March 22
TEXAS:
Fill gaps in capital case trial lawyers
The shrinking list of lawyers qualified to handle the growing list of capital
murder defendants in Bexar County does not bode well for the criminal justice
system.
With 68 capital murder cases pending and only 11 lawyers living in the county
who meet the minimum requirement to represent indigent defendants who might end
up on death row, the likelihood is high that many of those cases will not be
resolved soon.
Most defendants charged with capital murder are at the mercy of the criminal
justice system for their legal defense. They generally lack the financial means
to hire legal counsel or post bond.
That means those accused of capital murder in Bexar County will spend a long
time in the local lockup awaiting their day in court. It also means a long wait
for resolution by the families of the victims in those cases.
Usually, 2 lawyers are assigned to each capital murder case. Texas law requires
those assigned as lead lawyers in capital murder cases to have spent 5 years
doing criminal law work; have experience challenging mental health or forensics
experts in court; and be skilled at presenting mitigating evidence to a jury.
The rules are well intentioned given the growing number of death row inmates
across the country who have been exonerated. In Texas alone, 12 people have
been released from death row since 1973.
The problems with the strict appointment guidelines is that they do not allow
the assignment of former prosecutors who may have tried capital murder cases or
former judges who may have presided over such cases.
Lawyers on the list of candidates qualified to handle capital murder cases in
Bexar County are vetted by a local selection committee, but the group of
veteran lawyers and jurists serving on it are strictly bound by the state
regulations.
Attempts by the Bexar County judiciary to broaden the rules to allow former
prosecutors and judges to qualify for the appointments have met with stiff
opposition at the state level.
The issue needs to be addressed.
Burdening a small group with the defense of the most serious of felonies is a
disservice to the lawyers and their clients.
The cases can be emotionally and physically grueling on the defense team. The
sheer number of cases each lawyer is handling makes a strong case for an appeal
based on ineffective assistance of counsel.
The shortage of lawyers to handle capital murder defense work is not unique to
Bexar County. Express-News Staff Writer Bruce Selcraig reports that other
jurisdictions are experiencing the same situation.
Establishing a public defenders office that would include lawyers who are
experienced in capital murder defense is an expensive proposition. The same can
be said for hiring defense lawyers from out of town to tackle the caseload.
The fee paid to court-appointed lawyers in capital murder cases is only $150 an
hour for actual trial work, but the costs add up quickly for taxpayers footing
the bill. If lawyers are brought in from out of town, there is the added cost
for travel, lodging and meals.
The number of death sentences in Texas has been steadily declining since life
without parole became a sentencing option. It has gone from 48 people sent to
death row in 1999 to only 4 in 2016.
Lack of eligible lawyers to handle capital murders defense work could bring
those numbers down further.
If that was the intent behind the strict rules on the criminal defense
appointments, then let's be upfront about it and start a serious discussion on
the future of the death penalty in Texas.
If not, the stressful workload piled on the few attorneys qualified to
represent capital murder defendants needs to addressed.
It is simply unacceptable that defendants without financial means have limited
access to defense lawyers in capital cases. The list of available attorneys
needs to be broadened.
(source: Editorial Board, San Antonio Express-News)
VIRGINIA----impending execution
'Innocent on Death Row' event calls on McAuliffe to issue a stay of execution
for man convicted of murder-for-hire----Ivan Teleguz execution date set for
April 25
Over 200 students gathered in Clark 107 Monday to listen to attorney Elizabeth
Peiffer make the case that Ivan Teleguz - a death row inmate convicted of
hiring a man to murder his ex-girlfriend and who is set to be executed on April
25 - is innocent.
"He was charged with hiring someone to murder the ex-girlfriend and mother of
his child, Stephanie Sipe," Peiffer, a staff attorney at the Virginia Capital
Representation Resource Center, said in an interview with The Cavalier Daily
prior to the event. "After he was convicted a lot of evidence began to emerge
that he was innocent of the murder."
The murder took place in July 2001 in Harrisonburg. Teleguz is alleged to have
hired and driven 2 men - Edwin Gilkes and Michael Hetrick - from Lancaster,
Penn. to Harrisonburg for the purpose of killing Sipe. Ultimately, Hetrick is
believed to have cut Sipe's throat.
