[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., S.C., GA., ALA., OHIO
Sept. 21 TEXAS: Once his defense, Greco’s sexuality used against him as prosecutors push for death penalty When Daniel Greco was first questioned 3 years ago for the murder of Anjanette Harris and her unborn child, Greco told investigators that he accidentally killed Harris during bondage sex when he bound her and pulled a rubber strap around her neck. His defense attorneys, hoping to get a conviction less severe than capital murder, incorporated this defense in their closing arguments to jurors on Wednesday. That argument ultimately failed, and the jury convicted Greco for capital murder. On Friday, as the trial entered the punishment phase, prosecutors hit hard on Greco’s sexuality as they steered their case toward their goal: seeing Greco get the death penalty rather than a life sentence without a chance for parole.<\P> Prosecutors welcomed 2 women who once had sex with Greco to the witness stand. They both said they believed or were told by friends “it could have been me” who Greco murdered if it were not Harris. Assistant District Attorney Lindsey Sheugit, as she questioned one of the women, presented jurors with letters between Greco and six women while he’s been locked up in the Denton County jail. In the letters, Greco wrote sexually explicit notes to each of them. “I like bad girls, like to talk dirty and be funny, so hit me up,” he wrote one, saying to another, “Thank you for the pics, they really got my juices flowing.” All of this will matter in the context of whether Greco gets to live for the rest of his life among the general populations inside the Texas prison system or live isolated on death row until he is executed. After failing to see Greco acquitted of capital murder, his defense attorneys are now locked in a struggle to prove that Greco was and remains a good person despite making a bad decision to kill Harris. Responding to the rounds of letters the state showed the jury, defense attorney Derek Adame showed the jury through his cross examination of one of the women that inmates, regardless of their convictions, write sexually in letters to former sex partners, something Adame argued is routine and in no way an indication that Greco has no remorse for what he did to Harris. Adame and fellow defense attorney Caroline Simone cross examined witnesses with questions related to how encouraging and supportive Greco is of them. Adame called in one man who lived in the cell next to Greco in the county jail. He, too, talked about how supportive Greco was of him. The waning days of this trial become personal, at times painfully, on Friday for Greco. The state not only plunged into Greco’s sexuality but called his mother, Mary Greco, to the witness stand. Prosecutors asked her questions about her son’s decades-long struggle with drug addiction and about his childhood. In his letters to his mother, Greco, who on previous convictions spent time in state prison, acknowledges how much better the Texas Department of Criminal Justice food is than at the Denton County jail, and how much easier it is to sneak contraband into prison than the county jail. In one letter, Greco wrote his mother that he was remorseful but that he didn’t want to spend life in prison. “I feel like I deserve 20 years,” he wrote, the length of the maximum sentence one can receive after a manslaughter conviction. The punishment phase of the trial will continue at 8:30 a.m. Monday in Denton County 431st District Court. (source: Denton Record-Chronicle) * Valley death row inmate granted stay of execution A Court granted a death row inmate’s request for a stay of execution, court records show. In a Sept. 17 order filed in the Southern District of Texas, U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez granted Juan Raul Navarro-Ramirez’s motion for a stay — adopting, in its entirety, the “Report and Recommendation,” order from Magistrate Judge Peter E. Ormsby filed in July, the record states. Navarro-Ramirez, 35, who has been sitting on death row in Livingston, Texas, for nearly 15 years, was convicted of 2 counts of murder in December 2004 and given a sentence of death in connection with a failed drug rip against rival gangmembers that left 6 men dead in January of 2003. Navarro-Ramirez, and several fellow members of the Tri-City Bombers, wearing law enforcement gear, participated in the robbery of drugs from a rival gang at a stash house in Edinburg. Ultimately, 6 men were killed, and at least 10 co-defendants arrested in connection with the incident, including Juan Arturo Villarreal Cordova, Robert Garza, Jeffrey Juarez, Reymundo Sauceda, Robert Cantu, Salvador Solis, Juan Miguel Nunez, Juan Ramirez and Jorge Espinosa Martinez. Originating from the Pharr, San Juan, and Alamo area as a breakdancing crew called the “Tri-City Poppers,” the crew began their criminal enterprise first with petty crimes, and then
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., S.C., GA., ALA.
