US jury's Bible death sentence quashed

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Wednesday March 30, 2005
The Guardian

The Colorado supreme court has struck down a death sentence because jurors were guided by the biblical "eye for eye, tooth for tooth".
In a 3-2 decision, the court ruled on Monday it was wrong of jurors to take their cue from the Bible. The passage appears in Exodus and Leviticus.

In 1995, Robert Harlan was convicted of raping a cocktail waitress at gunpoint for two hours before killing her; he also shot and paralysed a woman who tried to rescue her. Now 40, he will spend his life in jail without parole.

At his trial, jurors were instructed repeatedly to base their decisions solely on evidence. While there was no specific prohibition against reliance on religious beliefs, the supreme court held that a juror went too far by bringing his Bible into the jury room into persuade a Christian juror who argued the death penalty went against his conscience.
Five jurors were believed to have copied out the passage for their deliberations, before the jury gave the necessary unanimous vote for capital punishment.

"The text may ... be viewed as a legal instruction, issuing from God, requiring a particular and mandatory punishment for murder," the state supreme court said. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Nancy Rice said the ruling was demeaning to people of faith.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1447931,00.html