Derosa v. State, 89 P.3d 1124 (Okla. Crim. App. 2004)

Cases | Derosa v. State, 89 P.3d 1124 (Okla. Crim. App. 2004) | 2018

The defendant had previously worked for the victims, husband and wife, when he decided to rob them. During the robbery, the defendant and his accomplice fatally beat and stabbed the victims multiple times. The defendant was convicted of murder and was sentenced to death. On automatic appeal, the defendant argued many issues, including that the victim impact testimony: 1) was too emotional; and 2) contained inappropriate characterizations of the crime and an improper recommendation regarding his sentence. The court of appeal held that: 1) although a “substantial portion” of the victim impact testimony inappropriately offered the emotional and psychological toll of the murders on the witnesses’ lives, their testimony was not exclusively emotional, did offer a “quick glimpse” into the lives and traits of the victims, and therefore did not go beyond acceptable victim impact testimony; and 2) although the testimony did go too far in emotionally recommending the death penalty and with speculative and inflammatory claims about the victims’ experience of their attack, it was not “so unduly prejudicial” as to render the trial fundamentally unfair. The convictions and sentences were affirmed.