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Thread: Martin Carl Jennings - California Death Row

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    Martin Carl Jennings - California Death Row


    Martin Carl Jennings


    Facts of the Crime:

    Sentenced to death in San Bernardino County on July 22, 1999 for the murder of his five-year-old son on February 7, 1996. His co-defendant was his wife Michelle. The body of the boy, Arthur Jennings, was found at the bottom of an abandoned mine shaft. The boy was murdered about three months after he moved from an aunt in Montana back to his parents.

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    On August 12, 2010, the California Supreme Court upheld Jennings' death sentence on direct appeal.

    Opinion is here:

    http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions...ts/S081148.PDF

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    August 12, 2010

    Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence in Child Killing

    The California Supreme Court yesterday upheld the death sentence for an Apple Valley area man convicted of killing his 5-year-old son in 1996.

    Chief Justice Ronald M. George, writing for a unanimous court, said there was sufficient evidence for a jury to find Martin Carl Jennings guilty of first degree murder on theories of premeditation, murder-by-torture, and murder-by-poisoning, and to find that he tortured Arthur Jennings, making him eligible for the death penalty.

    Jennings denied any intent to kill his son, claiming the boy died as a result of being fed powerful sedatives by his mother. But the totality of the evidence, George said, showed that Arthur died as a result of an ongoing series of beatings and deprivations for which his father was at least as responsible as his mother.

    Martin and Michelle Jennings were tried together for murder, and both were found guilty of murder in the first degree.

    A special-circumstance allegation of torture was found true as to Martin Jennings, but jurors could not agree as to whether it was true as to his wife as well. A special-circumstance allegation of murder-by-poison was found not true, as to both defendants.

    San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Rufus L. Yent declared a mistrial as to Michelle Jennings, and the penalty phase of the trial went forward as to Martin Jennings only. Michelle Jennings was later sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, after the parties agreed to allow the judge to give a verdict on the poisoning allegation based on the testimony, and he concluded that she lacked the requisite intent.

    The body of Arthur Jennings was found at the bottom of an abandoned desert mine shaft. Among his wounds was a blow to the head, and Martin Jennings later admitted hitting the boy in the head with a shovel, about an hour before he died.

    The Jenningses reported their son missing on Feb. 6, but ultimately admitted to sheriff’s detectives that he had died at home and that the body was hidden in the mine shaft. In a joint interview, they detailed having abused the boy, although Martin Jennings said he did not want the boy to die.

    Prosecution witnesses detailed how the Jenningses were ill-prepared to care for the child, who had returned to their home about three months earlier after having spent most of his young life in the care of Martin Jennings’ half-sister in Montana. The boy had what the parents described as “fits” or temper tantrums, but what experts said were likely epileptic seizures.

    The parents acknowledged giving the boy the over-the-counter sleep aid Unisom, as well as Vicodin and Valium, and Martin Jennings acknowledged having personal acquaintance with the effect of those drugs. Asked what effect he thought they would have on his young son, he said he “didn’t think about it.”

    Rejecting Jennings’ challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence, the chief justice said there was enough proof to convict him on all three theories—premeditation, poisoning, and torture—given the testimony establishing that the boy died from a concurrence of events over a period of a number of months.

    The jury’s rejection of the special circumstance of murder-by-poisoning, the chief justice said, was not inconsistent with the first-degree murder verdict. Jurors, George said, could have found that Martin Jennings gave the boy the medications—knowing what effect they would have and thus helping bring about his death—or that he aided and abetted his wife in doing so, or both.

    The cases are People v. Jennings, 10 S.O.S. 4725, and People v. Lynch, 10 S.O.S. 4751.

    http://www.metnews.com/

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    On December 16, 2010, Jennings filed a habeas petition before the California Supreme Court.

    http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.g...pTMCAgCg%3D%3D

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