Sjodin's killer still faces death penalty

A three-judge panel rejected Alfonso Rodriguez's appeal, but his attorney promised to push forward.

By JAMES WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: September 22, 2009 - 8:04 PM

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. still is slated to become the first Minnesota resident to die by execution since the state abolished the death penalty in 1911.

A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld the Crookston man's federal conviction in the 2003 kidnapping and murder of Dru Sjodin and rejected arguments to overturn his death sentence.

In a 77-page opinion, the panel voted 2-1 to affirm the death penalty and ruled that Rodriguez received a fair trial. As part of its opinion, the court ruled that the prosecutor's arguments during consideration of the death penalty did not prejudice jurors.

But appellate Judge Michael Melloy dissented, saying the prosecutor's statements to the jury may have led jurors to believe that a death sentence was their only choice. Melloy said he would have returned the case to federal court for a new penalty phase.

Defense attorney Richard Ney said Tuesday that Melloy's opinion shows there remain valid grounds to overturn Rodriguez's death sentence.

"We, of course, were disappointed on the whole of the decision. But we're gratified that Judge Melloy would have reversed the death penalty based on prosecutorial misconduct. He would have overturned the death penalty," Ney said. "It is astounding that we could put a man to death based on a 2-1 opinion."

Lynn Jordheim, acting U.S. attorney for North Dakota, said the fact remains that the Appeals Court affirmed Rodriguez's conviction and sentence. "The defense will be taking further steps, but that was anticipated no matter what was the opinion [Tuesday]," Jordheim said. "We will address their arguments whenever they file."

Ney said attorneys generally have 14 days to appeal to the full 11-member Appeals Court for consideration, but more time is given in death penalty cases. He said he anticipates taking a couple of months to prepare for that step.

The Appeals Court decision Tuesday came exactly three years after a federal jury in Fargo, N.D., unanimously sentenced Rodriguez to death. He was convicted of abducting the 22-year-old woman from the parking lot of a Grand Forks, N.D., shopping mall on Nov. 22, 2003.

Rodriguez, a convicted Level III sex offender released from prison six months earlier, told police he went to Grand Forks to visit the mall and see a movie.

Police found blood spatters in the back seat of his car and a knife in the trunk that matched a sheath found near Sjodin's car.

Sjodin's body was found April 17, 2004, in a drainage ditch outside Crookston, where Rodriguez lived with his mother. Hair and fiber samples recovered from her body matched Rodriguez and his possessions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

James Walsh • 612-673-7428