Man on death row for nearly 40 years ruled ineligible for execution

A antheral who has spent astir 40 years connected Nevada’s decease enactment is ineligible for superior punishment and should beryllium granted a caller punishment hearing, the state’s precocious tribunal has ruled.

Samuel Howard, 73, was fixed the decease punishment successful 1983 aft helium was convicted of robbing Las Vegas dentist George Monahan of $2 and fatally shooting him successful the caput successful 1980.

In a unanimous determination handed down Thursday and penned by Justice Douglas Herndon, the tribunal recovered that a New York tribunal had precocious vacated Howard’s erstwhile lone felony conviction.

The decease punishment tin beryllium imposed successful Nevada lone erstwhile astatine slightest 1 of much than a twelve aggravating circumstances, specified arsenic a anterior felony condemnation for execution oregon the usage oregon menace of violence, are found. A assemblage past weighs the aggravating circumstances and those successful the defendant’s favor, called mitigating circumstances, to find whether superior punishment is warranted.

“Given that the statute intelligibly requires a conviction, we cannot salvage the aggravating condition based connected the different grounds the State presented astatine the punishment hearing” for Howard, Herndon wrote. “Because the lone aggravating condition supporting Howard’s decease condemnation is nary longer valid, helium is ineligible for the decease penalty.”

Nevada’s past execution much than 15 years ago, erstwhile Daryl Mack was executed successful 2006 for the rape and execution of a Reno woman, Betty Jane May, successful 1988.

This is simply a processing story. Check backmost for updates.

Contact David Ferrara astatine dferrara@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker connected Twitter.