Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 24, 2006 4:54:50 GMT -5
Rodriguez case may revive North Dakota death penalty debate
DAVE KOLPACK
Associated Press
FARGO, N.D. - Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.'s death sentence may prompt the Legislature to reconsider whether North Dakota should have the ultimate penalty, Gov. John Hoeven and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem believe.
Rodriguez's lawyers say they hope their client's sentence stirs another kind of public discussion - about the wrongheadedness of the death penalty.
"Hopefully, this case will spur a debate in the state of North Dakota about the death penalty, and the problems and difficulties that it raises," said Rodriguez attorney Robert Hoy, who is a former Cass County prosecutor.
"I think if it were truly a deterrent to crime ... there would be no crime in the state of Texas, and we all know that that's certainly not the case," Hoy said.
Stenehjem said the killings of Rodriguez's victim, University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin, 22, of Pequot Lakes, Minn., and the recent slaying of Valley City State University student Mindy Morgenstern, 22, of New Salem, may revive the issue in the Legislature.
Morgenstern was found dead in her apartment last week, and authorities said her throat was slashed. A Barnes County jailer who lived in her apartment building, Moe Maurice Gibbs, 34, has been charged with murder. Sjodin's body was found in a Minnesota ravine in 2004, and authorities said she had been beaten, raped and stabbed.
"You have to think about what kind of a reaction the state of North Dakota needs to offer," Stenehjem said. "I think it's early to say that the Legislature might take a different approach than it has, but sometimes you have to look and say, 'Maybe things are changing.'"
Lawmakers have not debated a death penalty bill since 1995, when the North Dakota Senate defeated the idea. Stenehjem was a Grand Forks state senator at the time, and he led the opposition to the measure on the Senate floor.
The legislation was introduced in response to the killing of Donna Martz, of Rock Lake, who was abducted in a Bismarck motel parking lot in September 1993 by a couple who wanted to steal her car. Martz was bound and stuffed in the car's trunk, and her body was later found in the Nevada desert.
Hoeven said he would not include a death penalty proposal in his budget recommendations to the 2007 Legislature. However, he personally supports the idea.
"I'm open to that discussion," the governor said. "We need to take very strong measures for these violent sexual offenses, and we're going to continue to put tougher laws in place."
Rodriguez attorney Richard Ney, a Wichita, Kan., lawyer who is experienced in death penalty cases, said he was "saddened ... for the people of North Dakota" by the jury's verdict.
"It just seems difficult for us to grasp that justice is taking the life of a child of God," Ney said.
The Rodriguez case was North Dakota's first death penalty case in about 100 years. Although North Dakota state courts do not have the death penalty, it is available in the federal system. Rodriguez's trial was held in U.S. District Court in Fargo.
A jury of seven women and five men found there were four factors favoring the death penalty that outweighed a defense list of 30 factors for a life sentence.
Jurors rejected defense claims that Rodriguez should receive credit because of his childhood exposure to farm chemicals, his neurological or psychological condition and his offer to plead guilty in March.
The jurors unanimously agreed that Rodriguez suffers from a mental disorder or impairment. Eight jurors said they believed mercy should count as a factor to spare his life.
Ney declined comment about the jury's decisions.
"Our focus here should be on the Sjodin family and their loss," Ney said. "But now it also becomes a focus on the Rodriguez family, and the execution of their son and brother."
A sentencing hearing has been set for Jan. 5. Ney said he would request a new trial, and if his motion is denied, he would begin the "long and involved" appeals process.
"Any human being is compelling" when it comes to saving their life, Ney said. "Would a doctor say, 'Gee, here's a person, let me find out something about him before I decide if I'm going to try and save his life?' Life is worthy of being saved, no matter who it is."
© 2006 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved
DAVE KOLPACK
Associated Press
FARGO, N.D. - Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.'s death sentence may prompt the Legislature to reconsider whether North Dakota should have the ultimate penalty, Gov. John Hoeven and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem believe.
Rodriguez's lawyers say they hope their client's sentence stirs another kind of public discussion - about the wrongheadedness of the death penalty.
"Hopefully, this case will spur a debate in the state of North Dakota about the death penalty, and the problems and difficulties that it raises," said Rodriguez attorney Robert Hoy, who is a former Cass County prosecutor.
"I think if it were truly a deterrent to crime ... there would be no crime in the state of Texas, and we all know that that's certainly not the case," Hoy said.
Stenehjem said the killings of Rodriguez's victim, University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin, 22, of Pequot Lakes, Minn., and the recent slaying of Valley City State University student Mindy Morgenstern, 22, of New Salem, may revive the issue in the Legislature.
Morgenstern was found dead in her apartment last week, and authorities said her throat was slashed. A Barnes County jailer who lived in her apartment building, Moe Maurice Gibbs, 34, has been charged with murder. Sjodin's body was found in a Minnesota ravine in 2004, and authorities said she had been beaten, raped and stabbed.
"You have to think about what kind of a reaction the state of North Dakota needs to offer," Stenehjem said. "I think it's early to say that the Legislature might take a different approach than it has, but sometimes you have to look and say, 'Maybe things are changing.'"
Lawmakers have not debated a death penalty bill since 1995, when the North Dakota Senate defeated the idea. Stenehjem was a Grand Forks state senator at the time, and he led the opposition to the measure on the Senate floor.
The legislation was introduced in response to the killing of Donna Martz, of Rock Lake, who was abducted in a Bismarck motel parking lot in September 1993 by a couple who wanted to steal her car. Martz was bound and stuffed in the car's trunk, and her body was later found in the Nevada desert.
Hoeven said he would not include a death penalty proposal in his budget recommendations to the 2007 Legislature. However, he personally supports the idea.
"I'm open to that discussion," the governor said. "We need to take very strong measures for these violent sexual offenses, and we're going to continue to put tougher laws in place."
Rodriguez attorney Richard Ney, a Wichita, Kan., lawyer who is experienced in death penalty cases, said he was "saddened ... for the people of North Dakota" by the jury's verdict.
"It just seems difficult for us to grasp that justice is taking the life of a child of God," Ney said.
The Rodriguez case was North Dakota's first death penalty case in about 100 years. Although North Dakota state courts do not have the death penalty, it is available in the federal system. Rodriguez's trial was held in U.S. District Court in Fargo.
A jury of seven women and five men found there were four factors favoring the death penalty that outweighed a defense list of 30 factors for a life sentence.
Jurors rejected defense claims that Rodriguez should receive credit because of his childhood exposure to farm chemicals, his neurological or psychological condition and his offer to plead guilty in March.
The jurors unanimously agreed that Rodriguez suffers from a mental disorder or impairment. Eight jurors said they believed mercy should count as a factor to spare his life.
Ney declined comment about the jury's decisions.
"Our focus here should be on the Sjodin family and their loss," Ney said. "But now it also becomes a focus on the Rodriguez family, and the execution of their son and brother."
A sentencing hearing has been set for Jan. 5. Ney said he would request a new trial, and if his motion is denied, he would begin the "long and involved" appeals process.
"Any human being is compelling" when it comes to saving their life, Ney said. "Would a doctor say, 'Gee, here's a person, let me find out something about him before I decide if I'm going to try and save his life?' Life is worthy of being saved, no matter who it is."
© 2006 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved