[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA, ILL., MONT., PENN., TENN., FLA.

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 9



USA:

Kill the Death Penalty


Working as a police officer, I have a unique vantage point from which to
view the death penalty: It is no less than a vestige of medievalism. I
have to live with the fact that at any given moment, to protect someone's
life, I might become the judge, jury and executioner. I would lose no
sleep if that came about. I have stood over corpses of children and
elderly victims, I have seen perpetrators and victims of gang violence and
I have investigated sickening murders where an entire family was bound and
burned to death. I have met more than my share of cold-blooded murderers,
including some in my own family. I have also lost dozens of my family
members in religious massacres; one of my uncles was blown to bits by a
bomb planted by terrorists.

The pain, suffering, bitterness and the feeling of helplessness leave a
never-healing mark on a victim's family. Years after some of my uncles and
aunts were murdered, my father still harbors hatred in his heart, thinks
of revenge and ruminates over how things could have been different. On the
other hand, having a close relative in my own family who killed 3 elderly
people in cold blood has shown me another side of the picture. Instead of
a caricature of a "murderer" we can all hate and condemn with ease, I was
forced to see the human face on the criminal and the crime. I have also
learned that the pain and suffering are not limited to the victim's
family. Not only did we feel humiliated and disgraced, my relative's
parents lay awake nights wondering what went wrong and whether they could
have raised their child differently.

(source: Comment, Sunil Dutta, The Nation)






ILLINOIS:

Death-penalty testimony emotional


Erica Drane was fine when she got sworn in, and she was composed while
answering some basic questions about her best friend, Erin Justice.

But Thursday afternoon when DuPage County prosecutors asked her to point
to Laurence Lovejoy, the man convicted of brutally murdering Erin on March
27, 2004, she changed.

Before the in-court identification, Drane -- wearing a chain with Erin's
picture engraved on it -- had calmly answered standard questions.

"We hit it off pretty well," she said, referring to her friendship with
Erin. "She liked to do hair. She kind of had that vibe."

But then Drane had to look directly at Lovejoy. Although he never seemed
to look at her, Drane stared directly at him. Her voice started to crack.
She answered the next 4 questions in a monotone.

Yes, she had talked to Erin about Lovejoy, her stepfather. Yes, Erin was
afraid of him. Yes, Erin told Drane that Lovejoy had raped her. Yes,
"studying" was a word Erin used when she wanted Drane to come over so she
wouldn't be alone with Lovejoy.

"It was kind of code to come over and be superwoman and save her," said
Drane, 19. "I just went to be with her."

"Since March of 2004, do you have another best friend?" Bob Berlin asked
Drane.

"No," she answered.

The three-week trial has already been a wrenching process as the jury
heard evidence about Lovejoy allegedly raping his 16-year-old
stepdaughter, then poisoning, stabbing and finally drowning the girl in
her Aurora townhome.

The death penalty hearing could be equally emotional. At this phase,
attorneys are given more latitude to present evidence, as long as it is
relevant. It can be hearsay or opinionated.

Thursday, prosecutors opened their case with testimony about Lovejoy's
past arrests for trespassing and burglary, as well as exposing himself to
other relatives. They also called to the stand Erin's boyfriend and a
Waubonsie Valley High School guidance counselor to whom she had talked
about the rape 24 days before the murder.

Prosecutors are trying to show, based on Lovejoy's background and the
nature of the crime, that the death penalty should be applied in this
case.

On the other side, defense attorneys are expected to present evidence
today that Lovejoy's background does not merit his execution.

Lovejoy and his relatives could testify during this phase, which is not
expected to go to the jury until at least Tuesday. Monday is a court
holiday.

If Lovejoy did not receive the death penalty, the judge would determine
his sentence. He is eligible for anywhere from 20 years to a life
sentence.

The case will resume this morning.

(source: Aurora Beacon News)






MONTANA:

Montanas Death Penalty -- Yea or Nay ?----Debate in Montana after Democrat
introduces bill to abolish death penalty


Senator Dan Harrington, (D) Butte, says that Montana's death penalty is
barbaric, discriminatory, ineffective and costly. He's introducing a bill
to abolish capitol punishment in Montana.

"You must be absolutely sure that there is no chance that an innocent
person should be executed. And yet 123 people on death row have been
exonerated of the crime of which they were accused," said Harrington.

Senator Harrington is proposing that the death penalty be abolished and
replaced with a sentence of life imprisonment without any possibility of
release. Former prison warden, Gary Hilton, says that life without parole
is a sentence that is worse than death. "I, personally, can think of
nothing more horrific than growing old and eventually dying in prison,"
Hilton said.

After going through the arrest, conviction and sentencing of his brother,
Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, David Kaczynski has been advocating against a
system that he says exploits the poor and mentally ill.

"No reasonable person who truly understands how the current system
functions can, in my opinion, claim that it represents justice," he told
committee members.

