Sept. 21
TENNESSEE:
Tennessee AG Challenges Decision to Drop Abdur’Rahman Death Sentence ---- A
Nashville judge approved an order last month vacating the sentence months
before execution
In August, Nashville Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins approved a proposed
order vacating the death sentence of Nashville death row prisoner
Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman and replacing it with a life sentence. The order was
proposed by Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk, who cited racial
discrimination in jury selection and other prosecutorial misconduct during the
1987 trial, and looked to spare Abdur’Rahman the death penalty months before
his scheduled execution. Funk’s proposed order came after Watkins decided that
Abdur’Rahman was entitled to a new hearing in the case.
But now, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery says he will challenge that
order, calling it “unlawful” and “unprecedented.” In his statement, Slatery
does not specifically address the racial discrimination in jury selection or
prosecutorial misconduct on the part of then-Assistant District Attorney John
Zimmermann. The statement:
The order exchanged the death sentence of Tennessee inmate Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman
for life in prison, thus essentially granting clemency through a court and a
district attorney that both lack the authority to do so.
James L. Jones Jr., as he was known at the time of his crimes, was convicted of
first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and armed robbery in 1986.
The same jury that found him guilty of murder sentenced him to death.
Over the last 30 years Mr. Abdur’Rahman has repeatedly raised the same issues
Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk relied on in the trial court, all
of which were thoroughly litigated and rejected in the state courts and on
federal review through the United States Supreme Court.
That leaves no option for reopening Abdur’Rahman’s case for post-conviction
proceedings or otherwise amending the sentence.
The Office of the Attorney General has the obligation to defend the rule of law
and to ensure that the process is fair and transparent, especially when it
relates to criminal matters that affect the rights of innocent victims, the
accused, and the public.
"The public has put a special trust in this Office to help preserve the
integrity of the criminal justice system," said General Slatery. "This order
uproots decades of established legal procedure and lacks any legal
justification which is why we are appealing."
In response to Slatery’s announcement, Funk tells the Scene, “I stand by my
position.”
Abdur’Rahman’s attorney Bradley MacLean tells the Scene he will respond to the
AG’s announcement. We will update this story when he does.
Update: See MacLean's statement below.
Today the Tennessee Attorney General filed a Notice of Appeal seeking to
challenge the Agreed Order approved by the Davidson County Criminal Court that
converted Mr. Abdur’Rahman’s death sentence to a life sentence.
The Davidson County District Attorney General and Mr. Abdur’Rahman entered into
an arms-length consent decree converting Mr. Abdur’Rahman’s death sentence to a
life sentence. This consent decree was based upon the evidentiary record
demonstrating that a rogue prosecutor engaged in racially discriminatory jury
selection at Mr. Abdur’Rahman’s capital trial. The Davidson County Criminal
Judge Monte Watkins, after taking the matter under advisement, approved the
consent decree. Judge Watkins found that the parties had reached an “equitable
and just resolution” in order to “remedy an injustice.”
The Attorney General has taken the unprecedented step of challenging the
judgment and authority of the Davidson County District Attorney who is
responsible for all criminal cases in Davidson County. The State of Tennessee
is bound by the consent decree, and the Attorney General lacks standing to
challenge it.
The Tennessee Constitution gives the District Attorney the exclusive authority
to handle criminal cases within his district. Today’s action by the Attorney
General is an unlawful attempt to usurp the power of the District Attorney.
By attempting to undermine the authority and the prosecutorial discretion of
the District Attorney, the Attorney General is turning a blind eye to the gross
injustices in Mr. Abdur’Rahman’s case and is attempting to sanction the kind of
racial bias and egregious prosecutorial misconduct that occurred in the case.
The Attorney General is not seeking to uphold our most cherished constitutional
principles. Instead, the Attorney General is taking a stand for racism and a
prosecutor’s violation of his constitutional and ethical duties.
We will vigorously defend the lawful judgment of the Criminal Court.
(source: nashvillescene.com)
ARKANSAS----female to face death penalty
Rebecca O’Donnell appears in court for hearing in Collins murder case
A woman accused of capital murder in the death of a former Arkansas state
senator appeared in court Thursday for motions and status hearing in the case.
Rebecca O’Donnell was arrested earlier this year on suspicion of capital
murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence in the death of
Linda Collins.
During the court appearance in Pocahontas, attorneys for O’Donnell presented
several motions in the case including providing records, photographs, reports,
documents and service of process at no charge to O’Donnell’s attorneys as well
as an order to require officers to retain rough notes of the case; and for the
state to disclose, preserve and produce digital files including photographs,
digital video, digital audio or digital case files in the case, if taken, to be
given to the defense.
