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ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT Steve Carter Attorney General of Indiana Stephen R. Creason Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Michael E. Deutsch Chicago, Illinois Jessie A. Cook Terre Haute, Indiana

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In the

Indiana Supreme Court
_________________________________ No. 02S03-0508-PD-364 STATE OF INDIANA, Appellant (Plaintiff below), v. ZOLO AGONA AZANIA, Appellee (Defendant below). _________________________________ Interlocutory Appeal from the Allen Superior Court, No. 02D04-8109-CF-401 The Honorable Steve David, Special Judge _________________________________ On Petition for Rehearing _________________________________ November 7, 2007 Sullivan, Justice.

Zolo Agona Azania, formerly known as Rufus Lee Averhart, was convicted in 1982 of the 1981 murder of Gary Police Lieutenant George Yaros. Azania was sentenced to death in 1982 and re-sentenced to death in 1996. More detailed factual and procedural history of

Azania's case is available in earlier opinions. E.g., State v. Azania, 865 N.E.2d 994, 996-97 (Ind. 2007). It is sufficient for purposes of this opinion to say that Azania's conviction for

murder stands, but the death sentence has been twice overturned. Most recently, we reversed a trial court order that prohibited the State from seeking the death penalty against Azania for the third time. Id. We now grant and address the State's petition for rehearing of that decision, in order to clarify which iteration of Indiana's death penalty statute applies to a new sentencing phase.

The State reads our most recent opinion as holding that the new sentencing phase is subject to the version of the death penalty statute in effect at the time of Azania's crime. It contends that Azania should instead be sentenced under the current version of the death penalty statute. Azania responds that our opinion was correct on this point, although he contests other aspects of our opinion in his own petition for rehearing. Azania's petition for rehearing is denied.

The State's argument does not discuss another relevant change in Indiana's capital sentencing regime: the addition of life without parole ("LWOP") to the jury's options when recommending sentences for certain murders.

When Azania murdered Lt. Yaros in 1981, two options existed for sentencing a defendant convicted of murder in a capital case: a defendant could either receive a sentence of death or a term of years. Ind. Code

Download State of Indiana v. Zolo Agona Azania.pdf

Indiana Law