August 25
OHIO:
Botched execution survivor hopes to once again cheat death, legally
Romell Broom is a dead man walking. He was meant to be executed 7 years ago,
but after the state spent 2 hours and 18 attempts to find a vein, he exited the
execution room alive. Now he is trying to keep the state of Ohio from trying
again.
Broom's botched execution in 2009 may have allowed him to live to see 2016, but
whether he will get to keep going is another matter. Claiming that attempting
to execute him a 2nd time would constitute cruel and unusual punishment, his
lawyer petitioned on Tuesday to appeal to the US Supreme Court to remove him
from death row, the Associated Press reported.
Broom, 60, pled his case in March to the Ohio Supreme Court, which determined
that the state could try again. The 4-3 ruling rejected his claims that another
execution attempt would be unconstitutional, because they claimed that the 18
attempts to insert needles and other mistakes occurred during preparation for
his execution and not the actual procedure.
"Because Broom's life was never at risk since the drugs were not introduced,
and because the state is committed to carrying out executions in a
constitutional manner, we do not believe that it would shock the public's
conscience to allow the state to carry out Broom's execution," Justice Judith
Ann Lanzinger wrote in the majority opinion.
The attempts to insert the needle into Broom allegedly caused him enough pain
that he began screaming and crying.
"The day they tried to execute him was horrendous," Broom's lawyer Adele Shank
told CNN.
She believes that the botched attempt constitutes double jeopardy, or punishing
someone for a crime twice.
Broom was found guilty of aggravated murder in connection to the abduction,
rape and murder of 14-year-old Tryna Middleton in 1985.
(source: rt.com)
*******************
Ohio court upholds death sentences for 2 condemned killers
The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld death sentences for a man convicted of
killing his girlfriend's ex-husband and for a man who killed a woman he lived
with and her 2 children.
A shortage of lethal drugs means executions are likely years away.
The court voted 6-1 Wednesday in favor of the resentencing of Nathaniel
Jackson, convicted in the 2001 murder of Robert Fingerhut near Warren in
northeastern Ohio.
The resentencing followed the state Supreme Court's reprimand of a judge and
prosecutor for teaming up to write sentencing orders for Jackson and Jackson's
co-defendant, Donna Roberts.
The court also ruled 6-1 to uphold the death sentence of Caron Montgomery of
Columbus in the slayings of Tia Hendricks and her 2- and 10-year-old children
on Thanksgiving Day 2010.
(source: Daily Journal)
******************************
Death penalty in Howland murder case affirmed----Nathaniel Jackson was
convicted in the murder of Robert Fingerhut
The Ohio Supreme Court has affirmed the death sentence of a man convicted in a
2001 murder in Trumbull County.
A trial judge's error prompted the Supreme Court to vacate the death sentence
of Nathaniel Jackson in the murder of Robert Fingerhut and ordered that Jackson
be re-sentenced.
The Court voted 6 to 1 Wednesday to affirm the death penalty in the case.
The Eleventh District Court of Appeals vacated the initial death sentence when
it found an assistant prosecutor improperly assisted the trial judge in
preparing the sentencing opinion.
Justice Paul E. Pfiefer concluded the error was harmless and was corrected by
the Court's independent evaluation of the sentence.
Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger, the only dissenting vote, said that the court did
not take Jackson's words into account before re-sentencing and that he is
entitled to receive a sentencing hearing where his statements are considered
before a sentence is imposed.
Prosecutors say Jackson conspired from prison to murder Fingerhut after
developing a relationship with his wife Donna Roberts.
Donna Roberts was sentenced to death for conspiring to have her husband killed
by Nathaniel Jackson. Roberts lived with Fingerhut in Howland Township, and
Fingerhut had 2 life insurance policies worth a total of $550,000 in which
Roberts was named the sole beneficiary. Roberts began an affair with Jackson,
which continued while Jackson was confined in the Lorain Correctional
Institution.
While in prison, Jackson and Roberts exchanged numerous letters and spoke by
phone to plot the murder of Fingerhut. At Jackson's request, Roberts purchased
a ski mask and pair of gloves for Jackson to use during the murder. Roberts
picked up Jackson from Lorain Correctional when he was released and 2 days
later, Fingerhut was shot to death in his home.
