Ron Lafferty vs Larry Benzon: A Legal Case Brief

Facts 

Ronald Watson Lafferty was arrested, prosecuted and found guilty and sentenced to death for multiple criminal charges level against him amongst them two counts of murder. Notably, it is claimed that the murders were elicited by excommunication of Ron Lafferty from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( Lafferty v. Benzon , 2019) . Lafferty and some other individuals organized themselves into a religious outfit referred to as “School of the Prophets.” Lafferty in the company of close aide Dan Lafferty, murdered his brother Allen’s wife and her child. The names of their victims were Brenda (Larry’s wife), Erica (fifteen-month old daughter. They had also planned to execute two more people; Chloe Low and Richard Stowe, but fortunately did not find them that night (United States Courts of Appeals, 2019) . Out of frustration, they burglarized Low’s house. Lafferty defended his actions by stating they were acting on a religious revelation that required the removal (death) of four individuals. 

Procedural History 

After arrest, Lafferty was charged with two counts of first degree murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, and two counts of aggravated burglary. After it was determined that Lafferty was fit for trail, he was convicted on all counts leveled and sentenced to death (Leagle, 2019) . Lafferty lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court, which affirmed his conviction and sentence. 

Lafferty’s exhaustion of his state court remedies prompted him to file a petition for federal habeas relief. His petition was rejected by the district court and again Lafferty appealed the decision. Luckily, as Lafferty v. Benzon (2019) explains, this time round, the court ruled in favor of Lafferty stating that the wrong legal standard was applied during Lafferty assessment of his fitness to stand trial. The initial sentence and conviction was vacated by the court and new criminal proceeding ordered. 

Again Lafferty was charged with two counts of murder, first degree aggravated burglary and second degree conspiracy to commit criminal homicide. A different judge was assigned the case and it was established that Lafferty was unfit to stand trial due to mental illness (United States Courts of Appeals, 2019) . After months of treatment, Lafferty was found fit to stand trial and the proceedings resumed in February 1994. The trial end in April 1996 when Lafferty was again found guilty of all counts and sentenced to death. 

Pursuant to § 2254, Lafferty again applied for a second federal habeas in May 2007 that was denied by the court. He amended the petition and resubmitted it October the same year but it was denied (Leagle, 2019) . Presently, Lafferty is seeking a COA on the four claim asserted in his initial habeas petition. 

Issues 

A major key issue that came up Lafferty’s trial is the ignorance of the previous court and prosecution to accurately assess Lafferty competency to stand trial. Notably, this amounted to a violation of Fifth Amendment. Wrong legal standards were followed during the assessment. For instance, there was no record to prove that the assessment was truly carried out (Leagle, 2019) . Also, the amount of time rendered for the competency hearing was impractical. 

The other major issue pertained to the state trail competency determination. Lafferty held the opinion that the court made a mistake in finding him fit to stand trial (United States Courts of Appeals, 2019) . He argued that his experts had found him incompetent to go through trail. 

Holding, including the rule of law 

On the first judgement, the court agreed that previous ruling was erroneous as it violated his chance for fair trial. However, on the second ruling the district holding was Lafferty failed to prove how the counsel feel short of the reasonable professional assistance. The sitting also argued that Lafferty did not provide any more evidence, apart from his expert’s opinion, that he was indeed incompetent for trial (Leagle, 2019) . Hence, Lafferty’s motion for COA was denied and further proceedings dismissed. 

References 

Leagle. (2019). LAFFERTY v. BENZON . Retrieved from Leagle.com. 

Lafferty v. Benzon , No. 18-4016 (10th Cir. Aug. 12, 2019). 

United States Courts of Appeals. (2019). Ronald Watson Lafferty vs. Larry Benzon. Filed at United States Court of Appeals.