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Thread: Richard Roland Laird - Pennsylvania Death Row

  1. #1
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    Richard Roland Laird - Pennsylvania Death Row




    Summary of Offense:

    On December 15, 1987, 26-year-old Anthony Milano of Levittown was brutally slashed to death because he was suspected of being gay. Two men, Richard Laird and Frank Chester, were arrested and convicted and sentenced to death for his murder.

    Laird was sentenced to death in Bucks County on July 19, 1989.

    For more on Chester, see: http://www.cncpunishment.com/forums/...ania-Death-Row

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    CERTIORARI DENIED in today's United States Supreme Court orders.

    LAIRD V PENNSYLVANIA

    10-6696

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Corbett signs two death warrants

    By Sam Wood
    THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

    Two convicted killers on Pennsylvania's death row are a step closer to lethal injection this afternoon after Gov. Corbett signed their execution warrants.

    James A. Dennis, 40, of Philadelphia, is scheduled to be put to death on May 10. Dennis, convicted of first-degree murder, killed 17-year-old Chedell Williams in Oct. 1991 as she walked home from school. Prosecutors said Dennis grabbed the girl's earrings and then shot her.

    Richard R. Laird, 47, of Bucks County, is scheduled to be executed on May 12. Laird, also convicted of first-degree murder, stabbed 26-year-old Anthony Milano to death after offering him a ride home from a tavern.

    The warrants are the third and fourth signed by Corbett.

    Former Gov. Rendell signed 119 death warrants during his eight years in office. Since 1978, when the death penalty was reinstated, Pennsylvania governors have signed 390. The last person to be executed was in 1999.

    http://www.philly.com/philly/news/117952789.html

  4. #4
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On March 17, 2011, Laird filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/pen...v01916/411162/

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    Death row inmate seeks stay

    With his execution date looming, twice-convicted murderer Richard Laird is seeking a reprieve.

    Laird, 47, of Bristol Township has filed stay of execution petitions in county and federal court. Arguments on the state motion will be heard next week in Bucks County Court in Doylestown, although Laird is not expected to attend that hearing.

    Laird was twice sentenced to death for the Dec.15, 1988, slaying of Levittown artist Anthony Milano.

    His 1st trial was in 1989. A jury found that Laird and his cohort, Frank Chester, lured Milano from a Route 13 tavern and hacked his throat out with a box cutter in a secluded wooded area in Bristol Township.

    The panel agreed that the killers targeted Milano, 26, because he was gay. It was the 1st case in U.S. history where a death sentence was imposed in an anti-gay slaying.

    Laird appealed his conviction, citing technical errors during his trial. He was granted a new trial in 2007. Again, a jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death.

    Last month, Gov. Thomas Corbett signed Laird's death warrant, setting May 12 as the date Laird would die by lethal injection. In seeking the stay, Laird complained that his lawyer was ineffective and that the complexity of his case has made it impossible for him to explore all his appeal options.

    First Assistant District Attorney Michelle Henry said her office will fight the stay. In an answer to Laird's motion filed Thursday, she said Laird and his legal team are simply stalling.

    "This assertion, given the length of time they have had and their extensive knowledge and familiarity with the case appears merely to be an attempt to delay justice," Henry wrote. "The victim's family has been waiting for justice in the instant matter for 22 years."

    Chester was also granted a new trial, although a prosecutorial appeal in that matter is still pending, and no trial date has been set.

    (Source: phillyburbs.com)

  6. #6
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Why are they acting like it's a serious date? It's not. This is Pennysylvania. And, besides, he was sentenced in 2007. Even Texas doesn't move that quick.

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    Yeah it is a joke. Other sites list PA execution dates. We don't. There is the off chance one of them could drop appeals and volunteer, but PA is still grappling with an execution protocol.

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Has anyone actually exhausted their appeals in Pennysylvania?

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Robert Cook, Jermont Cox, Daniel Jacobs, Reginald Lewis, Andre Stevens and Paul Taylor.

  10. #10
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Cheers.

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