USA - Ohio. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstates death sentence for James Trimble.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstates death sentence for James Trimble. The federal court, in a 2-1 decision, ruled that Trimble does not need to have his case re-heard. While a juror showed that he favored the death penalty, he also demonstrated to the judge that he understood how the penalty phase of a capital trial worked and would follow the law, the decision states. Trimble, 55, White,,shot and killed Renee Bauer, 42, and her 7-year-old son, Dakota, on Jan. 21, 2005. Bauer, who was preparing to leave Trimble when he entered the house, was shot 13 times with an assault rifle. She shielded her son but he was killed by 6 bullets that passed through her body. Trimble, who was high on methamphetamine, prescription drugs and alcohol, later broke into the home of Sarah Positano, and held her hostage. The next day, he fatally shot the 22-year-old while she was on the phone with a police dispatcher during negotiations. Trimble confessed to his crimes. A jury found him guilty in 2005 and a judge sentenced him to die. But U.S. District Judge James Gwin in 2013 overturned Trimble's death sentence. Gwin concluded that a juror, Juror 139, who was chosen as an alternate, but then participated in deliberations during the penalty phase of the trial, should have been eliminated because of a statement he made about the taking of a life.