State v. Taylor, 669 So. 2d 364 (La. 1996)

Cases | State v. Taylor, 669 So. 2d 364 (La. 1996) | 2018

The defendant was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. On appeal, the defendant claimed that the trial court erred by allowing inappropriate and excessive victim impact evidence to be admitted during the guilt and penalty phases of trial. The supreme court held that: (1) any possible error created by admission of statements of victim impact witnesses that they lacked sympathy for the defendant was harmless and did not warrant reversal of the sentence; (2) statements were admissible under State v. Bernard, 608 So. 2d 966, (La. 1992) to show that the defendant should have known the victim was a unique person and to show impact of the murder on the victim’s survivors; (3) testimony regarding injuries elicited during the guilt phase fell within the bounds of admissibility for both guilt and sentencing phase testimony; (4) a pretrial motion filed by the defendant requesting exclusion of victim impact evidence indicated that the State notified defense counsel of its intent to use victim impact evidence; and (5) prosecutorial argument and comments regarding victim impact evidence were proper.