[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TENN., NEB., NEV., CALIF., USA
April 13 TENNESSEE: Tennessee death row inmates bring legal challenge to U.S. Supreme Court Death row inmates who challenged their method of death lost their case in Tennessee, but that's not the end of it. The case is now headed to the United States Supreme Court and could bring planned executions to a grinding halt. Death row inmates challenged the state's lethal injection protocol in 2018, arguing the three drug cocktail is inhumane. The Tennessee Supreme Court threw out their objections, leading to the inmates to the U.S. Supreme Court and an advocate, who might surprise you. "This is our 1st such brief and we are excited to be a part of it," said Hannah Cox. Cox is with Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. Yes, conservatives -- who Cox admits traditionally support capital punishment. "That's absolutely been the stereotype and it's been true for many years," said Cox. But she said that's changing. The group is siding with Donnie Johnson, who killed his wife, and 22 other Tennessee death row inmates -- for the first time taking their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. "This is a great way to highlight how ridiculous the system has gotten," said Cox. "This is a fundamental fairness issue," added attorney Amy Rao Mohan. She said it was wrong when late last year the state upheld the use of the 3-drug execution cocktail, which critics say can cause great pain. Rao Mohan said key documents on other drugs and their manufacturers which the state works with were redacted. As a result, inmates were not given the opportunity to show there are more humane drug alternatives. "When someone is fighting for their life they at least deserve a fair chance," said Rao Mohan. The petitions were filed with the highest court, and if the case moves forward, it could put executions in Tennessee back on hold for months if not years. The U.S. Supreme Court will issue a ruling before Tennessee's next execution. Donnie Johnson is scheduled to be executed next in Tennessee on May 16. The state attorney general issued a response to the filings urging the high court not to take the case and to affirm the actions of the Tennessee Supreme Court. (source: WTVF news) NEBRASKA: Aubrey Trail's attorney aims to discover if Pete Ricketts influenced decision to seek death penalty The attorney for accused murderer Aubrey Trail wants to discover whether Gov. Pete Ricketts, a staunch supporter of capital punishment, had any influence on the decision to seek the death penalty for Trail and his girlfriend. Attorney Ben Murray, Trail’s court-appointed defense attorney, filed a motion on Friday to discover “all communications” between the governor’s office and attorneys with the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, who are prosecuting Trail and who decided to seek the death penalty. Murray said that he is not alleging wrongdoing by the governor and only has suspicion of his office’s involvement, but that any decision to seek the death penalty must not be based on “improper influence or bias.” “Seeking death on the basis of political or personal gain would constitute an improper reason to seek the execution …” stated the motion. “I feel like we have a right to know,” Murray said in a telephone interview. “It’s too important not to find out if everything is on the up and up.” The governor’s office spokesman, Taylor Gage, said that they do not comment on pending litigation. The discovery motion is another bizarre twist in an already bizarre case. Trail, 52, and his girlfriend, Bailey Boswell, 25, are accused in the slaying and dismemberment of Lincoln store clerk Sydney Loofe. Loofe, 24, disappeared after arranging a date with Boswell via an Internet dating app, Tinder, on Nov. 15, 2017. Trail and Boswell went on Facebook as a massive search was underway to find Loofe to say they were not responsible. Weeks later, after they were arrested, Trail called reporters to say he accidentally strangled Loofe to death during a sexual fantasy. Boswell, according to Trail, was not there during the slaying, but assisted in disposing of the body. Last summer, the Attorney General’s Office announced that the death penalty would be sought for both Trail and Boswell. That was about 1½ years after Nebraskans voted to restore capital punishment in Nebraska via a referendum that was backed by Ricketts financially and via his public statements. The governor gave $300,000 toward the petition drive to put the matter on the ballot; his father, TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, gave $100,000. The initiative was launched after the Nebraska Legislature, in the spring of 2015, voted to abolish the death penalty over a veto from the Republican governor. Friday’s motion by Trail’s attorney stated that the “potential for improper influence” from Ricketts was illustrated by his spending “substantial” personal sums to support the effort to restore the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TENN., NEB., CALIF.
