July 29
TEXAS----inmate seeks to drop appeals and speed executuion
Travis Mullis, On Death Row For Stomping Infant To Death, Files Request To
Fast-Track His Execution----Mullis has waived all his appeals and fired his
attorneys.
Travis Mullis, a 31-year-old Texas man who stomped his 3-year-old baby to
death, has filed a request to fast-track his path to the death chamber,
according to the Houston Chronicle.
Mullis made headlines when he was sentenced to death row in 2011 after he
stomped his little baby to death by the Galveston seawall in a ghastly
culmination of what his attorneys said was a series of "stupid decisions." His
attorneys had previously pointed out that Mullis was an "emotional mental
health quadriplegic," detailing his horrific upbringing and the result of his
childhood scars on his mental being.
According to the documents, Mullis' mother died when he was a toddler, and
between the ages of 3 and 6, he was sexually abused repeatedly. He spent years
in and out of institutions, and when he was 18, Mullis' adoptive mother kicked
him out to live on his own. This is when he moved to Texas and settled with a
woman he had met online on the outskirts of Houston.
But by 2008, Mullis and his girlfriend found themselves without any money and
without a home, at which point a couple which had been living in a trailer
invited them to come live with them.
At one point during his stay, Mullis took the couple's 8-year-old daughter to a
schoolyard where he tried molesting her. When the child began crying, Mullis
panicked, later ruing the fact that he had "screwed" himself by "stepping over
the line."
Partly to avoid eviction, and partly to introspect his next course of action,
Mullis drove to Galveston with his 3-month-old sleeping in the back seat.
Court documents showed that the child started crying, making Mullis angry. In
his impulsive rage, the Texas man tried to first molest his toddler boy, but
when he wouldn't keep quiet, stomped his head till it gave away.
"I make stupid decisions, what can I say. I did it on impulse and killed him
right after," he told the Chronicle.
He fled to Pennsylvania but four days after the incident and surrendered to
Philadelphia police with a detailed confession about the crimes he had
committed. He was sentenced to death despite protestations by his attorneys
that Mullis had been subject to emotional and sexual abuse himself while
growing up.
Mullis has waived appeals and won't seek the counsel of his attorneys, having
fired them. He says he doesn't want to be excused because he committed serious
crimes which should lead to death. All he wants, Mullis says, is that his
suffering be reduced by fast-tracking his path to death.
"I'm 100 % guilty of my crime nobody contests that," Mullis said. "The fight is
over my sentence. I'm accepting of my death sentence. My lawyers are against
the death penalty for anyone."
(source: inquisitr.com)
******************
Bail reduced for woman accused in son's death
A district judge in Bowie County reduced bail from $100,000 to $20,000 at a
hearing Friday for a woman accused in the death of her 4-year-old son earlier
this year.
Khadijah Wright, 26, appeared before 5th District Judge Bill Miller for a bond
reduction hearing Friday morning with Dallas lawyer Jasmine Crockett in a
2nd-floor courtroom of the Bowie County courthouse. Wright is charged with
injury to a child by omission in the March death of young D'Money Lewis.
D'Money's father, Benearl Lewis, is charged with capital murder in the death.
Wright is accused of allowing Benearl Lewis to be alone with the couple's
children despite a care plan with Child Protective Services prohibiting
D'Money's father to have unsupervised contact or spend the night at the rent
house where Wright and the children were living in Wake Village, Texas, on
Redwater Road.
Crockett called Wright's mother to testify on her behalf at Friday's hearing.
Marisha Hamilton testified that Wright graduated from Arkansas High School in
Texarkana, Ark., and that Wright has some type of online degree. Hamilton said
Wright was working at Mayo Manufacturing in Texarkana at the time of Wright's
arrest 128 days ago.
Hamilton said she lives on a disability payment of less than $1,000 monthly and
denied Wright has any assets or felony convictions. Hamilton told the court she
can only afford to post $2,000 for her daughter's release.
Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards called Wake Village Police
Department Detective Todd Aultman, the lead investigator into D'Money's murder.
Aultman said the case was brought to his department's attention March 6 by
members of the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department.
Aultman said Texarkana, Texas, police were working a traffic accident at West
Seventh Street and Bishop Lane when the couple approached them about getting a
police escort to the hospital for their child. Aultman said an officer who
checked on D'Money found him unresponsive, not breathing and cold to the touch.
D'Money died at a Little Rock hospital 2 days later.
Aultman said that during his investigation, he found that Child Protective
Services and its counterpart agency in Texarkana, Ark., as well as a child
welfare agency in the state of Mississippi, had become involved amid
allegations of child abuse. Aultman said 10 to 15 cases concerning the children
have been initiated over the 5 years before D'Money's death. D'Money has older
and younger siblings.
