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Thread: Timothy Tyrone Foster - Georgia

  1. #11
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Timothy Foster appeal ruling may come soon

    With just eight justices currently sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court, several defendants still await a ruling, including convicted murderer Timothy Foster.

    In 1986, Timothy Tyrone Foster murdered a retired fourth-grade Johnson Elementary School teacher, Queen White, during a burglary. He was arrested a month after the incident, with the police finding the stolen items in his home.

    He later confessed to the crime. Court records show that White’s jaw was broken, and she had a severe gash on the top of her head. Before she was strangled to death, she had been molested.

    An all-white jury convicted the 18-year-old black man of murder and burglary, and sentenced him to death.

    On Nov. 2, 2015, Foster’s appeal reached the U.S. Supreme Court. The question was whether or not then-Floyd County District Attorney Steve Lanier improperly excluded potential black jurors from the death penalty trial in 1987.

    “Mr. Foster’s case is still pending in the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Foster’s attorney, Stephen Bright with the Southern Center for Human Rights.

    The court usually ends its term in June and could hand down a decision any day now, Bright said.

    “The court will issue decisions again on Monday and from time to time after that until all the cases have been decided,” Bright said. “Unfortunately, the court provides no warning with regard to when it will decide a case, but we can expect the case to be decided in the next six weeks.”

    In April 1986, the Supreme Court ruled in Batson v. Kentucky that it is unconstitutional to remove a potential juror because of race.

    Prosecutors’ notes discovered 19 years after Foster’s trial show the names of each potential black juror highlighted in green and the word “black” circled next to the race question on the questionnaires.

    The court is obviously split evenly over its general philosophy, according to Rome attorney Bob Brinson, who has argued before the nation’s highest court.

    He doesn’t think an even number of judges will affect the effort of the court. Additionally, he doesn’t think it will cause a delay or a reversal in previous rulings on the Foster case.

    Foster’s isn’t the only case that the eight justices may have trouble with.

    The eight Supreme Court justices say they’ll take care of business until a new ninth justice joins them. Their actions say otherwise.

    Monday’s unsigned, unanimous decision returning a high-profile dispute over access to birth control to lower courts was the latest example of the ideologically split court’s struggle to get its work done with an even number of justices since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February.

    The decision averted a 4-4 tie, which would have left different rules in place in different parts of the country concerning the availability of cost-free birth control for women who work for faith-affiliated groups.

    But the outcome was itself inconclusive and suggested that the justices could not form a majority to issue a significant ruling that would have settled the issue the court took the case to resolve.

    http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/...170aa9734.html

  2. #12
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    In today's opinions, the United States Supreme Court REVERSED Foster's conviction and sentence and REMANDED to the Georgia Supreme Court. Justice Thomas was the lone dissenter.

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions...-8349_6k47.pdf

  3. #13
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Supreme Court throws out death sentence from all-white jury

    WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court has thrown out a death sentence handed to a black man in Georgia because prosecutors improperly kept African-Americans off the jury that convicted him of killing a white woman.

    The justices ruled 7-1 Monday in favor of death row inmate Timothy Tyrone Foster in underscoring the importance of rules that they laid out in 1986 to prevent racial discrimination in the selection of juries.

    But the court did nothing to limit lawyers' discretionary decisions to reject potential jurors, a practice that the late Thurgood Marshall once said would allow racial discrimination to persist in jury selection.

    The outcome probably will enable Foster to win a new trial, 29 years after he was sentenced to death.

    http://www.kktv.com/content/news/Sup...380511381.html

  4. #14
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    Foster, Timothy T. - Conviction Overturned - Sentence Expired 03/07/2017

    http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/sites/al...tence_2018.pdf
    Last edited by Moh; 01-22-2018 at 11:13 AM. Reason: Added punctuation to make meaning clearer.

  5. #15
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    State seeks death penalty in Foster re-trial

    By Spencer Lahr
    Northwest Georgia News

    The state is seeking the death penalty in the re-trial of a man whose 1987 murder conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016.