April 27 TEXASMichigan female may face death penalty Muskegon woman could face death penalty if convicted of 2 Texas murders A Muskegon woman faces the death penalty if convicted of 2 murders in Texas for which her boyfriend, a mixed-martial arts fighter, also is charged. Maya Renee Maxwell, 26, has been indicted by a grand jury in Bell County, Texas, for capital murder of multiple persons and tampering with physical evidence, which was the car belonging to 1 of the victims. She is charged in connection with the murders of Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingin, who investigators believe were killed in Killeen, Texas, and buried in Oklahoma, according to arrest warrant affidavits. Cedric Joseph Marks, 44, also has been indicted for capital murder of multiple persons in the deaths of Scott, 28, and Swearingen, 32. It’s alleged that the 2 were killed Jan. 3, 2019, and were reported missing Jan. 4, 2019, according to arrest affidavits obtained by MLive/Muskegon Chronicle. Marks’ wife, Ginell McDonough of Muskegon, has been charged in Muskegon County District Court with harboring fugitives – Marks and Maxwell -- and lying to investigators. Women charged with destroying evidence, harboring Texas burglary suspect 2 women appeared in Muskegon County district court Wednesday on charges of obstructing justice, tampering with evidence and harboring a fugitive who is believed to be the ex-boyfriend of a missing Texas woman. Indictments against Maxwell and Marks say they caused Swearingin’s death by “strangulation” and “asphyxiation” and also killed Scott by “homicidal violence” at about the same time. Scott and Marks reportedly were in a prior dating relationship. An affidavit for Marks’ arrest indicates that Maxwell told detectives that Scott and Swearingin were killed by Marks at a home in Killeen to which they had been taken, on Jan. 3. Maxwell told police she heard sounds of struggles after Marks entered separate rooms where Swearingin and Scott were “located,” the affidavit states. When he left each of the rooms, the victims were deceased, the affidavit states. Maxwell told detectives that the bodies of Scott and Swearingin were buried in Oklahoma, and police later located them at the spot she had described, the affidavit says. “Maxwell also admitted that she was present before and after the deaths of Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingin and was present at the transport and burial of the bodies,” the affidavit states. Maxwell’s arrest affidavit states that Swearingen and Scott were reported missing Jan. 4 and were last seen at Swearingin’s home. The next day, Swearingin’s car was found in Austin, Texas, and the investigation led to Maxwell who admitted she was involved with the transport of the vehicle to conceal it from law enforcement, according to her arrest affidavit. Maxwell told police Marks also was involved in moving Swearingin’s car, and he too is charged with tampering with physical evidence, affidavits and grand jury indictments show. Marks escaped on Feb. 3 from a private prisoner transport van that was taking him from Kent County to face double-murder charges in Texas. He escaped when the van stopped at a McDonald’s restaurant in Conroe, Texas, and was found nine hours later hiding in a trash can. Cedric Joseph Marks, a suspect in 3 murders, was found 9 hours after he escaped a private transport van. It’s alleged that McDonough, 37, allowed Marks and Maxwell to stay with her from Jan. 5-8 after they returned from Texas. Marks also was at McDonough’s home before he left with Maxwell on Jan. 1 for Texas, Muskegon County Prosecutor’s Chief Trial Attorney Matt Roberts said earlier. Investigators found a suitcase with Marks’ papers and an assault rifle “concealed” at McDonough’s U.S. Army Reserve Office in Muskegon, Roberts said. McDonough is a sergeant with the U.S. Army, according to her attorney. Marks and Maxwell were arrested Jan. 8 in Grandville. A mixed martial arts fighter who used the nickname “Spiderman,” Marks reportedly trained at a Muskegon area gym and also taught self-defense classes to women. (source: mlive.com) * James Byrd’s Killer Didn’t Deserve the Death Penalty Killing is wrong. Killing Black people because they are Black is even more wrong. Lynching Black people is exponentially wrong. So why was I opposed to the state-imposed killing of John William King, the despicable murderer of James Byrd, Jr.? I happen to think that there are worse things that can happen to you than death. The now 44-year old King could have gotten a sentence of life in prison and lived miserably there for the rest of his life. In some ways, death is salvation for him. Imagine being relatively healthy with nothing to look forward to? Just sitting there, in jail, surrounded by the Black people your White supremacist self purports to hate. That might be torture worse than death. James Byrd,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., S.C., GA., ALA.
