Judge delays Henderson sentencing hearing
A Lee County judge has delayed the sentencing hearing for a Columbus, Ga., man convicted of the capital murder of a Lee County sheriff’s deputy during a 2009 traffic stop in Smiths Station.
On Tuesday, Lee County Circuit Court Judge Jacob A. Walker III canceled a sentencing hearing scheduled for Thursday after the defense for Gregory Lance Henderson filed a motion to continue pending a request that the death penalty be excluded as a possible sentence for the 39-year-old, who was convicted in October 2011 of running over and killing Lee County sheriff’s deputy James Anderson.
Walker scheduled a status conference for Feb. 29 to discuss resetting the sentencing date.
The Lee County jury that found Henderson guilty of capital murder voted 9-3 in favor of life in prison without parole. Walker must decide whether to accept the recommendation when he sentences Henderson.
Walker wrote in his order he was delaying the sentencing because of defense attorney Jeremy Armstrong’s plan to request an “Atkins hearing,” which would argue Henderson is mentally handicapped and should not be subject to the death penalty.
Armstrong was unavailable for comment Tuesday.
Henderson’s limited intellectual ability, including an early diagnosis of attention deficit disorder, formed part of Armstrong’s argument for a sentence of life in prison during the penalty phase of the October trial.
The defense portrayed Henderson as a drug user with a troubled past who never intended to kill the deputy, noting he can be heard crying and begging to help Anderson in the background of a video recording taken from the deputies’ dashboard camera.
The Lee County District Attorney’s Office cast Henderson as a man intent on escape — no matter the cost — with a history of running from law enforcement.
Anderson became trapped beneath Henderson’s car when Henderson attempted to flee from a traffic stop for a swapped license plate along Lee Road 240 in Smiths Station on Sept. 24, 2009.
During the five-day trial in October 2011, a state forensic pathologist testified the deputy died of traumatic asphyxia trapped under Henderson’s car.
http://www2.oanow.com/news/2012/feb/...ng-ar-3189759/
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