Dec. 16 VIRGINIA: Appeals court upholds Suffolk man's death sentence A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a Suffolk man's death sentence in the slaying of his former girlfriend. Dexter Lee Vinson, 42, was convicted of capital murder, carjacking, abduction with intent to defile and sexual penetration with an inanimate object. In May 1997, Angela Felton was abducted and taken behind a vacant house, where a witness heard her plead with Vinson to leave her alone. Felton, 25, was cut on her arms, neck, trunk, buttocks and genital area. She also was choked with a rope, and a car door was slammed on her head. A 3-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected Vinson's claim that his trial attorneys had a conflict of interest because one was suing the other for employment discrimination at the time of the trial. Vinson also claimed his constitutional right to a competent defense was violated and that the prosecution improperly withheld evidence. The appeals court found no merit in those claims. On the Net: Appeals court: http:http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov (source: Associated Press) ****************** Warner sets precedent for DNA testing Gov. Mark Warners decision to order DNA testing in 31 long-closed criminal cases has led to the freedom of 2 men who were wrongly convicted of rape. In speaking about their exonerations Wednesday, Warner called post-conviction DNA testing in such cases "the only morally acceptable course." He must now apply that same standard to the Roger Keith Coleman case, where the stakes are even higher. Virginia residents deserve to know whether the state executed an innocent man in their name 13 years ago. DNA testing - not available at the time of Colemans conviction and a less precise science at the time of his execution - holds the tantalizing potential to resolve lingering doubts about his guilt. Coleman, 34, was executed in 1992 for the rape and murder of his sister-in-law, 19-year-old Wanda McCoy, in her Buchanan County home a decade earlier. He died proclaiming his innocence. That Coleman claimed he didnt do it is not uncommon; a majority of prisoners claim to be innocent, or framed, or a victim of the system. But there are other factors at play here. Colemans inexperienced trial lawyers were handling their 1st death penalty case. Many in the community had already presumed his guilt and were ready to move on to a public hanging. His appeal was marred by a missed deadline and procedural mistakes. Those details might be immaterial. After all, a guilty man can receive a botched defense and still be guilty. But the death penalty requires a higher standard. For this reason, courts no longer appoint young, inexperienced lawyers to represent indigent defendants in capital cases. Scientific testing of forensic evidence also has changed in the past decade. At his trial, prosecutors argued Coleman raped his sister-in-law because his blood type matched semen found on the victim. Years later, some early DNA tests were inconclusive and couldnt rule Coleman out as the rapist and killer. The imprecise, early science says Coleman could be the killer, but so could .2 % of U.S. men. Thats not a huge pool of possible killers, but neither is it air-tight evidence tying Coleman to the crime. The DNA evidence, in this case a swab of semen found on the victims body, still exists; its tucked away in a private California laboratory for safekeeping. The courts have refused to allow the testing - ruling the public has no right to know the answer to this troubling question. With a stroke of his pen, Warner could give the order that would end the debate. The testing might prove once and for all that Coleman was a vile killer. It might prove he was an innocent man, executed by tragic mistake. A third option exists; the sample might be too small or too old and degraded to yield conclusive results. Such a result would be disappointing, but it would not undermine the states judicial system. The biggest risk to Virginias judicial system is for the governor to do nothing. Justice demands DNA testing in this case. Warner should do the "only morally acceptable" thing and order the tests before he leaves office in January. (source: Editorial, Bristol Herald Courier) ****************** Nikolaus Johnson says he's tired of coming to court The former gang member charged with killing a Bristol police officer told a judge Thursday he's tired of his case, tired of waiting for a trial and tired of dealing with his lawyers. The next time his case comes up in court, he wants to stay in jail. "I don't have time for these games, man," he told the judge. "I know what's going on. It's my life, and it's not a joke. Everybody alive knows there's no way possible I can receive a fair trial in this county." The judge let Johnson, 27, speak in court for the 1st time Thursday as he asked to fire his defense lawyers, Jim Bowman and Stacy Street. The hearing turned into a rant as he yelled, argued with the judge and accused his lawyers of being "in cahoots" with prosecutors and police in a plot to send him to death row. Johnson didn't get his wish. Circuit Judge Jerry