August 18
TEXAS:
State drops death penalty in McDonald case
After 3 years of holding a death sentence over Todric Deon McDonald's head,
prosecutors said Friday they will not seek the death penalty if McDonald is
convicted in a 2014 double murder.
Prosecutor Robert Moody told 19th State District Judge Ralph Strother at a
status hearing Friday that family members of the victims are fine with the
decision as long as there are no more delays in getting the capital murder case
to trial.
The family is more interested in seeing that the Feb. 10 trial date comes off
as planned and was aware defense attorneys John Donahue and Jon Evans likely
would have sought another delay had prosecutors continued to pursue the death
penalty, Moody said.
Evans and Donahue declined comment on the state's decision after the brief
hearing. Moody also declined comment.
McDonald, 31, is charged in the May 2014 shooting deaths of cousins Justin
Javier Gonzalez and Ulysses Gonzalez at the Pecan Tree Apartments, 2600 Grimm
Ave. Both men died from multiple gunshot wounds. Prosecutors announced in May
2015 that they would seek the death penalty in the case.
With the threat of the death penalty now removed, McDonald faces life in prison
without parole if convicted.
"That does simplify logistical issues at the very least," Strother said of the
decision.
In death penalty cases, potential jurors are interviewed individually by
prosecutors and defense attorneys, an arduous process that can take up to a
month to complete.
The victim's mothers, Mary Rodriguez and Maria Gonzalez, and other family
members have attended most of the pretrial hearings in McDonald???s case for
the last couple of years. At the last hearing in June, at which Strother set
the February trial date, Mary Rodriguez, mother of Justin Gonzalez, said,
"Thank Jesus."
"I feel good that it is finally coming to an end," she said. "It has taken so
long. It has been frustrating. But we are glad and relieved that we finally
have a trial set."
No family member of either victim attended Friday's hearing.
A status conference in the capital murder case of McDonald's co-defendant, Tony
Olivarez, 33, is set for Nov. 16 in Waco's 54th State District Court. No trial
date has been set in Olivarez's case.
(source: Waco Tribune-Herald)
PENNSYLVANIA:
York County double murderer's death sentence to be thrown out
The death sentence of convicted Fawn Township home-invasion double murderer
Paul Jackson Henry III is expected to be thrown out in less than 2 months.
Prosecutors, Henry's attorneys and presiding Common Pleas Judge Michael E.
Bortner discussed the issue in open court on Friday, Aug. 17. Both the
prosecution and defense agree that state law requires the sentence be vacated.
Defense attorneys Farley Holt and Suzanne Smith said after that happens, there
are 3 possible outcomes.
First, Henry can accept the prosecution's offer of life in prison without the
possibility of parole. But taking the deal would require him to give up all his
future appeal rights, according to Holt.
Second, an entirely new jury can be chosen to decide whether Henry should
receive life in prison or the death penalty.
"But that would basically result in retrying the majority of the case again,"
Holt said, since the new jurors didn't preside at trial and will know nothing
about the case.
Third, Henry could choose to allow Judge Bortner to make that decision without
a jury.
"The commonwealth cannot oppose the defendant's motion on this particular
point," chief deputy prosecutor Scott McCabe told the judge, because the state
Supreme Court has been clear about the issue.
After Friday's hearing, first assistant district attorney Jen Russell said it's
unfortunate that the victims' loved ones cannot yet find a measure of closure.
However, she said, "It's important that the letter of the law be followed
exactly," especially in death-penalty cases.
The background: A York County jury on May 22 found Henry guilty of 2 counts of
1st-degree murder and 1 count of robbery for a Sept. 13, 2013, Fawn Township
home invasion during which Henry fatally shot Danielle Taylor, 26, and heroin
dealer Foday Cheeks, 31.
Veronique Henry, 32, also was arrested and charged with the murders of Taylor
and Cheeks, who was her heroin dealer and former lover.
She hanged herself in York County Prison two days after the murders and a day
after she and her husband were captured in Dauphin County after a police chase.
Henry blamed his dead wife for the crimes, but jurors decided he was guilty and
that he should die for his crimes.
Henry's motive was rage, York County District Attorney Dave Sunday has said.
Trial testimony revealed Veronique Henry was a heroin addict who lived with and
was sexually involved with Cheeks earlier in 2016, when she and her husband
were temporarily split up.