    Preliminary hearings began Thursday in the trial of 50-year-old Timothy Tyrone Foster, who entered a not guilty plea to charges of murder and burglary. A date in mid-June has been set as the deadline for both sides to file motions in Floyd County Superior Court. Additional hearings could be held before that time.

    Foster was sentenced to death for the murder of retired school teacher Queen Madge White during a 1986 burglary at her home at Highland Circle — he was 18 at the time.

    The 79-year-old White was first found by her sister the morning after the incident. She had a broken jaw and a gash on top of her head, and had been molested before being strangled to death.

    In May 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Foster’s conviction on the grounds of black jurors being excluded from his original trial. Then-district attorney Steve Lanier struck off all four black jurors before the trial. By filing an open records request for the prosecutors’ trial notes, Foster’s lawyers had discovered the exclusion.

    “The focus on race in the prosecution’s file plainly demonstrates a concerted effort to keep black prospective jurors off the jury,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

    The Georgia Supreme Court had backed a 1987 ruling in Floyd County Superior Court that found Lanier had race-neutral reasons for striking the jurors.

    This exclusion offered Foster a path for an appeal, despite him confessing to the crime when police found stolen items from White’s house at his own residence.

    On Thursday, Judge Billy Sparks read over the unified appeal, hitting each point on a checklist. The defense, led by Christian Lamar of the Georgia Public Defender Council, left its options open for challenges.

    Sparks reminded lawyers that even with the re-arraignment of Foster, the case does not begin anew. With both sides still in the discovery stage, Sparks said, “I do realize this is a 30-year-old case and no one has been on this case,” as they answered his questions.

    Foster is currently being held without bond in Floyd County Jail, which he was moved to from the state’s death row in Jackson in March 2017.

    http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/...3a9b5ff1b.html
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  6. #16
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Influx of motions in Foster re-trial

    By Spencer Lahr
    Northwest Georgia News

    More than 200 motions have been filed in the lead-up to an October hearing for Timothy Tyrone Foster, who is being re-tried on a murder charge in Floyd County Superior Court.

    At a preliminary hearing in February, the 50-year-old entered a not guilty plea to charges of murder and burglary. At the same hearing, the state expressed its intent to seek the death penalty.

    On June 13, attorneys from the Georgia Public Defender Council representing Foster filed more than 100 motions. Earlier this month, the District Attorney’s Office filed responses to counter each of the motions.

    Included in the motions from the defense are calls for the indictment to be dismissed on the grounds of the makeup of the grand jury being unconstitutional; for the state to choose either malice murder or felony murder in charging Foster; and for the imposition of the death penalty and the use of lethal injection for the execution to be deemed unconstitutional. Another motion also seeks the barring of the death penalty as a possible sentencing outcome, on the basis it is “cruel and unjust.”

    A pre-trial hearing on the motions has been scheduled for the morning of Oct. 25 in Judge Billy Sparks’ courtroom. It is expected to last two days.

    Foster was sentenced to death for the murder of retired school teacher Queen Madge White during a 1986 burglary at her home at Highland Circle — he was 18 at the time. The 79-year-old woman had been hit in the head and face, breaking her jaw, and was molested before being strangled to death.

    The re-trial was prompted by his 1987 murder conviction being overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court two years ago, on the grounds of black jurors being excluded from his original trial. Then-district attorney Steve Lanier, who died last month, struck off all four black jurors before the trial. By filing an open records request for the prosecutors’ trial notes, Foster’s lawyers had discovered the exclusion.

    Foster is currently being held without bond in Floyd County Jail, which he was moved to from the state’s death row in Jackson in March 2017.

    http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/...38456ed55.html
    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!

  7. #17
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    Hearings in 1987 death penalty case re-trial set for this week

    By Staff Reports
    Northwest Georgia News

    More than 200 motions have been filed in the lead-up to a hearing this week for Timothy Tyrone Foster, who is being re-tried on a murder charge in Floyd County Superior Court.

    At a preliminary hearing in February, the 50-year-old entered a not guilty plea to charges of murder and burglary. At the same hearing, the state expressed its intent to seek the death penalty.

