Opinion ID: 2157107
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

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Text: John Downie At 3:35 a.m. on December 25, 1985, Downie robbed a gas station and murdered the attendant. Downie had planned the robbery in advance and had searched for a while before he found an open gas station. When he encountered the gas station attendant on duty, he fired two shots at him. The first shot missed, but the second shot hit the attendant in the chest and killed him. As Downie ran from the gas station, a police officer observed him. Downie shot at the officer four times, but none of the shots hit him. Downie, possessing cash he stole from the gas station, hid in the woods. Downie is an avidly religious, emotionally disturbed male whose family members were described at trial as dysfunctional and schizophrenic. Downie's mother suffered from depression. His father had a child in an extramarital affair after Downie was born and was rarely home. As a schoolchild, Downie's peers ridiculed him and called him fatty. Because he was disruptive in school, school authorities referred him to a Child Study team. When Downie was seventeen or eighteen years old, his parents moved to Florida, and they refused to let him move with them in spite of his desire to do so. Downie thus was left behind and lived in a household where he was beaten and abused, and in which there were parties where drugs and alcohol were consumed. Downie was twenty-four years old when he committed the robbery-murder, but was considerably less mature than most people his age. Downie had suffered a head trauma that may have caused organic personality syndrome. He was unmarried and had never had a steady girlfriend. He was a high-school graduate with no prior criminal record who worked odd jobs. On the night of the crime, he had intended to commit suicide to get even with his family. However, he changed his mind and decided to commit a robbery instead. Downie confessed to committing the murder to the probation officer who prepared his presentence report. A jury convicted Downie of capital murder, felony murder, attempted murder, robbery, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. At the ensuing penalty phase, a jury found the c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) but rejected the c(4)(f) (escape detection) aggravating factor. The jury found the c(5)(a) (extreme emotional disturbance), c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(d) (diminished capacity), c(5)(f) (no significant criminal history), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. The mitigating factors were found to outweigh the aggravating factor. Therefore, the jury determined that the death penalty should not be imposed. The court sentenced Downie to an aggregate of life imprisonment plus eighteen years with a thirty-six year parole disqualifier. Craig Hart On April 26, 1984, Hart got into a taxicab at 5:30 a.m. He told the driver that he was going to rob him and ordered the driver to lie face-down in the front seat of the taxi. Hart shot the driver twice in the back of the head. After firing the fatal gunshots, Hart stole the driver's cash, credit card, wallet and watch. Four weeks later, Hart was arrested for committing an unrelated robbery and confessed to the robbery-murder. Hart was an unemployed twenty-five-years-old high-school graduate who had worked as a mailroom clerk and cabinet maker. He had no prior criminal history. He abused cocaine and marijuana but appeared to have no psychological problems. Hart pled guilty to purposeful-or-knowing murder and armed robbery. The State prosecuted him capitally. The jury, believing that Hart was intoxicated when he committed the robbery-murder, found the c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factor and the c(5)(a) (extreme emotional disturbance), c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(d) (diminished capacity), c(5)(f) (no significant criminal history), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. The aggravating factor was found to be clearly outweighed by the mitigating factors. The court sentenced Hart to life imprisonment for the murder and a consecutive twenty-year prison term for the robbery with an aggregate of a forty-year period of parole ineligibility. Jacinto Hightower On July 7, 1985, Hightower walked into the Cumberland Farms convenience store in Willingboro. Hightower asked Cynthia Barlieb, the store clerk, for a carton of cigarettes. While she was retrieving the cigarettes, Hightower changed the sign on the store's front door from open to closed. He returned to the counter, pulled out a gun, and order Barlieb to open the cash register. She declined, and he shot her in the chest. She continued to refuse to open the register, and he shot her in the neck. Hightower tried to open the register himself and became frustrated by his inability to do so. When he felt Barlieb grab his leg, he shot her in the head. Hightower dragged her lifeless body into the freezer, turned off the lights and left the store. Hightower was twenty-one years old and was on leave from the United States Army at the time of the murder. Disciplinary problems caused him to drop out of high school in tenth grade, but he later earned a GED. Psychiatric experts diagnosed him with depressive neurosis, episodic drug and alcohol abuse, borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder. A brain defect