State v. Gomez, 778 So. 2d 549 (La. 2001)

Cases | State v. Gomez, 778 So. 2d 549 (La. 2001) | 2018

The defendant was charged with the aggravated rapes of two minors. During pretrial discovery, the State gave notice that it intended to introduce victim impact evidence at sentencing from the victims’ mothers and from mental health professionals treating the victims. The appellate court upheld the trial court’s ruling excluding testimony from mental health professionals but permitting testimony of the boys’ mothers. However, it overturned the trial court’s order requiring the State to produce the victims’ mothers at a pre-trial hearing. On consolidated writs of certiorari, the supreme court granted review to the State and the defendant. The defendant claimed that La. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 905.2 did not provide for victim impact evidence in a capital rape trial because the legislature did not provide guidance for cases in which the victim survived. The State argued that it should be allowed to submit testimony of the victim’s mental healthcare providers as victim impact evidence. The supreme court held that the trial court erred by allowing the victims’ mothers’ testimony, as the legislature did not specifically address sentencing procedures of a capital case where the crime victim survives. Further, the judgments of the lower courts excluding testimony from the mental health professionals was affirmed. La. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 905.2 limited testimony to those persons specifically enumerated therein.