DueProcess Punishment Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Was petitioner's right to a fair 'penalty phase' trial violated when the prosecutor told the jurors, during closing arguments in the guilt phase, that the child victim 'from the grave she's crying out to you, Donald Smith raped me. Donald Smith sodomized me. Donald Smith strangled me until every last breath left my body[L]' inferring that the child victim was begging the jurors for justice 'from the grave,' just before going into the penalty phase of the trial?
QUESTION PRESENTED Was petitioner’s right to a fair “penalty phase” trial violated when the prosecutor told the jurors, during closing arguments in the guilt phase, that the child victim “from the grave she’s crying out to you, Donald Smith raped me. Donald Smith sodomized me. Donald Smith strangled me until every last breath left my body[L]” inferring that the child victim was begging the jurors for justice “from the grave,” just before going into the penalty phase of the trial?