Bennett v. Commonwealth, 978 S.W.2d 322 (Ky. 1998)

Cases | Bennett v. Commonwealth, 978 S.W.2d 322 (Ky. 1998) | 2018

The defendant was convicted of one count of wanton murder and one count of complicity to first-degree robbery. The victim’s mother testified during the guilt phase of trial regarding the impact of the victim’s death on one of her children. The defendant was sentenced to concurrent terms of forty years for the murder conviction and twenty years for the robbery conviction. On appeal, the defendant challenged introduction of the victim impact testimony. The supreme court held that admission of the evidence was harmless error, and noted that victim impact evidence should be reserved for the penalty phase of trial. However, in view of mitigating evidence about the defendant’s family and good character, the comment of the victim’s mother did not so prejudice the defendant as to deny him a fair trial.