Ore. Supreme Court again blocks serial killer's death sentence
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Supreme Court vacated the death sentence of a former lawn mower repairman who was convicted of killing six women in the 1980s in a western Oregon forest.
Serial killer Dayton Leroy Rogers has been on and off death row since his conviction in 1989. He admitted to the slayings, but the state Supreme Court struck down Rogers' death sentences in 1992 and 2000.
His latest death sentence, handed down in 2006 by a Clackamas County jury, was vacated on Thursday by the Oregon high court. He will now be resentenced in county court.
At that hearing, jurors heard conflicting testimony over Rogers' potential for further crimes but unanimously rejected the defense claim that 18 years in prison had changed him.
The Supreme Court found errors by trial judge Ronald D. Thom, specifically, that he didn't establish "strong and particular grounds for believing that the jurors' identities needed to be protected" when he empanelled an anonymous jury, and that he incorrectly allowed the introduction of evidence of Rogers' homosexual experiences as a teenager, despite Rogers' protestations.
Prosecutors said Rogers tortured, stabbed and mutilated his victims, binding them with dog collars and coat hangers and then dumping them in a forest near Molalla in Clackamas County. Authorities believe he killed eight women in 1987.
Rogers' first known attack was at age 18 in 1972, when he stabbed a 15-year-old Eugene girl after taking her to a wooded area to have sex. In 1973, after striking two Lane County girls, he was sent to the state mental hospital. After his release in 1974, Rogers' crimes continued for more than a decade.
The state Supreme Court struck down Rogers' 2000 death sentence because the jury considered only the options of death and life in prison with the possibility of parole.
The court upheld the murder convictions but ruled that the jury should have been allowed to consider a third option, life without the possibility of parole.
Regardless of the result of Rogers' next hearing, Gov. John Kitzhaber has declared a moratorium on executions while he is in office.
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Reach reporter Nigel Duara on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/RSmBei
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
I'm against the death penalty, but, only if the person found guilty is sentenced to a life of hard labor.  Actual hard labor as in being on a chain gang, not the easy life they get now because of weirdos who think these worthless pieces of dog doo doo  actually deserve to be treated like human beings.
It's tough to be against the death penalty when a guy like this steps forward to make the case for it.
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Still, I think we are better off to have a society that can't manage to carry out a death sentence rather than one that does so efficiently. A handful of people on death row have been exonerated. Rogers won't be one of them (thankfully), but I'd like to have innocent people freed even if it means that someone like this languishes in prison rather than meeting the grim reaper.
 @Max Quinn Yes to take ones life is a terrible thing unless you know for sure the person  is the murderer.Well in this case like so many other they are sure,so for them there is really no reason not to just eliminate them,The taxpayers have enough to pay for without taking care of ones who kill our loved ones.Â
Kitzhaber is a coward....He doesnt believe in justice.
Lots of stupid people - making even stupider comments - on here today! How about some of you actually try reading the Supreme Court decision, before putting your collective feet in your mouths! The fault here is not with the Supreme Court or the defendant's attorneys - they're all doing their job properly. The ones who screwed up here are the Clackamas County D.A.'s office and Judge Thom. The D.A.s, because even with a scumbag like Rogers, they were so concerned with making sure they'd win, that they went over the line in their case. Judge Thom, who had an obligation to make sure that everybody was following the rules - and who certainly should have known better - then compounded the D.A.'s errors, by allowing these mistakes to occur in court and on the record.
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As far as those who are clamoring to "shoot" or "hang" Rogers, you're just displaying your ignorance, as well as the irrelevance of your opinions. I mean, where the hell, and in what century, do you think you are living, anyway? If you're going to make nonsensical comments, please keep them internal, so the rest of us don't have to waste time with them!
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Look folks, the rules on "anonymous" juries are well-established, and should be well-known by everybody involved. Besides, if you'd actually read the decision, you'd realize that the underlying reasoning wasn't even so much about the anonymous nature of the jury, as it was of the way it was handled. The D.A. and the defense counsel had already previously agreed upon the form of the jury questionnaire and what information would be available, and then the D.A. and the judge went behind the defense's back and changed the rules. You don't get to do that in our court system, it doesn't matter how bad the defendant is!
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Bringing in testimony about a homosexual experience that Rogers had in high school was also just stupid, and completely irrelevant to the issues before the jury. The D.A.'s office just wanted it in so that they could try to prejudice some of the older, more conservative jurors - kind of like delivering lead to the Titanic in hopes it'll sink faster!
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Long and the short of it is: if the Clackamas County D.A.'s office were not continually staffed with political appointments, and whoever happens to be friends with the D.A. of the moment, Rogers probably would have been executed years ago - he's a virtual poster child for the death penalty after all!
