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Thread: Joshua Durcho Sentenced to LWOP in Five OK Murders Including Four Children

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    Joshua Durcho Sentenced to LWOP in Five OK Murders Including Four Children

    Grieving family members struggled with their emotions Thursday morning as a burly ex-convict accused of strangling his ex-girlfriend and her four children made his initial court appearance in Oklahoma.

    An automatic not guilty plea was entered on behalf of Joshua Steven Durcho, 25, who was arrested in Texas on Tuesday night. He is being held without bail and prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

    Durcho is accused of strangling 25-year-old Summer Garas and her four children in their apartment in El Reno, a town of about 16,000 about 25 miles west of downtown Oklahoma City. The bodies were found Monday.

    James Franklin, a step-grandfather of the slain children, said emotions were raw, and it hurt to hear the judge mention the victims' names.

    "Every time you hear a name, it drives an arrow deeper in the heart," he said after the hearing.
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    http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=6660779

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    DURCHO ATTORNEYS CHALLENGE DEATH PENALTY


    Attorneys for Joshua Durcho filed 13 motions in Canadian County District Court Friday, questioning not only elements of the prosecution's case, but also the constitutionality of Oklahoma''s death penalty.
    Durcho, charged with five counts of first-degree murder in the January slayings of El Reno resident Summer Rust, 25, and her four children - daughters, Kirsten Rust, 7, Autumn Rust, 7, and Evynn Garas, 3, and her son, Teagin Rust, 4 - could face death if he is convicted of the crimes.
    Assistant District Attorney Paul Hesse, lead prosecutor in the case, filed a Special Bill of Particulars with the court May 19. That document outlined the reasons prosecutors were seeking the death penalty. Under state law, a jury can only impose that punishment on a defendant if they can determine at least one of eight statutorily-mandated circumstances was involved in the commission of the crime. The elements outlined by Hesse were the subject of the bulk of Friday''s defense motions.
    In the Rust-Garas murders, prosecutors alleged four aggravating circumstances existed – that Durcho “knowingly created a risk of death to more than one person,” the murders were especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, the murders were committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventing lawful arrest or prosecution and there was a probability Durcho would constitute a continuing threat to society if not put to death.
    Charged with Durcho's defense, Matthew Haire of the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System took aim at the constitutionality of those elements, as well as the state''s death penalty itself.
    In a motion to quash the bill of particulars filed by prosecutors, Haire asked that the bill be excluded from the case. If that motion were to be granted by the court, it could impact the state''s quest to seek the death penalty, should Durcho be convicted of the murders. As part of that motion, defense attorneys declared the Oklahoma death penalty unconstitutional, citing its violation of “the Eighth Amendment''s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.”
    Other defense motions also hit at the heart of what is currently known of the prosecution''s capital murder case. In questioning the “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel” aggravating circumstances surrounding the murders, Haire cites a case in which he said the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals defined that threshold as “torture – the infliction of either great physical anguish or extreme mental cruelty,” something he asserted did not occur with the Rust-Garas murders.
    Prosecutors disagreed, citing their allegation that Durcho manually strangled Rust and her four children, causing them “serious physical abuse and injury” prior to their deaths. They also stated in the bill of particulars one of the children was sexually assaulted. That, Hesse said, amounted to a clear case of heinous, atrocious or cruel conduct.
    While defense attorneys filed an objection to the state''s use of the “avoiding arrest” aggravating circumstance, they did not elaborate why that would not apply to Durcho, stating only that element is “a vague and overbroad catch-all which can be applied in virtually any and all first-degree murder cases.” Prosecutors asserted in court documents Durcho committed the murders, in part, because Summer Rust threatened to report him to police on unserved warrants for his arrest.
    According to the Oklahoma Supreme Court Network, at the time of the killings, Durcho had five outstanding warrants stemming from his failure to appear at an August 2008 hearing. The warrants involved crimes allegedly committed by Durcho in 2007, including an arrest for possession of methamphetamine, driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, driving with license revoked, leaving the scene of an accident involving damage and a traffic citation for not providing financial responsibility/security verification. Two of the charges – the drug possession and DUI – were felonies.
    In its pleadings, defense counsel also questioned the state''s assertion that Durcho is a “continuing threat to society,” again questioning the state''s application of that circumstance in the state of Oklahoma, as well as its constitutionality.
    Hesse addressed what he called Durcho''s threat to others earlier this year when citing not only the brutality of the crimes, but the defendant''s prior record.
    “Although he did not necessarily exhibit violent behavior through his prior criminal actions, he certainly was not unknown to the criminal justice system,” Hesse said in May.
    In addition to the 2007 pending charges against him, Durcho was convicted in 2003 of two charges for possession of marijuana. According to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Web site, he was incarcerated for more than three years on those charges.
    In their motions, defense counsel objected to portions of Oklahoma state statutes defining mitigating circumstances – anything that could reduce the degree of Durcho''s blame if convicted of committing the murders. As part of that motion, Haire submitted a proposed jury instruction – given to members of the jury by the presiding judge at the conclusion of the trial – discussing “mitigating” factors.
    “Mitigating circumstances are not intended to be a legal excuse for the crime for which you have found the defendant guilty. Rather, it is any evidence which in fairness and mercy may serve as a basis for a sentence less than death,” Haire stated in his motion. “Mitigating circumstances represent any aspect of the defendant''s background, character or record or of the crime, which might be considered extenuating or tend to make him less deserving of the extreme punishment of death.”
    The balance of defense motions filed Friday pertained to evidence and jury selection, including a motion to stop prosecutors from excluding potential jurors opposed to the death penalty. Haire also requested the exclusion of some possible evidence, including crime scene and autopsy photos, which he stated “would serve no purpose other than to shock and inflame the jury.”
    Hesse said Monday he was working on responses to all 13 defense motions, and he expected District Court Judge Edward Cunningham to hear arguments on at least those pleadings he was able to address during a hearing scheduled for Thursday.
    As the legal battle continues, Durcho remains in segregation at the Canadian County Jail. The trial in the case is scheduled for April 2010.

