https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Se5FGXkBa...Btennessee.jpg
Summary of Offense:
Sentenced to death on March 1, 2008 for the carjacking and murder of 79-year-old Lawrenece Guidroz on August 2, 2005.
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https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Se5FGXkBa...Btennessee.jpg
Summary of Offense:
Sentenced to death on March 1, 2008 for the carjacking and murder of 79-year-old Lawrenece Guidroz on August 2, 2005.
March 2, 2008
Corinio Pruitt Sentenced to Death
MEMPHIS (AP) - A jury hands down the death penalty to a man convicted of carjacking and beating an elderly man to death. Corinio Pruitt was sentenced this weekend for killing 79 year old Lawrenece Guidroz in August of 2005. Almost 3 years later a jury finds him guilty.
The Oakhaven community isn't the same since the man who lived in this house on Kingsgate Avenue was beaten to death in a carjacking. 79 year old Lawrence Guidroz is dead but his memory is still very much alive in his neighborhood.
Troy Taylor said, "A friend of mine for 17 years. I get kind of choked up talking about it. He was just goodness. He would pick up paper out the street just to keep the neighborhood clean."
Brian Pilgrim remembers him also.
Pilgrim said, "He mainly didn't do nothing but go back and forth to the store. That's about the only time he left in his car but it was everybody around here knew him real good and they miss him."
It was on a trip to that neighborhood store when he was killed by Corinio Pruitt. Pruitt beat him to death. This weekend a jury sentenced pruitt to the death penalty.
"Senseless. Senseless. You know your heart goes out when you hear about crime in the city that you ask the question why. When I first heard about it I was angry. Then I thought about mr. Lawrence. I know he probably would forgive the young man but like I said the punishment fits the crime," said Taylor.
Taylor himself questions the death penalty. He doubts if it does anything to deter crime. Still, it is some relief for neighbors to know justice is finally served in the death of the man who instilled a since of pride and community in their neighborhood.
On June 13, 2011, Pruitt's death sentence was upheld by the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals on direct appeal.
http://law.justia.com/cases/tennesse...io-pruitt.html
Tennessee Supreme Court uphold death sentence of Memphis man in 2005 case
The Tennessee Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence of Corinio Pruitt of Memphis, who was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2005 death of 79-year-old Lawrence Guidroz while stealing his car outside Winchester Road grocery store.
The five-member court agreed that Pruitt was guilty but in a dissenting opinion, two justices said they would have modified the death sentence in this case to life in prison without parole.
Pruitt was 25 when the crime occurred Aug. 2, 2005. Witnesses at his 2008 trial in Shelby County Criminal Court said Pruitt ran up behind Guidroz as he carried groceries to his car, pushed him into the car, wrestled him and then slammed the elderly victim to the parking lot before speeding away in his car. When witnesses reached Guidroz, he was bleeding from his nose and ears, shaking and having difficulty breathing. He died in the hospital the next day.
Police found Pruitt two days later with Guidroz’s car and the suspect was identified by witnesses and the store’s security monitors.
The high court used the Pruitt case to maintain death penalty sentencing review standards it set out in 1997, rejecting a defense proposal to alter it.
In reviewing a death penalty case, the court is required by law to conduct a “proportionality review” to ensure the sentence is appropriate in comparison to similar cases.
In 1997, the court determined that it would compare all death penalty sentences to other cases in which the death penalty was sought. Prior to that, the court considered all cases in which a defendant had been convicted of first-degree murder but was not necessarily considered for a death sentence. With the Pruitt case, the court rejected a proposal to broaden the pool of cases to include all first-degree murder cases, including those in which the death penalty was never sought.
In the Pruitt case, the majority concluded that the sentence of death was not imposed arbitrarily, the evidence supports the jury’s finding of guilt, and that the sentence is not excessive or disproportionate.
In their separate opinion, Justices William Koch and Sharon Lee wrote that comparing all first-degree murder cases would be more consistent with the Tennessee law requiring proportionality review and with the rule that capital punishment is not appropriate for all murders but is reserved for only the most heinous murders and the most dangerous murderers. They also cited a 2007 American Bar Association study of Tennessee’s death penalty that concluded that the limited pool of cases the court adopted in 1997 undercut the purpose of proportionality review.
Pruitt remains on death row pending further appeals.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...-penalty-case/
In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court declined to review Pruitt's petition for certiorari.
Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Tennessee, Western Division
Case Nos.: (W2009-01255-SC-DDT-DD)
Decision Date: October 8, 2013
Rehearing Denied: October 31, 2013
Habeas relief denied by the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.
Judgement of the post-conviction court affirmed.
https://law.justia.com/cases/tenness...cca-r3-pd.html
On December 15, 2022, Pruitt filed a habeas petition in federal district court.
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/te...2cv02855/97461