A jury rejected a death sentence for convicted killer James Scholl on Friday, determining he should instead spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole for torching a cabdriver.
Juror Michael Harrod said after the verdict that he was the only juror out of 12 who voted for a death sentence in the August 2004 slaying of cabby Pairoj Chitprasart.
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"It was an evil, heinous crime," Harrod said. "If someone setting a person on fire isn't good enough to get the death penalty, then I don't know what is."
Jurors who voted for a life sentence did not wish to speak to the media after the verdict.
But on a jury verdict form, jurors said they considered the fact that Scholl was under the influence of drugs when he doused Chitprasart with gasoline, then set him on fire in Chitprasart's cab on Las Vegas Boulevard during a robbery.
Jurors noted on the juror form that Scholl also suffered from a mental disturbance -- he was diagnosed as being bipolar -- and that he had a bad childhood that culminated with his fathering a child as a 16-year-old with a 21-year-old woman.
Chitprasart's common-law wife, Kanitsri Utamong, said she was OK with the jury sparing Scholl because Scholl's three children would have lost their father if he was executed.
"For me, I didn't need the death penalty," Utamong said. "I lost my husband, and my son lost his dad. I understand how his kids would feel."
Authorities said Scholl jumped in Chitprasart's cab Aug. 20, 2004, and doused the cabdriver with gasoline while trying to rob him. When Chitprasart wouldn't hand over any money, authorities said, Scholl set the man on fire with a match.
A friend of Scholl's, Kregg Nettrour, testified that Scholl confessed to him hours after the slaying. Another acquaintance, Sheldon Hudson, said that, on the day of the slaying, Scholl talked to him about the movie "Money Train," in which a robbery victim is doused with gasoline and fatally torched.
Prosecutors said Scholl robbed another taxi driver eight days before Chitprasart's death after beating him in the head with a brick. Scholl's Illinois identification card was found in the cab, and the jury convicted him of robbery and other charges in that case as well on Wednesday.
In court Friday during closing arguments, Scholl appeared to be harming his cause when he acted out in front of the jury.
As Clark County District Attorney David Roger urged the jury to sentence Scholl to death, Scholl started clapping sarcastically, then issued an expletive that could be heard by many in the courtroom.
"Justice mandates the most significant punishment," Roger said. "Let Mr. Scholl's life end in the Nevada execution chamber."
But defense attorneys Alzora Jackson and David Schieck of the county's Special Public Defender's Office said the death penalty was simply not appropriate. Scholl had no significant prior criminal history.
"In all likelihood, he's going to spend the rest of his life in prison," Schieck said.
Schieck said Scholl's clapping episode was out of frustration for his having been convicted.
"You have to focus on the person, not the crime," Schieck said.
"We never felt they proved the homicide," Jackson said.
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