The Son Who Murdered His Parents Pt. 3

In 1988 the United States Supreme Court denied Larry Romine’s petition for rehearing on January 25, 1988, leaving his death sentence undisturbed. There was one dissenting opinion by justice Thurgood Marshall. His opinion, which varied from the rest of the court was a minority opinion, but still should be shared.

Justice Marshall felt the circumstances could be viewed as jury coercion based on the following: The jury was not going to agree, the judge initiated further instructions and the jury didn't ask for them, and the sole dissenting juror could have felt the judge's instructions were directed at them.

Regardless, even if the majority agreed with Justice Marshall's view, all this would have done was have caused the Georgia Supreme Court to reexamine the case and reconsider whether or not to give Larry the death penalty. If this happened the Georgia Supreme Court still could have decided to give it to him.

In essence, the US Supreme Court disagreed that Larry's death penalty should be overturned.

In 1989, Larry filed a state habeas corpus case, normally a civil suit challenging the constitutionality of one's detention or conviction under state law in Butts County, the county where his prison was located. The case was denied.

The state habeas court denied relief in 1993. The state supreme court denied his appeal in this matter in 1993. In 1994 the US Supreme Court declined to hear his case in Romine vs. Zant.

In 1996, Larry brought a habeas case forward in the Northern District of Georgia seeking relief for constitutional violations. In 1999 the court denied his petition, so Larry appealed to the Eleventh Circuit.

In 2001, The Eleventh Circuit upheld the denial of relief concerning the convictions but reversed concerning his death sentences and remanded the case.

On April 15, 2002 Head v. Romine, The Supreme Court declined the warden’s request to review that ruling, leaving the 2001 decision in place.

The short version is his death sentence remained over, but his life sentence remained in place. The Georgia Department of Corrections listed Romine as being “Resentenced to Life” on August 23, 2002 in its January 2003 report documenting changes to the death-row population during 2002.

All of that changed during his final parole hearing. Larry was paroled in January of 2019 and released from Hancock State Prison. He spent over 35 years in prisons. His trial record reflects an incredible amount of cases and work on behalf of his legal teams. Fortunately for Larry, he has been able to live a life free of confinement for the last seven years. I can't imagine how unbelievable that must feel.