Oct. 25
PENNSYLVANIA:
Judge to hear arguments in convicted murderer's appeal
A Washington County judge will decide whether blacks were excluded from the
jury pool before the 2015 death-penalty trial of Jordan Clemons in the killing
of his ex-girlfriend.
That Clemons, 27, "was entitled to a jury of his peers and the jury was
comprised of all Caucasian individuals and (Clemons) is African-American" was
one of the assertions lodged by Deputy Public Defender Charles Carpinelli in a
motion asking Judge Gary Gilman to vacate Clemons' sentence and acquit him on
the charges.
Gilman issued an order last week scheduling a hearing on that question for Dec.
16.
Authorities said Clemons slit 21-year-old Karissa Kunco's throat and dumped her
naked body in a wooded area in Mt. Pleasant Township in January 2012.
Clemons, formerly of Canonsburg and living in Pittsburgh's Mt. Washington
neighborhood at the time, was found guilty of 1st-degree murder and sentenced
to death in May 2015. He is now imprisoned at the State Correctional
Institution-Greene.
Along with pushing for an acquittal, Carpinelli alternatively asks Gilman to
vacate Clemons' sentence and order a new trial.
In arguing for the acquittal, Carpinelli also wrote the prosecution didn't
provide sufficient evidence to show Clemons had fully formed intent to kill and
"had willfully, deliberately and premeditatedly killed, with malice" -
necessary for the 1st-degree murder conviction. In a subsequent filing,
Carpinelli wrote that there was "enough evidence to reasonably support that the
defendant was under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol and had done so in a
state of diminished capacity," including from state troopers who said he
smelled of alcohol when he turned himself in.
Carpinelli argued the judge should have instructed jurors about the diminished
capacity defense, which could have resulted in a lesser conviction for
3rd-degree murder.
Deputy District Attorney Jerry Moschetta countered in court papers that there
was sufficient evidence for a conviction on the charge.
"Aside from the nature and severity of the 4 separate wounds to Ms. Kunco's
neck, there was additional evidence presented from which the jury based its
verdict that the defendant killed Ms. Kunco willfully, deliberately and with
premediation."
Among other details, Moschetta noted a protection-from-abuse order the Baldwin
woman sought against Clemons 23 days before the homicide after he physically
attacked her. Despite the order, Facebook messages showed Clemons "coercing Ms.
Kunco into meeting him by threatening suicide."
He also disputed Carpinelli's claim that there was sufficient evidence for a
diminished capacity defense, noting state troopers who spoke to Clemons 12
hours after the discovery of Kunco's body said he smelled like alcohol but
appeared in control of his faculties.
Among the arguments Carpinelli offered in requesting a new trial was that the
court should have allowed Clemons to be tried in a different county because of
local publicity for the case. He also asked the court to reconsider Clemons'
sentence, arguing the jury shouldn't have imposed the death penalty.
(source: Observer-Reporter)
FLORIDA:
Another setback for Florida's death penalty
It's another setback for Florida's death penalty.
In a new ruling the State Supreme Court just gave a death row inmate a 2nd
chance at life.
Attorney Anthony Rickman, who reviewed the opinion for Fox 13, says the 8th
Amendment protects the mentally disabled from being executed. "He gets a 2nd
chance to prove to the court that he's intellectually disabled, " said Rickman.
Inmate Frank Walls, convicted of 2 murders in 1987 in Okaloosa County,
challenged his death sentence because he says he's intellectually disabled and
ineligible for the death penalty.
The justices agreed.
So, now Walls gets a hearing to determine his mental capacity." This ruling
does not absolve him from death what it does it give him a chance to present
that mitigation," explained Rickman.
Florida's death penalty has been under assault since January.
That's when the U.S. Supreme Court determined Florida's death penalty
sentencing procedures were unconstitutional, ruling a jury not a judge should
have the ultimate say on life or death.
Months later, the high court piled on when they rejected Florida's rigid "IQ"
testing to determine whether defendants should be protected from the death
chamber when they're mentally handicapped.
If your IQ was 70 or higher, you could be executed, but not anymore.
The high court said other factors must be looked at. "His background, his
history, his childhood, his upbringing other factors as opposed to just looking
at his IQ alone, " said Rickman.
This ruling now opens the flood gates to other inmates hoping to dodge death.
(source: Fox News)
**************************
Metro PCS murder suspect's hearing postponed due to Florida death penalty limbo
A Duval County judge allowed a status hearing to be continued in James Rhodes
murder case.