Beck denied his request and threatened to have him gagged if he didn't quiet down. "You may be jeopardizing your case," the judge warned him. "My case has been jeopardized from Day One," Johnson said. "I want society and God to judge me, and everything else will fall in line." Prosecutors said Johnson, 27, shot Officer Mark Vance in the face the night of Nov. 27, 2004. Johnson, who had argued with his pregnant teenage girlfriend that night, waited for Vance at the top of a staircase at 427 Belmont Drive and ambushed him with a .357 Magnum pistol, authorities said. He could face the death penalty if convicted. Johnson claims he might as well be convicted already. "A black man with no money don't have no chance," he said. "Save your gas, lawyers. Don't even come see me. Have the hearings without me." Johnson said his lawyers rarely visit him in jail, that they don't take his phone calls, that they haven't listened to his side of the story and that they encouraged him to claim mental problems during an evaluation. He claimed officers have beaten him in jail and stolen his mail. He demanded his trial be moved, saying no jury in Sullivan County would give him a fair hearing. "I'm not guilty," he said. "I have nothing to hide." "We're not deciding that today," the judge said. "I don't know whether you'll be found guilty." Johnson laughed. "Society knows what's going on, man," he said. "Everybody knows what's going to happen." "It's too early to say whether you'll get a fair trial," the judge said. "It hasn't been fair so far," Johnson said. "It hasn't been fair today." Johnson barely spoke to his lawyers during the hearing. When he wasn't arguing, he looked back into the audience at his mother, Kathy Bunch, for coaching. "Let it go," she told him. "They don't care. Everybody in here's laughing. Just get up and leave." He jumped up from the defense table, still handcuffed and shackled. About half a dozen sheriff's deputies surrounded him. "Go ahead and beat me right now," he shouted, grinning at a pair of television cameras. "Make it look good for the television." The judge sent Johnson out of the courtroom and ordered his mouth taped shut. "If I was trying a DUI case, I would have shut this down a long time ago," he said. "I'm trying to bend over backward here." Johnson returned to court with his mouth untaped after his lawyers asked him to calm down. He glared from the defense table as the judge denied his request. "Attorneys give advice," the judge said. "That's what lawyers do. It's up to the defendant to follow that advice. I'm not going to relieve counsel just because they gave the defendant advice, even if it's advice the defendant doesn't like to hear. "If I were asked to describe a competent lawyer, I would describe Jim Bowman or Stacy Street." Johnson laughed. "Can I go back to my cell?" he asked. The deputies led him away, still laughing. "I still have love for all of y'all," he said. "Y'all need Jesus. You need to go to church." Johnson remained in jail Thursday night, with a trial set for July. (source: Bristol Herald Courier) *************** Shadow of doubt over Virginia justice Any Virginian concerned about justice, the conviction of the guilty and the security of the innocent, must be unnerved by the latest discoveries of the state crime lab. Based on DNA testing, 2 more innocent men have been cleared of rapes for which they served a combined three decades in prison. This brings to 5 the number of innocent men exonerated because of a fluke. Had Mary Jane Burton, a deceased crime lab analyst, not violated policy in the 1970s and 1980s by saving bits of biological evidence, none of these old miscarriages of justice would have come to light. Hundreds more cases remain to be tested. That ought to send shivers down the spines of the legions of former governors, attorneys general, legislators and prosecutors who have insisted that Virginia has the most reliable criminal justice system in the nation. If this is the "most" reliable, what does the worst look like? How many other innocent men and women are serving time in prisons where even parole is no longer an option? And are such failures an epidemic or an exception? While its important not to overreact, under-reaction to cases that should stir moral indignation would be worse. In societys ongoing quest for a balance between protection of the innocent and conviction of the guilty, Virginia clearly needs to be shaken from its smugness. In too many cases, the system has produced, and may still be producing, wrong results. Remember, in the vast majority of criminal cases, no DNA evidence exists. If eyewitness testimony, confessions or other forensic evidence failed to produce the correct verdicts in cases that can be double-checked through DNA, only a fool would assume perfection in those that cant be rechecked. Nor are the Burton cases the only sources of doubt. Earlier this year, a seven-month review of crime lab analysis in the case of former death row inmate Earl Washington Jr., conducted over the objection of the lab director, uncovered serious error in DNA results. Inexplicably, prosecutors have still not charged a convicted rapist