Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 17

Thread: James Dwight Pavatt - Oklahoma Death Row

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

    James Dwight Pavatt - Oklahoma Death Row


    Rob Andrew




    Summary of Offense:

    Convicted and sentenced to death in the murder of Rob Andrew, an advertising executive, was gunned down in his garage in 2001. The victim's wife, Brenda Andrew, was also sentenced to death.

    Pavatt has been on death row since October 28, 2003.

    For more on Brenda Andrew, see: http://www.cncpunishment.com/forums/...ndrew+oklahoma

  2. #2
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    On May 5, 2008, Pavatt filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/okl...cv00470/69426/

  3. #3
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    On May 1, 2014, Pavatt's habeas petition was DENIED in Federal District Court.

    http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal...00470/69426/91

  4. #4
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    On June 3, 2014, Pavatt filed an appeal before the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/cir...s/ca10/14-6117

  5. #5
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    On March 8, 2016, oral argument will be heard in Pavatt's appeal before the Tenth Circuit.

    https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/...h_2016_CAL.pdf

  6. #6
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    New Jersey, unfortunately
    Posts
    4,382
    On June 9, 2017, The Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of relief with respect to his conviction, but reversed denial of relief with respect to his sentence, and remanded to the district court for further proceedings.

    http://cases.justia.com/federal/appe...?ts=1497043853
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

  7. #7
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    The panel was made up of Judges Kelly (G.H.W. Bush), Briscoe (Clinton) and Hartz (G.W. Bush). Briscoe dissented. He would have denied the habeas petition in its entirety. It's really unusual to have a panel where the two GOP appointees are more liberal than the Democratic one.

  8. #8
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Death sentence in jeopardy in scandalous 2001 Oklahoma City murder case

    By Nolan Clay
    The Oklahoman

    A federal appeals court has ruled 2-1 in favor of a notorious Oklahoma City murderer on his latest legal challenge to his death sentence.

    James Dwight Pavatt, 63, is on death row for the 2001 shotgun slaying of his lover's husband, Oklahoma City advertising executive Rob Andrew.

    The decision throws out a key justification for Pavatt's death sentence. If it stands, prosecutors will have to seek the death penalty again before a new jury.

    The jury at his 2003 trial chose the death sentence on two grounds — that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel and that it was done for remuneration, specifically $800,000 in life insurance benefits.

    Pavatt complained the evidence in his case was insufficient for the jury to find the murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel. His attorneys argued essentially that the victim had died too quickly, after being shot twice.

    In a ruling June 9, two judges on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver agreed. In holding for Pavatt, they pointed to U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1972.

    The decision also could impact Pavatt's lover, Brenda Andrew, now 53, the only woman on death row in Oklahoma. She was sentenced to death on the same grounds after a separate trial. She has made the same argument in her appeals.

    On Friday, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter asked for a rehearing.

    The attorney general called the decision in Pavatt's case "a drastic departure" from rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court. He asked the two judges to reconsider their decision or for all the judges on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to take up the issue.

    "To the extent the majority determined Mr. Andrew did not suffer severely enough, or long enough, there is no clearly established federal law which requires conscious physical suffering, much less suffering of a certain intensity or duration," Assistant Attorney General Joshua Lockett wrote. "Simply stated, the Supreme Court has never held that 'a brief period of conscious physical suffering' is insufficient."

    The two judges "overlooked" another reason the shooting was considered especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, its "pitiless nature," the assistant attorney general also wrote.

    Pavatt, an insurance salesman, and Brenda Andrew became lovers after meeting at church, according to testimony at the trials. They even taught a Sunday school class together.

    Pavatt and Rob Andrew had been friends. He assisted Rob Andrew in setting up a life insurance policy worth $800,000.

    The Andrews' 17-year marriage fell apart in 2001, with her filing for divorce and him moving out.

    On Nov. 20, 2001, Rob Andrew came to the family home in Oklahoma City to pick up his son and daughter for Thanksgiving. He came into the garage after Brenda Andrew told him the pilot light on the furnace was out.

    There, he was shot twice, first by Pavatt and then by his wife, with his own 16-gauge shotgun, prosecutors alleged. Pavatt also shot Brenda Andrew in the arm with a .22-caliber pistol to make it look like she was a victim, too, prosecutors alleged.

    Brenda Andrew, who suffered only a superficial wound, called 911 and reported her husband was shot. Emergency personnel were unable to revive him after arriving. Rob Andrew was 39.

    Brenda Andrew told police two armed, masked men had attacked her husband. Police later found evidence that Pavatt hid afterward in the attic of the home of the Andrews' next-door neighbors, who were away.

    Brenda Andrew had a key to the neighbors' house.

    As police suspicions about her story grew, Pavatt and Brenda Andrew fled to Mexico with her children. After running out of money, the couple re-entered the United States in February 2002. They were arrested at the border.

    The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in 2007 had rejected Pavatt's same complaint about his sentence.

    The state court pointed out the medical examiner testified that death was not instantaneous, that the victim was clutching a trash bag full of empty aluminum cans and that Brenda Andrew had claimed in her 911 call that he was conscious and trying to talk to her.

    "All of these facts tend to show that Rob Andrew suffered serious physical abuse, and was conscious of the fatal attack for several minutes," the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals said.

    http://newsok.com/article/5553982
    "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. #9
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    New Jersey, unfortunately
    Posts
    4,382
    This ruling is garbage. You know the justice system is a failure when complaints that "the victim didn’t suffer enough" are a valid legal argument. Not to mention that even if the first aggravating factor wasn’t present, the second aggravating factor that it was for remuneration is indisputable. Thus, any legal error that did occur was harmless.
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

  10. #10
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    New Jersey, unfortunately
    Posts
    4,382
    The Tenth Circuit GRANTED Oklahoma's petition for en banc rehearing today.

    https://cases.justia.com/federal/app...?ts=1538499827
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

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

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

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