According to Peiffer, there was no DNA or physical evidence found linking
Teleguz to the crime and 2 of the 3 men who testified against Teleguz have
since recanted their prior testimonies.
Arianna Zoghi, president of Amnesty International at U.Va. and a 2nd-year
College and Batten student, volunteers at Peiffer's law firm and explained
Amnesty International's official position on this case. Amnesty International
co-sponsored the event alongside the Roosevelt Society, the University
Democrats and the College Republicans.
"Amnesty International as an organization is super opposed to the death
penalty, and also in cases where there are questions of innocence," Zoghi said.
"Amnesty recently put out an urgent action about this specific case."
At the event, Peiffer presented the timeline and facts of the case. The
presentation was live-streamed on Facebook for members of the community who
could not attend.
A jury convicted Teleguz of capital murder-for-hire in 2006 and subsequent
appeals were denied by the U.S. Court of Appeals, as well as the U.S. Supreme
Court.
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, according to Peiffer, can examine the
evidence and stop the execution by granting clemency.
The presentation was followed by a question and answer session, with some
questions coming from the Facebook live-stream. One audience member asked if
the 3rd witness, Michael Hetrick, would change his testimony.
During her presentation, Peiffer said police had told Hetrick about the death
penalty and had promised to "save him" if he he could help them implicate
Teleguz.
"I don't know. I can certainly hope he will have the same conscience and
realize what his testimony has wrought," Peiffer said. "[The] Commonwealth made
very clear that Hetrick has the most serious thing at stake - his life. I wish
he would but I don't think we can count on it."
Another audience member asked if granting clemency to Teleguz would mean that
he would be released. Peiffer said the decision-making power lies with
McAuliffe and there is a whole range of possibilities.
"[The] number one most important thing is for Ivan to be alive - he won't be
able to prove his innocence if he is dead," Peiffer said.
A 3rd audience member asked if appealing to McAuliffe was the last measure.
Peiffer said while they are also sending a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court,
what is most important to their case is for McAuliffe to look at the evidence
and grant clemency.
Efforts to halt the execution through the judicial system have been
unsuccessful thus far, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
denying a motion for stay of execution on March 16.
Virginia Chambers, a first-year College student and communications coordinator
for the University Democrats, said the University Democrats became involved
because they wanted to spread awareness of the case.
"I think that this would probably just be another brick in the wall against the
death penalty. I think U.Va. students could be instrumental but as long as we
have voices coming from ... all segments of Virginia," Chambers said. "I think
we could really make a big change here."
Adam Kimelman, a 2nd-year College student and incoming College Republicans
chair, said the College Republicans encouraged their membership to attend.
"We did some research about Ivan's situation and felt that this situation
transcended politics," Kimelman said. "We promoted it to our membership and
encouraged them to go."
The event closed with the beginning of a letter-writing campaign to show
support for Teleguz to McAuliffe.
First-year College student Savannah Quick attended the event and decided to
write a letter in support.
"I did decide to write a letter because I don't feel like he deserves to be on
death row," Quick said. "I feel like he's innocent and I feel that it's really
important that Governor McAuliffe grants clemency."
Peiffer said getting the Governor to take action comes down to showing
McAuliffe public concern about the case and support the casting of clemency.
Mary Garner McGehee, a second-year College student and member of the Roosevelt
Society, said the Roosevelt Society's meeting next week will involve a
discussion about the case and the justice system.
"I think [Peiffer] made a very compelling case, but I think it's good to have
organizations like the Roosevelt Society where you can kind of talk about both
sides of the case," McGehee said. "I personally think she did a good job of
representing her client and that's important - to recognize the role of the
lawyer."
(source: The Cavalier Daily)
GEORGIA:
Henry DA to seek death penalty in quadruple homicide case
Henry County District Attorney Darius Pattillo said Tuesday he will seek the
death penalty against 2 men charged with shooting to death 4 people at a home
in a rural part of the county.
A 1st hearing was set for Tuesday morning for Jacob Cole Kosky and Matthew
Baker Jr. but was rescheduled for April 11 at 1:30 p.n. to allow time for Baker
to find another attorney. Baker's attorney withdrew Monday because he does not
handle death penalty cases.
