Font ResizeMARTINEZ — Edward Wycoff's eldest nephew testified Monday that he didn't think his uncle should be executed for killing his parents because Wycoff is "mentally childish" and "immature."
"I think you should get life without parole. I think it would be wrong for you to get the death penalty," Eric Rogers, 21, said after Wycoff asked him what punishment he should receive for killing Julie and Paul Rogers with a knife and wheelbarrow handle in their home Jan. 31, 2006. "I've talked to people who have known you for a long time and they say you haven't changed much since you were about 9 years old."
Wycoff, 40, has been acting as his own attorney with the defense that his sister and brother-in-law deserved to die for slights against him as well as their parenting methods, liberal politics and how his sister was handling their late father's estate. Jurors deliberated for 45 minutes last week before convicting Wycoff of two counts of first-degree murder. The trial is now in the penalty phase.
Witnesses at penalty trials are allowed to opine how a defendant should be punished based on the defendant's own characteristics. Under Marsy's Law, a 2008 ballot initiative that gave crime victims a greater voice, Eric Rogers wants to go further and tell jurors that he is against capital punishment and so were his parents.
"They were not vengeful. They wouldn't react out of anger. I feel like if they were alive today, they would have something to
Judge John Kennedy ruled Monday that Marsy's Law does not give Eric Rogers the right to give testimony that state and federal courts have deemed "irrelevant and inadmissible at a capital trial." Kennedy said he would reconsider Eric Rogers' request once both the prosecution and defense rest in the penalty phase.
Prosecutor Mark Peterson finished his case Monday with testimony from family members who described the couple as loving, compassionate, intellectual, and dedicated to family and the community.
Paul was a corporate attorney and lecturer at UC Berkeley. Julie, 47, was an attorney, stay-at-home mother of three and El Cerrito planning commissioner.
Eric Rogers and his sister, Laurel, 16, said despite the familial support they've received since the murders, life has been hard. When they think of their parents, they push aside the grisly images of the killings they witnessed in part and focus on happy times such as family vacations.
Douglas Bowman, a longtime friend of the couple, testified the Rogers were extremely caring and patient toward Wycoff, even though he could be "very difficult."
"They never spoke about Ted in a negative way," Bowman said. "They didn't see people as bad. They saw them for what they were."