Jackson was indicted on 2 counts of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary and
aggravated robbery. In 2002, a jury found Jackson guilty of all charges and
recommended the death penalty. The late Judge John Stuard, who presided over
Jackson's trial and imposed the death sentence.
Judge Stuard also presided over Roberts' capital murder trial and she was found
guilty of aggravated murder and other offenses, and was sentenced to death. In
2006, the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed Roberts' convictions, but vacated her
death sentence and remanded the case to the trial court because the judge, as
in Jackson's case, had enlisted the assistant county prosecutor who tried the
case in drafting the sentencing opinion.
Roberts death penalty was also subsequently affirmed. Her appeal of that
sentence is still pending before the Court.
(source: WKBN news)
***********************************
Lawyers ask for rape evidence to be thrown out in Seman case
Lawyers for Robert Seman asked a judge to bar prosecutors from using evidence
in a rape case against him in his capital murder case.
Lynn Maro, 1 of 2 lawyers for Seman, told Judge Maureen Sweeney of Mahoning
County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday that prosecutors should be barred from
using specific evidence of a rape accusation against Seman, 47, of Green,
because it could prejudice a jury against her client.
Also, prosecutors did not alert defense attorneys until late July about some of
the evidence from the rape case they intend to use in Seman's trial in
September.
Seman could face the death penalty if convicted of the deaths of Corinne Gump,
10, and her grandparents William and Judith Schmidt, after a fire March 31,
2015, destroyed their Powers Way home on the South Side, the day Seman was to
go on trial on allegations that he raped Corinne.
He was free on bond at the time but could have faced life in prison if
convicted. The case has still not been dismissed.
Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa countered that Maro's co-counsel, Tom
Zena, was Seman's lawyer in the rape case and had all the evidence prosecutors
had for 2 years.
Zena countered that argument, saying that though he has the evidence, he never
knew what prosecutors planned to present from the rape case in Seman's murder
case.
1 of the specifications in the case that qualifies Seman for the death penalty
is that he killed a witness to a crime, in this case Corinne, because she was
the only witness to what Seman is charged of doing to her.
Maro said under the death-penalty specification, all prosecutors must do is
show jurors that Corinne was a witness in a previous case against Seman. She
said that by getting into specific details on the allegations against Seman,
jurors could hold it against her client.
Cantalamessa said prosecutors must use some of the allegations in the rape case
to show not just that Corinne was a witness against Seman but that she was a
"crucial witness," the only one who could testify about what was done to her.
Judge Sweeney said she hopes to rule on the request by next Thursday.
Other death-penalty specifications that Seman meets include killing 2 or more
people; killing someone in the commission of a felony, in this case aggravated
burglary and aggravated arson, of which he is also charged; wanting to escape
prosecution from a crime; caused the death of someone under 13; and using
premeditation.
If jurors find Seman is eligible for the death penalty, a second phase of the
trial, or mitigation phase, will begin. In that phase, defense attorneys will
try to offer factors to jurors to convince them not to sentence their client to
death. Only a jury can recommend a death sentence.
Trial in the case is slated to begin Sept. 12 with jury selection.
A hearing on a motion to suppress Seman's statements to police was also set
Wednesday, but it has been pushed back to Sept. 1 because some transcripts were
not ready. Judge Sweeney will also hear arguments on that date on a motion for
change of venue filed by defense attorneys.
(source: vindy.com)
MISSOURI----female may face death penalty
Pamela Hupp charged with murder in alleged frame-up tied to Lincoln County case
Pamela Hupp thought she found the "patsy" who could help get "some heat off
her" related to a 2011 murder near Troy, Mo., officials said Tuesday.
She somehow lured a gullible, brain-damaged man into her car last week and took
him to her home in O'Fallon, then called 911 and emptied a revolver into his
body as an operator listened, they said.
Officials speculate that Hupp told Louis R. Gumpenberger, 33, that she was a
producer for NBC's "Dateline" program, and was willing to pay $900 to $1,000
for him to help her re-enact a 911 call.
