June 18 TEXAS: Collin County murderer not executed after day of legal wrangling After hours of legal wrangling between attorneys and judges, including protests from leading legal ethicists over an alleged relationship between a judge and prosecutor in the trial of Charles Dean Hood, Tuesday passed without the Collin County murderer's execution. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ultimately green-lighted the execution by ordering a local judge to reinstate a death warrant that had been withdrawn by another judge. The death warrant was reinstated, but the execution was called off shortly before midnight when prison officials said they didn't have time to ensure it was conducted properly before the midnight deadline for the death warrant was to expire. The bizarre tug-of-war between the lower court and the state's highest criminal court over whether Mr. Hood got a fair trial is likely to roil death penalty advocates and opponents who keep a close eye on the nation's busiest death penalty state. Mr. Hood came within 90 minutes of his scheduled 6 p.m. execution which was delayed after a judge vacated his death warrant. But he could hardly draw a ragged breath of relief before prosecutors filed an appeal to have his sentence for a Plano double-slaying carried out. The merits of the issue were then lost in a maze of technicalities as judges and attorneys debated whether Mr. Hood's death warrant could be vacated and reinstated. On Monday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected a stay to consider the issue of the alleged improper relationship, saying the allegation was unproved and not new. Sequence of events About 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, without explaining his reasoning, a district judge in Collin County ordered the death warrant vacated and immediately recused himself from the case. The prosecution then repeatedly appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeals. The appeals court initially ruled that the district judge had no authority to act, but since he had recused himself, the appeals court also said it could not order him to reinstate the death warrant. After more appeals from prosecutors, about 9:15 p.m. the Court of Criminal Appeals ordered Judge John Ovard, the regional presiding judge, to reinstate the death warrant. He did so shortly before 11 p.m. Defense reaction The legal maneuvering dumbfounded defense attorneys. "We've never been in this position before," said Andrea Keilen, executive director of the Texas Defender Service, which is representing Mr. Hood. "I've never seen anything like this." "All of this is quibbling over technical issues in the case when what we should be talking about is the trial judge and the trial prosecutor engaged in an affair during a capital murder case," she said. John Rolater, the assistant district attorney now handling the Hood case, declined to comment. Mr. Hood has been on death row since 1990 for the robbery and murders of Ronald Williamson and his girlfriend, Tracie Lynn Wallace, in Plano the year before. When told Tuesday afternoon that his execution date had been withdrawn, Mr. Hood, 38, cried, according to prison spokeswoman Michelle Lyons. "I just thank God," he said. "I just walk by my faith. If it didn't happen, I was going home to the Lord." Relatives of the victims at the death chamber waiting to witness the execution could not be reached for comment. Alleged affair Rumors about the alleged intimate relationship between Judge Sue Holland and then-District Attorney Tom O'Connell have circulated for years. They have repeatedly declined to comment. In a letter to The Dallas Morning News in 2000, Mr. Hood wrote, "During my trial, the setting [sic] judge and district attorney were having a sexual relationship, a huge ("conflict of interest")." The allegations were publicized in 2005 in an article on Salon.com but had not been raised at trial or during Mr. Hood's other appeals because attorneys had no proof, only rumors. But in early June, former Assistant District Attorney Matthew Goeller swore in an affidavit saying the relationship was "common knowledge," lasting from 1987 until 1993. Mr. Hood's attorneys felt that affidavit from a former prosecutor who worked in the office during the time of the trial offered sufficient reason to introduce the alleged relationship as a reason to reverse the conviction and sentence. "The absence of an impartial judge is a structural defect," they wrote. But to the dismay of Mr. Hood's lawyers, and several leading legal ethicists, the Court of Criminal Appeals declined to address the issue, saying the information was not new. The former assistant district attorney who filed the affidavit "does not allege that he has any personal knowledge of such a relationship," Judge Tom Price wrote in a concurring opinion denying the appeal and the stay of execution. Defense attorneys then turned to Judge Curt Henderson in the Collin County district court, and he granted the execution date withdrawal. Judge Henderson, who was an assistant district attorney in Collin County from 1979 until 1986, then immediately recused himself. He asked the presiding judge of the court's administrative region to appoint a new judge. Prosecutors respond Collin County prosecutors responded with the Tuesday evening appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals that argued that the trial court had no authority to modify the execution date, saying Mr. Hood was engaging in "gamesmanship" and a "fishing expedition" to find more evidence after the Court of Criminal Appeals had already ruled. Earlier in the day, Larry Fox, former chairman of the American Bar Association Ethics Committee, worried about the impact of Mr. Hood's possible execution. Mr. Fox was one of several other legal experts calling for review of the case. "I was thinking