Post by MXB on Jun 9, 2007 6:36:33 GMT -5
The Louisiana Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence for a 41-year-old man convicted of raping an eight-year-old girl in a case that may test a 1977 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that held the death penalty for rape violated the constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment.
In the 1977 case, the Supreme Court said its ruling applied only to adult rape victims. The court has not yet ruled in a rape case involving and child that resulted in a death sentence, but observers believe the Louisiana case will force a high-court ruling.
Patrick Kennedy, of New Orleans, was convicted in 2003 of raping a relative in the garage of her home and bragged that the girl "became a lady today," according to court records.
In its ruling, the Louisiana court said the state law met the standard requiring aggravating circumstances in justifying a death penalty.
"Our state Legislature and this court have determined this category of aggravated rapist to be among those deserving of the death penalty, and, short of a first-degree murderer, we can think of no other non-homicide crime more deserving," Justice Jeffrey Victory wrote.
Several other states have laws providing for the death penalty in the case of child rape or repeated child rape, including South Carolina, Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida and Montana. A similar law is pending in Texas.