May 13
TEXAS:
Stage is set for death penalty case
Border Patrol Agent Javier Vega was fishing for gar with his family at their
favorite spot.
But the family outing turned deadly when 2 would-be robbers approached him, his
wife, children and parents, according to police.
Vega, a La Feria native, was drawing his gun when he was shot in the chest.
That was almost 4 years ago - Aug. 3, 2014.
Now, the 1st of 2 men accused of gunning him down is set to go on trial
beginning Monday. Charged with capital murder and attempted capital murder,
Gustavo Tijerina-Sandoval faces the death penalty if convicted.
The jury has been selected. If the defense has its way, jurors will be
sequestered, which means they would stay together throughout the trial, even
after hours. At the end of each day, they would be taken to a bus, which would
take them to a hotel for the night.
State District Judge Migdalia Lopez hasn't yet ruled on that defense motion.
But she has granted a defense motion requiring all law enforcement personnel to
wear civilian clothing when testifying and barring them from wearing sidearms
in the courtroom.
Tijerina, 34, of La Villa will be allowed to wear civilian clothing for court
appearances and won't be shackled or otherwise restrained.
(source: Brownsville Herald)
VIRGINIA:
Court rejects appeal from Virginia death row inmate
A federal appeals court panel has upheld the death sentence of a Virginia
inmate who ate his cellmate's breakfast then strangled him for complaining.
In a 2-1 ruling Tuesday, the panel upheld a district court's denial of Carlos
David Caro's challenge of his death sentence.
The panel also rejected Caro's claim that the government violated his rights by
withholding data about housing dangerous inmates at the government's Supermax
prison in Colorado. The panel said that claim was procedurally barred after
having been previously denied.
Caro was sentenced to death for the 2003 slaying of Robert Sandoval at the
federal penitentiary in Lee County.
(source: Associated Press)
NEBRASKA:
DEA says Nebraska's purchase of lethal injection drugs was legal
A federal review of records related to Nebraska's purchase of lethal injection
drugs found "nothing in violation of the law," an official with the Drug
Enforcement Administration said late last week.
A DEA investigator made a March 19 on-site visit to the Nebraska State
Penitentiary, which houses the execution chamber and stores lethal injection
drugs. The review of records and drug inventories at the prison took place days
after the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska called for an
investigation into how state officials obtained the lethal drugs.
"Plain and simple, they're in compliance with Drug Enforcement Administration
regulations," DEA Special Agent Matthew Barden of Omaha said in a phone
interview late Friday afternoon.
In a March 12 letter to the DEA, the ACLU questioned whether prison officials
had duped authorities into issuing a federal import permit by saying it was
intended for a prison pharmacy located 4 miles away from the state pen. The
ACLU also questioned whether Nebraska officials used a DEA permit issued to the
prison clinic to purchase drugs from distributors who assumed they would be
used for medical purposes.
"We did diligent research and presented important questions about these
critical issues to the DEA. It is reassuring to know that the DEA took these
allegations seriously and opened an investigation," said Danielle Conrad,
executive director of the ACLU of Nebraska.
Questions about how the drugs were obtained stem from the refusal of state
authorities to reveal information about the supplier. Such suppliers have been
increasingly difficult for death penalty states to come by.
Major pharmaceutical manufacturers have policies prohibiting the sale of their
drugs for executions. Pfizer sent a letter to Nebraska officials last year
saying three of the four drugs the state intends to use in a lethal injection
are on the company's restricted list and should be returned.
Officials with the Corrections Department and the office of Gov. Pete Ricketts
have refused to say whether the state had obtained Pfizer drugs. The officials
also have declined to release records identifying the drug supplier, which has
prompted independent public records lawsuits filed by The World-Herald, the
Lincoln Journal Star and the ACLU. Those lawsuits are set for a trial Monday in
Lancaster County District Court.
(source: tribuneledgernews.com)
COLORADO:
El Paso County's 1st death penalty trial in a decade beginning Monday
After more than 2 months of jury selection, testimony in El Paso County's 1st
death penalty trial in a decade is about to get underway.
Opening statements at the double-murder trial of former Fort Carson soldier
Glen Law Galloway are expected to begin at 9 a.m. Monday.
His trial is expected to last 6 weeks - followed by several more weeks for a
penalty phase should he be found guilty.
Galloway, 46, a 1-time helicopter mechanic who later worked for Atmel Corp., a
Colorado Springs semiconductor manufacturer, faces multiple counts of
first-degree murder in the May 2016 slayings of his ex-girlfriend, Janice Nam,
and a homeless man named Marcus Anderson. The 2 were fatally shot on
consecutive days in May 2016, several months after Galloway cut off an ankle
monitor and went into hiding.
The case is expected to serve as a test of whether El Paso County prosecutors
can succeed where others in Colorado have fallen short: Persuading a panel to
impose death.
In 2015, 2 juries in a month rejected the death penalty, including the panel
that convicted Aurora theater shooter James Holmes - a case that involved some
of the same players involved in the Galloway prosecution, including Daniel
King, chief trial deputy for the Colorado Public Defender's Office, and Senior
Assistant Attorney General Dan Edwards.
King, alongside another Holmes attorney, Kristen Nelson, will be assisting
Colorado Springs public defenders Kim Chalmers and Julian Rosielle in
Galloway's defense. Edwards joins a trio of El Paso County prosecutors, Rachael
Powell and veterans Reggy Short and Donna Billek.
Prosecutors previously sought the death of cop-killer Marco Lee in 2007, under
then-District Attorney John Newsome, but Lee ended up pleading guilty in
exchange for a life sentence.
District Attorney Dan May has previously declined to address why the office
elected to pursue death against Galloway, citing a gag order in the case. The
District Attorney's Office has since indicated that it is considering death
penalty cases against at least 2 other local murder defendants, Diego Chacon
and Marco Garcia-Bravo, who are charged in the execution slayings of 2 Coronado
High School students over what authorities characterize as a gang hit.
Preparations for Galloway's trial include $50,000 worth of upgrades to the
courtroom where he will be tried, including 2 new wall-mounted video monitors,
a document reader and a "smart" podium capable of powering electronic devices.
Nearly 3,000 El Paso County residents were summoned to 4th Judicial District
Court beginning March 5 to be considered for Galloway's panel, in what a jury
commissioner described as the county's largest pool in memory.
That process spanned 8 weeks and wrapped up Thursday, leaving 112 candidates
heading into group questioning.
A jury of 18, including 6 alternates, will hear evidence in the case.
(source: Colorado Springs Gazette)
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