Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 12, 2006 20:40:44 GMT -5
Ex-Death Row Inmate Wants Confession Left Out Of New Trial
A former death row inmate who will be retried in connection with the death
of a Wilmington high school student wants a judge to throw out his
confession.
Attorneys for Todd Boggess argued Monday that a jury should not hear that
their client confessed to the 1995 beating death of Danny Pence, claiming
the confessions were obtained illegally.
Boggess was convicted in the case in 1997, but the verdict was overturned
last year when the North Carolina Supreme Court found that there had been
errors during the trial.
Authorities have said that Boggess and his girlfriend, Melanie Gray, drove
with Pence from Wrightsville Beach to northern Durham, where they gagged
and blindfolded the victim and bludgeoned him to death with a board.
Boggess' new trial isn't scheduled until next year.
Prosecutors have said they will not be seeking the death penalty in the
new trial. If convicted, however, Boggess could face life if prison
without parole.
Gray was released from prison last November.
(source: WRAL News)
A former death row inmate who will be retried in connection with the death
of a Wilmington high school student wants a judge to throw out his
confession.
Attorneys for Todd Boggess argued Monday that a jury should not hear that
their client confessed to the 1995 beating death of Danny Pence, claiming
the confessions were obtained illegally.
Boggess was convicted in the case in 1997, but the verdict was overturned
last year when the North Carolina Supreme Court found that there had been
errors during the trial.
Authorities have said that Boggess and his girlfriend, Melanie Gray, drove
with Pence from Wrightsville Beach to northern Durham, where they gagged
and blindfolded the victim and bludgeoned him to death with a board.
Boggess' new trial isn't scheduled until next year.
Prosecutors have said they will not be seeking the death penalty in the
new trial. If convicted, however, Boggess could face life if prison
without parole.
Gray was released from prison last November.
(source: WRAL News)