June 26
KANSAS:
Kansas abortion ruling prompts new attack on death penalty
A recent Kansas Supreme Court ruling declaring that the state constitution
protects access to abortion opened the door to a new legal attack on the death
penalty.
Attorneys for five of the 10 men on death row in Kansas argue that the abortion
decision means the state's courts can enforce the broad guarantees of "life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness" in the Bill of Rights in the Kansas
Constitution. The lawyers contend the convicted killers cannot be executed
because capital punishment violates their "inalienable" right to life.
They include Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., a white supremacist convicted of killing
three people at two Jewish sites in the Kansas City area in 2014, and Jonathan
and Reginald Carr, 2 brothers who, authorities said, forced 5 people to remove
money from ATMs and have sex with one another before killing 4 of them in
Wichita in 2000.
Defense attorneys launched the new legal attack on capital punishment in
filings with the state Supreme Court in May, less than 2 weeks after the
abortion decision. The justices took the claims seriously enough to order
defense attorneys and prosecutors to file additional written arguments, with
the last ones due in mid-November.
"It hasn't been argued under the Kansas Constitution, at least, not in the way
we are presenting it in these cases," Meryl Carver-Allmond, an attorney for two
of the men. "This is a new argument."
The Kansas Supreme Court's abortion ruling in April was the latest in a long
list of decisions that have angered conservative Republicans in the
GOP-controlled Legislature. It said the state's Bill of Rights grants a right
to "personal autonomy" that includes access to abortion.
4 of the 7 justices were appointed by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and 2
by moderate Republican Gov. Bill Graves. The 7th, the only dissenter in the
abortion case, was appointed by conservative GOP Gov. Sam Brownback.
Past decisions in capital murder cases also have sparked anger. Kansas' last
legal executions were in 1965, by hanging, and the state enacted its current
death penalty law in 1994.
The court has yet to rule in Miller's case. In 2014, the court overturned death
sentences for the Carr brothers in two separate rulings. Those decisions helped
fuel unsuccessful election campaigns in 2014 and 2016 to oust all but
Brownback's appointee. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the rulings, sending
the Carrs' cases back to the Kansas Supreme Court. The cases are pending.
Republican Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt told The Associated Press this
week that the abortion decision "opened the door for a wide range of new
litigation."
"There is a certain irony that a case regarding abortion is now being urged by
some as a reason to upend the death penalty in Kansas," Schmidt said. "I think
that's just the start, because this holding was so sweeping. I think it's not
just going to be abortion."
In 2001, in its 1st ruling under the state's current death penalty law, the
Kansas Supreme Court rejected an argument that the state constitution grants a
right to life barring executions for crimes. Defense attorneys now argue that
the abortion decision provides grounds for reconsidering that conclusion.
David Lowden, an assistant district attorney, argued in filings this month in
the Carr brothers' cases that it remains a "vast legal reach" to argue that
capital punishment violates the state constitution.
Jeffrey Jackson, a Washburn University of Topeka law professor, said the right
to life has never been interpreted to include freedom from being executed for a
capital crime.
"When you're trying your client from being executed, you find all the stuff.
Your requirement is that you make all the arguments that you can credibly
make," Jackson said. "I just think that this one's — it would not withstand
scrutiny."
Richard Levy, a University of Kansas law professor, said the abortion ruling
suggests the Kansas court might recognize rights for the state's residents that
aren't recognized nationally. Levy said he has doubts that the Kansas Supreme
Court would declare capital punishment violates the state constitution but
added, "I don't think the argument is frivolous."
"I think it's more likely that the end result would be the death penalty is
still constitutional but more safeguards have to be applied in Kansas than at
the national level," Levy said.
(source: Associated Press)
SOUTH DAKOTA----new execution date
Judge grants execution warrant in 1992 Rapid City murder case
Charles Rhines learned Tuesday, June 25, that he is scheduled to be executed in
early November, 27 years after he stabbed a former co-worker to death while
burglarizing a Rapid City doughnut shop.