Also discussed was Wright's alleged lack of cooperation with investigators.
Wright allegedly left her job about 2 p.m. March 6 without clocking out or
telling anyone she was leaving after receiving a text from Benearl Lewis that
there was an emergency, according to a probable cause affidavit. A little more
than two hours later, the couple came upon the traffic accident being worked by
Texarkana, Texas, police.
While in cardiac arrest, D'Money was taken by ambulance to Wadley Regional
Medical Center. Aultman's report states he observed a large area of bruising on
the boy's back and "strap" marks on D'Money's legs and back. Medical staff
members at Wadley told Aultman the boy was suffering from a brain bleed and
bruising to his back and chest, "as if he had been kicked."
After initial treatment at Wadley, D'Money was airlifted to Arkansas Children's
Hospital in Little Rock. Medical staff there told investigators the boy's
injuries were inconsistent with the account allegedly provided by his parents
and more likely the result of abuse.
Lewis and Wright allegedly told investigators that D'Money had "jumped or
fallen from a deep freezer and that his eyes rolled back in his head," the
affidavit states.
After D'Money's death March 8, his body was taken to Dallas for an autopsy.
Among the damage documented to the child's body was a "space occupying subdural
hematoma" that had caused the child's brain to "herniate down into his spine,"
the affidavit states. Also noted at autopsy were bruising to the child's legs
and back and tissue damage in his kidneys.
Crockett argued that Wright's $1 million bail, the same amount set for Benearl
Lewis, is too high and that allowing Wright to make bond will permit her more
time to prepare a defense with her lawyer. Richards pointed out that Wright has
a history of failing to comply with court orders, as evidenced by her disregard
of the CPS care plan in place to protect her children from Benearl Lewis, and
argued that if Wright had abided by the care plan, D'Money's death might have
been avoided.
Miller agreed to reduce Wright's bond to $20,000. That means Wright will need
to pay a commercial bondsman $2,000, or ten percent of the bail amount, to bond
out of jail. Miller ordered that Wright will be outfitted with a GPS leg
monitor and must either be working or actively seeking employment if she is
freed while her case proceeds.
Wright faces 5 to 99 years or life if convicted of injury to a child by
omission. Benearl Lewis faces death by lethal injection or life without parole
if convicted of capital murder. Prosecutors have not said whether the death
penalty will be sought.
Both Wright and Benearl Lewis are scheduled to appear in August before Miller
for pretrial hearings. Lewis' case is set for trial in November. Wright's is
scheduled for December.
(source: Texarkana Gazette)
FLORIDA:
Convicted murderer sentenced to death
On Tuesday, July 24, merely 32 minutes after the jury instructions for
deliberation were read, a 12-person Okeechobee County jury unanimously
recommended a sentence of death to a Maine man who was imprisoned at Okeechobee
Correctional Institution (OCI) for the premeditated murder of his cell mate.
Michael Lawrence Woodbury, 42, of Windham, pleaded guilty on May 21 to the
Sept. 22, 2017, capital felony of 1st degree premeditated murder of his cell
mate, Antoneeze Haynes. According to the report, Woodbury struck Haynes
repeatedly with a padlock.
Woodbury is set for a Spencer hearing to present information not presented at
trial to the judge at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 13. The Spencer hearing, which
takes its name from the 1993 case of Spencer vs. Florida, is held so defendants
facing the death penalty have the opportunity to persuade the court against it.
"I know that we took a lot of your time and focus away from other things you
would probably rather be doing or should be doing," 19th Judicial Circuit St.
Lucie County Circuit Judge Sherwood Bauer told the jurors. "I will tell you
that over the course of hundreds and hundreds of jury trials that I've presided
over as a judge and the 50 or so as a lawyer, I don't know if I've ever seen a
jury pay as much attention as much as you all did, to be honest with you. You
all had to focus on a lot, and I appreciate that."
The penalty phase proceedings began Monday, July 23, in Courtroom C of the
Okeechobee County Judicial Center. Woodbury, who represented himself, was
accompanied with his standby counsel Stanley Glenn and Shane Manship.
Prosecuting on behalf of the State of Florida from the 19th Judicial Circuit
were Assistant State Attorneys Ashley Albright and Don Richardson.
Judge Bauer later told the jury, "While I find it very unusual, given such an
important case, to have someone who chose to represent themselves, it's
certainly a constitutional right and I respect Mr. Woodbury's choice to
represent himself in the case if that's what he feels was in his best interest.
He made that choice, he confirmed it on multiple occasions but that made it
unusual; it made it very difficult to tell how much time the case was going to
take."
In his opening statement Mr. Richardson told a story that preceded the murder
of Haynes.
