Appeals court throws out mother's death sentence
Court Alerts
[##_1L|1341252302.jpg|width="130" height="90" alt=""|_##]A sharply divided Texas Court of Criminal Appeals threw out the death sentence Wednesday of a Beaumont woman convicted of killing her newborn son. The 5-4 ruling by the state's highest criminal court means that Kenisha Berry, 29, will serve a life prison term. The baby's body was found bound with duct tape in a Jefferson County trash bin. He remained unidentified for five years until Berry was identified as the mother of a newborn girl who was found alive but abandoned and covered with fire ants in a ditch in June 2003. A DNA test later showed that Berry was also the baby boy's mother.
A jury in Beaumont convicted her of capital murder and sentenced her to death.
The appeals court upheld her conviction but ruled that Jefferson County prosecutors misstated the special issue presented to jurors regarding Berry's likelihood of being a future danger to society.
In a Tarrant County case, the appeals court upheld the conviction and sentence of Sheldon Ward, 27, condemned for killing Nyanuer "Mary" Pal five years ago in Fort Worth. Ward's attorneys had raised 13 points of error from his trial.
Related listings
-
Court rejects Exxon appeal on damages
Court Alerts 05/23/2007[##_1L|1064714825.jpg|width="120" height="101" alt=""|_##]A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected Exxon Mobil Corp.'s request to reconsider its earlier decision that cut nearly in half a $4.5 billion jury award punishing the company for the 198...
-
Three plead guilty in Kansas City mortgage fraud
Court Alerts 05/22/2007[##_1L|1195073666.jpg|width="130" height="90" alt=""|_##]James E. Coleman, 59, and James R. Rhoades, 48, both of Kansas City, pleaded guilty in separate appearances before Judge Howard Sachs to charges contained in a Jan. 4 federal indictment. Colema...
-
Man pleads not guilty in fire death of girlfriend
Court Alerts 05/19/2007[##_1L|1187686784.jpg|width="120" height="101" alt=""|_##]A man pleaded not guilty to charges he poured gasoline on his girlfriend and set her on fire, causing her death. Michael Wilson, 33, pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder Friday in a Marion...
Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.