Circuit court rejects appeal by cult leader on death row

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By KEVIN O'HANLON / The Associated Press

An appeal by death-row inmate Michael Ryan, convicted of one of the most heinous murders in Nebraska history, was rejected Friday by a federal appeals court

In doing so, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an earlier ruling by the Nebraska Supreme Court.

Ryan, a former cult leader, was sentenced to death for the 1985 torture-murder of James Thimm at Ryan's rural Rulo compound.

Ryan also was convicted in the beating death of Luke Stice, 5, the son of a cult member.

The appeal was based on a 1999 ruling by the Nebraska Supreme Court that upheld Ryan's death sentence even though his trial judge met privately with a victim's family before sentencing.

The Nebraska court rejected Ryan's claim that the meeting between Richardson County District Judge Robert Finn and James Thimm's family prejudiced the case.

In a unanimous opinion written by Nebraska Chief Justice John Hendry, the court said Finn's actions did not deprive Ryan of his right to due process.

"Judge Finn's actions do not show actual bias, but, rather, a lack of judicial professionalism," Hendry wrote.

No one knew of the meeting until 1996, when one of the family members mentioned it in a letter, Ryan's lawyers said. When questioned by Ryan's attorneys in 1990, the judge denied the meeting but changed his answer after the letter came to light, the lawyers said.

Ryan's attorneys also said Finn turned his back on Ryan when he testified on his own behalf.

In Friday's ruling, a three-judge 8th Circuit panel upheld the decision of Nebraska's high court.

"This case involves horrific instances of torture and murder," wrote Judge Michael Melloy. "It was not unreasonable for the Nebraska state courts to conclude that there was little the victims' families could say that would have had a prejudicial effect on Judge Finn, given the evidence and testimony he had already heard."

The appeals court also rejected arguments that the meetings showed that Finn was biased against Ryan.

"Any disdain Judge Finn possessed for Ryan was motivated by evidence and testimony presented at trial," Melloy said.

The panel also upheld an earlier ruling by Nebraska's high court rejecting claims that Ryan should not be on death row, because he was mentally incompetent to stand trial.