It was of an 18-year-old Woodbury who was arrested for armed robbery, and after
his release, attempted to commit additional robberies. One of those was an
attempted robbery of a card shop in Zephyrhills that reportedly left Woodbury
empty-handed.
Another was when Woodbury reportedly walked into a bank, pulled up his shirt,
flashed a handgun to the teller and was given approximately $4,000 in cash. The
3rd robbery attempt came after Woodbury had been sentenced to 10 years for the
previous 2. At the age of 31, on the morning of July 2, 2007, just 59 days
after his release from a Maine prison - Woodbury shot and killed 3 people at
the Army Barracks store in Conway, N.H.
"Right after the murder of Haynes, the defendant gave a video-recorded
statement to a member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. We are
going to play portions of that statement that flatly contradict what this
defendant told you during the trial. After you are presented with all of this
evidence, we are going to ask you give the legally justified verdict and
sentence of this case, and that is death."
Woodbury was given three life sentences without going to trial for the murders.
Woodbury reportedly claimed credit for manipulating New Hampshire authorities
into shipping him to Florida in 2009, stating that New Hampshire was "too
afraid" to incarcerate him in its prison population and did not want him in its
"protective custody palace."
Woodbury also claimed to be familiar with Florida's prison system from his time
served for a bank robbery charge from 1996 to 2002.
In arguing for the death penalty, the state presented 4 aggravating
circumstances in the most recent murder:
1) The capital felony was committed by a person previously convicted of a
felony and under sentence of imprisonment or placed on community control or on
felony probation;
2) The defendant was previously convicted of another capital felony or of a
felony involving the use of or threat of violence to the person;
3) The capital felony was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel and;
4) The capital felony was a homicide and was committed in a cold, calculated
and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification.
Woodbury told the jury that his intent was not to kill Haynes. "There was never
a point where I thought 'I want to kill this dude\'." He asked the jury, "What
can I do? What can I do to make up for it? Tell me. A needle full of poison,
that gonna fix it? Because if so, give it to me." Woodbury said that Haynes
didn't deserve the kind of death he received by his hands and then referenced a
statement by OCI Major Frank Gatto about the number of prisoners per OCI staff
saying, "Like the major said, when you walk through that door, you are on your
own."
Woodbury then stated that after the altercation that led to Haynes' death, he
gave a statement to authorities. "That whole thing was, just, a bad thing and I
definitely feel bad about it. I felt so bad about it that I gave a bad
confession. He (Mr. Albright) came in to see me, like 2 hours afterward, and I
felt like I wanted the death penalty because after I killed them dudes up north
I swore to God, to Jesus, that I would never kill anybody ever again, under no
circumstances. When they came and told me Mr. Haynes had died, I was like,
'Wow'. I said certain things to Mr. Albright to get him to charge me with the
death penalty, I did that. 2 days later, I wrote him a letter and told him the
truth. I told him that I already told 3 officers that testified, that Mr.
Haynes had actually in fact tried to rape me. Ya know, that's not a subject a
man wants to even talk about," Woodbury stated.
"I don't think you should give me a needle full of poison," Woodbury told the
jury. "For what, what's that going to solve? You think that's going to solve
something, anybody? It's not. The last 22 years, I've been out exactly 60 days,
that's it. I'm in prison for the rest of my life, I have no chance of ever
getting out. Every time I'm outside of the dorm, it's secure movement. I have
to have a pass to go somewhere and I have to be escorted. Ya know, it's
pointless to kill me but if that will make you feel better, go on and do it."
The state brought forth witnesses to testify against Woodbury stemming from his
1st robbery that involved a Windham, Maine, convenience store clerk, who
testified: "A guy burst through the door with a red ski mask and told us to get
on the floor. He then took a Burger King bag and flung it at me and told me to
give him the money." The witness said the cash was handed directly to Woodbury,
who was able to get away with approximately $300 during that incident. Mr.
Richardson asked the witness and victim, "Were you in fear of your life?" to
which the individual replied, "Oh, definitely!" A detective with the Windham
Police Department collected the bag and sent it to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation for analysis. A forensic examiner was requested to reexamine
prints from the Burger King bag that were originally examined by a now-retired
examiner. Mr. Albright asked the witness, "Whose prints were contained on the
Burger King bag?" and the forensic examiner testified that when compared to a
set of known prints from custody, "The right palm print matched that of
Woodbury's."
In the bank robbery incident, Woodbury flashed what appeared to be a gun to a
teller who testified she was about 3-4 months pregnant at the time. "I was
robbed,\" stated the former teller, "A gentleman pulled up his shirt, showed me
a gun and said to give me all the money. I then put it in his hand and told a
co-worker I had been robbed. They then activated the alarm." Mr. Richardson
asked the woman, "During the event, were you in fear for your life?" and the
woman responded simply, "Yes."
