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Thread: Steven Frederick Spears - Georgia Execution - November 16, 2016

  1. #1

    Steven Frederick Spears - Georgia Execution - November 16, 2016


    Steven Frederick Spears


    March 23, 2007

    Dahlonega man gets death

    Steven Spears strangled former girlfriend

    A Dahlonega man convicted of killing his former girlfriend was sentenced to death Thursday by a panel of jurors.

    Steven Frederick Spears, 44, sat motionless next to defense attorneys as the decision was read and said nothing before being escorted out of the courtroom by Lumpkin County deputies. Spears was convicted Wednesday of choking to death 34-year-old Sherri Holland in August 2001 at her Dahlonega home.

    Jurors deliberated for more than two hours Thursday before sentencing Spears to a total of three death sentences for convictions of malice murder and two counts of felony murder.

    Lumpkin County Superior Court Judge David Barrett also sentenced Spears to life imprisonment for kidnapping with bodily injury and 20 years for burglary. Spears, who once worked with Holland at ConAgra's Gainesville plant, would be assigned to a state prison facility as soon as possible, Barrett said.

    Holland's family appeared relieved following the four-day trial and more than five years of waiting for justice.

    "I don't know what to think," Alice Loggins, Holland's older sister, said. "I wanted (Spears) to pay, but now it's like you're numb. I'm glad it's over, but now that it's happened I don't know how I feel."

    Death sentences carry an automatic date of appeal and Spears' attorneys have 30 days to file motion for a new trial. Barrett tentatively set Spears' date of death by lethal injection for May 11, but the appeals process will delay execution for several months, if not years.

    Spears' family, including a sister from Illinois and a brother from South Georgia, immediately left the Lumpkin County courthouse after the sentence was announced.

    Allyn Stockton, a Rabun County attorney representing Spears, said it would be difficult to dispute the jury's decision.

    "It was authorized by the evidence," he said.

    Stockton and Habersham County defense attorney Bill Oliver did not contest the murder charge against Spears during the trial. Oliver spoke with Spears after the jury's decision and said Spears had come to grips with his possible fate.

    "He expected (the death penalty)," Oliver said. "He was not surprised."

    Spears confessed to authorities following his arrest 10 days after Holland's body was found with her feet, hands and mouth bound by duct tape and a plastic bag over her head. He told investigators he had planned the murder after his relationship of nearly two years with Holland came to an end.

    Spears said he snuck into Holland's home, hid in her closet and then chocked her to death in the early morning hours of Aug. 26, 2001.

    After the trial, Loggins said she imagined her younger sister who was brutally killed might not have sided with the jury.

    "I can see Sherri forgiving Steven for this," Loggins said.

    Source
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Spears.jpg  

  2. #2
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    High court upholds death sentence in Lumpkin Co. murder case

    ATLANTA - The Georgia Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence given to Steven Frederick Spears in Lumpkin County for strangling to death his former girlfriend nearly 14 years ago.

    Sherri Holland was found dead, padlocked in the bedroom of her home on August 26, 2001. She had been strangled to death, according to an autopsy.

    Spears was found several days later by police, walking down Highway 52 at the Lumpkin-Hall County line. At the time, authorities said he confessed to the murder, saying he had developed four different plans for killing Holland.

    Spears was found guilty and sentenced to death in March 2007. His attorneys argued before the high court that the trial court made errors in the case, but the justices disagreed and the murder conviction and death sentence stand.

    The Supreme Court of Georgia handed down its decision Monday morning.

    The following information was issued Monday on the Spears case:

    In today’s unanimous opinion, Justice Keith Blackwell writes for the court that the evidence presented at trial "was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Spears was guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted."

    At the same time, the high court has thrown out the trial court’s decision to merge the two burglary counts into one for sentencing purposes, finding that the two charges related to two separate crimes, not just one. It is sending that issue back to the trial court with directions to enter a sentence on the burglary count for which Spears has not yet been sentenced.

