26 January 2010 :

The state Supreme Court today unanimously reinstated two death sentences for Donnie Cleveland Lance. Lance, 56, white, was convicted in June 1999 in the Nov. 9, 1997 deaths of ex-wife, Sabrina "Joy" Lance, and her boyfriend, Dwight "Butch" Wood and was sentenced to death for each killing. In April 2009 a Butts County judge upheld the murder convictions but struck down the death sentences on the basis that Lance's trial lawyer didn’t adequately represent him by not bringing evidence of his impairment. In an unanimous decision released this morning, Supreme Court judges agreed that Lance hadn't been properly represented at trial, but a jury likely still would have sentenced Lance to death even if they knew of his mental impairments.