A man previously convicted of killing a 78-year-old Upper St. Clair woman in 2003 and given the death penalty appeared in court Tuesday and was resentenced to a life prison term. Patrick Stollar, 45, was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2008. Two days later, a jury recommended he be
For many judges in Allegheny County’s criminal courts division, giving the opening instructions in a jury trial can be monotonous. The information — outside of the name of the defendant and charges they face — doesn’t change. It’s page after page of reading aloud to make sure jurors know how
Cherokee Nation
reservation and that the victims were enrolled members of the Cherokee tribe.
Previously, the U.S. Supreme Court had voided the conviction of
Muscogee (Creek) citizen,
Patrick Murphy for murders that had occurred within the historical borders of the Creek Reservation. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals also voided the conviction of Shaun Bosse for murders of members of the
Chickasaw Nation within the borders of the Chickasaw Reservation.
NEWS (4/29/21) California: The California Supreme Court upheld the death sentence imposed on
Maurice Steskal in his resentencing trial, unanimously rejecting his argument that the execution of severely mentally ill individuals constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Steskal had contended that the evolving standards of decency in the United States no longer found it acceptable to execute those who are severely mentally ill.
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A Washington County man who was convicted of killing an elderly Upper St. Clair woman in 2003 and given the death penalty will get a new sentencing hearing.
Patrick Stollar, 42, appeared on a video screen from prison during a brief hearing on Thursday before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge David R. Cashman.
His attorney, Thomas N. Farrell, argued that Cashman failed to give the jury in Stollar’s 2008 trial the proper instruction regarding his lack of any previous criminal convictions before it began deliberating his sentence. He was sentenced to die by lethal injection. Acknowledging the error, the prosecution conceded to the new penalty hearing.