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Parole board denies clemency for Todd Wessinger, death row inmate condemned for 1995 double murder

5 months 3 hours 27 minutes ago Monday, November 27 2023 Nov 27, 2023 November 27, 2023 8:29 AM November 27, 2023 in News
Source: WBRZ

UPDATE: The pardons and parole board has voted to deny clemency for Todd Wessinger.


BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole on Monday will hear the pleas for clemency from five death row inmates, including a man who was convicted in the 1995 murders of two people at Calendar's restaurant on Perkins Road in Baton Rouge.

The fate of Todd Wessinger has already been batted around the courts since his 1997 trial.

In 2017 -- the year of last significant ruling -- the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling and reinstated Wessinger's death sentence.

Those seeking clemency, however, say Wessinger suffers from mental deficiencies that date to a pediatric stroke, and note that he was sentenced by an all-white jury that, they say, was unaware of the condition. Wessinger is Black.

Wayne Guzzardo, whose daughter, Stephanie, was one of the victims, has attended numerous appeal hearings over the years and has testified before the legislature, urging the State to carry out the death sentence.

Wessinger's application for clemency is available here.

Others whose cases will go before the Board on Monday are:

-Jimmie Duncan

-Bobby Hampton

-Nathaniel Code

-Clarence Harris

The hearings begin at 8:30 a.m. 

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