[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----VA., CALIF., MO.

[Rick Halperin]

July 25


VIRGINIA----new death sentence

Teleguz Gets Death----Man Was Convicted For Ordering Ex-Girlfriend's
Slaying


Rockingham County Circuit Judge John McGrath sentenced Ivan Teleguz to
death on Tuesday for ordering the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie
Sipe, in July 2001.

Before imposing the court's first death sentence in six years, McGrath
told Teleguz that he could spare his life even though jurors recommended
death for Teleguz after a February trial.

"If I had one iota of doubt of your guilt, I would do so," McGrath said of
imposing the lesser punishment of life in prison. "If I had one iota of
doubt of your viciousness, I would."

Jurors convicted Teleguz, 27, as an accessory before the fact to capital
murder after prosecutors said he contracted for the killing of his
ex-girlfriend, Sipe, because he was angry about child support payments.

During a sentencing hearing Tuesday, McGrath called Teleguz's conduct
"heinous" and "reprehensible." Then the judge said: "I feel no other
punishment is appropriate other than death."

Teleguz stood expressionless, as he had throughout the February trial and
the sentencing hearing.

His attorneys have said Teleguz's lack of visible emotion results from his
conservative Christian upbringing and the religious persecution he and his
family endured while living in the Soviet Union. The family fled to the
United States when Teleguz was a boy. His lack of visible emotion, his
attorneys say, doesn't show who he really is.

But Commonwealth's Attorney Marsha Garst has said it's a sign that Teleguz
is cold, calculating and without remorse.

The Crime And Trial

On July 23, 2001, Pam Woods found her 20-year-old daughter, Sipe, dead in
her Deer Run apartment, A-7, at 899 Port Republic Road in Harrisonburg.
Sipe's throat had been cut. Her 2-year-old son was in the bathroom
unharmed.

During trial, Michael Hetrick, 31, of Warren, Pa., said he killed Sipe and
testified that Teleguz paid him $2,500 for the job. His alleged
accomplice, Edward L. Gilkes Jr., 27, of Altoona, Pa., also testified
against Teleguz.

Gilkes is serving 15 years in prison for his part in the murder-for-hire
plot. Hetrick's attorneys are negotiating a plea agreement with
prosecutors.

During trial, Teleguz's defense attorneys, Paul Maslakowski of the
Northern Virginia Capital Defenders Office and John Hart of Hart Law
Offices in Harrisonburg, asked jurors not to convict Teleguz on the
testimony of criminals who cut deals to save themselves.

But jurors convicted Teleguz and recommended the most severe punishment.

The Hearing

During Tuesday's sentencing hearing, Maslakowski revisited the theme in a
final effort to spare Teleguz's life.

"There is no truth serum we can give these guys [Hetrick and Gilkes],
where we can be dead sure of what they say," Maslakowski said.

His comments ended a four-hour hearing during which the defense asked
McGrath first for a new trial, and then to let their client spend his life
in prison.

They said Garst had withheld evidence that could have helped defense
attorneys cross-examine one witness who was not a co-conspirator.

During trial, the witness said he saw Teleguz at Sipe's apartment the
night before her murder. Joseph Flood, also of the capital defender's
office, said defense attorneys didn't know anyone had reported seeing
Teleguz at the scene.

Garst said the defense team had a computer disk with reports that referred
to pre-trial interviews with the witness.

McGrath ruled that the argument wasn't relevant since the witness did not
give information that supported the prosecution's claim that Teleguz paid
others to kill his ex-girlfriend.

No Longer In Local Court

Teleguz is headed to the custody of the Department of Corrections and to
Sussex 1 - the state prison that houses death-row inmates, Maslakowski
said.

While Teleguz now faces lethal injection, Maslakowski said the case isn't
over. All death sentences are automatically appealed to the Virginia
Supreme Court.

"Ivan's extremely disappointed he didn't get a new trial," Maslakowski
said after McGrath's ruling.

"He's definitely going to continue to fight."

Garst said the punishment helps assure that Teleguz won't hurt anyone
else. "It's a tragic case," she said. "I hope this brings peace to the
victim's family."

Sipe's family declined comment.

Andrey Teleguz said his brother is innocent and that he hopes the Virginia
Supreme Court sees the case differently than McGrath and the jury.

"We will continue to pray and hope God can help us out," he said. "We
don't control it."

