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| Death penalty set aside for man who killed bank executive |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 02/09/2004 |
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A Somerset County (Md.) judge last Thursday set aside the death sentence of a Baltimore man convicted of the 1986 killing of a bank executive, ruling that jurors might have spared the defendant's life had his lawyer introduced evidence of a troubled upbringing. Circuit Judge Daniel M. Long sentenced Kenneth Lloyd Collins, 39, to life in prison. Collins could seek parole as early as 2010, but prosecutors said he would likely stay in prison until he is an old man. Collins was convicted in 1988 of the robbery and killing of a bank executive. The trial was moved to Princess Anne, a three-hour drive away, because of pretrial publicity around Baltimore. Collins had been one of 10 inmates on Maryland's death row. For years, he had filed unsuccessful appeals. He argued in his latest appeal that a Supreme Court decision had changed the standards by which his lawyer's conduct should be judged. Last year, the Supreme Court, ruling in a death penalty case involving another Baltimore County killing, said defense lawyers in capital cases must probe their clients' backgrounds for details, such as childhood abuse or neglect, that might elicit sympathy from jurors at sentencing. Long relied on that decision in finding that the defense presented by Collins' trial lawyer, M. Gordon Tayback, was "deficient." Long said Tayback failed to conduct an investigation that might have inspired mercy among jurors. Such an investigation, Long wrote, would have turned up Collins' "marginal intelligence, his limited education, an abusive and alcoholic family history, parental infidelity, violence and abandonment, and a devastating personal and social background." Long ruled that the high court's decision entitled Collins to a new sentencing hearing. |
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