Court Opinion

ID: 9847740
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:06:49.22988+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:29.881244
License: Public Domain

*35Finney, Justice,
dissenting:
I dissent from the holding of the majority which denies postconviction relief to the petitioner on the grounds that Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. —, 111 S. Ct. 2597, 115 L. Ed. (2d) 720 (1991), and State v. Johnson, — S.C. —, 410 S.E. (2d) 547 (1991) (Finney, A.J. dissenting), accord to the state, carte blanche, the right to present victim impact evidence without regard for the unique facts of the particular case.
As I read its decision, the majority’s conclusion is premised primarily upon two factors; 1) that in capital sentencing proceedings, Payne v. Tennessee, supra, allows the state virtually unlimited discretion in introducing evidence or making argument; and 2) that State v. Johnson, supra, adopted the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Payne as South Carolina law.
The United States Supreme Court took thirty pages of majority-concurring and dissenting opinions to arrive at one principle of constitutional law in Payne; namely, that there was no per se violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States when the state, in a particular case, was allowed to introduce victim impact evidence or evidence of specific harm caused by a defendant. My review reflects that Payne envisions a case-by-case analysis of each factual situation to determine if there is an Eighth Amendment violation.
This conclusion is further supported by the observation of Chief Justice Rehnquist, writing for the Court, in explaining the basis of the decision in Payne. He said:
The present case is an example of the potential for such unfairness. The capital sentencing jury heard testimony from Payne’s girlfriend that they met at church, that he was affectionate, caring, kind to her children, that he was not an abuser of drugs or alcohol, and that it was inconsistent with his character to have committed the murders. Payne’s parents testified that he was a.good son, and a clinical psychologist testified that Payne was an extremely polite prisoner and suffered from a low IQ. None of this testimony was related to the circumstances of Payne’s brutal crimes. In contrast, the only evidence of the impact of Payne’s offenses during the sentencing *36phase was Nicholas’ grandmother’s description — in response to a single question — that the child misses his mother and baby sister. Payne argues that the Eighth Amendment commands that the jury’s death sentence must be set aside because the jury heard this testimony.
... [JJjustice, though due to the accused, is due to the accuser also. The concept of fairness must not be strained till it is narrowed to a filament. We are to keep the balance true.
Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. —, 111 S. Ct. 2597, 2608-9, 115 L. Ed. (2d) 720 (1991).
It is clear that in Payne, the Court was striving to keep evenly balanced the concept of fairness to both the state and to the accused. In my view, the opinion of the majority in the present case misconstrues the thrust of Payne.
With regard to the issue of whether Payne was adopted as state law in State v. Johnson, supra, a majority of this Court agreed that there was no federal Eighth Amendment bar, per se, to the state’s introduction of evidence and arguments as to the impact of the crime on the victim and the victim’s family. The Court, in Johnson, set forth as follows the evidence it concluded the state should be permitted to refute in order to maintain the balance of fairness.
During the penalty phase, Johnson’s sister testified that she would visit him at the penitentiary for Christmas. In response, the Solicitor stated that the trooper’s family could not go to see him, they could only visit him at the grave.
We hold that the argument made by the solicitor in this regard is relevant to the jury’s decision...
State v. Johnson, — S.C. —, 410 S.E. (2d) 547, 555 (1991).
Apparently, the majority misapprehends the rationale and intent of Payne and Johnson as it expands the scope of both decisions. There is grave concern on my part that such an expansion will open a Pandora’s box of federal and state constitutional violations as well as contravene both the letter and *37spirit of Payne and Johnson. It is my view that the majority’s holding constitutes a substantive denigration of the Eighth Amendment.
I would hold that under the facts of the case at issue, admission of the victim impact evidence violated the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.