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Thread: Quentin Lamar Smith Sentenced to LWOP in 2018 OH Murder of Officers Anthony Morelli and Eric Joering

  1. #11
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    Death-penalty indictment filed in slayings of Westerville officers

    By John Futty
    The Columbus Dispatch

    A Franklin County grand jury has returned a death-penalty indictment against Quentin L. Smith in the Feb. 10 shooting deaths of two Westerville police officers.

    The indictment was announced by county Prosecutor Ron O’Brien at a news conference this morning.

    Smith, 31, is accused of killing Officers Eric Joering and Anthony Morelli in an exchange of gunfire after they entered his townhouse in the 300 block of Cross Wind Drive to investigate a 911 hang-up call. Investigators said Smith’s wife told the officers that he had assaulted her and had a gun.

    Joering died at the scene; Morelli died of his injuries at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center. Smith was hospitalized with gunshot wounds for a week before being transported to the Franklin County jail, where he is being held without bail.

    The charges against Smith include two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, one count of domestic violence, one count of possessing a gun despite a previous felony conviction, nine gun specifications and four repeat-violent-offender specifications.

    In Ohio, the purposeful killing of an on-duty police officer and the purposeful killing of two or more people are among the crimes that qualify for the death penalty.

    http://www.the-review.com/news/20180...ville-officers
    "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

  2. #12
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Autopsies: Ohio officers killed by shots to head, torso

    Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said the autopsies support his office's theory about what took place that day

    By Kimball Perry
    The Columbus Dispatch

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — Westerville police Officer Eric Joering was killed Feb. 10 when he was shot three times, once in the forehead, while fellow Officer Anthony Morelli died after being shot in the chest as they responded to a possible domestic violence call.

    Those are the findings of autopsies performed by the Franklin County Coroner's office on both officers. Quentin Lamar Smith, 30, has been charged with two counts of aggravated murder in the case for shooting both officers to death as they responded to Smith's townhouse just before noon on the 300 block of Cross Wind Drive.

    Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said Thursday the autopsies support his office's theory about what took place that day. O'Brien is seeking the death penalty against Smith, who was wounded but recovered.

    "Officer Joering was the first one to the door, and the shot to his head indicates what happened," O'Brien said shortly after the official autopsies were released Thursday.

    "He was shot at point-blank range. We believe it instantly caused his death," the prosecutor said.

    The fatal shot to Joering was in the forehead and exited from the back of the left side of his neck. The autopsy showed Joering, 39, also was shot in the left arm and shoulder and the right forearm. He died at the scene.

    Morelli, 54, who was right behind Joering as the officers responded, was shot in the left chest, with the bullet traveling from left to right. The bullet penetrated the heart and both lungs. Morelli was transported but later died at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center.

    Westerville police earlier reported both officers were wearing body armor.

    Both autopsies determined the deaths were caused by homicide.

    Smith was shot "four or five times" by Morelli before the officer went down, O'Brien said.

    The officers went to the home after a 911 hangup at the residence where police previously responded to domestic disturbance calls. When they arrived, police said, Smith's wife told them Smith assaulted her and had a gun.

    In Ohio, conviction for purposefully killing one or more police officers is a crime punishable by death.

    https://www.policeone.com/officer-sh...to-head-torso/
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  3. #13
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Plea Deal Reached For Man Tied To Gun That Killed Two Westerville Officers

    By ASSOCIATED PRESS
    WOSU

    A court filing indicates a plea agreement has been reached for a man charged with providing the gun used to kill two Westerville Police officers.

    Federal prosecutors say 30-year-old Gerald Lawson, of suburban Cleveland, bought the handgun that 31-year-old Quentin Smith used in the February slayings of Westerville officers Eric Joering and Anthony Morelli.

    A record of a plea agreement was filed in federal court Tuesday. Messages were left for the U.S. Attorney's office and for Lawson's attorney seeking comment.

    A criminal complaint says Smith gave Lawson the money to buy the gun last summer along with $100 for completing the transaction. Smith wasn't allowed to have weapons because of a previous burglary conviction, something that prosecutors say Lawson knew about.

    Lawson originally pleaded not guilty, and was being held in jail without bond.

