August 31 PENNSYLVANIA/NEW YORK: Prosecutors drop death penalty in exchange for extradition Northumberland County prosecutors have agreed to drop the death penalty for a Shamokin man accused of killing his ex-wife. And because of that, Richard Curran says he won't fight extradition from New York. He's been held there since being caught trying to flee into Canada on Wednesday. Police say Curran fatally shot his ex-wife, Tina, outside the Shamokin Area Community Hospital earlier that day. They say he was upset about a custody dispute over his 2 children. Curran resisted extradition at a hearing in Niagara County, New York, last week because he didn't want to face the death penalty if convicted. (source: Associated Press) CALIFORNIA: 2 New Cases Target Slaying Defendant----The man facing retrial in the death of an O.C. girl is believed to have killed 2 women in the 1970s. Detectives in Los Angeles have submitted cases to Orange County prosecutors accusing a murder defendant, already behind bars for the last 25 years, with killing 2 women in the late 1970s, law enforcement sources said Tuesday. One of the cases involves the killing of a nurse in Malibu and the other involves an unidentified woman from Los Angeles, the sources said. They were linked to the suspect, Rodney James Alcala, 62, through DNA evidence by "cold case" squads at the LAPD and L.A. County Sheriff's Department, said the sources, who are involved in the investigations but spoke on condition that they not be named. Starting Oct. 3, Alcala is to be tried a 3rd time in Orange County after his 2 death sentences were overturned in the murder of Robin Samsoe, 12, of Huntington Beach. Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy, the lead prosecutor in the Orange County case, declined to comment about any pending cases or say whether his office was considering filing new charges against Alcala. Alcala's attorney could not be reached for comment. Robin Samsoe disappeared June 20, 1979, while bicycling to a dance lesson, and her body was found 12 days later in the foothills above near Sierra Madre. At the 1st trial, a forestry worker testified to seeing a curly-haired man with a blond girl on a hiking trail the day Robin was abducted, near where the body was later found. Jurors deliberated only a few hours before convicting Alcala on June 20, 1980. He was sentenced to die in the gas chamber. In August 1984, Alcala won his first new trial. The state Supreme Court overturned the conviction, saying evidence about prior convictions was improperly allowed. In the 2nd trial, the forestry worker testified that she had since suffered amnesia and no longer remembered the man or the little girl. Alcala was again convicted, and sent to San Quentin State Prison to await execution. But in April 2001, the conviction was overturned on grounds that Alcala's lawyers should have been allowed to introduce a psychologist's testimony casting doubt on the forestry worker's amnesia claim. The same day, Los Angeles County prosecutors announced that DNA evidence tied Alcala to the slaying of Georgia Wixted, 27, a nurse raped and beaten to death in her Malibu apartment in December 1977. According to the sources, the prosecutors recently acted on that evidence by submitting the case, along with that of the unidentified woman, to Orange County prosecutors. (source: Los Angeles Times) FLORIDA: Local students help remove inmate from death row The efforts of a group of Lely High School students have succeeded in getting a man who says he was wrongfully convicted off of Florida's death row. Gregory Keith Capehart, charged with the first-degree murder of Pasco County resident Marilyn Reeves in 1988, has been moved to the Pasco Detention Center, where he's still waiting for DNA testing that was court-ordered June 23. "At least he's off death row. That's a victory in itself," said Lionel Decius, a May graduate of Lely High. "As soon as the DNA test is made and the results come back, he can walk through those gates a free man." Decius, a senior last year when he and his classmates first heard of Capehart's case, led a student rally on the Collier County Courthouse steps and circulated a petition asking for the inmate's release from death row. Decius and the other students have followed Capehart's case since then, even traveling to hearings in Dade City, where the Pasco County Courthouse is located in Central Florida, with their English teacher, John Dwyer. "I'm convinced that Greg was taken off death row because of the actions of the students," Dwyer said. "That's amazing. What a wonderful tribute to the students who worked so hard to accomplish this." It was Dwyer who first told the students about Capehart's plight. He had heard about Capehart through Pax Christi Florida, the state chapter of the Catholic international peace movement. Decius became interested in helping Capehart because, he said, he resembled the inmate. Beth Pershing, a May graduate from Marco Island now attending the U.S. Air Force Academy, also was actively