Rhodes has been charged with killing 20-year-old Shelby Farah in 2013 while she
worked at a Metro PCS store. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty and say
surveillance video shows Rhodes shooting Farah after she turned over the money
he demanded at gunpoint.
An Oct. 14 ruling by the Florida Supreme Court in another case has defense
attorneys and prosecutors wanting to wait for more clarification from the
court.
In State v. Hurst, the Florida Supreme Court decided juries must unanimously
agree on the death penalty, otherwise the sentence is unconstitutional.
Farah's mother, Darlene Farah, attended Rhodes' status hearing on Monday and
again spoke out against the death penalty in the case of her daughter's accused
killer.
"There's another option. We see everything that's going on with the death
penalty, eventually they're probably going to abolish the death penalty," said
Farah after the court proceeding. "Just take [Rhodes'] offer, give him 2 life
sentences plus 20 years, I'm good with that."
Farah said a proposed lengthy death penalty trial would take too much of a toll
on her family.
"We feel like no one's listening to us, when we're the ones having to go
through this," she said. "All it's doing is causing more harm."
The Florida Supreme Court has not yet clarified whether their death penalty
ruling should be retroactive. In March, the Florida legislature passed a
statute requiring at least a 10-2 vote for a death sentence, however last
Friday's ruling calls the statute unconstitutional.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, as of October 24, 386
Florida inmates are on death row - 72 are Duval county cases. The majority were
put there by jury votes less than unanimous, meaning the Hurst ruling could
affect past or pending death penalty cases.
Donald Smith, accused of raping and murdering 8 year old Cherish Perrywinkle in
2013, has had several trial delays due to the death penalty law changes.
The most recent Duval County murder convict to get the death penalty was
Randall Deviney in October 2015 by a jury vote of 8 to 4. Deviney sliced his
victim's throat, 65-year old Delores Futrell, in 2008.
Rhodes next hearing date is set for January 24.
(source: firstcoastnews.com)
MISSOURI:
Missouri Says Reporter Doesn't Have Right to See Executions
A reporter suing over Missouri's refusal to allow him to witness an execution
isn't constitutionally guaranteed a right to see someone put to death, the
state argued in asking a federal judge to throw out the case.
The state, in a court filing last week, also said that it has legal immunity
from lawsuits such as Buzzfeed News reporter Christopher McDaniel's case filed
in August against George Lombardi, overseer of Missouri's prison system.
McDaniel countered that someone volunteers to witness an execution, and courts
have acknowledged it's unconstitutional to deprive someone from volunteering,
saying they're exercising their free-speech rights.
McDaniel, a former St. Louis public radio reporter whose stories have been
critical of Missouri's death penalty procedures, applied in January 2014 to be
a witness "to ensure that executions are carried out in a constitutional
manner." But McDaniel never got a response, and 17 executions have been carried
out since by the state, where 26 inmates are on death row. The next scheduled
execution is Jan. 31.
The state, in response to McDaniel's lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties
Union, said that "McDaniel is asking this court to go where no court has gone
before: declare that watching an execution is a 'benefit' from the government."
There's no authority for that "or that McDaniel has a property interest or a
liberty interest in watching Missouri carry out an execution," the dismissal
motion read.
"McDaniel has failed to demonstrate that he has a legally-protected interest in
witnessing an execution," the state argued.
McDaniel's lawsuit alleges Lombardi has "unfettered discretion" in deciding who
may be among the at least "8 reputable citizens" to witness an execution.
McDaniel casts as discriminatory the prison system's application he said
requires would-be witnesses to explain their reason for wanting to see the
execution and report any affiliation with a group for or against capital
punishment. McDaniel's stories since December 2013 have called into question
such matters as how the state obtains its execution drugs and the method of
giving condemned inmates pre-execution sedatives.
"This volunteer opportunity is closely related to McDaniel's profession of
reporting on the death penalty, and courts have long recognized the importance
of public access to, and understanding of, executions," McDaniel's filing
Friday asserted.
The lawsuit asks a judge to block anyone other than Missouri's attorney general
from serving as an execution witness until McDaniel's claims are decided.
No hearing has been scheduled.
(source: Associated Press)
OKLAHOMA:
SQ776 puts death penalty in constitution
The botched execution of Clayton Lockett in April 2014 sent shock waves
throughout death penalty states and forced the state of Oklahoma to halt all
executions.
"It was a terrible thing that happened and they needed to fix that," said
former state Rep. Dennis Johnson (R-Duncan).