    Smith was indicted on two aggravated murder charges, which carry the possibility of a death sentence, after fatally shooting Joering and Morelli when they responded to a domestic violence call at his Westerville home. Smith was wounded in the incident, and is currently in jail after being denied bail.

    http://radio.wosu.org/post/plea-deal...icers#stream/0
    In the Shadow of Your Wings
    1 A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

  4. #14
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    Related:

    Warrensville Heights man gets five years in prison for buying gun used to kill two police officers


    Eric Heisig
    cleveland.com

    CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Warrensville Heights man who acted as a straw buyer for a gunman whom police said killed two suburban Columbus police officers was sentenced Thursday to five years in federal prison.

    Gerald Lawson III, 31, pleaded guilty in May to one count of aiding and abetting the possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

    Authorities said he bought a Glock handgun for Quentin Smith, despite knowing that Smith had convictions for felony burglary and domestic violence and was not legally allowed to own a gun.

    Smith, 31, used the gun on Feb. 10 to kill Westerville police officers Eric Joering and Anthony Morelli, as they responded to a domestic disturbance call, investigators said.

    U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus Jr. in Columbus handed down Lawson's sentence. Federal prosecutors had asked the judge for the five-year sentence, while Lawson's attorney requested the judge place his client on six months' house arrest and three years' probation.

    Lawson bought the gun in May 2017 at a Stonewall Ltd. Gun Shop and Pistol Range in Broadview Heights, authorities said. Smith, a longtime friend of Lawson's, gave Lawson the money to buy the gun and an extra $100 for compensation.

    Lawson lied on purchasing paperwork and said the gun was for himself, according to officials.

    Smith, who used to live in Euclid, faces aggravated murder charges with the possibility of the death penalty.

    https://www.cleveland.com/court-just...rt_river_index
    "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

  5. #15
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    Quentin Smith's lawyers argue against death penalty in pretrial motion

    By NBC 4 News Staff

    COLUMBUS (WCMH) — There are questions about whether the death penalty should be a possibility for the man charged with killing two Westerville police officers.

    Defense attorneys for Quentin Smith and prosecutors met Friday for a hearing in which they discussed 39 pretrial motions with Judge Richard Frye. During the trial, Smith sat in the courtroom, handcuffed until the judge told deputies to remove his restraints.

    One of the motions discussed was whether Smith’s case should be a capital case, following a recent federal court ruling on Ohio’s execution protocol and an order from Governor Mike DeWine halting executions for the time being.

    The defense argued the death penalty shouldn’t be on the table, given the recent developments, but prosecutors disagreed.

    “The method can and probably will change from the time a jury in this case, if they would recommend to the court and the court impose a death sentence,” said Ron O’Brien, Franklin County Prosecutor. “The protocol might change a dozen times in the meantime as things go forward.”

    The issue wasn’t resolved Friday and will be discussed at the next hearing in April.

    Prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge also discussed other issues, including whether Smith would wear restraints at trial. A deputy spoke up to tell the judge he believed Smith should wear restraints, given the nature of the charges against him.

    Eventually, the attorneys and judges agreed Smith would wear only leg irons and no handcuffs.

    Jury selection for Smith’s trial is set to begin in October.

    https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-new...ion/1801593222
    "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

  6. #16
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    Victims could have voice in death-penalty trial of accused killer of Westerville officers

    The death-penalty case of a man accused of murdering 2 Westerville police officers could be the 1st in Ohio to allow jurors to hear victim-impact statements if they reach the point of recommending a sentence of life or death.

    Attorneys for Quentin L. Smith, 32, had filed a motion asking that such statements be prohibited.

    But a Franklin County judge on Friday agreed with prosecutors who argued that victims have a right to address the jury during the sentencing phase under Marsy’s Law, a constitutional amendment approved by Ohio voters in November 2017.

    Common Pleas Judge Richard A. Frye said he thinks such statements must be allowed under provisions of the victim’s-rights law.

    Prosecutor Ron O’Brien called the ruling “a sea change” in what the state can present to jurors in advocating for a death sentence.

    Smith’s attorneys, Frederick Benton and Diane Menashe, declined to comment.

