Post by CCADP on Aug 30, 2005 18:05:30 GMT -5
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered
new penalty phase trials for two death row inmates after the U.S.
Supreme Court said jurors could have been prejudiced by seeing the
defendants in shackles.
The court remanded Carmen L. Deck back to Jefferson County and Donald
Joe Hall back to Greene County for new penalty trials.
A jury in 1998 convicted Deck, of south St. Louis County, of first-
degree murder in the 1996 robbery and killings of James Long, 69, and
his wife, Zelma Long, 67, of rural De Soto. The jurors later
sentenced Deck to death.
The state Supreme Court later upheld the conviction but overturned
the penalty, requiring a new penalty phase.
During the new penalty phase, court officials required Deck to wear
arm and leg restraints and a belly chain in full view of the jury.
The court justified the restraints by saying Deck was a convicted
criminal and possibly a risk.
His defense attorneys objected, saying the restraints would make
jurors assume Deck was an extremely violent man and would influence
their decision of whether to sentence him to death or prison. The
objection was overruled.
But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, said the
restraints were unconstitutional because the lower court hadn't shown
adequate evidence that Deck was a security risk and needed the
restraints.
"Where a court, without adequate justification, orders the defendant
to wear shackles that will be seen by the jury, the defendant need
not demonstrate actual prejudice to make out a due process
violation," the high court said.
The state Supreme Court also set aside the death sentence for Hall,
who was convicted of the 1992 murder of Bill White, a Springfield
jewelry store owner. The court upheld Hall's conviction and sentence
in 1998, overruling Hall's complaints that he too was forced to wear
visible restraints during his sentencing trial.
www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/12516071.htm
new penalty phase trials for two death row inmates after the U.S.
Supreme Court said jurors could have been prejudiced by seeing the
defendants in shackles.
The court remanded Carmen L. Deck back to Jefferson County and Donald
Joe Hall back to Greene County for new penalty trials.
A jury in 1998 convicted Deck, of south St. Louis County, of first-
degree murder in the 1996 robbery and killings of James Long, 69, and
his wife, Zelma Long, 67, of rural De Soto. The jurors later
sentenced Deck to death.
The state Supreme Court later upheld the conviction but overturned
the penalty, requiring a new penalty phase.
During the new penalty phase, court officials required Deck to wear
arm and leg restraints and a belly chain in full view of the jury.
The court justified the restraints by saying Deck was a convicted
criminal and possibly a risk.
His defense attorneys objected, saying the restraints would make
jurors assume Deck was an extremely violent man and would influence
their decision of whether to sentence him to death or prison. The
objection was overruled.
But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, said the
restraints were unconstitutional because the lower court hadn't shown
adequate evidence that Deck was a security risk and needed the
restraints.
"Where a court, without adequate justification, orders the defendant
to wear shackles that will be seen by the jury, the defendant need
not demonstrate actual prejudice to make out a due process
violation," the high court said.
The state Supreme Court also set aside the death sentence for Hall,
who was convicted of the 1992 murder of Bill White, a Springfield
jewelry store owner. The court upheld Hall's conviction and sentence
in 1998, overruling Hall's complaints that he too was forced to wear
visible restraints during his sentencing trial.
www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/12516071.htm