[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., CALIF., USA
Dec. 15
TEXAS:
Harris County Sues Major Drugmakers Over Opioid Epidemic
Harris County has become the latest government body to sue major drug
manufacturers for their hand in the opioid epidemic, alleging the companies
conspired to push highly addictive medication that harmed its residents.
The lawsuit, which was filed today in Harris County's 133rd State district
court, alleges drug companies including Purdue Pharma, Janssen Pharmaceuticals,
and Abbott Laboratories along with 5 "pill mill" doctors all conspired to get
Houstonians hooked on prescription drugs with devastating consequences.
"The defendants knew that the use of opioids had the potential to cause
addiction and other health maladies," according to the petition. "Driven by
profit, defendants engaged in a campaign of lies, half-truths, and deceptions
to create a market that encouraged the over-prescribing and long-term use of
opioids even though there was no scientific basis to support such use. The
campaign worked, and resulted in an exponential increase in opioid abuse,
addiction, and death."
Houston attorney Vince Ryan filed the suit against the defendants along with
the help of prominent Houston plaintiff attorneys Mike Gallagher and Tommy
Fibich. Ryan has a history of using contingent fee contracts to take on big
industry defendants - a move that was blessed most recently in 2013 by
Houston's First Court of Appeals when used by private lawyers to sue
International Paper to force them to clean up environmental waste along the San
Jacinto River. Several states around the country have also filed lawsuits
against drug manufacturers to help offset $78.5 billion economic burden of
prescription drug misuse and the State of Texas has joined a working group to
investigate the opioid pharmaceutical industry's conduct. Earlier this year,
Upshur County partnered with plaintiff lawyers in Dallas' Simon Greenstone
Panatier Bartlett to file public nuisance, fraud and racketeering allegations
against drugmakers in a lawsuit currently pending before U.S. District Judge
Rodney Gilstrap of Marshall.
(source: Texas Lawyer)
***
Money talks in the death penalty debate
Brent Ray Brewer has been sitting on death row since 1991.
John Balentine - since 1999. Brittany Holberg - since 1998. Travis Runnels -
since 2005.
It says something about capital punishment when an individual has been on death
row since before the Internet became commonplace. (In Brewer's case.)
These 4 Amarillo-area individuals (from Potter and Randall counties) are
perfect examples of the financial cost of capital punishment.
No matter on which side of the death penalty debate you fall, there is no
denying the significant financial cost of capital punishment - a cost which is
brought up routinely by death penalty opponents.
However, what are the reasons for these costs? One of the primary reasons is a
fact that death penalty opponents seldom mention - legal costs.
According to deathpenaltyinfo.org, "Each death penalty case in Texas costs
taxpayers about $2.3 million. That is about 3 times the cost of imprisoning
someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years.
('Executions Cost Texas Millions," Dallas Morning News, March 8, 1992).'"
A significant chunk of that $2.3 million - a number which is undoubtedly higher
now - is to pay for the legal expenses of those convicted of the most heinous
crimes. (Speaking of heinous crimes, longtime Amarillo residents may be
familiar with Holberg, who was convicted of killing an 80-year-old man in 1996
by stabbing him more than 60 times.)
Take our neighbor - Oklahoma. Again, according to deathpenaltyinfo.org,
"Prosecutors (in Oklahoma) spent triple in pre-trial and trial costs on death
penalty proceedings, while defense teams spent nearly 10 times more. Oklahoma
capital appeal proceedings cost between 5 and 6 times more than non-capital
appeals of 1st-degree murder convictions."
More often than not, the legal costs related to capital punishment are dropped
on taxpayers - for individuals who sit on death row for decades.
The never-ending debate on the death penalty should include an honest and
realistic portrayal - which means all the reasons capital punishment is so
expensive should be examined.
The death penalty is not a major financial burden for taxpayers because death
row inmates are living high on the hog behind bars and eating caviar. A primary
reason is the legal expenses (paying the lawyers and attorneys) which drag on
for decades.
(source: Editorial, Amarillo Globe-News)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Lawyer 'Disappointed' by Death Penalty DecisionLawyer for man charged with
cousin in deaths of 4 young men shot and buried on Pennsylvania farm says he's
'disappointed' by prosecutors certifying his case for capital punishment when
it's cousin who's 'admitted killer'.
