Chelsea Richardson (pic­tured), the first woman in Tarrant County, Texas, to be sen­tenced to death, may soon be serv­ing a life sen­tence instead. Six years after her con­vic­tion, Tarrant County District Attorney Joe Shannon agreed with Richardson’s appel­late attor­ney that the pros­e­cu­tor at her tri­al with­held evi­dence that could have affect­ed the jury’s sen­tence. This devel­op­ment would mark the sec­ond time in three years that the out­come of a death penal­ty case was changed due to mis­con­duct by for­mer pros­e­cu­tor Mike Parrish. D.A. Shannon said, ​“This office will not be a par­ty to the inflic­tion of death as a pun­ish­ment
when there is even an appear­ance of impro­pri­ety on the part of a pros­e­cu­tor who for­mer­ly worked in this office. If the death penal­ty is to be used, it must be obtained legal­ly, fair­ly and hon­est­ly and with­out the hint of a pos­si­ble injus­tice.” In Richardson’s case, Parrish with­held a psy­chol­o­gist’s notes from the defense team. Richardson was sen­tenced to death for being the mas­ter­mind behind the mur­ders of her boyfriend’s par­ents. Her co-con­spir­a­tors both received life sen­tences. The psychologist’s notes could have con­vinced jurors that one of the co-defen­dants was most respon­si­ble for the crime.

(M. McDonald, ​“Death sen­tence will like­ly change for woman in Mansfield slay­ings,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 1, 2011). See Prosecutorial Misconduct and Arbitrariness.

Citation Guide