April 20
TEXAS:
Arlington shoe store murder trial begins with death penalty on the table
The trial of a man accused of killing a shoe store clerk during an Arlington
robbery back in 2014 began on Monday.
Jacob Everett, 21, is charged with capital murder and could face the death
penalty if convicted. He pleaded not guilty as his trial began, but pleaded
guilty to a charge of aggravated robbery.
On Feb. 25, 2014, Randy Pacheco, 23, was working his shift as a manager at the
Red Wing Shoe Store on Cooper Street in Arlington, when police say Everett shot
and killed him while stealing $200.
During opening arguments on Monday, the prosecution revealed Pacheco was shot
once in between the eyes.
There was surveillance video of the suspect, and it was broadcasted widely on
television at the time of the murder. Dozens of tips led police to learn the
vehicle involved in the crime had been traded in. Police eventually tracked
down the owner of that vehicle and arrested Everett.
By lunchtime Monday, the prosecution had already called 3 witnesses -- the 1st
officer on scene, a crime scene investigator and the store's owner.
The prosecution says it plans to call 12 witnesses in total, and the defense
announced during opening statements that Everett would also be testifying in
his own defense.
(source: WFAA news)
NORTH CAROLINA:
Raleigh man could face the death penalty if convicted of pregnant girlfriend's
murder
A Wake County district court judge on Monday told a 25-year-old Raleigh man he
could be put to death if he is convicted of the 1st-degree murder of his
pregnant girlfriend.
Daniel Joseph Steele, who lives on Snowcrest Lane, made his 1st court
appearance after he was charged late Saturday with the shooting death of
Kimberly Dianne Richardson.
Emergency dispatchers alerted police at 9:40 p.m. Saturday about a shooting in
the 3600 block of Sumner Boulevard near the Triangle Town Center mall in North
Raleigh.
Police found Richardson, who was 6 months pregnant. Emergency workers rushed
her to WakeMed in Raleigh, where she later died.
Richardson's baby, a girl, survived the shooting. She remained hospitalized
Monday at WakeMed. A hospital spokeswoman said she could not comment about the
child's condition because the family has requested privacy.
Investigators arrested Steele at his home later that night.
Police have not disclosed a motive for the slaying. They have not yet said if
Steele is the father of Richardson's baby.
Richardson lived in Raleigh, but grew up in Youngsville, according to her
Facebook page. She also posted on her Facebook page that she worked at Zales
jewelry store at the mall where she was shot, as well as being a freelance
videographer and trained cosmetologist.
Richardson was behind Party City, a retail store, where she used her cellphone
to dial 911 and ask a dispatcher for help.
"I been shot," she told the dispatcher, in a weak, fading voice. "I can't talk.
He shot me."
(source: newsobserver.com)
GEORGIA:
Man Charged in 4 Deaths Driven by 'Bloodlust,' Document Says
A man accused of killing 3 men as they slept outside and a woman walking to her
car near Atlanta initially set out to rob people but was driven by a
"bloodlust" after killing his 1st victim, according to a court filing.
Aeman Presley, 34, faces charges including murder in the killings of 2 homeless
men in Atlanta, a man sleeping outside a shopping center in neighboring DeKalb
County and a hairdresser who was heading home after a dinner out with friends
in a nearby suburb. The Fulton County and DeKalb County district attorneys have
both said they intend to seek the death penalty against him.
Presley is due for his 1st appearance before a DeKalb County judge Monday.
Presley took a Greyhound bus from Los Angeles to Atlanta in May 2014 "hoping to
rejuvenate his beleaguered acting career," according to a sworn statement by an
investigator with the Fulton County district attorney's office. The statement
was made in support of a request for a search warrant to obtain Presley's
cellphone records.
Presley moved into a homeless shelter in Atlanta and took odd jobs at a
restaurant and catering company to make money. But as his money began to run
out, he sought other ways to earn a living, the statement says. He bought a
Taurus .45 revolver "from someone on the street" in August and took a bus to
DeKalb County on Sept. 26 intending to find someone to rob, the statement says.
He saw a man, later identified as 53-year-old Calvin Gholston, sleeping in a
breezeway at a shopping center, and instead of trying to rob him, Presley shot
him three times, killing him, the statement says.
"Immediately thereafter, Presley experienced a self-described adrenaline fueled
high," the statement says. "This high manifested into a 'bloodlust' which
compelled Presley to commit 2 more murders in Fulton County."
