Court says Georgia death row inmate should be resentenced

ATLANTA – A federal appeals court says a Georgia man sentenced to die for killing a coworker more than 30 years ago should be resentenced.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday in the case of 64-year-old Lawrence Jefferson.

Jefferson was convicted of murder and sentenced to die for killing Edward Taulbee. According to court filings, Jefferson killed Taulbee when the pair went to Lake Allatoona to fish after work on May 1, 1985.

The appeals court says Jefferson should be resentenced because his trial lawyers failed to present mitigating evidence.

The jury didn’t hear evidence of brain damage that severely impaired his judgment and ability to control his behaviour. The appeals court says that left jurors with a “profoundly misleading” picture of Jefferson and his moral culpability.