Today St. Charles County Judge Kelly Wayne Parker contradicted the hung jury and sentenced Marvin Rice to death. 11 out of 12 jurors previously voted against the death penalty for a former Dent County sheriff’s deputy and state correctional officer’s murder of his ex-girlfriend.
Just last year, the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional for a judge to overrule a jury’s decision in a death penalty case and Justice Sotomayor wrote that “the 6th Amendment requires a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death. A jury’s mere recommendation is not enough.”
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