the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals sent down 3-2 a decision...

the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals sent down 3-2 a decision which says God does not have a place in the courts. The court cited the reasoning in part because the victim's spouse referred to God and the Bible when testifying during the sentencing hearing. The case goes back to December 6, 2003. Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Nikky Green was gunned down in the line of duty. Later, in Comanche County, Ricky Ray Malone was found guilty of the crime and sentenced to death. It was that death sentence which the court overturned. According the court opinion, Green's wife gave testimony which involved statements about God and the Bible. According to the court opinion, Mrs. Green's testimony covered nine transcript pages. The court said in any case victim sentencing recommendations should be limited to "a short statement of recommendation." "This invocation of religious belief and obligation in the context of a capital sentencing recommendation is totally inappropriate." The court did not overturn the guilty verdict. Moreover, the appeals court said that closing statements made by Comanche County District Attorney Robert Schulte were "egregiously improper and unfairly prejudicial.'' Among other things, the court held it was "improper to so directly and profusely appeal to sympathy for the family member victims'' and to invoke "the powerlessness, the indignities and the depersonalization'' the American trial system imposes on victims and their families. "It was improper for the prosecutor to so blatantly suggest that Malone's jurors should sentence him to death because the family members' victims were counting on them to do so,'' the opinion said. District Judge Mark Smith handed down the death sentence to Malone, who was convicted of 1st-degree murder in the killing, which occurred the day after Christmas. Green lost his gun in a struggle and was shot with his own weapon. Portions of the crime were captured on Green's dashboard-mounted video camera. the entire opinion is at http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/deliverdocument.asp?cite=2007+ok+cr+34