Jurors will return to the Matheson Courthouse today to decide what penalty Floyd Eugene Maestas should face now that he has been convicted of killing Donna Lou Bott, 72, on Sept. 28, 2004, and robbing an elderly woman in the same neighborhood the same night.
The choices before the jury are the death penalty, life in prison without parole or 20 years to life in prison, a sentence that carries the possibility of parole after the 20-year minimum term is served.
The 12-member jury on Jan. 22 returned guilty verdicts for Maestas, 52, on one count of first-degree felony aggravated murder and another count of first-degree aggravated robbery.
The jury heard five days of testimony and arguments from both prosecutors and defense attorneys before deliberating for about three hours and then rendering its verdict.
Third District Judge Paul Maughan has scheduled the second phase of the trial to run through Feb. 15. Prosecutors will argue their reasons regarding a penalty first, followed by the defense team offering its information during the trial's mitigation phase.
This is the first capital murder case to go to trial in Salt Lake County since 1996. Usually capital murder cases are resolved through plea bargains, but former EMT Michael Scott DeCorso stood trial for torturing and killing Margaret Ann Martinez, who was attacked and murdered two years earlier. The jury in the DeCorso case found him guilty, but decided against the death penalty and gave DeCorso life in prison without parole.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com