Feb. 10
TEXAS----impending execution
Carrying on the struggle for Rodney
Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed is facing an execution date on March 5,
despite clear evidence, never properly reviewed by a court, that he is innocent
of the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites, for which he was convicted by an all-white
jury in Bastrop, Texas.
For 17 years, Rodney has struggled to win his freedom from behind bars on death
row, and his family has stood alongside him, working tirelessly to prove his
innocence and oppose the machinery of death in Texas. Recently, Rodney's mother
Sandra Reed and brother Rodrick Reed talked to Lily Hughes of the Campaign to
End the Death Penalty about their disappointment in the courts, the urgent need
for all the DNA evidence to be tested, and the pain of facing an execution
date, in an interview for the CEDP's New Abolitionist.
There's a clemency process that's already started, and we hope that you will
have an opportunity to meet with the new governor, Greg Abbott, or perhaps
members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, to talk to them about why they
should grant clemency. What you would say to the governor if you did get a
chance to meet with him face to face?
Sandra: What we've been saying all along! Rodney is an innocent man. He was
wrongfully convicted. He didn't get a fair trial, and they used Jim Crow
tactics to convict him. It's not that they use Jim Crow tactics with every
trial, but they used it with him.
We just want the new DNA testing. We want the truth. That's all we're asking.
The only evidence that was presented was his DNA, and it was old. And you have
nothing else--I mean nothing to link him to this case. How is it that you have
enough merit to take a life--over old DNA? He was dating her!
There was a box of evidence that Judge Towslee ordered sealed--locked away. We
never knew what that was until recently. Now, at this last hearing, there were
2 boxes when there should have been one, and they both were unsealed. That, to
me, spells corruption. All I'm asking for is fairness. Give my son a fair
shake. He never had a fair shake in the beginning. That's all we're asking.
And from my point of view, no matter what, you still shouldn't take a life.
Thou shalt not kill. What happened to the Ten Commandments? That's all I have
to say.
Rodrick: I would say to him that we just want to be treated the way he would
want his own treated. We want the same thing he would expect if he were in our
shoes. Fairness. Equality. We're not asking for anything special. We're not
asking for anything out of the ordinary. We're just asking for what's right.
Sandra: And if you have thousands of people out here who believe in him, what
does that say? There is a shadow of a doubt ...12 jurors were deceived. I still
don't know how they thought they had enough to do what they did, but I do
believe they were deceived.
RECENTLY, AT a hearing here in Bastrop in front of the trial judge, he denied
important DNA testing. And of course, there's been a string of denials from the
courts over the years, whether it's the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals or the
Fifth U.S. Circuit of Appeals and, more recently, the U.S. Supreme Court. How
has that affected your view of the court system and the way the criminal
justice system operates?
Sandra: I've told people over the years that I was very naive as far as the
justice system is concerned. I thought that if anything went wrong, all we had
to do was take it to court, because that's what the United States stands for:
fairness without a shadow of a doubt.
But when it came down to my son's case and the hearing and the way the trial
went, it just went plumb Jim Crow.
There were witnesses waiting to testify, but never called. They made me a
possible witness for the prosecution and never called me. The judge denied the
alibi witness from testifying. And sitting there during that process, there was
nothing I could do. I had no knowledge of the law itself, I didn't have the
funds, and I was denied the ability to testify for my son.
It felt like I was chained and bound. There was nothing I could do but stand
there and watch them railroad my son. Over these last years--17 or 18 years of
fighting--I have to say: Thank god for the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
Because you guys know what's going on and what happened to me.
You wouldn't have known what happened to Rodney if you hadn't been concerned
about right and wrong, and what did happen. And I am a proud member of the
Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
Traveling over the years, and speaking and meeting exonerees from death row and
other family members speaking out--that encouraged me to keep right on fighting
for my son. This proved to me that the United States has defrauded all of us.