The prosecution's next witness was the lead investigator for the New Hampshire
State Police regarding Woodbury's triple murder. The detective testified that
Woodbury was, "apprehended about 2-4 hours" after the homicides due to the
public reporting seeing a man matching Woodbury's description along railroad
tracks outside of Conway, N.H.
"During the interview, I asked Woodbury to tell me his side, and he said his
intention was basically to rob it (Army Barracks store)." The detective
continued, "He (Woodbury) said he was basically homeless, on foot. The clerk
(Walker) suspected him of thievery. The clerk then supposedly leaned below the
counter when Woodbury drew his gun and shot. The 2 men, Gary and William Jones,
were in 'the wrong place at the wrong time' and he took off in 'flight mode'."
The detective then stated, "Woodbury's story matched the crime scene." Woodbury
received 3 life sentences for the triple homicide, and the detective identified
Woodbury seated at the counsel table. A box cutter was found at the scene
behind the counter with Walker.
The prosecution's final witness was the lead investigator assigned from Florida
Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), who was requested by FDOC to perform the
investigation of inmate Haynes' death. In a press release from FDOC on Dec. 16,
2014, it was stated that a Memorandum of Understanding exists between FDOC and
FDLE. It mandates any questionable deaths would be investigated by FDLE and
that FDLE is immediately notified of any death that occurs at any FDOC
facility. Accompanying the investigator were 5 clips of undercover audio/video
recorded statements of Woodbury after being read his Miranda warning.
In the clips, Woodbury can be seen and heard providing contradictory
information to his reason for the attack on his cell mate. "I wanted to make
sure they (OCI) had switched correctional officers ... I gave him every
fighting chance to defend himself," Woodbury stated. He also claimed to give
Haynes, "one of the most brutal beat-downs possible," and that he, "was so
happy to kill someone again, the blood-lust, ya know?" A voice in the video
asked Woodbury, "Did you barricade the door?" with Woodbury responding, "Yes,
with paper. It's very easy to do because it's on a track." The reported
reasoning for Woodbury's attack was that he was upset that the FDOC agency
would not transfer him to a prison up north to see his father who was
supposedly dying of cancer at the time.
Woodbury was seen and heard again in the video saying another reason for his
attack on Haynes being due to his manipulation of religion. "Once he (Haynes)
decided to start a hustle with a Christian prayer circle, I thought, "You're
mine now!" An indiscernible voice in the video asked, "Did you enjoy it?"
Woodbury's reply was, "Of course I did."
Woodbury also decided to testify on his behalf. Just prior to entering the
witness box, Woodbury submitted 2 reports from OCI personnel as evidence for
mitigating circumstances on his behalf. The mitigating circumstances presented
by Woodbury were: 1) The capital felony was committed while the defendant was
under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance, and; 2) The
existence of any other factors in the defendant's background that would
mitigate against imposition of the death penalty.
"Ultimately, I really don't think I did anything wrong. He woke me up at 2 a.m.
ready for battle when he touched my leg towards my groin," Woodbury stated
before he addressed the video, "I would like to say that it is pretty obvious
that I'm making stuff up as I go along. I would also like to say that is me at
my bipolar worst. I don't feel like I killed him because I'm crazy, I did it
because he tried to rape me."
Woodbury then shifted to his opinion of possibly receiving the sentence of
death by the jury, "I shouldn't have been living life like that, I was living
wrong and people are dead because of me. I'm being punished by the DOC, I think
it's wrong to use this case to kill me for 2007. Killing me really wouldn't
solve anything, if anyone thinks differently, vote for it."
In cross-examination by the prosecution, Mr. Albright asked Woodbury, "All of
the documents and evidence, that was you, correct?" Woodbury responded, "Yes, I
was trying to manipulate you into giving me the death penalty." Mr. Albright
inquired as to the reason of Woodbury providing not being able to see a sick
cancer-ridden father, to which Woodbury revealed, "My father is in perfect
health and not dying of cancer." Woodbury testified, "95 % of that video was to
manipulate you for what is going on in court right now." His final statements
under oath were, "I believe all rapists and child molesters should die. I
wanted him (Haynes) to be hurt so bad, he would have to go to the hospital and
I would not have to worry about him coming back."
As of October 2016, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that jury recommendations
for the sentence of death were to be done unanimously, not by majority vote.
The sentence of death verdict rendered by the jury during the penalty phase
proceeding is advisory - which means that the judge presiding over the penalty
phase proceeding ultimately determines the sentence, and can "override" the
jury's recommendation if determined. It is rare that a penalty phase judge
enters a sentence which is different than the jury's recommendation.
Both the penalty phase judge and jury are required by statute to base their
sentencing determinations on the consideration of aggravating and mitigating
circumstances.
