Appendix E -11 Defendant's Motion Concerning Impact of Execution on Victims

• Library: How to Try a Murder Case: Pretrial and Trial Guidelines for Prosecution and Defense (ABA) (2011 Ed.)

APPENDIX E-11 Defendant's Motion Concerning Impact of Execution on Victims

Defendant, by undersigned counsel, respectfully requests that this Honorable Court issue an order directing the State to furnish Defendant with any and all information known by the State, and/or by any individual or agency acting on behalf of the State, that may be in any way, or to any degree, exculpatory to Defendant and that pertains to the impact upon the victim's family members of the State's decision to pursue the imposition of the death penalty and thereby the execution of Defendant. In support thereof Defendant states the following:

1. Defendant is charged with first-degree murder and related offenses in the above-captioned matter.
2. The State has filed a Notice of Intention to Seek a Sentence of Death.
3. Evidence that pertains to a victim's family members' characterizations and opinions about the crime, the defendant, and/or the appropriate sentence are inadmissible in a capital sentencing proceeding. See Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808, 829 (1991); Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496 (1987).
4. Evidence, however, that establishes that a victim's family member would experience anxiety, guilt, depression, distress, blame, trepidation, doubt, or moral indignation in the event Defendant was executed for the murder of the victim is exculpatory in nature and tends to mitigate the punishment of Defendant. Such evidence is admissible substantively during the defense case, or in rebuttal as information that tends to counter, refute, negate, or lessen victim impact evidence.
5. Maryland Rule 4-263(a)(1) mandates that the State

...