    Both sides agreed that it’s the 1st time the issue has been raised in a death penalty case since Marsy’s Law went into effect in Feb. 5 2018, 5 days before the Westerville shooting.

    Jury selection in Smith’s trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 11.

    Smith is charged with killing Westerville police Officers Eric Joering and Anthony Morelli on Feb. 10, 2018, in an exchange of gunfire as they entered his townhouse in the 300 block of Cross Wind Drive to investigate a 911 hangup call from his wife over a domestic dispute.

    If jurors convict Smith of aggravated murder and find that he purposely killed 1 or both officers, he would become eligible for the death penalty. Jurors then would enter a 2nd phase during which the defense would present what is known as mitigating evidence in an effort to persuade them to spare Smith’s life.

    Under Frye’s ruling, the jury also would hear testimony from the victims’ family members about how the crime has affected them.

    “Right now, juries only hear ‘woe-is-me’ about the defendant and his bad childhood and his drug or alcohol problems and never hear about the terrible impact of the crime on the victim’s family,” O’Brien said.

    (source: The Columbus Dispatch)
    "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

  7. #17
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    Edited:

    Trio of Franklin County death penalty cases set to start

    By Sheridan Hendrix
    Columbus Dispatch

    Kristofer Garrett is accused of killing his 4-year-old daughter and her mother; Quentin L. Smith is charged with fatally shooting two Westerville police officers; and Anthony J. Pardon is charged in the rape, kidnapping and killing of a woman in her East Side apartment.

    Dressed in a white button-down shirt, khaki pants and orange jail slip-on shoes, Kristofer Garrett watched attorneys question the jurors who could potentially sentence him to death.

    Groups of six filed into Franklin County Commons Pleas Judge Chris Brown’s courtroom all day on a recent Monday for attorneys to gauge their opinions on the death penalty. Assistant Prosecutor Kara Keating asked jurors whether they thought they could sentence someone to death.

    One man said he could never sign his name to a verdict form in a death-penalty case. Another said he saw no reason he couldn’t do that as long as the evidence was there. A woman asked whether sentencing someone to death would affect a convicted defendant’s ability to be an organ donor.

    Garrett’s defense attorney, Mark Hunt, asked if anyone had ever served on a death-penalty jury before. No one raised a hand.

    “It’s very unusual to be in this position,” Hunt said. “You are going to be deciding ... and there’s no easy way to say this, you are going to be asked to decide the ultimate fate of my client.”

    All the while, Garrett — the 26-year-old suspect accused of murdering his 4-year-old daughter, Kristina Duckson, and her mother, Nicole "Coley" Duckson, 34, on a frigid January morning last year — just listened.

    The next phase of jury selection for Garrett’s trial will begin Monday. His is the first of three capital-murder jury selections scheduled to begin in the county over the next six months.

    The next will be Quentin L. Smith, 32, who is charged with fatally shooting Westerville police officers Eric Joering and Anthony Morelli on Feb. 10, 2018, when they responded to a domestic disturbance. Jury selection for his trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 11.

    Anthony J. Pardon, a 54-year-old convicted sex offender, could be sentenced to death if he is convicted in the aggravated murder, rape and kidnapping of Warren native Rachael Nicoletta Anderson, a 24-year-old aspiring funeral director, in her East Side apartment Jan. 29, 2018. An autopsy determined that she had been suffocated and stabbed.

    Pardon’s trial was set to begin in August, but new evidence presented in the case has pushed his trial to January.

    Ten death-penalty indictments have been filed in Franklin County since 2014. That’s significantly less than in 2004, when Franklin County indicted 34 people on death penalty charges, the highest in the state that year.

    Garrett, Smith and Pardon were all indicted in 2018, the highest number of county death-penalty indictments in a single year in the past five years. Franklin County typically indicts one death penalty case a year. None has been filed in 2019.

    https://www.dispatch.com/news/201907...s-set-to-start
    "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

  8. #18
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    Jury selection continues in trial of man accused in death of 2 Ohio police officers

    Jury selection entered its next phase Monday in the Quentin Smith murder trial. Smith is accused of killing 2 Westerville police officers responding to a domestic disturbance call last year.

