Crazy Guggenheim
08-30-2007, 06:07 PM
[Only registered and activated users can see links]
SAN FRANCISCO—In a rare move, the California Supreme Court on Thursday tossed out the death sentence of a Long Beach man convicted of killing two people during a drunken shooting spree that injured two others.
The Supreme Court ruled that trial judges improperly denied Arthur Hans Halvorsen's right to represent himself. However, 6-1 decision left intact his two first-degree murder convictions and his sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for one of the killings.
Halvorsen was convicted of the 1985 murders of Vicente Perez and Calvin Ferguson, but the jury couldn't make a decision about how to punish him for killing Perez. A second jury later sentenced Halvorsen to death for that murder. Now, the Los Angeles county prosecutor must now decide whether to empanel yet another jury to decide how to punish Halvorsen for the Perez murder or let the high court's decision stand. If Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley does nothing, Halvorsen would not be executed, but would remain in prison for life without the possibility of parole because of the Ferguson murder.
SAN FRANCISCO—In a rare move, the California Supreme Court on Thursday tossed out the death sentence of a Long Beach man convicted of killing two people during a drunken shooting spree that injured two others.
The Supreme Court ruled that trial judges improperly denied Arthur Hans Halvorsen's right to represent himself. However, 6-1 decision left intact his two first-degree murder convictions and his sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for one of the killings.
Halvorsen was convicted of the 1985 murders of Vicente Perez and Calvin Ferguson, but the jury couldn't make a decision about how to punish him for killing Perez. A second jury later sentenced Halvorsen to death for that murder. Now, the Los Angeles county prosecutor must now decide whether to empanel yet another jury to decide how to punish Halvorsen for the Perez murder or let the high court's decision stand. If Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley does nothing, Halvorsen would not be executed, but would remain in prison for life without the possibility of parole because of the Ferguson murder.