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Thread: Ocie Lee Lynch Sentenced to LWOP in 2012 AL Slaying of Attorney Robert Blake Lazenby

  1. #1
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Ocie Lee Lynch Sentenced to LWOP in 2012 AL Slaying of Attorney Robert Blake Lazenby




    Birmingham man convicted in murder-for-hire of Sylacauga attorney


    A Birmingham man, one of six charged in the murder-for-hire death of an attorney, was convicted Wednesday in Talladega County.

    Ocie Lee Lynch, 33, was charged with capital murder in January 2012 in the slaying of attorney Robert Blake Lazenby, 54.

    Lynch's trial began Monday before Talladega County Circuit Judge John Rochester. District Attorney Steve Giddens is prosecuting the case. Jeff Salver and Bill Barnett are representing Lynch.

    Court records show that Lynch was convicted on six counts of capital murder - four because the murder was committed for financial gain and two because it occurred during the course of a burglary. Rochester dismissed two other counts of murder during a robbery.

    After delivering the guilty verdict, the jury returned Thursday for the penalty phase of the trial.

    Under Alabama law, capital cases are divided into two phases. In the first portion, jurors make a determination of guilt, and, when a defendant is found guilty, the trial moves to a penalty phase, in which jurors recommend a sentence of either death or life without parole.

    According to the Daily Home, Sylacauga police found Lazenby dead, shot three times and stabbed five times, in his Stonehill Road home in Sylacauga on July 27, 2011. Police began looking for Lazenby after his burning car was found by Tarrant police about 7 p.m. that night.

    Lynch was arrested at a home in Birmingham by the U.S. Marshal's Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force. He has remained in jail without bond while awaiting trial.

    Calvin McCall Haynes testified that he acted as a go-between for Earnest James Files Jr., who would pay cash for someone to kill Lazenby, and Lynch, the man chosen to carry out the slaying.

    In February 2012, Hendrix and Files were charged in connection with Lazenby's death.

    Court records show that Haynes pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

    While testifying Tuesday, Haynes said Files promised to pay $45,000 for Lazenby's death but never paid out. He said Lynch, armed with a .38 caliber gun, went to Lazenby's house with several other men and returned in Lazenby's SUV, which they set on fire.

    Haynes testified that Lynch dumped the weapons used and burned his bloody clothes, according to The Daily Home.

    Lynch's attorneys questioned Haynes' credibility and noted discrepancies in his three statements made to investigators. Haynes said he initially lied to protect himself.

    Defense attorneys did not call any witnesses, and Lynch did not testify.

    http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/in...ted_in_mu.html
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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Talladega County jury recommends death penalty for Birmingham man

    A Birmingham man convicted of six counts of capital murder could receive the death penalty.

    Ten of the 12 Talladega County jurors voted Thursday in favor of execution for 33-year-old Ocie Lee Lynch.

    The jury convicted Lynch on Wednesday for shooting and stabbing attorney Robert Blake Lazenby in 2011. Lazenby died at his home in Sylacauga, in what investigators determined was a murder for hire case.

    Prosecutors said Earnest James Files, Jr., and Calvin McCall Haynes contacted Lynch to kill Lazenby. Haynes previously pled guilty to conspiricy to commit murder and is serving life in prison. Files faces charges on 10 counts of capital murder.

    A grand jury indicted Lynch on eight counts of murder. Jurors convicted him for two counts of murder for financial gain, two counts of murder pursuant to a contract, and two counts of murder during a burglary.

    Judge John Rochester can decide to accept the jury's recommendation for capital punishment, or to sentence Lynch to life in prison without parole. The formal sentencing has not been set, but Chief Deputy District Attorney Christina Kilgore said it will likely be in January.

    Kilgore said Lazenby's family was satisfied with the jury's verdict and recommendation, and felt that justice was served today.

    A second suspect accused of being with Lynch in Lazenby's house at the time of the killing, 24-year-old Charles Andrew Joseph Hendrix of Birmingham, faces the same charges as Lynch.

    http://www.abc3340.com/story/2744466...birmingham-man
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

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    Senior Member CnCP Addict maybeacomedian's Avatar
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    Lynch sentenced to life without parole

    By Chris Norwood

    A Birmingham man convicted of the capital murder of a Sylacauga man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Wednesday morning.

    A Talladega County jury convicted Ocie Lee Lynch, 33, of murdering attorney Blake Lazenby for monetary gain and during the commission of a burglary. After finding him guilty in November, the same jury recommended 10-2 that Judge John Rochester impose the death penalty.

    Although Alabama juries are required to make sentencing recommendations in capital cases, judges are not required to follow those them. During the hearing Wednesday morning, Rochester said he had weighed the aggravating and mitigating circumstances presented by both sides at trial.

    In addition to the defense’s evidence that Lynch did not have a significant criminal history, had served in the Marine Corps and his brother’s testimony on his behalf, Rochester said he also considered the fact that other defendants involved in the killing will not face the death penalty and the fact that Lynch had taken some degree of responsibility for his act.

    Before the trial, he said, Lynch had offered to plead guilty to capital murder in exchange for a sentence of life without parole. The state rejected this offer, he said.

    Rochester also read a psychiatric report presented by the defense, although he did not comment on its findings in open court.

    Lazenby was murdered in his home in 2011. In addition to Lynch, five other people were charged in connection with the murder.

    Calvin McCall “Boobie” Haynes, 33, of Birmingham, pleaded guilty to murder and is currently serving a life sentence. He testified against Lynch at trial.

    Charges are still pending against Earnest James “L.A.” Files, Charles Andrew Joseph Hendrix, Jeremy Cade and Theresa Taylor.

    Files was allegedly involved in a relationship of some sort with Lazenby’s wife. The Lazenbys were in the middle of a long, nasty divorce at the time.

    Files initially contacted Haynes about killing Lazenby for money. Haynes passed on the offer, but relayed the information to Lynch and Hendrix.

    Cade allegedly drove Lynch and Hendrix to Lazenby’s house, then helped dispose of Lazenby’s vehicle. Taylor allegedly accompanied Files while he was trying to solicit the killing, passing herself of as Geanne Lazenby.

    Geanne Lazenby was subpoenaed by the state during Lynch’s trial, but she sent notice that she planned to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and was never called.

    According to evidence presented at trial, Lazenby was grazed by three bullet wounds before being stabbed to death.

    http://www.annistonstar.com/the_dail...c5f1d0f6d.html




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