Aug. 2
MASSACHUSETTS:
Record Retrospective: 2L Tim Kaine Speaks Out Against the Death Penalty
This article by Joyce Tichy, originally titled "Students Lobby Against the
Death Penalty," was published in the Record on March 19, 1982.
"If we're trying to teach that killing is wrong, the death penalty isn't the
way to accomplish that goal." So says Tim Kaine, 2L, who with Leto Copeley, 2L,
is organizing HLS students to lobby against re-institution of the death penalty
in Massachusetts.
According to Kaine, the issue has received widespread political attention since
the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's ruling in Suffolk District Court v.
Watson in Oct., 1980. The court there held that capital punishment is a
violation of the Massachusetts state constitution's prohibition against cruel
and unusual punishment because its implementation has been arbitrary and
because it violates current standards of decency. However, the state's
legislature and Governor King have moved to nullify the court's holding by
amending the state constitution to provide expressly for the death penalty as a
sentencing option.
The Massachusetts legislature has already gone part way in carrying out this
effort. Under Massachusetts law, the legislature must vote in 2 successive
terms to submit a constitutional amendment to the public. After its 2nd vote,
the state's citizens must vote on the issue through a general referendum. The
legislature voted in favor of the referendum last term, and will likely cast
its 2nd vote by mid-May.
Kaine and Copeley, like students at other Massachusetts law schools, are
working to prevent the legislature from voting in favor of the referendum a 2nd
time. They are coordinating their fellow students' activities under the aegis
of the Massachusetts Campaign Against Restoration of the Death Penalty, an
organization formed in May of 1981 after a conference on the death penalty was
held at the Law School. Students are also doing phone bank work, raising $700
per week to help the Campaign finance its lobbying efforts.
Harvard students' support has taken a number of forms in recent months. Kaine
lists several research projects that students have done on relevant issues,
such as the brutalizing effect of the death penalty on the criminal justice
system, the arbitrary aspect of the punishment and the relative social costs of
death sentencing versus life imprisonment. A 2nd major effort by law students
was the petition drive at the end of February. In 3 days, students collected
700 signatures for a petition requesting the state's legislature not to submit
the death penalty referendum to the public.
Should the legislature vote for the referendum in May, Kaine expects that the
Campaign will concentrate its efforts on educating the state's citizens about
the negative ramifications of re-instituting the death penalty. The referendum
would come before the public in November, when ballots are cast in the upcoming
gubernatorial election.
Kaine hopes that more law students will become involved in the lobbying effort,
since he sees the matter as both a legal and a moral issue. He points to the
death penalty's sorry history in Massachusetts, which has encompassed the
results of witch trials and the Sacco - Vanzetti case. While all judicial
decisions contain the possibility of error, he emphasizes, none other is both
so arbitrary and so irrevocable as the decision to impose the death penalty.
(source: The Harvard Law Record)
PENNSYLVANIA:
2 trials for couple accused in Wrightsville stabbing homicide
A Wrightsville man accused of luring his baby's mother to his home and stabbing
her at least 49 times will be tried for murder separately from his girlfriend,
a judge ruled Monday.
York County Common Pleas Judge Harry M. Ness granted a defense motion by
attorneys for Marcus James Bordelon to sever Bordelon's trial from that of his
girlfriend and co-defendant, Natasha Stover. Bordelon is facing the death
penalty if convicted; he is being represented by attorneys Kevin Hoffman and
Gerald Lord.
Hoffman and attorney Suzanne Smith, who represents Stover, confirmed the judge
granted the motion for separate trials.
Bordelon, 23, and Stover, 20, are charged in the April 2015 homicide of
Samantha "Sami" Young, with whom Bordelon fathered a daughter.
The co-defendants remain in York County Prison without bail, charged with
1st-degree murder, tampering with evidence, obstructing the administration of
law, abuse of a corpse and conspiracy to commit all four of those offenses.
Bordelon also is charged with kidnapping.
The York County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty for
Bordelon.
The allegations: Bordelon allegedly lured the 21-year-old mother - called Sami
by her friends and family - to his Chestnut Street home by telling her
something was wrong with their daughter Arteya, who was 1 year old at the time
and visiting her father that night, according to Young's family. Bordelon and
Young were no longer involved, her family said.
Police said Bordelon wouldn't let Young leave after she arrived, which is the
basis of the kidnapping charge.
Young suffered stab wounds and cuts all over her body, including clusters of
stab wounds to her back and wounds to her neck, head, chest, arms and legs.
