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Thread: Gary Chad Thomason - Georgia

  1. #1
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    Gary Chad Thomason - Georgia


    Gary Chad Thomason


    Summary of Offense:

    Was sentenced to death in Floyd County in October 1996. Mr. Thomason was convicted of killing 34-year-old Jerry Self, who was shot in his truck in his own driveway when he interrupted a burglary. Mr. Thomason's defense attorney had him plead guilty and waive a jury trial, leaving a judge to determine his punishment.

  2. #2
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    I found this article that says how Thomason's death sentence was vacated in 2003. I assume the matter is still pending because I was unable to find any evidence that he had been resentenced. Not sure how a resentencing has taken 8 years though!

    http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories...t_474298.shtml

  3. #3
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    Thomason resentencing delayed

    It’s been nearly 20 years since Rome businessman Jerry Self was shot to death outside his Bells Ferry Road home, and it may be several more months before the man convicted of killing him will know if he will live or die.

    Gary Chad Thomason, of Jasper, was convicted of killing Self during a three-day bench trial heard by former Floyd County Superior Court Judge Larry Salmon in October 1996.

    Salmon sentenced Thomason to death, but the decision was overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court in 2003.

    In a decision written by Justice Robert Benham the court ruled that the lawyers failed to present mitigation evidence, including findings by mental health experts that Thomason had an IQ of 77 and that he suffered from “intellectual impairment, low self-esteem and depression.”

    Benham said he believed the lawyers didn’t offer the evidence because they had waived a jury trial in favor of sentencing by Floyd County Superior Court Judge Larry Salmon, who they erroneously believed had never sought the death penalty as a district attorney and would therefore not impose it as a judge.

    But Salmon had pursued the death penalty during his years as district attorney and he sentenced Thomason to death.

    A jury will reconsider Thomason’s sentence, but that proceeding may not take place until spring of next year.

    Judge Jack Niedrach said he would have liked to have the sentencing in January, but Christian Lamar, who represents Thomas through the Georgia Capital Defender program, said he had several other trials throughout the state that could conflict with January.

    Thomason’s attorneys also presented 40 pretrial motions before Niedrach, with many of them focusing on jury selection.

    Niedrach said he would rule on the motions by the end of July.

    http://romenews-tribune.com/view/ful...ance=home_news
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    Former death row inmate scheduled for new sentencing

    A new sentencing hearing for a Georgia man previously on death row is scheduled for February 2014 in Floyd County Superior Court, records state.

    Gary Chad Thomason, convicted and sentenced to death in 1992 in the slaying of Jerry Self, is challenging the county’s jury list composition in the months leading up to his February hearing. He appeared Friday before Judge Jack Niedrach on a hearing about the issue, though Niedrach has yet to rule on that motion.

    Any decision by the judge could potentially delay the February sentencing hearing, depending on if either side appeals his decision.

    Self, 33, was shot Aug. 21, 1992, at his Bells Ferry Road home, just minutes after he called 911 to report a burglary in progress.

    Thomason was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996 by former Floyd County Superior Court Judge Larry Salmon.

    In 2003 the state Supreme Court overturned the sentence, but not the conviction. The high court said Thomason’s attorneys failed to make arguments that could have led to a lesser sentence.

    The court ruled the lawyers failed to present mitigating evidence, including findings by mental health experts that Thomason had an IQ of 77 and that he suffered from “intellectual impairment, low self-esteem and depression.”

    Chief Justice Robert Benham stated he believed the lawyers didn’t offer the evidence because they’d waived a jury trial in favor of sentencing by Salmon, who they erroneously believed had never sought the death penalty as district attorney and would therefore not impose it as judge.

    But Salmon had pursued the death penalty during his years as district attorney, and he sentenced Thomason to death.

    http://www.romenews-tribune.com/view...econdary_local
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  5. #5
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    February 21, 2014

    Thomason Receives Life in Prison without Parole for 1992 Murder

    Jerry Self was there when his son Nathan graduated from pre-K. A picture shows the little boy surrounded by his parents in a cap and gown.

