RSS 2.0Ray Joseph Dandridge is scheduled to go on trial Sept. 18 on charges of capital murder in the Jan. 6 killings of Percyell Tucker, 55; his wife, Mary Baskerville-Tucker, 47; and her daughter, Ashley Baskerville, 21. They were found in their home, bound, with their throats cut, less than a week after the slayings of Brian and Kathryn Harvey and their daughters, Stella and Ruby.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch will use this blog to post regular updates from the courtroom during the trial.
Comments (0)Jury deliberations in the penalty phase of the capital murder trial of Ricky Javon Gray concluded around 7:30 this evening.
Richmond Circuit Judge Beverly W. Snukals asked the jury foreman whether the panel of five men and seven women was close to a verdict.
“No, your honor,“ the foreman replied.
So far, the panel has deliberated Gray’s fate for six hours. He faces either life in prison or the death penalty.
Deliberations will resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The jury returned to the courtroom at 6 p.m., four-and-a-half hours after they began deliberations, to ask several questions of Judge Beverly W. Snukals.
They wanted to know how long they had to come to a decision about Gray’s sentence, and Snukals told them they would have as much time as they needed.
They also wanted to know what would happen if they couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict. She replied she could not give them an answer.
Snukals sent the jury back to its room to deliberate and encouraged them to rely on the evidence and instructions they had been given.
Should the group eventually decide they cannot make a unanimous decision, the judge could declare a hung jury. In that case, the default punishment for Gray would be life in prison without parole.
Comments (0) Jurors in the penalty phase of the capital murder trial of Ricky Javon Gray are nearing their fifth hour of deliberations on whether he should be be sentenced to life in prison or death.
Gray’s fate now rests with 12 people in a closed room, who are left to sort through evidence and the law and their own sense of what is just punishment for killing four members of a South Richmond family.
The five men and seven women began deliberating just after 1:30 p.m., electing to eat lunch in the jury room. Inside the room are the various exhibits assembled by prosecutors and defense attorneys during the weeklong case. So far the panel has not submitted any questions to the court.
Everyone in the room thought they knew what was coming when closing arguments began.
The pictures. The crime scene photos of the slain Harvey family, and of the Tucker and Baskerville family—two exhibits that prosecutors used during the trial to depict the vileness of what Ricky Gray did, and why he deserves to die.
But instead, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Learned Barry showed jurors photos of two vibrant, healthy and happy families—pictures taken before Ricky Gray entered their lives.
The state’s efforts to rehabilitate Gray, who has spent 10 of his 29 years in jail, have been a “total waste of time,“ Barry told jurors as he began his closing argument in the penalty phase of Gray’s capital murder trial.
“It has not done much good.“
Comments (0)On cross examination by Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring, defense witness Dr. Mark Cunningham acknowledged that he has made a good living as a professional witness.
Cunningham was paid $480,000 last year testifying for defendants. The Texas-based clinical and forensic psychologist has made $2 million since 1995 as a professional court witness, and was paid approximately $7,500 for his two-hour appearance on behalf of Gray.
Ricky Gray has been convicted of the savage slayings of the Harvey family and confessed to three more killings in Richmond and a vicious assault in Arlington.
But this morning, a forensic psychologist said Gray stands a good chance of doing no more harm in prison if he is spared the death penalty.
“He is likely to make a positive adjustment to prison ... free of serious violence,“ said the defense expert, Dr. Mark Cunningham of Texas.