[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----DEL., FLA., ALA., OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

July 1



DELAWARE:

Jury recommends death sentence for Sykes


A Superior Court jury unanimously recommended Friday that convicted killer
Ambrose Sykes be sentenced to death for the murder and rape of 68-year-old
Virginia Trimnell in 2004.

The same jury found Sykes, 33, guilty Tuesday after 30 minutes of
deliberations. Friday's decision came after less than two hours of
deliberation. No family members or friends of Trimnell or Sykes were
present when the decision was read.

Sykes did not make a statement during the 2-day penalty phase of his
trial.

The jury's vote is a recommendation, although law requires the judge to
consider it seriously. Final sentencing will be handed down by Kent County
Superior Court Judge William L. Witham Jr. at a later date.

There is still an undecided motion from the defense for a new trial that
will also be considered by the judge at a later date.

"It's the verdict we wanted and asked for," Deputy Attorney General
Stephen Welch said. "We were pleased with the verdict."

Deputy Attorney General David Favata said the decision sent a message from
the community about such crimes.

Defense attorney Thomas Donovan said Sykes' family and girlfriend, who
were unable to return to the courthouse before the decision was read, are
upset about the recommendation.

"This whole trial process is just the first step in a long legal process,"
said Donovan, who said his client plans to appeal the verdict.
"Ultimately, we think Ambrose will get another day in court."

Jurors heard Friday from family and friends of the victim and of Sykes on
Thursday and Friday. They were then asked to decide if Sykes should
receive the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of
release.

On Thursday, family and friends of Virginia Trimnell told jurors she was a
loving grandmother, patron of the arts and an active volunteer.

Her daughter, Liesl Trimnell, said she was saddened by the fact that her
son and nieces would never know their grandmother.

Sykes' sisters, mother and girlfriend testified Friday about his
childhood, adult life and son Alex, 11.

Jenny St. Jean, Sykes' girlfriend of 13 years and Alex's mother, said
Sykes was devoted to his son.

As St. Jean testified, Sykes held his head in his hand, sniffled and wiped
his eyes.

St. Jean said if Sykes were sentenced to death, it could cause
psychological problems for her and her son. She asked the jury to spare
his life, so he could continue to fill the role of father for his son.

Debora Sykes, his mother, testified last for the defense. She told jurors
her son had a difficult childhood. She said when Ambrose Sykes went to
live with his father for 2 years at age 14, he was forced to grow up too
quickly.

Sykes was accused of binding Trimnell's hands and feet, gagging her,
raping her, strangling her with a scarf, stuffing her body into a suitcase
and then driving her car for 2 days with her body in the trunk.

(source: News-Journal)






FLORIDA:

Fla. Jury Advises Death in Guard Killing


A jury recommended the death sentence Saturday for a second prison inmate
convicted of killing a guard during a botched escape attempt 3 years ago.

Stephen V. Smith, 45, was convicted June 23 of 1st-degree murder for the
fatal beating of Darla Lathrem. Jurors voted 9-3 to sentence him to death.

Judge Charles Blackwell scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 27.

Smith was one of three inmates charged in Lathrem's death in June 2003 at
the Charlotte Correctional Institution. Lathrem, 38, was Florida's first
female guard to be killed in the line of duty.

Prosecutors said Smith planned the escape and recruited fellow inmate
Dwight Eaglin to attack Lathrem, who was unarmed. Eaglin was sentenced to
death in March.

Inmate Charles Fuston also was killed, possibly in an attempt to protect
Lathrem. A murder charge against Smith in Fuston's death was dropped.

Lathrem's sister Carol Miller told the News Press that justice was served.

''He led Darla to the slaughter,'' she said. ''I feel sorry for (Smith's)
family and I will pray for them. But he deserves to pay for this crime.''

The trial for the 3rd inmate, Michael Jones, is set for September.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Death penalty out in store owner's slaying


State prosecutors filed court papers Friday waiving the death penalty as a
possible sentence for Ernesto Mireles, a Bonita Springs man charged with
the robbery and murder of an East Naples grocery store owner.