Stab wounds penetrated her heart, both lungs, liver and diaphragm, according to
Dr. Michael Johnson, a forensic pathologist who testified at Bordelon's
preliminary hearing.
Johnson said Young suffered at least 49 stab wounds, probably more. He
explained that "clusters" of wounds with "co-mingled" pathways made it
difficult to count the wounds with certainty.
Charging documents filed by Wrightsville Police allege Bordelon used a stun gun
to keep Young, who lived in York Township, from leaving his home prior to
killing her.
Found in shed: Officers responding to Bordelon's home on April 19, 2015, found
Young's body in a locked shed in Bordelon's yard, documents state. It appeared
that she had been dragged there, preliminary hearing testimony indicated.
Police allege Stover and Bordelon exchanged texts about him killing Young.
Police also say Stover helped Bordelon move Young's car away from his home,
then drove him to Home Depot to buy bleach and lime.
According to charging documents, Bordelon claimed he and Sami agreed to have a
late-night dinner at his home.
But Young's cousins told The York Dispatch that's simply not true -0 that
Bordelon used Young's love for her daughter to lure her there by telling her
something was wrong with Arteya.
Other issues: Also during the co-defendants' motions hearing Monday, Judge Ness
ruled that statements made by Bordelon after he was arrested cannot be used
against Stover, according to Smith.
Ness is still considering a couple of pretrial issues, including whether to
allow chief deputy prosecutor Tim Barker to introduce text messages between
Bordelon and Stover - retrieved from her cellphone - at Bordelon's trial, Smith
said.
(source: York Dispatch)
VIRGINIA:
Trial in Dinwiddie: Convicted killer fights death penalty----Brown's family,
friends testify as trial nears conclusion
Personable, well-mannered, likable, easy-going, laid-back, cooperative,
helpful, caring, loving, peaceful, a peacemaker.
Those were some of the words used by family members, friends and mental health
workers to describe Russell Brown III, convicted last week of capital murder
and five other felonies in the shooting death of Master Trooper Junius Walker
in March 2013.
On the 16th day of Brown's trial in Dinwiddie County Circuit Court, the defense
took its turn in the sentencing phase to try to undermine the prosecution's
case for imposing the death penalty on the 31-year-old Brown.
Witnesses testified not only to Brown's generally quiet and cooperative
behavior for most of his life, but also gave accounts of the severe, long-term
mental health problems suffered by his parents, Russell Brown Jr. and Sheila
Brown. Earlier, during the verdict phase of the trial, the defense tried to
show that the younger Brown was not guilty innocent by reason of insanity.
Monday's testimony appeared to be aimed at painting a sympathetic portrait of
the defendant as someone who had been a loving family member and loyal friend
until he suddenly descended into the psychotic behavior that culminated in
Walker's death.
Probably the most emotional moment of the day came when Brown's cousin, Rodney
Butler, talked about his relationship with Brown, when they were children and
also as adults.
Butler spoke of the many times Brown helped him out, such as when he was low on
money and needed work done on his car, or just needed money to buy food.
On the witness stand, wiping tears from his eyes, Butler said Brown was "like a
brother." His voice breaking, Butler went on, "A lot of daydreams, a lot of
stories told about when we get older ... get a house ... lot of dogs ... my
children playing with his children."
Ronald Wayne, a friend of Brown's since high school who shared a room with him
at one time and remained close to him in adult life, said that "Anytime I was
going through anything, he was the one person I knew I could turn to for help.
If you were friends with Russell, he was there for you."
In contrast, family members and mental health providers described in detail the
years of aberrant behavior shown by Brown's parents.
Dr. Mario Gomez, a psychiatrist who treated Sheila Brown for about 12 years for
bipolar disorder and other conditions, described her as "chronically paranoid,"
"vindictive," "chaotic," with "no obvious emotional attachments."
Christiane Stafford, a clinician and case manager with the Richmond Behavioral
Health Authority, said Brown Jr. suffered from "delusional thought processes,"
including believing himself to be Jesus Christ.
The defense plans to rest its case in the sentencing phase on Tuesday morning,
and Judge Paul W. Cella said he expects the decision to go to the jury Tuesday
afternoon. Jurors will be asked to choose between sentencing Brown to death or
to life in prison without parole.
(source: The Progress-Index)
LOUISIANA:
Exoneree John Thompson to seek federal investigation of Orleans DA's office
John Thompson spent 14 years on death row before hidden evidence was discovered
that led to his exoneration in 2003. Now, Thompson wants federal investigators
to probe whether others were also wronged by the prosecutor who helped put
Thompson in jail more than 30 years ago.