    According to the facts of the case, Spears and Holland had dated but their romantic relationship had ended when, on Aug. 24, 2001, Holland’s 13-year-old son left her home to spend the weekend with his father. Her family members became concerned, however, when she failed to pick up her son as expected at the end of his stay. On Aug. 26, after trying several times to reach her by telephone, Holland’s ex-husband and son drove to her house. When they didn’t see her car, they left, wondering if she was just running late. Eventually, her ex-husband called police. When officers entered Holland’s home, they detected a strong odor of decaying flesh coming from the master bedroom, which was locked with a padlock. After removing the door hinges, police found Holland’s decomposing body lying face down on the floor with her head on a pillow. A black garbage bag was secured around her head with duct tape. Duct tape also covered her mouth and was wrapped around her face, hands and feet. Items were scattered about the bedroom, indicating there had been a struggle. The room was very hot, as the air conditioner had been set at 85 degrees.

    http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=285314
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #3
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Man Convicted of Killing Ex to Be Executed Next Month

    A Georgia death row inmate convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend is scheduled for execution next month.

    Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Homer Bryson announced Thursday that 54-year-old Steven Frederick Spears is scheduled to die on Nov. 16 at the state prison in Jackson. Spears was convicted of murder in the August 2001 death of Sherri Holland at her home in Dahlonega.

    A Georgia Supreme Court summary of the case says Spears killed Holland because he suspected she had been romantically involved with someone else. The summary says Spears came up with four separate plans for her murder and ultimately killed her by choking her, wrapping tape around her mouth and face and putting a plastic bag over her head.

    Spears would be the eighth inmate executed by Georgia this year.

    http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/m...month-43111848
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  4. #4
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    According to the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, Spears, 54, is not appealing his conviction or death sentence.

    http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local...-murder/nsybP/
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

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    Senior Member CnCP Addict TrudieG's Avatar
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    I don't believe it Mike there is plenty of time between now and Nov 16th Lawyers will be appealing like crazy they need to make the money.

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    Senior Member Member GASMANDIRTY's Avatar
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    This execution will go forward without a hitch. Georgia will take the lead in the nation. There's a good chance we may have another one before the end of the year.

  7. #7
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Summary of the case

    Spears, whose relationship with Holland had ended, told investigators that he had told her when they began dating that of she was sleeping with someone else he would "choke her ass to death."

    He had been hiding in a closet in Holland's house, waiting until he was sure she was asleep before he entered Holland's bedroom at about 2:30 a.m. or 3 a.m. on Aug. 25, 2001, the summary says. He told her to roll over so he could duct tape her hands and feet.

    Spears and Holland struggled for about five or 10 minutes, starting in the bedroom and continuing into the hallway. He choked her until she lost consciousness in the hallway and then dragged her into the bedroom where he bound her hands and feet, wrapped her face and mouth with duct tape and put a plastic bag over her head, the summary says.

    Spears placed Holland's head on a pillow, "so her face wouldn't be smashed on the floor," he told investigators.

    He locked the door, took her purse and left, returning a few minutes later to grab a cigarette case where she kept money. He drove her vehicle to his house, changed clothes and got a shotgun and ammunition.

    Spears went to a store where he bought fishing supplies, a fishing license, a hat and paint that he planned to use to paint over black stripes on Holland's vehicle, the court summary says. He later ditched her vehicle because he feared it had an anti-theft tracking device. He lived in the woods for 10 days before an officer saw him walking along a highway, asked his name and arrested him.

    http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/m...month-43111848
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  8. #8
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Clemency hearing set for death row inmate

    ATLANTA, Ga – A clemency hearing has been set for a man convicted of killing a Lumpkin County woman in 2001.

    The state Board of Pardons and Paroles will consider the request from Steven Frederick Spears, who is set to die by lethal injection on Nov. 16 at 7 pm. The board will hear from Spears’ representatives at 9 am on Nov. 15.

    Spears received the death sentence for the October 2001 murder of Sherri Holland after a March 2007 jury trial.

    http://www.11alive.com/news/local/cl...mate/346275247
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

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    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Why is there a clemency hearing if he is volunteering? He's going to file an appeal and stop this from happening
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

  10. #10
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Representatives seeking clemency for condemned inmate Steven Frederick Spears are scheduled to meet with the State Board of Pardons and Paroles at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, November 15, 2016. Spears is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday, November 16, 2016, at 7 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

    http://pap.georgia.gov/press-release...request-steven

    Representatives

    Not Spears himself. The lawyers want to save him.
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

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