Pattillo told a packed courtroom Tuesday that "the state is going to serve him
today (with plans) to seek the death penalty." Pattillo told Judge Archer
McGarity that he had filed his intention in court Monday. Baker was brought
into the courtroom in shackles. Patillo served Baker papers that informed him
that the state is seeking the death penalty as Baker's parents looked on from
the back of the courtroom. Baker's attorney recently withdrew from the case.
Kosky, who has an attorney, did not appear in court.
The pair were indicted in January on multiple charges. Kosky, 23, was indicted
on 4 counts of malice murder, 8 counts of felony murder, 4 counts of aggravated
assault, 1 count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony,
1 count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and 1 count of felony
theft by taking.
Baker, 19, was indicted on 4 counts of malice murder, 4 counts of felony
murder, 4 counts of aggravated assault, and 1 count of possession of a firearm
during the commission of a felony.
On Oct. 26, the 2 men attended a bonfire and gathering at a home on Moccasin
Gap Road in south Henry. The pair left the home at one point during the party.
They returned with guns and allegedly began firing. 4 people were shot.
3 people were found dead inside the home in the early hours of Oct. 27. The
dead were Matthew Hicks, 18; Keith Gibson, 29 and Sophia Bullard, 20. The 4th
victim, 20-year-old Destiny Olinger was airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital
where she died 2 days later.
3 other people at the party were charged with misdemeanor obstruction: Jacob
Williams, 18, of McDonough, Kayla Head, 21, of McDonough and Brooke Knight, 19,
of Locust Grove - were charged with misdemeanor obstruction for accused of not
cooperating with police.
(source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
FLORIDA:
Dozen sent to death row by Broward eligible to seek new sentences
There's more than 1 way to leave death row, and a dozen of Broward County's
most notorious killers are looking to make their exit alive.
The convicted murderers include: the killer of a Broward deputy; a child killer
who raped a little girl in front of her even younger sister before strangling
them both; and a man who recruited his son to help him torment and kill his
landlord. They are seeking to have new juries consider whether the state should
put them to death.
Their legal window opened in December, when the Florida Supreme Court used a
June 24, 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision as a cutoff to determine which death
row inmates may be entitled to new sentencing hearings.
That 2002 decision, Ring v. Arizona, held that juries, not judges, were
required to find the aggravating factors necessary to impose capital
punishment. In a series of federal and state rulings last year, Florida's death
penalty process was overturned twice - first because judges still had more
power than juries, and later because the law failed to require a unanimous jury
vote.
Gov. Rick Scott signed a new death penalty law last Tuesday, passed by the
state legislature to resolve the issue for future cases.
But for those whose executions were ordered between 2002 and 2016, the Florida
Supreme Court practically invited attorneys to challenge the sentence.
Palm Beach County has not sent anyone to death row since 1998, but Broward has
sent 9 since the Ring decision. 4 others had appeals pending that were
finalized after 2002.
4 leave death row, 1 stays on
4 of the Broward inmates who fit in the 2002-2016 window have already passed
the 1st hurdle - Charles Anderson, and Lancelot Armstrong have each been
granted a new sentencing hearing. Prosecutors are asking the state supreme
court to reconsider those decisions.
Ault, 49, is the Fort Lauderdale man convicted of murdering DeAnn Emerald
Mu'min, 11, and her sister, Alicia Sybilla Jones, 7, after luring them to his
Fort Lauderdale home with the promise of Halloween candy. Originally sentenced
to death in 1999, Ault was granted a rehearing and sentenced to death again in
2007. The jury voted 10-2 in favor of execution.
Hojan, 41, was sentenced to death for the 2002 murders of Christina Delarosa
and Willie Absolu at a Davie Waffle House. According to trial testimony, Hojan
ordered 3 victims onto their knees in the restaurant's freezer. The 1st victim
survived. Absolu, 28, was killed instantly. Delarosa, 17, scrambled under a
storage rack, screaming for her infant child when Hojan fired 2 fatal shots.
Hojan's jury voted 9-3 in favor of putting him to death.
Anderson, now 63, had already pleaded guilty in 1992 to attempting to sexually
assault his 16-year-old stepdaughter, Keinya Smith. 2 years later, he got into
a fight with her and, after she threatened to go to the police, drove her to US
27 in western Broward County, ran over her with his car and left her to die.
A jury voted 8-4 in 1999 to sentence Anderson to death. He was eligible to seek
a rehearing because his initial appeals extended beyond 2002.