    Jerry Self was not there when his son graduated from kindergarten.

    On Nathan’s second day of kindergarten, Self was shot to death by Gary Chad Thomason in a story that has been retold in the media since Aug. 21, 1992, the day of the murder.

    The story lived as Thomason wove his way through the court system, first getting his death sentence overturned in 2003. A decade later, the Jasper man was back in a Floyd County courtroom, no longer fighting for his life but asking for a chance to be released on parole.

    Thomason will never get that chance.

    Judge Jack Niedrach said he didn’t believe claims by Thomason and his defense attorneys that he was in a dissociative state when he killed Self. He told Thomason he murdered an innocent man in cold blood and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
    It was another milestone in a long journey for Self’s widow, Diane Rush and his mother, Linda Manis.

    In a trial where the defendant was often the center of attention, District Attorney Leigh Patterson made sure Jerry Self was not forgotten.

    Pictures of Self and his family were shown throughout the trial.

    And Patterson made sure his voice was heard through a 911 tape he made shortly before his murder. It was the last words Self ever said and it brought tears to his family who had not heard his voice in two decades.

    His widow, his mother and several family members and friends sat through the sentencing trial listening to others talking about Thomason’s life.

    They listened to Thomason’s defense team talk about his life and make claims that Thomason had been abused and neglected as a child.
    Rush and Manis listened to stories that Thomason had cleaned his life up and was off drugs. On the stand Thomason admitted he had done methamphetamine, LSD and marijuana in the hours before he killed Self. He said he had not done drugs in eight or nine years but he refused drug test less than five years ago.

    They listened to one allegation that Rush was able to disprove. Thomason said he was spooked when he heard the phone ring and a voice over the answering machine. Rush said she knew her husband didn’t use words like that and she had proof he never made the call. She still had her husband’s cell phone records.

    “I’m bad about keeping papers but in this particular case I was sure to keep all the business records,” Rush said.

    But they also heard a story that resonated with Niedrach. Thomason stabbed a man four times at Jackson Diagnostic Center in June of last year. Thomason admitted the stabbing was premeditated.

    Thomason asked for mercy and compassion.

    Patterson pointed out that Thomason was asking for mercy and compassion while he showed none to Self.

    And in her closing, Patterson struck a death blow to the defenses claims of abuse.

    "It doesn't matter if he was raised by wolves or if he had the most perfect family in the world," Patterson said. He is still responsible for his actions."

    In the end, Niedrach also wasn’t buying Thomason’s claims, saying Thomason’s nuclear family was supportive.

    Only a maternal uncle of Thomason’s was in the courtroom when Niedrach issued his ruling on Friday morning.

    The benches behind Patterson were full of people—family and friends who loved Jerry Self and two of the officers that investigated his murder.

    And they heard what they had hoped would hear from Niedrach--that Thomason will spend the rest of his life in prison for ending the life of a family man that Niedrach said was in the prime of his life.

    In the district attorney’s conference room, a thankful family gathered. It was one of the places they had gathered before, once to make an important decision. Taking the death penalty off the table was a group decision, Patterson said. The law would not allow Thomason to be sentenced to life without parole so a deal was made to take the death penalty off the table, allowing Niedrach to have a choice.

    They were thankful to Patterson for the long hours she put into the case. Patterson had only been working at the district attorney’s office for two years when the murder happened and has walked the family through much of the process.

    The family was thankful to the police and the investigators, especially Calhoun police officer Larry Gilbert who stopped Thomason as he tried to get away.

    But they were also thankful that this is hearing is over.

    “We’ve all been in a prison of our own for the last 21 and a half years,” Rush said. “It’s hard to move on when every time you turn around there’s another hearing another meeting, or a threat of it going back to court.”

    Self’s mother said this should be a lesson.

    “Let this be a warning to all young people who think they can be real cool and use drugs in front of their peers,” Manis said, “Because they can become so addicted to drugs that they have to have the money and get it in an illegal way and ruin their lives and the lives of so many other people.”

    http://www.wrgarome.com/common/page....1491&is_corp=1

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