Related articles and links |  1 of 9

Justices to say whether murderer's conversion should have been emphasized in jury sentencing instructions
In 1981, William Payton went to a California home where he'd previously rented a room, begging for a place to stay. The woman there let him sleep on the couch. A few hours later, while she was still sleeping, Payton stabbed her 12 times, then raped her as she lay dying. Then he attacked the woman's housemate, stabbing her 40 times, and her 10-year-old son, stabbing him 23 times. Both of these victims, however, survived.

In other words, Payton's crimes are pretty heinous. And a jury found him guilty on all counts.

But God is gracious to the greatest of sinners. In prison, Payton converted to Christianity, and became zealous in his faith. He even led several prison Bible studies.

At Payton's sentencing hearing, eight witnesses told of Payton's conversion, faith, and his changed character. But the prosecutor in the case told the jury to disregard the conversion as a "mitigating" factor—it didn't count. The jury agreed, and sentenced Payton to death. Last October, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the prosecutor's comment was a mistake—and one big enough to overturn the sentence (as well as the California Supreme Court's 1992 affirmation of Payton's death penalty).

"We have determined that there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury accepted the prosecutor's erroneous statement of the law rather than the defense counsel's and that it therefore failed to consider the only evidence offered in mitigation of the death penalty," Judge Richard Paez wrote for the 6-5 majority.

The dissenters in the case not only questioned the wisdom of overturning the sentence, but also wondered about the "mitigating factors" in Payton's conversion itself

"Abstract legal discussions are important to the development of the law, but so is the ability to look at the impact of those abstract decisions in the context of the real world," wrote Judge Richard Tallman. "Any legal errors were harmless in relation to the acts committed by the man who stood before the jury and asked it to mitigate his sentence based solely on his change of heart after he was caught."

Now the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the case, which prosecutors say could have a significant effect on a number of other death penalty cases.

Nigeria riots:

• Violence jolts the still fragile democracy in Nigeria | Deadly sectarian clashes in Nigeria have created one of the most serious political crises since democracy was restored five years ago (The New York Times)
  
  
• Nigeria villagers running scared despite state of emergency | Women and children carrying head-loads of personal belongings streamed out of Bakin Ciyawa - a little village of mud huts and a few cement buildings with corrugated iron roofing in central Nigeria's Plateau State - just ahead of dusk, fearful of another militia attack (IRIN, UN)
  
  
• Plateau killings spread - Alli wants foreign help | Fighting has spread in the killing fields of Plateau State, where President Olusegun Obasanjo Tuesday last week declared a State of Emergency, with reports of killings in Pandam, Namu, Saminaka and Barkin Ciyawa in Quanpan Local Government Area of the state last weekend (P.M. News, Nigeria)
  
  
• CAN arranges parley with Obasanjo, Pam | Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday said it had arranged a meeting between President Olusegun Obasanjo and its Plateau leader, Reverend Yakubu Pam to help resolve their differences, even as it called on its members to  continue to exhibit patience and understanding in the face of attacks (Vanguard, Nigeria)
  
  

next page... |  1 of 9

May (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48