Asatru Killer asks for stay of execution
It seriously bugs me that this case has been cast in such a strange light. If a Christian had committed murder, the headline would not be Baptist Killer asks for stay of execution. That notwithstanding, as most juries are prohibited from using "outside sources" to determine whether or not a convicted murderer should be put to death, use of the Bible or any other outside book should automatically serve to commute a sentence from death to life in prison without parole. It's much less about religion and much more about legalities.
Asatru Killer asks for stay of execution:
By KRISTEN GELINEAU
A man slated to be put to death next week for the slaying of a fellow inmate during a Nordic pagan ceremony asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to grant him a stay of execution. Michael Lenz, 42, is scheduled to die by injection July 27 at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt for the fatal stabbing of Brent Parker.
In their petition to the high court, Lenz's attorneys contend jurors in Lenz's case admitted they'd consulted a Bible during their sentencing deliberations, and that one jury member said some jurors pointed to passages in the Bible that supported the death penalty for killers. Lenz's attorneys argue the jurors' consultation of the Bible was an outside influence that denied Lenz the right to a fair and impartial trial.