By  Seamus McGraw

(Continued)

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Defense had focused first on narrow, technical issues

In fact, from the beginning, defense attorneys had staked their strategy on trying to convince the jury to spare Rodriguez' life.  During the guilt phase of Rodriguez' bifurcated trial the defense never took on the allegations against Rodriguez directly, but instead challenged the authority of the federal court to hear the case. The defense strategy echoed what has become a growing chorus of critics who have charged that the federal government in recent years has insinuated itself in cases which traditionally had been state matters, and have in some cases sought the death penalty for defendants charged with crimes in states that do not permit capital punishment.

Alfonzo Rodriguez, Jr.

That was the almost the entire sum and substance of the defense strategy in Rodriguez's case. From the beginning, defense attorneys made no effort to counter the evidence indicating that Dru had been kidnapped and killed by Rodriguez, who had been recently released from prison of Dru's slaying after serving nearly a quarter of a century for a prior sex offense. Instead, the defense argued that in all likelihood, Dru had died while still in North Dakota, and that Rodriguez should have been tried by a state court there.

Dru Sjodin

The jury didn't buy it. On Aug. 30, after just fours deliberation, they found him guilty.

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