Opponents say that life in prison is not nearly as permanent as the death
sentence some criminals deserve. They say that society should decide the
fate of these criminals. Doug Nulle who is an opponent of Senator
Harrington's bill said, "A sentence with life in prison without
possibility of release may really be no guarantee that those receiving
that sentence would, in fact, remain incarcerated for the remainder of
their natural lives."

"At what point do we finally say a person has reached that point at which
society says, 'you do not have the right to be here'?" added Senator Dan
McGee, (R) Laurel.

Since 1963, Montana has put 74 people to death. If this bill is passed,
Montana will become the 13th state in the US to have abolished the death
penalty.

(source: DigitalJournal.com)






PENNSYLVANIA:

VanDivner jury considers death penalty


A Fayette County jury took only 45 minutes to decide that James VanDivner
Jr. intended to kill his ex-girlfriend when he shot her in the head.

Now, jurors will decide whether the 57-year-old Brownsville native should
be executed for fatally shooting Michelle Cable.

The panel of 8 men and 4 women convicted VanDivner on Thursday of
1st-degree murder and will hear prosecutors argue this morning that he
should be put to death for shooting Cable, 41, on July 5, 2004.

In her closing argument yesterday, District Attorney Nancy Vernon said
VanDivner deliberately killed Cable after ignoring her family's pleas for
him to leave the Cable home in Grindstone, Jefferson Township.

"Mr. VanDivner was an unwelcome, uninvited intruder into the Cable home,"
Vernon said.

Cable's 18-year-old daughter, Jessica, testified Wednesday that VanDivner
smiled and cursed at her mother after he fired the .22-caliber handgun.

Jurors also convicted VanDivner of attempted homicide for shooting Cable's
20-year-old son, Billy, who still has a bullet lodged in his spine.

They also found him guilty of two counts of aggravated assault, including
one count for firing the weapon at Cable's neighbor, Larry Newman.

Defense attorneys insisted VanDivner could not have planned to murder
Cable because of his mild mental retardation and because of his heavy drug
and alcohol use in the hours before the shooting.

VanDivner's defense witnesses included an uncle, younger brother and
ex-wife, who described him as taking several hits of crack cocaine and
drinking at least a dozen beers that day.

Public Defender Susan Ritz Harper characterized VanDivner's demeanor after
his arrest as remorseful.

After authorities found him in a Washington County field two days after
the shooting, VanDivner told Trooper James Monkelis that he would have
killed himself if he knew that Cable had died. Monkelis testified
yesterday that VanDivner pledged to plead guilty in exchange for a life
sentence.

Harper told jurors that the comments from the former truck driver with an
IQ of 66 showed concern for his ex-girlfriend's condition.

"When he's sober, he realizes he's really screwed it up," Harper said.

Judge Gerald Solomon scheduled the penalty phase of the trial to begin at
9 a.m. today. Jurors then will deliberate whether VanDivner should be
sentenced to death or life imprisonment.

Prosecutors will argue the death penalty should be imposed because of
three aggravating circumstances: that VanDivner killed Cable while
committing a felony; he created a grave risk of death to others; and he
has a significant history of violence.

Dianne Zerega, a private defense attorney, will represent VanDivner during
this phase, presenting mitigating circumstances to the jury and arguing
his life should be spared.

Solomon rejected a pretrial motion to quash the death penalty on the basis
that VanDivner is mentally retarded.

He said last month that Zerega failed to prove an important legal
stipulation -- that VanDivner's alleged mental retardation began before he
was 18.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that the execution of a mentally
retarded defendant is cruel and unusual punishment.

(source: Connellsville Daily Courier)





********************

Jury to consider death penalty in Fayette County killing


A man convicted of 1st-degree murder for shooting his girlfriend faced a
2nd phase of his trial to determine whether he should face the death
penalty.

A Fayette County jury deliberated just 45 minutes on Thursday before
finding James VanDivner, 57, of Grindstone, guilty in the July 5, 2004
shooting death of Michelle Cable. Jurors were to begin hearing evidence
Friday in the penalty phase.

The jury rejected defense arguments that VanDivner should have been found
guilty of a lesser degree of murder because he was intoxicated at the time
of the killing and has an IQ of 66, which would classify him as mildly
mentally retarded.

VanDivner was also convicted of attempted homicide for shooting Cable's
son, Billy, the same day.

If the jury does not unanimously vote for the death penalty, VanDivner
will spend life in prison.

(source: Centre Times Daily)






TENNESSEE:

Time for a national death-penalty moratorium


In a move that received very little attention, Gov. Phil Bredesen recently
suspended all executions in Tennessee until May, pending a full review of
what he called our "sloppy" execution procedures. The governor is to be
commended for this brave and wise decision.

But I suggest that he take this opportunity to review not just the
execution procedures, but the entire application of the death penalty in
this state. That will take far longer than a few months. We need a death
penalty moratoriumnot just in Tennessee but in all states.

