Commonwealth v.Mitchell, 902 A.2d 430 (Pa. 2006)

Cases | Commonwealth v.Mitchell, 902 A.2d 430 (Pa. 2006) | 2018

The defendant was convicted of first-degree murder in the strangulation and stabbing death of his estranged wife. On direct appeal from the judgment of sentence of death, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania affirmed in all respects. During the penalty phase of the trial, the trial court overruled the defendant’s objection to the victim impact testimony offered by the victim’s mother. The defendant argued that the trial court failed to specify how the jury was to consider the victim impact testimony. The Supreme Court concluded that, since there was no record of a hearing or argument relative to the disposition of this issue, the claim was dismissed without prejudice for consideration on collateral review.