Special Circuit Judge David Goodson approved each of the motions during the
hearing.
Third Judicial Prosecuting Attorney Henry Boyce announced he would seek the
death penalty against O’Donnell.
The fiancé of O’Donnell says there’s “no way” she is guilty. (source: KAIT
news)
**********************
Arkansas court won't let judge hear execution cases again
The Arkansas Supreme Court said Thursday it won't allow a judge who
participated in an anti-death penalty demonstration the same day he blocked the
state from using a lethal injection drug to resume hearing execution cases.
The court rejected the request by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen,
whom the court disqualified from hearing execution cases in 2017 following the
demonstration outside the governor's mansion. Griffen in June asked the court
to allow him to hear death penalty cases again.
Justices said they considered Griffen's request a petition to rehear a case,
which they said must be filed within 18 days of the decision.
"Judge Griffen strenuously disagrees with the Arkansas Supreme Court decision
to deny restoration of his powers yet he is glad the court has finally ruled
because it sets the stage for our next effort," said Mike Laux, Griffen's
attorney. Laux declined to elaborate on the next steps the judge may take.
Griffen, who is black, had argued that no white member of the state's judiciary
has similarly been banned from hearing and deciding an entire category of
cases.
The court last month rejected Griffen's request that the justices disqualify
themselves from hearing his request.
In April 2017, Griffen was photographed wearing an anti-death penalty button
and surrounded by people holding signs opposing executions as he lay on a cot
outside the governor's mansion. Before the demonstration, Griffen had blocked
the state from using a lethal injection drug over the claims that officials
misled a medical supply company. He participated in a similar demonstration a
year later.
A disciplinary panel in June dismissed an ethics case against Griffen over the
demonstration.
The ruling came 2 days after Attorney General Leslie Rutledge asked justices to
reassign any civil cases handled by her office from Griffen's court. Rutledge
accused Griffen of being biased against her staff. Griffen has denied those
claims.
(source: Associated Press)
MISSOURI----impending execution
Why Rusty Buckalew should not be put to death----Missouri's most prolific
serial killer, the state itself, plans to take another life Oct. 1.
Rusty Bucklew would become the 89th person executed in Missouri since 1989.
Whether committed by the individual or state, all murders are I believe,
immoral and unacceptable.
Even if you don't concur, there are several other reasons to urge Gov. Mike
Parson to exercise mercy, halt the execution and commute his sentence.
Bucklew suffers from a rare congenital disease, which could lead to a torturous
and gruesome execution, potentially traumatizing prison workers and witnesses.
He has consistently expressed remorse for his crimes, has been a model prisoner
and was poorly represented by trial and post-conviction attorneys.
Bucklew committed reprehensible crimes. In March 1996, he followed Stephanie
Ray, his ex-girlfriend, to the home of Michael Sanders, where she had moved
near Cape Girardeau.
Bucklew shot and killed Sanders, while Sanders' young son watched in horror.
Bucklew fled, abducting Ray and raped her before he was caught. We condemn the
violence he perpetrated, mourn the death of Sanders and extend condolences to
the grieving loved ones.
Our society should have as top priorities providing emotional and material
support for as long as is needed for crime victims like the son of Sanders and
for Ray. Our state should also avoid swelling further the ranks of those
grieving the loss of a loved one by ending executions.
There's no justification for the crimes Bucklew committed. There are factors
worth knowing to better understand what led to his violence.
Whatever the case, none us want to be defined solely by our worst actions.
Indeed, Missouri should not as well be summarily shunned just because the state
has executed the 5th most people nationally.
Bucklew's current attorneys earlier this month crafted a clemency application
to Gov. Mike Parson urging his intervention. Among other points, the document
contended his trial and post-conviction attorneys did a woefully inadequate job
humanizing Bucklew for the jury so they would chose life over a death sentence.
They interviewed just a handful of witnesses, most prominently his parents with
their sunny and superficial narrative of life in the Bucklew home (then)
presented it to the jury as fact.
As a result, Russell's trial counsel accepted, and the jury inaccurately heard,
that Russell was the black sheep of the family when, in reality, his challenges
were shared by his (four) siblings and were the result of being raised in an
often violent and chaotic environment.
The trial attorneys contracted with a Columbia psychiatrist who didn't conduct
his own investigation, relying on the quaisi-mitigation conducted by the
defense. Dr. Bruce Harry diagnosed Russell with a personality disorder called
antisocial personality disorder, even though he lacked the data and records to
support the diagnosis, the clemency application states.
