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Thread: Ronald Watson Lafferty - Utah

  1. #11
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    'Delusions' make condemned killer Ron Lafferty incompetent, lawyers say

    Condemned killer Ron Lafferty believes a judge's father's ghost tormented him during hearings related to his 1996 murder trial because he didn't like how his son handled the case.

    The presence, he claimed, caused him feelings of physical discomfort, leading him to disrupt the courtroom, something he did often with verbal outbursts and gestures. The ghost's purpose, he believes, was to express disappointment in how the judge conducted the proceedings.

    Lafferty's attorneys say it is significant because it shows how he maintains "highly idiosyncratic" beliefs about how spirits interfere with his case.

    "This delusion cannot be explained away as a religious belief because it diverges from LDS theology," they wrote in a new filing in U.S. District Court.

    "While LDS theology accounts for spirit beings and their occasional interactions with mortal beings, there is no accounting for a departed spirit, as an incorporeal entity, causing a physical disturbance in the mortal world."

    Attorneys for the death row inmate say the ghost of the judge's father is just one of several delusions that make him incompetent to help them move forward with a federal review of his conviction and sentence.

    They filed a 71-page brief Friday asking U.S. District Judge Dee Benson to delay the case until Lafferty's mental health can be restored. The filing follows a two-day competency hearing in October. The state will also file a post-hearing memorandum within two weeks.

    Some of the information in Lafferty's new brief was previously kept from the public. Benson has allowed attorneys to file documents under seal, but is reconsidering after the media filed a petition to open the records.

    Claiming a revelation from God, Lafferty and his brother, Dan Lafferty, slashed the throats of their sister-in-law, Brenda Lafferty, and her 15-month-old daughter, Erica, in 1984. Dan Lafferty is serving a life sentence.

    Psychiatrist Michael First testified at the October hearing that a lack of oxygen to Ron Lafferty's brain when he hung himself in December 1984 — five months after the killings — caused cognitive and psychotic disorders that led to hallucinations and delusions.

    The Utah Attorney General's Office contends Ron Lafferty understands the legal process and is able to assist his lawyers. Another psychiatrist, Noel Gardner, testified that Ron Lafferty has a narcissistic personality and extreme religious and political views but isn't delusional or psychotic.

    In the court brief, Ron Lafferty's attorneys say he believes there's a conspiracy among them, the state and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to usher him to the execution chamber.

    They describe several "delusions" he has had about his past lawyers and "spirit surveillance" in the Utah State Prison.

    Ron Lafferty believes his defense attorney in the 1996 trial, Linda Anderson, tried to put a curse on him but that he deflected it back onto her. He believes the curse caused the breast cancer that ultimately took her life.

    Ron Lafferty believes that he and another former member of his legal team, Megan Moriarty, are reincarnations of a brother and sister who previously lived several hundred years ago in England. He also believes Anderson's spirit took over Moriarty's body, causing Moriarty to no longer represent him.

    "He could not accept that she would have made a decision to cease her representation of him, and instead insists that it was caused by an evil spirit being," according to the court brief.

    http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...wyers-say.html
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  2. #12
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Condemned killer Ron Lafferty competent, judge rules

    Death sentence challenge can now proceed

    By Brooke Adams
    The Salt Lake Tribune

    A federal judge on Thursday found condemned killer Ron Lafferty mentally competent and able to participate in ongoing legal proceedings aimed at stopping his execution for the 1984 murder of his sister-in-law and niece.

    U.S. District Court Judge Dee Benson concluded that Lafferty, 71, is not suffering from a mental disease or defect that interferes with his ability to understand the nature of and consequences of the ongoing case.

    Lafferty, Benson said, has "the ability to assist his counsel if he chooses to do so."

    The case has been on hold since January 2010, when Lafferty’s attorneys raised questions about his competency.

    Since then, Benson noted, the "legal landscape" for competency determinations in appeals has changed. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that defendants do not have a statutory right to be competent during such proceedings, which focus on record reviews.

    Lafferty’s attorneys maintain their client is delusional and unable to assist them in his defense. As an example, they said in court filings that Lafferty believes he was tormented by the ghost of a trial judge’s father, and that he and a former defense attorney were siblings several hundred years ago in England. The defense wanted Benson to send Lafferty to the Utah State Hospital for treatment aimed at restoring his mental health.

    Questions about Lafferty’s competency have been raised since his first trial in 1985 for the murders of his sister-in-law Brenda Wright Lafferty and 15-month-old niece.

    He was convicted and given the death penalty in that trial, but the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals found the wrong standard was used to assess his mental competency and ordered that Lafferty be tried again. Lafferty was convicted and given death a second time in 1996.

