Patrick Bearup, a devout Christian man who is on death row in Arizona for a murder he did not commit, has now been behind bars for over 22 years. He was never offered a plea deal. Meanwhile, the man who actually committed the murder was offered a plea deal, sentenced to 14 years in prison and was released from prison in 2019. Another defendant, who shot the victim twice, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and is scheduled for release in two years.
Bearup, who was raised in a strong Christian family with a father who ran for Maricopa County Sheriff twice, was unfortunately at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was hanging out with a bad crowd, and the actual killer murdered the victim using a baseball bat. Since Bearup helped cut the ring off the dead man with wire cutters afterwards, he was implicated too.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Warren Granville, a former prosecutor, was so horrified by the outcome for Bearup that he berated the prosecution for 30 minutes during the trial, stating that they went after the least culpable actor with the most heinous penalty while telling the killer he'll be out in 10 years. He found that Bearup did not kill the victim, and said Bearup played “a lesser role … both in the kidnapping and in the murder aspect of the offense.” He said that “Mr. Bearup’s death penalty sentence … was not justified in the context of their relative responsibility of the co-defendants.” He concluded that “justice was not done for Mr. Bearup.”
However, RINO Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, who has a notorious record for bad decisions, such as representing the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors twice asking for sanctions against Kari Lake in her election lawsuits, has refused to take any action to correct the unjust sentence.
Bearup’s appeal for post-conviction relief brought out the unfair things that took place in his trial. The judge told the jury that he’d be eligible for parole, but Arizona had actually eliminated parole in 1994. In the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals death penalty case Bemore v. Chappell , the court ruled that the defendant “need only show that counsel’s errors were ‘sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome reached by a single juror.’”
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In Carpenter v. Vaughn , Justice Samuel Alito, who was serving on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals at the time in 2002, wrote an opinion finding defense counsel ineffective for failing to object to a potentially misleading jury instruction suggesting the the availability of parole when it was not available under state law, stating this had a “highly prejudicial impact” on the jury’s verdict. That case involved a defendant who stabbed a man to death. Due to the erroneous instructions, the sentence was reversed, and the man received life in prison instead.
One of the justices on the U.S. Supreme Court said in Baze v. Rees that jurors who think a defendant might one day be paroled are more likely to vote for death, and “the available sociological evidence suggests that juries are less likely to impose the death penalty when life without parole is available as a sentence.” If this issue had been addressed 10 years ago, Bearup’s lawyers said he would have been released back then. He has also filed claims in federal court, which will be addressed after the state court proceedings.
While in prison, Bearup obtained five Christian degrees, scoring 98 percent in his courses on average. None were at taxpayers’ expense; he received full scholarships. He has preached sermons to the other inmates every Saturday since 2015. When he was told by a woman on the staff to stop holding Bible studies, he sued and won the right to have them. He developed a computer lab for fellow inmates so they can learn Windows, Office etc., helped them get their GEDs and teaches a financial education class to help them when they are released. Bearup has assisted the director of the prison, offering ways to improve the prison which were then implemented.
He started a charity to assist others, The Way of Yeshua Ministries , and helped an elderly woman obtain a free car through it this month. The ministry includes a project to build tiny homes for the needy. He posts scripture on his Free Patrick Bearup site. The victim’s family doesn’t believe he should receive the death penalty. Bearup had two-week old twins when he was arrested. They have grown up without him.
There were bills proposed in the Arizona Legislature recently which would modify the state’s felony-murder law to clarify that a defendant can only be charged with murder if they were the actual killer or intentionally aided or assisted the actual killer, but they have gotten nowhere.
Meanwhile, real murderers have been released from death row. Many had their sentences overturned due to ineffective counsel, improper jury instructions, coerced confessions or forensic errors. A Columbia University study found serious reversible error in nearly 7 out of 10 capital cases reviewed.
Bearup is not a monster who belongs on death row. Even his judge was outraged that justice was not done — and that was before he realized the jurors received erroneous instructions. It’s been wonderful having Trump’s Pardon Czar Alice Marie Johnson speak out against unjust sentences, whose own life sentence for moving drugs was commuted by Trump after Kim Kardashian brought attention to her unfair sentencing. But sadly, since Bearup’s conviction is state level, not federal, he cannot get relief from a Trump pardon.
However, Bearup could someday receive a pardon from the governor of Arizona. Let’s hope the next time the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency considers his request, they recommend a pardon to the governor and it is granted. Alternately, the grown-ups in the judiciary can do the right thing and right this wrong.
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