Appeal Focuses On Juror’S Job Jail Guard Sat On Jury That Convicted Man In Beating

A Coeur d’Alene man convicted of severely beating an 82-year-old woman is asking the state Supreme Court to reconsider his case.

Henry W. Luke’s attorneys said Tuesday that his rights were violated during his 1997 trial because a jail guard was selected as a juror.

Deputy public defender Brad Chapman said Kootenai County Jail Sgt. Dan Gregg shouldn’t have been allowed to sit on the jury, because he saw Luke in jail.

Henry Luke “has a right to expect the truth of a juror, especially of an officer of the law,” Chapman told the five justices, who heard the appeal in Coeur d’Alene.

Prosecutors said all jurors, including Gregg, filled out typical questionnaires asking them to state their professions. They argued that Luke’s attorneys had a chance to review those forms before making a jury selection.

A jury convicted Luke of second-degree attempted murder and burglary. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

On Dec. 3, 1996, Dorothy Kjera was found in her Coeur d’Alene home so severely beaten that blood was spattered on the walls and ceiling.

A pair of work gloves were found in the home with the name “Luke” written inside each one.

Coeur d’Alene police suspected Henry Luke, who confessed to bludgeoning Kjera almost to death with a lamp, candlestick and candy dish.

Later he recanted and maintained his innocence.

Luke said he was playing cards with older ladies when Kjera was attacked, said Alison Stieglitz, a deputy attorney general who handles criminal appeals cases.

Defense attorneys argued the jury was not given the proper instructions on how to decide the case. The jury deliberated for 16 hours before finding Luke guilty.

“This jury was never asked, never asked to find that Mr. Luke attempted to kill Dorothy Kjera,” Chapman told the five justices. “We don’t know what this jury considered.”

Prosecutors said intent was not an issue in the case.

“The defense was `I wasn’t there. I was somewhere else,”’ Stieglitz said. “And the jury didn’t buy that.”

Luke’s lawyers also argued that police shouldn’t have taken his confession because he is “borderline retarded.”

It could take months before the Supreme Court makes a decision.