December 7 TENNESSEEexecution Tennessee Executes David Earl Miller for 1983 MurderMiller is the 2nd Tennessee prisoner to be put to death in Tennessee's electric chair in as many months Nearly 37 years after he was convicted of murdering Lee Standifer, a 21-year-old Knoxville woman he'd been dating, David Earl Miller has been executed in the electric chair. Miller was pronounced dead at 7:25 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6. His last words were "Beats being on death row." Miller is the 2nd Tennessee prisoner to be killed by electrocution in as many months. Edmund Zagorski was executed in the electric chair in November. After going nearly a decade without an execution, Tennessee has now carried out 3 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville this year. Miller, the longest-serving prisoner on Tennessee's death row, had been awaiting death for nearly 37 years. The Scene offered Miller the chance to give a statement before his death, and sent questions to him through his attorneys, but he declined. The brutal murder for which Miller was sentenced to death took place on May 20, 1981. After the 2 had gone on a date, Miller killed Standifer — who was intellectually disabled — by bludgeoning her with a fireplace poker before stabbing her dead body numerous times. Prosecutors asserted at the trial that the murder had taken place after Miller sexually assaulted Standifer. The state’s medical examiner found evidence that sexual intercourse had taken place, but Standifer’s body showed no signs of sexual assault. The court determined that there was not enough evidence of sexual assault to put it before the jury. Later, during Miller’s sentencing, a different judge allowed prosecutors to present that charge to a jury, but the jury rejected it. Gov. Bill Haslam announced just after noon on Thursday that he would not intervene to stop the execution, despite a plea for clemency from Miller's attorneys that detailed the condemned man's horrific history of mental illness and childhood physical and sexual abuse. As a young boy, Miller was allegedly raped by his mother on multiple occasions, and brutally beaten by his stepfather. Miller's attorneys note that by age 10 he had attempted to kill himself twice and was already drinking alcohol. Sexual abuse, mental illness and addiction would be a theme throughout his life, up until the night he killed Lee Standifer. Miller had a daughter of his own, Stephanie Thoman, who was just 2 years old when her father was sent to prison. She first remembers meeting him when she was 12 and has maintained a relationship with him since. “I think that he’s a kind person," she told the Scene earlier this week, when asked to describe her 61-year-old father as he is today. "He’s quiet. He kind of stays to himself. It’s hard to imagine him getting mad.” Lee Standifer's 84-year-old mother, Helen, lives in Arizona now. She did not make the trip to see the man who murdered her daughter put to death. “I don’t see that it accomplishes anything at all," she told the Scene in an interview. "It’s immaterial. It doesn’t bring my daughter back, it doesn’t accomplish anything. Frankly, I don’t see any reason to be there.” Miller becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Tennessee and the 9th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 2000. Miller becomes the 23rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1,488 overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. The 23 executions equals the total of executions carried out in the USA last year; there are executions scheduled in Texas (Dec. 11) and Florida (Dec. 13) next week. (sources: Nashville Scene & Rick Halperin) * Tennessee executes another inmate by electric chair after supreme court battleDavid Earl Miller was the 2nd inmate in 5 weeks to reject the state’s preferred method of execution A convicted killer who spent more than 36 years on death row in Tennessee was executed by electric chair on Thursday, the second time in five weeks that the state used electrocution to carry out a death sentence. Corrections officials say 61-year-old David Earl Miller was pronounced dead at 7.25 pm Thursday at a Nashville maximum-security prison. Both Miller and Edmund Zagorski before him chose the electric chair over lethal injection, a process proponents said would be painless and humane. The execution came nearly 2 decades after the state adopted lethal injection as its preferred method. But the inmates argued in court that Tennessee’s current midazolam-based process causes a prolonged and torturous death. They pointed to the August execution of Billy Ray Irick, which took about 20 minutes and during which he coughed and huffed before turning a dark purple. Their case was thrown out, largely because a judge said they failed to prove a more humane alternative was
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TENN., NEB.
