Robert E

Robert E. Ashley, a 48-year-old Delaware Correctional Center inmate who killed a fellow prisoner in 1996 was sentenced to life in prison, 2 years after the state Supreme Court overturned his death sentence. A New Castle County jury, presided over by Judge William C. Carpenter Jr., found Robert E. Ashley guilty in September of the first-degree murder of Thomas B. Younger, 36, who was serving a life sentence for 3 rapes. Ashley served as his own attorney throughout this and two previous trials. In his 1st trial, a hung jury prompted Carpenter to declare a mistrial. In the 2nd trial, Ashley was found guilty and sentenced to death. The state Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2002 after Ashley argued that an outburst from a trial spectator influenced jurors. During his September trial, Ashley for the first time allowed court-appointed adviser Michael D. Modica to represent him, but just for the penalty phase in which jurors must decide whether to recommend a sentence of life in prison or death. 9 of the 12 jurors recommended life in prison.