    http://www.elrenotribune.com/CatIndex.aspx?pageType=1&id=3491

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    Suspected killer loses dealth penalty challenges

    EL RENO, Okla. (AP) - Legal challenges to the death penalty by attorneys for a man accused of strangling his girlfriend and her four children have been rejected.

    District Judge Edward Cunningham on Thursday rejected arguments by attorneys for 26-year-old Joshua Steven Durcho that Oklahoma's death penalty law is unconstitutional. The judge also dismissed complaints about alleged aggravating circumstances justifying the death penalty.

    Durcho faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of 25-year-old Summer Rust, 7-year-old Kirsten Rust, 7-year-old Autumn Rust, 4-year-old Teagin Rust and 3-year-old Evynn Garas.

    The five were found dead in their apartment in El Reno in January.

    http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=11371268#

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    El Reno slayings

    Summer Rust, 25, her daughters Kirsten Rust, 7, Autumn Rust, 7, and Evynn Garas, 3, and son Teagin Rust, 4, were found strangled Jan. 12 in their El Reno apartment. Officials arrested Rust’s boyfriend, Joshua Steven Durcho, 26, a day later after he crashed Summer Rust’s car near Waco, Texas.

    Durcho, who remains jailed in Canadian County without bail, faces a trial April 5 on five murder counts. A judge in October denied a defense challenge to the death penalty.

    http://newsok.com/hearings-are-planned-in-several-2009-oklahoma-cases/article/3429229

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    Attorneys want man's murder trial moved

    EL RENO, Okla. — Attorneys for a man accused of strangling his girlfriend and her four children want to move his trial on five counts of first-degree murder.

    Attorneys for Joshua Steven Durcho will argue their case Monday before Canadian County District Judge Gary Miller. They say the 27-year-old Durcho can't get a fair trial in Canadian County because widespread publicity about the case has biased potential jurors.

    A motion for a change of venue says the level of community outrage over the deaths could be described as a "call for lynching."

    Durcho is accused of the Jan. 12, 2009, killings of 25-year-old Summer Garas and her four children aged 4 through 7. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

    Durcho has pleaded not guilty.

    http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=14&articleid=20100524_11_0_ ELRENO272421&rss_lnk=12

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    El Reno murder trial continues on child's birthday

    EL RENO, OK -- With pain in their hearts and tears in their eyes, family and friends of Evynn Garas knelt down beside her grave on what would have been her fifth birthday. "It's been hard, it's been really hard," said family friend Jamie Davis. "She was awesome; she could never say my name, she would always call me Daime. She was just cute."

    "I think she would really be pleased because these are the people that loved her and was around her most of the time," said her Grandfather James Franklin.