Armstrong, 53, was sentenced to death in 1991 for the slaying of Broward
Sheriff's Deputy John "Jack" Greeney, 47, during a 1990 robbery at a Church's
Fried Chicken on West Broward Blvd. and Northwest 34th Avenue.
The 1st jury voted 9-3 in favor of execution. A co-defendant was sentenced to
life in prison for his role. The Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 2003
because jurors had been told about a prior conviction against Armstrong that
was later overturned.
The 2nd jury listened to the evidence in 2007 and decided, again by a 9-3 vote,
in favor of death.
For the inmates, being in the 2002-2016 window is not enough to guarantee a new
sentencing hearing. Richard Knight, 38, convicted of murdering a pregnant woman
and her 4-year-old daughter in Coral Springs in 2000 and sentenced to death in
2007, is not entitled to a new hearing, the .
In Knight's case, a unanimous jury found all the aggravating factors necessary
to justify a death sentence, even though that was not a requirement under the
law at the time.
The remaining inmates
Prosecutors anticipate sentencing appeals from the remaining inmates sentenced
between 2002 and 2015.
Alex Pagan
Jurors voted 7-5 to send Pagan, now 47, to the electric chair for the 1993
execution-style murders of Freddie Lee Jones and his 5-year-old stepson,
Michael Lynn. Pagan and a co-defendant were robbing Jones' home in Miramar.
They tied up the victims, along with Jones' wife and the couple's other son,
who was 18 months old. The wife and other son were shot and survived.
Pagan's co-defendant, Willie Graham, was sentenced to 31 years in prison.
The initial round of appeals in Pagan's case extended past the 2002 Ring
decision, making him eligible to seek a new hearing. A motion seeking the new
hearing was filed in January.
Robert Rimmer
Rimmer, now 49, and an accomplice were robbing a stereo store in Wilton Manors
on May 2, 1998, and Rimmer decided to shoot the store???s owner, Aaron Knight,
31, and employee Bradley Krause, 19, in the back of the head. 3 customers,
including a 3-year-old child, were left unharmed. On his way out, according to
trial testimony, he looked at the customers and said, "Thank you for
cooperating. Have a nice day."
The accomplice, Kevin Parker, 49, is serving a life sentence. Jurors voted 9-3
against the death penalty in his case.
The vote to execute Rimmer, by the same jury, was also 9-3. Although he was
sentenced in 1999, his initial appeals extended beyond 2002. A motion seeking
the new hearing was filed in January.
Lucious Boyd
Driving a church van on Dec. 5, 1998 in Deerfield Beach, Boyd came across
Dawnia Dacosta, 21, whose car had run out of gas on Interstate 95. Boyd, son of
the founder of Boyd funeral homes, offered Dacosta a ride back to her car from
the gas station where he found her.
Her body was found two days later near an Oakland Park trash bin. She had been
raped and stabbed 36 times with a screwdriver.
The recommendation to execute Boyd, now 57, was unanimous. He was sentenced to
death 3 days before the pivotal 2002 U.S. Supreme Court Ring decision, but his
initial appeals were not final until years later.
But the court has not made a final decision whether Boyd should get a new
hearing anyway or whether he, like Knight, should stay on death row.
Ronnie Williams
Williams was convicted of murdering Lisashantill Dyke, 18, who was baby-sitting
for her boyfriend's sister in Wilton Manors on Jan. 26, 1993. Williams burst
into Dyke's apartment that night looking for his ex-girlfriend, and when he
didn't find her, he fought with and stabbed Dyke repeatedly. Dyke was pregnant
at the time of her death. Her baby survived, brain damaged.
After 3 trials, Williams was convicted and sentenced to death with a 10-2
recommendation from the jury in 2004. As of Friday, no motion seeking a new
sentencing hearing had been filed.
Eric Patrick
Patrick, 53, has been on death row since 2009. A jury convicted him of the 2005
murder of Steven Schumacher, 72, in Oakland Park. A 10-time convicted felon,
Patrick told investigators that he hog-tied, beat and strangled Schumacher
during a robbery because Schumacher made a pass at him.
The vote in favor of execution was 7-5.
His motion for a new hearing was filed in February.
Darious Wilcox
Nimoy Johnson, 27, was the owner of a Lauderhill car wash who was found bound,
beaten and shot to death in his Inverrary Village home on Feb. 3, 2008. Wilcox
was arrested a week later in Miami.