Pursuant to Florida Statute 921.141(4), in all cases in which the death penalty
is imposed, the judgment of conviction and sentence of death shall be subject
to automatic review by the Supreme Court of Florida and disposition rendered
within 2 years after the filing of a notice of appeal.
(source: Okeechobee News)
LOUISIANA:
Common sense should show death penalty in Louisiana would help prevent murders
There's a lot of talk currently about the death penalty in Louisiana. Gov. John
Bel Edwards and Attorney General Jeff Landry are fighting over the issue.
Edwards has accused Landry of "deliberately misrepresenting the fact about why
the state will not resume the death penalty at least for another year." Landry
accused Edwards of not seeking justice for our state's crime victims.
While justice is important for the families of crime victims, the real focus
should be on potential future murder victims and whether the death penalty
would prevent those killings. Common sense would dictate that if the death
penalty were carried out in a timely, consistent manner, it would likely
prevent some murders. Few criminals are immune to the fear of being executed.
The state recently decided not to fight a lawsuit over which drugs to use for
lethal execution. The state asked a judge to extend the ban on executions
another year because of lethal injection drug shortages caused by
pharmaceutical companies caving to pressure from anti-death penalty groups.
Edwards agrees with the decision to not fight it out in court. The governor
will not say whether he opposes the death penalty. Landry believes the state
should fight the ban.
But the drug shortage is a distraction. There are dozens of ways to execute
inmates short of firing squads or hangings. The drug shortage imposed by
pharmaceutical companies is a red herring.
On a recent night, four people were shot in New Orleans East, including 2
children. Last Monday, a man was shot to death in North Baton Rouge. So what's
new? For 28 years, Louisiana has led the nation with the highest murder rate,
according to the FBI. You are twice as likely to become a murder victim here
than in the rest of the nation. In Baton Rouge, your chances of being killed
are 6 times higher than the national average, and in New Orleans, the murder
rate is seven times higher. But for some, the danger is much worse than the
numbers show.
The truth is, most people living in Baton Rouge and New Orleans feel safe in
their neighborhoods. Most murders in the state's two largest cities are
concentrated in a few areas. The murder rate in these neighborhoods, where
bringing in body bags is a way of life, must be staggering. The forgotten
law-abiding citizens living in these dangerous neighborhoods know all there is
about fear. And yet a very small group is responsible for the terror that's
ever-present in these crime-ridden neighborhoods. Our leaders owe it to the
law-abiding citizens living there to do something. One of the things they could
do is fight for the right to execute dangerous, violent, murdering criminals.
An unacceptable percentage of the murders in these neighborhoods go unsolved.
In north Baton Rouge, 2 out of 3 murders go unsolved, according to the
Washington Post. In New Orleans, only 39 % of cases involving minority homicide
victims end in an arrest. Yet 50 % of murders with a white victim result in an
arrest. It's clear the state has not prioritized making these dangerous
neighborhoods safe. Can you imagine if violent crime broke out in affluent
neighborhoods to the degree it does in north Baton Rouge or in New Orleans East
how quickly the necessary resources would be allocated to stop it? Politicians
know full well where their bread is buttered.
If the state were serious about executing violent criminals, then it would
prioritize, whether in the courts or by legislation, bringing back the death
penalty to Louisiana. It's been 8 years since the state executed anyone. And
yet last year alone, 23 inmates were executed in the U.S. on death row. 14
inmates were executed this year, with 14 more scheduled to die in 2018.
Anti-capital punishment groups, aided by activist judges, will invent any
excuse to stop the death penalty, but the state should fight such efforts. We
owe it to the forgotten people living in our state's most dangerous
neighborhoods. They deserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. That's difficult when you have to deal with the all-too-often sound
of bullets whizzing by.
(source: Dan Fagan, The Advocate)
NEBRASKA:
Chambers challenges Pfizer to stop any use of its drugs in execution
The letter begins: TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.
With that, Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers challenged a major drug company to use the
courts to block use of any of its drugs that may be used in the scheduled
execution of condemned Nebraska prisoner Carey Dean Moore.
Chambers sent the letter Friday to a Pfizer pharmaceutical company executive in
an effort to persuade him to go beyond Pfizer's request to the Nebraska
Department of Correctional Services for return of any lethal injection drugs
manufactured by the company.
Another drug company, Alvogen, successfully filed a legal objection in Nevada
this month to stop one of its drugs from being used in an execution. A judge
blocked the use of its sedative midazolam from being used in the scheduled
execution of Scott Raymond Dozier.
"Does Pfizer's desire to protect its integrity, good name and public image rise
to the level of Alvogen's?" Chambers asked Robert Jones, Pfizer vice president
of government affairs.
Moore is scheduled to die by lethal injection Aug. 14 and has been informed
that four drugs, never before used in an execution in this combination, are to
be administered to put him to death. They are fentanyl, diazepam, cisatracurium
besylate and potassium chloride.
