Baseline Killer Mark Goudeau's Trial to Proceed to Penalty Phase; Killer of Nine Faces Death Penalty | Valley Fever | Phoenix | Phoenix New Times | The Leading Independent News Source in Phoenix, Arizona
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Baseline Killer Mark Goudeau's Trial to Proceed to Penalty Phase; Killer of Nine Faces Death Penalty

The jury has reached a verdict in the "aggravation phase" of Baseline Killer Mark Goudeau's trial, finding that aggravating factors in the case were proven -- which means the man who terrorized the streets of Phoenix for nearly a year could face the death penalty.The trial now heads to the penalty phase,...
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The jury has reached a verdict in the "aggravation phase" of Baseline Killer Mark Goudeau's trial, finding that aggravating factors in the case were proven -- which means the man who terrorized the streets of Phoenix for nearly a year could face the death penalty.

The trial now heads to the penalty phase, where Goudeau's defense team can present "testimony and evidence to try to show by a preponderance of the evidence that mitigating factors exist that are sufficiently substantial to call for leniency," Maricopa Superior Court spokeswoman Karen Arra says.

In other words, Goudeau's attorney's can tell sob stories about Goudeau to the jury in an attempt to get them to spare his life.

Goudeau, however, told Judge Warren Granville that he didn't want to be in the courtroom for the penalty phase of his trial, and Arra tells New Times he wasn't present for today's ruling.


After the defense makes its case to spare Goudeau's life, prosecutors then will have a chance to offer a rebuttal before the jury decides whether to sentence Goudeau to death.

Goudeau was found guilty on Monday of 67 felonies -- including nine murders -- stemming from his year-long crime spree.

Goudeau's murderous crime spree began in August 2005 and continued until June 2006.

He was arrested in September 2006 after DNA evidence linked him to an attack on two sisters in south Phoenix in 2005. For that attack, Goudeau was found guilty of 19 felonies and sentenced to 438 years in prison.

Of the nine people Goudeau murdered, eight were women.

The penalty phase of the trial is scheduled to start Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Following testimony, jurors will be asked to decide whether Goudeau should be sentenced to death.
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