They painted this so-called justice system with rose colors and made us think
that we would get a fair shake. And being Black, you have that mark against
you. Looking back at Martin Luther King and how he fought for our rights, I
thought, well, we have our rights now. But I realize we don't. We never had
equality.
AND THE courts have completely failed us.
Sandra: The courts have completely failed us. Right. Absolutely.
SO WOULD you say that winning justice from the system requires taking MLK's
route?
Sandra: It's a hard row to hoe, especially when racism is still rampant. Things
are better on the surface, but within, it's still there, and it still hurts. It
still affects people.
It's undercover slavery. That's what I feel. The government is building all of
these prisons. Why? And most of the people are minorities. The justice they're
carrying out is legalized murder. Murder is murder.
Yet we're willing to sacrifice our young men and boys to go over and fight for
somebody else's rights. And we don't have our own backyard cleaned up? We're
killing our own. That's what I got out of this--there's no justice in this
so-called justice system that we have.
Rodrick: There's some justice, just us.
RODRICK, DID you have anything else you wanted to add about the courts?
Rodrick: Yes. I believe the courts are very, very misleading, because you think
that justice will be blind and everyone should get a fair shake. But the
reality is that if you don't have the capital, you're going to get the
punishment. If you're poor, you're not going to get proper representation. If
you're mentally handicapped in any kind of way, you're not going to get a fair
shake, and that's not right.
So the bottom line is that there's a lot of work to be done in the justice
system, and it's not going to happen until we come together and use what we
have to make it better. In cases like my brother's case, once we bring him
home--which I pray that's the way it goes--then the fight keeps going. That
racism, that injustice, that corruption is still there. And that's the roots
that we have to try to dig up.
SWITCHING SUBJECTS, I think that both of you have been down to see Rodney
fairly recently, and we were wondering if you could talk about how he's
handling everything?
Sandra: I haven't seen him since the hearing, because there have been other
people, such as his sons, who have been visiting. I wanted them to have as much
visitation as they could, because over these 18 years, he hadn't seen his sons.
When he was convicted, his sons were 6 or 7--maybe not even that old. But
they're now grown, and they have their own kids, so they've been visiting.
His granddaughter lives in California, and her mother put her on the plane, and
her father picked her up in Dallas--and wow, they just had a wonderful,
beautiful visit. Each visit was 4 hours. Monday, they got 2 visits in the same
week for four hours, and I think that was wonderful.
So I want those kids to visit as much as they can, and other people who are in
his corner and hadn't seen him. They needed to see him, and he needed to see
them. He only gets a one visit a week, and so that makes it kind of tough. But
he's strong.
Rodrick: Yeah, he's real strong. He's real positive. You go down there with the
expectation of trying to lift his spirits up, and...
Sandra: He lifts yours.
Rodrick: He lifts yours. And I think it's all possible because of God, and all
his supporters and friends and family who believe in him and support him. That
keeps him strong, that keeps him positive, that keeps him going. If it had been
me, I'd be crazy as a bug, but he's strong.
Sandra: His support is strong, and his family, we're right there with him. If
he can just see our faces and see how strong we are, it keeps him strong.
Rodrick: We keep each other strong.
Sandra: He's doing as well as can be expected. And of course, our faith is
strong and I'm optimistic. Yet I have to face reality of how this justice
system has treated my son over these 18 years, with the denial of everything.
I'm hoping and praying. I can't see how, with all of this information and
evidence pointing to Rodney's innocence, Greg Abbott would deny him clemency,
but who's to say?
THAT BRINGS me to my next question. How are you all doing? I know this is not
an easy time, and it never is. What do you want to say about the death penalty,
and the way it creates a whole new set of victims?
Rodrick: Myself, I'm tired.
Sandra: He's tired. We're all tired.
Rodrick: I'm tired, but I'm strong. I'm going to keep my strength, and I'm
going to push on as far as I can and do all that I can do, and I'm going to let
God do the rest. But I think that it's very stressful. I've aged--I've got more
gray hair and a face full of gray. It has an effect.