Presley approached 42-year-old Dorian Jenkins on Nov. 23 as he slept wrapped in
blankets on a sidewalk in Atlanta and shot him 3 times in the chest, the
statement says. A few days later, on Nov. 26, he shot and killed 68-year-old
Tommy Mims as he slept under a railway bridge, the statement says.
As he walked back to a transit station after shooting Mims, he saw 2 more
homeless men, the statement says.
"Since he was 'getting off on killing people,' he wanted to kill them, too,"
the statement says. "He decided, however, that doing so would increase his
chances of apprehension."
He also wasn't sure he had actually killed Mims, so he went back and shot Mims
2 more times in the head, the statement says.
On the night of Dec. 6, Presley went to downtown Decatur, right next to
Atlanta, looking for someone to rob, the statement says. He spotted 44-year-old
Karen Pearce walking alone near a parking garage. He pulled out his gun,
ordered her to the ground and asked for her wallet. Even though she obeyed all
his orders, he shot her once in the chest, the statement says. But he didn't
feel the same rush when he killed Pearce as when he killed the others, the
statement says.
Presley told investigators he never meant to kill a woman, so he felt remorse
and decided to stop killing and pursue his acting career. He was arrested Dec.
11 as he tried to pass through a turnstile at a train station downtown without
paying. He was on his way to see a photographer for headshots, the statement
says.
Atlanta police Detective David Quinn interviewed Presley for about 6 hours
after his arrest. Presley confessed to the 4 killings and told the detective
about his life, the statement says.
Presley didn't believe he was "a biologically malevolent person," but he felt
that some of his experiences gave him a "murderous spirit," the statement says.
Those experiences included: his father's early death, his mother's illness when
he was young and seeing others abuse her, his involvement in the Gangster
Disciples street gang in Chicago, and the violent lyrics of rap music.
Also in Presley's court file is a handwritten letter to the court clerk asking
for a new preliminary hearing. He said he didn't understand what he was doing
when he waived his hearing on the advice of his public defender.
"I wanted to be present. I did not want to waive my preliminary," Presley
wrote. "They talked me out of it."
Overton Thierry, the public defender named in the letter, did not immediately
return an email seeking comment Monday. New lawyers specializing in death
penalty defense have taken over Presley's case.
(source: Associated Press)
****************
Local defense attorneys to represent Brandon Conner in death-penalty case
Defense attorneys for Brandon David Conner today said he maintains his
innocence in the 2014 deaths of his girlfriend Rosella "Mandy" Mitchell and
6-month-old son Dylan Conner, and his lawyers J. Mark Shelnutt and William
Kendrick will defend Conner as District Attorney Julia Slater seeks the death
penalty.
Slater in a news conference this afternoon told reporters she expected the
state Capital Defenders Office would have to assume Conner's defense, as the
law requires attorneys meet specific qualifications to handle such cases.
But Shelnutt said he meets the standards to act as Conner's lead defense
counsel, assisted by colleague William Kendrick.
"I've handled a number of death-penalty cases," Shelnutt said, of his client
adding: "Mr. Conner's maintained his innocence from the beginning, and that
hasn't changed."
Conner last week was indicted on 2 counts of malice murder, 2 counts of felony
murder, and 1 count each of aggravated battery, 1st-degree arson and using a
knife to commit a felony in the Aug. 21 slayings of Mitchell, 32, and the
couple's infant son. He's accused of stabbing Mitchell to death and killing the
baby before setting their 1324 Winifred Lane home afire.
Police arrested Conner, then 35, on Aug. 26.
Investigators described the case as particularly gruesome, noting the bodies
were burned beyond recognition, requiring dental records for identification.
Muscogee Coroner Buddy Bryan said a crime lab examination showed Mitchell was
stabbed repeatedly in the neck and torso. The lab later reported the child also
suffered traumatic injury before the blaze, Bryan said.
Firefighters found the 2 face-down in a back bedroom of the house after
extinguishing the fire around 12:30 a.m.
Winifred Lane is in south Columbus, off Amber Drive north of Buena Vista Road.
Within an hour of the fire, a police officer confronted Conner at Cedar Avenue
and Wynnton Road in Midtown after watching him sit immobile in his 2001 BMW for
about 10 minutes. Authorities said the officer found Conner to be sweating and
nervous, with blood on him.
Police said Conner had blood on his face, chin and shirt. They initially
charged him only with misdemeanors such as giving police false information,
stopping in the street and having unsafe tires. He was released that same day.
Later, after obtaining a search warrant, investigators found bloodstained
clothes and a large serrated knife in the car, they said. Conner surrendered to
authorities when they issued warrants for his arrest on murder charges.
