Post by Anja on Aug 14, 2006 3:49:21 GMT -5
APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS DEATH PENALTY IN HAYWARD CASE
The death penalty of a man convicted of kidnapping and murdering an
8-year-old Hayward girl in 1978 was overturned by a federal appeals court
in San Francisco today.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of Richard
Hovey, 54, for the murder of Tina Salazar, but set aside his death
sentence because of incompetence of his defense attorneys during the
penalty phase of his 1981-82 trial in Alameda County Superior Court.
Tina was abducted while walking home from school in Hayward on March 10,
1978.
She was found by the side of a road, with hands and legs tied and with 6
skull fractures, later that afternoon. She died 8 days later.
Hovey appealed in the federal courts after the California Supreme Court
upheld his conviction and sentence in 1988.
Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff called the ruling "very
disappointing."
He said he will consult with the state Attorney General's office, which
handles death penalty appeals, and then decide whether he wants to appeal
the ruling or retry the penalty phase.
If the penalty phase is retried, a new jury would choose between
recommending the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
If there is no retrial and no successful appeal, Hovey's sentence would be
changed to life in prison without parole.
A 3-judge panel of the appeals court said Hovey's defense attorneys at the
trial were incompetent in failing to give a defense psychiatrist key
information about Hovey's mental condition.
The court said the attorneys' failure to give the psychiatrist information
about a previous mental health hospitalization and about another
kidnapping by Hovey undermined the doctor's testimony that Hovey was
schizophrenic.
Circuit Judge Kim Wardlaw wrote, "Counsel's egregiously deficient
performance" in preparing the psychiatrist "substantially weakened the
doctor's testimony and enabled prosecutors to destroy his credibility on
cross-examination."
The court said that if the doctor had been properly prepared, "there is a
reasonable possibility that Hovey's jury would have concluded that the
balance of aggravating and mitigating circumstances did not warrant
death."
Hovey's appellate lawyer, William Turner of San Francisco, could not be
reached for comment today.
(source: Bay City Area News)
The death penalty of a man convicted of kidnapping and murdering an
8-year-old Hayward girl in 1978 was overturned by a federal appeals court
in San Francisco today.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of Richard
Hovey, 54, for the murder of Tina Salazar, but set aside his death
sentence because of incompetence of his defense attorneys during the
penalty phase of his 1981-82 trial in Alameda County Superior Court.
Tina was abducted while walking home from school in Hayward on March 10,
1978.
She was found by the side of a road, with hands and legs tied and with 6
skull fractures, later that afternoon. She died 8 days later.
Hovey appealed in the federal courts after the California Supreme Court
upheld his conviction and sentence in 1988.
Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff called the ruling "very
disappointing."
He said he will consult with the state Attorney General's office, which
handles death penalty appeals, and then decide whether he wants to appeal
the ruling or retry the penalty phase.
If the penalty phase is retried, a new jury would choose between
recommending the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
If there is no retrial and no successful appeal, Hovey's sentence would be
changed to life in prison without parole.
A 3-judge panel of the appeals court said Hovey's defense attorneys at the
trial were incompetent in failing to give a defense psychiatrist key
information about Hovey's mental condition.
The court said the attorneys' failure to give the psychiatrist information
about a previous mental health hospitalization and about another
kidnapping by Hovey undermined the doctor's testimony that Hovey was
schizophrenic.
Circuit Judge Kim Wardlaw wrote, "Counsel's egregiously deficient
performance" in preparing the psychiatrist "substantially weakened the
doctor's testimony and enabled prosecutors to destroy his credibility on
cross-examination."
The court said that if the doctor had been properly prepared, "there is a
reasonable possibility that Hovey's jury would have concluded that the
balance of aggravating and mitigating circumstances did not warrant
death."
Hovey's appellate lawyer, William Turner of San Francisco, could not be
reached for comment today.
(source: Bay City Area News)