"This step was one big one for justice for Donnivan," Peggy Schaeffer, mother
of murder victim Donnivan Schaeffer, said outside the Rapid City courtroom
where a judge granted Rhines' warrant of execution. "It's just time."
Judge Robert Mandel granted the motion filed after listening to arguments by
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg and defense lawyer John Murphy of
Rapid City. Peggy and her husband, Ed, filled the courtroom with friends and
family, while Rhines appeared on a TV screen via a video feed from the state
prison in Sioux Falls.
A jury sentenced Rhines to die in 1993 after finding him guilty of premeditated
1st-degree murder for killing Schaeffer, a 22-year-old from Black Hawk.
It's time to execute Rhines "for the sake of the family and for justice,"
Ravnsborg told Mandel during the hearing. Rhines "exhausted" all legal reasons
— such as criminal appeals and petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court — that might
prevent an execution once the high court rejected his case in April, Ravnsborg
said, citing South Dakota Codified Law 23A-27A-31.
Ravnsborg also noted that Rhines has been challenging his case five years
longer than his victim, who he "brutally killed," was alive for.
While the law allows a judge to issue the execution warrant, Murphy told Mandel
it's "completely in your discretion" as to when you chose to do so.
Murphy said it would be unfair to issue the warrant while Rhines has two open
lawsuits. Rhines is challenging the state's execution drug protocol at the
state court in Minnehaha County. He's also arguing in the federal Eighth
Circuit Court of Appeals that his constitutional rights were violated when he
was denied access to mental health experts his lawyers retained to help with
his clemency petition.
The federal appeals court is "obviously taking the actions very seriously"
since it refused to expedite the hearing at Ravnsborg's request, Murphy said.
Rhines' challenge of the execution protocol is a "fairly routine procedure" for
people on death row, Ravnsborg said after the hearing. Rhines' federal appeals
were first denied by a South Dakota judge and doctors have found Rhines
mentally competent "numerous times" before, during and after the trial,
Ravnsborg said.
Mandel said he agreed with Murphy that he has discretion over when to issue the
execution warrant, and he would delay issuing it — even after 27 years — if
there was a reason to do so.
But there is "no legal reason to postpone the execution," Mandel said in
granting the warrant, which calls for Rhines to be executed between Nov. 3 and
9.
Peggy Schaeffer smiled and held a love one's hand after the announcement.
Rhines, wearing a gray sweatshirt and sitting behind a desk in what appeared to
be a classroom, appeared calm during the entire proceeding but looked slightly
surprised after the warrant was granted.
Mandel considered the arguments of both lawyers and numerous courts have upheld
Rhines' sentence, Peggy said after the hearing. She said she doesn't regret
Rhines being sentenced to death rather than life in prison without parole.
Plus, it was the jury's decision, not hers, she said.
"The judicial system does work if if you let it," Peggy said.
Peggy said she feels her son "besides me all the time" and thinks about what
her son would have accomplished if he was still alive.
"I missed (having) a daughter-in-law, I missed grandchildren, my son misses his
brother, my grandchildren miss an uncle and an aunt," she said.
"There's always that hole, always that chair at the table that's never filled"
during holidays so the family lights a candle and places a rose on the table in
honor of Donnivan's memory, Peggy said. "And he is there, we know it."
Rhines execution date and time will be chosen by the prison warden who then
must notify the public at least 48 hours in advance, Ravnsborg said after the
hearing.
Murphy did not immediately return a message asking if he plans to challenge the
warrant of execution.
Rhines tried to appeal his case to the Supreme Court, but the high court
declined to hear it. He argued his sentence is unconstitutional because jurors
were homophobic and decided to sentence him to death rather than life in prison
because they thought he would enjoy being in prison with other men. His lawyers
said an original jury note and recent interviews with jurors show they were
motivated by homophobia.