caused the antisocial personality disorder. His mother had mild affective disorder, experienced mood swings, and had difficulty with impulse control. When Hightower was young, other boys sodomized him; nonetheless, his mother did not seek medical attention for him. Hightower's mother was often absent for long periods of time, engaged in multiple affairs, and told her children that she hated them because they deprived her of freedom. He was raised in an abusive and dysfunctional environment. A jury convicted Hightower of murder, felony murder, armed robbery and weapons offenses. He asked to be sentenced to death. The jury found the c(4)(c) (torture or depravity), c(4)(f) (escape detection), and c(4)(g) (felony murder) aggravating factors and the c(5)(f) (no prior record) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. This Court affirmed the convictions but reversed the death sentence because the trial court erroneously instructed the jury that unanimity was required to find mitigating factors. 120 N.J. 378, 577 A. 2d 99 (1990). The State retried Hightower, and the second jury also sentenced him to death. The jury found the c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (felony murder) aggravating factors and the c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(f) (no prior record), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. Because the trial court improperly removed a juror during deliberations, this Court again reversed Hightower's death sentence. 146 N.J. 239, 680 A. 2d 649 (1996). Hightower's third penalty trial is pending. Roger Hoyte In October and November, 1995, Hoyte murdered three taxicab drivers in the Newark area. For the first two killings, he and co-defendants Andres Torres and Larry Mayo called for a taxicab. On each occasion, when the taxi arrived Hoyte got into the back seat of the taxi and shot the driver in the head, fatally injuring him. His co-defendants drove the taxis, took each driver's money, removed their shoes and discarded their bodies. Only Hoyte and Torres participated in the third murder, which was committed in a similar manner and occurred nearly two weeks after the second murder. The driver survived the first gunshot wound, so Hoyte shot him twice more and stabbed him in the neck. Torres drove the taxi, and he and Hoyte took the victim's money and shoes before dumping his dead body in a garbage can. Hoyte and his co-defendants removed each victim's shoes so the police could not trace to them the fingerprints they had left on the shoes. Hoyte used the same .22 caliber handgun in all three homicides. He and co-defendant Torres stole the gun a month before the murder, during a burglary of Hoyte's former employer. Two days after the last killing, Hoyte sold the gun for fifty dollars. Co-defendant Mayo's girlfriend implicated Hoyte and Torres in the well-publicized taxicab-driver murders. Following his arrest, Hoyte confessed, telling the police officers of his and his co-defendants' involvement in the crimes. Hoyte also inculpated Mayo and two other men in an unsolved taxicab-driver murder that had occurred two years earlier. Hoyte, a twenty-two-year-old unemployed high-school graduate, used heroin, cocaine, and marijuana every day for the three years preceding his arrest. He had a prior arrest for unlawful possession of a weapon that was dismissed pursuant to his participation in a pre-trial intervention program. Hoyte pled guilty to three counts each of capital murder, felony murder, robbery, carjacking, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and conspiracy to commit robbery. He also pled guilty to one count each of burglary and theft. At the penalty phase, the jury found that for each murder the State had proven the c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factor but it rejected the c(4)(f) (escape detection) aggravating factor. The jury found that the c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(f) (no significant criminal history), c(5)(g) (cooperation with the state), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors were present for each victim. The jury could not unanimously agree on sentencing. The court sentenced Hoyte to an aggregate term of three consecutive life sentences and ninety years of parole ineligibility. Larry Jones Larry Jones shot and killed his victim, one of two partners in a seafood and produce wholesale distributorship. After he shot him, an employee tried to flee. Jones put the gun against the neck of the surviving partner and threatened to kill the partner if the employee ran away. Jones and co-defendant Eugene Jones (no relation) stole $1000 from the surviving partner's wallet and at least $2000 from the victim. Rejecting a plea to get help for the victim, Jones forced the partner, two employees, and a customer to go into a walk-in freezer in which he locked them before fleeing. The four men escaped from the freezer unharmed. Jones, twenty-seven years old, received little nurturing in his childhood. His father abandoned the family when Jones was three years old. Jones dropped out of school after completing eighth grade in order to support his family, but rarely worked. He had no emotional or substance abuse problems. Jones had two children who were under psychiatric care. He had an extensive juvenile record. He had seven prior robbery convictions stemming from two incidents. He may have been intoxicated when he committed the murder. He confessed to shooting the victim, but he claimed that the gun went off when the victim grabbed it. A jury convicted Jones of murder, felony murder, four counts each of robbery and kidnapping, and weapons offenses. The jury found the c(4)(b) (grave risk of death to another person) and c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factors and the c(5)(c)(age) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors but rejected the proposed c(5)(d) (diminished capacity) mitigating factor. The jury found that the aggravating factors did not outweigh the mitigating factors and did not sentence Jones to death. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment. Robert Weary Morton On the night of February 23, 1993, Morton and his co-defendant Alonzo Bryant decided to commit robberies. At about 10:20 p.m., they stabbed Toby Chrostowski in the parking lot of a go-go bar in Burlington Township. Chrostowski survived the stabbing, reported the incident and provided a description of his attackers. About two hours later, in the early morning hours of February 24, a police officer discovered a gas station attendant, Michael Eck, on the floor of the attendant's office at an Amoco station. Money had been taken from Eck's front pocket, and several cartons of cigarettes were missing from the attendant's booth. Eck had been stabbed in the arm, groin, and chest. Eck told the officer that he had been stabbed by two young black men, and described their car. Eck later died. That same morning, Morton and Bryant went to a local hospital because Morton had a knife wound. While stabbing Eck, Morton's knife had penetrated his glove and cut his left index finger. His injury, witness identifications of Morton and Bryant, and incriminating statements from Bryant's girlfriend and her roommate led police to arrest Morton and Bryant. Morton admitted to stabbing Eck as Bryant beat him, and said that Bryant had also stabbed Chrostowski. Morton said that Eck offered no resistance and begged to be left alone, and that he killed him to eliminate a witness. Morton was twenty-five-years old and lived with his mother at the time of the murder. He had been struck by a car at the age of two and suffered a cerebral concussion and brain contusion that left him temporarily paralyzed. At age seven, he was placed in classes for the learning disabled and perceptually impaired. His I.Q. was 82. His mother, who was in special classes as a child, resisted efforts to have Morton placed in special classes. Morton graduated from high school and had worked for K-Mart and a pizza restaurant. He is divorced and has one child. He has no prior criminal convictions. No other mitigating evidence was presented because Morton felt that there are some things a man must keep private. Morton was convicted of capital murder, felony murder, four counts of robbery, and two counts of aggravated assault. The jury found the c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factors but rejected the c(4)(c) (torture or depravity) aggravating factor. The jury found the c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factor but rejected the c(5)(c)(age) mitigating factor. The jury determined that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors and sentenced Morton to death. Morton also received an aggregate sentence of forth years' imprisonment with twenty years of parole ineligibility. His other convictions merged for sentencing purposes. David Mark Russo On March 7, 1985 David Mark Russo robbed a gas station in Swedesboro, murdered one of its employees and seriously injured two others. He had planned the crime about two weeks prior to its commission. Russo first attempted to execute his three victims as they lay on the floor. He shot each person at point-blank range, killing Joseph Iovanisci and seriously injuring the other two, Dino Rossi and Ann Kiley. Kiley was seriously brain-damaged. Russo, thirty-two years old, was intoxicated when he committed the crimes. He had a history of alcoholism, cocaine and heroin addiction and depression. Russo completed the eleventh grade and later obtained his GED. He enlisted in the Air Force while in eleventh grade and remained in the Air Force until his apprehension. His prior record consists of a weapons offense and a court martial for a drug offense. A jury convicted Russo of capital murder, felony murder, two counts of attempted murder, four counts of aggravated assault, armed robbery and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. At the ensuing penalty phase, several Air Force Senior Officials testified about Russo's extreme competence at work and his non-violent nature, and that Russo could still contribute to society sufficiently to warrant the jury's not imposing the death penalty. The jury found present the c(4)(b) (grave risk of death to others) and c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factors but rejected the c(4)(f) (escape detection) aggravating factor. The jury found the c(5)(a) (extreme emotional disturbance), c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(d) (diminished capacity), c(5)(f) (no significant criminal history) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. The jury concluded that the aggravating factors failed to outweigh the mitigating factors. The court sentenced Russo to an aggregate term of life imprisonment plus forty years with a fifty-year period of parole disqualification. Abdel Jaber Saleh Abdel Jaber Saleh rented a U-Haul van and