Relying on Dr. Harry's testimony, the state (prosecutors) hijacked the
diagnosis to argue that Russell was an unrepentant sociopath deserving of
death.
Within the past year Dr. Harry has had a chance to review more of Bucklew's
documents for the first time. He acknowledged making an incorrect diagnosis.
Among the most compelling documents to him was a note written to Ms. Ray just a
few months after the crimes, which demonstrate remorse for his conduct,
sentiments, consistent with what he was told by Bucklew.
22 years of prison records prove that the state's dire predictions of Russell¹s
character were completely without merit, notes the petition.
He has received not a single serious disciplinary write-up. In fact, Russell
earned the opportunity to live in the honor dorm a privilege afforded to
offenders with a documented history of good behavior and positive institutional
adjustment.
Bucklew suffers from cavernous hemangioma, an incurable and degenerative
disease he's had since birth. According to the clemency application, the
condition causes large clumps of weakened, malformed vessels to grow in his
head, face, neck, and throat.
(These) unstable tumors.. are highly vulnerable to rupturing under stress or
any rise in blood pressure. Indeed, the document reports, small ruptures occur
on a near daily basis, which Russell deals with by keeping gauze and a
biohazard bag constantly at hand or by spitting out blood.
The disease causes "constant facial pain and pressure, labored breathing, and
impairment of his hearing and vision." The tumors in Russell's airway,
including his grossly swollen uvula, have caused him to struggle to breathe.
Last summer, his current co-counsel Jeremy Weis recalls, medical personnel took
Bucklew to a St. Louis hospital where he "coded." In a scene exemplifying the
moral perversity of our time, a physician leapt over the gurney to save the
life of this man with a court-imposed death sentence.
Weis says the doctor inserted a trachea tube, allowing him to breath. At least
until he'd be executed, Weis says, a tube remains in place.
The application reports that the Department of Corrections has agreed to
elevate Russell's head during the execution, but this precaution will have no
impact on (his) ability to dispose of the blood that naturally pools in his
mouth and throat.
This blood is likely to be spat out during the execution or, more painfully,
result in Russell choking and struggling for breath all in full view of the
witnesses. This execution is highly likely to be exceptionally painful, bloody
and gruesome.
Trial attorneys also insufficiently presented to jurors the reality of
Bucklew's disease and his opioid addiction to treat the pain. In the weeks
prior to the crimes, the document reports, he lost a great amount of weight and
his behavior became more erratic.
(He) bled from his facial orifices, including his eyes, because of the tumors.
(And while) his tumors had indeed worsened, the effect of the prescription
painkillers were largely causing his physical and emotional deterioration.
Please contact Gov. Parson by calling 573-751-3222 or email
www.governor.mo.gov. Urge him to exercise mercy and spare his life. Join Vigils
for Life
• Jefferson City: Noon to 1 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 1, outside the Governor's
Office, Second Floor, State Capitol
• Columbia: 5 to 6 p.m., Boone County Courthouse.
• Call 573-449-4585 for details and view https://youtu.be/U_iKX6zk-Jw.
(source: Guest Commentary; Jeff Stack coordinates the Mid-MO Fellowship of
Reconciliation----Columbia Missourian)
************************
Missouri Is Set To Execute Russell Bucklew. His Lawyers Say His Case Was
Mishandled.----In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that his execution, which
experts have said will be bloody and gruesome, does not amount to cruel and
unusual punishment. But problems with his case started long before that, his
attorneys say.
At age 28, Russell Bucklew was charged with capital murder and facing the death
penalty in Missouri. He never contested at his 1997 trial that he had broken
into Michael Sanders’s trailer, shot him to death, then handcuffed, kidnapped,
and raped his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Ray. To escape the death penalty, he
needed to persuade a Boone County jury that he should get to live.
Bucklew’s attorneys, who were appointed to him because he could not afford a
lawyer, did not present a convincing case. At the end of the trial, the jury
sentenced Bucklew to die. His execution is scheduled for Oct. 1.
But last year, more than two decades after the trial, Bucklew’s new legal team
said it had discovered information the jury should have heard. Through records
and interviews, they found that one of Bucklew’s clemency attorneys had taken
thousands of dollars in loans from Bucklew’s elderly parents and did not repay
them for years. The attorneys also failed to interview friends and
acquaintances who could speak about Bucklew’s childhood, which they said was
characterized by abuse and trauma.
