Oct. 8
TEXAS:
Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----20
Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----538
Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #
21---------December 7---------------John Battaglia--------539
22---------January 11---------------Christopher Wilkins----540
23--------January 25-------------Kosoul Chanthakoummane----541
24---------January 26---------------Terry Edwards---------542
25---------February 7---------------Tilon Carter----------543
26---------April 12-----------------Paul Storey-----------544
(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)
KENTUCKY:
More DNA tests requested in Timothy Madden case
Timothy Madden's defense attorney has requested forensic testing on additional
items. The court document lists 5 DNA tests.
The Commonwealth's reply to this request is due on October 21, 2016.
Madden is accused of raping and killing 7-year-old Gabbi Doolin on the campus
of Allen County-Scottsville High School on November 14, 2015. He is facing the
death penalty.
Madden will be back in court on November 9, 2016 at 1:30 pm.
(source: WBKO news)
OHIO:
Ohio adds details on new 3-drug combination for executions
Ohio has laid out the dosages it would use in a new 3-drug combination to be
administered when the state resumes executions in January.
Rules for the procedure were filed Friday in federal court, formalizing changes
announced Monday.
Since early 2014, Ohio has been under an unofficial execution moratorium blamed
on shortages of lethal drugs.
The updated execution policy calls for using 500 milligrams of midazolam, which
puts the inmate to sleep; 1,000 milligrams of rocuronium bromide, which
paralyzes the inmate; and 240 milliequivalents of potassium chloride, which
stops the heart.
Another 500 milligrams of midazolam would be kept in reserve and administered
if the 1st dose is insufficient. Additional doses could be added to assure the
inmate is unconscious before the second and third drugs are administered.
(source: Daily Journal)
ARKANSAS:
State justices won't tip hand on death stay ---- Inmates' lawyer asks U.S. for
more time to file appeal
Arkansas' highest court is not saying if it will accept a hypothetical U.S.
Supreme Court decision that eight death row inmates need more time to mount an
appeal of the state's execution law.
The prisoners -- who have had their executions stayed as they mount their case
-- sought a clarification from the Arkansas Supreme Court if that stay would
continue should a U.S. justice extend their filing deadline. The Arkansas court
on Thursday declined to offer its opinion.
After the state court's ruling, Jeff Rosenzweig, the head lawyer for the 8
prisoners, said he would file an appeal on time.
The law on the 3-drug method of lethal injection used in Arkansas was upheld in
June by the Arkansas Supreme Court, which also ordered the executions of
inmates be placed on a 90-day hold, the time in which a normal appeal to the
U.S. high court must be filed. The stay could be extended, the Arkansas court
said, "for good cause."
The original deadline to file their case with the U.S. Supreme Court is Oct.
19, though Rosenzweig has sought a 30-day extension with Justice Samuel Alito,
who oversees such requests within the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which
includes Arkansas.
Alito has not said if he will allow an extension. In his motion filed Sept. 23,
Rosenzweig asked if the Arkansas justices would view a possible extension from
Alito as "good cause," or if they would leave that determination to themselves.
If the petition is filed and the U.S. Supreme Court decides to take the case,
the stay on the inmates' executions will remain until the justices decide the
case.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge's office has filed responses with
Alito and the Arkansas Supreme Court arguing that further delaying the inmates'
appeal would unfairly limit the state's ability to execute them because one of
the drugs used in executions expires Jan. 1.
Rutledge asked the Arkansas Supreme Court not to address Rosenzweig's request
for clarification. She also asked Alito not to allow an extension.
Thursday, the Arkansas court denied Rosenzweig's motion for clarification as
premature, and did not give a written opinion explaining its decision. Justice
Paul Danielson was the only member of the court to dissent, though he did not
say if he would allow an extension or not.
Rosenzweig, a Little Rock attorney who often works on death-penalty cases,
wrote in his request to the Arkansas court that he is also preparing for an
unrelated murder trial in November and that other lawyers working with him are
busy with cases of their own.
In order to ease their burden, Rosenzweig said a Washington, D.C., law firm,
Venable LLP, has agreed to provide free assistance with the inmates' appeal to
the U.S. Supreme Court.
"We're going to file [the petition] timely, the question is how much time do we
have," Rosenzweig said in an interview.
