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Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Ind. Decisions - "U.S. District Judge Allen Sharp ordered that Joseph Corcoran be resentenced but that he should not receive the death penalty" [Updated]

Dionne Waugh of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports today:

A federal judge has overturned the death sentence of a Fort Wayne man who killed four people, ruling that the prosecutor unconstitutionally penalized the man.

U.S. District Judge Allen Sharp ordered that Joseph Corcoran be resentenced but that he should not receive the death penalty.

In May 1999, a jury imported to Allen County convicted Corcoran of four counts of murder and recommend he be put to death. * * *

Sharp issued a 34-page opinion and order Monday, stating that former Allen County Prosecutor Robert Gevers inappropriately punished Corcoran when Corcoran refused to waive his right to a jury trial and agree to allow a judge to decide his guilt.

According to the opinion, Gevers first offered to not to seek the death penalty if Corcoran pleaded guilty. Corcoran refused. Gevers then offered not to seek the death penalty if Corcoran chose a bench trial, allowing a judge to rule on his case rather than a jury. Corcoran again refused.

Gevers then filed for the death penalty in the case, according to the opinion.

Sharp’s opinion stated that Gevers unfairly punished Corcoran and violated his rights when Corcoran refused to be tried by a judge – rather than a jury – in exchange for Gevers’ not filing for the death penalty.

Corcoran’s mental competency has been brought up and questioned several times during his appeals. Though this appeal stated that Corcoran was incompetent to be executed by lethal injection, Sharp’s decision did not deal directly with that, ruling instead that this determination makes that point moot.

“Therefore, it is the holding of this court that the prosecution unconstitutionally penalized (Corcoran) by seeking the death penalty when (Corcoran) refused to consent to the prosecution’s offer to forgo the death penalty in exchange for (Corcoran’s) consent to waive a jury trial and proceed with a determination of guilty by the judge,” Sharp wrote.

“This offer by the prosecution was a violation of (Corcoran’s) Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial.” * * *

As a remedy for the violation, Sharp wrote, Corcoran should be resentenced within four months to a term other than death. A new trial would not be appropriate because neither Gevers’ offer nor seeking the death penalty denied Corcoran a fair trial, Sharp wrote.

The story today concludes with a lengthy "Joseph Corcoran timeline ."

[Updated 4/12/07] The Journal Gazette has an editorial today - a quote: "No defendant should be punished for exercising the constitutional right to a trial by jury, U.S. District Judge Allen Sharp properly ruled this week in throwing out the death penalty conviction. Now, Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter would best serve justice and his Hoosier constituents by declining to appeal Sharp’s ruling."

[Updated 4/23/07] According to this Star story from April 20th:

Convicted killer David Leon Woods will be given twice as much anesthetic as other inmates Indiana has put to death when he is executed by injection next month. * * *

tate attorney Thomas Quigley disclosed the recent change to execution protocol April 13 during a telephone conference with Wagoner and the judge.

According to a court document summarizing the discussion, the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City has increased the amount of sodium pentothal -- the first chemical injected -- to 5 grams from 2.5 grams. The barbiturate serves as a sedative.

Two substances are then injected, to paralyze the muscles, then to stop the heart.

Woods' attorneys have asked the state to explain in writing why the dose was changed and whether evidence backs up its effectiveness.

Java Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Correction, attributed the change to a recent review of the protocol. Officials regularly look at staffing, procedures and equipment "to ensure that the department is implementing the best available practices," she said in an e-mail.

Many states already use Indiana's new dose of the drug, though others have given inmates a smaller amount than Indiana's old dose.

Little input on the drugs, their use or dosages has come from medical doctors. They often refuse to take part in executions out of ethical concerns in a profession that aims to protect the health of patients. Critics of lethal-injection procedures nationally point out that the same sequence of drugs has been used for decades, simply passing from state to state without a complete medical review.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 11, 2007 08:49 AM
Posted to Ind Fed D.Ct. Decisions