    This week is all about weeding out people who have strong opinions about the death penalty one way or the other and to figure out if they can set aside any preconceived notions about what they think happened that day.

    Quentin Smith was in court Monday getting his first look at the jurors who could end up deciding his fate. They were brought in 6 at a time to answer questions the judge and attorneys have about the answers they provided on the questionnaire they filled out Friday.

    Judge Richard Frye of the Franklin County Common Pleas Court said, “Juror number 5, you said that in respect to the case that we are here about and the deaths of officer Morelli and officer Joering last year, that you remember the story on the news and how the community reacting but don’t recall major details.”

    Other areas covered were how the legal system works procedurally in terms of capital punishment trials.

    Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said, “Without knowing it, said you would follow the Ohio law that I just explained, that the death penalty is appropriate in some murder cases but not all, and that’s what we want jurors to do.”

    And if they could follow the law and the instructions of the judge. Defense Attorney Frederick Benton, Jr. asked, “Would you be able to set aside any thoughts that you may have formed regarding this case and decide this case based on the facts presented during trial?”

    Before things even got started Monday one juror was eliminated from the pool due to strong beliefs they held on the death penalty – which they shared on their questionnaire.

    The jurors that make it through this week will return next week to begin the final phase of jury selection.

    (source: WDTN news)
    "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

  9. #19
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    Quentin Smith fatally shot 2 Westerville officers, defense concedes, but in ‘a moment of chaos, panic’

    By Dean Narciso
    Columbus Dispatch

    Quentin Smith had accused his wife of cheating on him just before he knocked her unconscious. When Candace Smith came to, seconds after noon on Feb. 10, 2018, she called 911, only to then hang up.

    That incident, recounted in Franklin County Common Pleas Court by county Prosecutor Ron O’Brien on Monday, resulted in Westerville police Officers Eric Joering and Anthony Morelli being dispatched to the Smiths’ apartment on one of the most dangerous types of calls that officers face. Both officers were gunned down by Quentin Smith.

    Opening statements in the capital murder trial of Quentin Smith began after 12 jurors and four alternates were chosen over three days last week and about six hours Monday. Smith faces two counts each of murder and aggravated murder and a domestic violence charge. If convicted of aggravated murder, Smith could face the death penalty. Three specifications related to the use of a gun will be decided by Judge Richard A. Frye.

    O’Brien told the jury of nine women and three men that Candace Smith had given a male friend a ride in her car and that Quentin Smith had found a bookmark left behind by the man.

    “That enraged the defendant,” O’Brien said. “He didn’t accept that explanation.”

    O’Brien said Quentin Smith punched and strangled his wife “to the extent she urinated her pants and fainted” in the presence of the couple’s 15-month old daughter. When officers arrived, the prosecutor said, “he turned to Candace and said, ‘You called the cops?’

    “He could see who was standing at the door. He knew they were both on-duty police officers,” O’Brien said of Quentin Smith.

    Defense attorney Frederick D. Benton Jr. doesn’t dispute that his client shot the officers. But he told the jury that the violence and gunfire occurred over a few seconds and was “never anticipated nor ever planned” by Smith or the officers, calling it “a moment of chaos, panic and crisis.”

    Clapping loudly, Benton said: “That short of a time frame.”

    Ten shots were fired in 74 seconds: four by Smith, and three by each officer. Joering was shot three times, Morelli once and Smith five times.

    “Bullets are firing rapidly in a very condensed area,” Benton said. “This was a spontaneous eruption of events that unfolded within 74 seconds, resulting in a tragic and unexpected end.”

    Prosecutors plan to call 10 to 14 witnesses during what is expected to be a weeklong trial.

    Several Westerville officers attended the opening, including Chief Charles Chandler. They declined to comment afterward when approached by The Dispatch.

    During the jury selection process last week, Frye excused 20 of the 73 people screened, leaving a pool of 53. Most of those who were excused expressed deeply entrenched views of the death penalty.