When police arrived at her house to find Gumpenberger dead, Hupp told police
that he had jumped into her vehicle and held a knife to her neck, demanding
that she take him to her bank to get "Russ' money."
She claimed she broke away and ran into her house, grabbed a gun from her
nightstand, and shot him when he entered the room.
Investigators later found a note in Gumpenberger's pocket purporting to be
instructions on how to kidnap Hupp to get "Russ' money," in exchange for
$10,000. He also had $900 in cash in his pocket, but police don't believe he
put those things in his pockets himself.
"The evidence seems to indicate she hatched a plot to find an innocent victim
and murder this innocent victim in an apparent effort to frame someone else,"
St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar said at a news conference.
"Russ" is Russell Faria, convicted in 2013 of 1st-degree murder in the stabbing
death of his wife, Elizabeth "Betsy" Faria, at their home near Troy 2 years
before. Hupp was a key witness in that trial. But a Lincoln County judge's
refusal to allow the defense to make counteraccusations against Hupp helped win
Russell Faria a new trial last year, in which he was acquitted.
Lohmar and O'Fallon Police Chief Roy Joachimstaler said Hupp's story of last
week's shooting quickly fell apart, leading to charges Tuesday of 1st-degree
murder and armed criminal action.
Hupp, 57, fell apart too.
Joachimstaler said that she refused to make a statement to police after her
arrest Tuesday morning. While in a police bathroom, she stabbed herself
multiple times in the wrist and neck with a pen she had hidden, he said. She
was reported to be stable at a hospital.
Hupp's husband did not respond to a message seeking comment, nor did lawyers
who have represented her in a civil case.
Hupp's story
Officials said Hupp claimed that Gumpenberger, a stranger, got out of a silver
car driven by someone else and climbed into her SUV in her driveway at her home
around noon on Aug. 16. She said the silver car left.
She initially told police she didn't know anybody named Russ, whose name she
said was mentioned by the attacker. Then she said she did know Russ Faria, and
she surmised the reference to money was Betsy Faria's life insurance payout.
Hupp had collected on a $150,000 life insurance policy on her friend Betsy
Faria after becoming the beneficiary just days before the woman was slain, and
Hupp was the last person known to see the victim alive.
Hupp told police she had driven around St. Charles the morning of Aug. 16,
looking for thrift shops, and stopped by her daughter's home but nobody was
there. That home is about 2 miles from Gumpenberger's.
But investigators re-created Hupp's cellphone's movements, and discovered that
at 11:25 a.m., about 40 minutes before Gumpenberger was shot, GPS put her in
his apartment complex in St. Charles, about 13 miles from her home. She spent
about 4 minutes there.
Gumpenberger had suffered severe brain damage in a 2005 traffic crash and had
significant physical and mental impairments.
"She was very calculated looking for someone who fit a particular profile,"
Lohmar said. "This victim fit that profile, someone not very sophisticated,
someone easily swayed by a large amount of cash."
But, officials said, Hupp did not anticipate that Gumpenberger's limitations
would have people who knew him doubting that he could have been involved in a
such a crime.
Officials said an extensive investigation did not reveal any connection between
Gumpenberger and Hupp or Russell Faria.
Gumpenberger had no cellphone or ID when he died. Lohmar said investigators do
not believe that he placed the note or the $900 in his pocket.
A knife was found in Hupp's car. "We're confident we know where that came
from," the prosecutor said.
Lohmar said that the case was still under investigation, but that the death
penalty "definitely remains in play."
Bail for Hupp was set at $2 million cash.
Looking for a victim?
Authorities also said a woman, not named in court documents, identified Hupp as
someone in a dark SUV who approached her in the driveway of her St. Charles
County home on Aug. 10, claimed to be a producer for NBC's "Dateline" and
offered $1,000 to go with her and record a scripted sound bite about 911 calls.
That woman initially agreed, but then became leery because Hupp had no
credentials and the story did not seem credible. Surveillance video from a
camera on the woman's home confirmed through the license number that the SUV
was Hupp's gray 2016 GMC Acadia.
What the woman described as the "Dateline" 911 script was "very, very similar
to what we were able to hear on the 911 call" involving Hupp and Gumpenberger,
Lohmar said.
