Aug. 23 USA: Death Penalty - Strongly Retentionist: Biden's record on death penalty reform is the weakest of any of the 2008 Democratic candidates. He is a supporter of capital punishment, and holds the distinction of being the author of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (often referred to as the "Biden crime bill"), which expanded the federal death penalty to include drug trafficking, a nonviolent offense. ** Biden Law of 1994 created several new capital offenses Biden is credited for authoring several significant pieces of legislation in the area of federal law enforcement, including The Violent Crime Control & Law Enforcement Act of 1994, widely known as the Biden Law, which: Banned the manufacture of 19 specific semiautomatic "assault weapons" Allocated more money to build prisons & set up bootcamps for delinquent minors Designated 50 new federal offenses, including gang membership, and created several new federal death penalty offenses, including murders related to drug dealing, drive-by shooting murders, civil rights-related murders, murders of federal law enforcement officers, and death caused by acts of terrorism or weapons of mass destruction. The law was passed shortly before the Oklahom City bombing, and its provisions were applied to execute Timothy McVeigh. The legislation received bipartisan support, but was reviled by death penalty opponents and civil libertarians. Some believe it broke ground for the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001. (source: The Contenders, by Laura Flanders, p.179 Nov 11, 2007) ** Voted NO on limiting death penalty appeals. Vote to table, or kill, a motion to send the bill back to the joint House-Senate conference committee with instructions to delete the provisions in the bill that would make it harder for prisoners given the death penalty in state courts to appeal. (Reference: Bill S.735 ; vote number 1996-66 on Apr 17, 1996) CALIFORNIA: Jury rules out death penalty for man who killed girlfriend ---- Judge could reverse recommendation Jurors rejected the death penalty yesterday for a Serra Mesa man convicted of torturing and killing his longtime girlfriend in 2005. Instead, Jack Henry Lewis Jr. will likely be sent to prison for life without the possibility of parole for the murder of Jan Hasegawa, 48. The jury deliberated for about 2 days before its verdict was announced. Lewis is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 24. San Diego Superior Judge John Einhorn has the option of rejecting the jury's recommendation and sending Lewis to death row. However, it is rare for a judge to go against a jury's recommendation in a capital case. Lewis, 39, turned immediately to hug his defense attorneys after the verdict was read. Visibly emotional, the lawyers dabbed tears from their eyes and one of them mouthed the words "Thank you" to the jury. Several jurors appeared emotionally shaken after their deliberations were over. One woman sat on a bench in a courthouse hallway and sobbed as others tried to console her. Stephen Sims, the jury foreman, explained outside the courtroom that the jurors weighed numerous factors before reaching their decision, including Lewis' troubled childhood and the "sadistic" nature of the killing. Hasegawa's niece said she didn't believe Lewis deserved mercy. But juror Bruce Graham said that's not how he believes the verdict should be interpreted. "This was what we felt he earned," Graham said. Last week, the same 5-man, 7-woman panel found Lewis guilty of 1st-degree murder and torture in connection with Hasegawa's death. Her body was found Sept. 8, 2005 in the bedroom of a the couple's apartment on Daley Center Drive. Deputy District Attorney Nicole Cooper argued during the trial that Lewis punched, stomped and strangled Hasegawa, leaving her nude body covered with more than 150 bruises. A large flashlight was found nearby, which matched the circular shape of many of the injuries. Cooper said that Hasegawa's death was the result of a pattern of abuse by Lewis and that the circumstances of the slaying warranted a death sentence. But defense attorneys argued that Lewis never intended to kill Hasegawa, with whom he had a 12-year romantic relationship, and that she died during a methamphetamine-fueled sexual encounter that turned violent. During the second part of the trial, called the penalty phase, Deputy Public Defenders Juliana Humphrey and Douglas Miller described their client as a "broken man," who was capable of redemption. "He's different now than 3 years ago," Humphrey said outside the courtroom yesterday. Miller stressed that both Lewis and Hasegawa suffered from drug addiction, and that much of their long relationship was not violent. "It was their mutual use of methamphetamine that led to this terrible crime," he said. (source: San Diego Union-Tribune) COLORADO: Death penalty ruled out: Chase family says they didn't push for capital punishment Colorado prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against Diego Olmos Alcalde. The Chilean native accused of sexually assaulting and killing a college student in a Boulder alley more than 10 years ago will not face the death penalty, according to Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy. Lacy filed a motion Thursday in Boulder District Court notifying Diego Olmos Alcalde that her office won't seek the death penalty against him in connection with the 1997 slaying of Susannah Chase. Chase, 23, was a graduate of Greenwich High School. Her parents, Hal and Julie Chase, now live in Stamford. Alcalde, 39, is charged with 1st-degree murder, felony murder, 1st-degree sexual assault and 2nd-degree kidnapping. According to the motion, Lacy's decision was "based upon analysis of the applicable sentencing statutes and the facts of the case" and "consultation with the Boulder Police Department and the victim's family." DA spokeswoman Carolyn French declined to comment further on the reasoning behind Lacy's decision, saying, "We are going to let the motion speak for itself." No one in Boulder County has ever been sentenced to death, but just the possibility of a death sentence has caused controversy in Alcalde's native Chile. The country does not have the death penalty, and Chilean media have covered that aspect of the case extensively. Alcalde is being held at the Boulder County Jail, and his attorney could not be reached Thursday night. The District Attorney's Office has consulted with Chase's family multiple times about the possibility of seeking the death penalty. According to family members, they did not ask Lacy to go for the death penalty but did not ask her to rule it out. "During the consultations, they raised that question with us, and we discussed it as a family. We told them we would be OK if the death penalty was not the end result," said Chase's brother, Doug Chase, from his Chatham, N.J., home Thursday night. "But we certainly want to see him face justice and pay his dues." Police say on Dec. 21, 1997, Chase was beaten with a baseball bat, dragged down a sidewalk near her home, sexually assaulted, driven about a block and dumped in an alley. The 23-year-old University of Colorado student died the next day at Boulder Community Hospital. Alcalde was arrested in connection with the case in January after his DNA was linked to a sample found on Chase's body. His DNA sample was taken in Wyoming, where he spent 6 years in prison after being convicted of kidnapping in an unrelated case. He had been paroled and was living in Aurora when he was arrested. It wasn't clear Thursday how removing the death penalty will affect the chances of a plea bargain. French said, "Negotiations go on in any case until and if a plea agreement is reached in court." It is possible that Lacy won't be in office to prosecute the case if it goes to trial. Her term as district attorney ends Dec. 31, and Stan Garnett is running unopposed for her position. Garnett has said he does not know details of any ongoing cases beyond what is publicly available. (source: Greenwich Time) VIRGINIA: Prosecutor to seek death penalty against Richmond man----2 plead not guilty in Lincoln County murders 2 of the 3 Richmond men charged with the 2002 murders of Bo Upton and Ryan Shangraw pleaded not guilty Friday in Lincoln Circuit Court. It was the 1st open court appearance in the case for Jamarkos Campbell and Deonte Lamont Simmons, who are charged with shooting Upton and Shangraw to death during a robbery at Shangraw's rented mobile home in the Lincoln County community of Hubble. Lincoln Commonwealth's Attorney Eddy Montgomery filed notice he plans to seek the death penalty for Simmons, 25. Campbell, 23, is not eligible for capital punishment because he was a juvenile at the time of the murders, but Montgomery said he will seek the maximum punishment allowed, life without hope of parole or life without parole for 25 years. Campbell is serving a 2-year sentence after pleading guilty in May to bringing cocaine into the Madison County Detention Center. Previously held in Lincoln County Regional Jail on the murder charge, Campbell was transferred to the Daviess County Detention Center in western Kentucky to serve his sentence. Along with the murders, Campbell and Simmons are each charged with two counts of attempted murder for allegedly trying to kill Tabitha Wilder and Tara Strunk, 2 girls who were in the trailer when the murders occurred. Wilder and Strunk were both injured in the attack, Montgomery said, declining to elaborate. The men also face robbery and burglary charges. Judge Jeffrey Burdette set a pretrial conference for both suspects for Sept. 26, with a trial date likely in the spring. Montgomery said a murder charge against a 3rd suspect, Matthew Tolson, also of Richmond, will be presented to a grand jury on that day. Like Campbell, Tolson, who reportedly will turn 24 next month, was a juvenile at the time of the murders