    Foster was sentenced to death for the murder of retired school teacher Queen Madge White during a 1986 burglary at her home at Highland Circle — he was 18 at the time. The 79-year-old woman had been hit in the head and face, breaking her jaw, and was molested before being strangled to death.

    The re-trial was prompted by his 1987 murder conviction being overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court two years ago, on the grounds of black jurors being excluded from his original trial.

    Then-district attorney Steve Lanier, who died this year, struck off all four black potential jurors before the trial. By filing an open records request for the prosecutors’ trial notes, Foster’s lawyers discovered notes from an investigator in the DA’s office which the Supreme Court ruled pointed toward the specific exclusion of those jurors based on race.

    On June 13, attorneys from the Georgia Public Defender Council representing Foster filed more than 100 motions. Earlier this month, the District Attorney’s Office filed responses to counter each of the motions.

    Included in the motions from the defense are calls for the indictment to be dismissed on the grounds of the makeup of the grand jury being unconstitutional; for the state to choose either malice murder or felony murder in charging Foster; and for the imposition of the death penalty and the use of lethal injection for the execution to be deemed unconstitutional. Another motion also seeks the barring of the death penalty as a possible sentencing outcome, on the basis it is “cruel and unjust.”

    The hearing is expected to last two days.

    Foster is currently being held without bond in Floyd County Jail, which he was moved to from the state’s death row in Jackson in March 2017.

    http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/...01a3095b2.html
    "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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    Pre-trial hearings scheduled for 1987 killing

    By John Bailey
    MDJOnline.com

    Another round of pre-trial hearings are scheduled in Judge Billy Sparks' courtroom Monday concerning Floyd County's lone death penalty case.

    Timothy Tyrone Foster, who is now 51, was sentenced to death in 1987 for the murder of retired school teacher Queen Madge White during a burglary at her home at Highland Circle — he was 18 at the time of the incident.

    The 79-year-old woman had been attacked and molested before being strangled to death.

    The U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction two years ago, on the grounds of black jurors being excluded from his original trial.

    Once his conviction was overturned, Foster was moved back to the Floyd County Jail from Georgia’s death row in Jackson. In 2018 the state expressed its intent to seek the death penalty and the lengthy process began again.

    Another round of hearings took place in October 2018 which is part of a process called the Unified Appeal, essentially a checklist designed to protect a defendant’s rights.

    The bevy of motions discussed in Floyd County Superior Court in October covered a wide range of topics including attempting to suppress Foster’s comments after his arrest to general challenges to the constitutionality of the death penalty and lethal injections.

    While other men currently in prison had been sentenced to death, their capital sentences have been reduced to life without parole for various reasons. James Randall Rogers, now 57, is the only man currently sentenced to death from Floyd County. Rogers raped and murdered his 75-year-old neighbor in 1980. The Georgia Department of Corrections does not list any date for Rogers’ scheduled execution.

    https://www.mdjonline.com/neighbor_n...04aafefd4.html
    "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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    Pre-trial hearings to resume Monday in 1986 death penalty case

    A Floyd County judge on Monday will hear what is likely to be the last round of hearings before a death penalty case from a 1986 killing moves to the next step toward a trial.

    Trying the now 33-year-old case against Timothy Tyrone Foster will present some difficulties.

    One of the many issues resulting from the age of the case is many of the original case files were damaged, although copies of those files were preserved and available because of review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

    Judge Sparks has numerous motions and responses to consider. Attorneys from the Georgia Public Defender Council representing Foster have filed more than 100 motions in the case, and the Floyd County District Attorney’s office filed responses to those motions.

    The motions run a gamut of subjects concerning the upcoming trial. For instance, Foster’s attorneys have challenged the make up of the grand jury as well as sought to bar the death penalty on the basis that it is “cruel and unjust.”

    In a May hearing before Floyd County Superior Court Judge Billy Sparks, prosecutors stated the lead investigator would not be able to testify because of significant physical issues including memory loss. Foster’s attorneys didn’t object to allowing testimony from the prior trial, but asked to have the right to object to evidence or statements made from that testimony.