Sunday has said that while the Henrys stormed into Cheeks' home to rob him of
cash and drugs, Paul Henry's real motive was rage.
The Henrys let 4 eyewitnesses who were sitting in the living room - 2 women and
2 teenage boys - live, despite all 4 having seen their faces.
Jury slip: The fact that Paul Henry didn't kill the 4 eyewitnesses was the sole
mitigating factor that jurors listed on his verdict sheet as a mitigating
circumstance to why he shouldn't be put to death.
However, they imposed the death penalty after agreeing that aggravated factors
outweighed mitigating factors.
The reason the death sentence must be vacated is because there were 2
mitigating factors to which both the prosecution and defense stipulated. That
means the jury was required to consider them.
However, jurors didn't list the 2 stipulated mitigating factors on the jury
slip - and that means there's no way to know whether the jury considered them,
as required by state law, according to Smith.
The stipulated mitigating factors were that Henry had no prior criminal
convictions and that he had no misconduct write-ups while he was being held in
York County Prison prior to trial.
"Since they did not write (the stipulated mitigators) down, we're arguing they
didn't consider all the mitigating factors they were required to," Smith said
to Bortner.
'Starting all over'? Bortner noted that selecting a new jury to make the
decision is "basically starting all over again."
Rather than rule immediately, the judge ordered prosecutors and the defense to
file legal briefs on this issue over the next several weeks.
Bortner said before he rules, he wants to know whether double-jeopardy rules
would prevent Henry from being sentenced to death a 2nd time.
The judge set a new hearing date of Oct. 3.
(source: York Dispatch)
FLORIDA:
Death Penalty Sought For Man Accused Of Killing Fort Myers Officer
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a man accused of fatally
shooting a Fort Myers police officer and then taunting other officers.
Court documents say 29-year-old Wisner Desmaret was fleeing officer Adam
Jobbers-Miller after stealing a cellphone July 21 when he appeared to
surrender. Investigators say video from the officer's body camera shows
Desmaret then lunged at Jobbers-Miller, knocking him onto his back. They say
Desmaret pulled the officer's gun from his belt and shot him.
Police say he then taunted other officers and fled before being shot.
A committee met Friday and recommended seeking the death penalty against
Desmaret. The state attorney agreed and says he plans to file a notice of
intent.
A grand jury previously indicted Desmaret on 1st-degree murder and other
charges.
(source: CBS News)
VIRGINIA:
Wallens Ridge inmate charged with murder of cellmate was previously on death
row
21 years after a Virginia governor commuted the death sentence of a convicted
murderer, the man has been charged again with capital murder.
William Aristede Saunders, also known as William Ira Saunders, remains
incarcerated at Wallens Ridge State Prison in Big Stone Gap, where his
cellmate, Donald Gary, 55, died May 18. Saunders, 48, has been indicted by a
Wise County grand jury in Gary's death.
An inmate-on-inmate attack was suspected in Gary's death, according to Lisa
Kinney, a spokeswoman with the Virginia Department of Corrections. The cause of
death has not been released.
Wise County Commonwealth's Attorney Chuck Slemp declined to comment on the
case.
Saunders is currently serving a sentence of life plus 7 years, Kinney said
Friday. He was sentenced to death earlier, but it was commuted.
He was sentenced on Dec. 1, 1989, to 4 years on a statutory burglary charge,
records show. Also in 1989, he was sentenced to 4 years on a grand larceny
charge.
On May 3, 1990, he was convicted of capital murder and was sentenced to death.
But on Sept. 15, 1997, while Saunders was on death row, Gov. George Allen
commuted the death sentence and ordered him to serve life without parole.
Authorities said Saunders fatally shot a man, Mervin Dale Guill, during a drug
deal on July 17, 1989, in Danville, Virginia.
In addition to a death sentence for capital murder, a judge also sentenced
Saunders to life in prison on a robbery charge, 2 years on a use of a firearm
in a felony charge and 1 year for arson.
Gov. Allen said that he was "swayed by a prosecutor and judge who said Saunders
is not the same violent man sentenced to death" for the 1989 murder, and "it
would be in the 'best interest of justice' for Saunders' sentence to be
commuted to life in prison."
During sentencing, the judge was informed of a number of incidents that
occurred at the city jail, including fights and fires. Saunders also has a
juvenile record.