drove to Michael Rehani's place of business in Hackensack to consummate a business deal in which Saleh was to buy videocassettes from Rehani. Saleh strangled Rehani and hit him over the head with a crowbar. He then dragged Rehani into his own office, bound and gagged him, doused him with charcoal fluid and set him on fire. Rehani was still alive when Saleh began burning him. While the fire burned, Saleh loaded his van with the videocassettes. Saleh then placed the tapes in a storage area he had rented in his wife's name. Rehani's friends found Rehani burning. They put out the fire but Rehani had died by the time firefighters arrived at the scene. The medical examiner concluded that the strangulation, head blows, and burns were each capable of causing death by themselves. Saleh drove to Ohio and from there, flew to Los Angeles. A week after murdering Rehani, Saleh went to a Los Angeles police station and said that he had witnessed two Latino men murdering Saleh. Subsequent investigation revealed that Saleh was the perpetrator of the crime. Saleh was twenty-two years old at the time of the offense. He was married and had a two-year-old daughter. He worked as a machine operator for his father-in-law's company. He had no mental health or substance abuse problems, and no prior criminal record. A jury convicted Saleh of capital murder, felony murder, aggravated arson, and robbery. The jury found the c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factors but rejected the c(4)(c) (torture or depravity) factor. It found the c(5)(f) (no significant criminal history), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors but rejected the c(5)(c)(age) factor. The jury could not agree on sentencing. Thus, the court sentenced Saleh to life imprisonment plus thirty years with a forty-five year period of parole ineligibility. Rafael Slaughter Twenty-two-year-old Rafael Slaughter planned the robbery of a fast-food restaurant and the murder of his victims about three hours in advance of the crimes. As the restaurant employees were preparing to close down the restaurant for the evening, Slaughter approached an eighteen-year-old male employee, who was taking out the trash behind the restaurant, put a gun to his back, ordered him to walk inside the restaurant and asked him for the combination to the safe. When the employee told Slaughter that he did not know the combination Slaughter shot the employee twice in the back from point-blank range. The victim bled profusely, lost consciousness twelve minutes after the shooting, and died shortly thereafter by drowning in his own blood. Slaughter had also ordered two female employees to the ground, but he did not shoot them. After the shooting, Slaughter left the restaurant empty-handed. Slaughter's parents were young and immature when he was born. They allegedly neglected Slaughter and gave his brother preferential treatment. Slaughter did not have any substance abuse or emotional problems. He was helpful to his relatives when they needed assistance with chores, babysitting, or other matters. A jury convicted Slaughter of capital murder, felony murder, and weapons offenses. In the penalty phase, the jury found the c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factor, and the c(5)(c)(age) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) factors present. The jury determined that the aggravating factor did not outweigh the mitigating factors present and did not sentence Slaughter to death. The court sentenced him to an aggregate of fifty years' imprisonment with thirty years of parole ineligibility. Aaron Stamps Stamps and his two brothers, co-defendants Melvin and Charles Stamps, conspired to rob a bank. During the robbery, Aaron Stamps shot a middle-aged, married security guard twice in the chest. Aaron Stamps is a high school drop-out. At the time of the arrest he was twenty-six-years old and unemployed. He had worked previously as a laborer at a sheet metal company. There is no history of psychological problems. Although he used many drugs in the past, Stamps denied using them or being addicted to any substance at the time of the murder. As an adult, Stamps was arrested nine times and, in 1976, was convicted of three counts of armed robbery. At the penalty phase, a psychiatrist testified that Stamps has an I.Q. of 76. He was a relatively good student until the ninth grade when his father, with whom he was very close, left the household. When his grades dropped, Stamps quit school and got involved with drugs. He worked in an air-conditioning plant but severe asthma forced him to quit. After quitting his job, Stamps stayed home and babysat for his girlfriend's children. A jury convicted Stamps of murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed robbery and weapons offenses. The jury found aggravating factor, c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) but rejected the c(4)(f) (escape detection) factor. It found the c(5)(c)(age) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. The jury decided that the aggravating factors did not outweigh the mitigating factors. The court sentenced Stamps to an aggregate sentence of life imprisonment plus twenty years with a forty-year period of parole ineligibility. Charles Williams After eating a meal at a McDonalds restaurant, Charles Williams walked up to the counter, pulled out a .38 caliber handgun, demanded money from the restaurant manager and ordered two other employees