[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., GA., FLA., ALA.
February 6 TEXAS: DNA testing results released on death row case of Larry Swearingen More than a year after prosecutors agreed to DNA testing on decades-old evidence in a Montgomery County death row case, the results are in - and they didn't reveal anything new. Most of the aging evidence sent to the lab didn't show any male DNA at all, prosecutors said, while the genetic material pulled from cigarette butts found near Melissa Trotter's body only traced back to the hunters who found her. "Everything (the defense) requested to be tested has been tested at this point," said Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Kelly Blackburn. Now, with no pending appeals and no new DNA to help validate his claims of innocence, convicted killer Larry Swearingen could be one step closer to yet another execution date. "Unfortunately, the testing we did really didn't move the ball," said Bryce Benjet, a defense attorney with the Innocence Project. "At the end of the day, it was useful to the extent that it can show that we tested every item and none of that testing has pointed to Larry Swearingen." The 47-year-old was sentenced to die two decades ago for the murder of a Montgomery College student. In the years since, the Willis man has fended off the state's repeated attempts to execute him, lobbing a slew of appeals, including multiple pleas for testing on pantyhose and cigarettes found in the woods near the slain woman's body. Prosecutors and defense lawyers finally came to a testing agreement in late 2017, after years of back-and-forth over various proposals. In addition to the cigarette butts and some of the slain teen's clothes, the lab analyzed hair stuck in a knot tied in the torn pair of pantyhose used in the murder. Though the strands looked like they may have belonged to someone other than Trotter, the 2-decade-old sample didn't net any DNA for testing, Benjet said. Attorneys also asked for testing on a different piece of pantyhose found near Swearingen's trailer after the crime. Whether that's the other half of the pair used in the killing has been a point of dispute, but testing on it showed some DNA pointing to Swearingen – and nothing pointing to Trotter. The last time anyone saw Trotter alive was on Dec. 8, 1998, when she and Swearingen were spotted together in the community college library. Afterward, a biology teacher caught sight of Trotter leaving the school with a man. Hair and fiber evidence later showed that she'd been in Swearingen's car at some point before she vanished. Swearingen's wife testified that she came home that evening to find the place in disarray - and in the middle of it all were a lighter and cigarettes believed to belong to Trotter. Swearingen later filed a burglary report, saying his home had been broken into while he was out of town. That afternoon, he placed a call routed through a cell tower near FM 1097 in Willis - a spot prosecutors say he would have passed while heading from his house to the Sam Houston National Forest where Trotter's decomposing body was found 25 days later. Crime scene investigators recovered biological material from the scene - but there was never any conclusive link to Swearingen. Instead, he was convicted and sentenced to death based on what courts later described as a "mountain" of circumstantial evidence. Since he was sent to death row in 2000, he's had at least 5 execution dates set and canceled. In 2017, he made national headlines as the result of a plot with another condemned prisoner, serial killer Anthony Shore. Shore, who has since been executed, was allegedly planning to wrongly confess to Trotter's slaying in the final minutes before his death. But authorities got wind of the supposed scheme, and called off Shore's execution date to investigate further. Then, the courts called off Swearingen's death date a month later - not because of the plot or any concerns about his possible innocence, but because of a clerical error. Afterward, lawyers on both sides of the case agreed to testing, a process that's dragged out for more than a year. Currently, Swearingen doesn't have any appeals pending, but Benjet – who is handling the case along with Houston-based attorney James Rytting – hinted at the possibility of more court filings ahead, including claims questioning the cell phone forensics used to pinpoint Swearingen's location. (source: Houston Chronicle) CAPITAL MURDER: Panola Co. officials look at May 2020 trial for father accused in 2-year-old's death A capital murder trial for a father accused in the death of his 2-year-old son is not expected to take place until at least May 2020, prosecutors and defense officials said Monday. According to our newspaper partners, the Panola Watchman, that's because both the Panola County District Attorney's Office and Braylyn Sheppard's defense attorneys will need to line up expert
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., GA., FLA., ALA.