In court records, Saunders' mother describes him as being very personable. She
believes his main problem is that he is too easily influenced by others.
Saunders was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in the Danville area.
He has been involved with the court system and off and on probation, or in
jail, since the early 1980s, according to records.
Gary, the person killed in an inmate-on-inmate attack in May, had also been
serving a life sentence. According to reports, he was convicted in 1998 of
kidnapping 2 women from a Danville trailer park at gunpoint, then robbing a man
at a car wash and stealing his vehicle.
Saunders is scheduled to appear in Wise County Circuit Court on Aug. 22 to
advise the court about attorney arrangements.
(source: Bristol Herald Courier)
OHIO:
Death row prisoner's hunger strike
Death row defendant Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan, transferred to solitary
confinement on July 21 in the supermax Ohio State Penitentiary, remains on
hunger strike. 25 years after the Lucasville prison rebellion, Imam Hasan,
Keith Lamar, Namer Mateen, George Skatzes and Jason Robb are still imprisoned
and under death sentence. Most of these 5 attempted to negotiate during the
uprising and helped prevent additional loss of life.
The 1993 Lucasville Uprising took place at the Southern Ohio Correctional
Facility where incarcerated people were struggling with overcrowding; guard
violence and guard-instigated, inmate-on-inmate violence; poor sanitation, food
and health care; and limits on how they could talk to loved ones by phone. (For
more background, see Workers World, April 10.)
25 years later, these issues are the same ones highlighted in the upcoming
National Prison Strike, called by incarcerated people for Aug. 21 through Sept.
9. The dates mark the state killing of Black Panther organizer George Jackson
in California's San Quentin Prison and the Attica Prison uprising in New York
state. (See "Prisoners call for national strike," Workers World, July 29)
The text below is drawn from a press release issued by a network of support for
Imam Hasan. To participate in "phone zap" actions for the Imam, go to
tinyurl.com/ydhb48xm.
"Youngstown, Ohio - Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan has been refusing food since
the morning of July 28 in protest of a conduct report and new restrictions on
his confinement. A conduct report is a summary of an alleged violation
committed by a prisoner. (A copy of the report is available at
tinyurl.com/y7pogrsc.)
"The charges against the Imam include rioting or participating in a riot -
though no riot occurred. The conduct report will be reviewed by a Serious
Misconduct Panel, which will then make recommendations to the Chief of the
Bureau of Classification, Brian Wittrup. However, Brian Wittrup is also the
author of the conduct report.
'"This is the equivalent of a prosecutor first arguing a case, and then putting
on a judge's robes to determine the sentence,' said Ben Turk, a supporter named
in the conduct report who will testify before the panel. 'There can be no
justice in such an arrangement.'
"The conduct report primarily stems from Turk attempting to send publicly
available documents about the upcoming national prison strike to Imam Hasan.
The prison mailroom intercepted and confiscated the paper copy of these
documents, but not the copy sent through the JPay email system. (A copy of the
seized material is available at tinyurl.com/yc53grnl.)
???Imam Hasan has stated he regards the seizure as an infringement of his First
Amendment rights, as well as that of his supporters. He intends to pursue
remedy through the courts. A determined human rights advocate, Hasan has
engaged in many hunger strikes over his years at the supermax prison. His
commitment to justice and the assertion of his rights in this matter is strong.
"Supporters encourage people to protest the Imam's treatment by calling
Director Gary Mohr, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction,
614-387-0588."
(source: Workers World)
MISSOURI:
Hawley responds to execution appeal
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley said the state's execution method would
not cause a death-row inmate with a rare medical condition undue suffering and
is asking the sentence be carried out.
The U.S. Supreme Court blocked the execution of Russell Bucklew in March.
Justices had concerns lethal injection could rise to cruel and unusual
punishment, given his diagnosis of cavernous hemangioma, a rare disease that
causes blood-filled tumors susceptible to rupturing.
Hawley's office declined further comment and referred to the brief filed
Wednesday, which argued unconsciousness would happen so quickly after the
barbiturate was administered that suffering would be unlikely.
"Missouri's single-drug protocol is the most humane and effective method of
execution available," Hawley wrote. "Pentobarbital, which Missouri uses for
executions, will render Bucklew unable to feel pain within 20 to 30 seconds,
and likely sooner. Missouri has conducted 20 pentobarbital executions with no
indication of suffering."
The Supreme Court requires Bucklew to present an alternative form of execution.
He asked that method be death by lethal gas. Since the state's only gas chamber
was put out of service in 1965 and now sits in a museum, he requested a gas
mask to be fitted over his face and streamed with nitrogen.
Hawley said there is no precedent for that type of execution. He wrote that
state's expert Dr. Joseph Antognini testified it might actually cause more
suffering than a phenobarbital injection. He also wrote the mask might leak and
potentially endanger the execution team.
"Thus, Missouri cannot conduct a nitrogen execution without knowing the quality
and concentration of nitrogen needed," Hawley wrote. "But Bucklew provided no
evidence to address any of the critical questions about 'how it's used.'"
Bucklew's stay of execution in March was the second time in 4 years the Supreme
Court had issued such an order. Justices first issued a stay on the night he
was scheduled for execution in 2014, sending the case back to the U.S. 8th
Circuit Court of Appeals for further review, which later ruled the sentence
could be carried out.
Hawley in the brief filed Wednesday wrote that "justice is long overdue for
Russell Bucklew." He added that the outcome of the case could have far-reaching
implications in making it easier for inmates to challenge capital punishment.
"By advancing this implausible claim, Bucklew has delayed his execution by over
4 years," Hawley wrote. "He now asks this Court to revise the elements of
method-of-execution claims and make it easier for inmates to bring as-applied
challenges. His proposal would transform every as-applied challenge into a
potential exemption from capital punishment.
"This Court should affirm the judgment and permit the State of Missouri to
carry out Bucklew"s lawful sentence without further delay."
Arguments are expected to take place this fall.
A Boone County jury in 1997 found Bucklew guilty of the murder of Michael
Sanders, 27, at his Cape Girardeau County home. Bucklew killed Sanders in front
of his children and then kidnapped and raped his ex-girlfriend. The Missouri
State Highway Patrol found Bucklew in St. Louis County, where he engaged
officers in a gunfight. Bucklew and a trooper were wounded in the exchange. He
later escaped jail and attacked his ex-girlfriend's mother before being
arrested again.
The case was moved to Boone County after it received a substantial amount of
attention in Southeast Missouri.
(source: Columbia Daily Tribune)
***********
St. Louis prosecutors to seek death penalty against man accused in 3 homicides
Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner???s office is seeking the death penalty against a
St. Louis man charged with killing 3 people last year.
Ollie Lynch Jr., 26, of Greendale, is charged with 1st-degree murder in 3
homicides: Jeramee Ramey, 31, who was fatally shot on May 25, 2017; and Jalen
Woods, 17, and Amber Green, 25, who were killed June 3, 2017.
Ollie Lynch, of Greendale in North County, was charged June 8 with murdering 2
people at a gas station in St. Louis.
A grand jury indicted Lynch in all 3 killings in June. He was originally
charged with the killings of Woods and Green last year.
Ramey was fatally shot by someone with an AK-47 in the 4400 block or Red Bud
Avenue over a disputed dice game, police have said. 2 others are also facing
murder charges in his death.
Ramey was out on bail for a manslaughter case when he was killed. About 3
months earlier, Ramey and his girlfriend were accused of falling asleep after
using drugs and allowing a child to find a 9 mm pistol and accidentally kill
Mi???Kenzie Bostic, a 6-year-old sibling.
About a week after Ramey was killed, Woods and Green were inside a car with 3
other people refueling at a gas station on Union Boulevard when 2 masked men
approached and opened fire about 12:50 a.m., police have said. Lynch and
another gunman used an assault rifle and a 9 mm pistol to fire at the Dodge
Avenger in which the 5 people sat.
The people in the car tried to flee and crashed into an air pump, where police
found the victims. 2 others in the car were critically injured; a 5th suffered
a cut on her foot, police said.
Assistant Circuit Attorney Rachel Smith filed notice with the court last month
to seek the death penalty against Lynch. Smith's criteria for seeking death
included the following: that Lynch's conduct was "outrageously or wantonly
vile," that Lynch "knowingly created a great risk of death to more than 1
person" and that the killings were committed "when the defendant was an agent
or employee of another person."
A trial date for Lynch has not been set.
(source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
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