Rutledge OK with death penalty
|
Rutledge, 51, told both the court and his attorney, Larry Warner, that he was ready to resolve his case.
“He may not be so agreeable when he finds out we are filing notice that we intend to seek the death penalty,” said District Attorney General Dale Potter as he stood side by side with Rutledge.
Potter’s announcement brought no change of expression from Rutledge who again maintained he was willing to take care of the charges immediately, even if it meant accepting the death penalty.
State law prevents entering a plea in a case where the punishment is death. Instead, Rutledge was given a June 1, 2005 trial date, and a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf by his attorney.
Rutledge is charged with first-degree murder for the May 1993 shooting death of Ricky King, 35. King was found in the trunk of a car outside a family member’s home, his death caused by numerous execution-style shots to the head.
While Rutledge was immediately the leading suspect due to information obtained by investigators, they were unable to produce enough evidence to get an indictment until two months ago. However, Rutledge had not been a free man as he had been in federal prison almost the entire 11 years since the murder.
He is serving a 24-year federal sentence for possessing a gun as a convicted felon. Rutledge had prior convictions for crimes such as rape, kidnapping and second-degree murder for the stabbing death of a Turner’s Bend man. His criminal record dates back to 1969.
In asking for death, prosecutors are seeking to ensure Rutledge will never be a free man again. Under 1993 law, for which Rutledge will be sentenced if convicted, there was no provision for life without chance of parole, meaning, Rutledge could possibly be released if sentenced to life with chance of parole. Rutledge still owes federal authorities about 14 years on his federal conviction.
Should prosecutors win their bid for the death penalty, Rutledge would be the second generation of his family to face the ultimate punishment. His father, Thomas Rutledge, died in the electric chair on June 15, 1959. He was the last person from Warren County to receive the death penalty and was the second from the last in the state to go to the electric chair.
The elder Rutledge received death for killing a teen-age girl in the 1950s and then leaving her body near a railroad track. The younger Rutledge was 6 when his father was electrocuted.