July 18
TEXAS----impending execution
In Texas death row case, punishment does not fit crime
Jeff Wood has an appointment he hopes to miss.
On Aug. 24, 2016, at about 6 p.m., the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
plans to inject a lethal dose of pentobarbital into Jeff???s veins to stop his
heart as punishment for the 1996 murder of Kris Keeran.
What makes this execution controversial is that everyone, including law
enforcement and the prosecution, agrees that Wood, the driver of the getaway
car, did not kill Kris Keeran inside a Kerrville convenient store on the
morning of January 2, 1996. In fact, Daniel Reneau, the actual and sole killer
of Keeran, was executed for his crime on June 13, 2002.
Wood was convicted and sentenced to die under Texas' arcane felony-murder law,
more commonly known as the "the law of parties" - for his role as an accomplice
to a killing, which he had no reason to anticipate. Under the law of parties,
those who conspire to commit a felony, like a robbery, can be held responsible
for a subsequent crime, like murder, if it "should have been anticipated." The
law does not require a finding that the person intended to kill. It only
requires that the defendant, charged under the law of parties, was a major
participant in the underlying felony and exhibited a reckless indifference to
human life. In other words, neglecting to anticipate another actor's commission
of murder in the course of a felony is all that is required to make a Texas
defendant death-eligible.
Texas is not the only state that holds co-conspirators responsible for one
another's criminal acts. However, it is one of few states that applies the
death sentence to them. There have been only 10 people in the U.S. executed
under the law of parties - and 5 of those 10 executions were in Texas. The last
such execution was in 2009, where the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP)
recommended, with a 5-2 vote, that Robert Thompson's death sentence be commuted
to life. Rick Perry rejected that vote and allowed the execution to proceed.
Thompson was executed, even though it was his co-defendant, Sammy Butler, who
actually killed the victim. Butler was given a life sentence.
When the convenient store robbery took place, Wood was sitting in a car
outside, under the impression that Reneau was going into the store to get "road
drinks and munchies." Although it is true that Wood and Reneau had talked about
robbing the store at the behest of the manager, Wood had backed out of the
idea. Wood had no idea Reneau was carrying a gun and was going to attempt to
rob the store. Wood also claims he was forced to drive Reneau away from the
crime scene at gunpoint. Wood's actions before the murder, namely sitting in a
car unarmed and unaware that another person was going to commit a robbery, does
not constitute reckless indifference to human life.
Even many supporters of capital punishment agree that the Texas law of parties
is wholly unfair. In 2009, the Texas Moratorium Network and Wood's family led
an advocacy campaign to end the death penalty for people convicted under the
law of parties. The Republican-controlled Texas House overwhelmingly voted in
favor of the bill. Unfortunately, the bill died in the Senate after Gov. Perry
threatened to veto it. Last year, the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
voted again in favor of a bill to exclude the death penalty as punishment in
law of parties cases. However, the session ended without an opportunity for a
floor vote.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles should recommend that the governor
commute Wood's death sentence to life in prison or a lesser term consistent
with Wood's level of participation in the crime. They have made that
recommendation in similar cases, including those of Kenneth Foster in 2007 and
Robert Thompson in 2009.
Wood might deserve punishment for driving away from the crime scene, but he
does not deserve to die. He has never taken a human life with his own hands.
(source: Opinion; Hooman Hedayati is an attorney and a member of the Texas
Moratorium Network Board of Directors----Austin American-Statesman)
CONNECTICUT:
Connecticut Court Reaffirms Ruling Abolishing Death Penalty
The Connecticut Supreme Court has upheld its decision to abolish the state's
death penalty, including for the 11 inmates on Connecticut's death row.
The Connecticut Supreme Court has reaffirmed its decision that Connecticut's
abolition of the death penalty must also apply to those already convicted of a
capital felony.
Monday's ruling comes in the case of Daniel Webb, who was sentenced to death
for the 1989 murder of Diane Gellenbeck. The 37-year-old bank vice president
was killed in a Hartford park after being abducted from a downtown parking
garage.
The court last August found the 2012 state law that banned executions for
future crimes did not go far enough, ruling the death penalty was
unconstitutional for those already on death row.
The court on Monday said the same reasoning applies to Webb's appeal and
ordered him to be resentenced. He now faces life in prison without parole.
(source: Associated Press)
USA:
Jury Selection, Other Matters Considered in Church Shooting
A federal judge is taking up jury selection and other matters in the trial of a
white man charged in the shooting deaths of nine black parishioners at a South
Carolina church.
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel holds a motions hearing Monday in the case
of 22-year-old Dylann Roof. He's scheduled to stand trial Nov. 7.
Roof is charged with hate crimes and other counts and faces the death penalty
in the June, 2015, shooting deaths at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. He will
not attend the hearing.
A hearing notice said jury selection is being considered, although there is
also a motion before the court to dismiss the charges.
Defense attorneys say they are willing to have the jury selected from the
Charleston area instead of from across South Carolina.
(source: Associated Press)
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