Even more, at the time of his offense, Bucklew had been addicted to the opiates
he was using to relieve the pain of blood-filled tumors caused by a lifelong
rare disease. The medication sent him into a rage, his attorneys argue. He also
may have been developmentally delayed because of lead paint exposure, his
attorneys found. And a psychologist who had diagnosed Bucklew with antisocial
personality disorder—a diagnosis that prosecutors had stressed would not make
him a good candidate for life without parole—has since admitted that he was
wrong.
Courts have twice stopped Bucklew’s execution over challenges to the state’s
method of execution, lethal injection. But in April, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that executing Bucklew, who his attorneys say will most likely die a
painful, gruesome death due to his condition, was constitutional. His attorneys
are now petitioning for Governor Mike Parson to halt the execution. At the
center of their argument, the attorneys say that Bucklew never received
representation he was entitled to and, as a result, the jury never got to
consider all of the facts when deliberating.
“What we know about his upbringing and about his addiction make a compelling
case that Rusty be allowed to serve out the remainder of his life in prison for
his crimes,” Jeremy Weis, one of Bucklew’s attorneys, told The Appeal.
In a line of decisions starting in 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
defense attorneys in capital cases must thoroughly investigate their client’s
history. They can then use that information, which might include issues such as
intellectual impairment, addiction, and earlier trauma, to make a case for the
jury to vote for life in prison.
John Simon, one of the attorneys assigned in 2008 to look into Bucklew’s
background for his clemency petition borrowed $27,000 from Bucklew’s parents,
telling them that he needed the money to help their son, according to the 2018
clemency petition. When the Bucklews gave Simon eight loans between June 2008
and February 2013, he told them not to tell their son about the loans, warning
them that it would hurt his case. “Spreading word of this situation even
inadvertently would lead to demoralization of your son, his friends, and the
other attorneys on whom they depend for representation,” he wrote in one letter
detailed in Bucklew’s 2018 clemency petition.
Weis, Bucklew’s current attorney, told The Appeal that Simon’s dependence on
the Bucklews for money might have influenced him not to ask difficult or
embarrassing questions that would have been vital to unearthing information
about Bucklew’s childhood. Weis said his team found notes from Simon about
issues in the Bucklew family he never followed up on. “It explains that Rusty
is not an outlier and not a monster,” he said. “He’s a product of his
environment to a degree. And some of that Mr. Simon knew.”
According to the petition, Simon nor any of Bucklew’s previous attorneys talked
to people outside of Bucklew’s family, including his childhood friend, Joey
Selvaggio, who in an interview with The Appeal characterized Bucklew as a
“brother.” During the trial, Bucklew’s parents testified that he’d had an
idyllic childhood and his crimes were a result of him being the black sheep of
the family. But Selvaggio said he could have told the trial attorneys about
Bucklew’s opiate addiction and problems within his family, including the abuse
he endured from his father. “No one ever called me and asked me to testify,” he
said. “I would’ve definitely told them he wasn’t in his right mind. That’s not
him … he wasn’t a person to do something like that.”
Simon declined to comment on allegations made against him, citing
confidentiality rules, but told The Appeal in an email that he thinks Bucklew’s
sentence should be commuted to life without parole.
To explain his behavior, Bucklew’s trial attorneys leaned on the testimony of
their psychiatrist, Dr. Bruce Harry. Harry diagnosed Bucklew with antisocial
personality disorder, a condition marked by manipulation, exploitation, and
lack of remorse. He formed this opinion by meeting with Bucklew once and then
talking to his parents and sister-in-law over the phone.
But after attorneys provided him with an apologetic letter from Bucklew to his
ex-girlfriend, Ray, and reviewing the diagnostic criteria for the disorder,
Harry admitted to Bucklew’s attorneys in 2018 that he was wrong. “I was
incorrect in diagnosing Antisocial Personality Disorder,” he wrote.
This misdiagnosis “devastated the defense efforts to persuade the jury to
reject the death penalty,” Bucklew’s attorneys wrote in his clemency petition.
It gave the prosecution a chance to use the diagnosis to show that Bucklew was
an “unrepentant sociopath” who would be a threat to everyone in prison if he
were sentenced to life without parole.
While it is rare for a Missouri governor to spare a death row prisoner’s life,
it’s not unheard of. In the last decade, the governor has granted 2 people have
clemency, though 21 have been executed.
Bucklew’s execution is the first since Parson, who is pro-life, took office in
2018. In May, the governor said it was “time to make Missouri the most pro-life
state in the country” after signing a bill criminalizing abortions after eight
weeks. If the execution does move forward, experts have said it is bound to be
painful for Bucklew. It is likely he will either suffocate on his own blood,
while bleeding in his mouth, nose, and eyes, according to the clemency
petition.