Jones sent a letter to Nebraska Corrections Director Scott Frakes in October
asking for the return of any Pfizer products to be used for capital punishment.
The letter from Jones informed the department that diazepam and fentanyl had
been added to the company's list of 11 restricted products from lethal
injection for capital punishment. He requested the return of any restricted use
Pfizer or Hospira products in the department's possession.
"Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we
serve," Jones said in the letter. "Consistent with these values, Pfizer
strongly objects to use of its products as lethal injections for capital
punishment."
Nebraska, like some other states, has shrouded the source of its lethal
injection drugs in secrecy, Chambers told Jones in the letter. ACLU of
Nebraska, the Lincoln Journal Star and the Omaha World Herald have sued the
state to compel it to reveal the sources of the drugs.
A Lancaster County District judge has ordered the state to release records of
communications with its lethal injection drug suppliers, as well as several
other documents related to Nebraska's efforts to carry out the death penalty.
The court found certain other documents were exempt from disclosure under a
state law protecting the identities of members of the state's execution team,
including purchase orders and chemical analysis reports.
The department appealed the decision and no records were released, so the
source of the four drugs is still unknown.
In his letter, Chambers told Jones it was a puzzling fact that Pfizer had not
initiated any legal action in Nebraska to force the department to return its
drugs.
"The courts are open for business, as demonstrated by Alvogen; and I am
confident that the judicial system will give serious, expeditious consideration
to the goal of maintaining intact and unblemished and uncompromised by others
Pfizer's declared mission and purpose -- 'to enhance and save the lives of
patients' -- if you but initiate appropriate legal proceedings," Chambers
wrote.
He questioned Pfizer's will to employ its "standing and legal wherewithal" to
protect its interests in this situation.
Chambers said it might be understandable if a cynic were to suggest that Pfizer
is being disingenuous and calculatingly trying to have it both ways, to stave
off accusations of being complicit in executions, but by taking no legal action
managing to continue active participation in the capital punishment market.
"What is Pfizer's good name worth?" he asked.
Jones, or a representative of Pfizer, could not be reached immediately for
comment.
(source: Lincoln Journal Star)
*******************
State must show Moore mercy, not perpetuate more death
It has been 39 years since the murders of 2 Omaha cab drivers. The lives of 2
men were callously ended. 2 families were deprived of their loved ones. Our
community lost 2 citizens.
When asked his thoughts about the scheduled execution of Carey Dean Moore,
Steve Helgeland, the son of Maynard Helgeland who was shot and killed by Moore
in August of 1979, said, "I have no interest in watching him die. It's not
going to do anything for me."
We agree.
As women who have joined communities of Catholic religious sisters serving in
Nebraska to spread the Gospel by teaching and example, we don???t see anything
to be gained by executing an inmate who has been safely incarcerated by our
prison system for decades. The state-sponsored killing of an individual, even
one convicted of the heinous crime of murder, contributes to the cycle of
violence that is endemic in our society.
Through our histories and our service to the people of Nebraska, we have
striven to be educators, healers and advocates for the vulnerable members of
our community.
We call on the state to do the same: to show mercy and true justice by
foregoing another violent and senseless killing. We also pray for healing and
comfort for the victims of violence and for a change of heart and behavior for
those who perpetrate such violence.
Margaret Hickey, Omaha
President, Notre Dame Sisters
Mary Gehringer, Omaha
Prioress, Servants of Mary
Susan Sanders, Omaha
President, Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Community
(source: Letter to the Editor, Lincoln Journal Star)
NEVADA:
Time, cost of Nevada death-penalty cases sparks debate
Nevada's death penalty is designed for the kind of criminal accusations Jasper
Goddard faces.
Multiple aggravating circumstances are readily apparent. Local prosecutors
allege Goddard kidnapped, raped and killed a 7-year-old North Las Vegas girl on
a November night in 1986.
April Rhodes was discovered lying in a pool of blood in the storage room of a
housing complex not far from her home. She had been beaten to death with a
cinder block after being taken from her bed in the middle of the night,
according to police. She was still wearing her nightgown.
By June 2013, when Goddard was arrested for the crime during a routine traffic
stop in Ozark, Missouri, he had already served prison time for the sodomy of an
8-year-old girl.
Goddard has pleaded not guilty and is expected to go to trial in the near
future. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said he has strong
evidence, including Goddard's DNA on April's body and a confession to the
crime.
"Guilt is pretty straightforward," Wolfson said. "This case is all about
penalty."
With that sort of evidence against him, it might seem irrelevant that Goddard
is willing to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without
parole.
But his case underscores a debate between prosecutors and public defenders.