The Latest on 2 cousins charged with killing 4 young men
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., CALIF. USA
April 14 TEXASimpending execution Man set to be executed for killing San Antonio officer Manuel Garza Jr. already had a lengthy criminal record and was wanted on outstanding warrants when a police officer working on a special team targeting property crimes stopped him at a San Antonio apartment complex in 2001. I knew he'd find out about the warrants and I didn't want to go to jail, so I just ran, Garza, who was 20 at the time, would say later. Officer John Rocky Riojas jumped out of his patrol car, leaving the door open and engine running, and chased Garza into a maze of walkways at the complex. After Riojas caught Garza, a witness saw Garza get his hands on Riojas' gun during a struggle that left the 37-year-old San Antonio SWAT officer dead from a gunshot to the head. Garza is scheduled to be executed Wednesday evening for Riojas' killing. The 35-year-old Garza would be the 6th convicted killer put to death this year in Texas, which carries out the death penalty more than any other state. He would be the 1st inmate executed with a new small supply of pentobarbital recently obtained by Texas prison officials. If 2 other lethal injections set for this month are carried out, officials once again will have exhausted the state's supply of the execution drug. After that, Texas' stock of the increasingly difficult-to-obtain sedative will need to be replenished or a new chemical found as a replacement to handle at least three more executions on the schedule starting next month. No late appeals for Garza were pending in the courts Tuesday. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his case last year. Garza was taken into custody the day after the Feb. 2, 2001, shooting. Evidence showed he fled the scene with Riojas' gun and sold the .40-caliber Glock to a relative who then tried to sell it to a police informant after learning from TV reports that the officer's weapon was missing. The informant alerted authorities who traced the semi-automatic pistol back to Garza. In a statement to detectives, Garza blamed Riojas for the shooting. I truly think this was the cop's fault, he said. I don't see why he wanted to pull out his gun. He asked for justice and for the courts to please have mercy on me and give me the benefit of the doubt. I wasn't raised right, he added. Defense attorneys contended Garza, whose criminal record began at age 14, was a product of childhood neglect and abuse. Bill Pennington, one of the Bexar County prosecutors handling the case, said a key part of the guilt-innocence portion of the trial focused on defense efforts to characterize the shooting by Garza as accidental. It wasn't an issue of whether he did it or not, Pennington said last week. A Bexar County jury deliberated about three hours before convicting Garza. At the trial's punishment phase, prosecutors called some 60 witnesses over 2 days to detail Garza's lengthy criminal history that included burglaries, thefts, escaping from custody and leading police on a chase in a stolen car. Pennington said Riojas was a larger than life kind of guy that everybody knew and everybody respected. The entire police force felt like they had their heart tugged out of them when he died, the prosecutor said. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: Pennsylvania DAs take aim at Wolf's death penalty moratorium Pennsylvania's prosecutors are warning Gov. Tom Wolf's death penalty moratorium could affect plea bargains and how judges and juries view executions. The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association released a friend-of-the-court brief Tuesday that said the Democratic governor has misinterpreted the term reprieve, arguing his moratorium violates the state constitution. The prosecutors say reprieves can only halt a criminal sentence for a defined period of time and for a reason that relates specifically to a particular convict. Wolf announced the moratorium in February, suspending plans to execute Terrance Williams for a 1984 robbery and fatal tire-iron beating of another man in Philadelphia. The governor argues the current system is error-prone and expensive. He plans to issue reprieves while a legislative committee prepares a report about the state's use of capital punishment. (source: Associated Press) NORTH CAROLINA: Hearing set for suspect in robbery linked to Lake Wylie double homicide A federal judge has ordered a court hearing next month for a convicted felon with Bloods gang ties charged in connection with the armed robbery of a Charlotte mattress store owned by a Lake Wylie couple, who were later shot and killed in their lakefront home. Jamell Cureton, 22, is demanding that charges against him be dropped because of what was seized by federal agents from his jail cell in January. U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn on Tuesday ordered the hearing for 10:30 a.m. May 13 at the federal courthouse in Charlotte, court documents show.