    Lafferty’s attorneys said their client’s delusions involve both his legal proceedings and his experiences with spirit beings. They assert Lafferty’s delusions existed prior to when he attempted to hang himself in December 1984, an event that caused brain damage.

    Benson held a two-day competency hearing in October, during which he heard differing views from psychologists about Lafferty’s mental well being.

    Three different psychologists provided evaluations of Lafferty, two of whom participated in the October hearing.

    Two psychologists hired by the defense concluded that Lafferty is incompetent; one attributed that to a psychotic disorder caused by lack of oxygen when he tried to commit suicide, while the other said Lafferty suffers from schizophrenia and a psychotic disorder.

    A third psychologist, who testified for the state, said Lafferty does not have any mental disease or defect that makes him incompetent, instead attributing his odd thoughts to narcissism, fundamentalist Mormon beliefs and an anti-government ideology.

    Benson said he found the third psychologist’s findings most persuasive.

    http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57...court.html.csp

  3. #13
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Utah wants to keep Lafferty death penalty case moving

    SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Attorney General’s Office is asking a federal judge to push along condemned killer Ron Lafferty’s pending execution.

    Lafferty, who is on death row for the 1984 murders of his sister-in-law Brenda Lafferty and her baby Erica, is fighting his murder conviction.

    In recent court papers, he has asked for federal appeals to be halted while he adjudicates issues in state court.

    In a filing on Wednesday, the Utah Attorney General’s Office urged the judge to not delay his federal appeals.

    Lafferty and his brother Dan were convicted of killing Brenda and Erica.

    The brothers claimed it was under orders from God.

    The gruesome killings were featured in the book “Under the Banner of Heaven.”

    Questions about Ron Lafferty’s mental competency have been raised repeatedly in the decades of court proceedings.

    Defense lawyers have claimed he suffers from religious delusions.

    U.S. District Court Judge Dee Benson ruled earlier this year that Ron Lafferty was mentally competent to assist in his defense.

    http://fox13now.com/2014/07/03/utah-...y-case-moving/ (by clicking on the link you can read the Utah Attorney General's filing)

  4. #14
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Somewhat related

    Utah Parents Kill Themselves, Three Of Their Kids For Fear Of The Apocalypse

    Last year, the bodies of Benjamin and Kristi Strack, along with three of their children were found in a locked room in their home in Springfield, Utah. On Tuesday, police held a press conference revealing that the Stracks had likely killed themselves and the children in order to avoid “evil in the world” and what they believed were the coming horrors of the apocalypse.

    The Stracks and their children overdosed on cold medications, methadone and — in Benjamin’s case — heroin, most of which was drunk from a beach pail. They were found by Kristi Strack’s 27-year-old son from a previous marriage and their grandmother.

    Police have labeled the deaths of the two younger children, Emery, 12, and Zion, 11, as homicides, deeming them not old enough to understand that they were entering into a suicide pact. The death of the 14-year-old child, Benson, was labeled as “undetermined” as a letter he wrote to a friend before his death could be interpreted as a “goodbye letter.” I don’t know if that’s fair. I mean, I think it’s pretty much a given that the child would likely not have gone and killed himself if it hadn’t been his parent’s idea. To me, that’s as good as murder.

    Relatives say the family had often discussed “leaving this world,” but said they had interpreted that as meaning they meant to move “off the grid” to Montana or something, not actually kill themselves and their children. Still, they told police that they were not surprised that this fear of the apocalypse was the cause of the familicide.

    Police Department detective Greg Turnbow, the lead officer on the case, told reporters that “it was a fairly common theme for the parents to talk about, the apocalypse, the end of days, final judgment.”

    The investigation also found years old letters written between Kristi Strack and Dan Lafferty, a convicted murderer who assisted his brother in killing his wife and infant daughter. Ron Lafferty, his brother, is currently on death row in Utah, and maintains that he had a religious revelation telling him to kill his family because his wife did not share his belief in polygamy. Police do not, however, think that Lafferty’s influence was what made the Stracks decide to commit suicide and kill their children.

    You know, people can believe what they want, but it’s a whole different ball game when they bring their kids into it. If you want to kill yourselves because you’re afraid the apocalypse is coming? Go and do. Knock yourselves out. I think it would be messed up to scar your kids forever like that, but, hey, at least they wouldn’t be dead. I mean, why even have kids in the first place if you’re that worried about the damned apocalypse?