Mireles, 25, is scheduled for trial July 10 in Collier Circuit Court.
Prosecutors had offered lesser prison sentences for Mireles' co-defendants
but had intended to seek the death penalty for him if he was convicted.

Assistant State Attorney Mike Provost filed the notice of waiver of the
death penalty Friday. He wouldn't comment on why.

"You'll have to come to the trial," Provost said.

Mireles is accused of shooting Latin American grocery owner Isis Laffitte
in the neck in April 2002. Mireles and 3 others were charged with robbing
the store off U.S. 41 East. He still could face life imprisonment if he's
convicted.

One of Mireles' Fort Myers attorneys, David A. Brener, said Friday that
Mireles is mentally retarded. Testing in 2nd grade put his IQ at 60, which
is well below the average IQ of 100.

"I'd like to say we did our job and persuaded him death was not
appropriate in this case," Brener said. "But even without the death
penalty this is still a very serious case. Life in prison is no picnic."

Brener said co-defendant testimony often is suspect and has to be backed
up by strong evidence. In this case, one co-defendant went to trial and
lost, ending in a life sentence. So he won't testify.

2 others agreed to lesser prison terms, but one, Baldomero Nuez, has
refused to testify and is backing out of the deal with the prosecution.
He'll be tried on the armed robbery and murder charges, Brener said.

In their defense of Mireles, Brener and co-counsel John Mills have filed
more than 35 motions in the case. Most had to do with capital punishment,
and the 2 attorneys made clear they would aggressively defend Mireles
against the death penalty.

Mireles' widower, Gus, was unavailable for comment Friday on the decision.
Provost said he informed Laffitte of the decision earlier Friday.

Nuez agreed to a 40-year prison sentence to escape a possible death
sentence. An attorney appointed by the court to advise him of the need to
testify if he wants to keep his plea agreement did so, Provost said, and
apparently didn't sway Nuez into testifying.

Mireles, Nuez, his brother, Salvador, and Oscar Luna made off with a few
thousand dollars in the April 17, 2002, robbery, according to testimony in
Salvador Nuez's trial. Laffitte was shot when she followed the men outside
to swipe the money away. She confronted Mireles, who was holding the bag,
and was shot in the neck.

(source: Naples Daily News)






ALABAMA:

Panel denies appeal of death row inmate


A judicial panel has denied an appeal from a Colbert County death row
inmate who represented himself in his capital murder trial, then appealed
his conviction based partly on ineffective counsel.

Tommy Douglas Arthur was appealing a federal district judge's ruling on
his 1991 capital murder conviction of Muscle Shoals resident Troy Wicker,
the husband of Arthur's lover, Judy Wicker.

A 3-judge panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court denied the request, which
included the claim of ineffective counsel.

Arthur, 64, was convicted 3 times of capital murder in Wicker's 1982
shooting death.

Wicker's widow, who admitted to an affair with Arthur, was convicted in
connection with the case and sentenced to life in prison. She agreed to
testify against Arthur in a 2nd trial.

Arthur, after being convicted in the 3rd trial, asked the judge to
sentence him to death. His conviction and sentence have been upheld at
both the state and federal level.

(source: Montgomery Advertiser)






OHIO----impending execution//volunteer

Killer eager to die for sins----Rocky Barton's execution looms


A convicted killer from Waynesville - who says he is eager to be executed
in 11 days - repeatedly expressed remorse Friday for fatally shooting his
fourth wife before failing to kill himself.

"I love her very dearly," Rocky Lee Barton said of Kimbirli Jo, the woman
he knew since the 1970s when they attended Springboro High School
together. "We had a lot of good times together as a family.

"No matter how much I apologize, I can't bring her back. No matter what I
do, I can't bring her back. All I can do is say I'm sorry, and I'm very
truly sorry. If I had it all over to do again, I'd have kept my mouth shut
and walked away."

Barton shot Kimbirli to death on Jan. 16, 2003. She died in the arms of
her 17-year-old daughter, Jamie Reising, at their Bellbrook Road
farmhouse. Barton then dropped to his knees and turned the shotgun on
himself, hitting his chin. The suicide attempt left him with deep scars on
his face and neck.

