This week, Terence Lenamon and Melissa Ortiz are defending Rod Ferrell in his resentencing hearing in Lake County, Florida.
Today, the State rested. Over the next two days or so, the defense will present their experts and civilian witnesses in the State of Florida vs. Roderick Ferrell, Case No. 1996-CF-1913
Terence Lenamon was victorious in his fight against capital punishment for Markeith Loyd (see our earlier posts for details about the case). What was the jury thinking when jurors returned to the courtroom, announcing a decision against the death penalty?
Here’s the defense
Terence Lenamon presented the defense’s opening statement in the death penalty trial of State of Florida v. Markeith Loyd today, and you can watch Terry’s opening via this YouTube capture of the live courtroom proceedings (Terry begins at the 14:33 mark, immediately after the state’s opening statement):
Yesterday, the Law & Crime Network announced on Twitter that it will be covering the Death Penalty Trial of Florida v. Markeith Loyd.
There was a lot of hoopla when California Governor Gavin Newsom signed his executive order that stopped executions in the Golden State. For details, check out our earlier discussion, which includes a link to the full text of Governor Newsom’s order.
Thing is, as a recent article in the Sacramento Bee points out, things
Should current law apply when an appeals court reviews the evidence of mitigating factors and aggravating conditions in a death penalty case? What about if the case was tried years – even decades – before the appellate review takes place? Does the court look at current law, or go back to find the law in
This week’s death penalty trial of Markeith Loyd will include the following motion by Terence Lenamon to prevent the prosecution from introducing evidence in other alleged crimes involving Markeith Loyd. Read the full text of the filings here, as presented to the judge:
DEFENSE MOTION TO STRIKE
Defense Amended Motion to S… by on Scribd
Today, Terence Lenamon argued his motion that Florida State Attorney Aramis Ayala be allowed to testify as part of the defense for Markeith Loyd. Back in 2017, Ms. Ayala declined to seek the death penalty as prosecutor in the Loyd case; as a result, Governor Rick Scott replaced her at the state’s trial table. (
As reported in the Tallahassee Democrat in its article “Funding for court-appointed counsel dries up; JAC can’t pay bills,” written by Jeffrey Schweers and published on April 11, 2019, Florida’s Justice Administrative Commission has run out of money.
Across the world, death sentences and executions are happening for all sorts of reasons, and in many countries the legal protections advanced by Terence Lenamon and other criminal defense lawyers like him are not provided to the accused or to the convicted.
This month, Amnesty International released its