BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday threw out the deathpenalty sentence against a man convicted of killing three people inMassachusetts and New Hampshire during a weeklong crime spree in2001 and ordered a new trial to determine if he will be put todeath.
Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled that Gary Sampson wasdenied his constitutional right to have his sentence decided by animpartial jury and that he is "entitled to a new trial to determinewhether the death penalty is justified in his case."
The judge's decision was angrily denounced by the father ofJonathan Rizzo, one of Sampson's victims.
"I wish I could say I was surprised. I'm not surprised, I'mextremely disappointed and phenomenally outraged at the fact thatone man with the ego the size of Judge Wolf's tried to overturn thegood work done by so many people in coming to the right decisionmany years ago," Mike Rizzo told reporters in a conferencecall.
Sampson, a drifter who was raised in Abington, pleaded guilty tocarjacking two Massachusetts men after each picked him uphitchhiking. He said he forced both men to drive to secluded spots,assured them he only wanted to steal their cars, then stabbed themrepeatedly and slit their throats.
He then fled to New Hampshire, broke into a house in Meredith andstrangled a third man.
In a motion for a new trial, Sampson's lawyers argued that threejurors had given inaccurate answers to questions they were askedduring the jury selection process.
Wolf found that one of the jurors had intentionally and repeatedlyanswered questions dishonestly in an attempt to avoid talking aboutsubjects that were painful to her. She never disclosed, forexample, that her husband had a rifle and had threatened to shoother, that she had ended her marriage because of her husband'ssubstance abuse and that her daughter had served time in prisonbecause of a drug problem.
Wolf said in his ruling that if the woman had disclosed thosethings during the jury selection process, the court would havefound that there was a "high risk" that after listening to theevidence at Sampson's trial, her decision on whether to sentenceSampson to death could have been influenced by her lifeexperiences. Wolf said the woman likely would have been excusedfrom serving on the jury.
"In essence, despite dedicated efforts by the parties and the courtto assure that the trial would be fair and the verdict final, ithas now been proven that perjury by a juror resulted in a violationof Sampson's constitutional right to have the issue of whether heshould live or die decided by twelve women and men who were eachcapable of deciding that most consequential question impartially,"wrote Wolf, who presided at Sampson's trial.
But Mike Rizzo disagreed with the reasoning, saying that he doesnot believe Wolf's decision was based on a desire to get itright.
"I believe Judge Wolf is trying what he thinks is good for hisimage and himself, he doesn't care about anybody else," Rizzo said."It's clear it's been on his agenda for six years based on hisaction since the trial ended to do everything he could to ensurethis is overturned and did not happen on his watch."
"I've heard and seen so many things from the judge over the yearsto be surprised at this, but, again, unfortunately, I'm verydisappointed in the outcome," Rizzo said. "I feel terribly for thejurors who found themselves in this position through, I don'tthink, any willful deceit on their part."
Sampson was the first person sentenced to death in Massachusettsunder the federal death penalty law. Massachusetts, which does nothave a death penalty, has not executed anyone in more than half acentury.
Sampson pleaded guilty to federal charges in the carjacking andkilling of Jonathan Rizzo, a 19-year-old college student fromKingston, and Philip McCloskey, 69, of Taunton, in July 2001. Afederal jury in Boston recommended the death penalty after hearingweeks of gruesome testimony about the killings.
Separately, Sampson pleaded guilty in state court in New Hampshirein the killing of Robert Whitney, 58, of Concord, a former citycouncilor. Sampson received a life sentence in Whitney'sdeath.
"Gary Lee Sampson has admitted to the cold-blooded murders ofPhilip McCloskey, Jonathan Rizzo and Robert Whitney. Today's orderdoes not change that fact," U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in astatement.
Ortiz said prosecutors will meet with the victims' families todiscuss the ruling and plan to "examine all of our legal options."Said Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for Ortiz: "We arestrongly considering an appeal as one of the options."
But Mike Rizzo said he was not sure whether he could go throughtrial again.
"I don't know how I'd do that, how to do that at the moment," hesaid. "I can't imagine dragging all that drama and all of thosethings, how that'd feel — to drag all that stuff to the surfaceagain and have to deal with it for what would be the fourth orfifth time for us, given all the hearings we've beenthrough."
During the trial's sentencing phase, Sampson's lawyers said he wasabused as a child and suffered from bipolar disorder, damage to thefrontal lobe of his brain, and drug and alcoholaddiction.
Family members of the remaining victims could not immediately bereached for comment on Wolf's ruling.
Former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan, who brought the case againstSampson, said he is disappointed that Sampson will get a new deathpenalty hearing.
"I feel horrible for the victims' families," Sullivansaid.
"Sampson is an admitted cold-blooded killer and he deserves thedeath sentence that the jury imposed," he said.
Wolf had ordered that the execution be carried out in New Hampshire— the closest state with a death penalty — to make it moreaccessible to Sampson's victims. New Hampshire has a death penalty,although it hasn't executed anyone since 1939.
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Associated Press writer Rodrique Ngowi contributed to thisstory.