Journal archives show jurors found multiple aggravating factors — killing for
money, killing a witness to a crime and killing with a depraved mind — in the
murder when only one is required for the death penalty. Jurors who spoke with
the Journal at the time said they discussed the aggravating factors and if they
felt the Rhines deserved the death penalty. One woman said she thought about
the images of Schaeffer — who was stabbed in the stomach, back and skull — and
how awful it was.
Ravnsborg said the jury sentenced Rhines to death due to the "heinous nature"
of the crime, not because they were homophobic, and that his homophobia
argument didn't come until years after the trial.
The South Dakota and national ACLU asked Gov. Kristi Noem to grant Rhines
clemency, but she said she agrees with the Board of Pardons and Paroles'
decision to deny clemency and has no plans to stop his execution.
The most recent South Dakota execution took place in October 2018, when Rodney
Berget was killed for murdering prison guard Ronald "R.J." Johnson in 2011.
(source: inforum.com)
******************
Execution date set for Rapid City man guilty of 1992 murder
A man convicted of killing a former coworker at a Rapid City doughnut shop in
1992 is scheduled to be executed this fall.
On Tuesday, Judge Robert Mandel issued a warrant of execution for Charles
Russell Rhines, Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg said in a statement.
“South Dakota has, historically, sought the death penalty only in the worst,
most heinous cases,” Ravnsborg said. “Sadly, this is one of those cases.”
The execution will take place sometime between Nov. 3 and Nov. 9, Ravnsborg
said. The exact date will be announced 2 days prior to the execution, per South
Dakota law.
Rhines was convicted of premeditated 1st-degree murder in 1993 for the death of
22-year-old Donnivan Schaeffer, who was stabbed in the stomach, back and skull.
"This step was one big one for justice for Donnivan," Donnivan's mother Peggy
Schaeffer said to the Rapid City Journal. "It's just time."
In May, the state of South Dakota filed a motion for a warrant of execution for
Rhines, with Gov. Kristi Noem saying she agreed with the Board of Pardons and
Paroles' decision to reject Rhines' application for clemency.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Rhines, who claimed
the jury that convicted him was prejudiced against him because of the fact that
he is gay.
The most recent person to be put to death in South Dakota was 56-year-old
Rodney Berget in October 2018. Berget and another inmate, Eric Robert, murdered
correctional officer Ron "R.J." Johnson in 2012 during a failed prison escape
attempt. Robert was executed in 2012.
(source: Argus Leader)
COLORADO:
Colorado Springs killer of 3, with ties to murder of Kelsey Grammer's sister,
dies while still incarcerated
The man convicted in a Colorado Springs killing spree in 1975, with ties to the
rape and killing of actor Kelsey Grammer’s sister, died of natural causes
Monday night at age 64, authorities reported.
Michael Corbett was sentenced to 2 life sentences and the death penalty for 3
murders more than 40 years ago. He was spared execution because of changes in
Colorado’s sentencing laws.
Corbett died in a Denver-area hospital while still incarcerated, the 4th
Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
(source: The Gazette)
ARIZONA:
Prosecutor writes book on death penalty
Since 1910, more than 100 inmates have been put to death in Arizona, including
a woman. The death penalty is controversial but, here in Arizona, it’s the law.
November 2000, Ron Geuder had just witnessed the execution of Don Miller, the
man who shot his daughter in the head five times. The murder had been at the
request of Anthony Luna, the father of Jenny Geuder’s child.
Her father said, “We miss Jenny very much, and we know this isn’t going to
bring Jenny back, and this certainly is not bringing closure to our family. It
brought closure to Don Miller.”
Don Miller spent 8 years on death row. He said he wanted to die. After the
first appeal, he waived his rights to appeals after that.
Sandi Geuder chose not to witness the execution.
“I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction that as a mom I’m there,” said
Sandi Gueder.
Rick Unklesbay has been a prosecutor in Pima County for over three decades. He
wrote a book “Arbitrary Death” A prosecutor’s perspective on the death penalty.
