Oct. 3
OHIO:
Ohio Governor Grants Reprieve to Prisoner Who Was Abandoned by Attorneys
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has granted a reprieve to Cleveland Jackson, delaying
his execution date from November 13, 2019 to January 13, 2021, because of a
misconduct complaint filed against his previous appellate attorneys. The ethics
complaint alleges that John Gibbons and James Jenkins, who were appointed in
2007 to represent Jackson during his habeas corpus appeal, missed critical
filing deadlines, did not meet with their client for years, and even failed to
inform him when an execution date was set. Without consulting with Jackson,
they also rejected offers of help from the Capital Habeas Unit for the Northern
District of Ohio.
The Board of Professional Conduct, the disciplinary branch of the Ohio Supreme
Court, filed the complaint on September 27, 2019. Governor DeWine issued the
reprieve three days later. The reprieved marked the sixth time Jackson’s
execution date has been postponed.
A news release issued by the Governor’s office on September 30 suggested that
the Jackson’s execution might be postponed beyond the two months authorized by
the reprieve order. “While a certified disciplinary complaint is only an
allegation, this is a serious allegation raising significant questions that
need to be resolved in the disciplinary process,” the statement said. “It is
prudent to issue a reprieve in this matter until the disciplinary process is
resolved.”
The statement also said the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections
was experiencing “[o]ngoing issues” relating to its ability “to acquire drugs
pursuant to their protocol.”
The 25-page ethics complaint sets forth a litany of failures that the Board of
Professional Conduct complaint charges Gibbons and Jenkins with failing to
provide competent representation, failing to act with reasonable diligence and
promptness in representing Jackson, failing to reasonably consult with Jackson
about the case, keep him informed of developments in the case, and respond to
his inquiries, failing following their withdrawal from the case “to take steps,
to the extent reasonably practicable, to protect [Jackson’s] interest,” and
“engaging in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.”
In 2007, Jackson requested that federal defenders be appointed to represent him
in his habeas corpus proceedings. The court denied that request and instead
appointed Gibbons and Jenkins, who filed a habeas petition that was quickly
denied. They appealed that denial, seeking several extensions of time before
ultimately submitting a brief that, the complaint says, failed to conform to
the court’s rules. After the appeals court upheld the lower court’s ruling, the
Ohio federal defender’s office offered to help the 2 lawyers. They refuse the
offer without consulting Jackson. They then failed to inform Jackson when Ohio
issued a death warrant scheduling his execution for 2013. Even after agreeing
to withdraw from the case, counsel remained uncooperative, failing to time
provide the defense files to Jackson’s new lawyers. In response to one request
for those files, Gibbons emailed to Jackson’s federal defenders: “Thank you for
your gratuitous, asinine, threatening letter …. Mr. Jenkins and I are
individual practitioners, not supported by the United States taxpayers, such as
you and your office.” He insisted on up-front payment for the costs of
retrieving the files before providing them to the new lawyers. The ethics
complaint says that, when the files were turned over, they contained very
little work product.
Jackson’s current lawyer, assistant federal defender Dale Baich, called the
reprieve issued by Governor DeWine “entirely appropriate due to the failure of
Mr. Jackson’s former habeas counsel which resulted in a problematic legal
process in his case.” Baich said numerous issues “were not explored due to Mr.
Jackson’s poor legal representation, [and] evidence of Mr. Jackson’s
intellectual disability was not developed and presented at the appropriate
time.” Baich said that prior counsel’s failures have “cost Mr. Jackson his
right to raise this constitutional challenge, which would have made him
ineligible for a death sentence. Now,” Baich said, “the courts may no longer
have the ability to review these and other meritorious claims.”
(source: Death Penalty Information Center)
*************************
Murderer George Brinkman: No excuses, give me death
George Brinkman argued for his own death sentence Wednesday, telling a panel of
3 judges he deserves the harshest of punishments.
Stepping to the witness stand, the 47-year-old Stark County man apologized for
murdering Roberta (Bobbi) and Rogell (Gene) John in June 2017. Brinkman said he
wasn’t making excuses for taking their lives.
“They were extremely kind, caring and wonderful and people who did not deserve
to be killed by me,” he said. ”... I’m so very sorry for the all the pain and
suffering I have caused the families and friends of Gene and Bobbi. I know that
will never be enough but it’s all I have.”
