The Utah Supreme Court has rejected the claim of death-row inmate Von Lester Taylor that he did not receive a fair sentencing.
In a ruling issued Friday, the high court unanimously dismissed Taylor's claim that evidence that showed he may be brain damaged was not introduced by his trial attorney and could have spared him the death penalty. A jury gave him the death sentence in a 1991 hearing.
Taylor and Edward Steven Deli broke into a cabin belonging to the Tiede family in 1990 after having run from a halfway house. Investigators say Taylor emptied his gun into the backs of Beth Potts, 70, and her daughter, Kaye Tiede, 49. The two then shot Rolf Tiede, 51, and kidnapped two of his daughters, fleeing in a vehicle after setting the cabin on fire.
Court documents show that Taylor ordered Rolf Tiede to remove his clothing, took $105 from his wallet and shot him. Rolf Tiede played dead, but Taylor returned and shot him point blank in the head, doused him with gasoline and set the cabin on fire. Rolf Tiede survived the ordeal.
A jury found Taylor guilty of multiple felonies in connection to the murders and sentenced him to death.
During oral arguments last April, an attorney for Taylor argued that a public defense attorney failed to bring up evidence of possible brain damage as part of Taylor's defense during the sentencing phase of the trial. State prosecutors said that evidence was not introduced as part of a compromise because the prosecution was going to introduce to the jury potentially damning evidence that showed Taylor allegedly took part in Satan worship and drank animal blood.
In its ruling Friday, the Utah Supreme Court wrote it found nothing to indicate an injustice occurred in Taylor's trial and said there was no indication that the brain-damage evidence would have swayed the jury against the weighty and horrifying evidence of the murders.
Assistant Utah Attorney General Fred Voros said Taylor's next move will be to file an appeal to a federal court.
E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com