Barton agreed to speak to a reporter. He is scheduled to appear Monday in
Warren County Common Pleas Court for a competency hearing - the only thing
standing between him and his scheduled July 12 execution. This week, the
state Parole Board recommended to Gov. Bob Taft that Barton die.

"I'm ready to go. I'm ready to go be with the Lord," Barton said in an
hourlong interview before meeting with his childhood Pentecostal minister,
the Rev. Orville Robinson of Lebanon.

But the 49-year-old Barton grew agitated - even threatened to cut the
death row interview short - when asked about the attempted murder of a
previous wife near Lexington, for which he served 8 years in prison.

"The hardest thing to do is to forgive myself," Barton said at Mansfield
Correctional Institution.

"I've destroyed so many lives that it's just hard to live with that."

Other highlights:

Barton offered this advice to other troubled people: "If you have anger
problems, get help. If you have mental problems, get help."

He deliberately didn't cry at his trial so he would be executed.

"If I showed any remorse at the trial - which it took all that I had
within me to keep from crying - to see them (crime scene) pictures and see
them poor kids up there on the stand crying and what they was going
through, it took everything in me not to cry. If I'd a cried at that trial
and showed remorse, I wouldn't have gotten the death penalty. I wanted the
death penalty. I wanted to die ever since I killed Kim."

Barton had harsh words for Warren County Prosecutor Rachel A. Hutzel.
"She's taking credit for sending me to death row. I sent myself to death
row and now she's taken credit for the quick time between the crime and
execution. I'm the one that dropped my appeals. That woman ain't done
nothing but run her mouth."

The county prosecutor's office declined comment, citing Monday's
competency hearing in which Barton will appear before Common Pleas Judge
Neal Bronson. Bronson will decide whether Barton needs a psychiatric
evaluation before his execution by lethal injection at the Southern Ohio
Correctional Facility near Lucasville.

Barton said he was on medication for depression and anxiety the day of the
shooting. He said he's since been diagnosed with schizophrenia, major
depression and anxiety disorders.

"Just killing Kim. That just come by the spur of the moment. That was not
planned, calculated, designed. I planned on killing myself in front of
her. When I come out of the garage, there she was, I pointed the gun at
her and I shot. I don't know why I did. Can't tell you what was going
through my mind at the time."

Julie Vickers, 29, of Trenton, the oldest of Kimbirli's 3 daughters,
doubted some of Barton's latest recollections - including his denial of
prior suicide threats and a September 2002 assault on her mother, for
which he was charged with domestic violence.

Of his account Friday that he intended to shoot only himself in front of
Kimbirli - but not his 44-year-old wife - "that's the 1st time I heard
that story," Vickers said.

(source: Cincinnati Enquirer)

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

Mortally embarrassing


There's no small irony to the fact that an inmate can linger on Ohio's
death row for years, but when time comes for an execution, the killing
process is generally performed in haste.

The race to carry out a capital sentence probably contributed to the
botched execution of Joseph Clark in May, according to Terry Collins,
Ohio's recently appointed corrections director. Collins acknowledged in a
report released on Wednesday that an "artificial, self-imposed time
barrier" led execution teams to believe that they had to do their work
quickly.

A rushed and inefficient execution is no more acceptable than a rush to
judgment. If this state insists on continuing to execute people, a public
policy this newspaper opposes, it at least should not embarrass itself.

It took nearly 40 minutes to kill Clark, a long-term drug abuser, as an
ill-trained staff struggled to find a suitable vein. At one point, he
reportedly pleaded for another manner of death. This sideshow
understandably drew national attention and forced the state to take
another close look at the way it kills.

Collins says future executions will be performed more carefully. The state
will examine death row inmates more closely before executions for
potential complications, and changes in the injection process itself are
likely.

Tweaking may help, but it won't dispel critics' belief that lethal
injection violates the Constitution's prohibition of cruel and unusual
punishment.

Florida has postponed all executions while the federal courts explore that
constitutional question, and it's only a matter of time until it finds its
way to the U.S. Supreme Court. There is no reason why Ohio shouldn't do
the same.

(source: Cleveland Plain Dealer)