and will not face the death penalty. Tolson was arrested last month in Tennessee. All three men have been convicted of cocaine charges in Madison County. Although he was arrested in April, Friday marked the 1st appearance in open court for Campbell, who was considered a juvenile under the law until the indictment was unsealed. Simmons also made his first appearance in Lincoln County after being charged Aug. 5. He is serving a 15-year prison sentence at Western Kentucky Correctional Complex in Fredonia for trafficking in cocaine and being a persistent felony offender after being convicted in April in Madison Circuit Court. The prosecutor also said he hopes at least 2 other unnamed suspects, who remain at large, will be charged by then. Kentucky State Police has reported that 2 men were shot to death after at least 4 masked individuals entered Shangraws rented mobile home. When asked why the suspects targeted Shangraw's mobile home for a robbery, Montgomery said it was not a random choice. The Associated Press has stated that the Lincoln County coroner said at the time of the killings that they appeared to be drug-related. After the hearing, Upton's mother, Sherry Moore, said she was thankful to see the judicial process finally get under way for 2 of the men charged with her son's death. "For 6 years, I worked so hard to find out who murdered my only son Bo, and now we're just getting it," she said. John Helmuth, one of Campbell's privately retained attorneys, said he was not sure if the defendants would be tried together or separately. (source: The Danville Advocate-Messenger) KENTUCKY: N.Ky. prosecutor urges changes to death penalty law A prosecutor in northern Kentucky is urging legislation that would allow some people convicted of murder in child abuse cases to qualify for the death penalty. Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders has asked lawmakers to sponsor a bill that would allow the death penalty to be an option when there is evidence that a defendant has serverely abused or tortured a child. Sanders says that in Kentucky defendants are eligible for the death penaly only if they have committed multiple murders or killed someone while committing another crime, such as burglary, robbery, arson or kidnapping. Some northern Kentucky lawmakers told The Kentucky Enquirer that they would consider support for such a bill, but wanted to get more information on it first. The General Assembly begins meeting again in January. (source: Associated Press) ILLINOIS: Ultimate punishment ---- Antioch library continues death-penalty debate Retired salesman Alan Knutsen of Antioch Township already knows where he stands on the death penalty. He believes God spells out the need for capital punishment in the Book of Exodus in the Bible. But to hear arguments from both sides of the controversial issue, Knutsen attended two presentations held this summer at Antioch Public Library. One book, one community Scott Turow will lead a 40-minute discussion of the death penalty and his book, "Ultimate punishment: A lawyer's reflections on dealing with the death penalty," at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Antioch Community High School auditorium. The presentations were in conjunction with Antioch Community High School's "One book, one community" initiative, which has invited students and community members to read "Ultimate punishment: A lawyer's reflections on dealing with the death penalty," written by Chicago lawyer-turned-author Scott Turow. "I wanted to hear the views of the other side. I want to know why they believe what they believe," Knutsen said. He was one of a half-dozen people who came to the library Thursday to hear Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins, a member of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, talk about her opposition to the death penalty. Bishop-Jenkins, a former social studies teacher, got involved in campaigning against gun violence and capital punishment after her pregnant sister, Nancy, and husband, Richard Langert, were murdered in Winnetka in 1990. "I have forgiven the man who killed my sister, but he has lost the right to walk free among us," she said. "I support life without parole for those scary characters." Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977 in Illinois, 12 men have been executed. During that period, 13 men were freed from death row. This finding prompted then governor George Ryan, who had previously ordered a moratorium on executions by the state, to commute all death sentences in January 2003. Currently, Illinois has 14 people on death row. On Sept. 18, the state's Judicial Criminal Law Committee will hold a hearing on death-penalty reform. (source: Waukegan News Sun)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA, CALIF., COLO., VA., KY., ILL.
Rick Halperin Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:03:55 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