When the Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that states could resume executions,
they mandated that any state doing so must apply this ultimate penalty in
a fair and consistent, rather than arbitrary and capricious, manner. No
one can honestly look at the current application of the death penalty in
Tennessee and believe that we have met that test.

Tennessee's death-penalty sentencing is rife with error. Half of all death
sentences in our state are overturned on appeal due to serious
constitutional error, according to a study by the Tennessean. That number
does not include those sitting on death row who are, in all likelihood,
innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. One example is Paul
House, awaiting execution for over 20 years despite uncontested DNA
evidence that he did not rape the woman he was accused of murdering (rape
being the states theory of the crime). In June 2006, the U.S. Supreme
Court found that "viewing the record as a whole, no reasonable juror would
have lacked a reasonable doubt."

Then there's the way that race affects the use of the death penalty. It is
really no coincidence that public-opinion polling finds far less support
for capital punishment among blacks than among whites. National studies
repeatedly find both race-of-perpetrator and race-of-victim bias in
death-penalty sentencing. In Tennessee and most states, racial/ethnic
minorities are vastly over-represented on death row, and a full quarter of
African-Americans on Tennessees death row were sentenced by all-white
juries.

Besides race, social class is another distorting factor in the use of the
death penalty. If you don't have money for an attorney, your goose is
cooked. In Tennessee, nearly every one of the 102 people on death row
could not afford an attorney at trial. With all due respect to our public
defenders, if my life were on the line I would want the best private
attorney that money could buy. But that is not an option for almost anyone
who faces this situation in our statewith predictable results.

We have to be careful and systematic in our thinking here. It is not
logical to respond to this evidence by affirming one's visceral support
for the principle of life-for-life. Fine, for argument's sake, lets grant
that for a moment. Would not such a passion for justice also require the
fair application of this penalty? Would we not also want to assure such
basics as the actual guilt of the people we are executing, the class-blind
and color-blind application of this penalty and the opportunity for
adequate legal representation? Would we also want to be sure that the
people we are executing are morally responsible for their actions, rather
than clinically insane, as are a number of our death row inmates?

Nationally, the application of the death penalty is about as rational and
orderly as who wins the lottery. Thousands of people murder and are
murdered each year. A small number of (mainly southern) states execute the
great majority of those convicted of murder. Evidentiary requirements
vary. Which particular types of murder are eligible for capital sentencing
vary. Appeals processes vary. Quality of legal representation varies. In
the end, a small percentage of convicted murderers get the death penalty,
and an even smaller group is actually executed. And more and more, across
the country, DNA evidence is showing up to exonerate a significant
minority of those executed. How many innocent executed persons is too
many?

It would take another column to review the biblical arguments, which in
the South are a profound factor in support for the death penalty. Even if
we were to take the Old Testament alone as our guide, it requires the
eyewitness testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses (Deut. 17:6), a stricter standard
than our own. It also requires that the justice system "not show
partiality" (Deut. 16:19) and therefore that every accused person be
treated similarly. And this is not even to consider the profound issues
raised by the New Testament's focus on mercy.

As of now, at least, the death penalty is a public policy that fails the
most basic standards of justice. It is time for a moratorium and a
comprehensive review.

(source: David P. Gushee is University Fellow and Graves Professor of
Moral Philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tenn.----Associated
Baptist Press)


FLORIDA:

Death penalty panel seeks public comment


The Governor's Commission on Administration of Lethal Injection will take
comments from the public this afternoon.

The commission was formed after the Dec. 13 execution of Angel Diaz took
twice as long as normal. An autopsy showed needles either dislodged or
tore through Diaz's veins, spraying chemicals into his flesh, which caused
footlong burns.

The commission was formed to review the state's lethal injection
procedures, then provide recommendations to the governor by March 1.

The commission will hear public comment from 1 to 3 p.m. today at the
Florida Bar office, which is located in the Tampa International Airport
Marriott. Speakers will be limited to five minutes and must speak about
lethal injection procedures, not the death penalty in general.

(source: St. Petersburg Times)

**************************

Panel to hear lethal injection arguments


A state commission studying problems with Floridas method of executing
criminals will hear from the public today.

Anticipating a growing protest against the death penalty, officials with
the Governors Commission on the Administration of Lethal Injection have
set strict rules for public comments.

"Speakers will be limited to 3-5 minutes and must speak to the Commissions
purpose to address the procedures and protocol of lethal injection,"
according to a written release.

Commissioners also will hear from Hugo Adam Bedau, a professor emeritus at
Tufts University and a national expert on death penalty issues.

This is the 3rd meeting of the group since Gov. Jeb Bush called a
temporary halt to executions following the Dec. 13 botched execution of
Angel Nieves Diaz. It took nearly a half-hour, twice the usual time, for
Diaz to die.

An autopsy showed the needles used in the execution pushed through his
veins and delivered the deadly cocktail of drugs into his soft tissue,
slowing their absorption and possibly causing pain.

The commission meets again on Monday.

(source: Florida Today)