[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----NEV., ORE.
Sept. 23 NEVADA: Lawyer suspended over accusations against Nevada Supreme Court justices A panel of appointed district judges this week suspended Las Vegas lawyer James Colin because of his conduct after the Supreme Court rejected his client’s appeals in a death penalty case. Colin represented Charles Lee Randolph, 53, who was convicted of 1st-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1998. After losing that case and the appeal, Colin launched into a tirade against the high court, accusing justices of dishonesty, unethical behavior and a laundry list of other violations including illegally taking money to sit on the high court’s Library Commission — a duty they were authorized to receive payment for. And Colin made the charges in a series of pleadings filed with the high court. The panel of district judges appointed to review his conduct agreed with the State Bar and, in an opinion issued Thursday, ruled his conduct violated the rules by making false statements about the integrity of the justices and “conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.” Colin wrote, among other things, that, “The Nevada Supreme Court has no respect for the Nevada Constitution or the law of the United States of America. The court’s despicable and blatantly lawless actions have repeatedly proven this sad truth.” He charged that: “The court works hard to this very day to break the law, make up lies and complete the judicial lynching of Charles Lee Randolph.” He accused justices of being “drunk with power, acting like a lawless bully just lying and cheating to accomplish its evil objective to see Randolph dead,” and described them as “vindictive, dishonest and totally biased.” The State Bar conducted a formal hearing that Colin failed to show up for. Afterward, the State Bar recommended Colin be suspended for a year and a day. Throughout the dispute, he repeatedly called for disqualification of six of the high court members. Justice Lidia Stiglich was not a member of the court when all this occurred. To avoid suggestions of bias, a panel of six district judges from around the state was appointed to review the bar recommendation. That panel, headed by Stiglich, issued its opinion Thursday: “We conclude that the State Bar proved that Colin made statements in pleadings to the court concerning the integrity of several justices that he knew to be false or with reckless disregard for their truth or falsity.” That, the opinion states, violates the ethical rules lawyers are required to follow. They suspended him from practice for six months and a day and ordered that he pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam before getting his license back. Colin represented Randolph in 1998 when he was tried and convicted of murder and six other felonies including kidnapping and robbery. He remains in prison at the Ely maximum security prison. (source: Nevada Appeal) OREGON: Primus criticizes lack of action to fix death penalty law Gov. Kate Brown’s refusal to call a special session to fix a flaw that would make a new death penalty bill retroactive stymies Umatilla County District Attorney Dan Primus. Brown said she couldn’t justify the cost of a special session when she wasn’t sure if the votes were there to approve the fix. Primus says there is no cost too great when it comes to the crime victims. “We’re talking about the concern of incurring a cost when we’re talking about victims that are going to be revictimized as a result of this, that are going to have to go through this some more of a result of this and changes to their cases,” Primus questioned. Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Athena) has told KUMA News that he was told the votes for the fix were there in the Senate. Primus said all the lawmakers had to do was add a few words. “Just add a little language that would read, ‘As of Sept. 29, when the bill is to take place, that this would only affect crimes that occurred after that date,’” he said. There are 35 inmates who have been sentenced to death in Oregon. Thirty three of them are on death row. The only woman is in another correctional institution. One man is now at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla so he can undergo dialysis. (source: mycolumbiabasin.com) ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----NEV., ORE.
Nov. 25 NEVADA: Court rejects death-row inmate's petition to overturn capital sentence A divided Nevada Supreme Court has again rejected a death-row inmate's petition seeking to overturn his capital sentence, with the lone dissenting justice saying he was troubled by the majority's conclusion in its most recent order. The order dated Friday rejected the request by death-row inmate William Castillo to reconsider the issues he raised in his appeal of his death sentence for the murder of 86-year-old Isabelle Berndt in Las Vegas in 1995. A lower court rejected Castillo's claims without an evidentiary hearing and he appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in July rejected his appeal, and Castillo then asked for the rehearing. Castillo argued in his latest petition that 2 of the 4 aggravating circumstances found by a jury in sentencing him to death were invalid based on a previous Supreme Court case. If the 2 remaining aggravating circumstances were reconsidered alongside the factors in his favor, a jury would not have reached a verdict of death, he said. But the court majority of 5 justices said after review that the jury would not have changed its verdict of death and denied Castillo's petition. The court majority said it is confident that the jury would have concluded that the mitigating circumstances did not outweigh the valid aggravating circumstances. Justice Michael Cherry dissented, saying he would give Castillo a new penalty hearing in front of a jury rather than have this court determine whether to impose the death penalty on a 'cold record.' My own experience in litigating death penalty cases tells me that there is a vast difference when a defendant is facing 2 aggravating circumstances rather than 4 aggravating circumstances, he said in his brief dissent. The 2 remaining aggravating circumstances were that Castillo was previously convicted of a felony involving the use or threat of use of violence and that he committed the murder to avoid lawful arrest. I am seriously troubled by the majority's conclusion that beyond a reasonable doubt the jury would have returned a death sentence after considering the evidence as a whole, Cherry said. Castillo was convicted and sentenced after breaking into Berndt's home, hitting her with a tire iron and then smothering her with a pillow while she was asleep. He later returned and set the house on fire. (source: Las Vegas Review-Journal) ** Trial reset to Sept. 8 in Vegas Strip slaying case A judge agreed Monday to push back a trial date to Sept. 8 for a self-described pimp accused of killing 3 people in a February shooting and fiery crash on the Las Vegas Strip. Ammar Asim Faruq Harris stood in jail clothing and shackles, flanked by armed guards, as he agreed to give up his right to a speedy trial. His new attorneys told Clark County District Judge Kathleen Delaney they needed to arrange their schedules around other cases while they prepare a defense in Harris' death penalty case. Thomas Ericsson and Robert Langford were appointed last month at county expense to represent Harris, 27, after a team of special public defenders withdrew. Delaney refused the attorneys' request to push the trial back further, to early 2015. The judge said she wanted a faster resolution to the case. Harris has been jailed since a multistate manhunt and his arrest in Los Angeles a week after the Feb. 21 shooting and crash on the Strip. He has pleaded not guilty in the case. Harris' trial had been scheduled to begin Dec. 2 after he insisted on a speedy trial. But he changed his demand after he was found guilty Sept. 20 of four felonies stemming from a June 2010 sex attack on an 18-year-old woman at a condominium off the Las Vegas Strip. Harris feuded with the special public defenders, David Schieck and Randall Pike, about trial strategy and his defense in his pending triple murder trial. Prosecutor David Stanton has said the sex assault conviction can be considered by a jury mulling the death penalty if Harris is convicted in the Strip shooting-crash case. Harris is accused of shooting from a black Range Rover into a Maserati sports car as the 2 vehicles sped up Las Vegas Boulevard before dawn Feb. 21. Police say Harris exchanged words minutes earlier at a casino valet stand with the Maserati driver, 27-year-old aspiring rapper Kenneth Cherry Jr. Cherry was mortally wounded, and the Maserati slammed into a taxi that burst into flames, killing taxi driver Michael Boldon, 62, of Las Vegas, and passenger Sandra Sutton-Wasmund, 48, of Maple Valley, Wash. A passenger in Cherry's car was wounded but survived. (source: Associated Press) OREGON: Inmate indicted in Ore. prisoner's death An Oregon inmate has been charged with aggravated murder in the nearly 2-year-old slaying of a fellow prisoner. Court records show 32-year-old Terry Lapich was indicted late last