Conner's indictment alleges he stabbed Mitchell in the throat and torso with a
knife that had a blade longer than 3 inches. His malice murder charges allege
he deliberately killed his girlfriend and child, and his felony murder counts
accuse him of killing the mother and child while committing the felony offense
of aggravated assault. The indictment does not specify how the child was
killed.
This would be the second time that Slater, first elected in 2008, has sought
the death penalty. The 1st case was the fatal shooting of Heath Jackson, killed
during a burglary at his Carter Avenue home on Sept. 7, 2010.
In May 2013, defendant Ricardo Strozier pleaded guilty to Jackson's homicide
and a string of related crimes. Judge Gil McBride sentenced him to life in
prison with no possibility of parole.
(source: Ledger-Enquirer)
*********************
DA lists reasons state is seeking death penalty for Brandon Conner
Chattahoochee Circuit District Attorney Julia Slater announced on Monday that
her office will seek the death penalty for a man accused in the August 2014
murder of his girlfriend and infant son, and the arson of their home.
On April 14, a Muscogee County grand jury indicted Brandon Conner, 35 on
murder, arson and other related charged on the two deaths. On Monday, Slater
filed a notice of the state of Georgia intent to seek the death penalty.
The reason for the filing to seek the death penalty were listed by Slater
during a press conference:
--Conner committed murder during the commission of another murder, both of
which are capital offenses.
--Conner committed the murders during an aggravated battery.
--Conner committed the murders in "an outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible
or inhumane manner."
"I found in this case that the statutory aggravating circumstances necessary to
seek the death penalty," Slater said. "I also carefully considered the facts
and circumstances of the murder, the strength of the evidence available, and
the law applicable in this case."
Slater did not discuss any details about this case or the reasons further to
seek the death penalty.
Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren said that he believed Slater's decision the
seek the death penalty is "strong" and supports the filings.
"I think this sends a very strong message for individuals that are coming into
our community and killing our citizens," Boren said. "We're with her [Slater]
and we stand in support of her."
Conner is accused of killing his girlfriend, Rosella Mitchell, and his
6-month-old son, Dylan, on Aug. 21, 2014 before setting the home they lived in
on Winifred Lane on fire.
The 2 were found dead following a house fire on Aug. 21. Mitchell was found
burned beyond recognition with stab wounds to her torso and neck.
Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan said in December 2014 that Dylan Conner's
manner of death was homicide. The cause of death was an inflicted violent
injury prior to the home he was in being set on fire. However, due to the
extensive burns to his body, the exact cause of those injuries is still
unknown.
Conner turned himself in to police on Aug. 26, 2014 following a murder warrant.
The night of the fire, Conner was pulled over by law enforcement and arrested
for an unrelated crime. He was described as sweaty, nervous and covered in
blood. A search of the Lexus he was driving revealed more bloody clothes and a
knife.
When Conner's family was reached for comment, his father, Carl Conner declined.
Slater said during the press conference that the family asked to respect their
privacy.
(source: WTVM news)
ALABAMA:
Man won't return to Alabama death row for killing his estranged girlfriend, who
also was his cousin
A Birmingham man won't be returning to Alabama's death row for his 2nd
conviction in the 2008 shooting death of his estranged girlfriend, who also was
his first cousin.
Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Clyde Jones on Monday morning sentenced
Jeffery Tyrone Riggs, 45, to life without the possibility of parole for his
Feb. 4 conviction on capital murder. The jury at that trial had recommended in
an 8-4 decision that Riggs serve a life without parole sentence.
Judge Jones in 2010 had sentenced Riggs to death after Riggs' 1st capital
murder conviction, overriding the 1st jury's 10-2 recommendation for life
without parole.
Riggs was convicted in the Jan. 10, 2008 shooting death of 40-year-old Norber
Payne. The couple had been in an on-again-off-again seven-year relationship and
had a child together. Riggs, who was married at the time, had been accused of
being angry that Payne was seeing another man.
Payne and Riggs also were first cousins who were both sexually abused as
children, the defense attorneys argued as a mitigating factor.
When Riggs was about 10 years old he and Payne were sexually abused by the
boyfriend of his great-aunt, according to testimony in February and a defense
sentencing memorandum.
"This older adult repeatedly forced Mr. Riggs and his female cousins, including
the victim, Ms. Norber Payne, to engage in sexual acts," according to the
memorandum from Assistant Jefferson County Public Defender Texys Morris. "These
were Mr. Riggs' 1st sexual experiences. The aunt's boyfriend also showed
pornography to Mr. Riggs and his cousins."
