Sept. 5
TEXAS:
Death penalty system is archaic
Recently the Texas legal system issued 3 stays and stopped the executions of
Robert Pruett, Jeffrey Wood and Rolando Ruiz Jr., who were scheduled to be
executed inAugust.
Our legal system is trying to tell our politicans that they should wake up and
take a hard look at our archaic death penalty system and fix the problem, i.e.,
abolish the death penalty and convert to life without parole.
Bill Richardson, then governor of New Mexico, signed a bill to abolish the
death penalty in 2009 and was asked why. He replied that the death penalty
system is very expensive and it does not work.
Ron Stone, McKinney
(source: Letter to the Editor, Dallas Morning News)
LOUISIANA:
Caddo DA taking office in new direction following death penalty firestorm
10 months ago, the new district attorney, James Stewart stepped into an office
with a national reputation as blood thirsty.
From 2010 to 2014, Caddo Parish put more people on death row than any other
parish or county in the nation.
That was under his predecessors, Charles Scott, and then Dale Cox -- who took
over when Scott died in 2015.
And just last summer, the Caddo Parish district attorney's office was burning
in the national spotlight over how often it seeks the death penalty.
Cox stirred up a firestorm when he said to the New York Times, "We should kill
more people." He transformed from an opponent of capital punishment, to one of
the country's bluntest advocates for it.
"You have to understand he was not elected, he was selected," said Stewart.
"And I think we have a different approach as to how we look at first-degree
murder cases."
But Stewart says he's taking the parish into a new direction. He's decided not
to seek the death penalty in most of the cases he inherited.
He reviewed every capital case pending before his office.
"I brought in a group of people who I thought were very objective. We operate
under justice, and mercy with humility."
He's decided to move forward with just one: Grover Cannon, for murdering
Shreveport police officer Thomas LaValley.
"We believe there's a great chance that a jury would give the defendant the
death penalty, so we're going to seek the death penalty in that case," said
Stewart.
The death penalty was dropped in 6 others.
Cox says his exposure to so many heinous crimes, changed his views on capital
punishment. Stewart says it has its place, but he takes a much more measured
approach.
He points to decades of appeals, the growing trend against capital punishment
and the fact executions are on hold for at least 2 years because drugs aren't
available for lethal injections.
"The death penalty is a very expensive process in terms of money, time and
resources so we only want to use that for the worst cases," he said.
But what happened to the others?
We'll start with Stacey Blount, charged in the random kidnapping, robbery and
brutal murder of Rose Coleman.
Stewart says his predecessors put that case on hold.
"That case was from 2012. It sat there for a reason, I can't tell you why," he
said.
In April, Blount pleaded guilty and will serve life in prison without parole.
"We met with the family," said Stewart. "There were some members of the family
who didn't necessarily agree with it, but they understood the reasons why we
went forward and took the plea."
Louisiana hasn't executed a woman in more than 60 years. Stewart said he saw no
reason Blount would be an exception.
"We felt a certain closure to the case was better," he said.
The next 3 cases are killings of small children and babies -- many spur of the
moment crimes.
Kenneth Willis was accused of killing his baby son in 2007. His charge was
reduced to 2nd-degree murder.
Tarika Wilson beat a 3-year old with an extension cord. She plead guilty in
April and was sentenced to life without parole.
Gerderrick Davis is accused of beating his girlfriend's baby to death because
he wouldn't stop crying. His charge was reduced to 2nd degree murder. He's
awaiting trial.
"You may have a case particularly like shaking baby cases, which technically is
a 1st-degree murder case, but we have to look at it factually on how it
occurred," said Stewart.
Then there's the 2003 murder of Blanchard minister Julian Brandon. Robert
Coleman and his girlfriend Brandy Holmes killed him during a vicious home
invasion. His wife was also shot, but survived. She passed away 5 years after
the crime.
"That case was tried twice, in fact it was tried 3 times," said Stewart.
Coleman was convicted twice, but each death sentence was overturned on appeal.
Stewart said he expected Holmes to win a new trial, too. He let both plead to
life in prison.
"We met with the family. And the family wanted to put closure on the case," he
said.
Public criticism of Stewart has not been widespread, but he acknowledges it's
been much more difficult for the families.
In one case we had a very large family and some members understood, others had
some issues, but in the end they accepted that we had to make that decision,"
he said. "Some people want revenge, some people want retribution. What we are
trying to do is seek justice and that's what we're here for, is justice."
Dr. Phillip Rozeman's has seen the death penalty system in 2 states, Louisiana
and Texas.
"Texas has the capacity and the amount of resources that they're willing to
spend on capital punishment cases exceeds that of Louisiana," he said. "That
allows them to have no problems with getting the best attorneys to represent
people that are being accused of a capital case....I think that allows for less
appeals throughout the process. And I know that they try to afford people
speedy trial."
His uncle, Isadore, was murdered during a robbery at his Shreveport jewelry
store in 1983.
"My uncle was one of the kindest and gentlest people you'd ever meet," said Dr.
Rozeman. "Someone held a gun to him and killed him at point blank range."
The case garnered national attention when Dale Cox released Glenn Ford, who
spent 3 decades on death row for the crime. Evidence indicated he wasn't the
actual killer.
2 brothers were later indicted, but Stewart's office dropped charges, saying
the evidence was weak.
Dr. Rozeman won't criticize prosecutor's decision to drop the latest charges,
although he maintains Ford was involved in killing his uncle.
He says his family has found healing over the years, thanks to the community
and their faith.
"We found lots of angels that helped our family," he said. "We feel close as a
family and feel that people are doing their best, that district attorneys are
working to do the right thing, that the court system is doing the right thing,
and that the law enforcement is protecting us. And that really is of solace
when you see some of this violence and evil."
In 2011, tragedy struck the family again when Dr. Rozeman's son-in-law, Rev.
Clint Dobson, was murdered at his Arlington, Texas church.
1 of the suspects, Steven Nelson, was put on death row in Texas.
Dr. Rozeman knows the death penalty can be a tough conversation for families.
"If someone does something as evil and egregious as that, they certainly should
be considered for the strictest punishment that the state has," he said. So,
whether it is capital punishment or life in prison without parole, it doesn't
matter. But what really matters is that you get a sense.... of closure when
someone does that to someone that you love."
The last time someone was executed in Louisiana was 2010. For a Caddo Parish
case: 1988.
"We have a lot of cases on appeal that we are defending, who were given the
death penalty. It takes a lot of resources," said Stewart. "Until the
legislature and the governor can come up with a way to actually execute people
that meets the constitutional standard, we're kind of at a standstill."
10 death penalty cases are still on appeal in Caddo Parish.
We also asked Stewart about the support his campaign got from George Soros, a
liberal philanthropist from New York. Stewart says he never received pressure
to back off on the death penalty.
(source: KTBS news)
_______________________________________________
A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
