the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Stevie Lamar Fields's death sentence...

the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Stevie Lamar Fields's death sentence, ruling that jurors did not invalidate their deliberations by considering biblical arguments in favor of vengeance.
The Los Angeles jurors in the 1979 case of Fields, now 49, unanimously agreed that death was the appropriate punishment after their foreman circulated biblical and other religious passages - "an eye for an eye," for example - that seemed to require it.
Biblical references supporting mercy and forgiveness were not circulated in the jury room, according to a lower court's ruling. U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian in Los Angeles reversed Fields' sentence in 2000, citing jury misconduct.
Prosecutors have long been barred from appealing to jurors' religious sentiments in urging a vote for death. But the 9th Circuit said Fields' case was different. The unanimous 3-judge panel ruled that "what may be improper or prejudicial when said by a prosecutor may not be so when said by a juror." Bible verses are the sort of "common knowledge" that jurors may employ in exercising their moral judgment, said the court.
David Olson, who currently represents Fields, said he will file further appeals. He could seek further review in the 9th Circuit or review by the U.S. Supreme Court.