The prosecutor noted, "Our theory is ... that she was vetting a potential
victim."
Joachimstaler said police would like to hear from anyone else who might have
been approached by Hupp.
"It appears she was searching for a patsy that could possibly take some heat
off her," he said, later saying that the heat was connected to the Faria case.
"Our conclusion is that she was looking for a victim."
In court documents obtained by the Post-Dispatch on Monday, police report that
the 911 caller at 12:08 p.m. said someone was trying to break into her house,
and repeatedly asked for help. She could be heard refusing to get inside a
vehicle. Shots were heard, followed by the sound of smoke alarms sounding, and
the caller said that she had shot someone.
The Betsy Faria murder case and questions about Hupp???s possible role in it
were the subject of a joint Post-Dispatch-KTVI Fox 2 investigation in 2014. The
"Dateline" program also did a story on the case.
Lincoln County officials have said they were convinced that they had prosecuted
the right person, Russell Faria, in his wife's death.
Faria sued officials there last month, claiming they fabricated evidence and
botched the investigation.
Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Leah Askey, who twice took Russell Faria to
trial, did not respond to messages seeking comment on Tuesday's developments.
U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan acknowledged Tuesday that his office has been
reviewing the public record in the Faria case, but he said that he did not
believe that "the events of the last few weeks would have any bearing on that
review."
Faria's lawyer, Joel Schwartz, who has been convinced of his client's
innocence, said, "I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
He said Faria is "hoping that they are looping this in and can show (Hupp is)
involved in the Betsy Faria murder, which we've always believed." Schwartz
added that, "It's not as if he had to prove to anyone he didn't do this. A
5th-grader can understand, based on the evidence."
Gumpenberger's mother, Margaret Burch, declined to comment Tuesday, referring a
reporter to Pastor John Lundin of Hope Lutheran Church in St. Charles, where
the family attended services.
Lundin said Burch was "very much relieved" by the arrest.
He said Gumpenberger was "eager to please" and a "delightful man-child" but
that his brain injury had left him "completely gullible."
Betsy Faria's mother, Janet Meyer, declined to comment.
Some of Hupp's neighbors on typically quiet Little Brave Drive said Tuesday
they were glad to hear of the arrest and that a home invasion was not involved.
"It's a big relief," said Cole Jones, 21. He said that ever since he and others
on the block heard of Hupp's involvement in the Faria case, they had concerns
about her.
Nikki Melvin, 39, said, "It's craziness, absolute craziness." Another neighbor,
Nick Lloyd, 37, said the situation over the past week had been "kind of
freaky."
Hupp's mother's death
On Oct. 31, 2013, Hupp's mother, Shirley Neumann, 77, was found dead under the
balcony of her 3rd-floor apartment at the Lakeview Park Independent Senior
Living community, at 1393 Bowles Avenue, near Fenton. There were no witnesses
to the fall.
St. Louis County police investigated, and took a 2nd look about a month later,
after receiving an anonymous note referencing the Faria case and making other
allegations. But detectives found no indication of a crime.
Hupp had taken Neumann home about 5 p.m. the day before, after taking her to
the hospital and keeping her at Hupp's home for a night, a police report says.
Hupp told staff her mother had already eaten and would not be down for dinner,
the report says. Hupp also reportedly said Neumann would not be down for
breakfast but probably would eat lunch.
A housekeeper checked on Neumann about 2:30 p.m., after she didn't arrive for
lunch, and found the apartment door open, the water running and the patio door
open. The top railing on the balcony was intact, but there was damage to
vertical bars under it. Neumann's body was on the ground.
The housekeeper said Neumann sometimes was unsteady on her feet if she took a
pill for back pain.
Hupp's brother, Michael Neumann, told police he did not have any concerns about
foul play in his mother's death, the report says.
Asked about the deaths of Neumann and Betsy Faria, Lohmar said Tuesday, "I
can't speak to the evidence in other cases."
