State v. Phillips

WEBB, Justice.

The Court of Appeals did not hold that a victim impact statement may not be used at a sentencing hearing. Relying on the confrontation clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution as well as the law of the land clause of Article I, Sec. 19 of the Constitution of North Carolina, the Court of Appeals held that a defendant must be given prior notice of any victim impact statement which is to be used at a sentencing hearing.

N.C.G.S. § 15A-825 provides for the use of victim…