All in all, we're good. And I know it will get better. We all have points where
it's like, how much more can we take? How many more denials? How many more
years? How many more days?
Sandra: And on top of dealing with everyday life, I have 6 sons, and all of
them have their issues. Their issues are mine, and I worry. Not as much as I
used to when they was coming up. Now that they're in their 40s and 50s---
Rodrick: Don't tell them my age! (laughter)
Sandra: I'm telling mine accidently! But, you know, when it rains it pours.
There's going to be times where everything happens at one time. But we're
maintaining. It's a struggle, but we're maintaining. And me being the mother,
words can't even express what I'm feeling now at this phase. I could tell you
but you wouldn't really know.
Rodrick: The words can't describe it.
Sandra: I can sit here and tell you right now how much I'm grateful to you
guys, and the words aren't enough.
Rodrick: They don't even do it justice.
Sandra: Words can't even express what I'm feeling. At this phase of the game,
I'm strong. I'm optimistic. Knowing what this system has done to us, I can't
believe it until I see it now. I have to touch it now. So that's the best I can
do, but I'm praying to God that he gives me the strength to endure whatever.
Rodrick: Somebody told me yesterday, "I'm really proud of you for the work that
you do for your brother. I think you're doing a good thing. I'm so proud of
you." I looked at her and I said, "To be proud of me for doing something for
someone that I love is not a big deal. What moves me is people who do something
for someone they don't even know--a stranger."
That's what gives me strength. When we have people like you who are not
related, who didn't even know Rodney, but you came in and you gave up your time
and your money and everything you can give to help support us. Because it's
easy to do for someone that you love. Anybody does that. But to do something
for a stranger who you don't know even know--that says it all.
Sandra: But see, you're God's angels to me. I know we've discussed that before,
but you are.
He assigned you, whether you believe in Him or not, to do this. It's His work.
Through you guys. Those petitions that we attempted to submit to the DA! 11,000
signatures!
AND NOW it's over 14,000.
Sandra: The signatures of people who we don't know!
Rodrick: That's what I'm saying. We have to be here. And if we're any kind of
good family and love our family, we have to do the things we have to do. But
for all the hundreds and thousands of people trying to help us, that's
something to be proud of.
Sandra: Because if it was up to our family, we would be screwed, glued and
tattooed!
THAT BRINGS us to the last question: Is there anything that you want to say to
people who already support Rodney? What can people be doing right now that
helps the most?
Sandra: What helps the most is do what you've been doing. I thank each and
every one, the thousands and possibly millions of people that have viewed that
documentary a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLTcV664IgU";>State vs. Reed
and took an interest. I thank them all.
Rodrick: I thank you all, and I'm proud of you, because that's doing
something--when you're in a situation where you don't have to be, but you chose
to be in it. You chose to be in this fight. You can sit down on the sidelines
and watch it go down, but you said no. I stand up and I'm going to represent.
Sandra: How long have we been in this together? 15 years.
Rodrick: That means the world to me.
Sandra: And I love all of you.
(source: socialistworker.org)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Appeals court to decide on death penalty in 2004 murder case
An appeals court is expected to make a decision later this month on whether the
death penalty will be allowed in the retrial of a 2004 murder case.
Paul Ross was convicted of murdering Tina Miller, whose body was found at Canoe
Creek State Park in Blair County.
The jury in Ross' trial deadlocked on the death penalty.
State superior court will hear arguments Feb. 25 to decide whether prosecutors
can seek the death penalty a second time against Ross.
(source: Associated Press)
VIRGINIA:
Senate panel backs secrecy on execution drugs
Legislation that would allow the state to prevent public disclosure of nearly
every aspect of the drugs used in lethal-injection executions in Virginia
narrowly survived a Senate committee Monday.
The Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted 7-6 to advance Senate Bill 1393,
sponsored by Sen. Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax, and supported by Gov. Terry
McAuliffe's administration. It now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
The bill would give the Department of Corrections the authority to contract
with pharmacies to compound the drugs used in the lethal cocktail used in state
executions. But it also would protect from disclosure the identity of the
pharmacy compounding drugs; the names of the drugs; the identity of the
companies that produced the drugs; and the concentration of the drugs used.
Saslaw said the legislation arose out of the need to find domestic sources to
supply and compound chemicals that can be used in the lethal drug mixture used
in executions.
Until last year, those chemicals were provided by European suppliers. But
public opposition to the death penalty in those countries has halted the flow
of the drugs and created a scarcity in the U.S. That has made it necessary for
states that have lethal injection to seek domestic suppliers and different
deadly combinations.
Those compounds, and the issues surrounding them, have led to lawsuits and
court challenges. The issue has galvanized advocates for open government, who
argue that states that use lethal injection should be transparent about their
methods; and death penalty opponents, who say the practice constitutes cruel
and unusual punishment.
Virginia has 8 inmates on death row. The state also has electrocution as a
method of execution but cannot carry out a death sentence by the electric chair
without the inmate's consent.
Corrections officials have said that manufacturers and pharmacies that compound
the chemicals into lethal dosages would not be willing to do so if their
identities were disclosed, leading to the legislation, which effectively
provides exemptions to inquiries under the Freedom of Information Act.
The bill has "serious, serious constitutional issues," said Corinna Barrett
Lain, a professor and constitutional scholar at the University of Richmond
School of Law. She said the state is "enshrouding in secrecy" the information
needed to determine whether the compounding process being used constitutes a
"substantial risk of unnecessary pain" to the inmate.
Craig Merritt, a First Amendment lawyer representing the Virginia Press
Association, said the legislation would place "a complete blanket" on a process
about which the public has a right to know, creating an issue of "fundamental
transparency."
Saslaw countered that he didn't think the Freedom of Information Act ever was
meant to apply to "the guy who compounded the drugs."
He even volunteered that he would be in favor of a bill to "go back to the
electric chair," to solve the lethal-injection drug issue.
(source: Richmond Times-Dispatch)
NORTH CAROLINA:
Prosecutors seek death penalty in murder of Sanford nurse
After Wake County prosecutors decided to seek the death penalty against a man
accused of shooting a Sanford nurse, the victim's daughter described feeling
like her mother is finally receiving justice.
Prosecutors announced last week at a Wake County quarterly review of all
pending homicide cases that they plan to seek the death penalty for Daniel
Scott Remington Jr., 36, of Gooseneck Drive in Cary, who is accused of shooting
Wendy Jean Johnson, 58 of Post Oak Lane in Sanford in August 2014.
"He deserves it," Lora Jackson, Johnson's daughter, said Monday. "Our family
just feels like it's a step in the right direction for justice for my mom."
Although she is thankful the case is progressing, Jackson said there is no way
to describe the loss she and her family feel for her mother.
"She was the most amazing woman," she said. "I mean just an angel."
Cary police found Johnson at around 11 p.m. Aug. 22, 2014 when they responded
to a report of shots fired at an apartment complex on Hyde Park Court, where
she was going to provide overnight care for a special needs child. According to
the town of Cary, Johnson went to Duke University Medical Center with
life-threatening injuries and later died.
Remington then was arrested on a 1st-degree murder charge, which is punishable
by death or life imprisonment without parole. According to a Cary police
report, Johnson attempted to prevent Remington from taking her purse before she
was shot, but no motive for the murder was given.
Along with Remington, Jessica Parrisher, 28, of Cary was charged with felony
accessory after the fact to 1st-degree murder. According to her arrest warrant,
Parrisher knowingly provided false statements to Cary police detectives
regarding Remington's admission to her that he had murdered Johnson.
The town of Cary Public Information Office referred additional questions to the
Wake County district attorney assigned to the case, who could not be reached.
