Jurors Find Death Penalty Appropriate In Triple-Murder Case: William Glaberson of the New York Times reports on today's decision by a Connecticut jury to impose a death sentence on Steven Hayes for his role in a home invasion in Cheshire, Connecticut, that left a mother and her two daughters dead. The jury deliberated for three full days before deciding death was the appropriate sentence for Hayes' six felony convictions. Now that the jury has reached a verdict, it is up to Judge Jon C. Blue of State Superior Court to officially impose the death sentence.
Ex-BART Police Officer Receives a Two-Year Minimum Term: On Friday, a judge sentenced ex-BART police officer Johannes Mehserle to the minimum term of two years in prison for the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant. The judge believed Mehserle's testimony that he had confused his pistol for a Taser. The judge also believed that Mehserle would have been justified in using his Taser because Grant was resisting arrest. Mehserle was looking at as many as 14 years in prison after he was convicted in July of involuntary manslaughter. Due to the credit for time he has already served behind bars, Mehserle will be eligible for release in about seven months. San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer Demian Bulwa has more on the story here.
New Lead in 1961 Kentucky Murder: The Lexington Herald-Leader reports on new developments in the 1961 unsolved murder of 19-year-old Betty Gail Brown, who was strangled with her bra and left dead in her car. A drifter originally confessed to the crime, but a 1965 trial ended in a hung jury. Recently, similarities between Brown's death and other murders pointed to 67-year-old Nolan Ray George, who was previously convicted of strangling two young women and confessed to killing a third. George was released from prison in 1992, but rearrested in July for a 1968 murder in Michigan. He has not been charged in Brown's death.
Here's One Way to Avoid Jury Duty...: John Backderf, a prospective juror in Ohio, was excused from jury service after mentioning he was a childhood friend of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. When asked if he knew anyone convicted of a crime, Backderf responded, "I had a close friend in high school who killed 17 people." After the judge's and lawyers' shocked responses, he was dismissed from the jury list. The AP has this story.
Ex-BART Police Officer Receives a Two-Year Minimum Term: On Friday, a judge sentenced ex-BART police officer Johannes Mehserle to the minimum term of two years in prison for the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant. The judge believed Mehserle's testimony that he had confused his pistol for a Taser. The judge also believed that Mehserle would have been justified in using his Taser because Grant was resisting arrest. Mehserle was looking at as many as 14 years in prison after he was convicted in July of involuntary manslaughter. Due to the credit for time he has already served behind bars, Mehserle will be eligible for release in about seven months. San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer Demian Bulwa has more on the story here.
New Lead in 1961 Kentucky Murder: The Lexington Herald-Leader reports on new developments in the 1961 unsolved murder of 19-year-old Betty Gail Brown, who was strangled with her bra and left dead in her car. A drifter originally confessed to the crime, but a 1965 trial ended in a hung jury. Recently, similarities between Brown's death and other murders pointed to 67-year-old Nolan Ray George, who was previously convicted of strangling two young women and confessed to killing a third. George was released from prison in 1992, but rearrested in July for a 1968 murder in Michigan. He has not been charged in Brown's death.
Here's One Way to Avoid Jury Duty...: John Backderf, a prospective juror in Ohio, was excused from jury service after mentioning he was a childhood friend of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. When asked if he knew anyone convicted of a crime, Backderf responded, "I had a close friend in high school who killed 17 people." After the judge's and lawyers' shocked responses, he was dismissed from the jury list. The AP has this story.
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