Roderick Rankin was sentenced to death by the State of Arkansas for a triple murder
According to court documents Roderick Rankin was upset that his girlfriend had ended their relationship and would go to her home where he would murder her sister Zena Reynolds, her mother Ernestine Halford, and her stepfather Nathaniel Halford
Roderick Rankin would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Roderick Rankin Photos
Roderick Rankin Now
ADC Number
000939
Name:
Rankin, Roderick L
Race
BLACK
Sex
MALE
Hair Color
BLACK
Eye Color
BROWN
Height
73 inches
Weight
329 lbs.
Birth Date
11/18/1975
Initial Receipt Date
02/13/1996
Facility
Varner Supermax
Roderick Rankin Case
The facts surrounding this case are laid out in detail in Rankin I. The murders occurred in the early morning hours of December 27, 1994. Based on the statement of Mr. Rankin’s girlfriend, Sonyae Reynolds 1 , who was hiding in a closet at the victims’ home during the attack, Mr. Rankin became the prime suspect in the murders. According to Ms. Reynolds, Mr. Rankin had repeatedly threatened to kill her and her family if she left him. Moreover, she believed the assailant was Mr. Rankin because the assailant was wearing clothing similar to clothing worn by Mr. Rankin.
During the police interrogation, the investigating officers asked Mr. Rankin if he had kicked in the door of the victims’ house and shot the victims. They also asked him if he had experienced problems with Sonyae Reynolds; whether such problems led him to commit the murders; whether he was wearing blue shoes on the morning of the murders; and whether he had seen blood on the shoes. Finally, they asked him whether the gun that they had shown him was the murder weapon and whether he placed it at the location where it was discovered. Mr. Rankin’s response to each of these questions was a simple, “Yes, sir.” He told the officers that he saw Zena Reynolds and her children on the couch when he first entered the house. It was at this point that he started shooting. According to Mr. Rankin, he shot Zena Reynolds first and then shot Ernestine Halford and Nathaniel Halford. Although Mr. Rankin knew Sonyae Reynolds was also in the house, he got scared and left.
The jury convicted Mr. Rankin of three counts of capital murder. Following the affirmance of those convictions in Rankin I and II, Mr. Rankin filed a motion for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R.Crim. P. 37.5. In his original petition for postconviction relief, Mr. Rankin raised four claims for relief: (1) prosecutorial misconduct, (2) the only aggravator found at the penalty phase is unconstitutional and not supported by the evidence, (3) ineffective assistance of counsel, and (4) actual innocence. Mr. Rankin thereafter filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief in which he repeated the above-listed grounds and compiled a laundry list of additional claims based on allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, ineffective assistance of counsel, and trial court error. The pro se petition bears Mr. Rankin’s notarized signature. Subsequently, his appointed counsel filed an amended petition for postconviction relief and incorporated the additional claims raised by Mr. Rankin in the pro se petition.2 Following a hearing on the petitions, the circuit court denied post-conviction relief. On appeal, Mr. Rankin raises only two points of error: (1) the circuit court erred in ruling that counsel did not provide ineffective assistance of counsel when he failed to present significant mitigation testimony at the penalty phase; and (2) the only aggravating factor found at the penalty phase should, as a matter of law, be held not to outweigh the jury’s findings on mitigating circumstances.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ar-supreme-court/1363363.html
