The appeal of a Norman man sentenced to death for killing an OU student more than 12 years ago will be heard on campus today.
OU College of Law professors have rearranged their schedules and law students are making plans to watch the oral arguments of attorneys for the state and Anthony Castillo Sanchez, who was convicted three years ago of raping and killing senior Jewell “Juli” Busken in 1996.
Sanchez’s attorneys have filed briefs contesting evidence from his 2006 conviction, which rested largely on DNA evidence. They will argue their case today before a panel of five appellate judges in the Dick Bell Courtroom in the OU College of Law.
Several times each year, the Oklahoma Court of Appeals offers to hear cases at OU so law students can observe the appellate process up close, law professor David Swank said.
“It’s part of the educational process for the students and [the court] thought our students might have an interest in it,” Swank said.
First-year law student Ben Ezzell called the case “fascinating.” He and his classmates are planning to watch the hearing as part of a criminal law class.
“Everybody’s pretty interested,” Ezzell said. “We’re studying law all the time, but this is a chance to actually see it.”
There are several thorny legal issues that will be highlighted during today’s arguments, the most prominent of which is the use of DNA evidence in convictions.
Swank said the use of DNA evidence is far rarer and more complex than it appears to be on TV.
“In the run-of-the mill criminal case, DNA evidence is not used very often,” Swank said. “That is sort of unusual, although it’s becoming more common.”
Sanchez’s attorneys and the state’s attorneys already have filed more than 100 pages of legal briefs.
Today, each side will have 45 minutes to present its argument orally. Sanchez’s lawyers, who will speak first, will also have 15 minutes for a rebuttal.
Although today’s proceedings are expected to take fewer than two hours, Swank said it will probably be months before the judges return an opinion on the case, and this decision could be followed by yet another appeal.
“Any appeals process is incredibly time-consuming,” Ezzell said. “It takes years, especially for a death penalty case. You don’t want to get it wrong.”
Sanchez’s appeal stems from the 1996 slaying of OU student Juli Busken.
Busken, then a ballet performance senior, disappeared on the morning of Dec. 20, 1996. Her body was found near Lake Stanley Draper in Oklahoma City. Autopsy reports said she had been bound, raped and shot in the head.
For almost eight years, the identity of her killer remained a mystery, until the DNA of a man booked for burglary was run through a national DNA database and found to match DNA samples taken from Busken’s clothing.
Sanchez, then 27, was arrested in 2004. He was charged with rape, forcible sodomy and murder.
Sanchez was tried in Norman in February 2006. A jury found him guilty on all charges. They sentenced him to death by lethal injection two days later.
When Busken died, she had just finished her final exams and was scheduled to graduate. She was last seen alive dropping a friend off at Will Rogers World Airport early the morning of Dec. 20.
On the morning of her death, Busken’s parents were on their way to Norman from their hometown of Benton, Ark., to help their daughter pack and move home. When they arrived in Norman, she was not at her apartment.
Her parents, Mary Jean and Wilbur “Bud” Busken, came to the Cleveland County Courthouse every day during Sanchez’s trial in 2006. According to the Benton Courier, the Buskens are planning to attend oral arguments today at OU.
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ncurch 2 years, 10 months ago
How is a lowlife animal like Sanchez paying for all these appeals or is the state paying for it? In open and shut cases like these where there is DNA evidence and numerous other corroborating pieces of evidence (shoe size, call from Juli's mobile phone after she was dead etc), the convict should be slaughtered within 48 hours of his 1 and only appeal.These automatic apppeals processes should be stopped as they waste eveybody's time. What I am reaaly surprised about is that he has not been killed by white supremacist gangs in prison who must surely be incensed that this Latino scum killed an innocent Caucasian girl.
razorsedge 1 year, 9 months ago
For him it's the Law Of Diminishing Returns, he can put more into his defense but the overall outcome will be the same to worse for him. Gee "Karma" aka "Live By The Sword Die By The Sword" is a bitch.