Sept. 28 TENNESSEE: Death penalty sought in slaying of Cleveland mother, child The man accused of shooting to death a Cleveland woman and her 5-year-old son in December will face the death penalty if convicted. Steve Crump, attorney general in the 10th Judicial District, said this morning he has filed a notice to seek the death penalty against Ross Anderson. Friends and family were shocked at the slayings of 30-year-old Rachel Johnson and her son, Colton, in their home last year. Anderson, a former Cleveland firefighter, was arrested in Murfreesboro, Tenn., after he knocked on a stranger's door around 4 a.m., telling the homeowner it looked like a nice place to stay. 9 hours later, officers in Cleveland found the bodies of the mother and child in their home on Hillview Drive NW, according to newspaper archives. (source: timesfreepress.com) NEBRASKA: Omaha Press Club's Noon Forum for September focuses on the death penalty In May of 2015, the Nebraska Unicameral passed a bill that banned the death penalty in the state. Since then, Nebraskans for the Death Penalty obtained 166,692 signatures to place the death penalty issue on the November ballot. Voters will decide whether or not to keep the ban in place when they head to the polls. September's Omaha Press Club Noon Forum focused on the death penalty and featured presentations from Robert Evnen, co-founder of Nebraskans for the Death Penalty and Senator Colby Coash, co-chair of Retain a Just Nebraska. At the end of the forum, the 2 were asked to respond to the argument that innocent people have been put to death under the death penalty. Evnen says there are no claims that anyone currently on death row in Nebraska is innocent. "We have to take a look what happens in our state. Then when you look at what's happening across the country and you have these examples of others. Well maybe there are 156 people that claim to have been exonerated but for 90% of those people, it isn't that they were found innocent. It's that a court concluded the evidence was not sufficient. That's a lot different than saying, 'We know they're innocent'" Senator Coash had a slightly different take on the issue. "This happens and it's a risk. Many of us in the legislature have talked about it. I've met people who've been on death row, who were close to execution, and then DNA exonerated them. Criminal justice is full of people. So it's full of fallible humans. And it is that risk that weighed on many of our minds as to whether or not this is a punishment we ought to have on our books." You can hear the Omaha Press Club Noon Forum on the Death Penalty in its entirety on Thursday, November 3rd at Noon. (source: KIOS news) ___ 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----TENN., NEB., FLA., COLO.
Feb. 4 TENNESSEE: Henley put to death, but questions remain Tennessee executed Steve Henley early Wednesday for the 1985 killings of a couple in Jackson County, applying a final solution to a case that had no final answers. Just as the state moved ahead to put Philip Workman to death 16 months ago, despite finding he did not fire the gun that killed a Memphis police officer, questions surround the conviction of Henley, 55. Chief among them is whether any death-penalty case should hinge on the testimony of a co-defendant, in whose interest it is that the other man receive the blame. Henley's co-defendant, Terry Flatt, received a reduced sentence of 25 years after testifying that Henley shot Fred and Edna Stafford and set fire to their house because of a money dispute. And Flatt served only 5 years of that sentence. Henley always maintained his innocence, even from the gurney where he was administered the lethal injection. Henley's account may have been as credible as that of his co-defendant. But we will never know since, with capital punishment, there is no recourse. Yes, Henley spent more than 20 years on death row, in which he could have mounted a more thorough appeal. But Henley could not afford it and that is the other element of this tragedy. In Tennessee, and in other states that apply capital punishment, you are more likely to be put to death if you are indigent. Henley could not afford a lawyer to prepare a petition for clemency, which could have resulted in his sentence being commuted to life in prison. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering a separate Tennessee case, that of inmate Edward Jerome Harbison, who argues indigent death-row inmates seeking clemency should have a right to adequate legal representation. But the justices refused a stay in Henley's execution, without explanation, while that case is decided. Inadequate counsel; income and racial disparities; lack of deterrence to other criminals; and the use of lethal injection which, despite a ruling by the conservative-leaning Supreme Court, is questionable on constitutional grounds all leave Tennessees death penalty system on shaky ground. A special committee of the legislature studied the state system last fall and recommended an agency be set up to ensure capital-case lawyers have sufficient experience and are adequately paid. If that plan is adopted, it will help toward ensuring fair trials. However, the methods of execution employed by the state should be studied further. Until those things happen, Tennessee should put executions on hold. Most states have realized that the death penalty does not make sense in terms of justice, fighting crime, or even in the cost to taxpayers. Executions fell nationwide in 2008, even after a high court moratorium was lifted in April. When will Tennessees death-penalty officials see the light? (source: Editorial, The Tennessean) NEBRASKA: Lawyer: Norfolk bank robber's IQ bars death penalty Erick Vela, 1 of 3 men sentenced to death for slaying 5 people inside a Norfolk, Neb., bank, meets state definitions for mental retardation and should be ineligible for capital punishment, the Nebraska Supreme Court was told this morning. Erick VelaVelas court-appointed attorney, Jeff Pickens of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy, said that Vela scored low enough on 2 intelligence tests prior to his trial in the 2002 slayings to be declared mentally retarded. Since 1998, the state has prohibited execution of convicted murderers found to be mentally retarded, which is defined as scoring less than 70 on an IQ test. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld such bans. During lower court hearings on the retardation question, Vela's attorneys had sought to disqualify Vela for the death penalty after he scored 66 on one IQ test, and 75 on another. The 2nd score, Pickens said today, would be within the 5 % point error range for such tests. Prosecutors argued that he had scored higher, 75 and 87, on 2 other tests, and that he functioned at a level above the mental retardation standard. In 2006, District Judge Patrick Rogers of Norfolk ruled that Vela, now 28, was able to write intelligent written requests to his lawyers, maintain hobbies and conduct business in society. The judge said Vela's lawyers had failed to establish at least two significant limitations in functioning, as required. Today, Kirk Brown of the Nebraska Attorney Generals Office, told the Supreme Court that while Judge Rogers may have misread one of the statutory definitions used to determine mental retardation, that his ruling was correct. The high court judges asked several questions about the definition of mental retardation intended in state law. It was the first arguments before the court on the issue. Brown told the court that Vela's argument would expand the definition of mental retardation beyond that intended by the Nebraska Legislature. (source: Omaha World-Herald) FLORIDA: Fla. man
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TENN., NEB., NEV., ARIZ.