Does the time and resources it takes to secure the death penalty, and guide it
through the appeals process, make the punishment ineffective in some cases?
Goddard's defense attorney says the prosecution's pursuit to execute the now
67-year-old man is "a futile waste of time and money." Even if Goddard is
sentenced to death by lethal injection, his attorney said the appeals process
will likely last at least a decade.
"They're choosing the pathway that is most costly, most time consuming and it
leads to the same place, which is him dying in prison of natural causes,"
public defender Christy Craig said.
Wolfson sees it differently. Had Goddard been caught right after April's
murder, he likely would have faced the death penalty at a much younger age.
"Should he be rewarded for escaping justice for 25 years?" Wolfson asked.
Cost of capital cases
Wolfson announced he would seek the death penalty against Goddard in January
2014.
Under a Nevada Supreme Court rule, Craig began preparing to argue both her
client's innocence and that his life should be spared from execution.
That meant piecing together an exhaustive biography of Goddard's life:
Interviewing family members living outside Nevada, tracking down the foster
children he once shared a home with, going back 2 generations in his family to
search for any signs of mental illness.
Some family members are expected to be flown into Las Vegas to testify about
Goddard should a jury consider sentencing him to death.
"Any fact of this man's life that could convince a jury that death is not the
appropriate punishment is something we have to look for and present," Craig
said. "And if we don't find it and someone does later on appeal, then we'll
have to do it all over again and the state will have to pay for it."
That kind of research comes with a hefty price. A 2014 state audit estimated
that capital cases in Nevada where the death sentence is handed down but not
executed cost an average of $1.3 million. Non-capital murder cases had an
average estimated cost of $775,000.
Since the state's death penalty was reinstated in 1977, all 12 men killed by
the state stopped pursuing their legal options to prevent their execution,
according to public defender Scott Coffee. Another 12 people on death row have
died of natural causes, and Nevada has not executed anyone against their will
in more than 20 years.
"If (Goddard) was 25 I wouldn't be having this discussion," Craig said. "It's a
different calculus when the defendant is much younger."
Prosecution undecided
Wolfson said he has not decided whether he will ask a jury to sentence Goddard
to death.
There's always the chance jurors would not agree the death penalty was
warranted. But while the defense's plea offer may be a simpler, quicker way to
resolve the case, Wolfson cautions against its apparent finality.
Jeremy Strohmeyer, who sexually assaulted and murdered a 7-year-old girl in a
Primm casino restroom, avoided the death penalty in 1998 by accepting a
sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Nevertheless,
Strohmeyer - who has long argued he was pressured into taking the plea deal by
his then-lawyers - was back in court this year seeking a a chance at parole.
A Las Vegas judge denied the request earlier this month. Strohmeyer's private
attorney said he plans to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.
As for the cost of Goddard's case, Wolfson argues that the public defender's
office has spent the vast majority of the time and money needed to craft
Goddard's defense. He also questions whether time and cost should be a factor
into determining justice.
"My job is to enforce the law," Wolfson said. "So I think I have the
responsibility to seek the death penalty in a limited number of cases, and I
do."
***************************************
Clark County sends many to death row, but executions are rare
Las Vegas sits in the heart of a death penalty triangle.
While Nevada has struggled to execute a condemned killer who volunteered for
his sentence to be carried out and as other parts of the country move away from
capital punishment, Clark County jurors handed down the 2nd most death
sentences of any county in the United States last year.
Of the 39 ultimate penalties imposed across the country in 2017, 31 % were
delivered in 3 southwest counties, according to the Death Penalty Information
Center. Riverside County in California issued 5, Clark County issued 4 and
Maricopa County in Arizona issued three. The entire state of Texas handed down
4 death sentences last year, while the rest of the country imposed 23.
In Riverside, considered the leader in California's death penalty, there are 15
pending capital cases, compared with at least 60 in Clark County. The 2
counties have nearly identical populations.
Top Clark County prosecutor Steve Wolfson has pursued the death penalty in 71
cases since he took office in 2012. Those numbers have been on the rise in
recent years, with his office filing notices of intent to seek the death
penalty 8 times this year, 16 times in 2017, and 14 times in 2016. In his 1st
year in office, Wolfson sought the death penalty in 5 cases.
This year, a Las Vegas jury sentenced a 63-year-old man to die.
"We need to recognize that based upon what I've been told, a majority of
Nevadans still favor the death penalty," Wolfson said. "The death penalty is
still the law of the land."
Yet in Nevada, condemned prisoners are 4 times more likely to be taken off
death row through the legal process than by execution. Since the state
reinstated capital punishment in 1977, jurors have returned 189 death sentences
for 160 people, including 140 times in 120 cases in Clark County. Nearly 1/2 of
the state's death sentences - 92 - have been reversed. Among those, 51 people
have been permanently removed from death row.