Brinkman argued against the mitigating circumstances in his own case. “Yes, I
had a horrible childhood ... yes, I’ve had a lot of bad things happen to me in
my life, so what? Other (people have) had it worse and never went around
killing people they care about.”
His remarks came a day after his defense attorneys told the court Brinkman
suffers from a traumatic childhood, depression, mental health problems, alcohol
abuse and other issues.
In closing remarks Wednesday afternoon, Stark County Assistant Prosecutor
Dennis Barr quoted the defendant in making his final argument for why Brinkman
should be given a death sentence.
“In the words of George Brinkman,” Barr said, “anything less than a sentence of
death would not be justice in this case.”
But that is only one of many factors being considered by Stark County Common
Pleas Judges Chryssa Hartnett, Taryn Heath and Kristin Farmer.
The panel also could sentence him to life in prison with no chance for parole
for 25 or 30 years or a life term without the possibility of parole.
The judges deliberated for about three hours Wednesday afternoon but couldn’t
reach a verdict on Brinkman’s fate. The panel will resume deliberations 8 a.m.
Thursday.
Following a trial Tuesday, the panel found Brinkman guilty of 2 counts of
aggravated murder, 2 counts of aggravated robbery and single counts of
aggravated burglary and tampering with evidence.
Brinkman had pleaded guilty to all charges but a trial was still required under
the law because it’s a death penalty case.
‘Worst of the worst?’
Regardless of what the judicial trio decides, Brinkman has already been
convicted and sentenced to death for slaying 3 people in Cuyahoga County the
same day he killed the Johns, a Lake Township couple known for their kindness
and generosity in helping others.
Gene John, 71, was a Vietnam War veteran who worked in the circulation
departments of The Canton Repository and The Massillon Independent for years
before he started a business distributing telephone books and publications in
the region.
Bobbi John, 64, was retired from special education. She had worked both as a
teacher and administrator in a career that included stops at the Louisville and
Alliance school districts.
Brinkman had known the couple for more than 10 years and watched their home and
17-year-old dog while they were on vacation before the murders on June 11,
2017.
During an interview with a Stark County Sheriff’s Office investigator, Brinkman
said that after they arrived at their Mount Pleasant Street NW home, Bobbi told
him she was unhappy with how he had cared for their dog, which was deaf and
blind. He said that led to an argument.
Brinkman picked up Gene’s .45-caliber handgun, which the defendant had gotten
out of storage earlier, prosecutors said. Brinkman ordered the couple to an
upstairs bedroom, where they locked the door, Barr said in closing arguments.
The defendant fired the gun at the doorknob to gain access, the assistant
prosecutor said.
He shot Gene three times and Bobbi twice, also fracturing her skull with blows
to the head, Barr said, arguing the crimes were not impulsive.
Making a case for the aggravating circumstances of the murders, Barr said in
closing arguments that Brinkman killed the couple and stole $40 from Gene’s
wallet and $100 from Bobbi’s purse because he needed money to flee the state.
Barr cited the defendant’s own words from his interview with the sheriff’s
investigator.
“This was a planned act,” he said. “Not a reaction to getting yelled at by
Bobbi, not a reaction to getting yelled at by Gene (for getting his gun out),
but a plan he thought of before they got home — it was a plan he carried out.”
During her turn at closing arguments, Stark County Public Defender Tammi
Johnson said her client had power-washed the deck, mowed the yard and ordered a
pizza before the Johns got home from vacation. She said he could have stolen
items but didn’t.
“Those are not the actions of someone who has this plan to rob and kill these
people,” Johnson said.
Referencing her client’s earlier statement asking for the death penalty, the
public defender said the facts of the case and law do not warrant it.
Dr. Bob Stinson, a forensic psychologist, testified for the defense Wednesday
regarding the defendant’s traumatic childhood, substance abuse problems and
suicidal thoughts.
Stinson said he based his opinions on a review of court records, interviews
with Brinkman, listening to Brinkman’s interview with law enforcement, talking
with others and research.
Stark County Assistant Prosecutor Fred Scott said during cross-examination that
most of Stinson’s opinions were based on Brinkman’s “self-reporting” and not
corroborated by others.
Johnson argued that not all of the doctor’s opinions and findings were based on
the defendant’s own words, including an unstable and volatile home as a child.
She also said “the state wants you to decide George is the worst of the worst”
in seeking the death penalty.