Oct. 15 TENNESSEE: Events have raised doubts about fairness in system In my former roles as the attorney general for the state of Tennessee and a United States attorney, I have made decisions affecting the life and liberty of our fellow citizens. Once I took the oath of office for those positions, I attempted to follow the law, irrespective of my personal feelings. But over the past 5 years, several events have caused me to have doubts about the fairness and reliability of the administration of the death penalty in Tennessee and to join together with others to look for ways to improve it. Most recently, I served on the American Bar Association's Tennessee Death Penalty Assessment Team, which conducted a three-year study of the death penalty in Tennessee. In a report issued in April of this year, the committee found that Tennessee fails to comply with most of the nationally recognized standards required for a fair and accurate death penalty system. Many of these shortcomings are substantial and serious. They illustrate the need for a meaningful and comprehensive review to ascertain how to improve the fairness and accuracy of the Tennessee capital punishment system. Fortunately, the General Assembly has legislatively mandated a study of our state's death penalty. The Committee to Study the Administration of the Death Penalty is charged with issuing recommendations designed to make capital punishment in Tennessee uniform in its application and administration so that the capital process is free from bias and error. The bipartisan committee is composed of legislators, representatives of the governor, district attorneys, criminal defense lawyers and experts from various associations who are stakeholders in the criminal justice system. With this committee, Tennessee has a great opportunity to address the serious flaws of its capital punishment system. This is no small order, and cannot be taken lightly. Tennessee is not alone in its need to undertake a study of this breadth and depth. Other reviews have been conducted on the state and national levels, and we have good examples to learn from. It is clear that the current system is not working - not for victims' families who wait decades for closure, not for defendants whose lives are at stake in an imperfect system, and not for society at large. It is in everyone's best interest that Tennessee move toward a more fair and accurate system. If the work of the committee is open, detailed and broad in scope, as it should be, it could lead to real improvements in the fairness and reliability of the death penalty system. In a society of laws governing issues of life and death, an improved system is imperative if we are to be true to Tennessee's ideals of justice. (source: Opinion, The Tennesean -- W.J. Michael Cody is a partner with the Memphis law firm of Burch Porter Johnson and was U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee 1977-1981 and Tennessee attorney general 1984-1988.) *** Perhaps, new study will prove valuable For over 30 years, I have served the United States and Tennessee. As a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit and a United States attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, I reviewed many death penalty cases and have made it a point to study death penalty law. I served as a member of the American Bar Association's Tennessee Assessment Team, which issued a report earlier this year assessing Tennessee's death penalty system. Recent death penalty cases from Tennessee show a continued decline in the accuracy and fairness of the state's capital punishment system. The administration of the death penalty nationwide remains broken and arbitrary, and that seems particularly true in Tennessee. Some who have been condemned to death are, in fact, innocent of the crime charged. There is a consistent pattern of ineffective assistance of defense counsel, prosecutorial misconduct and other serious constitutional errors. Addressing a critical problem The judicial administration of the death penalty is by far the most difficult, time-consuming, frustrating, and critical joint problem that the Tennessee and federal judiciary have to grapple with on a daily basis. Our current system consumes enormous public resources, involving many years of sustained work by state prosecutors, state defenders, state judges, federal defenders and federal judges. Unfortunately, until now neither the Tennessee General Assembly, the judiciary, nor the governor's office has taken any serious steps toward correcting obvious problems. Perhaps this will change. The General Assembly has commissioned a study committee to seriously examine capital punishment in Tennessee. When the Committee to Study the Administration of the Death Penalty convenes later this month, it will be charged with a thorough examination of the death penalty and its administration and, in the end, offer recommendations for
