Court rejects victim-impact cases

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court refused 6-3 Monday to decide what types of victim-impact evidence may be presented to a jury pondering a death sentence.

Four justices on the nine-member court must agree before a case is accepted for argument.

The justices were asked to review two death penalty cases out of California in which jurors were presented with emotional videos of the victims during the sentencing phase of trials.

Thirty-seven death-penalty states and the federal government allow victim-impact evidence in the sentencing phase of murder trials, SCOTUSBLOG.com reported.

But courts in a number of states, including Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri and Montana, have allowed juries to see videos of victims with their families at Christmas or playing with their children, CNN said. Courts in a few other states, including Texas, have disallowed such evidence as unconstitutional.

One of the three dissenting court members Monday, Justice John Paul Stevens, noted the Supreme Court has not ruled on the issue since allowing victim-impact evidence 17 years ago. That decision left the lower courts without guidance on what types of evidence could be presented, he said.

(No. 07-11073 Kelly vs. California and 07-11425 Zamudio vs. California)