Second jury to decide aggravating factors
An unprecedented second trial got under way Friday in the first-degree murder case of a Spokane man who has already pleaded guilty.
Robert L. Doney Jr., 30, pleaded guilty in the middle of his first trial in March, admitting he deliberately murdered his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter, Victoria Ramon, on Dec. 26, 2003. That conviction stands, but Doney’s new trial could result in additional punishment.
During his plea, Doney said he shoved the toddler into a door frame of the apartment he shared with her mother, Joan Richards, at 1412 W. Dean because he was angry at Richards.
The plea was calculated to take advantage of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that had overturned the portion of Washington’s sentencing law allowing above-standard punishment in crimes with aggravating circumstances. The Supreme Court said in June 2004 that defendants are entitled to have a jury decide all facts used to justify above-standard sentences.
Superior Court Judge Jerome Leveque kept Doney’s first jury in session so it could finish hearing testimony about aggravating factors that might justify more than the standard-maximum 27 1/2 years in prison. The jury ruled Doney was guilty of deliberate cruelty, causing multiple injuries and “extreme lack of remorse.”
At the time, however, the state Legislature still hadn’t repaired the deficiencies in the sentencing law, so Leveque improvised procedures.
Leveque ruled in July that his improvised procedures were substantially in compliance with subsequent legislative action. But the judge feared he erred in one aspect of Doney’s trial, so he set aside the jury’s findings and ordered a new trial on aggravating factors.
Jurors in the new trial were seated Friday, and are expected to remain in session at least through Wednesday.
Deputy Prosecutor Larry Steinmetz predicted in his opening statement that he will prove that Doney “savagely and viciously” beat the 3-foot-tall, 30-pound toddler, causing a “massive” skull fracture that doctors said was unusual in children so young because of their malleable bones.
After killing the child, witnesses heard Doney tell Richards, “I killed your baby. … She’s not your little girl anymore.”
Court-appointed defense attorney Tim Trageser decided not to give his opening statement until Steinmetz rests his case.
Doney declined to testify at his first trial but will take the stand this time, according to Trageser.