The Wake County public defender assigned to the case also could not be reached
for comment.
(source: Sanford Herald)
GEORGIA----new execution date//female
Execution date set for sole Georgia female death row inmate
Georgia is set to execute its only female death row inmate later this month,
which would be the 1st time in about 7 decades that the state has executed a
woman.
Kelly Renee Gissendaner is scheduled to be executed at 7 p.m. on Feb. 25 at the
state prison in Jackson, the attorney general's office said Monday. The last
time Georgia executed a woman was in 1945.
Gissendaner was convicted of killing her husband, Douglas Gissendaner, in
February 1997. Prosecutors have said Gissendaner was having an affair with
co-defendant Gregory Owen and plotted with him to kill her husband.
Gissendaner told police her husband failed to return home Feb. 7, 1997, after
having dinner with friends in Lawrenceville, just outside Atlanta. His
burned-out car was found 2 days later. His body was found about a week after
that, roughly a mile from the car, in a remote wooded area of Gwinnett County.
He had been stabbed several times.
The Gissendaners initially married in September of 1989, separated in December
1991 and eventually divorced in March 1993, according to information provided
by the attorney general's office.
They began seeing each other again in February 1995, remarried in May 1995 and
separated in September 1995. Douglas Gissendaner filed for divorce but later
dropped the suit and the pair started dating again in May 1996 and bought a
home together in December 1996.
Kelly Gissendaner had met Owen in September 1995, split up with him in April
1996 and they didn't see each other again until October of that year. She told
one of her co-workers she wasn't happy with her husband and was in love with
Owen, prosecutors said.
Gissendaner told Owen's sister that she was only staying with her husband to
use his credit and money to buy a house and would then get rid of him,
prosecutors said.
When Gissendaner mentioned the idea of killing her husband in November 1996,
Owen suggested she get a divorce, prosecutors said. But she said her husband
wouldn't leave her alone if she just divorced him and repeatedly brought up the
idea of killing him before Owen finally agreed, prosecutors said.
When Douglas Gissendaner returned home Feb. 7, 1997, Owen forced him into his
car, took him to a remote area and killed him, prosecutors said.
Owen initially told investigators he had nothing to do with the killing but
eventually confessed and implicated Kelly Gissendaner, prosecutors said. Owen
pleaded guilty and received a life prison sentence. He testified against
Gissendaner. A jury convicted Gissendaner and sentenced her to death in
November 1998.
(source: Associated Press)
FLORIDA:
Randall Deviney trial delayed as lawyers await appellate court ruling
The death-penalty murder trial of Randall Deviney was delayed for a 2nd time as
lawyers for both sides wait on a ruling from the 1st District Court of Appeal
in Tallahassee.
Deviney, 25, faces a potential death sentence for slitting the throat of
65-year-old neighbor Delores Futrell. But efforts to try him for the crime have
become bogged down over whether the Public Defender's Office has a conflict of
interest in the case.
Deviney has written to prosecutors and the Times-Union saying he has
information on a murder committed by Donald James Smith. Smith faces a
potential death penalty in the abduction, rape and death of 8-year-old Cherish
Perrywinkle.
Smith also is represented by the Public Defender's Office and that has led to
its request to be removed from both cases due to a conflict of interest.
Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper has refused to oblige because prosecutors have
said they have no interest in talking with Deviney about Smith. But defense
attorneys are appealing Cooper's decision to the appellate court, arguing that
an inherent conflict exists even if the prosecutors have no interest.
The appellate court ordered Deviney's trial halted while it considers the
issue.
Deviney was scheduled to go on trial Jan. 5 and Cooper delayed the trial until
Feb. 9 on the assumption that the appellate court would have issued a ruling by
then.
But the appellate court hasn't ruled, and Cooper moved the trial back again
Monday morning. The trial is now set to begin April 6.
"I think everyone is a little disappointed that the appellate court hasn't
ruled," Cooper said.