Parson did not return requests for comment from The Appeal.
Missouri’s plans to execute Bucklew have drawn condemnation from international
leaders. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a quasi-judicial body
that oversees human rights law, has urged U.S. officials to stop his execution.
On Tuesday, Bucklew’s attorneys, along with the American Civil Liberties Union
will argue their case for life in front of the commission. The U.S. State
Department and Missouri officials are expected to attend.
“In a way it will be unprecedented,” Jamil Dakwar, head of the ACLU’s Human
Rights Program, told The Appeal, explaining that it is rare for death penalty
cases to appear before the commission, especially so close to an execution
date. Though a violation of the commission’s order doesn’t carry any
punishment, “the U.S. will be shamed” if it goes through with the execution,
said Dakwar.
Morley Swingle, the trial prosecutor, has said he plans to bring a picture of
Ray, Bucklew’s ex-girlfriend, to the execution. “She wanted her face to be the
last thing Bucklew saw before he died, and if the prison officials let me do
so, I plan to hold up a photograph of her so that her wishes are carried out,”
Swingle told the Southeast Missourian.
In a statement to The Appeal, through his attorneys, Bucklew, now 51, said he
hopes Parson considers that he has changed during his time in prison when
deciding whether he should live. “The law doesn’t take into consideration that
with age comes wisdom. I am absolutely a different person,” he wrote. “I am
more even-keeled than I was when I was younger. I feel terrible about what
happened to Stephanie Ray and Michael Sanders.” His dosage of opiate
medications has decreased, and he said he feels different after getting off his
old regimen. “I felt angry from the meds. It was much harder to keep my
feelings under control. I no longer feel that way and have changed a lot.”
(source: theappeal.org)
WYOMING:
Judge rejects Uden’s attempt to withdraw guilty plea
After retracting the confession that landed him in prison, convicted
triple-murderer Gerald Uden will not get another chance in Fremont County
District Court.
Judge Jason Conder denied 77-year-old Uden’s request to withdraw the guilty
plea made nearly 6 years ago.
Uden remains at the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution in Torrington.
In his denial, Conder addressed the case that frustrated local and state law
enforcement for 33 years following the September 1980 disappearance of
32-year-old Virginia Uden and her sons Richard, 11, and Regan,10.
The judge wrote that Gerald Uden’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea was
denied because of temporal jurisdiction, saying that the motion is “untimely.”
Wyoming law states that convicted defendants have five years to appeal after
sentencing. Uden was sentenced Nov. 12, 2013, after he confessed to shooting
his estranged wife with her heirloom hunting rifle, then shooting one of his
adopted sons before chasing down the other.
“Richard was standing beside the tailgate of the station wagon, and I shot him
behind the ear,” Uden had told the court. “That took approximately 10 seconds.
Regan saw what was happening, and he ran, and he tripped and he fell in the
ditch.”
Uden shot Regan behind the ear as well, court documents state.
Uden wrote to true-crime author Ron Franscell earlier this year stating that
his late wife Alice Uden, who died in June, had actually killed his estranged
family.
Because Gerald Uden’s sentencing was more than five years ago, the court no
longer has jurisdiction over his plea.
But there were several factors in the request for withdrawal. Uden had written
that he was incompetent at the time of the crime, that his factual basis was
inadequate, and that his legal counsel should have done more.
In response, Conder stated that “the court disagrees” but “will not, need not,
and cannot address those substantive issues” because too much time has passed
since the sentencing.
Therefore, Conder continued, Uden’s motion to withdraw the guilty plea “shall
be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.”
Just a few hours after Uden’s request to withdraw his guilty plea was filed on
July 18, Fremont County Attorney Patrick LeBrun submitted his own response on
the matter, also citing the expiration of the court’s temporal jurisdiction.
While his wife was on her death bed, Uden also wrote a letter to Wyoming Gov.
Mark Gordon, requesting pardon, commutation, or relief.
Gordon’s office referred the letter to Attorney General Bridget Hill. Her
office told Uden: “You are not eligible for pardon consideration and neither
the Governor nor the Attorney General’s Office can assist you with seeking
relief from the courts.”
Uden’s request was then forwarded to the Wyoming Board of Parole, which can
make a favorable or unfavorable review of it, if the board chooses to do so.
Alice Uden was arrested in 2013 in Missouri after the body of her third
husband, Ron Holtz, was discovered in a Cheyenne-area mineshaft with a bullet
in its skull. She was charged with 2nd-degree murder for killing Holtz and was
sentenced in 2014.
