August 9 NEW YORK: Ex-death row inmate, saved by court ruling, draws life sentence Stephen LaValle, the Long Island killer whose case led to a State Court of Appeals ruling overturning New York's death penalty statute, was resentenced on Monday to life without parole for the 1997 rape-murder of a female jogger. LaValle, 37, is 1 of 4 men whose death sentences were invalidated by the 4-3 ruling of the state's highest court on June 24. The majority found that jury instructions in capital punishment cases violated the state constitutional because they might pressure some reluctant jurors into voting for death by lethal injection. The court also ordered prosecutors to withdraw notices of intent to seek the death penlty in 9 other pending cases. The judges had given prosecutors an option to have LaValle resentenced to life without parole, or 20 to 25 years in prison with possible parole. The lesser sentence had been a trial court's only recourse if jurors deadlocked over the choice of life or death. LaValle killed 32-year-old Cynthia Quinn in Medford on May 31, 1997. Quinn, a popular art teacher and track coach, was jogging when she apparently happened upon LaValle as he was urinating on the side of a road and, when she criticized him, he became enraged and attacked her. Some lawmakers in Albany have indicated they would consider moves to revise the law to meet the court's objections and reinstate the death penalty. No one had been executed since it was previously reinsated in 1995. (source: Associated Press) LOUISIANA: DNA Evidence Frees La. Death Row Inmate A man sentenced to death as a teenager was freed Monday by DNA evidence, and said he had been certain from the beginning that he would be vindicated. For more than 7 years, Ryan Matthews has said he had nothing to do with the 1997 robbery and murder of a grocer. He said he knew that someday he would be freed. "I always knew it would happen. So it wasn't a surprise to me," he said after a brief hearing dropping charges against him. "Never give up hope, no matter how bad it gets." State District Judge Henry Sullivan dismissed the indictment at the request of prosecutors, who noted they have a year to "revisit" the case. William Sothern, an attorney for The Capital Appeals Project, said he doubts that will happen. "He's exonerated. Without a doubt," Sothern said. Jurors were told that no physical evidence linked Matthews to the holdup and murder of Tommy Vanhoose. But 2 witnesses identified him as the gunman, and a co-defendant, Travis Hayes, told police that he drove the getaway car after Matthews, then 17, shot Vanhoose. Ultimately, DNA found in a ski mask that was tossed from the getaway car was found to match that of Rondell Love, who is serving time for an unrelated killing. In addition, Matthews' lawyers said, other inmates have told investigators that Love bragged about killing Vanhoose. Emily Bolton, an attorney with the Innocence Project of New Orleans, said she was confident that Hayes' conviction will also be reversed. "The only evidence against Travis Hayes is his statement that Ryan Matthews did it, which DNA proves is false," she said. Officials have not said whether they plan to prosecute Love. District Attorney Paul Connick said the case is still open, but acknowledged that the DNA evidence made it impossible to prove Matthews' guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. "I felt the only fair thing to do would be to dismiss the indictment against him and continue to investigate the case," Connick said. ********************************* Others cleared after being sent to death row In addition to Ryan Matthews, who was released Monday, these men were cleared of charges that had sent them to death row in Louisiana: -Johnny Ross, New Orleans, convicted in 1975, released in 1981 Ross was 16 when he was sentenced to death for rape. The Orleans Parish district attorney's office released him after the Southern Poverty Law Center turned up evidence that the semen did not match his blood type. -Curtis Kyles, New Orleans, convicted in 1984, released in 1998 Kyles was tried 5 times for the murder of Delores Dee Dye in 1984. The 2nd jury - the only one that could agree on whether he was guilty or innocent - sentenced him to death. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the conviction because prosecutors withheld evidence that could have helped him. After 3 more trials ended with hung juries, the district attorney dropped the case. -Shareef Cousin, New Orleans, convicted in 1996, charges dropped 1999 Cousin was 16 - the youngest person ever sent to Louisiana's death row - when he was convicted of killing Michael Gerardi, 25, outside a French Quarter restaurant in 1994. The Louisiana Supreme Court threw out the conviction, saying prosecutors improperly stressed hearsay testimony in their closing arguments. Combined with the lack of direct evidence, this violated Cousin's right to a fair trial, it said. Cousin remained in prison, serving 15-year sentences for each of 4 armed robberies. -Michael Graham, Roanoke, Va., and Albert Burrell, Monroe, convicted 1987, charges dismissed 2000 Graham and Burrell were convicted of killing an elderly couple in rural Union Parish. Their appeal attorneys convinced the state Attorney General's Office that blood at the scene did not match their DNA, trial testimony was false, and prosecutors had withheld key evidence. The men's original trial lawyers had been disbarred, they noted. After an 8-month investigation, the state Attorney General's Office dismissed charges. -John Thompson, New Orleans, convicted 1985, acquitted 2003 After Thompson's conviction for a New Orleans murder was overturned, a 2nd jury acquitted him. He had not testified at his 1st trial because prosecutors would have used an earlier armed robbery conviction against him. Prosecutors did bring up that conviction during the sentencing phase of his trial. Five weeks before Thompson was scheduled to die, defense investigators found blood evidence clearing him of that earlier holdup. A state appeal case overturned his murder conviction because prosecutors had improperly held back that blood evidence. -Dan L. Bright, New Orleans, convicted in 1995, released in 2004 After Bright had spent 4 years on death row for the murder of Murray Barnes in New Orleans, the Louisiana Supreme Court reduced his sentence to life in prison. There was insufficient evidence that Barnes had been murdered during an armed robbery, therefore not enough proof to support a 1st-degree murder conviction, it said. In May, it ordered a new trial, saying prosecutors had withheld evidence. That indictment was dropped and Bright released. However, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Eddie Jordan said Monday that prosecutors are still investigating the case with an eye toward reindicting Bright. (source for both: Associated Press)