the headlines tomorrow for us around the world would be a black mark on our system of justice," he said. (source: Dallas Morning News) ************************ Austin judge finds inmate sane enough for execution----More appeals are likely in the landmark case For 15 years, Scott Panetti has been Example No. 1 of the problems that result when mental illness crosses paths with the criminal justice system. They were evident at his capital murder trial, when he represented himself and dressed up in a purple cowboy suit, making a bad joke of sober proceedings when he subpoenaed JFK and Jesus Christ. And they were just as apparent years later when the state tried to execute Panetti, only to see appeals courts step in and grapple with the question of whether he was too crazy to kill. Now an Austin federal judge has decided that Panetti, convicted by a Kerr County jury of killing his in-laws in 1992, may not be quite as sick as advertised and likely has tried to manipulate doctors assigned to investigate his mental state. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks, who conducted a hearing on Panetti's sanity in February, concluded that he does not deserve the protection of the courts at least not in his current state. "If any mentally ill person is competent to be executed for his crime, this record establishes it is Scott Panetti," Sparks concluded in his 62-page opinion. A year ago, Panetti's lawyers were celebrating a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that declared Texas' standard for deciding competency for execution was so narrow as to be almost meaningless. Expanding on its 1986 ruling in Ford v. Wainwright, which made it unlawful to execute the incompetent, the high court said a defendant had to have a "rational understanding" of why he was going to be put to death. Panetti's lead counsel, Greg Wiercioch, all but said his death row days were numbered. "Today the Supreme Court recognized that executing Scott Panetti would be a mindless, meaningless and miserable spectacle," Wiercioch said. His assumption was that any court ordered to review Panetti's case in light of the Supreme Court's ruling which required that defendants have more than just a technical understanding why they were being put to death would see how sick he is and spare him the needle. Malingering suspected Sparks, however, did nothing of the sort. While acknowledging that Panetti is seriously mentally ill, Sparks, however, seized on the opinion of three doctors hired by the state who suspected malingering and found behavior inconsistent with previous diagnoses of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Sparks was also persuaded by tape recordings of conversations between Panetti and his parents. They indicate he had a good grasp of his legal case, and that he had adjusted his attitude and his level of cooperation with doctors depending on which side was paying them. To Sparks, Panetti's words suggested a rational appreciation of his predicament. "It is not seriously disputable that Panetti suffers from paranoid delusions of some type, and these delusions may well have contributed to his murder of Joe and Amanda Alvarado," Sparks wrote. "However, it is equally apparent from his recorded conversations with his parents that these delusions do not prevent him from having both a factual and rational understanding that he committed those murders, was tried and convicted, and is sentenced to die for them." Wiercioch said Sparks essentially ignored 30 years of medical evidence and relied on a small amount of recorded conversation that did not mean anything when viewed in light of Panetti's system of delusions. Wiercioch insists Sparks missed the point of the Supreme Court's decision: A condemned inmate's competency has to be considered in light of his broader understanding of the crime, why he committed it and why he is being punished for it. Careful examination In its review of the Panetti case, the Supreme Court acknowledged that "rational understanding" is a difficult concept to define. It also pointed out that some offenders might be so callous, unrepentant or lacking in compassion that they might seem out of touch with reality, which does not mean they cannot be executed. But the high court said that defendants who are seriously mentally ill need to be carefully examined to see that what they believe and understand has some connection to the truth. "Gross delusions stemming from a severe mental disorder may put an awareness of a link between crime and its punishment in a context so far removed from reality that the punishment can serve no proper purpose," the majority opinion stated. "A prisoner's awareness of the State's rationale for an execution is not the same as a rational understanding of it." Sparks' opinion took a limited view of what that means. Panetti's illness and belief system are largely irrelevant now if he can talk reasonably about his appeals and understands he is engaged in an adversarial process that could end with his execution, the judge said. Understanding matters Under Sparks' interpretation, even the most bizarre delusional system would matter little say, Panetti believing he killed his in-laws because he had been anointed by God to stop an alien invasion of Earth because the only matter relevant for execution competency would be a rational understanding of the legal process involved in obtaining it. "The tapes of Panetti's conversations with his parents establish that Panetti has a fairly sophisticated understanding of his case, up to and including the legal intricacies presented by Ford and the Supreme Court's remand opinion," Sparks wrote. Sparks also wrote that Panetti's unwillingness to engage mental health experts equally regardless of which side was employing them also worked against the claim that he is too ill to understand