Lee v. State, 942 S.W.2d 231 (Ark. 1997)

Cases | Lee v. State, 942 S.W.2d 231 (Ark. 1997) | 2018

The defendant was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection. He appealed, arguing, among other things, that Arkansas’s victim-impact statute violated due process, noting that when the legislature enacted the statute, it improperly created a new aggravating circumstance. He argued further that there was no place in the statutory weighing process for the jury to consider victim-impact evidence. The Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed, noting that juries can consider victim-impact evidence at the same time it considers the mitigating evidence introduced by the defendant. The Court noted further that there are virtually no limits placed on the relevant mitigating evidence that a defendant may introduce on his behalf. Thus, the State could legitimately conclude that the impact of the murder on the victim’s family is relevant to the jury’s decision as to whether to recommend that the death sentence be imposed. Finally, the Court recognized that if the jury needed to be instructed as to how to weigh any particular fact in the capital-sentencing decision, a mandatory sentencing scheme would be required.