involved in helping Capehart get removed from death row. DNA testing was not available in 1988, when the murder was committed. Capehart, 22 at the time, contends he was at the scene but did not take part in the murder of Reeves, who was 62. Records say she had been raped, then smothered to death with a pillow as she lay on her bed. They say burglary was the motive, and that $3 was taken. Records also say that a palm print found at the scene belonged to Capehart, but a fingerprint was never matched to his. Capehart, convicted a year after Reeves' murder, said he was coerced into signing a confession for a crime he didn't commit. He was on death row for 16 years. Although he's no longer on death row, Capehart, who turned 40 on Aug. 9, may not have an easy time of walking through those gates a free man. Now the proof of choice for criminal investigations worldwide, DNA testing would be the key to Capehart's freedom, Decius and his classmates say. But the testing still has not been done. Meanwhile, Dwyer said another problem has arisen: Capehart is handcuffed and shackled every time he leaves his cell at the Pasco Detention Center, flagged as "red dot" by detention officials. The "red dot" treatment is unjust and Capehart deserves to have it removed, Dwyer said. "I have hope because a new judge, Lynn Tepper, has been assigned to Greg's case and she seems to be willing to help him," he said. "He has a new defense attorney, Daniel Hernandez, who also seems to want to help. Greg is really a very gentle person, and I don't believe he committed the crime he was charged with." Neither Tepper nor Hernandez could be reached for comment. A spokeswoman in Tepper's office said Aug. 29 that a court clerk was gathering evidence for use in the testing and was working toward making arrangements for the test. Dwyer said that if Capehart eventually is released from prison, he will be faced with some major life changes. "His life after prison is a very 'iffy' thing," Dwyer said. "I encourage him to be thinking about what he'll do. All they give prisoners when they're released is $100 and a set of clothes to wear, and that's it." Dwyer said he had some contacts through Pax Christi who could help Capehart find a job and a home when - and if - he's released. "Greg has been in prison for 17 years and doesn't have anything to show for it," Dwyer said. "He can read and write now; he couldn't before. My hope and my real objective is to keep on until he's completely exonerated. We won't stop until he is." (source: Naples Daily News) ************************ Judge rejects lawsuit filed by Brevard man Wilton Dedge, the Brevard County man who spent 22 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, can't sue the state for damages, a judge ruled. Although he acknowledged that what happened to Dedge was "tragic," Leon County Circuit Judge William Gary sent Dedge, 43, and his family back to where they started -- the Florida Legislature. In a 3-page ruling released late Monday, the judge said Dedge was asking the court to rule on matters that are "clearly the province of the legislative branch of our government, not the judicial branch." "While everyone is in agreement that what happened to Wilton Dedge is tragic, only the Legislature can address the issue of compensation under existing law," he said, noting the state is protected from such lawsuits. Dedge, who learned of the decision Monday night from his lawyer, said he was disappointed. "They just keep dragging this out. The Legislature told us to go to the courts, and now the court is telling us to go to the Legislature," he said. "It's like a pingpong ball." Dedge was freed from prison Aug. 12, 2004, after DNA evidence proved he was innocent of a 1981 rape. Prosecutors apologized, and lawmakers said he deserved compensation for the lost years. But when the Senate and the House failed to agree on an amount and a method for compensating him, Dedge and his parents filed a lawsuit in May against the state and the Florida Department of Corrections. "Wilton is just so disappointed and frustrated," said Mary Dedge, who along with her husband sought reimbursement for the retirement account they exhausted defending their son. "He told me the other day that he is so tired of being broke," she said, adding that Dedge spends his days mowing lawns, trimming trees and doing other odd jobs. He has no health or retirement benefits. The ruling also left Dedge's attorney, Sandy D'Alemberte, wondering what to do next. State Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, introduced a bill last year that would have provided exonerated inmates such as Dedge $50,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment. The Senate approved the measure, but the House didn't consider it. Haridopolos has filed a similar bill for the legislative session beginning in March. "I'm hoping we can gain a little more support this year, especially from legislators in South Florida and in the House," he said, noting the case of Luis Diaz, a 67-year-old