The jury that unanimously convicted Angola inmate Robert G. Carley
of first-degree murder in the 1999 death of a prison security guard
could not reach a unanimous decision on whether Carley should get the
death penalty or another life sentence.As a result, Carley will receive a life sentence in the case, said presiding judge Jerome M. Winsberg.
The Advocate (http://bit.ly/ps9EuX ) reported Monday that jurors had deliberated for an hour and 20 minutes when Winsberg told attorneys Sunday that a juror was in diabetic distress and needed insulin. The judge said paramedics had been called to treat the juror, and he ordered the jurors to stop deliberating until the ailing juror returned.
When deliberations resumed, the panel debated for about two hours before telling Winsberg that they could not reach a unanimous verdict on the sentence for Carley. Winsberg asked them to try again, but they later returned to say they were "hopelessly deadlocked."
Carley, 43, was convicted Saturday in the beating and stabbing death of Capt. David C. Knapps, 49, during an escape attempt from the state penitentiary at Angola.
Five Angola inmates were indicted in Knapps' slaying. One of them, Jeffrey Clark, was convicted and sentenced to death in May.
Carley is currently serving a life sentence for a 1987 murder in St. Bernard Parish.
The Angola 5 cases are being prosecuted for the 20th Judicial District Attorney's Office by Jefferson Parish assistant district attorneys Tommy Block and Mike Futrell and Lea Hall and Hugo Holland of Caddo Parish.
During closing arguments in Sunday's penalty phase of Carley's trial, Hall told jurors the penalty should fit the crime.
"Anything less than death is just the same as it was before," Hall said.
"You owe a duty to those people," Hall said, pointing to members of Knapps' family in the audience. "Do not penalize that family with anything less than death. Mercy to the guilty is punishment to the innocent."
Defense attorney Tommy Thompson asked the jury to "put Bobby Carley in a concrete box (cell) for the rest of his life," noting that only one juror could hold out for a life sentence.
"I feel strongly that one of you will not take Bobby's life. My hope is that you will find something," Thompson said.
Holland, in rebuttal, told the jurors the "only thing needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
"What is another life sentence to Robert Carley? Nothing," Holland said.
The Advocate (http://bit.ly/ps9EuX ) reported Monday that jurors had deliberated for an hour and 20 minutes when Winsberg told attorneys Sunday that a juror was in diabetic distress and needed insulin. The judge said paramedics had been called to treat the juror, and he ordered the jurors to stop deliberating until the ailing juror returned.
When deliberations resumed, the panel debated for about two hours before telling Winsberg that they could not reach a unanimous verdict on the sentence for Carley. Winsberg asked them to try again, but they later returned to say they were "hopelessly deadlocked."
Carley, 43, was convicted Saturday in the beating and stabbing death of Capt. David C. Knapps, 49, during an escape attempt from the state penitentiary at Angola.
Five Angola inmates were indicted in Knapps' slaying. One of them, Jeffrey Clark, was convicted and sentenced to death in May.
Carley is currently serving a life sentence for a 1987 murder in St. Bernard Parish.
The Angola 5 cases are being prosecuted for the 20th Judicial District Attorney's Office by Jefferson Parish assistant district attorneys Tommy Block and Mike Futrell and Lea Hall and Hugo Holland of Caddo Parish.
During closing arguments in Sunday's penalty phase of Carley's trial, Hall told jurors the penalty should fit the crime.
"Anything less than death is just the same as it was before," Hall said.
"You owe a duty to those people," Hall said, pointing to members of Knapps' family in the audience. "Do not penalize that family with anything less than death. Mercy to the guilty is punishment to the innocent."
Defense attorney Tommy Thompson asked the jury to "put Bobby Carley in a concrete box (cell) for the rest of his life," noting that only one juror could hold out for a life sentence.
"I feel strongly that one of you will not take Bobby's life. My hope is that you will find something," Thompson said.
Holland, in rebuttal, told the jurors the "only thing needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
"What is another life sentence to Robert Carley? Nothing," Holland said.
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