One juror holds out against death penalty in Dotson trial

Erica D. Johnson

Friday, April 25, 2003 | 9:46 a.m.

Jurors on Thursday grudgingly spared the life of the man they convicted of killing an elderly Las Vegas woman, after a single juror would not agree to a sentence of death.

After deliberating for four days, jurors decided life in prison without parole was punishment enough for Anthony Dotson, who was convicted of first-degree murder in the December 1999 slaying of Doris Bair, 79.

Dotson will also receive a second, consecutive life sentence because the victim was over 65 years old. He will be sentenced before District Judge Michael Cherry on April 29.

Jurors were divided 11-1 in favor of the death penalty before returning the final verdict, according to several jurors who spoke to the Sun on the condition of anonymity.

The jury was made up of six men, six women, 11 white and one black juor. Jurors would not say which one of them opposed the death sentence.

One juror said he wanted Dotson to receive the death penalty, but not enough to risk having a mistrial.

"To avoid a re-trial we took the most expedient method we could," he said. "Some of us would have liked to send a stronger message, but it wasn't the unanimous decision that was required."

Another juror said she would have also liked to have returned with a death sentence due to Dotson's long history of brutalizing elderly women.

"He's managed to get away with it so many times," she said. "But I will sleep well knowing that he will be put away. It was either that or a hung jury."

The final hours of jury deliberations were emotional, she said.

"There was a lot of arguing," she said. "It was very hostile."

But defense attorneys, who had fought hard to save their client's life during the penalty phase, considered the life sentence a victory.

"Justice was served," Deputy Special Public Defender Alzora Jackson said. "This sentence satisfied the demand for punishment. And it leaves us our dignity and our humanity as a society."

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Schwartz, who had argued for death, said he had no choice but to accept the jury's decision.

"It was a very compelling case for the death penalty," he said. "But it's tough. I thought this case really cried out for it."

Bair's beaten body was found gagged and bound in her home in the 1400 block of Bracken Avenue near 15th Street and Oakey Boulevard.

It was Dotson's extensive criminal history that sealed most jurors' initial death penalty votes, a third juror said.

"I thought he was a brutal predator who should never be on the streets again," he said. "But it was a compromise."

Jurors listed Dotson's brain damage, poor impulse control, detachment disorder and alcohol and substance abuse problem as mitigating circumstances. His prior history of violence and the fact that the murder was committed during the commission of other felonies were listed as aggravating circumstances.