Days after Alice Uden’s arrest, Gerald Uden confessed to Wyoming Department of
Criminal Investigation that he had killed had killed Virginia Uden and the two
boys. He confessed likewise throughout court proceedings.
In October 2013, Gerald Uden agreed to plead guilty if Wyoming dropped the
option of a death penalty.
The state agreed, and Uden was sentenced to life in prison.
(source: wyomingnews.com)
IDAHO:
Idaho's death row is shrinking
The population of Idaho's death row has been slowly shrinking, in part because
some previously condemned inmates have won appeals, been resentenced to life in
prison or died of natural causes. More than 40 people have been sentenced to
death in Idaho since the 1970s, but only 3 people have been executed during
that span — Keith Eugene Wells died by lethal injection in 1994 after dropping
his appeals and demanding to be executed, Paul Ezra Rhoades was executed in
2011 and Richard Albert Leavitt in 2012.
Today, 8 people remain on Idaho's death row:
— Thomas Creech was already serving 2 life sentences for a double murder in
Valley County when law enforcement officers said he beat fellow inmate David
Dale Jensen to death with a sock full of batteries. He's been on death row
since 1983, and his appeal of his conviction in Jensen's murder is still moving
forward in federal court. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is asking
attorneys for more information in the case.<
— Gerald Pizzuto arrived on death row in 1986, convicted of murder in
connection with the beating deaths of 2 people in Idaho County. His appeal has
focused on whether he has shown that he is intellectually disabled, since
federal law prohibits the execution of people with intellectual disabilities.
Earlier this year a 3-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
upheld a lower court's ruling that Pizzuto failed to show he met the criteria
to be considered intellectually disabled; Pizutto's attorneys are now asking
the full 9th Circuit to consider the case.
— Timothy Dunlap has been on Idaho's death row since 1992, but he also faces
the death penalty in Ohio for a separate killing in 1991. Prosecutors said he
killed his girlfriend with a crossbow in a Cincinnati park and then 10 days
later in Idaho, killed Tonya Crane during a bank robbery in Caribou County.
Dunlap's post-conviction relief petition will likely go before the Idaho
Supreme Court sometime soon; his appeals on the Ohio case are also moving
forward in federal court.
— Robin Row, the only woman on Idaho's death row, was sentenced to death in
1993 in connection with the arson deaths of her husband, son and daughter in
Ada County. Her appeal is awaiting a ruling in Idaho's U.S. District Court.
— James Hairston was sent to death row in connection with the shooting deaths
of 2 elderly residents; the judge at his trial characterized the murders as
executions for money. Hairston was the 19th inmate on Idaho's death row when he
arrived in 1996. Now he's 1 of 8 condemned inmates. He has 2 appeals still
pending in court.
— Erick Hall has been sentenced to death twice over in 2 separate Boise
murders. Prosecutors said he kidnapped, raped and murdered 1 woman in 2000 and
a 2nd woman in 2003; investigators noticed similarities between the 2 cases
after the 2nd murder. His first death sentence came in 2004 and the 2nd in
2007. He currently has three appeals pending in the 2 cases.
— Abdullah Azad also arrived on death row in 2004 in connection with the arson
death of his wife in Ada County. Azad has appeals pending at both the state and
federal levels.
— Jonathan Renfro is the newest Idaho death row inmate, condemned in 2017 for
the shooting death of a police officer in Kootenai County. His post-conviction
relief petition is still pending in court.
**************************
Idaho execution records appeal may be considered next year
The Idaho Supreme Court is expected to decide next year whether prison
officials must reveal the past source of their execution drugs. Similar debates
are raging in courthouses and statehouses across the United States, but it's
not yet clear if rulings elsewhere — including a recent 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals decision that said there is no First Amendment right to the
information — will impact the Idaho fight.
Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray said in a statement that
prison officials haven't yet discussed the 9th U.S. Circuit ruling with the
department's attorneys, and so they haven't yet formed an opinion on whether
the ruling will help their appeal.
ACLU attorney Molly Kafka says she doesn't think the federal appellate court
ruling will negatively impact University of Idaho professor Aliza Cover's case.
Cover, who is represented by the ALCU, sued the Idaho Department of Corrections
after the department largely denied her public record request in 2017. Cover,
who studies how the public interacts with the death penalty, was seeking
documents about the lethal injection drugs used in the state's two most recent
executions.
