Page:Walls v. State (1999).pdf/14

Rh phase of bifurcated criminal trials. They do apply. Hill v. State, 318 Ark. 408, 413, 887 S.W.2d 275 (1994). As we stated in Hill, "The introduction of evidence during this stage must be governed by our rules of admissibility and exclusion; otherwise, these proceedings would not pass constitutional muster, which is all the more reason to permit appeal." While the applicability of the evidence rules is clear, the meaning of the trial court's statements is not.

Neither of the court's statements are precise enough for us to know with certainty what meaning the court ascribed to them but to the extent they indicate that the rules of evidence would not apply in this defendant's sentencing hearing they were in error. However, it is apparent from the record that the court did apply the rules of evidence during the hearing. On all occasions appearing in the record, the court entertained and, when requested, ruled on evidentiary issues where raised. Rather than an abandonment of the rules it is much more plausible that the court intended to apply the rules and yet permit victims and their families to express themselves freely regarding the negative consequences of appellant's actions. The statute authorizing victim-impact statements permits testimony regarding the effects of the crime on the victim, the circumstances surrounding the crime, and the manner in which the crime was perpetrated. Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-1112 (1987). This is constitutionally permissible. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, " 'as a general proposition, a sentencing judge may appropriately conduct an inquiry broad in scope, largely unlimited either as to the kind of information he may consider, or the source from which it may come.' " Nichols v. United States, 511 U.S. 738,747 (1994) (quoting United States v. Tucker, 404 U.S. 443, 446 (1972).

Furthermore, it is not at all certain that the court made a definitive ruling that the rules were not going to be applied. If appellant had any doubt about the rules' applicability an objection would have been in order. Objections are intended to apprise the