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Thread: John Matthew Stephenson - Indiana

  1. #1
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    John Matthew Stephenson - Indiana


    John M. Stephenson


    Facts of the Crime:

    On March 28, 1996, Stephenson stabbed and shot John Tyler, 29, Cathy Tyler, 29, and Brandy Southard, 21, with an assault rifle in Yankeetown, Warrick County.

  2. #2
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    August 26, 2010

    Appeals Court to judge: Reconsider decision to throw out Stephenson verdict

    By Mark Wilson
    The Courier-Press

    Thirteen years after he was condemned to die by lethal injection, the guilty verdict and death sentence of convicted triple murderer John Stephenson remains in legal contention.

    A federal appeals court today ordered a federal district court judge to reconsider her decision to throw out the sentence and verdict.

    A Warrick County jury found Stephenson guilty of murdering Brandy Southard, 21, John “Jay” Tyler, 29, and Kathy Tyler, 29, as they sat in the Tylers’ pickup truck at a rural intersection in the county on March 28, 1996.

    U.S. District Judge Theresa Springmann ruled in July 2009 that Stephenson did not have effective legal counsel because his attorney, Anthony Long, did not object to Stephenson’s having to wear a stun belt in the court room. The judge ruled that wearing the stun belt violated his right to presumption of innocence when he appeared before the jury that convicted him.

    Warrick County Prosecutor Todd Corne said today the appeals court was critical of the district judge for not considering other issues raised by Stephenson.

    Because of that, the appeals court said in its decision, said it was bound to send the decision back to district court for consideration of other issues raised by Stephenson. The appeals court ruled that had the judge considered those issues, it could have upheld the judge’s decision on other grounds even if it disagreed on the stun belt decision.

    Corne said the length of time that Stephenson’s case has been pending degrades the deterrence of the death penalty.

    “The quicker it is imposed, the more of a deterrent it is going to be,” he said.

    http://www.courierpress.com/news/201...er=yahoo_feeds

    Opinion is here:

    http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/tmp/0L0MWGF7.pdf

  3. #3
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On September 30, 2014, Stephenson's habeas petition was DENIED in Federal District Court.

    http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal...00539/52557/90

  4. #4
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On January 14, 2016, Stephenson's motion to alter judgment was DENIED in Federal District Court.

    https://docs.justia.com/cases/federa...00539/52557/95

    On February 16, 2016, Stephenson filed an appeal before the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/ci...ts/ca7/16-1312

  5. #5
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    Court overturns Indiana death sentence in 'stun belt' case

    By Jonathan Stempel
    Reuters

    A federal appeals court on Friday threw out the death sentence for a man forced to wear a "stun belt" during the penalty phase of his trial for a 1996 triple murder in Indiana.

    The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago said John Stephenson, 54, was prejudiced by his lawyer's failure to object to the belt, which lets an officer administer an electric charge to prevent a prisoner from misbehaving in the courtroom.

    A box on the belt that contained electric wires had been hidden under Stephenson's shirt but visible as a bulge to jurors, four of whom had been aware of the belt.

    Stephenson had also worn the belt during his eight-month trial, but never acted up.

    Though the appeals court upheld Stephenson's conviction, Circuit Judge Richard Posner said the belt "contaminated" the penalty phase of his trial.

    "The fault is certainly not Stephenson's; it's his lawyer's, for failing to object to his client's having to wear a stun belt, given the absence of any reason to think his client would go berserk in the courtroom," Posner wrote.

    A spokesman for Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Stephenson's lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    The appeals court said Indiana can ask a jury to reimpose the death penalty if Stephenson does not wear the stun belt, or ask a judge to impose a lesser penalty.

    Stephenson was convicted of murdering three people inside a pickup truck at a rural intersection in March 1996.

    The case is Stephenson v Neal, 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 16-1312.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-i...-idUSKBN1AK26R
    "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. #6
    It looks like he was resentenced to a term of years and is no longer on death row, according do Indiana Department of Correction Offender Data:

    https://www.in.gov/apps/indcorrectio...&detail=976851

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