Inman expected to waive his rights to appeals
By Charmaine Smith-Miles (Contact)
Thursday, April 23, 2009


http://www.independentmail.com/news/200 ... s-appeals/


Unrated
Jerry Buck Inman is now one of the 63 people on death row in South Carolina.

The only questions that remain are — will he stay there and how long?

Some of that is up to Inman himself.

“I sincerely believe that at some point he will waive all of his appeals and seek to be executed as quickly as possible,” said Inman attorney Jim Bannister. “I just can’t say when that’s going to be.”

If Inman chooses to waive his appeals, and no one challenges his competency to make those decisions, his execution could take place within three to six months, Bannister said.

Inman, 38, of Dandridge, Tenn., received the toughest penalty the law allows Wednesday for kidnapping, raping and strangling 20-year-old Tiffany Marie Souers on May 26, 2006. Inman has spent most of his adult life in prison and is listed as a sexual predator in Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee.

He still awaits trial on charges of other sexual assaults he was charged with after he was arrested in Souers’ death.

South Carolina has executed 37 people since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. There have been 1,099 people executed across the nation in the same period.

A report released by the center last winter shows Texas has the highest number of executions of any other state in the nation, with 405 people meeting their end on death row since 1976. South Carolina ranks ninth in terms of number of executions.

Inman pleaded guilty in August 2008 to killing Souers, becoming Bannister’s first defendant who was facing the death penalty to admit to the crime and forgo his right to a trial by jury. Because Inman entered the plea, Judge Ned Miller handed down a sentence rather than a jury.

The next step in Inman’s case, Bannister said, is to file a motion for reconsideration of whether a new trial should be allowed. During the sentencing hearing, Bannister tried twice to argue that a mistrial had taken place. Miller denied both motions.

Within the next 10 days, Bannister plans to file the new motion to once again fight for a new hearing. But this time, the attorney has two reasons for the request, he said.

He would argue, he said, that even if Inman pleaded guilty, he is still entitled to a sentencing hearing before a jury of his peers. The law now states that if someone pleads guilty, that person waives the right to a sentencing hearing before a jury.

“Up till now, the South Carolina Supreme Court has really avoided dealing with this issue,” Bannister said. “But really there is nothing more sacred than the right to a jury trial.”

Bannister said he also plans to address again comments made by 13th Circuit Solicitor Bob Ariail that left one witness feeling threatened. Bannister said he still feels that situation violated Inman’s right to a fair hearing.

Miller is the one who will decide on the motion. If he grants the reconsideration, then Inman will go through another sentencing hearing, Bannister said. If Miller denies the motion, however, then the case then moves into the South Carolina Supreme Court, where the appeals process will begin