Kentucky High Court Says Barring Reference To Jesus Was Harmless Error

Edmonds v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, (KY Sup. Ct., Nov. 25, 2009), involved numerous objections by two convicted defendants to their convictions on charges of sodomy, robbery and murder. One of the defendants claimed that his Free Exercise rights were violated when the trial judge sustained objections to his lawyer's attempt, in the penalty phase closing argument, to compare the defendant to Jesus being put to death on the cross. The Supreme Court concluded that while it may not have been necessary for the trial judge to restrict closing argument in this way, it was not likely this had any substantial effect on the verdict. Any error was therefore harmless.