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Thread: Gregory Leon Lawton Gets LWOP in 2011 AL Slaying of Milton Jones

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    Gregory Leon Lawton Gets LWOP in 2011 AL Slaying of Milton Jones


    29-year-old Milton Jones




    December 31, 2013

    Gregory Lawton, 50, of Dothan, was charged by Dothan police with capital murder in the shooting death of 29-year-old Milton Jones. Lawton was on parole for a life sentence at the time of Milton’s murder.

    No specific trial date has been set, but according to court records and previous hearings it’s projected to be reached in 2014 before Circuit Court Judge Butch Binford.

    Attorneys Shaun McGhee and Matt Lamere represent Lawton.

    http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/arti...9bb30f31a.html

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    Dothan murder suspect’s mental capacity questioned

    Lawyers for a man facing a capital murder charge say a series of below average IQ scores and other indicators prove their client is mentally retarded, or intellectually disabled, making him ineligible for the death penalty.

    Previous:

    http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/murd...tml?mode=story

    Dothan police investigators arrested 51-year-old Gregory Leon Lawton in August of 2011 and charged him with capital murder. Police charged Lawton with shooting 29-year-old Milton Jones to death during a robbery.

    Along with a capital murder robbery charge, Lawton faces a second capital murder charge, which includes a murder committed while the defendant was under a life imprisonment sentence. Lawton was on parole for a life sentence at the time of Milton’s murder.

    Lawton’s lawyers, Shaun McGhee and Matt Lamere, presented evidence Thursday, which included testimony from an expert witness, forensic psychologist Dr. Daniel Grant, to show their client is mentally retarded.

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that a mentally retarded person couldn’t face the death penalty because it would be considered cruel and unusual punishment. The case is titled Atkins v. Virginia.

    If convicted of either capital murder charge, Lawton faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole. He remains held at the Houston County Jail without bail while awaiting trial.

    Houston County Circuit Court Judge Butch Binford heard evidence from both the defense and the prosecution and said he would issue his ruling at a later date.

    McGhee argued to the court he believed the defense had met the requirements to prove his client is mentally retarded and ineligible for the death penalty.

    Grant said he spent between 15 and 18 hours with Lawton over a three-day period. Grant learned Lawton repeated the first grade as a child and was placed in special education classes for much of his education until he left school in the 11th grade. He also testified Lawton had taken the GED three times during an earlier prison sentence, never passing it.

    Grant said Lawton received a 69 IQ score on the Wechsler intelligence test, and a 74 for the Stanford-Binet intelligence test.

    Grant told the court a 70 IQ is typically the cutoff for measuring intellectually disabled or mentally retarded people.

    “I felt that he met the criteria for the diagnosis of an intellectual disability,” Grant said.

    Grant said Lawton was evaluated in February 2010 after taking a Wechsler intelligence test in an effort to receive Social Security Disability benefits. He was evaluated by Dr. Robert Kline in Dothan, and received a 63 IQ on the Wechsler intelligence test. Cline classified him as meeting the criteria for someone who was mildly mentally retarded.

    But Grant also said Lawton never received Social Security disability benefits because he failed to attend a hearing for the matter because he was later held in the Houston County Jail.

    Grant testified Lawton’s first IQ test given to him on record was at the age of 22, when he scored a 78. But he also acknowledged that particular test is no longer acceptable for intelligence examinations.

    Dr. Doug McKeown, a licensed forensic psychologist who testified for the prosecution, said he saw Lawton in an effort to determine if he is competent to stand trial. He also acknowledged competency was different than a mental retardation determination.

    McKeown said he believes Lawton is not intellectually deficient, but he also acknowledged he did not test his intellectual abilities.

    Assistant District Attorney Banks Smith argued to the court that Dr. Amber Simpler, a psychologist with the state Department of Mental Health at Taylor Hardin, testified she believed Lawton was relatively high functioning. Lawton spent about a month at Taylor Hardin.

    Smith argued while Simpler didn’t give Lawton any intelligence tests, she testified how he left her impressed at his chess playing abilities during his stay at Taylor Hardin. He also said Simpler testified intelligence numbers could be manipulated, sometimes by the motivation of the test taker such as requesting financial benefits through Social Security or avoiding the death penalty.

    Smith also said the defense did not meet the requirement showing how there was a history of mental health diagnosis prior to the age of 18.

    McGhee questioned whether the defense is expected to prove that requirement if any record of it was destroyed. He said the defense showed school records for their client were destroyed.

    Smith also argued Lawton was not mentally retarded after the prosecution had found recorded phone calls from the Houston County Jail with Lawton asking people to get him copies of the Atkins court decision.

    http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/crim...0e55f383f.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
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    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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    Court finds capital murder suspect not mentally retarded

    A Houston County judge recently issued a court ruling finding a Dothan capital murder suspect i s not intellectually disabled.