Miami man released Aug. 3 after spending 26 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit. "The bill would allow those few inmates who have been proven innocent by DNA evidence to be compensated without having to come before the Legislature and beg," he said. Despite the setbacks, Mary Dedge said the family remains optimistic. "I keep telling Wilton that it's going to happen," she said. "It's just going to take a while." (source: Orlando Sentinel) OHIO: No clemency for Spirko, parole board advises Taft----1982 killer of postmaster faces Sept. 20 execution John Spirko wanted time to convince a federal judge he's innocent of the murder of a Van Wert County postmaster 23 years ago, but a divided Ohio Parole Board yesterday recommended that Gov. Bob Taft not stop Spirko's Sept. 20 execution. The board voted 6-3 against recommending clemency. The final decision belongs to Mr. Taft, but in his nearly 7 years in office, he has never strayed from the parole board's recommendation in a death case. He has granted clemency once, commuting a death sentence to life without parole. Alvin Dunn, one of Spirko's attorneys, said he has been in cotact with the governor's chief counsel in hopes of convincing Mr. Taft to make Spirko's case the 1st in which he disagrees with the parole board. Spirko's lawyers last week laid out before the parole board their contention that he is on death row because of overzealous prosecutors frustrated by their inability to solve the heavily publicized kidnapping and stabbing of Betty Jane Mottinger, 48, postmaster in the tiny village of Elgin. The Toledo native's lawyers argued that no physical evidence tied Spirko to the crime and the prosecution relied on statements he fabricated in hopes of securing leniency for himself and his girlfriend on unrelated charges. The attorneys argued prosecutors forged ahead with the trial despite evidence suggesting Spirko's alleged accomplice, best friend, and former Kentucky cell mate Delaney Gibson may have been 600 miles away in North Carolina the morning of Aug. 9, 1982. Gibson, who reportedly had a full beard in contrast to witness testimony at Spirko's trial, was never tried and has been paroled in Kentucky on an unrelated murder conviction. 3 board members, including Jim Bedra, former assistant director of Toledo/Lucas County Victim Assistance, recommended that Mr. Taft grant Spirko, 59, a temporary reprieve while he pursues his last-ditch appeal. "We are 100 % sure that Mr. Spirko is a liar, but like [eyewitness] Mark Lewis, only 70 % sure he was there," reads the dissenting opinion. "The fact that Mr. Gibson was 100 % identified as being present, and the fact that Mr. Spirko and Mr. Gibson are friends, and therefore did the crime together is more than 'guilt by association' but rather 'death by association.'" The state claims Spirko revealed intimate details of the crime, including descriptions of Mrs. Mottinger's purse, the number of times she was stabbed, the paint-spattered curtain that shrouded her body, and a ring from which the stone had been pried. "Spirko's own words got him convicted," reads the majority's report. "Mr. Spirko, during his interviews with authorities, shared information about this crime that only someone who was present or involved in this crime would have known. "In fact, [Spirko] does not dispute the state's contention that these details could only be known to a participant in or an observer of the killing," it reads. "Mr. Spirko's counsel now argues, unconvincingly, that all such details were in fact published in various newspapers prior to trial." The majority rejected the argument that the jury convicted Spirko after hearing from postal investigator Paul Hartman, who has since reportedly claimed he told prosecutors before the trial he was convinced Gibson wasn't involved. Spirko has asked Mr. Taft for a full pardon or at least a reprieve from his execution date 21 days away as he attempts to convince U.S. District Judge James Carr, of Toledo, to grant him a new trial. A decision could come as soon as Friday. "Today we see that the safety-net clemency process that is supposed to catch cases like Spirko's - where there is a terrible risk that we are executing an innocent person - is not working," said Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. "Why is it that we can come to an execution and still not be 100 % certain that we have the right person?" Absent clemency from Mr. Taft or court intervention, Spirko would become the 17th man executed by injection by Ohio since it resumed carrying out the death penalty in 1999. (source: Toledo Blade) ******************************** Parole board rejects clemency for postmaster's killer A divided Ohio Parole Board recommended that Gov. Bob Taft deny clemency to John Spirko, who is scheduled to be executed in three weeks for the 1982 murder of a rural postmaster. In a decision issued Tuesday, 6 of the board's nine members concluded that there was not sufficient evidence to question Spirko's conviction and that the