The case generated little publicity, and the jury's recommendation for death
was by a 7-5 vote. He was sentenced in 2011.
Wilcox, now 39, is in the process of challenging his sentence and conviction on
separate grounds, which is not uncommon in death penalty cases. His next court
date is scheduled for May 15.
Randy W. Tundidor
Tundidor, now 50, was sentenced to death in 2014 for the 2010 murder of his
landlord, Nova Southeastern University Professor Joseph Morrissey. The victim
had begun the process of evicting Tundidor's family from a Plantation
townhouse. Tundidor recruited his son and namesake to kidnap Morrissey and his
wife, forcing them to withdraw money from an ATM while the elder Tundidor
stayed at the Morrissey's home alone with the couple's young son.
Tundidor then stabbed Morrissey to death and set Morrissey's home on fire. The
victim's wife and son escaped. Tundidor's son testified against him and was
sentenced to 40 years in prison.
The jury that recommended death for Tundidor was unanimous, but defense lawyer
Richard Rosenbaum has said he still intends to challenge the sentence because
Tundidor would have put up more of a legal fight if he had known he had to
convince only 1 juror to vote against death.
Tundidor's sentence is still in its earliest phase of appeals.
James Herard
Broward County's most recent addition to death row, Herard was part of a group
of men tried and convicted of multiple violent robberies at Dunkin Donuts
franchises in South Florida in 2008, including one that resulted in the death
of customer Kiem Huynh, 58, in Tamarac. But Herard, now 27, was sentenced to
death for a murder that was otherwise unrelated in which he wasn't the gunman.
Prosecutors explained that Herard goaded another man, Tharod Bell, to shoot and
kill Eric Jean-Pierre, 39, a restaurant worker coming home to Lauderhill after
day's work. Pierre was chosen at random as part of a "body count" competition.
Bell pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
But the murder would not have taken place if not for Herard's insistence,
prosecutors said. Jurors agreed by an 8-4 vote, and Broward Circuit Judge Paul
Backman imposed the sentence in January 2015.
His sentence is still in its earliest phase of appeals.
(source: Concord Register)
********************
Aramis Ayala's principled stance on death penalty not out of step with history
Make room in Florida's small hall of heroes. If John B. Orr Jr., were alive, he
would be welcoming Aramis Ayala.
When in 1956, while everyone else in Tallahassee was losing their heads over
school segregation, Orr was the only legislator who dared to vote against a
scheme to perpetuate it. Speaking on the House floor, which he didn't have to
do, he said segregation was morally wrong. He lost his seat but kept his honor.
Ayala, the state attorney for Orange and Osceola counties, is in the gun sights
of Gov. Rick Scott, the attorney general the police, the Legislature, and most
other prosecutors for announcing that she will not seek the death penalty in
any case. As bad luck had it, the first to arrive on her watch was that of an
accused cop-killer.
Not satisfied that Scott reassigned the case to another state attorney, the
mobs are gathering, if only figuratively. They're howling for Scott to suspend
her. A Republican already has declared he will oppose her in 2020. He said
would hire a former assistant prosecutor her predecessor had fired after he
wrote on Facebook, following the Pulse massacre, that all Orlando nightclubs
are "zoos, utter cesspools of debauchery." It will be a nasty campaign.
Although Ayala's courage is commendable, her judgment is questionable. The
voters had no clue. As reasoned and right as it is, her stance on capital
punishment should not have come as a postelection surprise.
The subject failed to surface in her expensive campaign last year against a
Democratic incumbent and she had no opposition in November except for a
write-in candidate who accomplished nothing but closing the primary - the
actual election - to Republicans and independents. (Perhaps, the Legislature
will finally get around to eliminating that glitch.)
The late Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Susan Schaeffer made no secret of her
dislike for the death penalty, but she recognized that the law was the law and
was prepared to impose it in cases that seemed appropriate. She sentenced Oba
Chandler, who was executed for the savage drowning of an Ohio woman and her 2
daughters. Harry Anstead, a retired chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court,
who is one of Ayala's defenders, opposed it also but concurred in upholding it
in "dozens, if not hundreds" of cases, he told me. Governor LeRoy Collins tried
to abolish the penalty but signed 29 death warrants, believing it to be his
duty. However, he also commuted death sentences 10 times. Bob Graham was the
last governor who did, 3 decades ago.
