Louisiana prosecutors looking to get death sentence for juvenile murderer reimposed (and to get Roper ultimately reversed)

As reported in this local article, headlined “State chipping away at SCOTUS ruling that outlawed death sentences for juvenile offenders,” Louisiana’s Attorney General is taking steps to seek reconsideration of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence precluding the death penalty for juvenile murderers. Here are the notable details:

The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office has filed a motion that seeks to uproot the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that declared the death penalty for juvenile offenders unconstitutional.

The 2005 SCOTUS order abolished executions of those younger than 18 at the time of their crimes, saying capital punishment for juvenile offenders violates Eighth Amendment constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. Prosecutors for Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office, however, argue the death sentence should be reinstated for a man who was just a week shy of his 18th birthday when he shot and killed an LSU freshman execution style during a 1992 carjacking and abduction.

Dale Dwayne Craig, now 50, was convicted of first-degree murder in Kipp Earl Gullett’s slaying more than 30 years ago.  He originally was placed on death row after a jury unanimously agreed he should be executed. But when the Supreme Court in March 2005 issued its split decision in Roper v Simmons, a Missouri case also involving a 17-year-old convicted killer, it overturned statutes in 19 states that permitted the executions of culprits who were 16 and 17 years old.

Craig was among more than 70 juvenile offenders who already had been convicted and condemned to death that had their capital sentences vacated after Roper. Craig’s death sentence was amended to life in prison without the possibility of parole, probation or early termination. In May 2023, 19th Judicial District Judge Eboni Johnson Rose, swayed by the transformation in character she said Craig has displayed while in prison, made him eligible for parole.

State prosecutors are now appealing Rose’s ruling, arguing for the Louisiana Supreme Court to strip away Craig’s parole eligibility during a hearing last week in front of justices.

Two weeks before that hearing, Deputy Solicitor General Zachary Faircloth filed the motion to get Craig’s death sentence reinstated.  In the Aug. 11 filing, Faircloth acknowledged that “current U.S. Supreme Court precedent requires this court to deny this motion.” But he indicated prosecutors intend to challenge Roper in appeals. “The state understands that the court must deny this motion,” his motion stated. “The state preserves for appellate review, however, its position that Roper is egregiously wrong and should be overruled.”

In the filing, AG’s Office emphasized the fact that Craig was just days away from turning 18 when he squeezed the trigger and ended Gullet’s life. “But he was fully an adult,” the motion states.  Gullett, an LSU student, was 18 when Craig and three other teens carjacked him at gunpoint as he returned to his dorm on the night of Sept. 14, 1992. The quartet forced Gullet back into his Ford Bronco and they drove around with him for nearly an hour. Court records and trial testimony indicate Craig spearheaded the armed robbery and abduction and terrorized Gullett during the ride. The group of teens drove to a secluded construction site near Kenilworth Parkway, where Craig shot Gullett three times in the head, then stood over him and fired more bullets at him…..

The AG’s Office said the state will seek to overturn Roper if and when the case reaches the U.S. Supreme Court. “The Supreme Court’s decision in Roper v. Simmons is egregiously wrong,” Murrill said. “It prohibits States like Louisiana from executing criminals like Dale Craig — who carjacked, kidnapped, terrorized, pistol-whipped and then shot to death Kipp Earl Gullett, an unsuspecting LSU freshman — just because he was a week away from his 18th birthday when he committed this heinous crime. There is no basis in law or logic for that absurd result.”

John Landis is a New Orleans attorney who has been representing Craig throughout his post-conviction relief efforts for much of the past 28 years. He said the state’s appeal of Rose’s 2023 order has delayed Craig’s parole hearing indefinitely. Landis called the motion asking a judge to reinstate Craig’s death sentence another stall tactic. “Only the Legislature has the power to change the law governing juvenile offenders. This court cannot do so,” Landis argued in an Aug. 13 response to the state’s motion….

19th Judicial District Chief Judge Donald Johnson has set an Oct. 15 court date to hear opposing arguments on the motion.