Attorneys for John Albert Taylor have petitioned a 2nd District judge to overturn his death sentence for the 1989 strangulation of a Washington Terrace girl.
The legal briefs filed Friday claim that ineffective defense lawyers, misconduct by the prosecution and error by the judge flawed Taylor's trial three years ago.The appeal asks for a new trial, or at least a new sentencing hearing, partly to argue that a new Utah statute allowing a sentence of life-without-parole in death penalty cases should be applied to Taylor.
Attorneys for condemned killer William Andrews' unsuccessfully made the same argument before he was executed on July 30. Andrews was convicted for his part in the 1974 torture-murders of three people at the Ogden Hi-Fi shop.
Taylor, 33, is sentenced to die by firing squad for the June 23, 1989, rape and strangulation of 11-year-old Charla Nichole King. Her nude body was found by her mother in the bedroom of their apartment.
Taylor's lawyer, Ron Yengich, filed the petition for extraordinary relief and a supporting memorandum, which together total more than 90 pages. Yengich agreed last May to defend Taylor for no fee as part of the Rocky Mountain Legal Defense Fund.
The organization is a group of lawyers who defend death penalty appeals pro bono because of philosophical opposition to capital punishment.
In his appeal, Taylor said he met with his lawyers for less than 10 hours in preparation before his trial and that a motion to waive a jury trial in the case was made without his knowledge.
The state attorney general's office has until Sept. 16 to file a response.
Taylor's petition further claims that public defenders conducted "virtually no investigations" in the case, filed no pretrial motions and failed to object to supposed inadmissible evidence.
The appeal also said Roth, who presided over the 1989 trial, erred in refusing to allow a jury during the penalty phase of the trial after Taylor's conviction.