Death sentence vacated

### July 2, 2009[edit]

Indiana: In May of 1997, John M. Stephenson received a guilty verdict and death sentence for killing three people in Warrick County, Indiana. He appealed his case to the Indiana Supreme Court on the basis of "ineffective counsel" because his attorney didn't object to him wearing a prisoner control device (a stun belt) in front of the jury that convicted him. The Supreme Court unanimously rejected his appeal.

After the Supreme Court rejected Stephenson's appeal, he took it to the federal level, where federal judge for the Northern District of Indiana, Theresa Springmann, overturned his guilty sentence and the death penalty in a 26-page ruling. She noted, "Due process mandates that John M. Stephenson is entitled to what he was denied: a trial without restraints".

The Indiana Attorney General, Greg Zoeller, said that he will appeal her order, either by asking her to reconsider or by taking it to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. "The federal court's ruling this week is disappointing since we believe the Indiana Supreme Court ruled correctly when it denied Stephenson's petition for post-conviction relief on this very issue in April 2007," Zoeller said in a statement.[1]

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ WTHR "US judge vacates verdict in Indiana triple slayings," July 2, 2009

Indiana courts

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Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Indiana, Southern District of Indiana • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Indiana, Southern District of Indiana

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