to lie down on top of each other. Williams accompanied the manager as he emptied out the cash registers in the front counter and drive-through area. Williams then ordered the three employees into the back of the restaurant. He ordered the manager to remove money from the safe and told the other employees to lie face down. He then made the manager lie down next to them. Williams shot the manager and one other employee in the head. The other employee escaped from the store although Williams fired shots at him as he ran away. The manager died from the gunshot wound to his head. The employee shot by Williams survived but sustained severe brain damage that left him permanently disabled. Williams was twenty-eight years old when he murdered the restaurant manager. He has never worked. With several prior convictions for robbery, burglary, theft, assault and resisting arrest, Williams has spent all but ninety-three days of his adult life imprisoned. School authorities placed him in a Special Service School because he was classified as emotionally disturbed. He abused cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol, but he never received substance abuse treatment. When he was a child, Williams's parents, who were both drug addicts and alcoholics, abused and neglected him. From the age of ten, Williams's father took him drinking at neighborhood bars. His father, who was described as a womanizer and a pimp, forced his paramour and Williams to engage in various sex acts while the father watched. Williams's father sexually abused Williams's sister and once sexually abused Williams. His father also was violently abusive toward Williams's mother, who received numerous black eyes, fractured ribs, and once needed treatment at a hospital. Williams's father broke Williams's ribs when he was nine years old because he had accidentally spilled his father's cocaine. Williams's frequent attempts to protect his siblings from abuse often resulted in his receiving even more abuse. Williams's mother was a prostitute and often left her children home alone while entertaining other men. During these periods of abandonment, Williams would provide food for himself and his siblings by stealing from a local supermarket. Williams's mother suffered several emotional breakdowns. A jury convicted Williams of capital murder, felony murder, two counts of attempted murder, three counts of robbery, two counts of aggravated assault and four counts of weapons offenses. The jury found the c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factors but rejected the c(4)(b) (grave risk of death to another) aggravating factor. The jury also found the c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factor. The jury could not agree on the appropriate penalty. The court imposed an aggregate sentence of life imprisonment plus ninety-five years with seventy-seven and one-half years of parole ineligibility. Joseph Wilson Employees of a meat market were working outdoors when nineteen-year-old Joseph Wilson told them not to go inside the market because something was about to happen. He then entered the meat-market wearing a ski mask over his face. Wilson walked over to a register where the market owners, Brian Kennedy and Peter Szoke, were bagging merchandise. Wilson pointed a gun at Kennedy. Assuming the gun to be a toy gun, Kennedy pushed the gun away and told Wilson to get that thing out of here. Wilson then went to Szoke and placed the gun against Szoke's head. Szoke had the same reaction as Kennedy. Wilson shot Szoke in the head, then fled the market. Szoke died a few days later. Wilson was expelled from school for fighting after the ninth grade. He subsequently worked as a cook, factory worker and gas station attendant. He has a daughter whom he sometimes supports. He does not suffer from any psychological problems. Wilson began abusing alcohol at the age of fifteen, and by the time he was seventeen, he drank alcohol, smoked marijuana and used cocaine daily. Wilson said that at the time of the offense he was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. In 1986, he was convicted of robbery, common assault and theft. Wilson was convicted of murder, felony murder, armed robbery, conspiracy, aggravated assault and weapons offenses. The jury found aggravating factor c(4)(g) (concurrent felony) to be present. The jury also found present all the mitigating factors submitted by Wilson: c(5)(c)(age); c(5)(d) (diminished capacity); and c(5)(h) (catch-all). The jury declined to impose the death penalty and Wilson was sentenced to an aggregate term of life imprisonment with a thirty-three year period of parole disqualification.
