Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 15, 2006 10:24:39 GMT -5
Appeals court ruling may change death penalty resentencings
A.J. FLICK
Tucson Citizen
The Arizona Court of Appeals today ruled that in resentencing cases, defendants can challenge the aggravating factors that made them eligible for the death penalty.
The ruling says that Scott Douglas Nordstrom, 38, who was given six death sentences for two fatal 1996 robberies, must be resentenced before a jury as if he had never been sentenced before.
Prosecutors had argued that Nordstrom could present only mitigating evidence in favor of a life sentence because the aggravating factors that made him eligible for death were already proved in the conviction.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Michael Cruikshank agreed with prosecutors, but the appeals court overturned that decision.
The appeals court said that this decision could affect other death penalty resentencings.
Prosecutors may challenge the appeals court's decision to the Arizona Supreme Court, but have not said yet whether they will.
Besides Nordstrom, other Pima County death cases under resentencing review include Robert Joe Moody, Shad Daniel Armstrong and Danny N. Montaño.
Nordstrom was convicted of first-degree murder in the May 30, 1996, robbery at the Moon Smoke Shop and June 13, 1996, robbery at the Firefighters Union Hall. Cruikshank sentenced Nordstrom to death on May 18, 1998.
His sentences were overturned when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juries, not judges, must decide whether a death sentence would be imposed.
Nordstrom's attorney, David Alan Darby, recently filed a motion asking that Nordstrom's indictment be dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct.
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A.J. FLICK
Tucson Citizen
The Arizona Court of Appeals today ruled that in resentencing cases, defendants can challenge the aggravating factors that made them eligible for the death penalty.
The ruling says that Scott Douglas Nordstrom, 38, who was given six death sentences for two fatal 1996 robberies, must be resentenced before a jury as if he had never been sentenced before.
Prosecutors had argued that Nordstrom could present only mitigating evidence in favor of a life sentence because the aggravating factors that made him eligible for death were already proved in the conviction.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Michael Cruikshank agreed with prosecutors, but the appeals court overturned that decision.
The appeals court said that this decision could affect other death penalty resentencings.
Prosecutors may challenge the appeals court's decision to the Arizona Supreme Court, but have not said yet whether they will.
Besides Nordstrom, other Pima County death cases under resentencing review include Robert Joe Moody, Shad Daniel Armstrong and Danny N. Montaño.
Nordstrom was convicted of first-degree murder in the May 30, 1996, robbery at the Moon Smoke Shop and June 13, 1996, robbery at the Firefighters Union Hall. Cruikshank sentenced Nordstrom to death on May 18, 1998.
His sentences were overturned when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juries, not judges, must decide whether a death sentence would be imposed.
Nordstrom's attorney, David Alan Darby, recently filed a motion asking that Nordstrom's indictment be dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct.
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