SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal judge overturned the conviction of a death row inmate, saying he received ineffective counsel during his trial.
U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell ruled Tuesday that Von Lester Taylor was not adequately represented in his 1991 trial that led to a death sentence, The Deseret News reports.
Taylor’s guilty plea was unconstitutional and must be invalidated, the ruling said.
Taylor, 54, and Edward Deli broke into a cabin in Oakley in December 1990. Minutes later the owners arrived and were shot multiple times, authorities said.
Kay Tiede and her mother, Beth Potts, were killed, while her husband, Rolf Tiede, survived despite being shot in the head and doused with gasoline.
Taylor accepted a deal in which he pleaded guilty to two counts of capital murder in exchange for the dismissal of eight lesser charges, but the possibility of the death penalty was not removed.
The judge’s ruling says Elliott Levine, Taylor’s attorney, “provided him with deficient representation falling well below the prevailing professional norms.”
Campbell wrote that Levine did not properly investigate the case, assuming Taylor’s guilt was a foregone conclusion.
Levine’s bar certification in the state is currently suspended, according to the Utah State Bar’s website.
The court found bullets fired by Deli’s gun caused the deaths of Tiede and Potts, even though Taylor also shot them, records said.
“He did not visit the scene. He did not hire an investigator. And critically, he did not consult, much less hire, experts,” Campbell’s ruling said. “If Mr. Levine had fulfilled his duty to investigate by, for example, hiring a ballistics expert and a forensics expert, he would have uncovered evidence that contradicted the state’s evidence.”
The Utah Attorney General’s Office said it plans to appeal the ruling.