The book examines the monetary and emotional cost of capital punishment.
Unklesbay prosecuted Miller’s case and also witnessed the execution.
“We have people in Pima County that have been on Death Row since 1981,” he
added.
He has tried over 100 1st degree murder cases. 20 were death penalty cases.
“If people knew how much the death penalty costs, what the delays were, how
often they get reversed for technical reasons,” said Unklesbay. “People may
have a different opinion whether they support it.”
The book he’s written this book profiled some of Tucson’s most brutal murders.
“The reason for the book was to give people an idea of how the system works and
the frailties of it.”
Unklesbay says the cost per case runs in the millions of dollars because of the
appeals process.
“Death row inmates are represented at least by 1 attorney, sometimes 2
throughout the dependency of their 20-25 year appeals process,” said Unklesbay.
Take the case of Joe Lambright in 1980. He and 2 others kidnapped Sandy Owen.
She was raped and repeatedly stabbed, her body left in the desert. Her remains
were found a year later. Lambright was arrested in Texas. He was convicted and
sentenced to die.
Thirty years later, “The ninth circuit court of appeals decided he should have
a new sentencing trial,” said Unklesbay.
So in 2014, an older and frail looking Lambright went to trial before a jury.
They couldn’t decide. It was a hung jury.
“It was so remote to them everything was old, all the witnesses had died in the
meantime,” said Unklesbay.
Lambright was given life in prison and is now appealing that decision.
Scott Clabourne was convicted of brutally murdering U of A student Laura
Webster the same year.
“He’s been convicted on death row for 38 years and he’s still appealing his
sentence and conviction,” said Unklesbay.
Then there’s James Wallace in 1984. He viciously attacked and killed his
ex-girlfriend and her 2 children. He told detectives he wanted to die, there
was no trial and he was sentenced to death. The appeals process kicked in and
every time it was the same story
“We spent 27 years, an untold amount of money. He was sentenced to death 4
different times,” said Unklesbay.
Then in 2012, the Arizona Supreme Court said it just didn’t meet the death
penalty statues.
“These were horrible, horrible murders and I often tell people, ” said
Unklesbay, “if James Wallace doesn’t belong on death row, I don’t know who
does.”
Ron and Sandi Gueder are at ease since Don Miller was put to death for the
murder of their daughter, but now they are dealing with Anthony Luna, the
father of their grandchild. Even though he masterminded the murder, he pleaded
guilty to avoid the death penalty. He’s now up for parole, and once a year they
participate in the hearing.
“It’s reliving it, and it’s writing a letter that just opens up that scab
again. And explaining why he shouldn’t get out,” said Sandi Gueder.
Sandi Gueder has her own opinion of the death penalty.
“I still think there should be a time limit, only X number of appeals and
that’s it. Because they didn’t give our loved one a chance to appeal what
happened to them,” she added.
Unklesbay said there hasn’t been an execution in the last 5 years in Arizona.
He said that’s because of the litigation about the drugs used to carry out the
death penalty.
He added, a life sentence also costs money because taxpayers are responsible
for feeding and clothing inmates for years, but the inmates get one appeal and
that’s all.
The proceeds of Unklesbay’s book, Arbitrary Death, go entirely to help fund
Homicide Survivors.
(source: KVOA news)
CALIFORNIA----new death sentence
Jury recommends death penalty for man who killed McStay family
A jury recommended the death penalty for the man who killed a California family
of four and buried them in the Mojave Desert 9 years ago.
Charles Ray Merritt, 62, was found guilty earlier this month on 4 1st-degree
murder charges in the deaths of Joseph and Summer McStay and their children
Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3.
Jurors recommended life in prison for Merritt with no parole for the murder of
Joseph Mc Stay, but they delivered t3 death penalty recommendations for the
murders of his wife and their t2 children.
The family went missing in 2010. Their bodies were found in a shallow grave in
the Mojave Desert in 2013, about 100 miles north of their San Diego home. They
had died of blunt force trauma, according to police.
