Derrick PowellDOVER, Del. (WBOC/AP)- Delaware's highest court has unanimously upheld the conviction and death sentence of a man who killed a police officer in Georgetown in 2009.
Derrick Powell's lawyers had claimed that ordering him to be executed was a cruel punishment because other men involved in a vehicle pursuit that lead to Officer Chad Spicer's death received light sentences.
But on Thursday, justices on the Delaware Supreme Court disagreed. The court concluded that imposing the death penalty for a "reprehensible reckless killing" such as the one Powell committed was not disproportionate to similar past cases.
Spicer was struck in the face by a single bullet as he sat in the passenger seat of a police cruiser following the pursuit of a car carrying Powell and two other men.
Following the court's ruling, Paula Ryan, who was the lead prosecutor on the case, said in a statement, "We hope that today's decision provides some additional closure to the Spicer family, whose strength and courage through this difficult case has touched us all."
