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13. The state of the victims in the discipline of victimology has gone far ahead in the west. The victims have a right to speak and to be heard at all stages of the criminal prosecution - bail, release, evidence, sentence and parole. 'Victims impact statements' are recorded and extensively used by the jury and the judge whilst convicting and sentencing respectively and thereafter 'victims impact assessments' are required to be done as a continuous act.

safety (f) victims and their families should be protected from intimidation, retaliation and harassment;

      property       (g)     victims   should   have   their   stolen   property   returned   to  



                                                     (7)              Cr. Appeals 991, 992, 331 & 854/11
them as soon as possible after recovery by law enforcement authorities victim (h) victims are entitled to prepare a victim impact statement impact and have it considered by the court at sentencing; statement informatio (i) victims are entitled to be informed about the offender's n on status, including release dates, parole eligibility, and offender probation terms.

18. In a ground-breaking Judgment of the US Supreme Court in the case of Payne vs. Tennessee 498 U.S. (1991) dated 27th June, 1991 Chief Justice Rehnquist considered whether the "victim impact statement" could be considered in cases of capital offence at the time of sentencing. That was the case of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault with intent to commit murder in the first degree, which left a 28 year old mother with her 2 year old daughter dead and her 3 year old son grievously injured. Upon the prosecution evidence the defendant (accused) led evidence of 4 witnesses, being his parents, his girlfriend and a clinical psychologist as to his own character. On behalf of the son, who survived a near fatal assault, statement of his grand-mother was recorded by way of her testimony relating to the impact the offence had on the infant. The death penalty (8) Cr. Appeals 991, 992, 331 & 854/11 awarded by the trial Judge was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Tennessee rejecting the contention on behalf of the defendant that the admission of the grand mother's testimony and the State's closing argument constituted prejudice to him and violation of his rights under the Eighth Amendment. US Supreme Court issued certiorari to reconsider the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Booth Vs. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496 (1987) and South Carolina Vs. Gathers, 490 U.S. 805 (1989) holding that in a capital trial the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution prohibited the Jury from considering the victim impact statement at the sentencing phase upon the premise that the harm to the victim that a capital defendant caused would not reflect the defendant's blameworthiness which alone would be relevant to the capital sentencing decision. The Court considered the Maryland statute which was involved in the case of Booth requiring a victim impact statement showing that the effect of the crime on the victim and his family was required to be presented in the principal sentence report relating to the felony cases. The Court also considered that Gathers case was a case where a victim was an otherwise unproductive citizen, being out of work and mentally handicapped, but yet a murdered human being. The parameters of special limitation upon the imposition of death penalty under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was considered with regard to the responsibility of fixing punishments and establishing procedures for crimes which are committed and their trials. The Court concluded that for the jury to assess the defendant's moral culpability and blameworthiness meaningfully, it should have before it at the sentencing phase evidence of the specific harm caused by the defendant. The Court considered this aspect cited from the dissenting Judgment in the case of Booth itself on page 517 "The State has a legitimate interest in counteracting the mitigating evidence which the defendant is entitled to put in, by reminding the sentencer that just as the murderer should be considered as an individual, so too the victim is an individual whose death represents a unique loss to society and in particular to his family" Booth, 482 U.S. At 517 (White, J., dissenting).

The Court considered that under the aegis of the Eighth Amendment the broadest latitude was given to the defendant to introduce relevant mitigating evidence reflecting on his individual personality and consequently allowed the State to argue to the jury "the human cost of the crime" of which defendant stood convicted.

19. Following the dictum set out by Justice Benjamin Cardozo in Snyder Vs. Massachusetts, 291 U.S. 97 (1934), "justice, though due to the accused, is due to the accuser also. The concept of fairness must not be strained till it is narrowed to a filament. We are to keep the balance true", the Court held that the victim impact statement would not per se be barred under the Eighth Amendment thus: