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Thread: Rodricus Crawford - Louisiana

  1. #1
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Rodricus Crawford - Louisiana


    Roderius Lott


    Rodricus Crawford


    Death penalty for Shreveport father convicted in death of son

    A Caddo Parish jury has recommended the death penalty for a Shreveport man convicted in the murder of his infant son.

    25-year-old Rodricus Crawford was convicted by a Caddo Parish jury Tuesday night of first degree murder in the death of 1-year-old Roderius Lott.

    The child was found unresponsive in a home in the 6800 block of Broadway in February of last year. Lott was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy showed that the little boy had been smothered to death. The coroner also reported finding bruises and other signs of abuse.

    At his sentencing hearing Wednesday, jurors had the option of sentencing Crawford to death or life in prison. After a day-long hearing, that jury returned a unanimous recommendation just before 11 p.m. for the death penalty.

    A judge will rule on that recommendation in a formal sentencing hearing on November 26.

    http://www.bayoubuzz.com/louisiana-n...n-death-of-son
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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Sentencing of baby killer postponed until February

    A Shreveport man convicted of the 1st degree murder of his 1-year-old son will have to wait almost 3 months to be formally sentenced to the death penalty.

    Rodricus Crawford, who was convicted Nov. 12 in the February 2012 death of his baby, was scheduled to be sentenced today, but Judge Joe Bleich continued the sentencing until Feb. 21, 2014.

    The Caddo Parish jury that convicted Crawford also voted in favor of the death penalty after a full day of testimony during the penalty phase of the trial. In Louisiana, conviction of first degree murder is only punishable by death or life imprisonment without possibility of parole, probation or suspension.

    (Source: Arklatexhomepage.com)
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    February 22, 2014

    Shreveport Man Convicted of Killing His Baby Sentenced to Death

    SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL) -- The man convicted of first degree murder in the death of his 1-year-old baby in November was this week sentenced to the death penalty by Judge Joe Bleich in Caddo District Court.

    On November 12, a Caddo Parish jury convicted Rodricus Crawford of first degree murder in the Feruary 2012 death of his one-year-old baby, Rodrquous Lott.

    The jury returned a death penalty sentence the next day, but a number of hearings delayed the formal sentencing was delayed until Friday.

    http://www.myarklamiss.com/story/d/s...tE28JwN-0aKZUw

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court declined to review Crawford's petition for certiorari.

    No. 15-7624
    Title:
    Rodricus Crawford, Petitioner
    v.
    Louisiana
    Docketed: January 6, 2016
    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Louisiana
    Case Nos.: (2015-KP-0784)
    Decision Date: October 2, 2015

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/search.a...es/15-7624.htm

  5. #5
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    On Death Row for a Murder that Wasn’t?

    Originally posted on the Wrongful Convictions Blog https://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/...er-that-wasnt/

    Rodricus Crawford sits on Louisiana’s death row, awaiting execution for the murder of his one-year-old son, Roderius

    But although Roderius (affectionately called “BoBo”) is dead, he likely was not murdered - not by his father. Or by anyone else.

    Dale Cox was the Lousiana prosecutor against Crawford, a case which rested almost exclusively on the testimony of a state forensic pathologist who claimed that bruises on the child’s lip were consistent with death by smothering. It was undisputed that Bobo had fallen the day before, a fact confirmed by the child’s mother and a fact that explained the bruised lip. More importantly, BoBo also was found to have pneumonia is his lungs, a fact that the same state forensic pathologist dismissed as mere “coincidence.”

    Another forensic pathologist, Daniel Spitz, disagreed. After reviewing the case, Spitz concluded that BoBo died of pneumonia. Spitz added that, in his opinion, there:

    wasn’t enough evidence to even put this before a jury. You didn’t have anybody who thought this guy committed murder except for one pathologist who decided that it was homicide on what seemed like a whim.

    And it is not just Spitz. Other pathologists agree that BoBo likely died of pneumonia. The Innocence Network filed an amicus brief on behalf of Crawford, in which they too argue that BoBo died of an illness, not murder.

    So why is Crawford still sitting on death row?

    The answer may be as twisted, as it is true: he had the misfortune of being prosecuted by Cox.

    Lousiana’s use of the death penalty has been on the decline in recent years. But not in Caddo Parish, a county in Louisiana, which is responsible for most of the state’s death sentences. Between 2010-2015, 8 out of 12 death sentences came from Caddo Parish. Of those eight death sentences, Dale Cox was responsible for four.

    Cox is an ardent believer in capital punishment who proudly believes “we need to kill more people.”

    And he doesn’t just believe in the death penalty. He believes that people who are sentenced to die should physically suffer, a philosophy long-ago rejected by the Supreme Court. After Crawford was sentenced to die, Cox wrote to the state’s probation department: “I am sorry that Louisiana has adopted lethal injection as the form of implementing the death penalty,” because “Mr. Crawford deserves as much physical suffering as it is humanly possible to endure before he dies.”

    Many folks who have reviewed Crawford’s case would strongly disagree; it is no mere “coincidence” that Crawford has been featured as an example of the death penalty gone terribly wrong, and that he is currently the subject of two different petitions to gain his release.

    The potentially good news is that there’s a new prosecutor in Caddo now.

    James Stewart, an African American, was elected to be the District Attorney of Caddo Parish for the next five years. Cox is no longer with the office.

    With a new DA, there is a new opportunity for a second-look at Crawford’s case. And with a just announced death penalty moratorium in Louisiana due to questions about its execution methods, now is the perfect time for Stewart to reexamine whether Crawford should even be in prison, let alone on death row.

    Ten people have already been exonerated from Louisiana’s death row. Perhaps Stewart will help Crawford be its number eleven.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jessic..._10328330.html

  6. #6
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Caddo death row inmate to get a new trial

    A Caddo Parish man convicted of first-degree murder was granted a new trial by the Louisiana Supreme Court Wednesday. The opinion stated that Rodricus C. Crawford's convictions and sentences are vacated. Crawford had been convicted in the November 2013 death of his one year-old son, Roderius Lott.

    The 2013 conviction of Rodricus Crawford, 27, by a Caddo Parish jury and his subsequent death sentence came under fire by Cecelia Kappel, an attorney with the Capital Appeals Project, during her arguments on behalf of Crawford on Sept. 7.

    Kappel cited several examples questioning portions of the case presented against Crawford by the Caddo Parish District Attorney's office, including sufficiency of evidence, evidence of innocence and prosecuting attorney Dale Cox's statement that Jesus Christ would impose the death penalty.

    In a case that was cited as entirely circumstantial, Crawford was convicted of first-degree murder in November 2013 for the death of his one year-old son, Roderius Lott. He was sentenced to death.

    The case drew attention from national media as being one of several that allegedly highlights the high rates of cases resulting in death penalty sentences in Caddo Parish.

    Also at issue in Kappel's arguments before the justices was the idea that the state's forensic expert testified that the death was "more likely than not" due to smothering.

    "I wanted to focus on the evidence at trial," said Kappel in a later interview with The Times.

    In hearing her arguments, justices also were interested in hearing about new evidence that wasn't previously brought to trial in Crawford's case.

    http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story...rial/93978106/
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  7. #7
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Death row inmate back at CCC for new trial

    The man who has spent the last two years on death row was booked into the Caddo Correctional Center just before 4 this afternoon.

    A Caddo Parish jury found Rodricus Crawford, 28, guilty of first degree murder in the February 2012 death of his 1-year-old baby, Roderius Lott.

    But Wednesday, the Louisiana Supreme Court overturned the conviction and death sentence and ordered a new trial after finding that the trial judge botched the constitutional process to exclude several black people from the jury.

    Crawford was brought back to Caddo Parish from Angola today to begin the process of that new trial.

    http://www.arklatexhomepage.com/news...-for-new-trial
    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

  8. #8
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Death row inmate out on bond after conviction overturned

    Rodricus Crawford, a local man previously convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death, was released from jail for now after a judge in Caddo District Court assigned him a $50,000 bond on Tuesday.

    The Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office confirmed that Crawford bonded out of jail on Tuesday evening.