Jan. 20 TEXAS: Nueces County judges have more capital murder cases than capable lawyers to appoint Nueces County has too many capital murder defendants and not enough defense lawyers. When appointing lawyers to indigent defendants accused of the most serious offense, state district judges rely on approved attorneys to lead the defense. But Nueces County has seen an uptick in capital murder defendants. Meanwhile, only 4 lawyers in the county are on the list of attorneys who can be "first chair," meaning they're the lead attorney on a case. "I mean, we are out of attorneys," 347th District Judge Missy Medary said during a judges' meeting Wednesday. Medary is the 5th administrative judicial region judge and maintains the attorney list for the 11-county area. More lawyers on the list are from more southern counties, including Hidalgo and Cameron. Judges may appoint those attorneys, but the costs for travel and lodging on top of the attorneys' pay would cost the county "a ton of money," Medary said. A local lawyer may make tens of thousands of dollars off a single capital murder case, though it may take about 2 years to resolve either in a trial or a plea deal. A lead attorney is paid $200 per hour. Judges are trying to entice more local lawyers to apply for the list. But it's a hard sell, said some of the lawyers who are on the list. Capital murder cases can decimate a solo practitioner's practice because of the volume of work. "It's so time-consuming to do it right," said Jim Lawrence, who has been a defense attorney for decades. Add to that the pressure of your client's life being on the line. In Texas, capital murder carries two punishment options: the death penalty or life in prison without parole. "Dealing with a person's life is an emotional strain, to say the least," Lawrence said. In 2016, Corpus Christi police charged 10 people with capital murder. Each one is entitled by law to a first and second chair lawyer, a private investigator and a mitigation expert. All but one defendant said they couldn't afford to hire an attorney and the county provided lawyers. Nueces County has 6 lawyers on the list of approved second chair attorneys. Second chair attorneys are paid $150 per hour. Defense lawyer Eric Perkins, who is approved to be a first chair attorney, said part of the problem is police and prosecutors charge suspects with capital murder in cases that - in some lawyers' opinion - don't rise to the level of capital murders. In some cases, the charge was downgraded to something less severe. But in the beginning, a judge has to appoint a lawyer approved to handle capital murder defenses. Perkins was on the defense team who represented Daniel Garcia, who in 2014 killed store clerk Mostafa "Ben" Bighamian during an attempted robbery. His co-defendants a man who wielded a knife in the store and a woman who drove the getaway car were charged with capital murder and appointed a multi-person defense team. Garcia was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison but prosecutors dropped the charge against the others. Arturo Navarro pleaded guilty to murder in exchange for a 45-year prison sentence. Del Victoria Cavazos pleaded guilty to robbery and tampering with evidence for 20 years in prison. There are multiple defendants in 3 killings last year. 2 men are charged with capital murder in the March 25 shooting of a couple in a car, 4 men are charged with the same offense in the Sept. 1 shooting at a gun shop, and 3 men face the same charges in the Dec. 18 shooting of an elderly man in his home. "A case that is probably not a death penalty case is draining huge resources for no good reason," Perkins said. (source: Corpus Christi Caller-Times) PENNSYLVANIA: Where does death penalty stand in Pennsylvania? The Bucks County district attorney said the investigation into the Abington Township couple accused of raping and murdering 14-year-old Grace Packer is far from over. "On its face, this case is obviously very, very heinous factually, but the aggravating factors that we have to consider are really really specific," said DA Matthew Weintraub. Weintraub said the death penalty is a definite possibility for Grace's adoptive mother, Sara Packer, and her boyfriend, Jacob Sullivan. The case has received national attention and immense public outcry for justice, but if the couple does receive the death penalty, will they actually be executed? Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said probably not. "Essentially, it's been suspended by Gov. Wolf. Gov. Wolf has taken the position that the warrants will be signed, and they have been signed, but he immediately thereafter issues a reprieve," said Morganelli. Morganelli said death warrants continue to be issued, like that of convicted Pittsburgh cop killer Richar Poplawski on Wednesday. The governor will not stop giving reprieves
