Death row inmate could face retrial over prosecutor’s ‘sex shaming’ claim

Oklahoma’s only female death row inmatewhose lawyers claim she was “sexually humiliated” during her husband’s murder trial, may have another day in court after Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling.

Brenda Andrew, now 61 years old, was sentenced to death in 2004 for the murder of her estranged husbandRob Andrew.

She was convicted of murder in 2001, along with her lover and fellow Sunday school teacher, James Pavatt. Pavatt, who sold Rob Andrew an $800,000 life insurance policy, confessed to killing Rob with a friend. He denied that Brenda was involved.

Brenda Andrew told police after the shooting, during which she was shot in the arm, that two masked men attacked her and her husband while helping her turn on the pilot light on the stove in their garage, according to court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital.

Her lawyers argue that evidence of her “apparently irrelevant sexual history” was not fair to use in court, where prosecutors called her a “puppy bitch” and showed jurors one of her thongs, according to their court filings.

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The prosecutor said the thong was strong evidence that Andrew killed her husband, the New York Times reported.

“A grieving widow packs this to run away with her boyfriend,” he said holding her clothes. “You can’t twist the facts, people. You can’t twist the evidence.”

Andrew packed her underwear for a trip to Mexico a few days after her husband’s death. Andrew and Pavatt ran out of money three months after the murder, in February 2002, and re-entered the United States, the paper said, where they were arrested at the border. Andrew’s two children, who were traveling with them, were placed in the care of their paternal grandparents.

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Supreme Court justices wrote in their decision that the prosecutor “spent a significant amount of time at trial” going over details about Andrew’s sex life that were unrelated to her her husband’s murder.

“Among other things, the prosecution elicited testimony about Andrew’s sexual partners going back two decades; the clothes she wore to dinner or shopping; the underwear she packed for vacations; and how often she had sex in her car,” wrote the majority in its decision. “The ultimate question is whether a fair lawyer can disagree that the evidence is ‘so infected the trial with unfairness’ so that the resulting conviction or sentence would be a ‘denial of due process’.”

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However, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Neil M. Gorsuch dissented.

“Sex and marriage were inevitable issues at Andrew’s trial, and the state presented a variety of evidence about her sexual behavior,” Thomas wrote.

In a brief appeal to the Supreme Court not to hear Andrew’s case, prosecutors argued that testimony about her appearance and sexuality was “just a drop in the bucket” of evidence against her. Before the Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday, lower courts suggested that even though the prosecution presented the case improperly, the case against Andrew still stood.

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The 10th District Court of Appeal in Colorado will now consider Andrew’s claims.

Andrew’s attorney, Ed Blau, said KOCO news 5 that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether the evidence “in relation to [his client’s] sex life” and “as to her qualities as a mother … should not have been given to the jury, and whether it rose to the level of violating her legal rights.”

He said Andrew could be convicted or get a whole new trial based on the appeals court’s findings. The court could also decide that no action is necessary and that Andrew should remain awaiting the death penalty.

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Jessica Sutton, another of Andrew’s lawyers, said The Oklahoman that he hopes the court will “stop this injustice”.

“The use of these gender characteristics to justify conviction and the death penalty is unacceptable and poses a threat to all who do not follow rigid gender norms,” ​​she told the news outlet.

Although she doubts that the court will acquit Andrew of murder, forensic psychologist dr. Carole Lieberman told Fox News Digital that she will likely get a retrial.

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“The evidence about her role in the murder was not enough to get the death penalty, so it was[prosecutors}usedthestereotypesofthejurorsaboutthe’fallenwoman’andmadethemdespisethem”saidLieberman”Theso-calledevidenceoftheprosecutionwasmoreharmfulthantheevidence[prosecutors}preyedonjurors’stereotypesofa’fallenwoman’andgotthemtodespiseher”Liebermansaid”Theprosecution’sso-calledevidencewasmoreprejudicialthanprobative…Ithinkitwasinappropriatepersonalhatredoftheprosecutorstowardherorinaappropriatepersonalrevengeorapersonaldesiretopunishhermoreseverelyinsteadofjustgivingherlifeinprison”[tužitelji}iskoristilistereotipeporotnikao’palojženi’inatjeraliihdajepreziru”rekaojeLieberman”TakozvanidokazitužiteljstvabilisuvišeštetninegodokazniMislimdajetobilaneprikladnaosobnamržnjatužiteljapremanjojilineprimjerenaosobnaosvetailiosobnaželjadajesestrožekazniumjestodajojsesamodaživotuzatvoru”[prosecutors}preyedonjurors‘stereotypesofa‘fallenwoman’andgotthemtodespiseher”Liebermansaid”Theprosecution’sso-calledevidencewasmoreprejudicialthanprobative…Ithinkitwasinappropriatepersonalhatredoftheprosecutorstowardherorinappropriatepersonalrevengeorapersonaldesiretopunishhermoreseverelyinsteadofjustgivingherlifeinprison”

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A three-judge panel voted 2-1 to overturn part of Pavatt’s death sentence in June 2017. They found Andrew’s husband died too quickly for his death to be considered “cruel and heinous,” an aggravating circumstance that allowed the state to extradite him. capital punishment, Oklahoma City KFOR reported.

Andrew’s last appeal in 2008 was denied, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.