Southwest
Death row inmate may get retrial due to claim of 'sex-shaming' prosecutors
Oklahoma’s only female death row inmate, whose attorneys argue was “sex-shamed” during her husband’s murder trial, may have another day in court after a Tuesday Supreme Court ruling.
Brenda Andrew, now 61, was sentenced to death in 2004 for the murder of her estranged husband, Rob Andrew.
She was convicted in the 2001 murder, along with her lover and fellow Sunday school teacher, James Pavatt. Pavatt, who had sold Rob Andrew an $800,000 life insurance policy, had confessed to killing Rob with a friend. He denied that Brenda was involved.
Brenda Andrew told police after the shooting, during which she was shot in the arm, that two masked men attacked her and her husband while he was helping her ignite the pilot light on the furnace in their garage, according to court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital.
Her attorneys argue that evidence about her “plainly irrelevant sexual history” wasn’t fair to use in court, where prosecutors called her a “slut puppy” and showed jurors one of her thongs, according to their court filings.
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Brenda Andrew in court in Oklahoma City in 2004. (David McDaniel/The Oklahoman)
The prosecutor said the thong was strong evidence that Andrew had murdered her husband, the New York Times reported.
“The grieving widow packs this to run off with her boyfriend,” he said, holding her garment. “Can’t twist the facts, folks. Can’t twist the evidence.”
Andrew had packed the underwear for a trip to Mexico days after her husband’s death. Andrew and Pavatt ran out of money three months after the murder, in February 2002, and re-entered the United States, according to the outlet, where they were arrested at the border. Andrew’s two children, who were traveling with them, were put into their paternal grandparents’ custody.
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Supreme Court justices wrote in their decision that the prosecutor “spent a significant amount of time at the trial” going over details about Andrew’s sex life that were unrelated to her husband’s murder.
“Among other things, the prosecution elicited testimony about Andrew’s sexual partners reaching back two decades; about the outfits she wore to dinner or during grocery runs; about the underwear she packed for vacation; and about how often she had sex in her car,” the majority wrote in their decision. “The ultimate question is whether a fair-minded jurist could disagree that the evidence ‘so infected the trial with unfairness’ as to render the resulting conviction or sentence a ‘denial of due process.’”
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Brenda Andrew is pictured at left in 2004 and in her most recent mugshot in 2024 at right. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections)
However, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Neil M. Gorsuch dissented.
“Sex and marriage were unavoidable issues at Andrew’s trial, and the state introduced a variety of evidence about her sexual behavior,” Thomas wrote.
In a brief urging the Supreme Court not to hear Andrew’s case, prosecutors argued that testimony regarding her appearance and sexuality were “but a drop in the ocean” of evidence against her. Before the Supreme Court’s Tuesday decision, lower courts had suggested that while prosecutors’ presentation of the case was inappropriate, the case against Andrew still stands.
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The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Colorado will now review Andrew’s claims.
Andrew’s attorney, Ed Blau, told KOCO News 5 that it will be up to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to determine whether evidence “regarding [his client’s] sex life” and “regarding her qualities as a mother… should not have been given to the jury, and whether it rose to the level of violating her due process rights.”
He said Andrew could be resentenced or get an entirely new trial based on the appeals court’s findings. The court could also decide that no action is needed, and that Andrew should remain on death row.
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Jessica Sutton, another one of Andrew’s attorneys, told The Oklahoman that she hoped the court would “stop this injustice.”
“Wielding these gendered tropes to justify a conviction and punishment of death is intolerable and poses a threat to everyone who does not follow rigid gender norms,” she told the outlet.
Although she doubts the court will acquit Andrew of murder, forensic psychologist Dr. Carole Lieberman told Fox News Digital said she is likely to get a retrial.
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James Pavatt is pictured in a 2003 mugshot at left and a 2024 mugshot at right. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections)
“The evidence about her role in the murder was not enough to get the death penalty so [prosecutors} preyed on jurors‘ stereotypes of a ‘fallen woman’ and got them to despise her,” Lieberman said. “The prosecution’s so-called evidence was more prejudicial than probative… I think it was inappropriate personal hatred of the prosecutors toward her or inappropriate personal revenge or a personal desire to punish her more severely instead of just giving her life in prison.”
A three-judge panel voted 2-1 to reverse part of Pavatt’s death sentence in June 2017. They determined that Andrew’s husband died too quickly for his death to be considered “cruel and heinous,” an aggravating circumstance that allowed the state to issue him the death penalty, Oklahoma City’s KFOR reported.
Andrew’s last appeal in 2008 was denied, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
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Los Angeles, Ca
Watch Project Angel Food's 'Lead with Love' telethon on KTLA
The star-studded feel-good giveback event of the summer has returned. KTLA 5 is teaming up once again with Project Angel Food for the annual “Lead with Love: Going the Distance” telethon to raise critical funds for medically tailored meals delivered to people living with serious illnesses throughout Los Angeles County. The seventh annual telethon airs […]
Los Angeles, Ca
Woman ambushed, violently attacked by robber in downtown Long Beach
A woman was hospitalized with serious injuries after she was violently attacked by a robber in downtown Long Beach. On June 18, Jennifer Silva, 34, was attending a World Cup watch party at a Hooters restaurant at 90 Aquarium Way. After the game ended, she left the restaurant just before 11 p.m. As she walked […]
Los Angeles, Ca
Jury says it is deadlocked in trial of man accused in Palisades Fire
Jurors deliberating the fate of the man accused of starting the Palisades Fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in California’s history, failed to reach a verdict Thursday afternoon, telling the judge they were deadlocked.
A spokesperson from the United States Attorney’s Office told KTLA that jurors will continue to deliberate until they reach a verdict or give up.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, a former Uber driver and one-time Pacific Palisades resident, is accused of starting the Lachman Fire on New Year’s Eve. The fire continued to smolder underground for about a week, even after Los Angeles firefighters believed it had been extinguished.
Flames reignited on Jan. 7, erupting into the deadly Palisades Fire that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes in the upscale community, authorities said.
Prosecutors argued that Rinderknecht deliberately set the fire, claiming he had grown increasingly resentful of wealthy residents and viewed Pacific Palisades as a symbol of that frustration.
“Their case, though circumstantial, is strong,” KTLA legal analyst Alison Triessl said. “The defense is relying on, can they (prosecutors) show beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Rinderknecht actually started this fire and it wasn’t the result of fireworks or some intervening cause.”
The defense argued there is no direct physical evidence tying Rinderknecht to the fire and said the prosecution’s case relies entirely on circumstantial evidence. Rinderknecht did not testify during the trial.
Defense attorney Steve Haney spoke outside the courthouse Wednesday about why he believes it will be difficult for prosecutors to prove how the fire started.
“The lack of scene preservation. The fact that they got there after a lot of the evidence was missing. Not a lot of direct evidence. This is a circumstantial case, which is always difficult as a prosecutor to prove,” Haney said.
Rinderknecht, who was arrested and indicted last October, faces up to 45 years in prison if found guilty of three arson counts, including destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire.
Tony Kurzweil contributed to this report
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