We have followed the case of Rodney Alcala in the past couple of months. Today the jury in his case said they think he should be put to death.

Rodney has been convicted of serial rape and murder of five women in the Los Angeles area. The crimes took place between the years of 1977 and 1979. The jury was only out an hour before coming back with their death penalty decision.

He will have his sentencing hearing on Wednesday where prosecutors fully expect the judge to take the recommendation and make Alcala pay for his crimes with his life.

Alcala acted as his own lawyer during the case and was said to have displayed bizarre behavior and was fixated on one detail of a single victim’s case while ignoring the others.

Other than the obvious, a lesson that can be learned from this case is that you have to have a great lawyer in any case, especially a murder case in California. Because the death penalty is permitted in that state, you must be able to literally trust your attorney with your life. Los Angeles Attorney Robert Helfend has been trusted on that level many times and has seen his clients get their lives back and charges dropped on multiple occasions. Review his case files and then contact him if you know of anyone in need of a great defense attorney.