Earlier this year a state judge said prison officials had to turn over much of
the information, including documents that would show the supplier of the drugs
used in its last execution seven years ago. The case is now under appeal to the
Idaho Supreme Court, and the high court is expected to release a scheduling
order for the appeal sometime next month.
On Tuesday, however, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on a
similar case out of Arizona.
In that case seven inmates and a First Amendment Coalition argued that
journalists should be allowed to hear as well as see what happens in an
execution chamber, and that prison officials should be required under the First
Amendment to divulge other information about executions, including the source
of lethal injection drugs.
The federal appellate court agreed that journalists should be able to hear and
see executions, but said there is no First Amendment right to some other
execution-related information.
"Of course it's not great to see this opinion come out, but in terms of how it
applies to Professor Cover's case, it doesn't address it," ACLU attorney Molly
Kafka said. "That case was brought on First Amendment claims, and we're focused
specifically on Idaho's Public Records Act and the balancing requirement
Idaho's law requires."
In other words, though the federal appellate court said there's not a general
First Amendment right to the information, the ACLU believes it's still
releasable under Idaho's public records law. Prison officials were required to
weigh the benefit of releasing the information to the public against the any
potential harm that would be caused by its release, and the ACLU maintains that
was never done.
Case law surrounding execution secrecy is continually evolving, as courthouses
and statehouses across the nation grapple with the issue. A split Arkansas
Supreme Court earlier this year upheld a law that keeps secret information
about execution drug makers and sellers, and a Texas Supreme Court said
disclosing the source of lethal-injection drugs used in previous executions
would put employees of a compounding pharmacy at risk of "physical harm."
(source for both Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA:
Suspected Poway Shooter Ordered To Stand Trial On Murder, Other Counts
A 20-year-old nursing student accused of opening fire at a Poway synagogue,
killing 1 congregant and injuring several others, was ordered Friday to stand
trial on murder, attempted murder and other charges.
Presiding Judge Peter C. Deddeh ruled that enough evidence was presented by
prosecutors to hold John T. Earnest to answer to the charges stemming from the
April 27 shooting at Chabad of Poway, as well as an arson count stemming from a
March 24 blaze at the Dar-ul-Arqam Mosque, also known as the Islamic Center of
Escondido.
The charges include a special circumstance hate crime allegation that could
lead to the death penalty. The San Diego County District Attorney's Office has
yet to decide whether to pursue capital punishment against the Rancho
Penasquitos resident, who's being held without bail and is due back in court on
Oct. 3 for arraignment.
Earnest also faces more than 100 hate crime-related counts filed by the U.S.
Attorney's Office and could also face the death penalty in the federal case.
The Cal State San Marcos student is accused of carrying out the shooting on the
last day of Passover, killing 60-year-old Lori Gilbert Kaye, who was shot twice
in the synagogue's foyer and died at a hospital. Kaye, a longtime member of
Chabad of Poway, was at the temple with her husband and daughter the day of the
shooting to honor her mother, who had recently died.
The congregation's rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein, 57, lost a finger in the shooting.
2 other people — Almog Peretz, 34, and his 8-year-old niece, Noya Dahan — were
also injured.
In court Thursday, the judge heard a recording of a 911 call Earnest made
minutes after fleeing the scene of the synagogue shooting. On the call, he
tells a dispatcher he committed the shooting because Jewish people were
destroying the white race.
"They're destroying our people. I'm trying to show them that we're not going to
go down without a fight," Earnest is heard saying on the recording. "I'm
defending my nation against the Jewish people, who are trying to destroy all
white people."
Earnest told a dispatcher he was armed but would not use his weapon on
officers.
Peretz, who was the last witness to take the stand, testified this morning that
he heard a loud boom, which he initially thought might have been glass falling
from the ceiling or something else falling over.
Speaking through a Hebrew interpreter, he said he took a few steps toward the
sound, saw Earnest, then grabbed his friend's young daughter in one arm and his
niece with his other hand.
Peretz said he ran through the back exit into the playground area of the
synagogue, and only noticed that he and his niece were injured — he sustained a
gunshot wound to the back of his right leg, while Noya was struck by shrapnel
in her face and leg — after getting the children to a safe place.
Another congregant, Oscar Stewart, testified on Thursday he was at the
synagogue that morning with his wife and stepdaughter.
"It was chaos," Stewart said, describing the scene after four shots rang out
from the lobby, sending congregants screaming and fleeing toward the exits.
Stewart said he ran toward the gunshots and saw Earnest firing, then apparently
running out of ammo and stopping to reload.
Having previously served in the Navy and Army — including two tours in Iraq —
Stewart said he rushed at the shooter and yelled that he was going to kill him
in an effort to distract the assailant. Earnest then fled out the front doors,
with Stewart and several other congregants in tow.
