April 4 USA: Majority Of Americans Regard Death Penalty As Just Punishment Nationwide support for the death penalty has waned since 2003, though most Americans still regard it as a just punishment. The results of a Harris Interactive poll published in March indicate a majority of Americans think the death penalty poses no deterrent to crime, and innocent people have sometimes been convicted of murder. However, the poll shows most do not favor a decrease in the number of executions. Michael Miller, minister for United Campus Ministry-Wesley, said he opposes capital punishment on moral grounds. Miller, history lecturer, said people should be against the death penalty because an innocent person could be put to death and it is used disproportionately against poor and uneducated individuals. "I think it's appropriate to punish people; I think it's even more than appropriate to rehabilitate people," Miller said. "Clearly there are people who are so antisocial, so broken, so dangerous, they have to be kept from the mainstream of society. But I don't see anything in the teachings of Jesus that justifies the death penalty." Texas led the nation in executions with 26 last year, twice as many as all other states combined. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 405 people have been put to death in Texas since 1976. Virginia comes in second with 98 executions. Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said capital punishment is more costly to taxpayers than other sentencing options. Dieter did not take a stand for or against the death penalty, but said if the people want it they ought to implement it justly. "To do it right you need higher paid lawyers, better qualified lawyers, full appeals, experts allowed, DNA testing, psychiatric experts, mental retardation experts, et cetera - it is expensive," Dieter said. He said attempts at low cost implementations of the death penalty fail because such cases are likely to be overturned on constitutional grounds and result in new trials. According to a Death Penalty Information Center fact sheet, an average of 5 people were released from death row each year from 2000 to 2007 because of evidence of their innocence. The fact sheet cites studies indicating the odds of receiving a death sentence in North Carolina can rise by 3 1/2 times among offenders whose victims are white. A California study found people convicted for killing whites are about 3 times more likely to receive a death sentence than those who murdered blacks. Those convicted for murdering Latinos are 4 times less likely to receive the death penalty than if he or she murdered a white person. According to the fact sheet, 41 % of Texas death row inmates in 2006 were black. Black people comprise 12 % of the state's population. "That's the problem with the death penalty. It tends to value lives differently based on a whole bunch of factors that have nothing to do with the crime," Dieter said. "All dead people are not equal in the eyes of the death penalty." According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Web site, Harris County leads all other counties with 120 death row inmates and Dallas County comes in 2nd with 46. District Attorney Sherri Tibbe said there are no death row inmates in Hays County, but she has one pending capital murder case. Tibbe said she has not called for the death penalty during her tenure. She declined to comment directly about whether or not her office would seek the death penalty in any case. "It's the law in the state of Texas - the death penalty is an option," Tibbe said. "It's always something you would consider as a prosecutor ... You do have the discretion, but you always consider the full range of punishments - the death penalty or life without parole when yo're looking at a capital murder case. You make the decision on a case-by-case basis." Dieter said because death penalty cases are expensive to pursue, district attorneys in counties with small budgets do not tend to ask for the punishment. He said the death penalty has more to do with politics than criminal justice. Dieter said some district attorneys, as elected officials, pursue the death penalty because it may help their political careers and make them appear tough on crime. "The criminal justice system tends to say, 'you commit a certain crime, you get a certain punishment, and that's what we think is the proper punishment for a lot of reasons,'" Dieter said. "The death penalty doesn't work like that. It's very selective and symbolic. It's not punishment for murder. It's not even for the worst murders. The worst murderers typically don't even get the death penalty because they usually have good lawyers. So you have to wonder what purpose it is serving, and I think the political purpose is one of the chief ones." Miller said he presided over the funeral of a woman who was murdered. Miller said he found it difficult to believe the victim's family would be able to soon forgive her murderer. He said restorative justice, the idea perpetrators can be reformed by contact with their victims or the victims of similar offenders, is not likely to be used on a large scale any time soon. "I'm always amazed at the grace and the powerful faith of people who have had a loved one taken from them, yet who have had the spiritual maturity to forgive," Miller said. "For many people the loss of a loved one is so grievous and horrible and traumatic, it's hard to imagine people with that kind of soul. But they do exist. I've met some." (source: The University Star) OHIO: Death penalty no joke to judge Darth Vader won't be making an appearance next week when county Common Pleas Judge James Burge holds hearings on the constitutionality