Ruiz v. State

Steele Hays, Justice.

This capital murder case has followed a long and tortuous path. Appellants were charged with robbery, kidnapping and murder of Marvin Ritchie and Opal James. They were twice found guilty and given death sentences and in the latest trial, involying only the issue of punishment, death sentences were again imposed. Those proceedings have been reviewed three times by this court, twice by the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and once by the United States Supreme Court. One conclusion which might well be drawn from the foregoing litigation is that appellants’ second…