Death sentence reinstated for man who killed officer

New jury not needed, appeals court says

By The Columbus Dispatch  • 

Cop-killer Daryl Lawrence will be transferred to Death Row at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., after an appeals court reinstated his death sentence yesterday.

But Lawrence's attorney, Kort Gatterdam, expects to continue appealing the sentence, which a federal judge had set aside as irrational.

"I think both sides expect this will end up in the U.S. Supreme Court," Gatterdam said.

A federal jury convicted Lawrence of killing Columbus Police Officer Bryan Hurst during a bank robbery four years ago. The jury gave Lawrence life in prison for shooting Hurst during a robbery but a death sentence for killing him with malice.

Federal Judge Gregory Frost said the inconsistency of the two sentences was irrational, and a new jury should hear the facts and determine whether Lawrence should be sentenced to life or death.

The U.S. attorney's office, which prosecuted the case, appealed that ruling, and a new jury wasn't seated.

A three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the jurors properly followed Frost's instructions and that the sentences were consistent. The panel threw out Frost's order and reinstated the death sentence.

Hurst's stepfather said he and his wife were relieved by the decision.

"We're not vindictive or hateful, but a message has to be sent that when you take a life, you must be prepared to suffer the consequences," Ted Kaczorowski said from the family's home in suburban Toledo. "There is a measure of uncertainty because we still have the Supreme Court, but we're progressing in the right direction."

The jury found Lawrence guilty of eight counts, two of which carried the possibility of a death sentence. Jurors then weighed the mitigating and aggravating circumstances of the case and voted for death on one of the counts but not the other.

Although Frost said the jury's decision was "irrational, even arbitrary," the appeals panel determined that the jurors could reach different, rational conclusions for each death-eligible count.

Gatterdam said he expects to ask the 6th Circuit's full panel of judges to reconsider the ruling. The next step after that would be the Supreme Court.

"It's the first case of its kind," he said. "The Supreme Court has never ruled on inconsistent verdicts in the penalty phase of a death-penalty case."

Hurst, 33, was working special duty at Fifth Third Bank at 6265 E. Broad St. on Jan. 6, 2005, when Lawrence entered with a drawn handgun and killed him during an exchange of gunfire.

Lawrence, 33, is in Lee Federal Penitentiary near Jonesville, Va., but will be moved to Death Row at the U.S. penitentiary in Indiana, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office said.