Utah Supreme Court says convicted murderer Douglas Lovell must have new sentencing hearing

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Utah Supreme Court has ruled that convicted murderer Douglas Lovell will have to have another sentencing hearing after justices said his attorneys provided "ineffective assistance."

Lovell was convicted of the 1985 kidnapping, rape, and murder of Joyce Yost. While the Supreme Court did not overturn his conviction, they have vacated his current death sentence and remanded the case back to a lower court for another sentencing hearing.

"The State presented overwhelming evidence of Lovell's guilt to the jury," the ruling stated.

It should be noted that while Lovell's current death sentence has been thrown out by the court, it does not mean the death penalty is forever off the table. Today's ruling simply states he must have a new sentencing hearing with a lower court. Prosecutors will have to decide whether or not to seek the death penalty again.

In a 42-page ruling, authored by Associate Chief Justice John Pearce, the court said testimony regarding Lovell's excommunication from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints kept him from having a fair sentencing. They specifically noted that Lovell's attorneys should have objected to that testimony, which they said prejudiced his 2015 sentencing.

"Our confidence in the sentencing hearing has been undermined because there is a reasonable probability that at least one juror would have opposed imposition...