(source: stltoday.com)
KANSAS:
Kansas' Judges Should Be Recalled Before They Do Any Further Harm
Kansas Supreme Court Justices Lawton Nuss, Marla Luckert, Carol Beier, and Dan
Biles have failed to serve the people of Kansas and should be removed before
they do any further harm. Not only have they consistently imposed their will in
place of the law, they have also inflicted unnecessary suffering on Kansas
families.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the last seven attempts by these justices to
reverse the convictions of murderers and predators. If the 9 robed jurists in
Washington consistently overrule Kansas's highest court, it's not only
embarrassing to the state - it's evidence that these justices are making up the
law.
Not only did these justices impose their views; they did so at the expense of
the victims' families. For example, in the case of Kansas v. Marsh, the Kansas
Supreme Court tried to invalidate the law imposing the death penalty on the
defendant after he broke into a house, waited for the victim and her
19-month-old child to return, slashed her throat, set the house on fire, and
left the child to burn to death. In Kansas v. Ventris, the Kansas Supreme Court
tried to undo a murder conviction for 2 defendants who robbed and murdered a
man in his home to make off with $300 in cash.
Yet, the most egregious example by far is the Carr case. When the Carr brothers
robbed, kidnapped, raped, and tortured 7 innocent people, killing 5 of them, a
jury of their peers found them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and sentenced
them to death under Kansas law. 11 years later, these 4 justices voted to
overturn the Carrs' sentences and force the state to put them on trial all over
again. That vote would also force the families of the victims who were tortured
to death to relive this horror, hear the evidence again, and feel the media
spotlight. This alone should be enough to justify voting Nuss, Luckert, Beier,
and Biles out.
Fortunately for the victims in these cases, the U.S. Supreme Court found the
Kansas Supreme Court had misapplied the Constitution. But each of these cases
is emblematic of a broader pattern of lawlessness that merits voting against
retaining these justices.
As the late Justice Antonin Scalia wrote just weeks before his untimely death,
"Kansans ... do not think the death penalty is unconstitutional and indeed very
much favor it, which might suggest that a retention election that goes before
such people would not come out favorably for those justices who create Kansas
law."
This week, according to the complaint filed against Justice Carol Beier by the
Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, Beier undermined the integrity
of the Court even further: her husband hosted a Democrat political fundraiser
for then-gubernatorial-candidate Paul Davis at her home in 2014. Although her
husband was the purported host for the event and Beier was out of the house at
the time, the Kansas Commission of Judicial Qualifications has already held
that these factors don't make a difference.
In 1990, the Commission held a judge's spouse may not hold a meet-and-greet at
their jointly owned home. Letting a gubernatorial candidate solicit political
donations in a Supreme Court justice's house isn't just foolish; it doesn't
just look bad. It should make Kansans who might appear in court wonder if the
whole system is rigged in favor of the political party allowed into Beier's
home. Regardless of whether the Commission imposes sanctions, the voters should
preserve the integrity of the office by voting her out.
The most frequent objection to voting out judges relies on the idea that courts
should not be subject to politics. And that is indeed true - America's legal
system rests on the separation of powers, where an independent judiciary
upholds the law as a cooling check on political passions. But that principle
rests on another, more foundational one: that because all human beings are
created equal, just governments must rest on the consent of the governed.
When 4 justices like Nuss, Luckert, Beier, and Biles thwart the application of
criminal law by rewriting the laws the people's representatives passed, they
undermine the sovereignty of "we, the people" and replace it with "we, the
enlightened judges." Removing them from office does not politicize the courts -
the justices' choice to impose their politics already did that. Voting them out
is the only way to restore impartiality and the rule of law.
On November 8, Kansans should remember the victims the Kansas Supreme Court did
not, remember the laws the Kansas Supreme Court did not follow, and remember
the names of Nuss, Luckert, Beier, and Biles when they vote corruption out and
the law back in.
(source: Opinion, T. Elliot Gaiser; pjmedia.com)
NEBRASKA:
The death penalty and our priorities
A recent analysis conducted by esteemed Nebraska economist Dr. Ernie Goss has
put the annual price of Nebraska's death penalty at $14.6 million. According to
Dr. Goss' research the death penalty is far more expensive than life without
parole because of court-mandated requirements that are unique to capital cases.
