An Augusta man's murder conviction and death sentence were upheld Monday by the Georgia Supreme Court.
Robert O. Arrington, 62, has been on death row since a Richmond County Superior Court convicted him in May 2004 for the brutal beating death of a George Road woman who had allowed Mr. Arrington to live in her home for a time.
Kathy Hutchens, 46, was last seen alive in early April 2001. Mr. Arrington, who had served 15 years in prison for killing his wife, denied responsibility for Ms. Hutchens' death. The evidence against him included one of his fingerprints in Ms. Hutchens' blood, and her blood was found on his boots.
Also Monday, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld two other murder convictions connected to local cases.
One involved a man who beat to death his girlfriend's 4-year-old son, and the second involved the drive-by shooting of a semi-professional football player.
The court determined Jermaine D. Boyd, 36, was fairly tried and convicted in Richmond County Superior Court for the murder of Treymaine Berry, who a medical expert testified had probably been punched in the head more than a dozen times on Jan. 10, 2004. The boy died the next day. Mr. Boyd is serving life in prison.
The high court also found Sandy Washington, 24, was fairly tried and convicted in Richmond County Superior Court for the murder of 23-year-old Jeffrey Ellison on Jan. 5, 2006. Mr. Ellison, who played running back for the Palmetto Dragons, was shot to death while sitting inside a friend's Central Avenue home.
Mr. Washington and Vernon Ryans are both serving life sentences for murder. Jeremy Williams is serving 20 years for voluntary manslaughter for Mr. Ellison's death. Andre Madison pleaded guilty to property damage and received an eight-year probation sentence.
The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday partially reversed a Richmond County Superior Court ruling that prohibited a software inventor from using the program he developed.
The state's highest court ruled that Judge Carl C. Brown Jr. should not have granted an injunction against Branden Coleman at the request of Retina Eye Center.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
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The sentences that were upheld demonstrates the gaping hole in so-called justice and application of the death penalty. Why do some get it, while others do not? A reasonable person would conclude that something allows some killers to be spared while others get the juice. Can U guess what that "something" might be? Great country, eh?
And there is nothing you can do about it, so buck up.
Have some cheese justas
Don't you have some monuments to spray paint, Justus? Idiot
do u want some cheese with yo wine justas?
Justus, don't forget that the most recent execution by the State of Georgia was of a white man, a little over a week ago.
Justus4: you are right. In my opinion, they all should have gotten the death penalty. Keep in mind that Jermaine D. Boyd (a black-man) beat a 4 year old boy to death and only got life in prison.
if they give them life why not just go ahead and kill them that way the ones of us that are tax payers aren't paying for them to have better housing them some of us have..
What do you suggest justus4. Put them back on the street so that can murder someone else? Maybe next time it'll be someone you love. IMO, the penalty for taking a life should be that you give a life no matter what color your skin. People who murder would just as soon murder you or me as they would someone of any other race.
I agree with what brownskin30434 said. Look at Robert O. Arrington, he had already served 15 years in prison for murdering his wife, but yet when he got out, he murdered again. I have read too many articles in the past about convicted murders getting out just to turn around and murder again. The only way I could ever kill anyone is if I thought that a person was trying to kill me or someone else in my presence. I would not care what color he/she was. And I think that neither the color of someone's skin, weather black, white, etc, should get away with murder-the sentence should be the same. It breaks my heart that the court saw fit to only give Jeremy Williams 20 years for murdering that 4-year-old boy, Treymaine Berry. This child had his whole life ahead of him & he was brutalized and had his life taken away from him in a blink of an eye. To make matters even worse, Williams will probably not even serve those 20 years--he will get out long before his sentence is up. Where is the justice for this little boy?
The Bible says:"He who sheds man's blood;by man shall his blood be shed". The death penalty is not a deterrent to murder,nor is it humane. Having said that,I believe that some people,who show a callous disregard for the life granted to us by a loving God, should absolutely be removed from society by taking the right to breathe away from them.