Perhaps Ayala was beguiled by a survey conducted by Public Policy Polling last
year, which reflected that only 35 % of the Florida public favored execution
over other punishments and that more than 1/2 preferred life without parole,
the existing alternative to execution. More than 3 in 4 said they would vote
for candidates of their party despite disagreeing on that issue, and only 2 %
said it was the one that most mattered to them.
Those questions, though, were asked in the abstract - not in the context of a
notorious case like that of Markeith Loyd, who's accused of killing his
ex-girlfriend and one of the officers who was hunting for him. As Orlando
Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell wrote in criticizing her, Ayala "rang a
proverbial dinner bell for publicity-hungry politicians all over Florida."
Maxwell opposes the death penalty, by the way, and laments that "some people
can't look beyond their emotional reactions to see capital punishment's
systemic flaws as well."
Only emotion, not proof, supports capital punishment as a deterrent to crime.
The process is markedly more expensive than life-sentencing. It is
inconsistent, arbitrary, and dangerously prone to convict and sometimes execute
the innocent. It does nothing well but help coerce guilty pleas and turn some
defendants into state witnesses against others. That's why the prosecutors love
it so.
They practice the same discretion that opponents say Ayala abused. It is the
most consequential reason for racial disparities and other inequities in the
criminal justice system. If a prosecutor doesn't seek the death penalty for a
well-connected defendant, there is no appeal. If he consistently reduces the
charges for whites but throws the book at minorities, there's no appealing that
either.
The co-defendant who cops out may not be as culpable as the ones he helps send
to death row, just simply smarter.
There was a notably notorious example in the 1990 execution of Jesse Tafero,
the last person to die in Florida's electric chair. (His head caught fire,
influencing the Legislature to opt for lethal injection). Walter Rhodes, a
co-defendant, was allowed to plead guilty to 2nd-degree murder, even though 2
law enforcement officers had been slain. Nothing but his testimony placed the
gun in Tafero's hand. According to an Innocence Project report, Rhodes recanted
his testimony on 3 occasions before switching back to his original story.
One court said that there had been gunpowder residue on Rhodes's hands but not
on Tafero's. Co-defendant Sonia Jacobs's conviction and death sentence were
eventually overturned on grounds that would have spared Tafero, but too late.
Michael Radelet, a Florida death penalty expert who now teaches at the
University of Colorado has a list of 14 other death-sentenced people whose
co-defendants got life or less. Appeals removed most from death row, but 2 are
still there.
Ayala is exactly right in assessing that the death penalty "is not in the best
interests of this community or in the best interests of justice." It's not in
the best interest of the families of victims, either, as it postpones, for
decades or more, the closure they deserve.
"Punishment," she said, "is most effective when it happens consistently and
swiftly. Neither describes the death penalty in this state."
Orange, the larger county in her circuit, has a noxious reputation for the
politics of death. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, as of
January 2013, it had more prisoners on death row than 99.2 % of all U.S.
counties and was among the 2 % of counties responsible for more than 1/2 the
executions. As elsewhere in Florida, however, death sentences have been
declining there along with the crime rate and with the public's growing
perception that life without parole is a suitably harsh alternative.
The last to join death row from Orange was in 2012.
Ayala is not out of step with recent history and, I believe, destiny. It's her
harassers who are.
(source: Martin Dyckman is a retired associate editor of the Tampa Bay
Times----floridapolitics.com)
*****************
Florida should review entire death penalty process
Last week Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation sponsored by Criminal Justice
Chair Sen. Randolph Bracy, D-Ocoee, requiring that jury recommendations be
unanimous (12-0) to impose death sentences.
The House companion was sponsored by Judiciary Chair Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm
Harbor.
While this legislation corrected a longstanding process anomaly, there is a
range of other compelling process issues impacting the fairness, accuracy and
impartiality of Florida's death penalty process.
More than 10 years ago, the American Bar Association invited a diverse group of
8 Florida-based experts - including a sitting elected state attorney, former
public defender and former chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court - to
serve on its Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team. A University of Florida law
professor chaired the effort and a pre-eminent circuit court judge who taught
Florida's judicial capital-case sentencing course also was involved.
