30 May 2021 :
Nevada Supreme Court overturns death sentence of Tracy Petrocelli for 2nd time
In a 4-2 decision, the Nevada Supreme Court found last week that a mistake on a verdict form in the 2nd sentencing of Tracy Petrocelli in 2019 could have affected the jury's decision.
Petrocelli, now 69, was first sentenced to die in 1982 for the shooting of James Wilson, a Reno used-car salesman. Petrocelli shot Wilson after he fled Washington state, where 5 months earlier he had killed his 18-year-old fiancee, Melanie Barker.
In 2017, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Petrocelli’s conviction in that case but ordered a new sentencing after finding in part that his penalty relied on testimony from a psychiatrist who examined Petrocelli without informing him of his Miranda rights.
He appealed his second sentence, arguing that the verdict forms contained a mistake in the wording as it required a finding “that any mitigating circumstance or circumstances are not sufficient to outweigh the aggravating circumstance found.”
To impose death, jurors must find at least 1 aggravating circumstance and decide that no mitigating circumstances outweigh the aggravating factors. Jurors considered 3 possible sentences: capital punishment, life in prison without parole or life in prison with parole.
“We conclude that the error affected Petrocelli’s substantial rights and he is entitled to a new sentencing hearing,” wrote Justices James Hardesty, Lidia Stiglich, Elissa Cadish and Abbi Silver. “Accordingly, we conclude Petrocelli has demonstrated plain error.”
Since the 1st guilty verdict, Petrocelli has been convicted of two other killings that occurred in 1981. One was of Barker, who was killed in October 1981. The other murder, of Dennis Gibson, was not prosecuted until the late 2000s. In that case, Petrocelli pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder.
All 3 of his victims were killed within 6 months of one another — from October 1981, when he shot Barker, to March 1982, when he killed Wilson. Petrocelli had not been convicted of murdering Barker when he stood trial for the shooting of Wilson, but the jury still learned of her death through testimony at trial.
Prosecutors in Washoe County, tasked with deciding whether to continue to pursue capital punishment for Petrocelli, could not be reached for comment.
For the Petrocelli case, see also HoC July 5 2017 and May 16, 2019.