Jonathan Morales, an off-duty Border Patrol agent working as a security guard,
told Stewart to fall back because Morales was armed. Morales fired four to five
shots at Earnest's Honda Civic — striking the car once — as the defendant
quickly made a U-turn on Chabad Way and sped off.
Stewart testified that he returned to the synagogue after Earnest fled and
began performing CPR on Kaye, who was facedown in the lobby. Her husband, Dr.
Howard Kaye, assisted in the medical efforts, but did not initially realize the
wounded woman was his wife, Stewart said. When he finally recognized her,
Stewart said Howard Kaye "let out a groan, then he fainted."
San Diego police officer Jonathan Wiese testified that he arrested Earnest, who
was inside his stopped car on West Bernardo Drive.
Earnest exited the car, then asked Wiese, "How's your day going?" and later
asked the officer if he knew "what the Jews have done to our race?"
A receipt found in Earnest's car showed he purchased the rifle at San Diego
Guns on April 13, the same day a California Fish and Wildlife card located in
his bedroom showed he completed a hunting program, qualifying him for a hunting
license. However, the license — which would allow someone in California under
21 to purchase a gun — was not valid until July 1.
Earnest allegedly admitted to both the shooting and the mosque fire in an
online open letter in which he espouses flagrant anti-Semitic sentiments and a
need to protect the "European race."
In the "open letter" that authorities say Earnest posted online shortly before
the shooting, the author wrote that he spent 4 weeks planning the attack,
citing his "disgust" for Jews and a desire to kill them, and expressed
admiration for the Australian white nationalist who attacked 2 mosques in
Christchurch, New Zealand, in March, killing 50 people.
The writer also claimed responsibility for the March 24 blaze, which was
quickly extinguished by people inside the mosque. Graffiti left in the mosque's
parking lot paid tribute to the Christchurch shooter.
Surveillance footage allegedly captured a suspect arriving at the mosque in the
same type of vehicle in which Earnest was captured on the day of the synagogue
shooting.
In addition to the state case, Earnest also faces more than 100 federal counts
related to hate crimes. He could also face the death penalty in the federal
case.
(source: KPBS news)
OREGON:
Death penalty bill a betrayal
In June, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 1013 that narrowed the
definition of aggravated murder and drastically reduced the number of murderers
in this state who are eligible for the death penalty.
While reasonable minds can differ on the question of capital punishment, we
should all agree that our laws need to be clearly written and not cause harm to
victims of crime.
Even though the proponents of the bill made assurances that it would not be
retroactive, some now admit they always intended for the new law to be
retroactive.
A judge in Washington County ruled in August that the new law is retroactive
and applies to a pending 1998 case where the defendant was convicted of
aggravated murder, received the death penalty and subsequently was granted
post-conviction relief. Martin Allen Johnson was convicted of raping and
killing a 15-year-old Tigard girl and dumping her body off the Astoria Bridge.
The Oregon Department of Justice said last month that they would not appeal the
judge’s ruling.
Now Gov. Kate Brown refuses to call a special session to fix the defective
death penalty bill even though the bill doesn’t take effect until Sept. 29.
The poor victim’s family, thinking that the case was finished and the defendant
was on death row, now has to face the prospect of a new trial. The trial court
has already ruled that the defendant can’t receive the death penalty because
the facts don’t fit the new death penalty statute.
To force victims to relive tragedies and come away with even less justice for
their loved one that they reasonably believed already was done is a fate I
would not wish upon anyone.
Regardless of where you stand on the death penalty, we all want certainty when
it comes to some of our most important laws. I feel betrayed as a voter because
I voted for the death penalty back in the 1970s and again in the 1980s and
1990s as a majority of Oregonians have done.
Due to the end run by the Legislature and the refusal by the governor to call a
special session, I feel cheated out of my vote. You may, too, regardless of
your personal views on the death penalty.
The fix is fairly easy. The cost to the state wouldn’t be nearly as much as the
cost to all of the crime victims’ families who will potentially be revictimized
by the callous way in which our death penalty was gutted and made retroactive,
apparently by design.
There’s still a few days left and maybe Gov. Brown and the Legislature can
still fix this mess. Please sound off about this unfair situation. Without a
fix, justice will be denied to many victims in our state. Our local legislators
should be congratulated for voting “no” on this bill.
This type of end run of democracy should not be tolerated.
(source: Guest Commentary; Ron Brown is the Clatsop County district
attorney----The Astorian)
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