of the state's lethal injection process. Burge angrily rebuffed defense attorney Jeff Gamso's suggestion that the 3 members of the states execution team who administer the lethal drugs to condemned inmates hide their identities behind the three masks of the "Star Wars" villain he brought to court Thursday. "There's nothing funny here," Burge said. "We've got 2 guys here who are counting on you to be serious, grown men." Gamso, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, had asked Burge to allow the 3 medically trained execution team members to testify during the hearings. The state has worked hard to keep the identities of all the team members a secret even after Burge ordered the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to turn over details of how the execution process is carried out. Burge said he would allow the three team members to testify out of the courtroom if it was needed, but he said next weeks hearing would focus on the testimony of two experts who have reviewed the information turned over by the prison system. Gamso later apologized for the comment about the masks, but Assistant Ohio Attorney General Steve Maher, didnt accept it. "The presentation by Mr. Gamso of 3 Darth Vader masks belies his comments," Maher said. Gamso's request came after Assistant County Prosecutor Tony Cillo had laid out concerns that Burge, a former defense attorney, may already have formed an opinion on the death penalty. Cillo quoted from numerous newspaper articles detailing Burge's visits and conversations with his former client, James Filiaggi, who was executed last year for the 1994 murder of his wife. Burge said he had visited Filiaggi and urged him to join a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the lethal injection process, but he said he did so at the request of Filiaggis mother. "I told him I thought he owed it to his mother to join the lawsuit," Burge said. Burge also explained why he keeps a picture of Filiaggi in his office at the county Justice Center. "Every time I look at the picture, it reminds me of the things I could have done that could have been outcome determinant and maybe made a difference," Burge said. Cillo also had questioned the discussions Burge and Gamso, who represented Filiaggi in some of his appeals, had while the 2 were in Lucasville for the execution last year. Burge said he told Gamso to talk to attorneys for accused killers Ruben Rivera and Ronald McCloud, who are challenging the lethal injection process on the grounds that the 3-drug cocktail used by Ohio and other states doesnt offer a quick and painless death. "I have never expressed my view on the constitutionality of the lethal injection process to Mr. Gamso or anyone else for that matter," Burge said. Kreig Brusnahan, one of Rivera's attorneys, called Cillo's concerns a "thinly veiled effort to get the judge to recuse himself." But Burge said he didn't take it that way. The judge said Cillo made it clear he wanted to make sure Rivera and McCloud were aware of Burge's history if it came up in a later appeal. (source: The Chronicle-Telegram) UTAH: Utah high court hears death-row appeal In an appeal by death-row inmate Troy Michael Kell, his attorney argued Wednesday to the Utah Supreme Court that the convicted killer did not receive effective assistance from his previous lawyers in appeals. Aric Cramer acknowledged that Kell was captured on videotape stabbing to death a fellow prisoner at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison but said there still are valid issues in the case. "It's not so much what happened, but why it happened," Cramer said, adding that Kell claims the situation amounted to "kill or be killed." Thomas Brunker, an assistant state attorney general, disputed that Kell received ineffective assistance during post-conviction proceedings. Brunker also said the overwhelming evidence against Kell - including the tape that showed him stabbing victim Lonnie Blackmon 67 times on July 6, 1994 - demonstrated that nothing his lawyers could have done would have saved the killer from a conviction and death sentence. The justices took the case under consideration and will issue a ruling later. The 32-year-old Blackmon, who was serving a sentence for robbery and theft, had been transferred to the Gunnison facility from Arkansas as part of a prisoner-exchange program. Kell, then 26, was serving two life terms for kidnapping and killing a man outside Las Vegas. Prosecutors argued that Kell was a racist who killed Blackmon because he was black. Kell alleged that Blackmon had threatened his life and insisted he had acted in self-defense. Other inmates were prosecuted for holding Blackmon down during the stabbing. The state of Utah, while denying wrongdoing, paid $175,000 to Blackmon's family to settle a lawsuit. (source: Salt Lake Tribune) ***************** Judge allows attorney to withdraw from death penalty case A judge ruled that attorney Mark Moffat can withdraw as counsel for a death-row inmate who is appealing his sentence, but Moffat's co-counsel, an attorney in Boise, will have to stay on the case. Fourth District Judge Lynn Davis issued his ruling on Tuesday, writing in his decision that Moffat's insistence that he was not qualified to represent Douglas Stewart Carter may have negatively affected the attorney-client relationship. But Davis rejected the arguments of attorney Leo Griffard, Moffat's co-counsel, who Moffat said was qualified to handle the case but was unable to devote much time to it due to the demands of his practice in Idaho. "The court has not found ineffective assistance of counsel, nor has it found Mr. Moffat to be incompetent. It has simply found the statements