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Court Throws Out Death Penalty from Bible-reading Jurors
03/29/2005
Religion Desk - 651-631-5000
DENVER (AP) _ Colorado's Supreme Court has thrown out a convicted killer's death sentence because jurors consulted the Bible during deliberations.
The court said the Bible passages, including the verse that commands ``eye for eye, tooth for tooth,'' could influence a typical juror to vote for death instead of life imprisonment.
The justices ordered Robert Harlan to serve life in prison without parole.
Jurors had sentenced Harlan to die for raping and murdering a cocktail waitress in 1994. Defense attorneys challenged the sentence after discovering five jurors had looked up Bible verses, copied some of them down and then talked about them behind closed doors.
03/29/2005
Religion Desk - 651-631-5000
DENVER (AP) _ Colorado's Supreme Court has thrown out a convicted killer's death sentence because jurors consulted the Bible during deliberations.
The court said the Bible passages, including the verse that commands ``eye for eye, tooth for tooth,'' could influence a typical juror to vote for death instead of life imprisonment.
The justices ordered Robert Harlan to serve life in prison without parole.
Jurors had sentenced Harlan to die for raping and murdering a cocktail waitress in 1994. Defense attorneys challenged the sentence after discovering five jurors had looked up Bible verses, copied some of them down and then talked about them behind closed doors.