Sullivan v. State, 636 A.2d 931 (Del. 1994)

Cases | Sullivan v. State, 636 A.2d 931 (Del. 1994) | 2018

The superior court sentenced the defendant to death by lethal injection for the offense of murder in the first degree. The State elicited testimony from the victim’s neighbor that after the murder he and his family began locking their doors and that his wife learned how to use a handgun to protect herself. On appeal, the defendant claimed that the State’s victim impact evidence exceeded the scope permitted by the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause. The court noted that the defendant failed to object to the evidence at the penalty hearing and was required to demonstrate plain error. The court found that the admission did not constitute plain error. Testimony was limited in scope and was not mentioned during the State’s closing argument. The superior court judge expressly stated that he did not attach undue weight to the evidence in arriving at his sentencing decision.