Merritt, a business associate of Joseph's, was arrested in 2014. Prosecutors
say Merritt owed McStay more than $42,000.
The family's disappearance long puzzled investigators who said there were no
signs of struggle at their Fallbrook home. Food had been left out and the dogs
were home.
(source: CNN)
**************************
Sacramento Cop's Death Raises the Political Perils of Capital Punishment
Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert hasn't yet announced
whether she'll seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing
26-year-old Sacramento police Officer Tara O'Sullivan last week, but the
slaying is a reminder that the politics of capital punishment can be
politically fraught — even in solidly Democratic California.
Since the 1960s, the politics of capital punishment have at times ensnared some
of the state's most storied politicians, including Gov. Pat Brown (who at the
urging of his son issued a temporary stay for death row inmate Caryl Chessman)
and Gov. Jerry Brown. The younger Brown saw his appointment of
anti-death-penalty judges, including Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Bird,
repudiated by voters after he completed his first two terms as governor. Jerry
Brown's sister, Kathleen Brown, also struggled with her position on the death
penalty, stumbling during her unsuccessful run for governor in 1994.
The question is, will Gov. Gavin Newsom, who issued a sweeping moratorium
against executions in March, also pay a price for his opposition to the death
penalty? Or, since he isn't on the ballot until 2022, will he be insulated from
a backlash?
"He really is very, very good at seeing where political opinion is going to be
a half an election cycle or a cycle and a half away, positioning himself as the
brave one because he took that step," said Loyola Law School professor Jessica
Levinson, referring to Newsom's early support for same sex-marriage and the
legalization of recreational marijuana.
"It leaves the impression that it wasn’t popular at the time but he made the
right decision anyway," Levinson added.
Sacramento police Officer O'Sullivan was allegedly shot and killed by Adel
Ramos as she responded to reports of a domestic disturbance at a North
Sacramento home on June 19. Schubert, the Sacramento County district attorney,
is a strong proponent of capital punishment and was critical of Newsom when he
halted executions in California.
"He essentially just kicked the victims to the curb," Schubert told KQED in
April after the governor's decision.
She added, "I'm also bothered that the promise was made by the governor in
running" that he would honor the will of voters, who had recently rejected a
ballot measure to end capital punishment in California.
But Michael Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in
Sacramento, which supports the death penalty, thinks there could be a price to
pay.
"Newsom's not running again until 2022 and two years is a lifetime in
politics," Rushford said. And yet he sees support for capital punishment
remaining steady, at least for crimes like killing a police officer.
Referring to Kamala Harris's first run for California attorney general in 2010,
Rushford thought her Republican opponent, Los Angeles County District Attorney
Steve Cooley, could have won that election "if he used her opposition to
capital punishment to bludgeon her with. But he did not. That was the best
thing going for him," Rushford said.
? A recent poll by Berkeley IGS found voters have very mixed feelings about the
death penalty. While registered voters narrowly supported Newsom's ban on
executions by 52-48%, a solid majority — 61% — oppose eliminating the death
penalty altogether.
Berkeley IGS pollster Mark DiCamillo said while support for the death penalty
has softened somewhat over time, Californians are inclined to keep the ultimate
penalty for the worst crimes.
"The very heinous crimes are the ones the public has in mind for these special
circumstances," DiCamillo said. "Cop killers would certainly be in that
category."
When Newsom ordered a moratorium on executions in March, he argued that "our
death penalty system, by all measures, is a failure." He also cited ethical and
fiscal issues that justified halting executions.
He won strong support from most fellow Democrats, including Assembly Speaker
Anthony Rendon and Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), who
applauded Newsom's "courage and conviction" in putting a halt to executions.
But not all Democrats agreed. Newly elected Orange County state Sen. Tom
Umberg, a former prosecutor, was troubled by Newsom's decision.
