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Post by Kirk on Jul 28, 2003 18:20:35 GMT -6
A federal appeals court on Monday upheld the death sentence of a Stockton man who raped and killed a 17-year-old Lodi girl whose body was found beaten and stabbed in a nearby vineyard 22 years ago.
The case of Michael Morales, now 43, has ping-ponged through the court system for years. It could be a year or more before Morales is executed, if at all. As with all capital cases, Morales is expected to ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider the case.
Terri Winchel was severely beaten. Her skull, cheek bones and jaw were fractured. Prosecutors theorized that Morales killed the girl in January, 1981, in a revenge attack for spreading rumors that his cousin was a homosexual.
The California Supreme Court upheld Morales' 1983 conviction as did the federal courts. But in 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the federal courts to entertain a variety of challenges to the conviction.
Morales was tried in Ventura County because of extensive pretrial coverage in Stockton.
Among other things, Morales challenged the finding that the murder was committed while torturing the victim -- the basis for the death sentence -- and an allegation that prosecutors concealed an agreement with a jailhouse informant to extract a confession from Morales.
"There is no reason to doubt that after he failed to kill her by strangling her with the belt, he beat her head in with a hammer, and when she still lived, dragged her out of the car, raped her, and stabbed her several times," Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld wrote.
This is the type of case where no other punishment but death would be appropriate.
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Post by Observer on Jul 30, 2003 15:16:51 GMT -6
I think Stanley Tookie Williams goes first before this guy next year..... He's already been affirmed and the 9th already rejected all his appeals... Gov. Davis will never commute a sentence.... So hopefully this monster goes after that.... I won't hold my breath though
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Post by Kirk on Jul 30, 2003 20:14:47 GMT -6
I think Stanley Tookie Williams goes first before this guy next year..... He's already been affirmed and the 9th already rejected all his appeals... Gov. Davis will never commute a sentence.... So hopefully this monster goes after that.... I won't hold my breath though By the looks of things Gray Davis is about to be recalled. Hopefully the new governor by then doesnt oppose the death penalty. |
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Post by Observer on Aug 1, 2003 15:08:16 GMT -6
You're so right... Thank God Arnold pulled out cuz he is opposed to the DP... Most of the Hollywood types are... There's a chance that Feinstien will run... I believe she too is opposed (Democrat).... Not sure where they all stand... Simon is another possibility although he lost to Davis... CA is so screwed up, I doubt this is really a priority....  |
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