Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 26

Thread: Roy Lee Ward - Indiana Death Row

  1. #1
    Guest
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,534

    Roy Lee Ward - Indiana Death Row


    Stacy Payne





    Summary of Offense:

    Ward was first sentenced to death in 2002 for the July 11, 2001 rape and murder of Dale, Indiana teenager Stacy Payne. The sentence was overturned in 2004. However, he was subsequently re-sentenced to death in 2007.

  2. #2
    Guest
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,534
    April 7, 2009

    INDIANAPOLIS - The state Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the death sentence for a man who admitted raping and killing a 15-year-old girl in a brutal attack at her southern Indiana home.

    The court in its ruling Tuesday rejected 36-year-old Roy Lee Ward's arguments that the jurors were improperly picked and that prosecutors had presented insufficient evidence to prove he mutilated and tortured Stacy Payne in the attack.

    Ward pleaded guilty two years ago to murder and rape charges for the 2001 stabbing death of Payne at her family's home in Dale, about 30 miles east of Evansville.

    His first conviction and death sentence for the attack was overturned in 2004 due to pretrial publicity. A second jury from central Indiana's Clay County deliberated less than 45 minutes before unanimously recommending the death penalty.

    http://www.nwitimes.com/articles/200.../d97dob200.txt

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Inmate on death row for teen's death loses appeal

    A Spencer County court has rejected death row inmate Roy Lee Ward's latest appeal.

    Ward, who was convicted of slaying Stacy Payne in 2001, saw his post-conviction relief petition denied in Spencer Circuit Court by Special Judge Robert Pigman of Vanderburgh County.

    Pigman rejected each claim Ward's defense team raised.

    Ward was convicted of raping and murdering Payne, a 15-year-old Heritage Hills High School student, on July 11, 2001, in her Spencer County home.

    When the Dale, Ind., town marshal arrived, Ward was standing in the doorway of the house holding a knife. Payne was found alive on the kitchen floor and rushed to Deaconess-St. Joseph Hospital, where she died of her injuries.

    Ward was convicted and sentenced to death in 2002. However, the Indiana Supreme Court overturned that conviction in 2004, saying jurors were exposed to too much pretrial publicity.

    Ward was retried in Vanderburgh County in 2007. He pleaded guilty and was again sentenced to death.

    Ward then filed an appeal called a "petition for post-conviction relief" in Spencer Circuit Court, raising a host of claims that Pigman rejected in the Nov. 10 ruling.

    Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller's office, through Deputy Attorney General James B. Martin and Deputy Attorney General Kelly Miklos, represented the state of Indiana in Ward's appeal.

    "In considering the complicated procedural history of this case, let us not forget the innocent victim, Stacy Payne, who was killed in a horrifically violent manner by an intruder in her own home, and let us not forget her family," Zoeller said.

    "My office is committed to obtaining justice in this case, and ensuring that the laws of this state are carried out and the rulings of the trial court are upheld."

    Zoeller's office represents the state of Indiana when offenders appeal their convictions and sentences.

    Ward's next option is to ask the court to reconsider its own ruling. If he is unsuccessful, he could again appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court. He has 30 days to initiate that process.

    If those efforts are unsuccessful, Ward could take his case to federal courts.

    The ruling in Ward's case comes as Zoeller and others consider the cost of death penalty litigation.

    This week, Zoeller moderated a Criminal Justice Summit at the University of Notre Dame that examined those costs. About 75 attorneys and law students attended the summit.

    "The costs of capital punishment litigation concern me greatly. The prolonged appeals of death row offenders can drag out for years before the sentence is carried out, and the costs of the legal defense to which they are entitled is significant for the public," Zoeller said.

    "Most concerning is the toll the interminable delays take upon the victims' families with no sense of finality in sight."

    http://www.courierpress.com/news/201...-loses-appeal/

  4. #4
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Ward v. State

    Opinion Date: June 21, 2012

    Court: Indiana Supreme Court

    This petition for post-conviction relief followed Defendant Roy Ward's second trial during which he pled guilty to the 2001 rape and murder of a fifteen-year-old. Ward was sentenced to death following a penalty-phase jury trial. The Supreme Court affirmed Ward's sentence on direct appeal. Ward subsequently sought to have his death sentence set aside by filing a petition for post-conviction relief, in which he raised a number of issues. The post-conviction court denied relief. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) any deficiencies in trial counsel's performance in their mitigation investigation and presentation did not prejudice Ward's defense; (2) trial counsel was not ineffective in failing to challenge certain aspects of the State's case; (3) appellate counsel rendered competent, constitutionally adequate representation; (4) trial counsel did not render ineffective assistance under U.S. v. Cronic; (5) Indiana's death penalty statute comports with the state and federal Constitutions; and (6) Ward's claim under Napue v. Illinois was waived.

    Supreme Court Upholds Death Penalty For Teen’s Killer

    The Indiana Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence for a southern Indiana man who admitted raping and killing a 15-year-old girl.

    The state’s high court issued its ruling Thursday in the case of Roy Lee Ward.

    Ward is on death row for the 2001 murder of Stacy Payne in Spencer County.

    http://www.theindychannel.com/news/31217600/detail.html
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  5. #5
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Federal appeals pending.

