News - Local
New trial denied in Aurora death penalty case
Posted: Apr 29, 2010 7:06 AM by Bea Karnes, News First 5
Updated: Apr 29, 2010 7:06 AM
A Colorado judge ruled a man facing the death penalty does not deserve a new trial after attorneys raised concerns about a juror who consulted with his pastor during sentencing deliberations.
Arapahoe County District Judge Gerald Rafferty ruled Wednesday that the juror violated the court's orders by speaking to his pastor but that the error was not enough to give 24-year-old Robert Ray a new trial.
Ray was convicted last year of first-degree murder in May in the deaths of Javad Marshall-Fields, who was going to testify against him in another murder case, and Vivian Wolfe, Marshall-Field's fiance.
The juror in question says he wanted to know his church's stance before deciding whether Ray deserved the death penalty.
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