These costs are racked up from death specific processes such as 3 separate
trials to determine death (vs. just 1 for life cases), over 40 appeals that are
only available in death cases, a wait on death row that averages decades, and
expensive attempts to procure lethal injection drugs. Nebraska's last execution
was in 1997.
Many know I have long been opposed to the death penalty. As a Catholic, I take
seriously my church's command that we shouldn't take life unless absolutely
necessary. Our modern penal system allows us to protect society from our worst
offenders without resorting to taking life. I believe my pro-life ideals are
best advanced when we show respect for all life - womb to tomb. Respecting life
is my top priority, and I don't think the cost of the death penalty is the only
factor voters should consider when we go to the polls in November.
While not the only factor, I don't think we can afford to ignore the cost of
Nebraska's death penalty. Informed voters should understand the cost of
maintaining a death penalty and can then judge how that cost aligns with their
priorities.
Every budget - in the statehouse or those we make with our families -
prioritizes how we spend our resources, because resources are finite. When we
invest in on thing, those are funds that aren't available elsewhere, so our tax
dollars must be carefully shepherded. Knowing the actual price tag of
Nebraska's death penalty, we can decide if keeping the death penalty is worth
the price. I suspect the majority of Nebraskans would not rank a
non-functioning death penalty system as a high priority for $14.6 million every
year.
When I served in the Unicameral I led the Transportation and
Telecommunication's committee; I know all-too well that infrastructure around
our state is crumbling. In many instances literally. An additional $14.6
million annually could do a lot for our roads and bridges. We probably all know
a teacher who could use extra resources in their classroom or a taxpayer who'd
be happy to simply not hand over the money to the state in the first place.
It's up to each of us to decide where our priorities lies.
Dr. Goss, the economist who unearthed Nebraska's death penalty price tag, is a
known fiscal conservative and longtime contributor to Gov. Ricketts'
conservative think tank, the Platte Institute. Before his study, he supported
the death penalty. But to him, economics are an important priority, so he now
says he'll likely vote to retain the Unicameral decision to replace the death
penalty with life without parole.
I respect very much that Dr. Goss kept an open mind to examine the data and see
how it matched his priorities. I hope all Nebraskans will follow his lead to
carefully learn about the costs of the death penalty and factor that into their
decision-making. You can read Dr. Goss' full study, and a shorter executive
summary, online at www.retainajustnebraska.com.
If you then conclude a $14.6 million annual price tag is more than you want to
spend to have a death penalty we never carry out, I hope you'll join me in
voting to keep the death penalty in Nebraska's past.
(source: Opinion; Annette Dubas of Fullerton is a former state senator from
District 34----The Grand Island Independent)
NEW MEXICO:
Utah's former Catholic bishop takes aim at death penalty - again
In an effort led by former Utah Bishop John C. Wester, Catholic clergy in New
Mexico sent out a stern letter this week, unanimously opposing the governor's
push to reinstate the death penalty.
7 years ago, the state ended capital punishment, the bishops wrote in a public
statement, "moving New Mexico from a culture of violence to a culture of peace,
justice and love."
Now Gov. Susana Martinez is pushing for legislation to bring it back.
"We, the Catholic bishops of New Mexico, in one voice, once again echo the
teaching of the church that life is sacred," says the statement signed by 5
bishops, including Wester, now the archbishop of Santa Fe. "We join Pope
Francis in his continued call to end the practice of the death penalty."
When Wester led the Diocese of Salt Lake City and Utah's more than 300,000
Catholics, he also spoke out against capital punishment.
The death penalty "diminishes us and erodes our respect for the sanctity of all
human life," Wester said in 2010. "Executing criminals will not overcome crime
nor will it restore the lives of the innocent victims."
In March 2015, Wester penned a statement against Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signing
a bill that made it legal for convicted murderers to be executed by a firing
squad.
"It seems as if our government leaders have substituted state legislation for
the law of God," he wrote. "They argue that, because executions are lawful,
they are then moral. This is not so. No human law can trump God's law. Taking a
human life is wrong; a slap in the face of hope and a blasphemous attempt to
assume divine attributes that we humble human beings do not have."
Clearly, Wester has taken this fight with him to his new state.
(source: Salt Lake Tribune)
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