Douglas Wayne Pryor on trail for his life

Seeking the death penalty if Douglas Wayne Pryor is convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the December 2007 shooting death of a Smithsburg police officerThe notice was filed in Washington County Circuit Court after prosecutors consulted with the family of slain Smithsburg Police Officer Christopher Shane Nicholson, Washington County State's Attorney Charles Strong said Friday afternoon.
Nicholson's family supported the motion, Strong said. Because Pryor now faces the possibility of a death sentence, he has an automatic right in Maryland to have his trial moved to another county. An April 29 motions hearing is set in Pryor's case.
Police received a call Dec. 19, 2007, about 9:30 p.m., saying Pryor, 29, had harmed the mother of his children at her Halfway residence and possibly was headed to the Smithsburg area, where he lived. When deputies arrived at the Halfway apartment, they found Alison Munson, 31, dead. Deputies en route to the area of Pryor's house on Welty Church Road asked the Smithsburg Police Department for assistance.
Nicholson, 25, the only Smithsburg police officer on duty, was waiting for backup in a driveway off Welty Church Road when he was confronted by Pryor and shot, Washington County Sheriff Douglas Mullendore said. When deputies arrived, they found Nicholson lying near his police cruiser in the middle of a field off Welty Church Road, Mullendore said. Nicholson later was pronounced dead. Pryor was taken into custody after he was shot in an exchange of gunfire with Washington County Special Response Team members, according to reports. A Washington County grand jury in February handed up a five-count indictment charging Pryor with first-degree murder and other crimes in Nicholson's death. Pryor also was indicted on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and second-degree assault of a police officer. In separate indictments, Pryor was charged in connection with the shootout with law enforcement officers and with first-degree murder in connection with Munson's death. Prosecutors in February filed a motion to consolidate the three cases against Pryor - one for Nicholson's death, one for Munson's death and one for the alleged assault on law enforcement officers. Pryor remained in Division of Correction custody Friday night at the request of the Washington County Sheriff's Department. In order for the death penalty to be imposed, the defendant and case must meet certain conditions. The defendant must be 18 or older and have an IQ of more than 70. The defendant also must be the actual killer, except in cases of contract killings. The defendant also must be convicted of first-degree murder in the killing or have been present at the murder, a major participant and have intended the death of a law enforcement officer. The crime itself also must meet certain aggravating circumstances, the most common of which are murder during robbery or rape and the murder of a law enforcement officer.
The last death penalty case prosecuted by the Washington County State's Attorney's Office was against Brandon T. Morris, who was convicted in January in Howard County Circuit Court in the January 2006 shooting death of Roxbury Correctional Officer Jeffery A. Wroten at Washington County Hospital. Morris was sentenced by a judge to life in prison without parole. Maryland has effectively had a death-penalty moratorium since December 2006, when the Maryland Court of Appeals said the state improperly adopted its death-penalty procedure and couldn't execute inmates until the problem was corrected. Nicholson's aunt has lobbied in Annapolis against a death-penalty repeal movement. She and Munson's sister also have written letters to lawmakers, expressing a desire to keep the death penalty an option in Maryland.