AZ Supreme Court Orders New Sentencing Hearing Brutal Prison Cellmate Murder

Rushing was serving a 28-year prison sentence for killing his stepfather in 2010 in Yavapai County

On Monday, the Arizona inmate, Jasper Rushing who killed his cellmate and severed his penis, had his sentence overturned and remanded for a new sentencing phase, after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled a  Maricopa County judge had failed to tell jurors during the penalty phase of his trial that he is ineligible for parole.

The court upheld the conviction of Jasper Phillip Rushing who represented himself during the appeal in the September 2010 murder of Shannon Palmer at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis in Buckeye. The Supreme Court is sending Rushing’s case back to Maricopa County Superior Court for a new sentencing trial.

The following jury instruction wasn’t made during the penalty phase:

The lower-court judge told jurors after Rushing’s conviction that if they decided on a life sentence, then the judge would sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of release or life with the possibility of release after serving 25 years. These instructions were given before his sentencing phase.

The court’s ruling said Rushing didn’t dispute at trial that he killed Palmer. The trial instead focused on whether it was a premeditated killing.

Rushing brutally beat Palmer, then used a razor blade to cut his neck and laboriously severed his penis, according to the testimony of the medical examiner Dr. Hu.

The 40-year-old Palmer, who died on the way to the hospital, was serving just a three-year sentence for a 2009 criminal damage conviction in Maricopa County.

Rushing, now 37, was serving a lengthy term for the January 2001 murder of his step father in Yavapai County. He was already since 2001 convicted of the shooting death of his stepfather in the Yavapai County Court.

Full Supreme Court Ruling

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