Death Penalty Upheld in Dru Sjodin Case

The death sentence has been upheld for a sex offender who was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin in 2003. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. received a fair trial and sentence.

Defense attorneys for Rodriquez said they will appeal the ruling.

The 2-1 ruling came exactly three years after a Fargo jury voted for the death penalty for Rodriquez for the kidnapping resulting in death of Sjodin.

Sjodin was abducted from the parking lot of a Grand Forks shopping mall where she worked on Nov. 22, 2003. Five months later, her body was found after the snow melted near Crookston, Minnesota, near where Rodriquez lived with his mother.

Case Prompted New Laws

Sjodin had been beaten, raped and stabbed. Rodriquez, 56, had recently been released from prison after serving a sentence on a rape conviction. His conviction in the Sjodin case prompted both Minnesota and North Dakota to toughen their sex-offender laws.

Rodriguez appealed his death sentence based on statements made by the prosecution and by Sjodin's family and friends during the penalty phase of his trial. One of the appeal court judges agreed that the statements were "so serious that the death sentence should be vacated and the case should be sent back to the district court for a new penalty phase."

Defense attorneys said they would base their appeal to the full 8th circuit court on the comments of the dissenting judge.

See Also:
Death Penalty Upheld in ND College Student Slaying

Background:
The Murder of Dru Sjodin

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