Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said in court Monday her office will retry a former Kern County Sheriff’s deputy who was convicted of killing two prostitutes in the death penalty phase of a trial.
David Keith Rogers was convicted of first- and second-degree murder for killing Janine Benintende, 21, and Tracie Clark, 15. He was also sentenced to die in 1988 and has been in prison ever since. The California Supreme Court overturned Rogers’ death penalty after a key witness used by a late trial judge to sentence Rogers reneged on her testimony.
The case was remanded to Kern County Superior Court to see if Rogers should be resentenced to die. Jurors deadlocked 10-2 in a monthslong trial in favor of sentencing Rogers to death. Twelve people considered whether Rogers should be sentenced to die or life in prison without parole.
A readiness hearing was set for Aug. 7 to see if attorneys are ready to proceed to retry Rogers again.