Page:Walls v. State (1999).pdf/2

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1. CRIMINAL LAW—BENCH TRIAL—CONTINUOUS OBJECTIONS TO SAME TESTIMONY NOT NECESSARY—ISSUE PRESERVED FOR REVIEW.—Where a bench trial is involved and where the ruling has been made, continuous objections to the same or similar testimony on relevancy grounds are not required; here, the issue of whether appellant's culpability for the murders was irrelevant, and unduly prejudicial victim-impact evidence was properly preserved for review.
2. CRIMINAL LAW—EVIDENCE—INTRODUCTION OF AFTER OBJECTIONS OVERRULED.—Counsel does not waive an objection made in a motion in limine, if after the motion is overruled, counsel then presents the evidence that was the subject of the motion; there is no reason why, once the matter of admissibility has been settled, either party may not use the evidence in question.
3. CRIMINAL LAW—CROSS-EXAMINATION OF WITNESS AFTER OBJECTIONS OVERRULED—OBJECTION NOT WAIVED.—Where the circuit judge's ruling allowed the prosecutor to develop appellant's role in the murders, defense counsel's cross-examination of one rape victim about appellant's role in the murders did not constitute a waiver of his objection to this evidence; after the judge's ruling, the door was open, and defense counsel were obliged to protect their client on the issue as best they could.
4. EVIDENCE—SENTENCING—RELEVANT VICTIM-IMPACT EVIDENCE.—In murder cases, prejudice has been considered to be part of the analysis of what is relevant victim-impact evidence under the sentencing statute.
5. CRIMINAL LAW—SENTENCING—EVIDENCE OF ANOTHER CRIME CLOAKED AS VICTIM-IMPACT EVIDENCE EVIDENCE IRRELEVANT & PREJUDICIAL.—In a sentencing hearing for multiple rapes where appellant had never been charged in connection with the multiple murders and the record did not reveal any notice to defense counsel that the issue of appellant's responsibility for the murders was to be tried to the circuit judge for sentencing purposes, the circuit judge heard evidence of these crimes, cloaked as victim-impact evidence, that led him to conclude that appellant was responsible for the murders, this evidence of other crimes was not legitimate victim-impact evidence; it was both irrelevant and prejudicial.
6. CRIMINAL LAW—SENTENCING—WHEN EVIDENCE OF PRIOR UNCHARGED CRIME ADMISSIBLE.—Evidence of a prior, uncharged robbery attempt is admissible in the sentencing phase as an aggravating circumstance under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-97-