Post by sclcookie on May 31, 2006 2:08:08 GMT -5
Court rejects killer's death penalty----Justices send May’s case back to county for resentencing
For the 2nd time in 10 1/2 years, the state Supreme Court has overturned the death penalty of Freeman May, convicted of 1st-degree murder in the 1982 stabbing death of a 22-year-old Lancaster woman whose remains were found in South Lebanon Township.
On Thursday, the state Supreme Court justices ordered the 48-year-old May be resentenced in Lebanon County Common Pleas Court.
The court said in a ruling released yesterday that May's defense attorneys at a 1995 resentencing hearing should have challenged a ruling barring them from presenting as mitigating factors evidence that May's father had abused him as a child.
The court's decision does not affect May's murder conviction. May is currently an inmate at the State Correctional Institution in Greene County.
May was convicted in March 1991 of stabbing to death Kathy Lynn Fair of Lancaster County. Fair disappeared in September 1982, and her remains were found 6 years later in a remote wooded area of South Lebanon Township near Dead End Road.
"We hold that the failure of trial counsel to object to such an egregious mistake by the trial court constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel from which May suffered prejudice," Justice Sandra Schultz Newman wrote.
May was represented at his 1991 trial by attorneys Timothy Sheffy and Joseph Farrell.
The Supreme Court decision noted that May specifically wanted to present evidence that he not only suffered physical and sexual abuse by his father during his childhood, but also was forced to watch as his father abused his sisters and mother.
"In fact, the Commonwealth conceded before the (county) court that May had been 'physically struck or threatened with physical harm’ by his father and that his father 'was a cruel and abusive man who controlled his family by keeping them isolated and by keeping them at his mercy financially,'" Newman wrote.
During a hearing to determine whether May should receive a new sentencing hearing, Lebanon County Judge Samuel A. Kline heard 6 days of testimony in February and April 2002 from May’s defense attorneys, relatives and a psychiatrist who had examined May for signs of mental retardation or psychotic behavior. Kline also heard testimony from May's family about the abusive behavior of May’s father.
In a March 2003 ruling, Kline rejected May's appeal for a new sentencing hearing, saying the defense attorneys had investigated May’s childhood and had him evaluated, but they found no evidence that would have helped May at his trial. Kline's ruling was appealed to state Supreme Court.
President Judge Robert J. Eby, who presided at May's 1991 trial and his 1995 resentencing, disqualified himself from the case in 2000 and appointed Kline to hear the latest appeal.
After his 1991 conviction, May was sentenced to die but the state Supreme Court overturned the death penalty in May 1995.
The court found that the jury could not properly consider whether May committed murder while also committing rape - an aggravating circumstance justifying the death penalty - because the trial court never instructed the jurors on elements of rape.
In December 1995, a 2nd jury concluded that May should be sentenced to die rather than receive a sentence of life in prison.
Former Gov. Tom Ridge twice signed death warrants setting execution dates for May, but legal challenges prevented his execution.
Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment yesterday.
(source: Lebanon Daily News)
For the 2nd time in 10 1/2 years, the state Supreme Court has overturned the death penalty of Freeman May, convicted of 1st-degree murder in the 1982 stabbing death of a 22-year-old Lancaster woman whose remains were found in South Lebanon Township.
On Thursday, the state Supreme Court justices ordered the 48-year-old May be resentenced in Lebanon County Common Pleas Court.
The court said in a ruling released yesterday that May's defense attorneys at a 1995 resentencing hearing should have challenged a ruling barring them from presenting as mitigating factors evidence that May's father had abused him as a child.
The court's decision does not affect May's murder conviction. May is currently an inmate at the State Correctional Institution in Greene County.
May was convicted in March 1991 of stabbing to death Kathy Lynn Fair of Lancaster County. Fair disappeared in September 1982, and her remains were found 6 years later in a remote wooded area of South Lebanon Township near Dead End Road.
"We hold that the failure of trial counsel to object to such an egregious mistake by the trial court constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel from which May suffered prejudice," Justice Sandra Schultz Newman wrote.
May was represented at his 1991 trial by attorneys Timothy Sheffy and Joseph Farrell.
The Supreme Court decision noted that May specifically wanted to present evidence that he not only suffered physical and sexual abuse by his father during his childhood, but also was forced to watch as his father abused his sisters and mother.
"In fact, the Commonwealth conceded before the (county) court that May had been 'physically struck or threatened with physical harm’ by his father and that his father 'was a cruel and abusive man who controlled his family by keeping them isolated and by keeping them at his mercy financially,'" Newman wrote.
During a hearing to determine whether May should receive a new sentencing hearing, Lebanon County Judge Samuel A. Kline heard 6 days of testimony in February and April 2002 from May’s defense attorneys, relatives and a psychiatrist who had examined May for signs of mental retardation or psychotic behavior. Kline also heard testimony from May's family about the abusive behavior of May’s father.
In a March 2003 ruling, Kline rejected May's appeal for a new sentencing hearing, saying the defense attorneys had investigated May’s childhood and had him evaluated, but they found no evidence that would have helped May at his trial. Kline's ruling was appealed to state Supreme Court.
President Judge Robert J. Eby, who presided at May's 1991 trial and his 1995 resentencing, disqualified himself from the case in 2000 and appointed Kline to hear the latest appeal.
After his 1991 conviction, May was sentenced to die but the state Supreme Court overturned the death penalty in May 1995.
The court found that the jury could not properly consider whether May committed murder while also committing rape - an aggravating circumstance justifying the death penalty - because the trial court never instructed the jurors on elements of rape.
In December 1995, a 2nd jury concluded that May should be sentenced to die rather than receive a sentence of life in prison.
Former Gov. Tom Ridge twice signed death warrants setting execution dates for May, but legal challenges prevented his execution.
Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment yesterday.
(source: Lebanon Daily News)