Thompson, who runs a nonprofit that helps reintegrate other exonerees into
society, will file a formal complaint Tuesday (Aug. 2) petitioning the United
States Department of Justice to investigate incidents of prosecutorial
misconduct in Orleans Parish during the tenure of former District Attorney
Harry Connick.
Specifically, he is asking the department's Civil Rights Division to review all
cases handled by former Assistant District Attorney James Williams, who was one
of Thompson's prosecutors.
Among several death row inmates that Williams helped convict, Thompson and
another man were later exonerated, and 2 others had their sentences commuted.
Williams, who now runs a private law practice in Gretna, did not respond to a
request for comment. The district attorney's office also did not respond to a
message seeking comment.
In a statement, Thompson said a spate of exonerations in recent years
"establish that systemic prosecutorial misconduct existed at the Orleans Parish
District Attorney's office for years, and that the man who wrongfully sent me
to death row wrongfully sent many other people - friends of mine - to death
row, too."
"That same misconduct obviously didn't stop at our cases," he added. "We were
just lucky enough to have lawyers to prove it."
The episode, titled "Rough Justice in the Big Easy," details Thompson's 1985
conviction for murdering hotel executive Ray Liuzza.
Stephen Saloom, an attorney for the 8th Amendment Project, a group that works
to end the death penalty, said court depositions show both Connick and Williams
lacked an understanding of the need to surrender exculpatory evidence, or
relevant evidence that often exonerates a defendant of guilt.
Saloom said that fact, along with what he called a "pattern" of constitutional
violations under Connick's administration, merits federal investigation.
"It takes significant effort simply to figure out which prosecutors handled
which cases," Saloom said. "Thompson wants the Department of Justice to do that
work, and to closely examine the cases Williams worked on."
The Justice Department has authority to conduct such inquiries under the Law
Enforcement Misconduct Statute, which prohibits police officers, district
attorneys and other governmental authorities from depriving people of their
Constitutional rights.
The department's Civil Rights Division performed a similar probe into police
practices in Ferguson, Missouri, last year. That investigation prompted a
lawsuit against the city in February, alleging a "pattern or practice of law
enforcement conduct that violates the Constitution and federal civil rights
laws."
Derwyn Bunton, chief defender for the Orleans Public Defender's Office, said
petitions like Thompson's are typically leveled at law enforcement, not
prosecutors. But given the history of exonerations and wrongful convictions in
New Orleans, he said, "I think this is something that warrants investigation by
the federal government."
Thompson was originally convicted of murdering a New Orleans hotel executive
named Ray Liuzza in 1985. The jury found Thompson guilty and sentenced him to
death, based in part upon an armed robbery conviction three months prior, a
crime Thompson says he did not commit.
After years of appeals for legal help, Thompson found support from the Capital
Defense Project at Loyola University New Orleans. In 1999, just weeks away from
a scheduled execution, an investigator discovered that blood evidence in the
armed robbery case had been withheld by the district attorney's office.
A former prosecutor subsequently came forward to reveal that a junior assistant
district attorney named Gerry Deegan had hidden a pair of pants worn by the
victim that showed a blood type different than Thompson's. Andrea Armstrong, a
professor of Loyola University College of Law, said evidence suggests the blood
tests were delivered to Williams' desk, but he did not turn them over.
At Thompson's retrial in 2003, the jury deliberated for less than an hour
before finding him not guilty. He was released after serving 18 years in
prison, having survived 7 execution dates.
At the time, Connick, who retired that year, told the Associated Press that
Thompson's case was an isolated one. "We follow the rules," he said. "We have
an ongoing and continuing obligation to turn over exculpatory evidence and we
do."
But Nick Trenticosta, an attorney for the Louisiana Capital Defense Project,
told Mother Jones magazine in 2010: "They all try to portray it as a rogue
prosecutor, a fluke. Harry Connick used to give awards to prosecutors for
successfully convicting people."
After his exoneration, Thompson expressed anger that "nobody in the
prosecutor's office ever faces charges, nobody has to pay. A slap on the wrist
for 'malfeasance' and then they're back at work doing the same old thing."
He later won a $14 million civil lawsuit against the district attorney's
office, alleging it had systematically failed to train prosecutors about their
Constitutional duty to turn over evidence favorable to the defense. The U.S.
Supreme Court overturned the ruling in a controversial 5-4 vote in 2011.
Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said Thompson had not proven
a "pattern of similar violations."
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg disagreed. "What happened here, the court's opinion
obscures, was no momentary oversight, no single incident of a lone officer's
misconduct," she wrote in her dissent. "Instead, the evidence demonstrated that
misperception and disregard of...disclosure requirements were pervasive in
Orleans Parish."