of Mr. Moffat to be so global and outrageously candid that they potentially affect the attorney-client relationship," Davis wrote in his ruling. "This court is not persuaded by the arguments of Mr. Griffard." Moffat argued in October that his lack of qualifications to handle a post-conviction appeal in a death-penalty case could have grievous consequences for Carter. He said he only took the case because his co-counsel, Griffard, was qualified, but Griffard was unable to fully participate in Carter's appeal. "While I did my best, there is no question that I completely made a mess of this case because of my lack of experience and training, and Mr. Carter has not had the benefit of qualified counsel on this case," Moffat said in October. A status conference will be scheduled so that Davis and the attorneys can determine the next step in the case. Assistant Attorney General Thomas Brunker, who is representing the state, said Davis must still rule on a motion in which Carter asked to be able to file more briefings in the appeal of his death sentence. Once that is settled, the court will likely hear arguments on the state's motion to dismiss the appeal. "I think the ruling is sound," Brunker said. "It would've been better from a practical standpoint if both attorneys had been left on the case, but by leaving the clearly qualified attorney on the case, it means, I think, that the case will move forward more quickly than if he had allowed both of them to withdraw." Brunker said Griffard will have 60 days to find local co-counsel. That co-counsel is not required to be trained in criminal law or post-conviction relief. Griffard declined to comment on the ruling. Moffat was ambivalent about the ruling, saying he didn't know exactly how to feel about it. "It's not like I view it as any kind of huge victory or anything like that. Judge Davis strived to make a good ruling for Mr. Carter. I think he understands that Mr. Carter needs to have a lawyer who's qualified in this area of the law to represent his interests," Moffat said. Brunker said that keeping Moffat as Carter's attorney could have prolonged the case if another judge ruled later that Moffat should have been allowed to withdraw. "We're pushing this as quickly as we can. I think that Judge Davis is clearly sensitive to the timing issue and has been ruling accordingly," Brunker said. "He's recognized that messing up this motion to withdraw could have actually prolonged the case, and I think his ruling was designed to curtail that as much as he could." Moffat said he would have liked to have seen Davis address the issue of financial compensation, the other reason he cited for wanting to withdraw from the case. Moffat's firm received about $10,000 in compensation for representing Carter. But his firm spent more than 500 hours on the case, which Moffat said would cost about $82,000 under normal rates. "I guess that issue is left for another day," Moffat said. In another ruling on Tuesday, Davis rejected a motion filed by Carter and Moffat to include in the court record a 350-page brief filed by the Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in a different death-penalty case. The briefing focused heavily on what the association said was inadequate compensation for attorneys who are forced to represent death-row inmates on appeal. Carter was sentenced to die for the 1985 murder of Eva Olesen during a robbery in Provo. Olesen was the aunt of a former Provo police chief. (source: Daily Herald) CALIFORNIA: California prisons locked down after officer stabbings----4 officers injured after altercation involving inmates at California prison 2 inmates involved in the attack were gang members, authorities say All California prisons placed on lockdown as precaution All of the state's prisons were locked down as a precaution Thursday after 2 inmates attacked four officers at the California Correctional Institution, a corrections official said. 2 sergeants and an officer were treated for lacerations, stab and puncture wounds, said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The 3 men were in stable condition at hospitals. A 4th officer, a woman, suffered unknown injuries and was also taken to a hospital. The two inmates involved in the attack are members of the Surenos, a Southern California gang, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site Thursday, citing corrections officials. State prisons were to remain locked down until corrections staff could determine whether the stabbing was an isolated incident, Thornton said. The attackers rushed the guards in an office on the maximum security general population yard shortly after 1 p.m., she said. Guards used pepper spray, batons and physical force to stop the attack, corrections officers said. The 2 inmates were treated for injuries they sustained from the force guards used to stop the attack and were taken to area hospitals for treatment. One of the attackers was serving a 117-year sentence for attempted murder and assault with deadly weapon. The other was serving a 25-year sentence for 1st-degree murder. The Investigative Services Unit at the prison and agents from Department of Corrections headquarters will investigate the incident, Thornton said. 2 homemade weapons were found at the scene. The prison was built in 1933 to hold about 2,800 female inmates, but currently houses 4,705 male inmates, according to the Department of Corrections. It employs 2,001 personnel. The prison, 40 miles southeast of Bakersfield in Kern County, was the scene of a race riot in February 2005 involving 480 black and Hispanic inmates that left 3 inmates injured. The last California prison guard to die in the line of duty was stabbed