"Death Sentence Reversed In Snowmobile Murder-For-Hire Case," is Alaine Griffin's Hartford Courant report.
Before he was sentenced to die for the 2000 killing of Joseph Niwinski, Eduardo Santiago read aloud an apology letter in which he attributed his cool demeanor in court to years of abuse he suffered, which he said taught him to mask his emotions.
Jurors heard about some of those hardships — childhood neglect, sexual abuse, psychiatric hospitalization and drug addiction — during the penalty phase of Santiago's trial. But they didn't hear it all.
The state Supreme Court on Monday overturned Santiago's death sentence and unanimously ordered a new penalty phase, saying the trial judge, Elliot Solomon, failed to disclose "significant and relevant" mitigating evidence for jury consideration when they decided to send Santiago to death row in 2005.
"Conn. court overturns man's death sentence, now illegal," is Brian Burnell's NECN report.
On Monday Connecticut's Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of 32-year-old Eduardo Santiago.
He was convicted of killing a West Hartford man in a murder-for-hire scheme. His payment? A broken snowmobile. The state's highest court ruled unanimously that Santiago must get a new penalty phase trial because the presiding judge did not allow evidence that might have lead the jury to give Santiago life without parole.
In the meantime Santiago's attorney has filed another motion with the court asking that his execution be thrown out entirely over how the state repealed the death penalty. The bill passed by lawmakers is prospective... it keeps the men on death row under capital punishment but bans execution going forward.
Earlier coverage from Connecticut begins at the link.
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