Murderer to get new penalty hearing

Monday, May 1, 2000 | 10:35 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Jason Browne, sentenced to death for the baseball bat slaying of his wife in North Las Vegas, is going to get a new penalty hearing.

The court said defense attorneys David Schieck and Lew Wolfbrandt should have presented evidence of Browne's mental state during the penalty hearing. A jury may have found Brown suffered from genuine mental problems and decided against a death sentence, the court said in a unanimous decision.

Failing to present that evidence at the penalty hearing as a mitigating factor "was not only unreasonable but carried an unacceptable risk of prejudice," the court said.

But the court rejected Browne's contention he was entitled to a new trial because the same evidence was not presented. Even if the evidence of Browne's mental condition had been presented to the jury during the trial, the outcome of first-degree murder probably would have been the same, the court said.

Chantelle Browne was beaten to death in November 1993 with a baseball bat that her 10-year-old son had brought out to protect his mother with. Browne had three battery convictions for abusing his wife.

The decision upholds District Judge Michael Douglas' ruling.