By BRENDAN RILEY
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Las Vegas Sun
January 18, 2006
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - A man sentenced to death for the
fatal stabbing of a Las Vegas prostitute in 1986 lost a Nevada
Supreme Court appeal on Wednesday, although he still has a
favorable federal court order for a new penalty-phase review.
The state high court rejected an appeal from John Valerio,
siding with Clark County District Judge Jackie Glass who said
Valerio's latest claims of flaws in the guilt phase of his 1988
trial were procedurally barred.
Valerio, convicted of stabbing Karen Blackwell 45 times,
argued unsuccessfully that his petition shouldn't be barred
because any filing delays weren't his fault. He also said he
should get an evidentiary hearing and that instructions given
during his trial were unconstitutionally vague.
The state Supreme Court also rejected Valerio's claim that
his conviction was invalid because his trial and direct appeal
were conducted before elected rather than appointed judges. He
said elected judges don't meet federal constitutional standards
of impartiality required in capital cases.
Blackwell's body was found in the trunk of an abandoned car,
wrapped in bedding from Valerio's apartment. Police said
Valerio's bedroom was found spattered with blood and Blackwell's
keys and address book were found in his jacket pocket.
While the state Supreme Court ruling resolves issues in the
guilt phase of Valerio's trial, he's still entitled to a penalty
phase review under terms of a 2002 ruling by the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals.
The San Francisco-based circuit court held that
unconstitutional instructions to the jury may have prejudiced
jurors to vote for a death sentence after they already had
convicted Valerio.
Jurors found that the murder involved "torture,
depravity of mind or mutilation." But the 9th Circuit ruled
that "depravity of mind" was too vague for jurors to
understand what it was they were voting for.
The Nevada Legislature eliminated the "depravity of
mind" factor in 1995, 15 years after the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that the factor was too vague and prejudicial to capital
defendants.
Original Link:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/jan/18/011810108.html
