07-22-2011, 03:22 PM
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Anthony Sowell will face the death penalty in the slayings of 11 women whose bodies were found dead in his Imperial Avenue home.
A Cuyahoga County jury convicted the 51-year-old Cleveland man of multiple counts of aggravated murder and related offenses today in Common Pleas Court. Jurors deliberated for about 15 hours over three days before returning their decision.
The trial will now move into the mitigation phase, during which Sowell's lawyers will try to convince jurors that his life is worth sparing. The same jury will reconvene to hear evidence in that phase. They can recommend a death sentence or life in prison with or without the chance for parole.
Judge Dick Ambrose will make the final decision on Sowell's punishment. He is not bound to the jury's recommendation but cannot impose a death sentence unless the jury recommends one.
A Cuyahoga County jury convicted the 51-year-old Cleveland man of multiple counts of aggravated murder and related offenses today in Common Pleas Court. Jurors deliberated for about 15 hours over three days before returning their decision.
The trial will now move into the mitigation phase, during which Sowell's lawyers will try to convince jurors that his life is worth sparing. The same jury will reconvene to hear evidence in that phase. They can recommend a death sentence or life in prison with or without the chance for parole.
Judge Dick Ambrose will make the final decision on Sowell's punishment. He is not bound to the jury's recommendation but cannot impose a death sentence unless the jury recommends one.