The 8 inmates who were scheduled for execution are Don Davis, Stacey Johnson,
Jack Jones Jr., Jason McGehee, Terrick Nooner, Bruce Earl Ward, Kenneth
Williams and Marcel Williams.
Their deaths have been on hold since they filed a lawsuit last year challenging
a 2015 change to the state's execution law that made the manufacturers of the
3-drug cocktail exempt from public disclosure.
A 9th death-row inmate, Ledell Lee, has joined the case but has not had his
execution scheduled.
The state's supply of vecuronium bromide, an anesthetic, expired at the end of
June, but the Department of Correction was able to obtain a new supply.
Arkansas' supply of potassium chloride, another drug used in executions, is set
to expire Jan. 1.
"[The] prisoners concede that they do not need additional time to complete
their petition for certiorari and any extension would be little more than a
thinly veiled attempt to extend the stay until after 1 of the drugs used in the
State of Arkansas's lawful execution protocol expires," Deputy Arkansas
Solicitor General Nicholas Bronni wrote last month in a response filed with the
state Supreme Court.
Bronni's response also accuses Rosenzweig and the prisoners of waiting 2 months
before hiring Venable to assist in the case.
An international firm with 600 lawyers and offices in 9 U.S. cities, Venable
also employs former U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas. Pryor said in an email to
a reporter this week he is not involved in the case.
(source: arkansasonline.com)
NEVADA:
Nevada receives no bids from companies to supply lethal-injection drugs
Nevada prison officials said Friday the state will have to explore its options
to carry out executions after it received no bids from pharmaceutical companies
to supply drugs for lethal injections.
The state issued 247 requests for proposals on Sept. 2 after its stockpile of
at least 1 drug used in executions had expired. Not one response was received.
"We are confident the Purchasing Division solicited thoroughly for vendors,"
James Dzurenda, director of the Nevada Department of Corrections, said in a
statement.
"Now we will work closely with the attorney general, the governor and the
Legislature to examine our options and decide the best course of action moving
forward."
Dzurenda in August told the state Board of Prison Commissioners chaired by Gov.
Brian Sandoval that 1 of 2 drugs needed to execute a condemned inmate by lethal
injection has expired and the drug company Pfizer refused to provide more
supplies.
Nevada has used the drugs midazolam and hydromorphone to administer a lethal
injection. Both are manufactured by Pfizer.
"Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we
serve," the company said in a statement issued earlier this year. "Consistent
with these values, Pfizer strongly objects to the use of its products as lethal
injections for capital punishment."
The Nevada Legislature in the 2015 session approved spending $858,000 to build
a new execution chamber at Ely State Prison, to replace the chamber in the
now-closed Nevada State Prison in Carson City.
Officials have said that project is scheduled to be completed by Nov. 1 and the
space will be used for storage and as an attorney-inmate meeting area if no
executions are scheduled to go forward.
There are 81 inmates on Nevada's death row. No executions are on the immediate
horizon. Without the supply of drugs, they could not be carried out even if one
is ordered.
Under state law, Nevada is required to use lethal injection for executions.
Changing the method Nevada uses to carry out executions would require approval
by the state Legislature.
It's unknown what "options" Nevada officials might consider if drugs cannot be
found.
Nevada is not alone in its inability to acquire drugs used to kill condemned
inmates. In a recent article, Jennifer Horne with the Council of State
Governments said dozens of states face the same dilemma. Some states are
changing their protocols to use different drugs and some are trying to obtain
drugs from foreign suppliers.
"Many states will have to change their method of execution, which means
regulatory changes that have to be approved and lengthy court challenges,"
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center,
told Horne. "In many states, this could take months, if not years, delaying
executions."
The last execution occurred at the Nevada State Prison on April 26, 2006, when
Daryl Mack was put to death. Mack was executed for the rape and murder of a
Reno woman, Betty Jane May, in 1988.
(source: Las Vegas Review-Journal)
CALIFORNIA:
Parolee Face Possible Death Penalty in Execution-Style Slaying of Officer ----
2 days after a man allegedly murdered an officer, attempted to kill another,
and took kids hostage, he was charged with capital murder.
A parolee accused of shooting a Lancaster sheriff's sergeant who was responding
to a burglary call and then firing four additional shots into the veteran
lawman once he was down was charged today with capital murder.