victim's prolonged suffering outweighed any argument for mercy. But the 3 dissenting board members recommended that Taft grant Spirko a reprieve to give a federal judge more time to consider new questions about the case. Final briefs are due this week. The board said it got "countless numbers" of letters and calls from people opposed to Spirko's execution, scheduled for Sept. 20. But a board majority rejected arguments that prosecutors knowingly presented a false case at trial and said Spirko's own statements about the slaying of Elgin, Ohio, postmaster Betty Jane Mottinger were sufficient to convict him. Their opinion didn't address assertions by Spirko's lawyers that some details of the crime purportedly provided by Spirko may have been supplied by investigators. The issue of where Spirko obtained his information is crucial because no physical evidence linked him to the crime. But during a Parole Board hearing last week, the state made false claims about what crime details had already been reported in the press and what investigators knew before Spirko came forward. A lawyer for the state later denied any misstatements and said that if his assertions were wrong it was because he was unaware of those facts. The board minority pointed out that the credibility of former Postal Inspector Paul Hartman, the state's key witness, had been called into question. And it noted that the key role played by now-disputed testimony - that Spirko's friend was at the scene of the crime - "is more than 'guilt by association' but rather 'death by association.'" (source: Cleveland Plain Dealer) ****************************** Why worry about a wrong execution? In 21 days Ohio might execute the wrong man. Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro wants John Spirko dead, ASAP. Someone kidnapped postmaster Betty Jane Mottinger on Aug. 9, 1982, in rural Elgin, Ohio, stabbed her more than a dozen times, wrapped her in a cloth and dumped her body in a field. There's a good chance it wasn't Spirko. No physical evidence links him to the crime. The facts might not have been strong enough to convince the Ohio Parole Board, so Petro's senior deputy Tim Prichard threw in a few false statements. He said that a description of the victim's missing purse had to have come from Spirko because investigators didn't know what it looked like. But his own documents show that they did know. Prichard told the board that Spirko knew details about the cloth that were not in the newspaper. Wrong. The Toledo Blade had reported them. Prichard told the board that investigator Paul Hartman could not have fed Spirko details about the victim's clothing because another inspector witnessed the interview. Also untrue. Spirko and Hartman were alone. It worked. The board has voted, 6-3, to recommend that the governor deny clemency. Prichard later told a reporter that if his presentation was wrong, it was because he was unaware of those facts. Unaware of the facts? Did Petro forget to tell him that a man's life was on the line? But then again, facts, fiction, what's the difference? A jury was fed both at the trial. Why change strategies now? The state presented a case against Spirko that it knew to be false. Prosecutors had strong evidence that Spirko's friend was nowhere near the crime scene, yet they told the jury that Spirko and the friend committed the crime together. Postal inspector Hartman said Spirko admitted killing the woman, but oddly enough, Hartman never wrote that in his notes, never taped the statements and never produced a signed confession -- even though he conducted at least a dozen interviews with Spirko. Hartman collected most of the evidence and steered conversations to Spirko's friend and former cellmate, Delaney Gibson. Hartman helped win a conviction based on a story that Spirko and Gibson killed the woman. But the prosecutors had photos and receipts showing that Gibson was in North Carolina at the time. Instead of sharing that with the defense, they used a phony link to Gibson to convict Spirko. Years later, Hartman told 3 people that he knew before the trial started that Gibson had nothing to do with the crime. The prosecutors knew that, too. Which explains why they never tried Gibson for murder. The clemency report says that Ohio Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and Justice Paul Pfeifer support a stay of execution. So do 3 retired federal judges, including William Sessions, who is also a former FBI director. U.S. District Judge James Carr of Toledo wants the execution delayed to review the case. The clemency report states that "countless numbers of letters and phone calls were received by the Parole Board as to why the death sentence should not be carried out." Keep it up. Write Governor Bob Taft, 30th Floor, 77 South High St., Columbus, Ohio 43215-6117. Log on to www.governor.ohio.gov and contact him at the top of the page. Call him at 614-466-3555. Fax him at 614-466-9354. A man's life is at stake. (source: Column, Regina Brett, Cleveland Plain Dealer)
