High court rejects challenge to Louisiana death penalty in case of attack on retired minister
By APMonday, October 5, 2009
High court won’t review death penalty in Louisiana
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has declined a challenge to the way the death penalty is imposed in Louisiana, rejecting an appeal by a woman convicted for her role in a brutal New Year’s Day attack on a retired minister.
The justices on Monday passed up an opportunity to examine whether the death sentence in Louisiana is arbitrarily meted out to some defendants, while others in similar circumstances are given life sentences.
The case involves a death sentence given to Brandy Holmes. She and her boyfriend, Robert Coleman, were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for killing 70-year-old retired minister Julian Brandon Jr. on New Year’s Day 2003.
(This version CORRECTS APNewsNow; corrects age in last graf to 70.)
