AN ACT relating to aggravating circumstances.

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AN ACT relating to aggravating circumstances. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 532.025 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) (a) Upon conviction of a defendant in cases where the death penalty may be 4
imposed, a hearing shall be conducted. In such hearing, the judge shall hear 5
additional evidence in extenuation, mitigation, and aggravation of 6
punishment, including the record of any prior criminal convictions and pleas 7
of guilty or pleas of nolo contendere of the defendant, or the absence of any 8
prior conviction and pleas; provided, however, that only such evidence in 9
aggravation as the state has made known to the defendant prior to his or her 10
trial shall be admissible. Subject to the Kentucky Rules of Evidence, juvenile 11
court records of adjudications of guilt of a child for an offense that would be a 12
felony if comm itted by an adult shall be admissible in court at any time the 13
child is tried as an adult, or after the child becomes an adult, at any 14
subsequent criminal trial relating to that same person. Juvenile court records 15
made available pursuant to this section ma y be used for impeachment 16
purposes during a criminal trial and may be used during the sentencing phase 17
of a criminal trial; however, the fact that a juvenile has been adjudicated 18
delinquent of an offense that would be a felony if the child had been an adul t 19
shall not be used in finding the child to be a persistent felony offender based 20
upon that adjudication. Release of the child's treatment, medical, mental, or 21
psychological records is prohibited unless presented as evidence in Circuit 22
Court. Release of an y records resulting from the child's prior abuse and 23
neglect under Title IV -E or IV -B of the Federal Social Security Act is also 24
prohibited. The judge shall also hear argument by the defendant or his or her 25
counsel and the prosecuting attorney, as provided by law, regarding the 26
punishment to be imposed. The prosecuting attorney shall open and the 27
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defendant shall conclude the argument. In cases in which the death penalty 1
may be imposed, the judge when sitting without a jury shall follow the 2
additional proced ure provided in subsection (2) of this section. Upon the 3
conclusion of the evidence and arguments, the judge shall impose the sentence 4
or shall recess the trial for the purpose of taking the sentence within the limits 5
prescribed by law. If the trial court is reversed on appeal because of error only 6
in the presentence hearing, the new trial which may be ordered shall apply 7
only to the issue of punishment. 8
(b) In all cases in which the death penalty may be imposed and which are tried by 9
a jury, upon a return of a verdict of guilty by the jury, the court shall resume 10
the trial and conduct a presentence hearing before the jury. Such hearing shall 11
be conducted in the same manner as presentence hearings conducted before 12
the judge as provided in paragraph (a) of th is subsection, including the record 13
of any prior criminal convictions and pleas of guilty or pleas of nolo 14
contendere of the defendant. Upon the conclusion of the evidence and 15
arguments, the judge shall give the jury appropriate instructions, and the jury 16
shall retire to determine whether any mitigating or aggravating circumstances, 17
as defined in subsection (2) of this section, exist and to recommend a sentence 18
for the defendant. Upon the findings of the jury, the judge shall fix a sentence 19
within the limits prescribed by law. 20
(2) In all cases of offenses for which the death penalty may be authorized, the judge 21
shall consider, or include in his or her instructions to the jury for it to consider, any 22
mitigating circumstances or aggravating circumstances otherwise authorized by law 23
and any of the following statutory aggravating or mitigating circumstances which 24
may be supported by the evidence: 25
(a) Aggravating circumstances: 26
1. The offense of murder or kidnapping was committed by a person with a 27
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prior record of conviction for a capital offense, or the offense of murder 1
was committed by a person who has a substantial history of serious 2
assaultive criminal convictions; 3
2. The offense of murder or kidnapping was committed while the offender 4
was engaged in the commission of arson in the first degree, robbery in 5
the first degree, burglary in the first degree, rape in the first degree, or 6
sodomy in the first degree; 7
3. The offender by h is or her act of murder, armed robbery, or kidnapping 8
knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one (1) person in a 9
public place by means of a weapon of mass destruction, weapon, or 10
other device which would normally be hazardous to the lives of more 11
than one (1) person; 12
4. The offender committed the offense of murder for himself, herself, or 13
another, for the purpose of receiving money or any other thing of 14
monetary value, or for other profit; 15
5. The offense of murder was committed by a person who was a prisoner 16
and the victim was a prison employee engaged at the time of the act in 17
the performance of his or her duties; 18
6. The offender's act or acts of killing were intentional and resulted in 19
multiple deaths; 20
7. The offender's act of killing was intentional and the victim was: 21
a. A state or local public official; or 22
b. A first responder, as defined in KRS 507.070; 23
8. The offender murdered the victim when an emergency protective order 24
or a domestic violence order was in effect, or when any other order 25
designed to protect the victim from the offender, such as an order issued 26
as a condition of a bond, conditional release, probation, parole, or 27
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pretrial diversion, was in effect;[ and] 1
9. The offender's act of killing was intentional and resulted in the de ath of 2
a child under twelve (12) years old; and 3
10. The offender abused the corpse of the victim of kidnapping or murder 4
by engaging in deviate sexual intercourse, sexual intercourse, or 5
sexual contact as those terms are defined in KRS 510.010. 6
(b) Mitigating circumstances: 7
1. The defendant has no significant history of prior criminal activity; 8
2. The capital offense was committed while the defendant was under the 9
influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance even though the 10
influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance is not sufficient to 11
constitute a defense to the crime; 12
3. The victim was a participant in the defendant's criminal conduct or 13
consented to the criminal act; 14
4. The capital offense was committed under circumstances which the 15
defendant believed to provide a moral justification or extenuation for his 16
or her conduct even though the circumstances which the defendant 17
believed to provide a moral justification or extenuation for his or her 18
conduct are not sufficient to constitute a defense to the crime; 19
5. The defendant was an accomplice in a capital offense committed by 20
another person and his or her participation in the capital offense was 21
relatively minor; 22
6. The defendant acted under duress or under the domination of another 23
person even though the duress or the domination of another person is not 24
sufficient to constitute a defense to the crime; 25
7. At the time of the capital offense, the capacity of the defendant to 26
appreciate the criminality of his or her conduct to the requirements of 27
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law was impaired as a result of mental illness or an intellectual disability 1
or intoxication even though the impairment of the capacity of the 2
defendant to appreciate the criminality of his or her conduct or to 3
conform the conduct to the requirements of l aw is insufficient to 4
constitute a defense to the crime; and 5
8. The youth of the defendant at the time of the crime. 6
(3) The instructions as determined by the trial judge to be warranted by the evidence or 7
as required by KRS 532.030(4) shall be given in ch arge and in writing to the jury 8
for its deliberation. The jury, if its verdict be a recommendation of death, or 9
imprisonment for life without benefit of probation or parole, or imprisonment for 10
life without benefit of probation or parole until the defendant has served a minimum 11
of twenty-five (25) years of his or her sentence, shall designate in writing, signed by 12
the foreman of the jury, the aggravating circumstance or circumstances which it 13
found beyond a reasonable doubt. In nonjury cases, the judge shal l make such 14
designation. In all cases unless at least one (1) of the statutory aggravating 15
circumstances enumerated in subsection (2) of this section is so found, the death 16
penalty, or imprisonment for life without benefit of probation or parole, or the 17
sentence to imprisonment for life without benefit of probation or parole until the 18
defendant has served a minimum of twenty -five (25) years of his or her sentence, 19
shall not be imposed. 20
Section 2. This Act may be cited as Angela's Law. 21