    Some of the evidence presented in that testimony included 2 statements by Foster after his arrest — one recorded, one not. Foster’s attorneys said those 2 statements to police were the crux of the state’s case.

    His attorneys also seek to introduce the statements of several people who are now deceased but did not testify at his previous trial. There are statements from Foster’s mother, father, sister as well as a neighbor and one of Foster’s cousins they wished to have admitted into evidence.

    Several rounds of hearings have already taken place, the most recent of which was the May 2019 hearing. This isn’t unusual in any case involving the death penalty. The process, called the Unified Appeal, is essentially a checklist designed to protect a defendant’s rights in capital cases.

    Once completed, the case will be sent to the Georgia Supreme Court for review before going to trial again.

    Foster, who is now 51, was originally sentenced to death in 1987 for the murder of retired school teacher Queen Madge White during a burglary at her home at Highland Circle — he was 18 at the time of the incident.

    The 79-year-old woman had been brutally attacked and molested before being strangled to death.

    The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Foster’s conviction two years ago. The high court ruled there was enough evidence to show the district attorney at that time had systematically excluded black jurors. Just prior to the case being tried in 1987 the high court ruled in Batson v. Kentucky that prosecutors could not strike potential jurors on the basis of race, ethnicity or sex.

    Foster was brought to Floyd County Jail in March 2017 from Georgia’s death row in Jackson. In 2018 the state expressed its intent to seek the death penalty and the lengthy process began again.

    At this point there is only 1 person on death row from Floyd County.

    James Randall Rogers, now in his 50s, raped and murdered his 75-year-old neighbor Grace Perry in 1980. While he’s been sentenced to death for 39 years, there has been no scheduled date for his execution published.

    (source: Marietta Daily Journal)
    "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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    Hearings in 34-year-old death penalty case pushed back to 2021

    Scheduled hearings to push forward a now 34-year-old death penalty case have been postponed until the beginning of 2021.

    Timothy Tyrone Foster was sentenced to death in 1987 for the murder and molestation of retired school teacher Queen Madge White during a burglary at her home at Highland Circle. However, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2016, saying the district attorney at that time had systematically excluded black jurors.

    The reason for the latest delay in the retrial is about as mundane as it gets. Floyd County’s case management system is being moved over to a new one, and the list of possible jurors who could serve in the case isn’t available.

    Davlon Ezell, director of Superior Court Receiver and Jury Management, said the court system is changing over to ICON case management software. Her staff is in the process of training on the new system.

    Foster’s attorneys requested to postpone the pretrial hearings that were originally scheduled to begin on Oct. 5.

    “The state voiced no objection to continuing these hearings,” read the order penned by Superior Court Judge Billy Sparks, “and the court is aware of delays in providing the master jury list and the other information requested by the defendant due to the clerk’s ongoing transition to the ICON case management and jury management system.”

    One of the primary motions to be heard by the court is a challenge to that jury pool.

    Foster, who is now 52, was 18 at the time of the murder.

    His case had been appealed a number of times on the state level before getting to the Supreme Court, which cited Batson v. Kentucky in its ruling. That precedent — set just prior to Foster’s original trial — holds that prosecutors cannot strike potential jurors on the basis of race, ethnicity or sex.

    After his conviction was overturned, Foster was brought to the Floyd County Jail in March 2017 from Georgia’s death row in Jackson. In 2018, the state expressed its intent to seek the death penalty and the process to try him for murder began again.

    There will be some difficulties presenting the case for trial. Original case files have been lost, only copies remain. Many, if not most, witnesses have died or face health issues.

    In December 2019, Judge Sparks set a tentative date for Foster’s retrial at January 2021. However, a 6 month-long hiatus in jury trials under a Georgia Supreme Court COVID-19 emergency order, along with the most recent delay, will push the trial later in the year.

    The hearings are scheduled to begin on January 25, 2021 and continue until finalized. Once local hearings are finalized, the case goes up to the Georgia high court for review before it goes to trial.

    (source: Rome News-Tribune)
    "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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