    Crawford was convicted in 2013 of the first-degree murder of his 1-year-old son, Roderius Lott. The Louisiana Supreme Court last week vacated the trial court's verdict, and now Crawford has the opportunity for a new trial. Crawford had been on death row in Angola. The case has drawn attention from the national media.

    At the hearing on Tuesday, the defense requested that Crawford's bond be set at $25,000, while the prosecution asked for $50,000.

    While Judge Brady O'Callaghan said the bond amount was "inappropriately low," he agreed to give the state's recommendation the benefit of the doubt.

    "The charge against you is serious and has not been dismissed," O'Callaghan said to Crawford after setting the amount of the bond. "Please be prompt in all of your appearances."

    According to the judge, an indictment is still pending.

    Crawford's attorney, Cecelia Kappel, had no comment.

    In a statement to The Times last week, the Caddo Parish District Attorney's Office said the case will be reassigned.

    A new assistant district attorney will re-evaluate the case in order to make a determination on a proper course of action to proceed further in the matter.

    "This case has been a tragedy from the start," Kappel said in a statement to The Times. "We look forward to continuing to work with the Caddo Parish District Attorney's Office in order to right this injustice."

    http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story...bond/94291626/
    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

  9. #9
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Man released from death row will have to wait for day in court

    Rodricus Crawford, who was freed in November after spending almost 3 years on death row, was in Caddo District Court today to set a date for arguments and hearings regarding a new trial.

    In November, was released on $50,000 bond, after the Louisiana Supreme Court overturned his 1st degree murder conviction and subsequent death penalty and remanded his case back to Caddo District Court for a new trial.

    Crawford, who was convicted by a Caddo Parish Jury in November 2013 for the February 2012 death of his 12-month-old baby, was sentenced to the death penalty in February 2014, and was sent to death row to await his execution.

    But in the high court's November decision, the majority agreed with Crawford's attorneys who claimed the prosecution in Crawford's trial was racially biased in striking 5 African-American prospective jurors. The jury ultimately consisted of 9 white jurors and 3 African-Americans.

    Publicity surrounding the case, which was spotlighted in a lengthy article in the New Yorker magazine and a subsequent article in the New York Times, drew public scrutiny not only to Crawford's case, but to the large amount of prisoners on death row from Caddo Parish, most of whom were African American.

    Crawford and his attorneys will be back in court on Feb. 22 for arguments and hearings. He remains free on bond.

    (Source: arklatexhomepage.com)
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  10. #10
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Crawford hearing date changed

    Rodricus Crawford now will have to wait until April for his day in court

    SHREVEPORT, La. - A hearing has been scheduled for the man whose case was sent back to Caddo District Court after the Louisiana Supreme Court overturned his conviction and death penalty sentence last November.

    Rodricus Crawford will be in court April 26 for hearings and arguments regarding a new trial.

    In November 2013, a Caddo Parish jury found Crawford guilty of first degree murder in the February 2012 death of his one-year-old son, Roderius Lott, and sentenced him to the death penalty.

    Crawford spent more than two years on death row before his conviction and sentence was overturned and the case sent back to Caddo District Court, but in November 2016 the Louisiana Supreme Court vacated the capital conviction in Caddo District Court and ordered a new trial.

    Following the Supreme Court decision, Crawford was brought back to Caddo District Court, and was released on $50,000 bond pending a new trial.

    In January, Crawford was in court for a hearing, but it was rescheduled for February. The February date was continued until March to give prosecutors and investigators more time to study the case.

    In light of the Supreme Court decision, Caddo Parish District Attorney James E. Stewart Sr. ordered a fresh investigation into the case.

    Stewart was not district attorney when the Crawford case was investigated, and the prosecutor of that case has since retired. With a new assistant district attorney assigned to the case with no prior experience, Stewart wanted to put a new set of eyes onto evidence and procedures that led to the original prosecution.

    But the March 15 date turned out to be too early, as prosecutors only received the return of forwarded evidence from the Louisiana Supreme Court. The evidence was received March 3, giving prosecutors less than two weeks to study it, ergo the rescheduling until April.

    http://www.arklatexhomepage.com/news...nged/671265070

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