@Mick Wagner "As far as those who are clamoring to "shoot" or "hang" Rogers, you're just displaying your ignorance, as well as the irrelevance of your opinions. I mean, where the hell, and in what century, do you think you are living, anyway?" Ignorance? Shoot him, push him under a bus, I really don't care. I'm not here to celebrate a limp-wristed "justice system" that finds fault in paper and miswordings an excuse to delay or overturn basic justice. Simply making a "system" makes us no more advanced in this case than does using a ceramic knife to stab somebody. Your finishing statement sums it up - he's a virtual poster child for the death penalty. As with any "advanced" system, there should be an express lane.
@Mick Wagner Ron Thom was a lousy attorney while in private practise and an even worse Judge........You are correct about anonymous juries, there should be no question in anyones mind that this is prohibited.........The DA at the time was a former PPB officer who went to law school while working for the city, and was admitted to the Oregon Bar. the investigators were former police officers. All of those involved on the prosecution team were good and decent men and women.
@Mick Wagner I'm sorry, but your obvious apparent self worth is far too appalling to let this pass. Just because someone does not agree with your opinion on something does not make them ignorant, nor does it make their opinons irrelevant. By stating such, your opinion(s) have no worth, regardless of what YOU think. If you want to state what you believe or how you feel about an issue, please do so. But to make yourself feel more important or your opinions more relevant than others' by belittling those folks smacks of a fifth grader's mentality.Â
 @catherine.henry  @Mick My point (which you are apparently incapable of understanding) was that Mr. Batts aptly demonstrated his lack of intelligence, by resorting to profanity and argumentum ad hominum (go ahead, look it up, I'll wait), rather than atemppt to engage in a discussion. If you want to participate in an adult forum, then behave like an adult or begone!
@Mick Wagner @catherine.henry @Mick Awww....you're just so special, aren't you? Now take your self importance and go away.
 @Mick Wagner I hate it when politics gets into bed with justice.
It's a bad mixture. Birth defects everywhere.
@Mick Wagner Well put, very well said. If only other posters on here (including myself) were so well informed on issues.
@Mick Wagner You so F%$^#g smart.....
What's the point of having a judicial system?
 @hankhandsome So people can pretend they're getting justice. It runs along the same lines as Americans believing they're free, and that deer and antelope play where buffalo roam.
He could die of old age first!
something is seriously wrong when someone who was convicted and sentenced to die in 1989 is still breathing.....
 @kramr Ah, the wonders of politico-judicial science. Why they've even advanced so far as to have people with no brains in Congress!
This POS was meeting women at the old Denny's on McLoughlin, then taking them to the Mt. Hood/Molalla area where he would cut off their hands or feet either before or after killing them.....How many times does one have to be sentenced to death before it gets carried out. Only in Oregon a freeride for criminals including illegals....thanks gov.
 @FreerideNOT Actually, it was the Denny's on 82nd Drive in Clackamas - a friend of mine used to manage it.
@Mick Wagner Suggest you recheck your facts, he did pickup women from the McLoughlin Denny's. He killed some of these women on US Forest Service/BLM land which brought in the fbi, who played a cruical role in the investigation and testified at trial in Clackamas County Circuit Court.............That aside, I would strongly suggest that Dayton be released into the national forest now that hunting season is upon us, however he MUST wear a bright orange jumpsuit with a target both front and rear.
 @FreerideNOT Wont happen even if court oks it due to the crazy dude the dem's put in the governors office...
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They must be drinking buddies with the Governor.
It is time to start getting the people out of the Supreme court.
This person killed (6) women, and was convicted of the crime. This was in 1989. My opinion is he should have been released from this earth in 1989. Buried in a hole someplace.
Not hold him in prison for so many years. And then someone has the gall to decide in 2012 that he did not get a good enough chance to select jury members. Time for someone with some common sense to step in and make a final decision.
Choices allowed: A) Death by Lethal Injection, B) Death by hanging with a rope. C) Death by firing squad. D) Death by whatever other ideas someone can come up with
No more choices.
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The families of the victims must feel the horror of their loss all over again every time this convicted murderer is given a reprieve. I've always felt the families of the victims should have a say in the punishment of such individuals. My heart goes out to them. Shame on the courts.Â
The judge allowed the jury to see pictures of his victims while they were still alive? Uh oh, then the jury might think it was actually real people he was murdering. No wonder they sentenced him to death! These defense attorneys are total scum. I wonder how much they bill the taxpayers for providing their "services" to the common good?
