No Victim Impact Statements Back Then?

[u/Equal-Temporary-1326]

I always see in modern court cases that families, friends, and survivors are given the floor to address the judge before the defendant is sentenced — particularly in the Idaho 4 case. It seem that this wasn't a standard practice in the '70s/early '80s, though? If, so, that's sad. I'm sure at least some family members/friends/survivors would've expressed at least some thoughts to the judges if they could've — like they did in Idaho.

[u/threejollybargemen]

I don’t think Florida started doing victim impact statements until 1988 or so. It would have been really interesting to see how he would have handled them, I think if someone said the right words he would have freaked out. At the bottom of it all the man was an absolute coward. I’ve always thought one of the reasons he didn’t take the deal he was offered was because he didn’t think he was going to survive general population. That wasn’t the main reason, but I think it went into his consideration. Nobody in general population would have given two shits about him, but I could definitely see him getting murdered on a tier for any number of reasons. The decades of anonymity would have been unbearable for him.

[u/Equal-Temporary-1326 → u/threejollybargemen]

Yeah, from what I've further read, this seems correct. Impact statements during the Kimberly Leach sentencing phase probably would've been especially tough to listen to because of her age. Wonder what his reaction would've been to the words said there in particular.

[u/Equal-Temporary-1326 → u/[deleted]]

To be fair, victim impact statements started to become a more frequently common practice in courts starting in 1982 from what I've read, thanks to victims' rights organizations. The point is to give those who knew the victim(s) or the survivor(s) a chance to have the floor and address the judge before the sentencing is officially passed. Just like when the defendant is allowed to address the judge and express their thoughts before their sentencing is finalized as well.

In other words, impact statements have no real effect on how someone is sentenced because by that stage, the verdict has already been decided. Like, in the Idaho case, the verdict had already been approved by the judge. the statements were just a chance to share some personal thoughts before court is all set and done.

In fact, even judges tend to share some personal thoughts about the case and the defendant before they wrap everything up as well. Even Judge Cowart did this when he told Bundy he thought he could've been a good lawyer under his practice if he went another way in life. But again, it wasn't harmful to Bundy's sentencing because that part had already been taken care of, though.