State v. McDonnell

Defendant appeals from a 2002 judgment imposing a sentence of death upon remand from this court. Defendant previously was convicted for aggravated murder. That judgment is subject to automatic and direct review in this court. ORS 138.012(1). For the reasons that follow, we affirm defendant’s sentence of death.

We start with a brief outline of the procedural history of this case. In 1988, trial commenced in Douglas County Circuit Court on a charge that defendant had committed aggravated murder in killing Joey Keever. A jury found defendant guilty of aggravated murder and imposed a death…