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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

9th Circuit ruling could lead to rerun of whole Duncan sentencing trial

Here's a link to the 9th Circuit ruling out today on Joseph Duncan, which orders U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge to hold a competency hearing to determine if Duncan was competent to waive his right to appeal his death sentence. If the answer is yes, then the sentence will go forward. If not, the federal court in Idaho would have to "proceed to determine whether Defendant competently waived his right to counsel before the penalty phase hearing." If it then finds that he wasn't competent to do that, it would have to "vacate Defendant’s sentence and convene a new penalty phase hearing with Defendant properly represented." That would mean a rerun of Duncan's entire sentencing trial in federal court in Boise for his deadly attack on the Groene family of North Idaho.
 



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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