[conspire] Hans Reiser found guilty

[Eric De MUND]

All,

Dire Red <deirdre at deirdre.net>:
] It's not possible to have a capital case be a bench trial.

Eric De MUND <ead at ixian.com>:
] Is this not true on a state-by-state basis? If so, when did this
] become so in California? Post 2004? Or may one only request a bench
] trial on appeal?

Dire Red <deirdre at deirdre.net>:
] "Two months after Mack was sentenced by the three-judge panel, the U.S.
] Supreme Court ruled that juries, not judges, must decide capital cases.
] Suddenly he had a timely argument against his death sentence."
]
] http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060423/NEWS10/604230345/1016

That article is dated April 23, 2006.

This next article is dated May 22, 2007:

] http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/052207/met_171742219.shtml
] Last modified 5/22/2007 - 5:45 am
] LAW & DISORDER: First bench trial on murder since '88 set today
] John F. Casey is accused of fatally shooting a Best Western clerk.
] By The Times-Union
]
] First-degree murder defendant John F. Casey opted Monday to have a
] Jacksonville judge and not a jury hear his case, setting up a rare
] bench trial.
]
] [...]
]
] The result will be Duval County's first bench trial in a murder case
] since 1988, according to the Florida Supreme Court. The trial is ex-
] pected to last through Thursday.

And so I wonder if the phrase from your article, "the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that juries, not judges, must decide capital cases," refers to the
second, sentencing phase rather than to the first, guilt phase of the
trial.

The other possibility, if both articles are factually correct, is that
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on this matter post May 22, 2007.

Regards,
Eric
--
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