May 15
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Another chance to vote for death penalty repeal
On May 23, the Legislature will meet to vote to overturn Gov. Chris Sununu’s
veto of the repeal of the death penalty. This is a conscience vote, and no one
should feel political pressure for their vote.
I have been writing letters to the editor for decades to repeal the death
penalty from New Hampshire law. As a member of the N.H. General Court at this
time in my life, each time I have had a chance to vote to repeal, I have and
will continue to vote to repeal.
The arguments against the death penalty have been made over and again. I hope
all in the House and Senate who have another chance to vote to repeal this law
will do it again.
I do not want to be part of state-sanctioned killing of anyone.
Rep. CHRISTY DOLAT BARTLETT
(source: Letter to the Editor, Concord Monitor)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Jury deadlocks, Easton murderer won’t be sentenced to death
A Northampton County jury could not reach a unanimous verdict Tuesday on
whether to sentence Dekota Baptiste to death.
That means the 26-year-old Easton murderer will receive an automatic sentence
of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
All 12 jurors must agree in order to impose a death sentence. The jury foreman
said the vote was 7-5. He didn’t say how many were in favor of death.
“More time wouldn’t do anything for this. All of us are basically stuck in our
own beliefs,” the foreman told Northampton County Judge Samuel Murray after
four hours of deliberations. Murray will sentence Baptiste at 1 p.m. Friday,
May 17.
Baptiste was convicted Friday, May 10, of the murder of 36-year-old Terrance
“Lex” Ferguson. He killed Ferguson on Feb. 23, 2017, in the parking lot of the
AutoZone store in Palmer Township. Baptiste fired multiple rounds into the car
Ferguson drove to the store.
Defense attorney Brian Monahan said Baptiste’s poverty, his background, his age
and learning disabilities all mitigated the need for the death penalty. Monahan
was grateful but subdued after the death penalty phase of the trial concluded.
“There are no winners here. 1 man is dead. And the other will serve his life in
prison. 2 families are shattered,” Monahan said.
Monahan said the community should be thankful for Judge Murray and his
“consummate professionalism.” He acknowledged the jurors had an extremely
difficult task.
“This is a solemn task that you swore an oath to consider, whether someone will
live or die. It’s not a reality show,” Monahan told the jury Tuesday in his
closing argument.
Assistant District Attorney Abraham Kassis said the jurors deserve considerable
credit for their handling of the case.
“I have a great deal of respect for the attention and the effort they put into
it,” he said. He wasn’t disappointed with the sentencing decision.
“At the end of the day justice was served," Kassis said, adding “That’s our
system. That’s the way it’s made to work.”
Kassis said Baptiste killed Ferguson due to a dispute over Thressa Duarte.
Duarte was in the front passenger seat of the car in which Ferguson was killed.
Baptiste deserved the death penalty, according to Kassis, because he committed
the murder simultaneously as he committed felonies -- attempted homicide and
aggravated assault against Duarte.
He also put others at grave risk of danger, including Duarte and any passersby
at the store, the heavily-traveled nearby roads and the strip mall across the
street. Kassis said the crime was premeditated and cold-blooded.
“He lived by the motto of kill or be killed,” Kassis told the jury.
Baptiste said he wasn’t jealous because Duarte wasn’t his girlfriend. He said
he went to the AutoZone to patch up a dispute with Ferguson. He claimed
Ferguson tried to run him over and he shot him in self-defense.
The jurors said they were deadlocked at 7-5 after 2 1/2 hours of deliberations
and Murray sent them back to keep working. The 7-5 tally never changed even
after 4 hours, the foreman said.
Jury selection in Baptiste’s trial took a week, followed by a week of testimony
during the guilt phase. The death penalty phase took 2 days.
(source: lehighvalleylive.com)
DELAWARE:
Delaware Lawmakers Again Propose Reinstating Death Penalty
Some Delaware lawmakers are again attempting to re-instate capital punishment
after the existing bill was ruled unconstitutional in 2016.
Rep. Steve Smyk (R-Milton) said a new version of legislation will be announced
on Tuesday. It contains co-sponsors from members in each political caucus of
the General Assembly.
Previous attempts to pass similar bills have failed in years after prior years
since the state Supreme Court ruled the existing statute was unconstitutional.
Gov. John Carney (D) has said he would only consider supporting a bill bringing
back capital punishment if the bill is limited to applying the death penalty to
people who kill law enforcement officers.
