Feds to ask appeals court to reinstate death penalty for Rodriguez

Prosecutors intend to ask a federal appeals court to reverse a federal judge’s order that threw out the death penalty for Alfonso Rodriguez, the man convicted of kidnapping and killing former UND student Dru Sjodin.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Fargo has filed a notice that says prosecutors will ask the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Judge Ralph Erickson’s order and reinstate the death penalty for Rodriguez.

In a 232-page ruling last September, Erickson ruled that misleading testimony from the coroner… the failure of lawyers to outline the possibility of an insanity defense… and evidence of severe PTSD had violated Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.’s constitutional rights. Erickson ordered a new sentencing phase to be conducted.

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley, the former U.S. Attorney who led the federal death penalty prosecution against Rodriguez, has said the decision to appeal Erickson’s orders would likely be decided at “the top levels of the Justice Department.”

Sjodin was abducted from a Grand Forks mall parking lot in 2003. Rodriguez has been on death row at a federal prison since his trial was held in Fargo in 2006.

(KNOX/KVRR)