Charles Emmanuel Although not on duty on the day of the murder, Emmanuel went to the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant where he worked and helped his co-workers clean up. Suddenly, Emmanuel pulled out a handgun and shot a co-worker three times, killing him. When the restaurant manager came out of his office, Emmanuel fired three shots at him but the manager survived. Emmanuel then stole three thousand dollars from the restaurant safe. Emmanuel was an eighteen-year-old high school student at the time of the offense. He has no mental illnesses. This was his first adult offense, but he committed numerous theft and assault crimes as a juvenile. He began drinking alcohol when he was thirteen and began smoking marijuana daily at the age of sixteen. He was under the influence of alcohol and drugs when he committed the crimes at the restaurant. Emmanuel pled guilty to felony-murder and attempted murder. He received a life sentence with a thirty-year period of parole ineligibility. The AOC coded as present the c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factor and the c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(d) (diminished capacity), c(5)(f) (no significant criminal history) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. Carl Culley Armed with an automatic shotgun and wearing a ski mask and gloves in the early morning hours of November 21, 1983, Culley drove into a gas station intending to rob it. When he told the attendant that he did not have money to pay for the gasoline, the attendant responded that he would call the police unless Culley left his car at the gas station. Culley claims that he then attempted to scare the attendant by pointing the gun at him, but that the attendant grabbed the barrel of the gun and was shot when the gun accidentally discharged. Culley then got out of his car and shot the attendant in the back. The attendant died from the gunshots. In his confession, Culley admitted that he intended to kill the attendant with the second shot to prevent the attendant from identifying him. At the time of the offense, Culley was nineteen-years old. He was enrolled in college and had worked as a landscaper and maintenance man. He had a prior conviction for theft and criminal mischief. He claimed that he was sexually abused when he was a child. Culley was prosecuted non-capitally. A jury convicted him of murder, felony-murder and weapons offenses. The judge sentenced him to thirty years' imprisonment during which he would not be eligible for parole. The AOC coded present the c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factors and the c(5)(c)(age) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. Timothy Harris Harris and co-defendant Laquam Lassiter followed Robert Lee Rose and Audrey Williamson into a retail store in Newark. Pointing a revolver at Rose's head, Harris demanded money. Rose handed Harris a total of $150. Harris then pointed his gun at Williamson and demanded money. She gave him forty dollars but resisted his demands for more money. Frightened, she tried to run behind the store counter but Harris shot her in the head, killing her. Harris told his co-defendant that he shot Williamson because she did not give him all of her money. Harris, who turned nineteen the month he murdered Williamson, had no prior adult record but had an extensive juvenile record. This offense was his first indictable conviction. He had no psychiatric problems and claimed to have no history of substance abuse. He dropped out of high school after tenth grade and did not work since then. The prosecutor tried Harris non-capitally. The jury convicted him of murder, robbery, aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit robbery and weapons offenses. The court sentenced him to an aggregate term of life imprisonment plus twenty years with a forty-year period of parole ineligibility. The AOC coded as present the c(4)(g) (escape detection) aggravating factor and the c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(f) (no significant criminal history) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. Dwight Hickson Dwight Hickson, Shane Blunt and William Johnson, decided to rob a gas station. Blunt gave Hickson a .25 caliber automatic gun as they walked toward the gas station. The three of them entered the gas station office and Hickson told the attendant that it was a holdup. Hickson saw the attendant come toward him, so Hickson shot the attendant, who fell to the floor. The attendant was found later that night lying face down in the gas station parking lot. There was a bullet wound in his head, a large pool of blood under his head, and blood on his pants. Police transported the victim to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy revealed that he died as a result of gunshot wounds to the head and leg. Hickson was twenty-six years old at the time of the murder. He had a history of marijuana, angel dust and alcohol usage. Hickson's statement to the police implicated all three of the perpetrators. Hickson pled guilty to aggravated manslaughter and robbery, for which he received an aggregate term of forty-six years' imprisonment with a twenty-three period of parole ineligibility. The AOC coded as present the aggravating factor c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) and the mitigating factors c(5)(d) (diminished capacity) and c(5)(h) (no significant criminal history). Anthony Inman While out looking for drug dealers whom they could rob, twenty-one year old Anthony Inman and co-defendant Wayne Harvey decided instead to rob a grocery store. The pair went inside and Inman pulled out a .45 caliber handgun and ordered the victim, a co-owner of the store, to give money to Harvey, who was aiming his nine-millimeter handgun at the victim. The victim reached for his gun, and Inman shot him twice in the chest. Although the victim yelled to the co-owner to run because he was being shot, the co-owner did not heed the warning but instead ran into the front of the store and shot Inman twice. Inman and Harvey then fled. Inman was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he committed the robbery and homicide. Except for being a heroin addict, Inman had no physical or psychological