In the years since the Supreme Court's ruling, several exonerations have
resulted in part from prosecutorial misconduct within the Orleans Parish
District Attorney's Office. In 2014, for example, Reginald Adams was released
from prison after prosecutors admitted he was coerced during a murder
investigation and trial in 1979. After reviewing Adams' conviction, District
Attorney Leon Cannizzaro called the prosecution handling of the case
"shameful."
It was not immediately clear if Williams was involved in that case.
Thompson is hoping that the Justice Department can flush out other instances of
misconduct on Connick's watch.
"There are hundreds of others just like me, rotting away in Louisiana prisons,"
he said. "We cannot knowingly let the Constitution be violated and have people
wrongfully executed, nor wrongfully incarcerated. If the courts cannot stop
this abuse, the federal government must."
(source: The Times-Picayune)
OHIO:
Trial again delayed for man accused in Warren County highway slaying----Terry
Froman accused in 2014 killing, kidnapping
The case against a man accused of kidnapping and killing his girlfriend along
Interstate 75 has been again pushed back.
A black Illinois man accused of kidnapping a Kentucky woman and fatally
shooting her along a Warren County interstate says he can't get a fair trial in
a county he calls "racially imbalanced" and wants his trial moved.
A death penalty trial has been postponed until August for an Illinois man
charged with kidnapping a Kentucky woman and fatally shooting her along
Interstate 75 in Warren County.
Terry Froman pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated murder and kidnapping,
and was scheduled for trial Aug. 15.
However, Froman said last week that he can't get a fair trial in a county he
calls "racially imbalanced" and wanted his trial moved. The census estimate for
2015 shows the county's population as 89.7 % white.
On Monday, Warren County Common Pleas Court Judge Joseph Kirby continued
Froman's trial, granting him a request for a new counsel.
Froman is accused of kidnapping and killing his ex-girlfriend, Kimberly Thomas,
from Mayfield, Kentucky, and shooting her on the side of Interstate 75 in
Warren County on Sept. 12, 2014.
Froman is also accused of killing Thomas??? son, Eli Mohney, 17, at the time of
the initial kidnapping.
Monday's ruling is the 3rd time the case has been continued.
The 1st continuance was granted after a judge recused himself because his
nephew is the prosecutor responsible for handling the case against Froman in
Kentucky for the murder of Mohney.
Froman's defense team requested the 2nd continuance because of the illness of
Froman's psychologist, who was expected to testify in the penalty phase of the
trial if Froman was convicted of the murder of Thomas.
(source: WLWT news)
KENTUCKY:
Kentuckians Favor Prison Over Death Penalty As Punishment, Poll Says
A new poll shows Kentuckians overwhelmingly support prison time over capital
punishment for people convicted of 2st-degree murder.
Findings from a recent poll by the University of Kentucky Survey Research
Center show nearly 58 % of people surveyed believe that lengthy prison terms,
including life without parole, are preferable to the death penalty as
punishment for conviction of 1st-degree murder.
Kentuckians also overwhelmingly support a halt to executions until problems
with the state's capital punishment system are addressed, according to the
survey. More than 72 % said they would support a decision by the governor to
block executions until issues with the system could be addressed.
"It is important to note that this new poll shows that Kentuckians are
increasingly concerned about the fairness of our criminal justice system," said
Marcia Milby Ridings, former president of the Kentucky Bar Association, in a
news release.
Ridings is also a member of the American Bar Association assessment team that
studied Kentucky's death penalty. She said when the ABA released its 2011
assessment, 62 % of Kentuckians surveyed supported a temporary halt to
executions.
"Now, more than 5 years after we completed that examination and offered
specific reforms, even more Kentuckians want action on those reforms before our
state imposes the ultimate punishment in their names," she said.
The poll, conducted between March 4 and April 30, included interviews with 684
adult Kentuckians. Its margin of error was plus or minus 3.8 %.
Support for the death penalty also dropped when respondents were given a choice
of punishments for people convicted of 1st-degree murder.
Responses in support of the different punishments were:
--Death penalty: 42.2 % --Life in prison with no chance of parole: 35.4 %
--Life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years: 7.4 %
--Life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years: 2.1 %
--A sentence of 20-50 years with a chance of parole after 85 % of the sentence
is served: 13 %
A bill that would have abolished the death penalty in Kentucky received its 1st
legislative hearing earlier this year. It failed to advance the House Judiciary
Committee by 1 vote.
(source: WFPL news)
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