Morris also argued among other things that Riggs, according to one expert, had
an intellectual disability (formerly called mental retardation) and also he had
no prior criminal record.
We thank the judge. He did the proper thing here" - Deputy Jefferson County
Public Defender Bill Dawson
Riggs had won a new trial in 2013 after the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
overturned his death sentence and capital murder conviction. The appeals court
stated Judge Jones should have included comments about the state's burden of
proof on whether Riggs was provoked and killed Payne in the heat of passion,
which applied to the lesser charge of provocation manslaughter.
At Monday's sentencing Deputy Jefferson County District Attorney Mike Anderton
told Judge Jones that he believed the appropriate sentence was still death, but
he still recommended the judge hand down life without parole so everyone in the
case a chance to move on.
"The life of Norber Payne was taken for no other reason than he got his
feelings hurt," Anderton said.
Payne was shot 4 times with a .50-caliber pistol while in her bed, Anderton
said. He said he believes Riggs was trying to hide behind some kind of mental
incapacitation defense, but it was based solely on what Riggs reported about
himself.
Despite any mental challenges he might have up until the shooting Riggs had no
criminal history and had been able to hold down responsible jobs for long
periods of time, Anderton said.
"But this family has been through enough," Anderton said. "I don't want to see
the case back in a courtroom because we learned we didn't cross some "T"."
After Anderton presented his argument, Judge Jones turned to the defense
attorneys and told them he had already made up his mind and didn't need to hear
their arguments against imposition of the death penalty. The judge then handed
down the life without parole sentence and ordered Riggs to take an anger
management course while in prison.
"We thank the judge. He did the proper thing here," said Deputy Jefferson
County Public Defender Bill Dawson, who also defended Riggs.
Riggs' mother, Patricia Riggs, said she was relieved that the judge gave her
son life without parole rather than the death penalty again. But she said she
said she still wants her son to appeal his guilty verdict because she doesn't
feel like he committed burglary during the shooting incident, an underlying
offense for the capital murder charge.
(source: al.com)
OKLAHOMA:
New Law May Bring Controversial Form Of Capital Punishment To Oklahoma
The state of Oklahoma isn't about to let something like a Supreme Court
decision prevent it from executing inmates.
On Friday, Gov. Mary Fallin (R-OK) signed legislation establishing that death
row inmates will be asphyxiated with nitrogen gas if the state is unable to
obtain lethal injection drugs or if the Supreme Court strikes down that method
of execution. The bill responds to 2 developments that currently stand between
the state and its desire to kill several inmates - a shortage of execution
drugs and a Supreme Court case that could potentially limit the kinds of drugs
Oklahoma may use in executions.
The shortage arises largely from opposition to the death penalty among drug
manufacturers and foreign governments. Many pharmaceutical companies,
especially European and Asian companies that have historically made drugs used
in executions, refuse to distribute their products if they will be used to kill
inmates. Meanwhile, foreign bodies such as the European Commission imposed
tight restrictions on the export of many drugs that can be used in executions.
As a result, many states have turned to less-reliable drugs - or to drugs
produced through unreliable methods - in order to carry out executions.
That's why the Supreme Court is now involved. Earlier this year, the Court
agreed to hear 3 Oklahoma inmates' cases challenging the state's plan to use a
drug called midazolam during their execution. Oklahoma, like many states, uses
a 3-drug protocol in its executions - an anesthetic to ensure that the inmate
does not feel pain, a paralytic and then a 3rd drug that actually kills the
inmate. The state intends to use midazolam as the 1st part of this protocol,
but it is not at all clear that the drug is effective when used for this
purpose. Rather, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor explained in a dissenting opinion
last January, research indicates that midazolam has a "ceiling effect" - it is
effective as a pain-killer up to a certain point but higher doses beyond that
point do not increase its effectiveness.
Yet, while the Court is scheduled to hear a challenge to Oklahoma's use of this
drug, there are 2 reasons to suspect that a majority of the Court will
ultimately hold that it is acceptable to use midazolam in executions despite
concerns that it may not adequately dull inmates' pain. The 1st is that, while
the Court did agree to hear 3 inmates' cases, there were actually 4 inmates who
petitioned the Court. The justices allowed that 4th inmate, Charles Warner, to
be executed before they ultimately took the remaining 3 cases and stayed those
executions - although the Court's 4 more liberal members did dissent from the
decision to allow Warner to die.
Simply put, the fact that the justices permitted Oklahoma to kill Warner is not
a hopeful sign that a majority of the Court viewed his execution as
constitutionally doubtful.