@badcat If they are court appointed, I'm sure it is probably much less than their usual fee. And in some, but not all, if it's a high enough profile case, the visibility is worth more than the fee for the legal counsel anyhow.
I will donate the bullet
 @LostSoul I would donate the $500 dollar pistol although could you make sure you supply bird shot so it takes 40-50 tries to get the job done?
He has a lot more rights then his victims and their loved one's.
 @Billy Batts ~  Right on target, Billy... and that is the part that we seem to have lost sight of... law-abiding people (and/or their loved ones) become victims of monsters like Rogers, but then the CRIMINALS have all the rights and legal considerations... the victims and their loved ones get to re-live the horrible incidents over and over and over again, as the case moves from trial to appeal, to another appeal, and so on...seemingly without end.   We need to get our priorities straightened out, but I'm not sure what it would take to get that done...
@margay1 Liberal goverment seems to care more about the criminals then the victims. If Mr. Rogers would have done this in Texas, he would be toast......Texas toast? I like that...
@margay1 @Billy Batts And the state of Texas has also shown that they have the highest rate of executing people that were wrongfully convicted. Wow, great system.
 @Billy Batts  @margay1 ~  "Texas Toast"... yeah, I like that, too..!   Florida is the other state that seems to be able to get the job done... seems to me I read some stats quite recently (can't recall now where I saw them), but they said that Texas and Florida carried out the most death sentences...
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@wahoo My thoughts exactly. He should have been executed years ago! Where's the judicial system when you need it most?
 @wahoo An interesting sentiment, and one with which I, out of anger, often agree. Fortunately, we're better off having our justice system work the RIGHT way, even if it's long and tedious. After all, if it's YOU on the receiving end, then your perspective changes dramatically and you hope to God that every 'i' is dotted and every 't' crossed before your life or anything else is forfeit.
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We are, after all, a nation of laws, which puts us head and shoulders above many others, and so long as greed or lust for power don't interfere, you have to agree, it's a pretty good system. Our legal system's biggest flaw is when its users get so caught up in the letter of the law, that they miss the spirit thereof and everyone suffers.
Its unbelieveable how our society cares more about saving the lives of convicted mass murderers than it does about saving the lives of unborn children (and I am not talking about the fetuses created during a rape).
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A junior high or high school girl cant bring an aspirin to school but can get an abortion without parental consent.Â
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Everyday, it just makes less and less sense to me.
@scared_citizen Unborn = not living on it's own. Why bring a separate issue into a discussion about the supreme court? Personally, I'm not in favor of the death penalty, though if I had a loved one of who suffered homocidal violence, maybe I would, however, the judicial system has particular protocol in which it is supposed to function. The interpretation I am getting from this case, is that there was protocol that was not followed, which just happened to occur in this case, and there are rectifications that are being asked for to abide by the protocol that is to be used. I think of it as setting a precedent. If they justice system were to just let this go, because he's a bad person who should die, the lack of protocol in the original trial could be used as a precedent in a future trial, and recklessly bias the outcome of that trial.
 @pdxd
I don't think it's inconsistent or unrelated to contrast the hypocrisy with which our society deals with human life at different stages. Trial after trial, appeal after appeal for serial killers, all in a public court of law with lawyers for both sides and all the safeguards of the court system. But if a 'mommy' wants the private choice to abort her innocent child because it's just too inconvenient for her - well just go right ahead and society better keep it's nose out! No trial for that homicide, no protection for that victim. Never mind she had the choice to avoid getting pregnant in the first place but somehow the pro-choicers never want to make a woman accountable for how she chose to exercise THAT choice. If abortion was only used in cases of forced rape and true medical harm to the mother it would be a tiny fraction of the number than occur now simply for convenience sake.
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It is inconsistent however, scared_citizen, to make a human value distinction between unborn children and "rape" fetuses. Both are human children and completely innocent of the circumstances of their conception, yet they are the ones upon whom the death sentence is carried out.
@ormom  I only included that statement to pacify the fringe who think that rape victims should be able to get an abortion. After all, in those instances, the "mommy" did NOT have a choice.Â
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How is this for hypocrisy, those same liberals who think that abortion is okay would also be the first in line to charge someone with 2 homicides for killing a pregnant woman (one for the mother and the other for the unborn child). Apparently some unborn children are more alive than others.
 @scared_citizen You anti-choice yahoos never miss an opportunity, even when there isn't one. I do enjoy those of you who are so obviously hypocritical as to differentiate between "rape fetuses" and "unborn children" ... you should learn to at least be consistent. And you can wait for a story that's actually about abortion to offer your lame explanation for judging pregnant women and interfering in ANY of their reproductive lives. Peh!