Similar bills have received affirmative votes in the state House in recent
years but have not been passed in the Senate. It is unclear how much support
the bill will have this session following significant turnover among members in
the House and Senate.
(source: WBOC news)
NORTH CAROLINA:
Death penalty possible for man accused of dismembering Winston-Salem couple
Forsyth County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a man accused
of stabbing a man and a woman to death in their apartment, then dismembering
the bodies, wrapping them up in carpet and leaving them in woods near the same
apartment.
Tyrone Donte Gladden, 46, is charged with 2 counts of 1st-degree murder and 2
counts of dismembering human remains in order to conceal an unnatural death. A
Forsyth County grand jury indicted Gladden on those charges on May 6.
He is accused of killing Gary Michael Craig Jr., 36, and Devetta Carnetta
Campbell, 40, between June 16 and June 30, 2017, the indictments said. Craig
and Campbell were dating, and Campbell had just moved into Craig’s apartment at
Willow Creek Apartments at 100 Stagecoach Road earlier that same month. Gladden
had been living in Craig’s apartment, according to court documents.
Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill filed on Monday a notice of intent
to seek the death penalty. O’Neill also requests the scheduling for what is
known as a Rule 24 hearing. At that hearing, prosecutors will have to present
to a judge at least 1 out of 11 aggravating circumstances allowed under state
law to pursue the death penalty against a defendant.
O’Neill said Tuesday that a hearing has not yet been scheduled. Gladden’s
attorney, Vince Rabil, declined to comment.
Autopsy reports said Campbell was stabbed in the chest and the neck. Craig was
stabbed 18 times in the chest and neck.
Winston-Salem police officers were called to Willow Creek Apartments on July
17, 2017 to perform a welfare check on Campbell after she had not been seen for
more than a month by her family members.
Tomeka Roberson, Craig’s sister, told police Craig had not picked up his
children on July 4, 2017, and she had not been able to contact her brother,
which she said was unusual.
According to search warrants, police found no one in the apartment. The
apartment had been stripped of all carpeting and carpet padding. Apartment
managers told police that they had not removed the carpeting.
Police officers searched outside the apartments and found a human torso in the
wooded area behind the apartments.
They found more human remains and initially believed the remains belonged to 1
person. By July 20, 2017, officers determined that the remains belonged to 2
people. Those remains were later identified as those of Campbell and Craig.
Officers found what appeared to be blood in different areas of the apartment,
according to search warrants.
Alicia Craig, another one of Craig’s sisters, told the Journal that Craig moved
to Winston-Salem from Atlanta in February 2017 and had five daughters. He was
working and had just gotten a car. He and Campbell met that same month and
became friends. Then, the 2 began dating. Campbell had an adult son named
Jevonte and loved singing at her church and writing and performing poetry,
according to her mother, Una Campbell Jones. Campbell also had written a book,
“3 X’s a Fool.”
Search warrants said that in the days after Craig and Campbell went missing,
Gladden was seen driving Craig’s car. Gladden also was seen moving items out of
the apartment, including carpet, search warrants said.
A large knife and a small knife were among the items Winston-Salem police
officers seized from the apartment. They also took possible DNA from the
apartment as well as hair fibers, the search warrants said.
Gladden is in the Forsyth County Jail with no bond allowed.
(source: Winston-Salem Journal)
SOUTH CAROLINA:
SC General Assembly Again Falls Short On Death Penalty Issue----“South Carolina
lacks the moral fortitude to swiftly and justly punish murderers …”
Once again, the South Carolina General Assembly has failed to pass legislation
necessary to carry out the death penalty in the Palmetto State. Legislation –
S. 176 – passed the S.C. Senate on January 31 of this year and moved to the
S.C. House of Representatives that same day. Unfortunately, it failed to make
it out of the House.
The bill – introduced by senators Greg Hembree, Shane Martin and Danny Verdin –
is similar to two House bills introduced and sponsored by twenty-nine House
members.
The issue: The drugs used in lethal injections (and preferred by most convicted
murderers) are currently unavailable. These bills state that if a convicted
murderer selects lethal injection as the means for their execution, and the
drugs are not available; then execution by electrocution (or firing squad) must
be used.
Whether one supports the death penalty is not the issue. South Carolina has the
death penalty as a matter of law. Currently, there are twenty-nine convicted
murderers awaiting court-ordered execution in South Carolina prisons. Crime
victims have a contract with the state that the murderer of their loved one
received the death penalty from a properly constituted jury of the murderer’s
peers or a S.C. judge – an expectation of justice that has not been carried out
on 29 felons that the Palmetto State’s criminal justice system found to be
deserving of death.
I have stood with the families of the victims of murderers, shoulder to
shoulder, for hours awaiting trials, re-trials, appeals, habeas corpus writs,
post-conviction relief hearings, and a seemingly never-ending quagmire of
convoluted legal games called the criminal justice system making sure all
avenues of justice were afforded an offender.
No crime victim wants the wrong person convicted. But with no death penalty, a
murderer who is serving a life sentence has a license to kill. He has nothing
to lose … kill a guard, kill a fellow inmate, kill a social worker, perhaps
even escape and kill yet another citizen.
As stated by Don Zelenka of the attorney general’s office in the SC Law
Enforcement Bulletin: “Opponents of the Death Penalty look at the debate
through the eyes of the murderer. As a society we must look at it through the
eyes of the innocent victim.”
The faces of crime victim families reflect the anguish and frustration that I
have become accustomed to seeing in my 37 years of advocacy. Ecclesiastes 8:11:
“When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the
people are filled with schemes to do wrong.”
When the state of South Carolina lacks the moral fortitude to swiftly and
justly punish murderers, the victim dies twice.
(source: Laura Hudson is the executive director of the South Carolina Crime
Victims’ Council (SCCVC), the chief nonprofit organization in South Carolina
advocating the development of crime victims’ rights and
services----fisnews.com)
ALABAMA----impending execution
Supreme Court won't consider expanding juvenile death ban
The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to consider expanding its ban on
executing people who committed their crimes as juveniles, declining to review
the case of an Alabama inmate involved in a quadruple murder at the age of 19.
Michael Brandon Samra is scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Thursday.
The Supreme Court bans executing inmates who were younger than 18 at the time
of their crimes. Samra’s attorneys asked the justices to consider including 19-
and 20-year-olds. The justices declined.
Samra was convicted of helping friend Mark Duke kill Duke’s father, the
father’s girlfriend and her 6- and 7-year-old daughters in Alabama’s Shelby
County.
Authorities said Samra killed the 7-year-old, and Duke the others.
Duke’s death sentence was reversed because he was 16.
(source: Associated Press)
LOUISIANA:
Controversial bill to abolish death penalty advances, reviving previously
rejected proposal
The House Administration of Criminal Justice advanced controversial bills on
Tuesday that would abolish the death penalty and lower sentences for 1st-time
marijuana possession.
Rep. Terry Landry, D-New Iberia, who pushed for abolishing capital punishment
in both 2017 and 2018, sponsored that bill. It passed 8-7, reviving a proposal
that was rejected by the Senate last week.
“Death by government is wrong, and that is why I bring this bill,” said Landry,
a former superintendent of the Louisiana State Police.
Landry said he had had a change of heart about the death penalty over the
years. He also disclosed that he would not seek re-election, emphasizing that
his proposal was not politically motivated.
His bill is similar to one sponsored by Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, that
was rejected on the Senate floor.
Louisiana is among 31 states that continue to implement the death penalty.
Attorney General Jeff Landry, one of the highest ranking Republicans in the
state, has accused Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, of slowing down the use
of capital punishment.
Edwards argued in March that a shortage of lethal drugs made it difficult to
conduct executions.
During the hearing, 4 speakers testified against the death penalty. Among them
was Shareef Cousin, a former death row inmate who was sentenced to death in
1996 and exonerated in 1999 for a wrongful conviction.
“When you vote on this bill, think of your children,” Cousin said. “Think of
the society that you want your children to be raised in.”
Proponents of the bill cited the high costs of paying for death row inmates,
racial disparities in convictions and executions and moral reasons why capital
punishment should be abolished.
“Sentencing and application of death penalty in Louisiana is quantifiably
racially skewed,” according to Nicholas E. Mitchell, a race expert at Loyola
University in New Orleans.
Mitchell said that in Louisiana black males are more likely to end up on death
row.
Maintaining an inmate on death row year costs 4.5 times more than for other
inmates, according to Jessica White, an instructor at the University of
Louisiana at Lafayette. These expenses include the heightened security costs,
court fees, and the appeal process.
“Every family member does not feel the same,” argued Rep. Rep. C. Denise
Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, who has personally been affected by tragedy in her
family. She said 1 person being executed who was wrongfully convicted would be
too much.
Other legislators expressed strong opposition to banning the death penalty.
They included Rep. Raymond J. Crews, R-Bossier City, and committee chairman
Rep. Sherman Mack, R-Albany.
Crews argued against Landry’s statement that death by government is wrong. A
“constitutional republic,” Crews said, has the right to execute people. Bill
lightens sentence of 1st offense marijuana possession
The committee also advanced a bill, 7-5, that would reduce the sentence of a
1st offense marijuana possession.
“A lot of these offenses are done by young people, and once they get a record
of imprisonment, it is difficult for them to keep their jobs,” said Rep.
Marcelle, who sponsored the bill. “A lot of parents have to pay money to get
them out of jail,”
The bill changes the penalty for first time marijuana possession for under 14
grams to only a $300 fine, taking away any risk of jail time. Marcelle believes
that would help lower the state’s high incarceration rates.
Other legislators were less enthusiastic about the bill.
“In all my years, I have never seen someone go to jail who got arrested for the
first time for marijuana,” said Rep. Steve E. Pylant, R-Winnsboro.
Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville, who also voted against the bill, claimed that
both Baton Rouge and New Orleans had disproportionately high rates of murder
rate and were unfit to be the state’s “moral compass.”
Rep. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, countered that it is “unfair and
inappropriate to tie the legislation being discussed today to the murder rate.
If we want to have a serious conversation about murder rate, we can have a
serious conversation about socio-economics and what leads to inner-city crime,”
he said.
(source: Daily Advertiser)
*****************
Lafayette woman accused in death of 2-month-old requests bond; lawyers too busy
to help her
A Lafayette woman accused of killing her 2-month-old daughter is requesting
bail after spending more than a month in jail without action on her case.
Public defenders say they're too busy to help, particularly because she'll need
specialized assistance if prosecutors seek the death penalty.
Ayana Ladelle, 23, and Dwayne E. Richard, 24, of Mandeville, were arrested
April 1 on 1 count each of 1st-degree murder and 2nd-degree cruelty to
juveniles.
The infant girl and her twin brother were taken to a hospital for severe
injuries after an investigation by the state Department of Child and Family
Services at a home in the 200 block of Jeffery Drive. The girl died from her
injuries March 30, Lafayette police spokeswoman Cpl. Bridgette Dugas said.
After being released from the hospital, the infant's brother was placed with a
family, Dugas said.
Ladelle has been held in the Lafayette Parish Jail since April 1 without bail
on the 1st-degree murder count. Her bail for the cruelty to juveniles count is
set at $250,000.
Ladelle has not been formally charged and has not made a court appearance to
date, according to online court documents.
The state public defender and 15th Judicial District public defender filed a
joint notice Monday declaring Ladelle indigent, or impoverished, and unable to
afford a lawyer. Both offices also said in the filing they’re unable to
represent Ladelle because of a “combination of existing workload and a lack of
adequate resources.”
A public defender is mandated for defendants unable to afford an attorney, but
Ladelle’s case requires specialized representation because the first-degree
murder count carries the potential for the death penalty.
Ladelle is on a waiting list for representation.
In the filing, the public defenders submitted a list of 17 lead trial attorneys
and 5 associate trial attorneys the court may assign to represent Ladelle. The
list includes attorneys at capital assistance nonprofits, private practice
lawyers and public defenders from the 24th Judicial District in Jefferson
Parish.
In the meantime, attorneys from the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center have
been assigned to represent Ladelle in a limited capacity to protect her
time-sensitive rights and to minimize prejudice, according to the filings. The
attorneys filed a motion Thursday asking that Ladelle be granted a bail
hearing.
No motions have been filed in Richard’s case. He remains in the Lafayette
Parish Jail.
Lafayette Parish court records show Richard has a history of abuse starting in
February 2016, when he was charged with domestic abuse child endangerment.
The charge was reduced in a plea deal to misdemeanor domestic abuse battery.
Richard pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, including two
days without the benefit of probation or parole.
In November 2017, Richard again was arrested and charged with 2nd-offense
domestic abuse battery, 2nd-offense domestic abuse battery with a child present
and resisting arrest, court records show. Richard again entered a plea deal,
pleading guilty to 2 counts of 2nd-offense domestic abuse battery.
He was sentenced to 8 months on each count to run concurrently and with credit
for time served. Jail records show he was jailed in Lafayette Parish
Correctional Center from Nov. 26, 2017, until May 30, 2018.
(source: Acadiana Advocate)
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