She said Brinkman has taken responsibility for his actions and has behaved well
in jail. “Is that the worst of the worst?” she asked rhetorically.
(source: indeonline.com)
NEVADA:
Appeal denied for man on death row for 5 Nevada murders
The state Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a 31-year-old death row
inmate convicted of murdering five northern Nevada residents during a 2013
rural Mother's Day weekend rampage.
Jeremiah Bean initially agreed to plead guilty to the slayings in a deal that
would have spared him the death penalty, but later changed his mind. A jury
found him guilty on all counts in 2015.
Bean's appeal argued his trial should have been moved from the small town of
Yerington southeast of Reno because of pretrial publicity. His lawyers also
said the death penalty was excessive punishment partly because of his
intellectual deficiencies.
The high court said in a unanimous opinion that "the death penalty is not
excessive in this case."
"Over the course of a single weekend, Bean murdered 5 strangers in 3 separate
incidents," Chief Justice Mark Gibbons wrote. "He engaged the crimes of his own
initiative and was not assisted or influenced by anyone else."
Prosecutors said Bean robbed and killed his victims to get cash to buy drugs,
then set fire to one of the homes in the city of Fernley homes east of Reno
that he burglarized in an attempt to destroy evidence.
In addition to the death penalty crimes, Lyon County Judge John Schlegelmilch
imposed consecutive penalties totaling 78 to 195 years for arson, robbery,
burglary, auto theft and theft using a firearm.
Bean fatally shot Robert and Dorothy Pape, both 84, in one Fernley home, and
Angie Duff, 67, and Lester Leiber, 69, at a nearby house.
He also killed a newspaper deliveryman, Elliezear Graham, 52, of Sparks, at an
I-80 exit near the Mustang Ranch brothel east of Reno after Bean flagged him
down alongside his stranded truck.
Nevada has almost 80 inmates on death row. The state has not executed anyone
since 2006, and its ability to carry out a lethal injection has been in doubt
for nearly a year after prison officials were blocked by courts from executing
Scott Dozier.
Dozier, a twice-convicted murderer who gave up his appeals and volunteered to
die, killed himself in January in his cell at Ely State Prison where Bean is
now.
Bean’s appeal included claims the lethal injection protocol is illegal, but the
justices said that matter is not “properly before us at this time.”
Bean’s appeal focused largely on his intellectual disability. It noted that two
experts gave often conflicting testimony about his mental capacity and argued
that capital cases require a “heightened level of scrutiny to ensure the lower
court’s findings were fairly supported by the record.”
The appeal documents added: “The record plainly reflects a political decision
on this critical issue by a district court judge who was, by any objective
reading, consistently biased in favor of the state’s expert, in order to
achieve a result-oriented decision that would allow the death penalty at
sentencing.”
But the court pointed to Bean’s IQ test scores as slightly higher than the
clinical definition of “sub-average intellectual functioning.”
“We acknowledge that experts agreed that Bean had some intellectual deficits
... and recognize that those deficits may have contributed to Bean’s impulsive
decision to embark on the course of conduct. But we conclude that those
deficits are insufficient to render his death sentences for the 5 murders
excessive,” the Sept. 20 ruling said.
It also said court transcripts do not demonstrate that “media coverage had
become so saturated that a fair and impartial jury could not be seated.”
(source: Associated Press)
OREGON:
Lawyers for Jeremy Christian ask for death penalty to be taken off the table
Jeremy Christian’s attorney’s appeared in court Wednesday and asked that 2 of
the aggravated murder charges Christian is facing be thrown out.
His lawyers also asked for the death penalty to be taken off the table,
claiming a new law now in effect in Oregon will impact his case. SB 1013 went
into effect Sept. 23 and narrows the state’s use of the death penalty by
changing the definition of aggravated murder.
Legislators at first said the law would not impact ongoing cases, but back in
August, Gov. Kate Brown tried to call a special session over a misunderstanding
about how the bill is written, and whether it is indeed retroactive. That
special session never happened.
Christian is accused of stabbing 3 men and killing 2 of them aboard a Portland
MAX train in May 2017. Investigators said he killed Ricky John Best, 53, of
Happy Valley, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, 23, of Portland, when they
tried to intervene as Christian yelled hate speech at 2 female passengers.
Christian is also accused of attacking another inmate while jailed in Multnomah
County.
The judge Wednesday said he has not a decision on Christian’s lawyer’s new
requests.