The other sign that the Court may not strike down Oklahoma's execution protocol
is a 2008 decision called Baze v. Rees. Baze involved a challenge to a somewhat
different execution protocol used by the state of Kentucky prior to the
execution drug shortages. Though the legal issues presented by Baze are
somewhat distinct from the issues presented by the Oklahoma case, it is worth
noting that Justice Anthony Kennedy, who sometimes votes with the Court's
left-of-center bloc on death penalty cases, did not crossover in Baze. This
suggests that Kennedy may be less sympathetic to challenges to a state's method
of execution than he is to challenges alleging that certain classes of people -
such as juvenile offenders or the intellectually disabled - may not be
executed.
In any event, the law Fallin signed on Friday will likely permit the state to
move forward with the 3 inmates' executions regardless of how the justices
rule.
(source: thinkprogress.com)
USA:
Shocking revelations about flawed FBI hair evidence - another reason to end the
death penalty
Here are 3 numbers that should shock and appall you:
32 and 14. The 1st is the number of defendants who were sent to death row
nationwide in a 2-decade period before 2000 based on what was revealed Monday
to be the flawed testimony of elite FBI forensic examiners.
The 2nd is the number who were put to death or who have died in prison on the
basis of that testimony.
32 and 14.
As The Washington Post reported Monday, "the findings confirm long-suspected
problems with subjective, pattern-based forensic techniques -- like hair and
bite-mark comparisons -- that have contributed to wrongful convictions in more
than one-quarter of 329 DNA-exoneration cases since 1989."
Yet when you talk to proponents of capital punishment, they will tell you the
only thing that's wrong with the functioning of America's macabre death penalty
machinery is that the appellate process, which can sometimes grind on for years
before an inmate is put to death or sometimes exonerated, is too long.
Monday's report is another argument in favor of repealing Pennsylvania's death
penalty statute.
Not that the system is often rigged in favor of the prosecution.
And not that poor and minority inmates routinely receive substandard
representation that can lead to the innocent being railroaded onto death row.
The shocking admission Monday by the U.S. Dept. of Justice and FBI that nearly
every examiner in an elite forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost every
trial in which they offered evidence is an offense against justice.
And it should rightfully serve as grounds for the reopening of scores of
criminal cases.
According to The Post, of the 28 examiners working for the FBI's microscopic
hair comparison unit, 26 "overstated forensic matches in ways that favored
prosecutors in more than 95 percent of the 268 trials" involving 2,500 cases
being jointly reviewed by the government and the National Association of
Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Innocence Project.
The two units are assisting the government in what is being described as the
nation's largest post-conviction review of questioned forensic evidence, The
Post reported.
Those death row cases were included in the 1st 200 cases to be made public
under and agreement between the government and the 2 criminal justice groups,
The Post reported.
In all, there were 268 cases with evidence involving hair samples that were
used against defendants. Reviewers have so far found examiners gave flawed
testimony in 257 of those cases, which involved 284 defendants, the newspaper
reported.
There were 231 state, and 53 federal, convictions, including 21 from
Pennsylvania that resulted in 5 people being sent to death row, The Post
reported.
As The Post also notes, the FBI errors "do not mean there was not other
evidence of a convict's guilt."
But they are blindingly bright warning flares signaling deep and worrisome
problems in our judicial system.
Justifiably, defendants and prosecutors in 46 states and Washington D.C. are
being notified, so they can determine whether there are grounds for appeal. 4
defendants were previously exonerated, the newspaper reported.
Monday's admission adds to the growing mountain of evidence that capital
punishment has outlived its usefulness as both a deterrent and instrument of
justice.
To review, more than 250 Pennsylvania death sentences have been reversed since
the U.S. Supreme Court legalized capital punishment in 1978, according to The
Death Penalty Information Center in Washington D.C.
And in 6 of those instances, the evidence ultimately showed that a condemned
inmate was entirely innocent.
Nationwide, 150 people have been freed from death row.
Make no mistake, victims of violent crime and their surviving family and
friends deserve justice. No one should have to suffer the horror visited upon
them.
But life imprisonment, without possibility of parole, has not only been shown
to be less expensive than execution, but it also enjoys popular support.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, has been criticized for imposing a
moratorium on executions until a special commission returns a report on the
cost and effectiveness of Pennsylvania's death penalty law.
Monday's report not only provides support for Wolf's decision to put the brakes
on a broken system, it is also another argument in favor of repealing
Pennsylvania's death penalty statute.
The only question confronting the 253-member General Assembly is not whether
they should take that vote, but, rather, when.
(source: Editorial, pennlive.com)
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