Two Puerto Rican defendants were given life sentences by the same jury that had convicted them of murder in the course of an armored truck robbery that occurred in 2002. Puerto Rico has not used the death penalty for almost 80 years and forbids the practice in its constitution. However, the U.S. federal death penalty applies to the Commonwealth.
Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila said that the jury acted in accordance with Puerto Rican tradition, which “loathes and is against the death penalty.” Federal prosecutors said the federal death penalty should apply because the defendants, Hernando Medina Villegas and Lorenzo Catalan Roman, interefered with interstate commerce. Puerto Rico has not had an execution since 1927.
(Miami Herald, May 3, 2005). See Federal Death Penalty.
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