Trial and Appeals
He received two capital murder trials. The first was for the murder of Mellon, where he was sentenced to death on December 8, 1993. The jury took less than 30 minutes to convict him. He received a second death sentence on December 11, 1994 for the murder of Oakley. This time, the jury took 45 minutes to condemn him to death.
The death sentence in the Mellon case was overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court because the jurors were not told that Tucker was ineligible for parole. A second sentencing phase was therefore carried out, resulting in another death sentence.
He was diagnosed by psychiatrists as having antisocial personality disorder, and was described as being very intelligent.
Tucker did not ask for clemency from Governor Mark Sanford.
While on death row, about a month before the execution, Tucker pulled a razor blade on a guard who was escorting him inside from the exercise area.
Read more about this topic: James Neil Tucker
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