Reinaldo Rivera, already under a death sentence for murder, was sentenced Thursday to seven life sentences plus 105 years in prison for all of his other Augusta crimes.
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The father of victim Chrisilee Barton(middle in Camo) has to be escourted by bailiffs out of the courtroom after he became emotional during the sentencing of convicted killer and rapist Reinaldo Rivera at the Law Enforcement Center on Thursday afternoon. Rivera was previously sentenced to death for the murder or Marni Glista.
Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff
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Before Judge Albert M. Pickett imposed the maximum punishment possible for crimes related to the rapes of three women, two of whom were slain afterward, tempers flared as Mr. Rivera's defense attorneys attempted to present motions over his objections and the judge berated them for trying.
"There's nothing I have against my attorneys. They're excellent attorneys," Mr. Rivera said of Peter Johnson and Jacque Hawk, whom he asked the judge to restrain from filing motions on his behalf.
Mr. Rivera, 40, has insisted, even to the Richmond County Superior Court jury that convicted him, that he wanted death. A jury unanimously voted for death after finding that Mr. Rivera murdered 21-year-old Army Sgt. Marni Glista.
"I think he's mentally ill," Mr. Johnson said of his client and asked the judge to let him and Mr. Hawk present the motions challenging the constitutionality of Georgia's method of execution.
As Mr. Johnson continued his argument that the defense case proved Mr. Rivera mentally ill if not by the legal standard, the father of one of Mr. Rivera's victims stood up and was removed from the courtroom.
Mr. Hawk argued that if Mr. Rivera wants the state to put him to death, then at least it should be done in a humane manner.
The lethal injection procedure Georgia uses has been banned in 19 states as inhumane euthanasia for animals, Mr. Hawk said.
But Judge Pickett said the attorneys had to have known that information was developing and should have given him notice.
Perhaps, Mr. Johnson said, Mr. Rivera had received ineffective assistance of counsel.
"Oh, that's sweet. That's bootstrap," Judge Pickett responded to Mr. Johnson's reference to ineffective assistance, a reason cited by appeal courts to reverse convictions.
Judge Pickett rejected the motions to find the death penalty unconstitutional.
Asked if he had anything to say before sentence was imposed, Mr. Johnson responded that speculation Mr. Rivera might have killed more than four women was false.
"There's nobody else," Mr. Rivera said.
For the Sept. 4, 2000, attack on Sgt. Glista, Judge Pickett sentenced Mr. Rivera to life for rape, life for each of two counts of aggravated sodomy, and 20 years for aggravated assault.
For the June 29, 2000, attack on Tabitha L. Bosdell in Augusta, Judge Pickett sentenced Mr. Rivera to life for rape, life for aggravated sodomy and 20 years for aggravated assault. After his arrest, Mr. Rivera led investigators to Columbia County to find the body of the 17-year-old foster child.
For the Oct. 10, 2000, attack on Chrisilee Barton, who was 18 at the time, Judge Pickett sentenced Mr. Rivera to life for rape, life for aggravated sodomy, 20 years for burglary, 20 years for each of two counts of aggravated assault, and five years for possession of a knife during the commission of a crime.
The death sentence and prison sentences are to be consecutive, Judge Pickett ruled.
In all, a Richmond County Superior Court jury convicted Mr. Rivera of 14 crimes related to the attacks Jan. 23.
Richmond County is finished with Mr. Rivera, but he still faces charges in Columbia County for Ms. Bosdell's slaying, and in Aiken County, where he is accused of raping and killing two 17-year-olds - Melissa Dingess and Tiffaney S. Wilson, who disappeared in July and December 1999.
District Attorney Danny Craig said Thursday he will try Mr. Rivera in Columbia County on capital murder charges in Ms. Bosdell's death, possibly this summer or fall.
Mr. Rivera might also face capital murder trials in Aiken County in Mrs. Dingess and Mrs. Wilson's deaths.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