"There are some criminals who are so depraved, who have committed such heinous
crimes in the eyes of the law and the public, and who are guilty without a
doubt, that they deserve the ultimate punishment," Umberg said.
Republicans were also quick to pile on. A group of five Republican state
senators introduced a resolution condemning Newsom's action — a symbolic move
that's gone nowhere in a chamber dominated by Democrats.
At the same time Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-Marin) introduced a constitutional
amendment, ACA12, to place before the voters yet again the question of whether
to abolish the death penalty. The measure is in the Assembly Public Safety
Committee, but there have been no hearings or votes and it will require 2/3
support in both chambers to make it to the ballot in 2020.
But pollster DiCamillo isn't sure the public is ready to eliminate the death
penalty, even in a presidential year. "It would also inject the death penalty
into other races, including the presidential race," said DiCamillo.
"It could be used as a wedge issue in congressional races," he said, adding
that "the death penalty might work against the interests of some Democrats to
hold onto their seats in purple districts."
In 2016, 54% of voters rejected Proposition 62, which would have abolished the
death penalty. And in the recent Berkeley IGS Poll, 53% of registered voters
said they'd still oppose abolishing the death penalty and replacing it with a
life sentence.
The long-term trend of opinion in California has been shifting against the
death penalty. But the state is still very divided. The climate is shifting
nationally as well, and many of the Democrats running for president say they
oppose capital punishment, including Sen. Kamala Harris.
Taken together, it's unlikely that Newsom will pay the kind of price that cost
Pat, Jerry and Kathleen Brown political support — or even the backlash Harris
experienced after she declined to seek the death penalty for the killer of a
San Francisco police officer in April 2004, just months into her tenure as San
Francisco district attorney.
But the murder of a young police officer in Sacramento is a reminder of how
quickly individual crimes can change the political atmosphere around the issues
of policing and criminal justice.
(source: KQED news)
USA----impending/scheduled executions
With the execution of Marion Wilson Jr. in Georgia on June 20, the USA has now
executed 1,500 condemned individuals since the death penalty was re-legalized
on July 2, 1976 in the US Supreme Court Gregg v Georgia decision.
Gary Gilmore was the 1st person executed, in Utah, on January 17, 1977. Below
is a list of further scheduled executions as the nation continues its shameful
practice of state-sponsored killings.
NOTE: The list is likely to change over the coming months as new execution
dates are added and possible stays of execution occur.
1501------July 31-------------Ruben Gutierrez----------Texas
1502------Aug. 15-------------Dexter Johnson-----------Texas
1503-------Aug. 15------------Stephen West-------------Tennessee
1504-------Aug. 21------------Larry Swearingen---------Texas
1505-------Aug. 22------------Gary Ray Bowles---------Florida
1506-------Sept. 4------------Billy Crutsinger------------Texas
1507-------Sept. 10-----------Mark Anthony Soliz-------Texas
1508-------Sept. 12-----------Warren Henness-----------Ohio
1509-------Oct. 1-------------Russell Bucklew-----------Missouri
1510-------Oct. 2-------------Stephen Barbee------------Texas
1511-------Oct. 16------------Randall Mays-------------Texas
1512-------Nov. 3-9-----------Charles Rhines-----------South Dakota
(source: Rick Halperin)
***********************************
Former UW graduate faces death penalty for murder
A former Stevens Point man and UW graduate could be put to death for killing a
woman.
Jurors convicted Brendt Christensen of kidnapping and killing Yingying Zhang.
She was taken in June 2017 during a visit to the University of Illinois. Her
body has not been found.
Today, a spokesman for her family said they still can’t imagine how to live
without her.
“There is no language that can describe our pain and suffering,” said Zhidong
Wang, an attorney and spokesman for the Zhang family. “We hope and believe that
this trial will eventually bring justice to Yingying and us.”
Zhang’s family will ask jurors to recommend Christensen get the death penalty.
Sentencing is scheduled to begin July 8.
(source: WKOW news)
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