Post by SoulTrainOz on Jul 3, 2006 19:38:18 GMT -5
MURDER
Gregory Russeau will receive a new Smith County trial to determine whether he receives life in prison or lethal injection for the 2001 capital murder of a local auto mechanic, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The justices did not comment on their opinion, refusing to review the decision of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The Supreme Court's decision means that the appeals court's reversal of Russeau's punishment trial, overturning his death sentence, remains in effect.
The ruling does not affect his capital murder conviction for killing
75-year-old James Syvertson on May 30, 2001. Syverston's body was found in his Vine Avenue mechanic shop. The defendant, who was on parole with a pending theft charge, was found in Longview in the victim's car.
The Attorney General's Office appealed the reversal decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
After 3 years on death row, Russeau could avoid the death chamber after the appellate court ruled that his Sixth Amendment right was violated. The Court of Criminal Appeals found that the 35-year-old's Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him was violated when witness statements were admitted into evidence while those witnesses didn't testify during the penalty phase of his trial. The ruling states that the trial court "erred" in admitting into evidence Smith County Jail incident reports and Texas Department of Criminal Justice disciplinary reports containing statements written by corrections officers. The documents alleged repeated disciplinary offenses by Russeau while he was incarcerated.
The officers' statements relied upon their own observations or the
observations of others, but no one who saw the disciplinary offenses testified at Russeau's trial. Most of the reports were read aloud to the jury during the punishment trial.
Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham has said that before 2004, records could be admitted under the business record exception to the hearsay rule. But Crawford v. Washington, a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, found that it was unconstitutional.
Russeau is defended by Tyler attorneys Clifton Roberson and Brandon Baade.
The punishment trial will be held in 114th District Judge Cynthia Stevens Kent's court.
(source: Tyler Morning Telegraph)
Gregory Russeau will receive a new Smith County trial to determine whether he receives life in prison or lethal injection for the 2001 capital murder of a local auto mechanic, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The justices did not comment on their opinion, refusing to review the decision of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The Supreme Court's decision means that the appeals court's reversal of Russeau's punishment trial, overturning his death sentence, remains in effect.
The ruling does not affect his capital murder conviction for killing
75-year-old James Syvertson on May 30, 2001. Syverston's body was found in his Vine Avenue mechanic shop. The defendant, who was on parole with a pending theft charge, was found in Longview in the victim's car.
The Attorney General's Office appealed the reversal decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
After 3 years on death row, Russeau could avoid the death chamber after the appellate court ruled that his Sixth Amendment right was violated. The Court of Criminal Appeals found that the 35-year-old's Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him was violated when witness statements were admitted into evidence while those witnesses didn't testify during the penalty phase of his trial. The ruling states that the trial court "erred" in admitting into evidence Smith County Jail incident reports and Texas Department of Criminal Justice disciplinary reports containing statements written by corrections officers. The documents alleged repeated disciplinary offenses by Russeau while he was incarcerated.
The officers' statements relied upon their own observations or the
observations of others, but no one who saw the disciplinary offenses testified at Russeau's trial. Most of the reports were read aloud to the jury during the punishment trial.
Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham has said that before 2004, records could be admitted under the business record exception to the hearsay rule. But Crawford v. Washington, a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, found that it was unconstitutional.
Russeau is defended by Tyler attorneys Clifton Roberson and Brandon Baade.
The punishment trial will be held in 114th District Judge Cynthia Stevens Kent's court.
(source: Tyler Morning Telegraph)