In 2006 that team reached a consensus and released findings and recommendations
for reform. It didn't support or oppose capital punishment; rather it focused
on the process.
Interestingly, in 2011 the Legislature disestablished Florida's Commission on
Capital Cases, the statutory entity charged with monitoring the process and
reporting back to all 3 branches of government. The rationale was to avoid
$400,000 in annual costs.
That same year, the Criminal Law Section of The Florida Bar voted
overwhelmingly to recommend state officials conduct a comprehensive review of
Florida's entire death penalty process by all branches of government.
The Florida Bar's overall Board of Governors also has expressed support, given
the magnitude and implications of these matters. Neither The Florida Bar nor
the Bar's Criminal Law Section supported or opposed capital punishment.
The Legislature rarely demonstrates an appetite for advancing comprehensive
death penalty process reform.
It could have required unanimity for jury recommendations of death last year,
when the U.S. Supreme Court's Hurst v. Florida decision struck down a related
aspect of Florida's capital-case sentencing process on the opening day of the
2016 legislative session.
Florida was the only state that allowed penalty phase juries to recommend death
by a simple majority.
The nation's high court held Florida's process violated the Sixth Amendment
under Ring v. Arizona, its 2002 case that requires juries, not judges, to
determine the presence of aggravating factors to support imposition of the
death penalty.
But a House bill supported by the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association
prevailed that, among other things, increased the threshold from 7-5 to 10-2
despite the Florida Supreme Court's 2005 State v. Steele decision urging
unanimity - the original Senate bill last year called for unanimity. The
Florida Supreme Court subsequently rejected that 2016 House compromise,
prompting the need for Bracy's bill.
Simply put, justice would be served if state officials were to conduct a
comprehensive review of Florida's entire death penalty process by all branches
of government without further delay.
(source: Commentary; Raoul Cantero, a former state Supreme Court justice
appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush, practices law in Miami----tallahassee.com)
ALABAMA----new death sentence
Death sentence given in Wicksburg nightclub triple killing
Houston County Judge Brad Mendheim sentenced Ryan Clark Petersen to death
Tuesday for killing 3 people at a Wicksburg nightclub in 2012.
The sentence is what a jury recommended, by a 10-2 vote, after convicting
Petersen of 3 counts of capital murder in December.
Petersen, 24, spent most of an August evening in 2012 at Teasers, drinking
alone and acting strangely, according to some who were at the club the night of
the incident. According to court testimony, club security removed Petersen from
the establishment after a dispute with an employee. Petersen returned moments
later armed with a handgun and opened fire, killing Cameron Paul Eubanks, 20,
Tiffani Paige Grissett, 31, and Thomas Robins Jr., who was 59. He also shot
Scotty Russell, 33, of Opp, who survived his injuries.
"Now, we appeal," said attorney Chris Capps, who represents Petersen. "We have
30 days to file a motion for a new trial. A date is usually set within 60 days.
It could be denied. If so, we go to the next step, the Alabama Court of
Criminal Appeals. This case transcript is suspected to be approximately 10,000
pages. This journey is a 1,000 mile journey for us, and we have only completed
the first 100 miles."
Houston County Assistant District Attorney Seth Brooks represented the state in
the case.
"The district attorney's office asked for the maximum penalty to be given,"
Brooks said. "Justice needed to be served for the three victims that are
deceased and the 1 victim that was fortunate to survive. The actions that
occurred took place that evening was inhumane. These victims are members of
someone's family. They are not just numbers. We have tried to put ourselves in
the family members' place, but you can't do that. You can't put yourself in
that position if you have not been affected that way. No, it's not easy to ask
for someone's life to be taken away, but we had to give the victims justice.
The family members of the victims will never see their loved ones again."
Cameron Eubanks was 1 of 3 victims killed by Petersen. Eubanks' mother, Belinda
Finamore was in attendance for the sentencing.
"I believe justice was served here today," Finamore said. "My faith has got me
through all of this and it will continue to get me through this. I have placed
my trust in God and I know he will take care of everything that follows this
sentencing today. I know the Lord is in control and he will handle everything.
Many individuals may not know what kind of person Cameron really was. He was a
loving and caring individual. He was always trying to make people happy. Today,
I feel relief and I am grateful that my son got justice."
(source: Dothan Eagle)
_______________________________________________
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
