on February 21, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned...

on February 21, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Glenn Anderson’s death penalty because his attorneys provided insufficient mitigating evidence on behalf of Anderson during the sentencing phase of his original trial. The judge ruled that evidence that Anderson suffers from brain damage in his frontal lobe, is borderline "mentally defective," was only able to complete the 8th grade, and functions in the bottom 2 % of the general population could have been mitigating factors in his sentence. No evidence of these facts was presented to the jury and thus, the death sentences were overturned. District Attorney Bret Burns said that a few family members still wanted Anderson to die for his crimes, but he decided to allow Anderson to accept the 3 life sentences without parole if he would waive his right to further appeals. Anderson agreed to forgo future appeals so Burns allowed him to accept the new sentences and not force another hearing into the matter. Anderson was sentenced to death in July 1997. He was one of three men convicted in the Sept. 28, 1996 deaths of James Donald Poteet, 51, Keith Allen Smith, 24, and Terry Lynn Shepard, 39. - Richard Alford Thornburg was executed for his role in the slayings on April 18, 2006 (see). Roger Dale Embry is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. - Prosecutors said the killings occurred during an argument over drugs and money.