    When jury selection resumed Monday, some among the 53 prospective jurors gave reasons to be dismissed, including discomfort at viewing violent crime-scene photos, illness and unwillingness to sign a death-sentence verdict.

    https://www.dispatch.com/news/201910...of-chaos-panic
    "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

  10. #20
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    Westerville officers who tried to help fallen colleagues testify first in death-penalty trial

    By John Futty
    Columbus Dispatch

    Westerville police Officer Timothy Ray heard multiple shots as he headed for the apartment door that two of his colleagues had just entered. He saw a foot sticking out the door.

    It belonged to one of his fellow officers, both of whom had been fatally shot during an exchange of gunfire with Quentin L. Smith just inside the door of the townhome apartment in the 300 block of Cross Wind Drive.

    Ray quickly realized that one of the officers, Eric Joering, had been shot in the forehead and had no pulse, he testified Tuesday in a Franklin County Common Pleas courtroom.

    “I couldn’t do anything for him,” Ray said.

    He heard the other downed officer, Anthony Morelli say, “I’m hit, I’m hit,” as he motioned to his left side, where a bullet had gone through a gap in his ballistic vest and entered his chest. Meanwhile, the suspect also was down in the same room, but was moving.

    “I yelled at (Smith) to stay down,” Ray said.

    Ray, who has since retired, was one of six current or former Westerville police officers who offered dramatic, emotional testimony as the first witnesses in Smith’s death-penalty trial for the Feb. 10, 2018 shooting.

    Smith, 32, could be sentenced to death if the Common Pleas jury convicts him of aggravated murder, with death specifications, in the officers’ slayings.

    Ray had arrived at the apartment with Joering and Morelli in response to a noontime 911 hangup call that turned out to be from Smith’s wife, Candace. Ray was watching the back door when shooting erupted at the front door.

    As he tried to attend to his fallen colleagues, he kept noticing Smith trying to roll off his back and repeatedly warned him not to move. He said Smith was about 10 feet away from the handgun he had dropped during the shooting.

    Some of the most emotional and graphic testimony came from Officers James Mason and Stacy Pentecost, both of whom arrived seconds after Ray radioed, “Shots fired.”

    Mason choked up and wiped his eyes with tissues as he spoke about giving aid to Morelli. “He kept saying he couldn’t breathe, till he couldn’t talk and his eyes rolled back,” Mason said.

    Pentecost held Morelli’s hand and touched his forehead while medics worked on him. She recalled how a medic working on Joering eventually stood and said, “I’m calling it.”

    That, she said, “pissed me off because it means Eric is gone.”

    Several of the officers commented about being surprised to see the couple’s 18-month-old daughter sitting quietly on the couch after they entered the bloody, chaotic scene.

    “She was quiet as a mouse,” Pentecost said. “Never made a sound.”

    Smith is accused of assaulting his wife that morning, knocking her unconscious. When she came to, she called 911 and then hung up. That prompted the police response that led to the shootings. Officers found her outside, hiding in bushes in front of a neighboring apartment. She is expected to testify Wednesday.

    Smith was shot five times, his defense attorneys say, and spent eight days at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center before being transported to the county jail.

    Defense attorneys Frederick Benton and Diane Menashe aren’t disputing that their client shot the officers. But they are focusing on the instantaneous, panicked nature of the gunfire in a confined space, suggesting that the killings weren’t done purposely with “prior calculation and design.” Without those elements, the jury could convict of murder rather than aggravated murder, eliminating death as a sentencing option.

    Most of the afternoon was devoted to reviewing crime-scene photos and physical evidence.

    Among the more interesting items were those found in the trunk of Smith’s car. They included shooting-range targets, two pairs of sound-blocking earmuffs and a pair of protective glasses used at shooting ranges. In Smith’s wallet, detectives found his range certification card for a Plain Township shooting range.

    After Judge Richard A. Frye released the jury for lunch, Benton made an objection to a comment the judge had made to one of the witnesses.

    When Mason finished his testimony, Frye said, “Thank you for coming down to help us with this terrible case.”

    Benton asked the judge to refrain from making comments that “may challenge the jury’s perception of the impartiality of this court.”

    Frye defended the remarks as “common courtesy” toward a witness who had become emotional.

    https://www.dispatch.com/news/201910...-penalty-trial
    "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

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