Jury convicted him of murder last year
JOSHUA WOLFSON Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Monday, January 12, 2009 12:00 am
Donald Rolle filed notice Friday that he intends to appeal his 2008 conviction for the brutal kidnapping and murder of a woman he once dated.
The notice, filed through Rolle's trial attorney, comes a month after a Natrona County district judge sentenced the former mechanic to life without parole for murdering Jennifer Randel in November 2007. The notice does not mention on what grounds Rolle will appeal his conviction to the Wyoming Supreme Court.
A judge Monday agreed Rolle, 48, will be able to pursue his appeal with a public defender, according to a document filed in Natrona County District Court. Public defenders also represented Rolle during his September trial.
At the trial's conclusion, the jury convicted Rolle of first-degree murder and kidnapping. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, but after nearly a week more of testimony, a few jurors chose to spare Rolle's life.
In Wyoming, a jury must unanimously agree to impose the death penalty.
At trial, prosecutors presented evidence Rolle beat and stabbed Randel, a 40-year-old mother of two, during a brutal attack that likely lasted hours. Her body was found Nov. 4, 2007, in his pickup along a dirt road in a rural area west of Casper. The night before, she had called 911 and told a dispatcher she was in Rolle's truck and couldn't get away from him.
Rolle claimed he slammed Randel's head into a truck dashboard and kicked her after she came at him with a knife during a fight. However, some of his statements were contradicted by other witnesses or physical evidence.
Reach Star-Tribune crime reporter Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com.