    In January of 2009 the 3 year old was murdered inside an El Reno apartment along with her three siblings and her mother.

    The alleged suspect, her mom's boyfriend Steven Durcho, who was also in court a few hours earlier.

    According to Durcho's attorneys, their client can't get a fair trial in Canadian County and want a change of venue.

    "I don't know what their definition of a fair trial is; this is a man that murdered five innocent people, so what do they consider fair?" said Franklin.

    However, a paperwork glitch lead to another delay and more heartbreak for the family.

    On top of their frustration, a glance from Durcho also fueled more anger.

    "How can you murder five people and walk into the courtroom with no remorse on your face and he walked into the court with a smirk on his face actually, a smile on his face," said Franklin.

    "Oh that pissed me off! Oh that smile on his face and he started waving, he almost started waving; that is sick," said Davis with tears in her eyes.

    It's a grieving process that can't be completed until this case is finally closed.

    "Either way, the death penalty or life in prison, either way is fine, but I'd rather see him suffer," says Davis.

    Durcho is scheduled to be back in court on June 23.

    http://www.kfor.com/news/local/kfor-news-el-reno-murder-trial-child-birthday-story,0,2634518.story?track=rss

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    Okla. judge rejects request to move murder trial

    EL RENO, Okla. (AP) - A Canadian County judge has denied a motion to move the trial of a man accused of killing his former girlfriend and her four children.

    District Judge Gary Miller made the decision Wednesday during a hearing in the case of 27-year-old Joshua Durcho.

    Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Durcho, who has pleaded not guilty to five counts of first-degree murder in the Jan. 12, 2009, killings of 25-year-old Summer Rust and her four children.

    Durcho's attorneys say he can't get a fair trial in Canadian County because widespread publicity about the case has biased potential jurors.

    Miller says there has been a substantial amount of media coverage, but the media has been responsible in its reporting.

    Durcho's trial is scheduled for Sept. 13.

    http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?id=473887

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    Durcho Death Penalty Request Changed

    Canadian County prosecutors have amended a request to seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and her four children.

    An amended special bill of particulars was filed under seal Friday in the case of Joshua Durcho, who is charged with first-degree murder in the 2009 strangulations of Summer Rust, Kirsten Rust, Autumn Rust, Teagin Rust and Evynn Garas.

    Assistant District Attorney Paul Hesse said he couldn't discuss the document's contents or say why it was filed. Durcho's attorney, Matthew Haire, couldn't be reached for comment Saturday.

    The initial bill of particulars contained four aggravating circumstances, including one that said Durcho represents a continuing threat to society.

    His trial is set to start Sept. 13.

    http://www.koco.com/news/24211127/detail.html

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    Joshua Durcho's Lawyers Ask To Quit

    Defense attorneys for a man accused of strangling his former girlfriend and her four children have asked a Canadian County judge to appoint new attorneys.

    A hearing is set Thursday on a sealed motion filed by attorneys for Joshua Steven Durcho. The attorneys want to withdraw from Durcho's case and postpone his Sept. 13 trial on five counts of first-degree murder.

    One of Durcho's attorneys, Craig Corgan, said Wednesday he could not comment on the contents of the sealed motion. Assistant District Attorney Paul Hesse did not immediately return a telephone call.

    The 27-year-old Durcho has pleaded not guilty in the Jan. 12, 2009, killings of 25-year-old Summer Rust and her four children who ranged in age from 3 to 7.

    Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

    http://www.koco.com/r/24594113/detail.html

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    Joshua Durcho's trial delayed

    A judge has postponed the murder trial for an ex-convict accused of killing his girlfriend and her four children.

    The jury trial for Joshua Steven Durcho was set to begin Sept. 13 in Canadian County District Court. No new trial date was set.

    District Judge Gary E. Miller delayed the trial during a meeting Wednesday with Durcho's two new defense attorneys and a prosecutor.

    The judge, on Aug. 12, allowed Durcho's original court-appointed attorneys to withdraw from the case after they reported they had a conflict of interest.

    Durcho, 27, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

    He is accused of strangling his girlfriend, Summer Rust, 25; her daughters, Kirsten Rust, 7, Autumn Rust, 7, and Evynn Garas, 3; and her son, Teagin Rust, 4.

    Their bodies were found Jan. 12, 2009, in their El Reno apartment.

    http://newsok.com/joshua-durchos-trial-delayed/article/3486798#ixzz0x5n8JN4Z

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