what is going on. "This suggests nothing more exotic than a rational understanding that Panetti's legal defense is an adversarial process and the State is on the other side," the judge stated. The case will be appealed and ultimately could end up back with the Supreme Court for justices to determine whether Sparks followed the intent of their previous ruling. (source: Houston Chronicle) ************************************ 2 in toddler death case given bond A couple charged with capital murder in the April death of a toddler in their care while her soldier parents were stationed overseas were allowed bond on Tuesday. Judge David Guaderrama of the 243rd District Court presided over the arraignment and bond hearings for Nakia Dawkins and Shawntrell Dawkins, who were arrested and charged with capital murder in the death of 2-year-old Milanya Harris. They are also charged with injury to a child -- Milanya's 4-year-old brother, Jailen Harris. Bond was set at $500,000 each for the capital murder charge, and the previously set bond of $50,000 each for the injury-to-a-child charge was allowed to stand. Assistant District Attorney Beto Acosta told the court the couple had admitted corporal punishment, giving the children "a whooping" with a belt as discipline. He said both children had multiple bruises from a belt buckle. Acosta said an autopsy report showed Milanya died from blunt force trauma with nine subdural hematomas on her head. Subdural hematomas are tumorlike blood clots on the brain. He said that more than 40 % of her body was covered with bruises, and that the medical examiner's office determined her bruising was not consistent with a fall down the stairs, as the couple had stated. Nakia and Shawntrell Dawkins had cared for the children for about 6 months. Stuart Leeds, Shawntrell Dawkins' lawyer, told the court the couple would be allowed Army housing if they were released on bond. "She's never been arrested in her life, judge, for anything," Leeds said. He emphasized her family support system and said she would not be a flight risk. "My client cooperated with the police all the way," he said. "She's a very honest person. She does what she says she's going to do." Theresa Caballero, Nakia Dawkins' lawyer, said the couple denied killing the toddler. "Our clients called 911 right away when they saw the child wasn't breathing," she told the court. Acosta then argued that the couple had no ties to El Paso and are a flight risk, particularly since the death penalty may be on the table. The district attorney's office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty. Shawntrell and Nakia Dawkins remained jailed Tuesday afternoon. (source: El Paso Times) ******************************* Courts grant go-ahead in Sonnier execution, date set Following a ruling by the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals, the clock is once again ticking for convicted killer Derrick Sonnier. He was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. June 3 at the Huntsville "Walls" Unit when the execution was stopped. A few days later, June 9, the TCCA lifted the stay of execution. The execution of convicted killer Derrick Sonnier, 40, received a green light once again less than a week after his scheduled death by lethal injection was halted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. According to Roe Wilson, Harris County assistant district attorney, the execution is set for July 23 in Huntsville. The new date was set June 13 after the stay imposed by the TCCA was lifted. The states highest court stopped Sonniers execution June 3 only an hour prior to the event after attorneys filed a last-minute appeal, maintaining that lethal injection would violate their clients Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment. After reviewing Sonnier's claim, the TCCA ruled that Sonnier has not made a "showing of a constitutional violation." Of the 9 TCAA judges, 2 voted against the lift on the stay of execution for Sonnier. TCCA documents further show that judges argued that the Texas lethal injection process is very similar to the Kentucky protocol which was just recently upheld as constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, in respect to both the chemicals used during lethal injection as well as in the training of those individuals administering the drugs. Judges J. Cochran and J. Womack, proposed to lifting the stay of execution, opined that recent changes in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Execution Procedure manual, effective May 30, were designed to mirror Kentucky's procedures even more closely. Sonnier was convicted of the 1991 murder of Humble resident Melody Flowers and her 2-year-old son, Patrick. He was convicted and sentenced to death by a Harris County jury and was received on death row in March 1993. Sonnier has been scheduled for execution 3 times - originally in October 2007, February of this year and again most recently in June. The stay of execution granted June 3 was greeted by the victim's family with emotional outbursts in front of the Huntsville "Walls" Unit death chamber. Now, the clock is once again ticking for Sonnier. "The train to justice unfortunately moves at a snail's pace and sometimes you get hit by unexpected barricades like what happened last Tuesday with Sonnier's stay of execution," said crime victims advocate Andy Kahan. "For the victims family its one emotional roller coaster after another and hopefully now the train is back on its path toward justice. There is no issue of guilt or innocence. This family has waited long enough." (source: The Humble Observerf)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS
Rick Halperin Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:10:49 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
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