Summary of Offense:
Sentenced to death in Greenville County in 2002 for shooting Eric Nicholson in December 2000 near the intersection of Woodruff Road and Interstate 85.
Summary of Offense:
Sentenced to death in Greenville County in 2002 for shooting Eric Nicholson in December 2000 near the intersection of Woodruff Road and Interstate 85.
Wood's sentence was affirmed by the South Carolina Supreme Court on direct appeal on December 6, 2004.
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/sc-suprem...t/1292385.html
On December 7, 2012, Wood filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/sou...v03532/195543/
On September 9, 2019, Wood's habeas petition was DENIED by United States District Court Judge David Norton (G.H.W. Bush).
https://docs.justia.com/cases/federa...532/195543/200
On October 29, 2021, oral argument will be heard in Wood's appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/cal/int...t262021ric.pdf
The panel hearing Wood's appeal will be made up of Judges Motz (Clinton), Diaz (Obama) and Richardson (Trump).
https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/cal/int...t262021ric.pdf
The Fourth Circuit has denied Wood’s appeal and affirmed the district court’s denial of his habeas petition.
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal...022-03-02.html
4th Circuit appeals court upholds death sentence of man who killed Greenville trooper
By Kaelyn Cassidy
The Greenville News
The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the death sentence of a man convicted of killing a state Highway Patrol trooper in Greenville in 2000.
John Richard Wood appealed his conviction in October 2021 and the U.S. Court of Appeals issued its opinion on Wednesday, affirming the state court's original conviction and death sentence.
Wood was sentenced to death for the murder of an on-duty officer in December 2000 — Trooper Eric Nicholson.
Nicholson attempted to stop Wood for riding a moped on I-85. Wood didn't stop, and instead lead Nicholson off the interstate, at which point Nicholson used his car to block the moped from continuing forward.
Wood then drew a gun and shot Nicholson five times, killing him.
Wood was indicted for murder and the possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, and was found guilty on both counts in February 2002. He is currently one of 35 inmates on death row in South Carolina, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
This is the second time Wood has appealed the conviction, claiming that his lawyers, John Mauldin, James Bannister and Rodney Richey, had not represented him properly in the initial 2002 trial.
During the sentencing phase of the case, attorneys questioned Jimmy Sligh, an SCDC employee. Sligh spoke about the difference between life in prison without parole and the death penalty, according to the U.S. Court of Appeal's opinion.
Sligh described prison as being "like a mini city," where prisoners in the general population showing good behavior have access to many privileges, such as work programs, full-contact family visits and freedom of movement around their cell blocks. Death row prisoners, however, are on 23-hour lockdown and do not have access to those privileges. Wood's counsel did not object to Sligh's testimony, the U.S. Court of Appeals opinion states.
In his appeal, Wood argues that without Sligh's testimony, the jury would have come to a different decision.
The U.S. Court of Appeals heard the case on Oct. 29, 2021, but affirmed the lower court's decision that Sligh's testimony did not make a significant difference when compared to the other facts of the case.
https://eu.greenvilleonline.com/stor...on/9360928002/
En banc rehearing denied March 30, 2022.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketP...0of%20Time.pdf
Thank you for the adventure - Axol
Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park
Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt
I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello
Final petition for writ of certiorari filed August 26, 2022.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/22-5476.html
Thank you for the adventure - Axol
Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park
Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt
I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello
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