in January 2005 at the California Institution for Men in Chino. It was the 1st death of a Department of Corrections guard on duty since 1985. Calls seeking comment from a spokesman at the prison were not returned Thursday afternoon. (source: Associated Press) NORTH CAROLINA: The wrong man----Glen Chapman is free, but his case points to the dangerous imperfections in North Carolina's use of the death penalty Were it not for a couple of good appellate lawyers and Superior Court Judge Robert C. Ervin, Glen Chapman might have been killed by the state in Central Prison's death chamber. He had been on death row for nearly 14 years, following a conviction for the 1992 murders of two women in Hickory. After years of appeals, Judge Ervin ruled in November that Chapman deserved another trial. The Catawba County District Attorney, James Gaither Jr., then dismissed the murder charges against him, saying there was not enough evidence for a retrial. So on Wednesday, the 40-year-old Chapman was released -- from death row to freedom. Ervin, who held six hearings over five years, found that an investigator in the case, Dennis Rhoney, lied in his testimony about Chapman's involvement in the murders. The judge found that Rhoney had withheld evidence from prosecutors that would have bolstered Chapman's claim of innocence. He also found that Chapman's trial lawyers overlooked evidence in the deaths of Betty Jean Ramseur and Tenene Yvette Conley and didn't investigate thoroughly. (The appeals lawyers argued that Chapman's trial attorneys were "excessive users of alcohol.") Human error And Judge Ervin also said that a forensic pathologist's report suggested Conley might have died of a drug overdose instead of having been murdered. This case is a tragedy on many levels. But one of Chapman's appellate attorneys, Jessica Leaven, had it right on the bottom line when she said, "Everything that you can possibly imagine going wrong in a capital case went wrong. It's a prime example why the death penalty should be abolished." The justice system is run by imperfect humans, no different than all other humans. Sometimes they make mistakes. Sometimes they do things wrong. Sometimes they do wrong things. Some attorneys are more competent than others. Some district attorneys are tempted to put winning ahead of their duty as officers of the court to seek justice, first and foremost. Tough guys And all the time, politicians sing their "tough on crime" songs and stand by application of the one penalty in the system that cannot be reversed, or corrected in any way. Executions in North Carolina currently are on hold pending court action on whether the lethal injection used here and in other states is unconstitutional because it can amount to "cruel and unusual punishment." Mistakes have been made in North Carolina. Prosecutors have been found to have not handled cases in a straight-up fashion. Add to all this the unreliability of some witnesses, and you have, particularly in death penalty cases, a tragic accident waiting to happen. So is the state willing to say, in effect, well, if we kill the wrong person on occasion, we still should stick with the death penalty? If it is, that's disgraceful. And let it not be forgotten, not that it equals the argument that a wrongful execution is unacceptable, but vast sums are spent on prosecuting death cases and through the appeals process. (One wonders if those who'd like to shorten the distance between conviction and execution are given any pause by the Chapman case.) The system is imperfect. As long as that's so, the death penalty cannot be administered in any way that can be described as fair. (source: Editorial, News Observer) VIRGINIA: Victim's father criticizes Kaine's stay of execution The father of a Winchester policeman killed while chasing a suspect is criticizing Gov. Tim Kaine for delaying the killer's execution. Kaine this week stayed Edward Nathaniel Bell's execution scheduled for April 8 until July 24. He also temporarily suspended all executions in Virginia until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a case that claims lethal injection is unconstitutional. Richard Timbrook's son Richard was 32 when he was killed. His father says he left a message at the governor's office to tell Kaine he had the right to oppose the death penalty but "he didn't have the right to push his views on me.'' Kaine said during his 2005 campaign for governor that he personally opposes the death penalty, but is committed to upholding Virginia's law . Gordon Hickey, a spokesman for Kaine, says the governor has no further comment on the stay. (source: Associated Press) NEW MEXICO: Death penalty off the table in guard's death 2 men charged with murdering a prison guard during an inmate disturbance in 1999 wont face the death penalty if convicted, according to a published report. The Albuquerque Journal (subscription) reports in Friday's edition that State District Judge Neil Candelaria has signed an order dismissing the death penalty against Reis Lopez and Robert Young. Reis and Young are charged in the death of Ralph Garcia, who was killed in a disturbance at the Guadalup County Correctional facility in 1999. The Journal reports that Candelarias order reflects a unanimous decision of the state Supreme Court that state funding for public defenders in death penalty cases is inadequate. The high court made that ruling in October. In January, the legislature did not increase funding for state funded death-penalty defenses. (source: KOB News)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA, OHIO, UTAH, CALIF., N.C., VA., N.M.
Rick Halperin Fri, 4 Apr 2008 11:08:44 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