Trenton Trevon Lovell, 27, of Lancaster, appeared in court in connection with
Wednesday's execution-style killing of Sgt. Steve Owen, but his arraignment was
postponed until Nov. 14.
The murder charge includes the special circumstance allegations of murder of a
peace officer in the performance of his duties and murder for the purpose of
avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest.
Prosecutors will determine later whether to seek the death penalty against
Lovell, who is being held without bail.
Lovell is also charged with 1 count each of attempted murder involving another
sheriff's deputy and possession of a firearm by a felon, along with 2 counts
each of 1st-degree residential robbery and false imprisonment by violence --
the latter charge includes a knife use allegation.
The attempted murder charge includes an allegation that he used a patrol car as
a deadly and dangerous weapon against a second sheriff's employee who arrived
at the scene.
The criminal complaint also alleges that Lovell was on parole at the time of
the crime and that he had been convicted of robbery as a juvenile in 2006 and
again as an adult in 2009, according to Deputy District Attorney Michael Blake.
Owen, 53, was shot to death as he responded to a young mother's 911 call
reporting a burglary at her apartment building in the 3200 block of West Avenue
J-7.
Sheriff Jim McDonnell alleged Thursday that Lovell -- whose name the sheriff
refused to utter -- shot Owen behind a residence after being confronted by the
sergeant, who radioed that he had the suspect at gunpoint before he was shot.
"Sergeant Owen approached the suspect in response to a burglary call,"
McDonnell said. "The suspect immediately shot Sergeant Owen. He then stood over
and executed Sergeant Owen by firing four additional rounds into his body. He
then unsuccessfully searched the body for the sergeant's weapon with the intent
to use it to murder the 1st responding deputy."
The 1st responding deputy fired numerous times at Lovell, who had pointed his
weapon at him, striking the suspect once in the shoulder, the sheriff said.
Lovell allegedly jumped into the sergeant's patrol vehicle while a second
deputy arrived at the scene, then rammed the deputy's vehicle with Owen's
patrol car.
"Not only did the suspect want to kill our deputies, he held 2 teenagers
hostage in a neighboring house until they were rescued by the heroic efforts of
our Special Enforcement Bureau and our Lancaster Station personnel," McDonnell
said.
The 2 teens were held at knifepoint, according to prosecutors.
The gunman continued to try to escape and attempted to climb over a wall, but
he was confronted by deputies and taken into custody, according to Deputy
Juanita Navarro-Suarez, who added that a firearm was recovered at the scene.
Owen's wife, who is a sheriff's Arson-Explosives detective, made it to the
hospital before her husband died, according to sheriff's Executive Officer Neal
Tyler. One of Owen's adult sons and his stepdaughter, as well his mother, also
were at his bedside, Tyler said.
Owens was a 29-year department veteran who had worked in the Antelope Valley
for years and was known for his community involvement, especially with area
youths. He was promoted to sergeant 5 years ago.
Owen received a Meritorious Conduct Medal in 2014, along with five of his
Lancaster Station colleagues, for their roles in a pursuit and carjacking that
ended with the capture of the armed suspect and the motorist's rescue.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris announced today that he will ask the city council
to rename Lancaster Community Park as Sergeant Steve Owen Community Park.
"He deserves to always be remembered by the residents of the city of Lancaster
and the Antelope Valley," the mayor said. "Renaming our community park after a
true hero is one small step in that direction. Steve was killed in the line of
duty protecting a community in which he was deeply embedded. Sergeant Steve
Owen was one of the best-known deputies throughout the entire Antelope Valley
region."
Owen's alleged killer has been arrested 11 times, first as a juvenile on
suspicion of selling marijuana, and was jailed or imprisoned twice, according
to the sheriff.
McDonnell said he believed the death penalty would be an appropriate sentence
if Lovell is convicted of murdering Owen.
The same sentence was handed down in 2007 to gang member Jose Luis Orozco, who
was convicted of murdering Deputy Jerry Ortiz on June 24, 2005, in Hawaiian
Gardens as he was investigating a shooting that had occurred four days earlier.
Jurors in that case also found true the special circumstance allegations of
murder of a peace officer, murder to avoid arrest and murder while lying in
wait. His automatic appeal is still pending.
(source: patch.com)
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