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SALT LAKE CITY — Attorneys for death-row inmate Ron Lafferty have asked a federal court to put his appeal on hold so they can pursue legal claims back in state court.
Lafferty's lawyer argues in a motion filed in U.S. District Court last week that the state failed to preserve and disclose material evidence and did not keep a complete record of his trial proceedings. They also argue that his post-conviction counsel was ineffective.
Claiming God directed them, Lafferty and his brother Dan Lafferty slashed the throats of their sister-in-law Brenda Lafferty and her 15-month-old daughter, Erica, in July 1984. Both were convicted of the murders in separate trials.
Dan Lafferty was sentenced to life in prison; Ron Lafferty was sentenced to die.
A federal appeals court overturned Ron Lafferty's first conviction because the wrong standard was used to determine his mental competency. He had another trial in 1996 and was again found guilty and condemned to die. He chose the firing squad.
Defense attorneys contend the state mishandled or altered evidence, including a bloody drape and crime lab log books, between the two trials.
A blood stain on the drape from Brenda Lafferty's kitchen window appeared to have been removed and a second stain added, according to the motion. The killers possibly used the drape to wipe their hands or the knife.
The state knew the drape was altered but used it as evidence anyway, violating Lafferty's due process rights, the motion says.
Lafferty's lawyers also argue the state did not maintain a complete record of his jury selection, making him unable to address juror bias in his state appeals.
The Utah Supreme Court denied Lafferty's request for a new trial in 2007. The state's high court based its decision, in part, on the question of whether he was mentally competent in 1985.
The justices concluded that given several mental evaluations, Lafferty was competent. The ruling essentially exhausted his state appeal options, and he then turned to the federal court in an effort to stop his execution.
