The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out the two capital murder convictins and death sentences of Ronald Watson Lafferty, saying the trial judge applied the wrong legal standard in finding him competent to stand trial.
The decision leaves prosecutors wondering how to proceed with a case that was concluded more than seven years ago.The state court's finding that Lafferty, convicted in the July 24, 1984, slaying of his sister-in-law and her toddler in their American Fork duplex, was competent is "fundamentally flawed," the court ruled.
The circuit court did not hold that Lafferty was incompetent as a matter of law, but "we do conclude that the record contains evidence from which a fact finder could have found him incompetent under the proper legal standard," the court wrote.
Utah County prosecutors are now mulling their options, which include appealing the appellate court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court or pursuing yet another conviction and death sentence. "It is difficult after a long period of time to put a case together," said County Attorney Kay Bryson.
Bryson met with Utah County commissioners Tuesday to warn them of the high costs of another trial. The commission "assured me whatever it takes will be available," he said.
It is possible that Lafferty is not now competent for a new trial. "If it's going to be retried, I would suspect the first thing would be to have his competency evaluated," Bryson said.
Lafferty and his brother, Dan Lafferty, both self-proclaimed prophets, were convicted in the killings of Brenda Wright Lafferty, 24, and her 15-month-old daughter, Erica.
The baby's throat was slit while the child stood in her crib and cried. Brenda Lafferty was severely beaten, strangled and then her throat was slit from ear to ear in a crime police officers called one of the grisliest they had ever investigated.
A witness, one of two hitchhikers who had become disciples of Lafferty, had earlier asked the Lafferty brothers, "Couldn't we just shoot them instead?" But Ron replied, "No. The Lord said we have to slash their throats."
When a witness asked Dan Lafferty if he was supposed to help with the killing, Dan replied, "No. Ron's going to do this one."
Prosecutors said Brenda Lafferty was killed because she opposed the brothers' attempts to recruit her husband into the religious polygamous cult, called School of the Prophets, and because she continued to be friends with the ex-wives of the two brothers.
In a separate trial, Dan lafferty, 42, was sentenced to life in prison for the same double murders after a jury deadlocked on the death penalty. He remains in the Utah State Prison.
The appeals centered not on whether Lafferty committed the crimes, but rather his competency to understand the proceedings against him. Lafferty's attorneys have submitted nine writ of habeas corpus issues to the appeals court to test the constitutionality of his conviction.
"This likely means we'll get a new competency hearing and a new trial," said appeals lawyer Mike Esplin of Provo.
"I wouldn't have pressed charges if I thought Lafferty did not fully understand the nature of the proceedings," said Noall Wootton, Utah County attorney at the time of the trial and now in private practice.
During the trial's death penalty phase arguments, Lafferty told his lawyer several times to sit down. Lafferty believed he would lose powers given him by God if he relied on attorneys, physicians and others, Esplin told the circuit court during oral arguments Jan. 15.
In a 25-page ruling, the circuit court said Monday that competency to stand trial is an aspect of due process, and therefore constitutionally mandated. The standard that must be applied, the court wrote, is that a defendant have a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.
Esplin said while Lafferty may have understood the proceedings, his mental illness prevented him from making rational decisions about his defense.
However, Assistant Utah Attorney General Sandra Sjogren said that while previous court rulings had determined Lafferty suffered from mental illness, it did not impair his ability to assist counsel.
"Lafferty did exhibit the ability at trial to understand the proceedings," she said.
In November 1989, U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Greene denied Lafferty's appeal, saying the Utah State Prison inmate had received a fair trial after the trial judge conducted "extensive hearings (and) careful observations" after Lafferty's attempt to hang himself in jail while awaiting trial.