Post by SoulTrainOz on Jul 30, 2006 3:39:31 GMT -5
A federal appeals court has rejected Chadrick Fulks' appeal of his death sentence for kidnapping and murdering a Galivants Ferry woman.
Fulks claimed his sentence should be thrown out because of problems with several jurors and issues in his 2004 trial.
Fulks was sentenced to die for kidnapping and murdering 44-year-old Alice Donovan, who was taken from a Conway parking lot in December 2002. The woman's body has never been found.
Fulks at one point dropped all of his appeals. In March, he sent
prosecutors a letter saying he was suffering from depression when he said he wanted to drop the appeals.
The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Fulks' sentence Thursday after rejecting arguments that several jurors in the trial were predisposed to assess the death penalty.
Fulks also had said his sentence should have been thrown out because a juror failed to reveal on her questionnaire that her 1st husband had been murdered. Fulks also argued certain testimony should not have been allowed.
"Indeed, the record reflects that the trial court conducted the
proceedings in an exemplary manner, maintaining decorum and ensuring fairness throughout," Circuit Judge Robert B. King wrote.
Fulks' co-defendant Brandon Basham also was sentenced to death for killing Donovan. Both men also face life sentences after pleading guilty in West Virginia in the disappearance and death of 19-year-old college student Samantha Burns, whose body also has not been found.
Fulks is awaiting execution at a federal prison in Indiana.
Both men had escaped from the Hopkins County (Ky.) Jail several days before their crime spree.
(source: Associated Press)
Fulks claimed his sentence should be thrown out because of problems with several jurors and issues in his 2004 trial.
Fulks was sentenced to die for kidnapping and murdering 44-year-old Alice Donovan, who was taken from a Conway parking lot in December 2002. The woman's body has never been found.
Fulks at one point dropped all of his appeals. In March, he sent
prosecutors a letter saying he was suffering from depression when he said he wanted to drop the appeals.
The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Fulks' sentence Thursday after rejecting arguments that several jurors in the trial were predisposed to assess the death penalty.
Fulks also had said his sentence should have been thrown out because a juror failed to reveal on her questionnaire that her 1st husband had been murdered. Fulks also argued certain testimony should not have been allowed.
"Indeed, the record reflects that the trial court conducted the
proceedings in an exemplary manner, maintaining decorum and ensuring fairness throughout," Circuit Judge Robert B. King wrote.
Fulks' co-defendant Brandon Basham also was sentenced to death for killing Donovan. Both men also face life sentences after pleading guilty in West Virginia in the disappearance and death of 19-year-old college student Samantha Burns, whose body also has not been found.
Fulks is awaiting execution at a federal prison in Indiana.
Both men had escaped from the Hopkins County (Ky.) Jail several days before their crime spree.
(source: Associated Press)