The future of executions
Still, in the midst of a close governor's race and with other legislative
offices up for grabs, lawmakers are reluctant to discuss the future of
executions in the state, which last put an inmate to death in 2006.
One assemblyman, criminal defense attorney Ozzie Fumo, says that in light of
the state's 2nd failed attempt to execute Scott Dozier earlier this month, a
bill to abolish the death penalty needs to be introduced in the next
legislative session.
"It's time to change," Fumo said. "It's an absolute waste of money."
Gubernatorial candidate Steve Sisolak has qualified his opinion on the death
penalty. He once opposed capital punishment outright. But when reached for
comment, he directed a reporter to his campaign secretary, who delivered this
statement, without further explanation: "Steve does not support the use of the
death penalty except for in extreme cases."
His opponent, Attorney General Adam Laxalt, also through a spokesman,
criticized Sisolak for changing his stance. Laxalt's office represents the
Nevada Department of Corrections, which is in the midst of appealing a Las
Vegas judge's July 11 decision that essentially halted Dozier's execution hours
before he was scheduled to die.
"Adam supports the death penalty, especially for dangerous criminals guilty of
horrific, gruesome crimes like Scott Dozier," the spokesman wrote in an email.
"Adam has been unequivocal on his position on this."
But he did not respond to questions about whether he would look to change the
laws on capital punishment if elected, given the struggles to execute Dozier,
who was sentenced to die in 2007 after 1st-degree murder and robbery
convictions in the slaying of Jeremiah Miller.
In court papers filed last week, the prison's lawyers contemplated how state
lawmakers intended the death penalty to be carried out.
"Nevada's elected representatives have chosen lethal injection as the State's
method of execution and have authorized the Nevada Department of Corrections to
take all necessary steps to complete its lawful mandate," the appeal stated.
"It is illogical to think that the Legislature approved lethal injection, on
the one hand, yet silently created causes of action to impede the State's
chosen method of execution, on the other."
The Clark County District Attorney's office joined the appeal on Friday.
Defense attorney Scott Coffee, who represents those facing the death penalty
and has studied capital punishment across the country, pointed out that support
for executions has waned in recent years.
A 2017 Gallup poll reported that 55 % of Americans favored the death penalty,
down from a reported 60 % in 2016.
"The majority of voters don't understand how big of a mess the process is and
how broken the system is," Coffee said. "1 of the things that's critical about
a case like Dozier is that it exposes the weaknesses in the system ... I'd like
to fly like Iron Man, but I can't do it. And the reality is the death penalty
certainly has no flight to it."
He added: "It's not really whether you believe in the death penalty. We can
debate that. But do you want a death penalty in name only? Because that's what
we've got. The system's broken, and it's been broken for a long time."
A broken system?
With 79 men on death row in the state, it's unlikely that anyone who is
sentenced to death will be killed at Ely's $860,000 chamber without first
waiving his appeals. Of the last 12 people executed in Nevada since 1977, 11
have been deemed "volunteers," like Dozier. In 1996, triple murderer Richard
Moran was executed against his will, but his sentence had been handed down by a
3-judge panel, which has since been ruled unconstitutional.
"In Nevada, the only people we execute are people who have volunteered," Coffee
said. "And even that's becoming more and more difficult and costly; just look
at Dozier."
Chief Deputy District Attorney Giancarlo Pesci, who prosecuted Dozier and
several other murderers who now sit on death row, weighed the efficacy of
lethal injection.
"We should be pursuing at least the idea of other avenues to be able to impose
the sentence," such as a firing squad, which was reinstated as an execution
method in Utah 3 years ago, Pesci said.
"There are some crimes that are so disgustingly heinous that there has to be a
punishment above and beyond all the others," he said. "To me, an appropriate
ultimate punishment is death. That's not being sought in every case. It's being
sought in cases where defendants have done abhorrent things to people."
As an assemblyman, Tick Segerblom, of Las Vegas, supported legislation to
abolish the death penalty, which failed in 2017 without a vote. He said he
envisions lawmakers abolishing the punishment altogether, though he
acknowledged that's an "uphill battle" in Nevada, even as it's been nearly 2
years since Dozier asked to be put to death.
"We feel like it's just a matter of time," Segerblom, a candidate for Clark
County Commission, said. "It's a little ironic that the death penalty in Nevada
is so poor that we can't even kill someone who wants to be killed."
Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Vanboskerk, who authored the motion to
support the prison system's appeal, said that Dozier's jury verdict is simply
not being carried out. "The DA's office is concerned about the impact of this
civil suit upon the jury's verdict because the jury's role in our criminal
process is bedrock and central," Vanboskerk said. "And that it can be
frustrated in such a collateral matter is of great concern."
(source for both: Las Vegas Review-Journal)
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