    Execution Date Set for Convicted Murderer Roy Lee Ward

    An execution date has been set for a Spencer Co. man convicted of rape and murder.

    Roy Lee Ward confessed to the 2001 death of Stacy Payne.

    Payne was a Heritage High School student when police say Ward broke into her home in Dale Indiana and sexually assaulted her then killed her.

    The Indiana Supreme Court has rejected his latest appeal.

    His will be executed December 11th, 2012 in Michigan City Indiana.

    http://tristatehomepage.com/fulltext-news?nxd_id=544062
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  6. #6
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    On December 3, 2012, Ward filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/ind...cv00192/43572/

  7. #7
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    90-day stay of execution for killer of local teenager

    By Brad Conway
    WFIE

    SPENCER CO, IN - Convicted killer Roy Lee Ward has requested and has been granted a stay of execution.

    He was scheduled to die next Tuesday.

    Ward is on death row for the 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne in her Dale, Indiana home.

    Stacy's younger sister called 911 after hearing her sister's screams. When law enforcement arrived they say Ward was standing in the doorway of the home, holding a knife.

    The Indiana State Supreme Court had previously ordered his sentence to be carried out on December 11.

    In June, the Indiana Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling and the death penalty in the Ward case.

    http://www.14news.com/story/20259609...er-county-teen

  8. #8
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    On September 22, 2015, Ward's habeas petition was DENIED in Federal District Court.

    https://docs.justia.com/cases/federa...00192/43572/29

  9. #9
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    On January 4, 2016, Ward filed an appeal before the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/ci...ts/ca7/16-1001

  10. #10
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Death Row inmate claims lethal injection drug change illegal

    An Indiana Death Row inmate says Indiana violated its own rules by adding a new drug to its lethal injection execution protocol without public scrutiny.

    A Fort Wayne attorney filed a lawsuit in LaPorte County Circuit Court last month on behalf of convicted killer Roy Lee Ward, 43. In 2007, Ward received the death penalty for the brutal murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne in downstate Dale, near Evansville.

    Indiana's Death Row is located inside the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, which is in LaPorte County.

    David W. Frank, Ward's attorney, says the lawsuit focuses on what he called the state's disregard of its own rules and procedures, not the merits of Ward's case. It lists Bruce Lemmon, commissioner of the Department of Correction and Ron Neal, superintendent of the Indiana State Prison, as defendants.

    The lawsuit cites state law permitting the DOC to adopt rules for executions through the Indiana Administrative Rules and Procedures Act. When it added a new drug, Brevital, to its lethal injection protocol in 2014, it did not follow those rules, the lawsuit maintained.

    "You can do it. The lawsuit says don't do it in secret," said Frank. "Let us know by what means you're going to inject poison into a human being until they die. Let's have a frank conversation about what we're going to do."

    Bryan Corbin, spokesman for Attorney General Greg Zoeller, said Tuesday the Department of Correction adheres to the U.S. and Indiana constitutions and to federal and state statutes. He said the office would review the lawsuit and file a response.

    "It should be noted that plaintiff Roy Lee Ward pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death in 2007 for the rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacey Payne in Spencer County in 2001. Ward viciously murdered Ms. Payne by disemboweling her with a knife while he raped her during a home invasion."

    Corbin said Ward's attorneys filed notice to initiate his latest appeal to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. An execution date is not scheduled and is not expected this year, he said.

    Indiana, which hasn't had an execution since 2009, turned to Brevital in 2014 after drug makers opposed to capital punishment refused to sell thiopental sodium to states for use in executions. A sedative, it had been the first drug in a three-drug cocktail used in lethal injections in Indiana. It's followed by injections of pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.

    Brevital, also known as methohexital, is a barbiturate anesthetic in the same class as thiopental sodium.

    Other death penalty states have similar problems finding drugs. Neighboring Ohio has postponed all executions until 2017 because it can't obtain the lethal injection drugs needed. The move impacted a dozen scheduled executions.

    The lawsuit states the DOC placed orders for Brevital on at least six separate occasions between Sept. 2012 and May 2014. The lawsuit also included a copy of confidential directive from the superintendent of the state prison allowing methohexital to be used in executions. Frank obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request.

    "IDOC and its Indiana State Prison adopted these new rules even though no state in the United States, nor the U.S. federal government itself has ever once used methohexital or a combination of methohexital, pancuronium bromide and potassiuim chloride to execute a person," the lawsuit states.

    Frank said the new rules violated Ward's rights to due process. He's seeking a permanent injunction, stopping the DOC from carrying out its new rules.

    Oklahoma's bungled execution of convicted murderer Clayton Lockett in 2014 reignited a national death penalty debate as states began experimenting with other drugs because of the shortage.

    When it executed Lockett, Oklahoma used a sedative called midazolam as part of its three-drug protocol. Witnesses said Lockett writhed through the execution. Oklahoma officials said Lockett lost consciousness, but a vein collapsed in his groin and the tube failed that was administering the drugs. Lockett died of a heart attack 43 minutes after the execution began.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburb...108-story.html
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •