"Prosecutors seek juror interviews in death penalty case," is by Brent Curtis of the Rutland Herald. It's via the Montpelier Times Argus.
Prosecutors are asking a federal judge to order the turnover of defense interviews with jurors who sat on the death penalty case against convicted murderer Donald Fell.
Judge William Sessions, who presided over the 2006 trial in the killing of Terry King of North Clarendon, decided in May to further consider a wide range of complaints contained in Fell’s latest appeal.
Fell’s arguments, laid forth in a 350-page filing, range from ineffective counsel and prosecutorial misconduct to contentions of misconduct on the part of a number of jurors.
It’s the interviews that defense attorneys conducted with jurors that the U.S. attorney’s office is seeking to obtain in a motion filed in federal court last week.
In a seven-page filing, prosecutors say defense attorneys have ignored their requests to turn over the interviews in advance of an August hearing on the appeals.
AP coverage is, "US seeks juror interviews that are part of death penalty appeal," via the Republic.
Among the arguments attorney for Donald Fell are using as part of their effort to block his execution for the 2000 killing of a North Clarendon woman is that there was misconduct by some of the jurors.
Fell's attorneys contend there was misconduct from three of the jurors, including one who visited the crime scene on his own and another who didn't disclose she had been a victim of a crime.
The Rutland Herald reports prosecutors say they're in the dark about the circumstances that led the defense to request authorization to interview the jurors.
Related posts are in the federal death penalty category index.
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