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Unbelievable!!!
U.S. Supreme Court refuses case in which jurors consulted Bible before death sentence returned
By COLIN GUY
April, 20, 2009
The use of a Bible by jurors during deliberations in a death penalty case was improper, a Texas appellate court ruled last year, but is not reason enough for a new trial to be granted, a decision the U.S. Supreme Court declined to question Monday.
Jurors in Nacogdoches County sentenced Khristian Oliver to death for the 1998 murder of Joe Collins. Collins, according to court do ents, caught Oliver in the act of burglarizing his home and opened fire on him with a rifle. Oliver shot the homeowner with a pistol, then seized Collins' rifle and beat him with it until he died.
Oliver appealed the jury's verdict after learning that some jurors had consulted their Bibles and discussed a passage from the book of Numbers that states that a man who fatally strikes another man with an iron rod is a murderer and shall be put to death.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last August that while jurors' use of the Bible amounted to an improper, external influence on the proceedings, Oliver did not adequately prove that the text influenced their decisions. The U.S. Supreme Court Monday declined to hear an additional appeal.
Clint Woods, a Jefferson County prosecutor, said he has never tried a case in which jurors requested access to a Bible or mentioned it as a factor in their decision.
"I've had lawyers quote the Bible in their arguments, but I've never had a jury request one," Woods said.
He noted that juries are required to rely solely on the testimony and evidence presented at trial and not on any external sources.
"The Bible is not in evidence. Jurors are supposed to consider things in evidence," he said.
Jefferson County Criminal District Court Judge John Stevens said there have been times where jurors have read newspaper articles they shouldn't have, leading to an appeal. However, he also couldn't recall any instance where jurors have indicated that interpretation of passages from the Bible played any role in deliberations.
Different passages from the Bible could lead to different conclusions, Stevens said, noting that the commandment, "Thou shall not kill," is located near other passages that dictate cir stances when someone should be put to death. The jury room is not the proper venue for theological debates, he indicated.
Accounts differ in the Oliver case with regard to how large a role the Bible played in the ultimate decision.
As many as four members of the jury had Bibles with them because they attended services or Bible classes after court. They would read the Bibles while waiting for court sessions to begin, according to court do ents.
One juror read scripture to a small group of jurors during deliberations, but no members of the jury explicitly stated that the Biblical passages discussed played a role in their decision, according to court do ents.
However, Oliver contended in his appeal that one juror told a Danish journalist that the jury used the Bible to lend support for or against the judgment call and that the jury "went both directions in our use of the scripture-forgiveness and judgment."
While a transcript of this interview was submitted to the 5th Circuit and the journalist swore an oath that it was accurate, the appellate court did not consider it in reaching its decision as it had not been submitted into evidence when a lower court first heard Oliver's appeal.
Unbelievable!!!
I guess they decided to throw the Good Book at him.
>:3
No harm no foul
how did they find out the jury consulted their Bible?
Unless, the perp was an Orthodox Jew living under Jewish Law, it should have no bearing on this case and it certainly does not have anything to do with Jesus Christ, unless B2B was referring to grace and forgiveness.
I had nothing to do with this!
The guy was robbing a house and then shot and beat the homeowner to death.
Who really gives a if the jury was reading the bible or not. They came to the right decision.
Give the head the needle and get it over with.
Just wondering if anyone would have cared had the jurors simply consulted a religious text at home.
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