    Also, aren’t both suicide and murder mortal sins? Like, if you believe the apocalypse is a real thing that’s going to happen, don’t you also believe that committing suicide and murdering your kids is going to send you straight to hell anyway? Not that I should be expecting logic from people who clearly had some serious mental issues having nothing to do with their religious beliefs, but I have to wonder how that works.

    http://www.thefrisky.com/2015-01-28/...he-apocalypse/
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  5. #15
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Judge denies appeal from Utah inmate facing firing squad

    SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A judge has denied an appeal from a Utah death row inmate who argued that his sentence of death by firing squad is cruel and unusual punishment.

    U.S. District Judge Dee Benson said in a ruling handed down Friday that the U.S. Supreme Court has never declared a state’s chosen method of execution cruel and unusual.

    Ron Lafferty argued that the firing squad will cause a lingering, unnecessarily painful death. His attorneys say Lafferty wasn’t legally competent when he chose the method at his sentencing 30 years ago.

    Lafferty was convicted of killing his sister-in-law, Brenda Lafferty, and her baby. He claimed the killings were directed by God because of the victim’s resistance to his belief in polygamy.

    Attorneys for Lafferty did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

    http://abc27.com/ap/judge-denies-app...-firing-squad/

  6. #16
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Judge hands court defeats to Utah death-row inmate

    SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — One of Utah's longest-serving death-row inmates is one step closer to execution by firing squad after a judge handed down a pair of court defeats.

    U.S. District Judge Dee Benson decided Wednesday that high-profile prisoner Ron Lafferty won't get to seek out new evidence to back up claims that his lawyers were ineffective and jurors were biased, in part because the claims are more than a decade old.

    Lafferty was convicted and sentenced to death in the 1984 deaths of his sister-in-law and her baby daughter. He has claimed the killings were directed by God because of the woman's resistance to his beliefs in polygamy.

    His lawyers didn't immediately return messages seeking comment.

    Benson also denied Lafferty's claims last year that the use of the firing squad is cruel and unusual.

    https://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=41...ath-row-inmate
    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. #17
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    Notorious killer Ron Lafferty moves closer to execution in Utah

    SALT LAKE CITY -- A federal judge has rejected the latest appeal by one of Utah's most notorious killers.

    Ron Lafferty's appeal was denied on every count in a ruling handed down Wednesday night. That moves up the timetable for him to be executed.

    Lafferty and his brother, Dan, were convicted in the 1984 slayings of their sister-in-law Brenda, and her 15-month-old daughter, Erica. The Lafferty brothers broke into their home, beat and choked Brenda and slit her throat. They slit Erica's throat as well.

    The two claimed to have been directed by God to kill them as part of their religious beliefs. In recent competency proceedings, Ron Lafferty has also claimed to have been "haunted by spirits."

    Dan Lafferty was sentenced to life in prison. Ron Lafferty was sentenced to death. A federal appeals court ordered a new trial in 1996 and he was convicted and sentenced to death again.

    Lafferty had appealed on grounds that his execution amounted to cruel and unusual punishment and it had taken too long to execute him. In Wednesday night's ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Dee Benson rejected all his claims.

    "Lafferty argues that allowing him to be executed, after almost a quarter of a century on death row, would constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. He says that he has spent years 'under brutal prison conditions, experiencing daily trauma of facing death,' and that executing him now would not serve any legitimate purpose and would only add to his 'psychological pain,'" Judge Benson wrote.

    "The Utah Supreme Court’s rejection of this claim was not contrary to, nor did it involve an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law, as determined by the United States Supreme Court."

    Ron Lafferty is now left with few options to avoid execution. He can now appeal to Denver's 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and, if they reject his claims, the U.S. Supreme Court. If both courts dismiss his appeals, then it returns to the Utah state courts where a death warrant would be signed.

    "It could accelerate. It could be two years. But really if the courts say no, no, then there’s no real barriers to execution," said Clayton Simms, a criminal defense attorney not connected to the case.

    Lafferty's attorney, Dale Baich, told FOX 13: "We plan to appeal the district court's decision."

    The Lafferty brothers' crimes were profiled in the book "Under the Banner of Heaven."

    If Lafferty is ultimately executed, it would likely be by firing squad. Lethal injection is the primary method of execution in Utah. However, the Utah Department of Corrections has said it currently does not have the necessary drugs to carry out such an execution. Under Utah law, firing squad then becomes the default method.

    http://fox13now.com/2017/10/05/notor...ution-in-utah/
    Last edited by Moh; 10-07-2017 at 01:21 AM. Reason: Had posted the link without the actual article

  8. #18
    aclay
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    Where is this guy in his appeals?

  9. #19
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Stuck in Federal District Court.

  10. #20
    aclay
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    Any reason why? Will he be executed anytime soon?

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