Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 8, 2006 1:12:53 GMT -5
Man appealing death sentence in Las Vegas jewelry store slayings
A part-time jewelry repairmen sentenced to die for the September 2003
beating deaths of his employers, an elderly Las Vegas woman and her
daughter, says the state Supreme Court should cancel his conviction
because of numerous trial errors.
A lawyer for Avetis Archanian, 48, told the high court on Tuesday that
there was no clear reason why a jury was shown grisly crime scene and
autopsy photos over the objection of Archanian's trial defense lawyer.
The jury convicted Archanian in 2004 of first-degree murder and sentenced
him to die by lethal injection. Archanian is currently being housed at Ely
State Prison.
Clark County prosecutor Steven Owens argued the photos were needed to show
that blunt force trauma killed Juana Quiroga, 86, and her daughter, Elisa
Del Prado, 68. Quiroga died at her downtown Las Vegas jewelry store, World
Merchants-Importers. Del Prado died from her injuries in March 2004.
It appeared that one issue Archanian's appeals lawyer, Glenn Schepps, did
not raise might yield a new penalty hearing for Archanian.
Justices noted that Archanian had been charged with felony murder
involving a robbery, and that robbery also was used as an aggravating
factor in the death penalty finding.
The Supreme Court recently ruled that using one aggravating factor both to
convict someone and to seek the death penalty was improper.
Owens said that even if the state court found error in one aggravating
factor determination, another aggravating factor that Archanian killed
more than one person still applied.
Schepps also challenged the admissibility of a grainy store surveillance
videotape that was shown to the jury, saying it wasn't original and had
been altered.
Owens disputed the contention that the videotape was altered in any
significant way, and said two people testified Archanian was the person
seen in the videotape.
(source: Associated Press)
A part-time jewelry repairmen sentenced to die for the September 2003
beating deaths of his employers, an elderly Las Vegas woman and her
daughter, says the state Supreme Court should cancel his conviction
because of numerous trial errors.
A lawyer for Avetis Archanian, 48, told the high court on Tuesday that
there was no clear reason why a jury was shown grisly crime scene and
autopsy photos over the objection of Archanian's trial defense lawyer.
The jury convicted Archanian in 2004 of first-degree murder and sentenced
him to die by lethal injection. Archanian is currently being housed at Ely
State Prison.
Clark County prosecutor Steven Owens argued the photos were needed to show
that blunt force trauma killed Juana Quiroga, 86, and her daughter, Elisa
Del Prado, 68. Quiroga died at her downtown Las Vegas jewelry store, World
Merchants-Importers. Del Prado died from her injuries in March 2004.
It appeared that one issue Archanian's appeals lawyer, Glenn Schepps, did
not raise might yield a new penalty hearing for Archanian.
Justices noted that Archanian had been charged with felony murder
involving a robbery, and that robbery also was used as an aggravating
factor in the death penalty finding.
The Supreme Court recently ruled that using one aggravating factor both to
convict someone and to seek the death penalty was improper.
Owens said that even if the state court found error in one aggravating
factor determination, another aggravating factor that Archanian killed
more than one person still applied.
Schepps also challenged the admissibility of a grainy store surveillance
videotape that was shown to the jury, saying it wasn't original and had
been altered.
Owens disputed the contention that the videotape was altered in any
significant way, and said two people testified Archanian was the person
seen in the videotape.
(source: Associated Press)