Condemned Arizona killers are back in court over a sentencing flaw. Who's responsible?

Miguel Torres, Arizona Republic
Updated ·6 min read
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Condemned murderers on Arizona's death row have or could soon get a do-over to reconsider their death sentences, years after their cases closed, because of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

For civil rights activists and prisoners' rights advocates, the injustice of Arizona ignoring due process is an outrage. By equal measure, victims' rights advocates and capital punishment supporters are outraged by the injustice that families will have to go through it all again in court.

How did it come to that and who is responsible? The Arizona Republic dug into the court records and data to find out.

A quarter of Arizona death row sentences could go back to court, putting victims and prisoners through another round of resentencing trials, because a handful of prosecutors and judges failed to follow a Supreme Court ruling from 30 years ago.

The high court ruled for a third time in February that Arizona's courts had disregarded case law from 1994, including a precedent set in yet another Maricopa County case, that of Shawn Lynch, in 2016.

At least four cases went back to court after 2016, but February's ruling helped send seven back to Arizona's lower courts for review. All of them deal with men already convicted of murder and serving time in prison. Now, new juries have to decide if they should still get the death penalty. Their guilty verdicts are not on the table.

For subscribers: Condemned Arizona killers are back in court over a sentencing flaw. Who's responsible?

How did the court get it wrong?

Juries were misled: In each case sent back to court, judges aided or simply allowed county attorneys to suggest to juries that if they didn’t sentence the men to death, defendants could potentially be released or kill again.

What are the cases?

The men who got resentenced: Two men, Joel Escalante-Orozco and Bryan Wayne Hulsey, both will serve life sentences instead of a state death.

  • Bryan Wayne Hulsey, convicted in 2014. The judge in the case was Joseph Kreamer, the prosecutor was Juan Martinez, and defense counsel were Michael Reeves and Patricia Hubbard. Hulsey was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the 2007 murder of Glendale police Officer Anthony Holly during a routine traffic stop. In 2018, the court vacated the death sentence, citing the Lynch ruling. In 2020, Hulsey was sentenced to life without possibility of release.

  • Joel Escalante-Orozco, convicted in 2013. The judge in the case was Warren Granville, prosecutors were Burt Jorgensen and Susie Charbel, and defense counsel were Bobbi Falduto and Stephen Whelihan. Escalante-Orozco was found guilty of the 2001 first-degree murder, sexual assault and first-degree robbery of Maria Garza-Rivera in her Phoenix apartment. In 2019, he was resentenced to life in prison.

  • The one who died as he waited: Shawn Lynch Lynch was convicted in 2006 and 2012 but will not get a new sentencing hearing because he died in prison in 2017 of natural causes. The judge in his first conviction was David Talamante, the prosecutor was Juan Martinez, and his defense was Joel Brown and Robert Stein. In Lynch's second conviction, the judge was Karen O'Conner, Martinez was the prosecutor again, and defense counsel were Lawrence Blieden and Brown. He was found guilty in the 2001 murder of James Panzarella, a Scottsdale man he met in a bar.

The one before a new jury: Jasper Rushing restarted the trial to decide if he will get executed or face life behind bars on Tuesday. Rushing was convicted of murdering his cellmate in 2010 at a state prison in Buckeye.

Rushing was serving a life sentence without the possibility of release before 25 years at the Lewis Prison Complex in Buckeye for the 2001 murder of his stepfather. Rushing slit Palmer's throat with a razor and bludgeoned him with a sock stuffed with a softcover book.

In 2015, a jury convicted Rushing of first-degree murder and sentenced him to death.

Attorneys for Jasper Rushing, now 42, were prohibited from telling the jury in his original trial that if he were given a life sentence, he would not have a chance to be released. He was sentenced by Michael Kemp, the same judge presiding over his retrial. He was first prosecuted by Jannette Gallagher.

What happens now?

Six cases in Maricopa County will be up for review: Steven Newell, Ruben Garza, Steve Boggs, Fabio Gomez, Jonathan Burns, and Steven Reeves all could see their death sentences back in court.

  • Steven Newell, convicted in 2004. The judge in the case was Barry Schneider, prosecutors were Cleve Lynch and Patricia Nigro, and defense counsel were Bruce Peterson and Tim Agan. Newell was found guilty of the 2001 murder and attempted rape of 8-year-old Elizabeth Byrd. He strangled her before dumping her body in a ditch near Southern and 37th avenues.

  • Ruben Garza, convicted in 2004. The judge in the case was Gregory Martin, prosecutors were Mark Barry and George Gialketsis, and defense counsel were James Cleary and Christopher Dupont. Garza was found guilty of the December 1999 murder of his uncle’s estranged wife, Ellen Franco, and one of her roommates, Lance Rush, in the West Valley community of Waddell.

  • Steve Boggs, convicted in 2005. The judge in the case was John Foreman, prosecutors were Robert Shutts and Ted Duffy, and defense counsel were Herman Alcantar Jr. and Nathanial Carr. Boggs was found guilty in the 2002 murders of Beatriz Alvarado, Kenneth Brown and Fausto Jimenez at a Mesa Jack in the Box.

  • Fabio Gomez, convicted in 2001 and sentenced in 2003 and resentenced in 2010. The judge in Gomez's first sentencing was James Keppel, prosecutors were Patricia Stevens and Robert Shutts, and defense counsel were Daniel Raynak and Stephen Johnson. In his 2010 conviction, the judge was Ronald Steinle, prosecutors were Patricia Stevens and Ryan Green, and defense counsel were Herman Alcantar Jr. and Chris Flores. Gomez was found guilty of the 1999 murder and sexual assault of a neighbor, Joan Morane.

  • Johnathan Burns, convicted in 2011. The judge in the case was Karen O'Conner, prosecutors were Vince Imbordino and Kristin Sherman, and defense counsel were Joseph Stazzone and Wesley Peterson. Burns was found guilty of the 2007 rape and murder of Jacquelan “Jackie” Hartman.

  • Stephen Reeves, convicted in 2011. The judge in the case was Arthur Anderson, prosecutors were Kristin Larish and Treena Kay, and defense counsel were Lynn Burns and Thomas Glow. Reeves was found guilty of the 2007 murder of Norma Gabriella Contreras, 18, who was working alone in an office at 73rd Avenue and Indian School Road.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Death row Arizona killers back in court over sentencing flaw