    Defense lawyers Shaun McGhee and Matt Lamere submitted evidence to the court earlier this month to show their client, 51-year-old Gregory Lawton, is mentally retarded or intellectually disabled, making him ineligible for the death penalty.

    After hearing arguments from the defense and Assistant District Attorney Banks Smith, Houston County Circuit Court Judge Butch Binford recently issued his findings, which determined the defendant failed to establish evidence that he’s mentally retarded.

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that a mentally retarded person couldn’t face the death penalty because it would be considered cruel and unusual punishment. The case is titled Atkins v. Virginia.

    If convicted of either capital murder charge, Lawton faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole. He remains held at the Houston County Jail without bail while awaiting trial.

    Dothan police investigators arrested Lawton in August of 2011 and charged him with capital murder. Police charged Lawton with shooting 29-year-old Milton Jones to death during a robbery.

    Along with a capital murder robbery charge, Lawton faces a second capital murder charge, which includes a murder committed while the defendant was under a life imprisonment sentence. Lawton was on parole for a life sentence at the time of Milton’s murder.

    Lawton’s capital murder trial has been scheduled to begin with the selection of a jury on Jan. 12, 2015.

    According to the Supreme Court ruling, the defendant must fulfill three requirements to be found mentally retarded or intellectually disabled, which include having a significantly sub-average intellectual function (an IQ of 70 or below) , significant substantial deficits in adaptive behavior and proof these issue s started before the age of 18.

    Court records show the court found the defendant fulfilled only one of the two requirements. The court found defendant proved his level of intellectual functioning was significantly sub-average. But the court also found the defense failed to prove Lawton has significant deficits in adaptive behavior or any intellectual issue s had started before the age of 18.

    Records show the court found the defense proved their client’s significantly sub-average intellectual functioning after at least three of four “gold standard” IQ tests resulted in sub-70 results.

    The court also found the defendant failed to prove he had substantial deficits in adaptive behavior based mostly on testimony provided by Dr. Doug McKeown and Dr. Amber Simpler, two of the prosecution’s witnesses.

    The court called part of Simpler’s report significant, which came from when Lawton was held at Taylor Hardin, a state mental health facility, when Lawton said he spent time reading books and writing screenplays.

    Binford’s court ruling also said the defense did not fulfill the third requirement by showing evidence of mental health issues before the age of 18.

    McGhee questioned whether the defense is expected to prove that requirement if any record of it was destroyed. He said the defense showed school records for their client were destroyed.

    Binford’s ruling said the only evidence by the defense showed their client was in special education classes during his youth. The court’s ruling noted testimony from McKeown as significant after he said being in special education classes does not necessarily indicate mental retardation.

    http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/crim...730881c6c.html

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    January 12, 2015

    Dothan man pleads to capital murder, receives life without parole


    Patricia Johnson sat six feet away from Gregory Lawton on Monday in a Houston County courtroom and watched him plead guilty to her son’s murder.

    She wept.

    Lawton, 51, admitted Monday to shooting Milton Jones, 29, in the head with a high powered rifle in August of 2011. The crime was committed in the course of a robbery, making Lawton eligible for the death penalty. He was also eligible to be put to death because the crime occurred while Lawton was on parole from a life sentence for a different crime.

    Johnson, however, wasn’t interested in enduring a prolonged trial. She did not want Lawton to be put to death.

    Lawton received two sentences of life without parole as the result of a plea deal. Circuit Judge Butch Binford pronounced the sentence on Monday morning.

    “I’m not for the death penalty,” she said. “I don’t want to have to answer to God.

    “I lived a nightmare for three years. I cried every single day,” Johnson added. “My life will never be the same because Milton was my life.”

    After receiving a call from a Dothan resident in 2011, police found Jones slumped over on the floorboard of his car, which was left parked on Leila Drive in Ford Country. Police believe the shooting happened in the yard of Lawton’s mother’s residence on LaGrand Drive. Police say after Jones suffered a single gunshot wound to the head, he was placed in his own vehicle and driven to Leila Drive.

    Police said money was taken from Jones after the shooting.

    Lawton was arrested a few days later and charged with capital murder. District Attorney Doug Valeska said Lawton gave three statements to police that contradicted each other.

    Lawton's attorneys, Matt Lamere and Shaun McGhee, sought a mental evaluation for Lawton. However, after two evaluations, Binford ruled Lawton did not meet the threshold for mental retardation, thus making him eligible for the death penalty.

    Lawton was released from prison in June of 2011 after being paroled on a life sentence for armed robbery. Lawton had served 26 years in prison when he was released.

    Valeska has said Lawton had at least five prior felony convictions, which included first-degree robbery, three counts of burglary and receiving stolen property.

    Jones’ family said his murder has taken an emotional toll. He had four children.

    “Our memories lie with his children,” one family member said. “It’s tragic. The youngest child was robbed of being able to have any relationship with him.”

    Lawton did not reserve any issues for appeal.

    http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/crim...9d1e80632.html

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