(source: KPTV)
USA:
Feds in New Orleans are close to securing first conviction in 2013 killing of
armored truck guard
Federal prosecutors in New Orleans are poised to secure their 1st conviction in
the 2013 killing of an armored truck guard outside a Carrollton bank, court
records filed Wednesday show.
Jasmine Theophile, the girlfriend of one of the men accused of killing Loomis
guard Hector Trochez during a robbery, is due to appear at an Oct. 9
rearraignment. While Theophile has pleaded not guilty to obstruction of
justice, defendants typically plead guilty at such hearings.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether she has struck a deal with prosecutors, but
plea bargains often require defendants to help build cases against others.
Theophile’s expected plea in front of U.S. District Judge Lance Africk would
occur less than a month before the scheduled Nov. 4 trial of 2 co-defendants,
Jeremy Esteves and Robert Brumfield.
Theophile’s boyfriend at the time of Trochez’s death, LilBear George, is set to
go to trial late next summer along with Curtis Johnson and Chukwudi Ofomata.
The 3 could face the death penalty if convicted of roles in Trochez’s murder.
Esteves and Brumfield would face life imprisonment if convicted.
Theophile is currently out on a $10,000 bond.
Her attorney, Robert Jenkins, didn’t immediately respond to a request for
comment Wednesday.
Trochez, 45, a Kenner resident born in Honduras, was fatally shot in the head
outside the Chase Bank at South Carrollton and South Claiborne avenues on Dec.
13, 2013. As he was bringing bags of money to the bank’s ATMs, he exchanged
gunfire with a group of masked and armed men.
The killers took a bag stuffed with about $265,000 and left in a stolen
Chevrolet Tahoe. A witness who trailed them watched them ditch the SUV about 10
blocks away. The killers piled into another car and fled.
Theophile then allegedly used her car to drive George, her boyfriend, as well
as the other men, out of Louisiana.
Investigators identified George as a suspect after his DNA was found on a
screwdriver left in the Tahoe. A federal grand jury handed up indictments
against George and the 5 others in November 2017.
A transcript of an April 3, 2019, hearing shows one of the prosecutors on the
case mentioned the possibility that Trochez’s killers planned the robbery with
the help of “an insider” at Chase Bank.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McMahon said his office had not “been able to
develop enough evidence” to name that person as a co-conspirator. “But the
possibility does exist,” he said.
Trochez was 1 of 2 Loomis armored truck guards shot to death in the line of
duty in New Orleans in recent years. Jimmy McBride was killed during a robbery
attempt outside a Mid-City bank on May 31, 2017. One man pleaded guilty in that
case, and 2 others were convicted at a trial in federal court.
Federal authorities have jurisdiction over bank robberies and associated
crimes.
(source: nola.com)
****************
Buttigieg Says He Would Not Execute 9/11 Mastermind
Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg is so opposed to the death
penalty he would not support executing 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
The Hill asked Buttigieg about executing Mohammed, who is currently detained at
Guantanamo Bay pending a death penalty trial scheduled to begin January 2021.
Buttigieg responded that even this case did not merit execution.
"If you mean it, you mean it," he said. "There are people who may deserve to
die. I just don't know anybody who deserves to kill them."
This is not the first time Buttigieg has opposed the death penalty. In an April
appearance at the National Action Network Convention, Buttigieg said that
capital punishment "has always been a discriminatory practice" and called for
its abolition. His criminal justice reform plan calls for "a constitutional
amendment to abolish the death penalty."
The South Bend, Ind., mayor told the Hill his religious faith informs his
categorical opposition to the death penalty, even in the case of terrorists
like Mohammed. Buttigieg, who supports abortion up until the moment of birth,
said "killing somebody who is defenseless" cannot be justified.
"I do believe that the moral consequence of killing somebody who is defenseless
for any reason goes against certainly what I've been taught about the way we're
supposed to treat human life," Buttigieg said.
Even states that have largely sought to do away with the death penalty tend to
make exceptions for terrorists. Oregon recently implemented a de facto ban on
the death penalty, restricting its use only to convicted terrorists. In 1995,
Republican New York governor George E. Pataki reinstated the death penalty,
citing what he called the "terrorist" murder of 16-year-old Hasidic student
Aaron Halberstam.
Mohammed is widely considered the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks,
which killed nearly 3,000 Americans.
(source: Washington Free Beacon)
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