MORE DOCUMENTS
Oral arguments occurred in the case Jan. 8. The court asked for additional
documents after the Times-Union wrote a story about Deviney wanting to cut a
deal for his information.
Prosecutors argued that the Times-Union story didn't change the fact that
Cooper's ruling was correct, while defense attorneys argued it offered more
evidence on why they should be removed from the case.
Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda asked for the trial to be
rescheduled to Feb. 23, but Cooper said that was too soon.
De la Rionda, who has accused Deviney of perpetuating a fraud on the court over
this, expressed frustration at the constant delays.
He feels like a hamster running on one of those wheels, de la Rionda said.
A trial will only occur April 6 if the appellate court upholds Cooper's ruling.
If new lawyers have to be appointed, it will take longer than 2 months for them
to get up to speed.
Smith's case is also in limbo while the appellate court considers the issue. He
was originally scheduled to go on trial Jan. 20, and a new court date has not
yet been set for him.
If the public defender is dismissed from the case, private lawyers paid for by
the state will be appointed to represent Deviney and Smith.
Deviney has already been convicted once in Futrell's killing in her Westside
home on Bennington Drive. Futrell used to fix meals for Deviney, paid him to do
odd jobs and spoke with him about troubles in his youth.
A jury in 2010 recommended he be sentenced to death, so Cooper put him on death
row. But the Florida Supreme Court ruled that police should have stopped
questioning Deviney after he repeatedly told them he was done speaking. Deviney
eventually confessed.
(source: The Florida Times-Union)
************************************
Inmate's Execution Argument Rejected
As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of a lethal-injection
drug, an Orange County circuit judge Monday rejected a death row inmate's
attempt to block a planned Feb. 26 execution.
The Florida Supreme Court last week sent the case to the circuit judge to allow
condemned killer Jerry William Correll to make arguments about the disputed
drug, midazolam hydrochloride.
The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing the constitutionality of that drug in an
Oklahoma case.
But Circuit Judge Jenifer Davis issued a 5-page ruling Monday rejecting
Correll's arguments.
(source: Lakeland Ledger)
********************
Mother wants prosecutors to drop death penalty against Jacksonville man accused
of killing daughter
The mother of 19-year-old victim Shelby Farah is calling on the office of State
Attorney Angela Corey to drop the death penalty against the man accused of
killing her daughter.
Darlene Farah said James Xavier Rhodes should get life in prison without the
possibility of parole, but prosecutors have rejected an offer from Rhodes'
attorney's that would lead to that outcome.
Farah said she has asked Corey's office to agree to the deal, but prosecutors
have refused to do it.
"Angela Corey told me if I'd seen everything she saw, I'd want the death
penalty," Farah said. "But that's not true."
Rhodes, 23, is charged with killing Shelby Farah in July 2013 while robbing the
Metro PCS store on North Main Street in Jacksonville. According to police
reports, Rhodes pulled a gun on Farah and shot her in the head after she gave
him several hundred dollars.
The killing was captured on surveillance video.
Farah said she also wants a plea deal to ensure no appeals occur. She fears
Rhodes could be sentenced to death, but then have his conviction and sentenced
overturned on appeal.
"It would kill me if that happened," Farah said. "I don't want to go through
years of appeals."
Rhodes had a pretrial hearing Tuesday. Prosecutors and defense attorneys are
arguing over whether he is too mentally disabled to face the death penalty.
A hearing has been set for April 7. The prosecution and defense have both had
psychiatrists examine Rhodes with the defense expert expected to say Rhodes is
mentally disabled and the prosecution expert saying he isn't.
It will be up to Circuit Judge Tatiana Salvador to decide which expert is more
believable. A date for Rhodes' murder trial won't be set until after this issue
is resolved.
Rhodes can still go to prison if he???s found to be intellectually disabled, he
just can't be put to death.
(source: jacksonville.com)
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