DOJ Has Until Noon Wednesday to Defend its Appeal of Death Penalty Order in Dangleben Case

The V.I. Justice Department has until noon Wednesday to respond to an emergency motion to dismiss, or at least expedite, its appeal of a V.I. District Court order striking the government’s bid to seek the death penalty in the murder case of Richardson Dangleben Jr., the clerk of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

Clerk Patricia S. Dodszuweit has also advised that the case has been listed for possible dismissal “due to jurisdictional defect.”

Jury selection for Dangleben, charged with murder and other crimes in the July 2023 shooting death of V.I. Police Detective Delberth Phipps Jr. on St. Thomas, is set to begin in less than three weeks, on Oct. 6.

The government stated in February 2024 that it would not seek the death penalty but abruptly changed course in May after the Trump administration issued an executive order saying it would review all decisions not to seek capital punishment in eligible cases charged during the Biden administration, which did not support the death penalty.