Defense attorney Mark Berling asked Fulton County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Robinson to delay the start of the sentencing phase until 8:30 a.m. Tuesday because of non-attendance of a witness and lateness of the report that we got from the forensic neuropsychologist.
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Judge Robinson agreed to resume Tuesday after a lengthy delay Monday, adding that the court was dealing with a lot of stuff regarding the case.
http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/2...sentencing-in-Sierah-Joughin-murder-case.html
JMO
This is regarding death penalty murder trials in general. And I am glad he was found guilty as charged so it has nothing to do with having any sympathy for him. The evidence was overwhelming in this case so no surprise there.
I'm just surprised they have the sentencing trial so quick after the guilty verdict. I am guessing it is done that way to not inconvenience the jury members since they have to use the same jury members for the death penalty determination sentencing phase and they want to be able to release them as soon as they can.
It just surprises me because it means that a defendant and his/her lawyers would have to assume their defendant is going to be found guilty in order to prepare in advance for that outcome. Seems like it would be hard to do that.
Its like you have to call all your relatives and ask them to be ready to travel to your city on such and such date if there is a guilty verdict. And they would have to make plans to travel in advance and then may end up having to cancel travel plans if you are innocent.
Maybe air travel costs are reimbursed by the courts?
Not that I have any sympathy for him at all. It just doesnt surprise me that it would be hard to get all the mitigation parts ready by a Monday following a Tuesday when you didnt even know that a guilty verdict was going to happen or not.
I guess all death penalty trials are handled this way. It just seems strange. Imagine him trying to make a call to relatives to request their presence even before the guilty verdict. It would be crazy and may have gone something like this.
JW-'Hey xxxxxx, would you mind buying airplane tickets and traveling to Ohio on Monday to say a few good words about me to keep me from getting the death penalty?"
xxxxxx-'What? Were you found guilty?'
JW-"No. The courts make us setup everything in advance'
xxxxxx-"What if you are found to be innocent?'
JW-"I dont know if there is a way to get your money back on the airplane tickets and loss of work time"
In this case we dont have that problem but it does make me wonder about other cases and why it is done this way. I am not sure if all DP Murder trials always have the sentencing phase of the trial so quick like this one.