The Arizona Supreme Court last week upheld the death sentence of a Lewis Prison Complex inmate who murdered his cellmate in 2010.
The court on Aug. 5 unanimously decided Jasper Phillip Rushing’s rights to a fair proceeding were not violated when he appeared in restraints during a 2017 sentencing trial because he did not object to the restraints and there was no indication it influenced the jury.
The court also affirmed that defendants may forgo presenting mitigating evidence and that courts are not obligated to present such proof themselves. The ruling, authored by Chief Justice Ann A. Scott Timmer, noted no serious errors in jury instructions or conduct by the prosecution.
A press release stated the court also found “no serious errors in the jury instructions or in the prosecutor’s conduct during the trial.”
On Sept. 10, 2010, inmate Shannon Palmer was placed in isolation with Rushing, who was already serving a life sentence in the Buckeye prison for murder. Both had requested relocation due to safety concerns.
As a correctional officer brought lunch to the inmates two weeks later, Rushing quietly confessed, “I think I killed my cellmate.”
An investigation revealed he had fashioned a bludgeoning weapon from a soft-covered book and a sheet, according to a 2015 press release. Using that improvised weapon, he struck Palmer in the head, which knocked out a tooth, broke his nose and inflicted internal brain bleeding.
Rushing then slit Palmer’s throat with a razor blade equipped with a homemade handle wrapped in cellophane and severed his penis, which he discarded on the floor.
Palmer was still alive when officers arrived but died about 40 minutes later without regaining consciousness.
On Nov. 16, 2010, a Maricopa County grand jury indicted Rushing on first-degree murder charges. The state sought the death penalty, citing Rushing’s prior violent conviction, the heinous nature of the crime and that it occurred while he was in state custody.
Seven years later, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction but vacated his initial death sentence citing constitutional concerns and remanded the case for a new sentencing hearing. During the resentencing phase, Rushing chose to represent himself but failed to present any helpful evidence. He was again sentenced to death by a Maricopa County jury.
