posted October 15, 2008
Jurors deliberated all day Wednesday on whether to sentence Rejon Taylor to the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. The panel stopped for the day at 5 p.m.
Judge Curtis Collier, noting that several of the jurors have obligations over the next several days, directed them to return next Tuesday and resume their talks.
The case in Chattanooga Federal Court is the first death penalty trial in East Tennessee.
Prosecutor Chris Poole on Tuesday told the jury that the 24-year-old Atlanta man intentionally killed Atlanta restaurant operator Guy Luck, shooting him three times, including once in the mouth.
The slaying occurred in 2003 in Collegedale.
Defense attorney Bill Ortwein asked the jury to spare Taylor's life.
He said co-defendants Sir Jack Matthews and Joey Marshall were not facing the death penalty.
Attorney Ortwein said the death penalty should be reserved for "the worst of the worst."
The two sides closed their proof in the sentencing phase on Tuesday morning.
The government played tapes of Taylor calls to his sister from the jail that prosecutors said showed he had conspired with Matthews, who shocked prosecutors by giving an entirely different account to the jury than he had earlier told the government.
Prosecutor Poole also told the jury that Taylor had showed no remorse.
He said an earlier failed jail escape attempt showed he remained a threat in prison.
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