problems. He lived with his grandfather and was unemployed. He had prior convictions for theft as well as drug and weapons offenses. Inman pled guilty to aggravated manslaughter, conspiracy, robbery and weapons offenses. The court sentenced him to an aggregate of forty years' imprisonment with a twenty-year period of parole ineligibility. The AOC coded as present the c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factor and the c(5)(d) (diminished capacity), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. Khalif James James and co-defendants Lawrence McGriff and Jason Means decided to rob a gas station. They were intoxicated at the time. When they got out of their car, McGriff reached the gas station first. When James arrived, he saw McGriff pistol-whipping the gas-station attendant. A guard dog bit McGriff, and James drew his gun, purportedly to shoot the dog. Then, the attendant attacked McGriff, and James fatally shot the attendant in the head. James was a nineteen-year-old high-school graduate who had worked at a fast-food restaurant. He occasionally used alcohol or marijuana. He had no prior adult convictions. James confessed to shooting the gas-station attendant. He claimed, however, that he had tried to shoot the attendant in the leg and thought that he had shot him in the back. A jury convicted James of murder, felony murder, robbery and weapons offenses. The court sentenced him to an aggregate term of life imprisonment with thirty years of parole ineligibility. The AOC coded as present the c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factor and the c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(d) (diminished capacity), c(5)(f) (no significant criminal history) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. Harold Rodriquez Rodriguez and co-defendant Marceliano Guetierrez attempted to rob a gas station. Rodriguez shot and killed a customer and. shot the gas-station owner six times. The owner survived. At the time of the offense, Rodriguez was thirty-seven years old, married and the father of three children. His parents were not married and he was raised by his father. When Rodriguez was fourteen-years old, he ran away from home. He was unemployed when he committed the murder but had previously worked as a machine operator. He used heroin and cocaine daily for twenty years. Other than substance abuse, there is no indication that Rodriquez had any emotional problems. He suffers, however, from AIDS. Rodriguez pled guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, murder, attempted murder, two counts of robbery, and weapons offenses. The court sentenced him to an aggregate term of life imprisonment with a thirty-year period of parole ineligibility. The AOC coded as present the c(4)(b) (grave risk) and c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factors and the c(5)(d) (diminished capacity) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) factors. Jose Soto Soto and his co-defendant Eddie Jorge planned to rob a Chinese restaurant. Soto demanded money from one of the co-owners, a twenty-three-year-old woman. When she told him there was no money, he shot her. She died before she could get medical attention. Soto then shot at the other co-owner, the victim's thirty-year-old husband who survived the shooting. Soto, a nineteen-year-old high school drop-out, had previously worked as a truck driver and delivery man. He claimed to have been working at the same job for the six months prior to his arrest. He has no history of mental problems but admitted to smoking marijuana daily since the age of thirteen, and to drinking large quantities of alcohol in the month preceding the murder. Soto has no prior criminal record. Soto pled guilty to aggravated manslaughter and robbery and was sentenced to an aggregate term of fifty years' imprisonment with twenty-three years of parole ineligibility. The AOC coded as present the c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factor and the c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(d) (diminished capacity), c(5)(f) (no significant criminal history) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. Corey Washington Corey Washington, John Bultran and Jerome White planned to rob a check-cashing establishment. Washington had previously sold drugs to the clerk at the store and believed that he and his co-defendants would be easily able to get behind the counter. The store door was locked when they arrived and Bultran and White fired gunshots into the floor. The clerk then opened the door and the three perpetrators forced him to open the safe. They ordered him and his sixty-eight-year-old co-worker to lie on the floor while they removed the cash. Before they left, Washington shot the younger clerk in the head, and Bultran shot the older clerk in the head. The younger clerk died, but the older clerk survived. Washington was nineteen-years-old and lived with his mother at the time of the murder. He dropped out of high school and had some experience working as a laborer. He had no history of substance abuse or mental illness. He had a prior conviction for assault and weapons offenses. Washington pled guilty to purposeful-or-knowing murder. The court sentenced him to thirty years imprisonment with no parole eligibility. The AOC coded as present the c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factors and the c(5)(c)(age) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors.