June 24
DELAWARE:
Don’t give into vengeance with death penalty
The Delaware legislature is set to revisit the issue of capital punishment — to
reinstate it, keep it or not to reinstate it. Let us join the 21 states which
have had the wisdom to see that the death penalty is not a positive part of the
criminal justice system. In light of some serious misstatements by some of your
readers concerning this issue, they should be reminded of some facts.
The U.S. is the only Western democracy which fails to admit that these
executions are a fundamental violation of human rights.
The New York Times ran an excellent investigation/report about seven or eight
years ago detailing the inordinate costs of capital cases. The average death
penalty case cost about $1.4 million more than non-death sentence cases; the
effort — the time — goes to fight the penalty, not the conviction. It costs
taxpayers far more than a life sentence without release.
Even as a prosecutor, I never believed in the death penalty. (I asked juries to
do what they thought was “right, fair, and just”). The Bible does not say “Thou
shalt not kill except in the name of the state”!
Study after study shows that, much like the so-called “war on drugs”, it
accomplishes nothing, except satisfying the craving for revenge. It does
nothing to protect society. These studies show too that capital punishment
indisputably is discriminatory, specifically as to race and socioeconomic
status. In addition, The Innocence Project (God Bless Barry Scheck, its
founder) has exonerated at least 156 ….and counting…. prisoners from death row.
When I asked Brendan O’Neill, Delaware’s public defender, “What would you say
is the biggest problem facing your office?” he said: The death sentences cases”
because of the resources necessarily diverted to those cases. I will add that
those are probably the only cases where a defendant who has the public defender
does get good representation. No offense to the public defenders, but they are
swamped…even the best lawyers must have the time to be prepared and they do
not.
Our criminal justice system is in shambles: the disparity in sentencing is
nearly crazy, too many innocents are convicted or forced (if facing multiple
false charges, one dare not go to trial without a good, prepared lawyer, for
the law requires consecutive sentences) to plead guilty, the dockets are
severely overloaded, leading to all manner of mistakes, and the prisons are out
of control (authority run amok). One significant improvement would be doing
away with the death penalty.
(source: Commentary; Ken Abraham, of Dover, served as Delaware deputy attorney
general from 1974 to 1979 and is no president of Citizens for Criminal
Justice----Delaware State News)
FLORIDA:
Sentencing resumes for Donald Davidson in Clay County murder, kidnapping case
Sentencing resumes for Donald Davidson, a Clay County man facing the death
penalty in a murder and kidnapping case. WATCH LIVE: Sentencing is scheduled to
begin at 9 a.m.
WHAT WE KNOW:
•Donald Davidson pleaded guilty to the December 2014 stabbing death of a
Middleburg mother, Rosanne Welsh and for the alleged kidnapping and sexual
assault of a child.
•Welsh was found dead by her son in a bathroom of a home on Mayflower Street.
•He's accused of abducting Welsh's, then, 10-year-old daughter who was found
near the death scene when police arrived. She told police she was taken by
Davidson and then dropped off by him.
•Despite waiving the right to a jury trial, the state is still seeking the
death penalty
•Davidson faces 9 counts including murder, kidnapping and molestation
•Davidson had previously been convicted of lewd and lascivious molestation and
also aggravated battery on a pregnant female in the decade before the attack.
•He was on conditional release from prison and had gotten out in September
2014, months before the attack.
(source: actionnewsjax.com)
MISSISSIPPI:
Bond denied for suspects in murder of man with Moses Lake ties
Bond has been denied for 4 capital murder suspects who are implicated in the
brutal slaying of a man who has deep ties to the Moses Lake community.
Canvis Hester, 33, of Hazlehurst, Miss., was found dead on the side of a road
in Copiah County, Miss. from multiple gunshot wounds in mid-November. Hester
spent a lot of his childhood in Grant County and attended Moses Lake High
School but graduated from high school in Mississippi.
Taken into custody in connection with Hester’s death were Dajour Nashay Sutton
of Hazlehurst, Miss., Augustyn Lewis of Crystal Springs, Miss., Antonio Devon
Bailey of Crystal Springs, Miss. and Kimberly Sutton of Hazlehurst, Miss.
The prosecution has produced evidence that Hester was bound, beaten, had a
plastic bag put over his head, was driven to a secluded spot and shot to death,
according to the Copiah County Chronicle.
Prosecutors in Copiah County were able to produce enough evidence to move
forward with prosecuting the 4 suspects with the crime of capital murder. As a
result, bond for the defendants was denied by a judge. The Copiah County
Chronicle reports the prosecution has indicated they will be pursuing the death
penalty against the four suspects.
(source: columbiabasinherald.com)
OHIO:
Former Mahoning County Judge Tim Franken dies
Timothy E. Franken, 71, a former Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge and
longtime assistant county prosecutor, will be remembered for his great
contributions to criminal justice, county Prosecutor Paul Gains said.
Mr. Franken of Canfield, who died last week, was “a great trial lawyer,” Gains
said., adding, “I valued him highly.”
In 2007, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland appointed Franken to the vacant Common Pleas
Court seat vacated by former Judge Maureen Cronin. He lost election to a full
term on the court in 2008.
At the time of his appointment, Franken said he had tried 12 death penalty
murder cases and more than 100 felony cases in his career.
“I’ve been a trial lawyer for a long time, so I know how things work. That
equips me to be able to handle these cases in a fair and efficient manner,” he
said then.
He was a graduate of Youngstown Ursuline High School, received his bachelor’s
degree from Youngstown State University and his law degree from the University
of Akron.
Funeral arrangements for him are being handled by the Higgins-Reardon Funeral
Home, Boardman-Canfield Chapel on Starr’s Centre Drive.
Calling hours will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at the chapel.
The funeral will follow there at 1 p.m.
(source: Youngstown Vindicator)
NEVADA:
Judge rules Ranchos murder suspect may be tried in Reno
A man held in the murders of two Gardnerville Ranchos women may be tried in
Reno, a Washoe County Judge ruled on Friday.
District Judge Connie Steinheimer ruled against a defense motion to dismiss
charges related to the January shooting deaths of Connie Koontz and Sophia
Renken within a mile of one another.
El Salvadoran Wilbur Martinez-Guzman, 19, is facing the death penalty in
connection with the Ranchos slayings and the shooting deaths of Reno couple
Jerry and Sherri David.
The Washoe County grand jury returned the 10-county indictment on March 13.
Martinez-Guzman faces 4 counts of murder with a use of a deadly weapon, 4
counts of burglary with a firearm, 1 count of burglary and 1 count of
possession of a stolen firearm.
A jury trial has been set for April 6, 2020, in the case.
Washoe County public defenders John Arrascada, Katheryn Hickman and Gianna
Verness are defending Guzman.
They filed a motion to dismiss the Douglas County counts in the indictment,
arguing the Washoe grand jury didn’t have jurisdiction in Douglas County.
“Since the grand jury was impaneled in Washoe County, the grand jury exceeded
its jurisdiction when it indicted him on the Douglas County acts.”
Martinez-Guzman’s attorneys have also filed a writ of habeas corpus addressing
the same issues.
Steinehimer said that when the law was changed in the 1960s, the Legislature
changed the requirement for district judges and hence grand juries be limited
to their respective districts. Lawmakers replaced the term with territorial
jurisdiction.
She said the 2nd term is more expansive.
“District courts within the Stat of Nevada have jurisdiction over felony
offenses, not confined to the respective county or counties that are part of
the district,” she wrote in her opinion. “The grand jury may inquire into all
public offences triable in the district court committed within the territorial
jurisdiction of the district court for which it is impaneled, and the Second
Judicial District Court territorial jurisdiction extends statewide to all
felony offenses.’
Steinheimer declined to rule on whether Washoe County was the proper venue,
since it hasn’t been raised by defense attorneys.
A status hearing is schedule in Washoe District Court in the case on Monday.
Martinez-Guzman is accused of stealing the murder weapon while he was working
on the Davids’ property.
On Jan. 10, he allegedly entered Koontz’ home and shot her. Three days later,
he allegedly shot Renken. The Davids were shot at their home on Jan. 16.
According to authorities, Martinez-Guzman took an Apple watch from Koontz that
he tried to use from his mother’s home, which allowed authorities to zero in on
him.
He was arrested in Carson City on Jan 19. Martinez-Guzman is in the country
illegally.
(source: The Record-Courier)
CALIFORNIA:
Death penalty should be abolished in California; decisions of life and death
aren’t for us to make
Many opinions come to light when the death penalty starts being discussed. Some
may be for it, against it, or in the middle depending on certain circumstances.
I believe the death penalty is unjust and wrong. Every person should keep on
living their life, no matter what they did.
A 2014 study by the National Academy of Sciences claimed one in 25 people
executed are wrongfully convicted. That means that of the 737 inmates on
California’s death row, around 29 are potentially innocent.
Whether the death penalty should stay or not is the talk right now in
California. In March, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a moratorium on the death
penalty, temporarily prohibiting executions.
A poll conducted for the Los Angeles Times by UC-Berkeley’s Institute for
Governmental Studies found that 52% supported Newsom’s action. The results also
found that 72% of Democrats supported the moratorium while 85% of Republicans
were against it.
The survey also showed that 61% of California voters said they supported
keeping the death penalty, compared with 39%, who said it should be banned.
These results show that more California voters need to be persuaded to abolish
the death penalty. There is no way you can reverse what you do once you insert
a lethal needle or send someone to the gas chamber.
The other side may argue that if a convicted person committed a serious crime,
like terrorism on hundreds of people, they strongly deserve to die because of
that. Or they might use your family as an example saying, “What if your mom and
dad were both killed by someone?” and expect a response they want to hear.
Isn’t it hypocritical for a jury and judge in a courtroom to sentence someone
to death, making a choice about whether someone lives or dies? If you decide
that a murderer should be given the death penalty, I believe your mindset is no
different than that of a murderer, terrorist or rapist who decided to take the
life of someone else. People should not determine whether another human gets to
live or die. Only God should have that option.
In this part of the Bible, Job says of God, “You have decided the length of our
lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute
longer.” (Job 14:5)
If a crime is serious enough to where the convicted will be a threat to society
forever, then they should be sentenced to life in prison. If you or someone
close to you was a victim in a horrific case, justice should be something you
deserve. But killing the convicted is not justice, it is revenge. Justice is
letting the convicted person do their sentence in jail, reflecting on what they
did every single day of their lives until the day they die.
(source: Opinion, Liz Sanchez----Mercury News)
USA:
Closing arguments to start in Illinois man's death penalty case
Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers were due to make their closing
arguments on Monday in the trial of an Illinois man accused of kidnapping and
killing a Chinese graduate student two years ago.
Brendt Christensen, 29, could face the death penalty if he is convicted in the
June 2017 abduction and murder of Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old student at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her body has not been found.
While the state of Illinois has outlawed capital punishment, a federal trial
allowed prosecutors to seek the death penalty.
Christensen, who received a master's degree in physics from the university, has
been charged with murder, kidnapping and lying to federal investigators. He has
pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Christensen's defense attorney, George Taseff, acknowledged his client killed
Zhang but disputed the government's account of events, hoping to persuade the
jury to spare Christensen's life by arguing that a downward spiral with alcohol
and drugs led his client to do the "unthinkable."
Eugene Miller, an assistant U.S. attorney for central Illinois, said
Christensen was obsessed with serial killers including Ted Bundy, who murdered
dozens of women in the 1970s.
Miller said Christensen took Zhang to his apartment where she fought for her
life as Christensen hit her over the head with a baseball bat, raped her and
stabbed her in the neck before cutting off her head.
Investigators were led to Christensen after surveillance cameras in Urbana, 130
miles (210 km) south of Chicago, recorded Zhang getting into a black car that
authorities later traced to him, according to an arrest warrant affidavit by an
FBI agent.
(source: Reuters)
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