April 16 TEXAS: Texas prisons leader Brad Livingston will retire this year Brad Livingston, Texas Department of Criminal Justice's executive director for more than a decade, announced Friday that he will retire in August. Livingston joined the agency in 1997 as deputy director of the financial services division, becoming chief financial officer in 2001 and executive director in 2005. "While this role has its challenges, I had the opportunity to work with some of the most talented criminal justice staff in the nation. These are the unsung heroes who perform demanding, often dangerous, and always critical functions for the state of Texas." Livingston said. "I will always be grateful for the opportunity to lead such a remarkable agency." In recent years, Livingston has overseen a significant reduction in both the prison population overall and in the agency's use of solitary confinement to house inmates. The number of inmates statewide dropped from 156,000 to 147,000, and for the 1st time in state history, lawmakers decided to close three prison units. After scrutiny from the media and lawmakers, the TDCJ also reduced its use of solitary confinement, called administrative segregation, by some 50 % in recent years. Marc Levin, director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Center for Effective Justice & Right on Crime, described Livingston as the "consummate professional administrator." "He did a very professional job and demonstrated a lot of integrity," Levin said. During Livingston's tenure, the agency also implemented a new system-wide risk assessment to help community supervision, prison, re-entry, and parole staff improve case management services for individual offenders. And entry level correctional officer salaries have increased by 57 % since 2004. "There's hardly an area within the TDCJ that has not been affected by his leadership," said Texas Board of Criminal Justice Chairman Dale Wainwright. "He never backed away from a challenge but addressed them head on." But the agency has also faced criticism and legal challenges during Livingston's time. It has been sued over sweltering heat in its un-air-conditioned units, many of which are decrepit. The department also continues to struggle to maintain its workforce numbers amid a booming economy that attracts workers to higher-paying jobs. Under Livingston, the agency has also cultivated a reputation for secrecy among defense lawyers and the media when it comes to administration of the death penalty. TDCJ successfully lobbied lawmakers to make secret all information about the source of drugs used in Texas executions. The issue gathered national attention when Texas and other states ran out of drugs they had long used to conduct executions and were forced to turn to alternative sources, including products created at compounding pharmacies that are loosely regulated. TDCJ officials argued releasing information about the source of those drugs would put the drug makers in jeopardy and leave the state without a way to carry out death sentences. More than 190 inmates have been executed since Livingston took over leadership of the agency. State Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee said that while Livingston has often been the brunt of his "passion" for criminal justice reform, he enjoyed working with the agency leader. He called Livingston a steady hand. Whitmire said he hopes that Gov. Greg Abbott and the TDCJ board will choose a reform-minded successor to Livingston who will continue the agency's movement to increase rehabilitation and treatment for offenders. "I want to be tough and smarter" on crime, Whitmire said. (source: Dallas Morning News) PENNSYLVANIA: Commissioners approve mitigation services for homicide suspect The Schuylkill County commissioners approved an agreement Wednesday for mitigation services in the death penalty case against Shavinskin N. Thomas, who is 1 of 2 men accused of killing a Pottsville man in August 2015. The agreement is with Juandalynn Taylor, of the Taylor Advocacy Group, which is based in San Antonio, Texas, with an office in Ardmore. As an independent mitigation specialist, Taylor will be a member of the criminal defense team that provides supportive research and a documented history of the defendant to the defense counsel. A mitigation defense is required for capital punishment cases. Pottsville police allege that Thomas and Joshua M. Lukach entered John Brock's home at 14 S. 12th St., Pottsville, and fatally stabbed him with a knife and box-cutter knife and took his debit card. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for each man. Thomas is represented by Assistant Public Defender Andrea L. Thompson, which is why the commissioners' approval was needed for the agreement. Lukach is represented by Jeffrey J. Markosky, Mahanoy City, and Julie A. Werdt, Orwigsburg. The agreement with
