a special way to the charged crime. Spencer v. Commonwealth, Ky. 554 S.W.2d 355 (1977). Here the references were necessary to prove the relationship between the victims and the major participants, the means by which the crimes were committed, plan involved in committing the murders, the true identity of the responsible party, the absence of mistake and the concealment of the crime. The probative value outweighs the possibility of any prejudice. O’Bryan, supra. It was clearly impossible to avoid any reference to marijuana. The victims were killed in a marijuana field. It was marijuana that brought all the participants together. It is patently unrealistic to direct that the jury only needs to be told that the victims were occasional employees of Tamme and were shot in a field where they worked.
The majority opinion indicates that it disagrees with the position of the prosecution regarding the relevance of the evidence, but admits that the evidence in question was marginally probative. The questions regarding the weight of the evidence really address themselves to the jury or to the sound discretion of the trial judge. There is no basis demonstrated in the majority opinion for the reviewing court to substitute its opinion for that of the trial judge.
Considering the heinous nature of the crimes which involved the shooting of both victims twice and the burning of their bodies in a shallow grave, it defies common sense to say that the jury would be unduly prejudiced by a reference to other bad acts by the defendants. All of the references to other activities were justified, relevant and material. It was not reversible error to allow their admission into evidence.
The judgment of conviction should be affirmed in all respects.