Cases | State v. Williams, 708 So. 2d 703 (La. 1998) | 2018
The defendant was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. On appeal, the defendant claimed that victim impact evidence introduced an arbitrary factor into the jury’s deliberation during the penalty phase. Specifically, the defendant claimed that: (1) the victim’s family’s testimony that the defendant’s apology did not lessen the impact of the crime on them was impermissible; and (2) the family’s testimony that they lacked sympathy for the defendant was impermissible. The supreme court held that: (1) evidence of the impact of the crime on the victim’s survivors is clearly admissible under federal precedent. The testimony clearly addressed how the survivors were impacted by the death of their family member and did not address their opinions of the crime or of the defendant; and (2) assuming the statements went beyond potential bounds, any potential error was harmless. The fact that the victim’s family lacked sympathy for the defendant should not have come as a surprise to members of the jury.