Peter Avsenew seeks new trial, alleging jury misconduct in second death penalty case for Wilton Manors double murder
FORT LAUDERDALE -- A man who has been convicted and sentenced to die twice in the 2010 slayings of a Wilton Manors couple is asking for a third trial, alleging jury misconduct during his most recent hearing and sentencing.
Peter Avsenew, 38, was found guilty last June for the murders of Stephen Adams and Kevin Powell, who were found slain in their Broward County home after being beaten and shot.
The judge put off a ruling in the case and scheduled another hearing for Dec. 7 to issue a ruling.
The jury's decision last summer was the second time that Avsenew had been found guilty.
In 2017, he was convicted and sentenced to death but that decision was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court, which tossed it based on a technicality involving testimony by his mother that was ruled inadmissible.
Avsenew was again sentenced to death in October by the same jury that convicted him five months ago.
But in court Monday, that jury's foreman admitted during a hearing that he had watched a documentary about the case before he deliberated on Avsenew's punishment.
That bolstered Avsenew's lawyers, who argued that the jury foreman did his own research after the panel handed down its guilty verdict but before the sentencing phase had occurred.
A second juror was also questioned Monday by the judge, who reportedly reviewed some written correspondence, parts of which were not presented during the second hearing.
When the juror was asked by the judge if they had conducted any research outside of the court proceeding, which violated an instruction by the judge, the juror said, "Yes, your honor."
Avsenew's attorney said the program about the killing was sensational and included information not presented during the trial.