(source: Daily News-Record)






CALIFORNIA:

Jury votes death penalty for parking-attendant murders


A San Diego jury recommended Tuesday that an Orange County man convicted
of murdering 2 Lindbergh Field-area parking lot workers be executed for
his crimes.

Jeffrey Scott Young, 32, was convicted Oct. 20 of murdering a man and a
woman 7 years ago at the Five Star Park Shuttle & Fly lot.

Judge John Thompson scheduled a hearing for Sept. 22 at which he is
expected to decide whether to follow the jury's recommendation. Judges
have the option of choosing instead to impose sentences of life in prison
without the possibility of parole in capital cases, but rarely do.

Booth operator Teresa Perez, 31, of San Ysidro, and manager Jack Reynolds,
44, of National City were gunned down July 18, 1999, during a botched
robbery at the parking lot. Their bodies were found on the floor of a
business trailer on the property on Pacific Highway near Sassafras Street.

Each had been shot in the head.

Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth McClutchey argued during the trial that
Young shot Perez at close range to eliminate a witness who could identify
him as 1 of 3 armed robbers who targeted the business. She described the
killing as a "cold-blooded execution."

The prosecutor said another man, Max Anderson, fatally shot Reynolds, but
Young could be held responsible for the killing because it happened during
a robbery in which he participated.

No further information about Anderson  or David Raynoha, another man
charged in connection with the shooting  was available because the judge
has issued a gag order preventing the attorneys from discussing the case.

McClutchey argued that after the murders, Young bought a pair of red boot
laces  a badge of honor among skinheads  to commemorate the event.
Prosecutors said Young was linked to the white supremacist group.

After he was convicted of murder, Young's lawyers tried to persuade the
jury during the penalty phase of the trial to spare his life, arguing that
he had a troubled childhood and a history of drug abuse.

Defense attorney Inge Brauer argued that it wasn't necessary to send Young
to death row because spending the rest of his life in prison would be
punishment enough.

"There is nothing that can mitigate the pain of the victim's family,"
Brauer told the jurors. "Mercy is decent. Mercy can make you proud."

This was the 2nd jury to hear the case. The 1st jury convicted Young of
the crimes but deadlocked over whether he should receive the death penalty
or life in prison without the possibility of parole. The vote was 11-1 in
favor of sending Young to death row.

The 2nd jury then reheard the penalty phase of the trial before voting for
his execution.

After the verdict was read, members of Perez's family tearfully thanked
the jurors as they filed out of the courtroom.

Perez's brother-in-law Joe Bravo shook hands with members of the panel and
said, "Thank you on behalf of Teresa." He and his wife, Amada, the
victim's sister, said they felt justice had been served.

"It's been very emotional," Bravo said outside the courtroom. "We're just
glad that it's over. It's all about Teresa."

(source: San Diego Union-Tribune)






MISSOURI:

Challenge to Missouri's execution protocol now in appeals court


The state's revised plan for putting inmates to death falls short of
ensuring that executions are humane, a federal judge said Tuesday as the
case moved to a higher court.

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon on Monday appealed the June 26 ruling
by U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. that ordered broad changes in
the way the state administers lethal injections.

In an order issued Tuesday, Gaitan said Nixon's filing with the 8th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals means he no longer has jurisdiction over the
case.

But he took the occasion to renew his earlier conclusion that "Missouri's
current lethal injection procedure subjects condemned inmates to an
unnecessary risk of unconstitutional pain and suffering."

"Without appropriate monitoring of the anesthesia, there is a strong
argument that these executions might even be torturous," Gaitan wrote.

Gaitan had ordered in June that a board-certified anesthesiologist have a
central role in the three-step lethal injections.

Unable to find a board-certified anesthesiologist willing to participate
in an execution, the state proposed to use other medical personnel
instead.

That proposal "is an improvement over the current procedure," Gaitan wrote
Tuesday. "However, there continue to be inadequacies with the personnel
required to monitor and oversee the use of the anesthetic thiopental."

The case was brought by Michael Taylor, who pleaded guilty and was
sentenced to death for the 1989 kidnap, rape and murder of 15-year-old Ann
Harrison, of Kansas City.

Taylor's attorneys argue the drug combination used to execute Missouri
prisoners is unconstitutionally cruel punishment, since it could cause a
"horrible, excruciating death" if the anesthesia doesn't take effect or
wears off.

Gaitan's June ruling noted that the doctor in charge of mixing the drug
combination - a surgeon - is dyslexic, sometimes mixed up numbers and
worked under no written protocol.

(source: Associated Press)