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Final Copy 288 Ga. 876 S10P1689. BRYANT v. THE STATE. MELTON, Justice. Nicholas Jason "JJ" Bryant was convicted of the murders of Billy Joe Kilgore and Marie Richards and the armed robbery of Richards.1 After finding beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of multiple statutory aggravating circumstances in each murder, the jury recommended a life sentence without the possibility of parole for Kilgore's murder and a death sentence for Richards' murder. Finding no reversible error in the guilt/innocence phase of Bryant's trial, we affirm the jury's verdict of guilt on all charges. However, because we conclude that the trial court erred in allowing the State to introduce unconstitutional victim impact testimony in the sentencing phase, we

The murders occurred on May 21, 2004. Bryant was indicted for two counts of malice murder and one count of armed robbery by a Douglas County grand jury on June 18, 2004. The State filed written notice of its intent to seek the death penalty on January 14, 2005. Jury selection began on October 9, 2007, and ended on November 6, 2007. Bryant's trial began on November 26, 2007. The jury found Bryant guilty of all counts of the indictment on December 8, 2007, and recommended a life sentence without the possibility of parole for Kilgore's murder and a death sentence for Richards' murder on December 13, 2007. On December 21, 2007, the trial court sentenced Bryant in accordance with the jury's recommendations and imposed a life sentence for the armed robbery. Bryant filed a motion for new trial on January 17, 2008, which he amended on November 16, 2009, and which the trial court denied on December 15, 2009. On January 11, 2010, the trial court granted Bryant a 30-day extension of time in which to file a notice of appeal, see OCGA

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Georgia Law