Johnson said pharmaceutical companies have been withholding drugs previously
used for executions and medical licensing boards have been forbidding doctors
to take part in executions. For that reason, he said, the state needs the
ability to react quickly to change the method of execution. State Question 776
does that.
"It would put it into the state Constitution that the death penalty is
constitutional under Oklahoma law," Johnson said, "and give the Legislature the
authority to establish the means of execution."
Johnson said the need for 776 arises due to the changing nature of methods of
execution.
(source: swoknews.com)
NEVADA:
Man won't get to cover neo-Nazi tattoos during murder trial ---- A Las Vegas
man who was allowed to use makeup to cover his neo-Nazi tattoos during his
trial and conviction in a robbery case in August will not get to hide them
during an upcoming death penalty trial
A Las Vegas man who was allowed to use makeup to cover his neo-Nazi tattoos
during his robbery trial and conviction in in August will not get to hide them
during his upcoming murder trial punishable by the death penalty, a judge has
ruled.
Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt last week denied a defense
lawyer's request to order makeup for Bayzle Dylan Morgan, saying she believes
fair and impartial jurors can be found who will disregard Morgan's tattoos even
if they don't like them, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported
(http://bit.ly/2eqk2lq ).
Morgan has a swastika within a clover permanently etched under his left eye,
the words "Most Wanted" on his forehead, "Baby Nazi" on his neck and white
supremacist tattoos instead of eyebrows.
He gained media attention when a different judge ordered the tattoos covered
with makeup during a trial at which Morgan was found guilty of threatening a
man and stealing his motorcycle.
Morgan is charged in the murder case with breaking Jean Main's home in
northwest Las Vegas, hitting the 75-year-old woman with a pistol so hard that
the trigger guard broke into pieces and shooting her in the back of the head.
Main was found dead in a 1st-floor bathroom.
The judge has postponed Morgan's trial until at least next month.
Morgan, 25, is in prison awaiting sentencing in the case involving the
motorcycle. That conviction can be cited to a jury that would consider the
death penalty if Morgan is convicted of killing Main.
Defense attorney Dayvid Figler said Morgan got the tattoos in prison after he
was sentenced in 2010, at age 18, to up to 4 years for possession of a stolen
vehicle.
Jurors are by law supposed to consider only the facts of a case, not a
defendant's appearance.
The jurors who decided Morgan's guilt in the robbery trial without seeing his
tattoos told the Review-Journal that they did not feel deceived that his tatoos
were covered up.
Prosecutors say Main's slaying happened days after the robbery, and Chief
Deputy District Attorney Giancarlo Pesci said none of the evidence in the
murder case relates to Morgan's tattoos.
A 49-year-old getaway driver, Keith Smith, was sentenced this month to 4 to 10
years in prison on burglary charges.
Prosecutors said left when he heard gunshots but returned and saw Morgan with a
suitcase of items taken from the Main's house.
(source: Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA:
Former Death Row Inmate Gary Tyler Backing California Anti-Death Penalty
Measure
Gary Tyler has a new lease on life after serving 41 years in Louisiana State
Penitentiary, including two years on death row, for a crime he did not commit.
In his "Live at Truthdig" interview on Oct. 13, Tyler described how he is
navigating adulthood after a lifetime in the prison system with the help of a
support network that spans the United States. Tyler explained to Truthdig
Publisher Zuade Kaufman, Editor in Chief Robert Scheer and Deputy Editor Kasia
Anderson why he is advocating to abolish the death penalty during this election
cycle.
"I realized that even though I escaped the death penalty, even after having a
date [for execution], that it left a profound impact on me," Tyler told the
Truthdig team. "I always told myself that if [I was] ever been put in a
position where I can advocate against the death penalty, then I would do it.
And when I heard about Proposition 62, I felt that that was my calling."
He talked about how becoming acquainted with other death row prisoners changed
Tyler's life. Even after being taken off death row, he continued to visit the
prisoners there:
I have gotten to know those individuals ... that they were putting on death row
because, mind you, even after I was removed off death row, I was not removed
from the facility itself. They kept me in the same building, in which case I
was in CCR [closed cell restricted, or solitary confinement], so I came in
contact with the death row prisoners, and I've gotten to know many of them who
became friends, especially the ones who [were] raised hearing about my case.
Robert Williams is one of them, in particular, and he was the 1st execution in
the state of Louisiana after 22 years. I'll never forget that face when I
encountered him. ... You could see a dead man - a man who was resigned to the
fact that he was going to die.
(source: truthdig.com)
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