whose DNA was found both on the victims body and bed. A clemency petition now before Warner raises serious concerns about the guilt of seven men arrested in the 1997 rape-murder of Norfolk housewife Michelle Moore-Bosko. Three are serving life sentences. Ongoing questions plague the case of Roger Keith Coleman, who was executed in 1992 for the rape and murder of his sister-in-law. Warner must not leave office without ordering re-testing of DNA in that case. Where should Virginia go from here? Warner correctly has ordered a review of several hundred additional old cases suitable for DNA testing. Meanwhile, either the governor or the legislature needs to assemble a task force to identify the common threads in the errors. Are police pressuring people into false confessions? Did the crime lab contribute in any way to erroneous verdicts? Is too much faith being placed in eyewitness testimony? Does Virginias lowest-in-the-nation pay for indigent defense lawyers lead to errors? Citizens, perhaps naively, expect those in prison to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Now, serious doubts shadow that public confidence. Policy makers need to restore trust. "Tough-on-crime" can't be a voracious beast free to snare anyone in its path. (source: The Virginian-Pilot) NEW JERSEY: Senate approves commission to study death penalty Though no New Jersey prisoner has been executed in more than 40 years and the state's death penalty remains on a court-ordered moratorium on technical grounds, the state Senate voted Thursday to study the issue and delay any execution until 2007. The bipartisan measure would create the Death Penalty Study Commission, which would study the economics and ethics of the death penalty in a report due by Nov. 15, 2006, and enact a moratorium on executions until January 2007. Critics said the measure is soft on crime and slants the study commission toward eliminating the death penalty. "While I agree that this law needs some working, it needs working in a different direction," said Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Demarest. "It needs to go in a direction of resolution. It needs to go in a direction of seeking out justice and not legal gamesmanship." Cardinale said lawmakers should fix the death penalty by limiting appeals options and only administering it to those who are absolutely guilty. But those who oppose capital punishment said there is no guarantee of not executing an innocent person and that the death penalty has been arbitrarily applied based on location, wealth and race. Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Elizabeth, voted to reinstate the death penalty more than 20 years ago as an assemblyman. "I made a mistake then," Lesniak said. "Thank God during that period of time we did not make a mistake and execute an innocent person." The measure passed 30-6. Sens. Nicholas Asselta, R-Vineland, Cardinale, Leonard T. Connors, R-Surf City, Robert E. Littell, R-Franklin, Sussex County, Thomas H. Kean, Jr., R-Westfield, and Joseph M. Kyrillos, Jr., R-Middletown, Monmouth County, voted against the measure. New Jersey last executed a prisoner in 1963, and capital punishment has been put on hold in the state by court order since February 2004 until new execution rules are in place. John Martini, 75, who killed a Bergen County businessman, is closest to execution. A similar proposal to postpone and study the death penalty remains in an Assembly committee. It would have to be passed by the full Assembly by Jan. 10 and signed by acting Gov. Richard J. Codey, who supports the measure, by Jan. 17 in order to be enacted before Gov.-elect Jon Corzine takes office. (source: Cherry Hill Courier Post) ****************** Moratorium on death penalty passes Senate by wide margin It awaits possible Assembly action. A similar bill was vetoed by Gov. Jim McGreevey 2 years ago. In Trenton, the state Senate yesterday passed a bill that would put a hold on New Jersey's death-penalty law, which has not resulted in any executions, while a commission studied whether it deterred crime and was "consistent with evolving standards of decency." The bill, approved by a 30-6 vote, awaits possible action in an Assembly committee. The legislative session ends Jan. 9, after which the bill would have to be reintroduced in both houses if not enacted. The moratorium would stay in place until 60 days after the commission - given a Nov. 15 deadline - finished its work. Among those opposed was Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R., Bergen), who said, "It could send a message to those who would harm their fellow residents that we are soft on crime" and could lead to the revocation of the death penalty. A cosponsor, Sen. Robert J. Martin (R., Morris), noted that 50 of the 60 death sentences imposed since the penalty was reinstated in 1982 have been overturned. "Something is fundamentally flawed with that statute," he said. The bill "may be slanted, as Sen. Cardinale has said, to abolishing the death penalty. I think that's a good thing," said Martin, who has sponsored another bill that would do that. It is pending in Senate and Assembly committees. The moratorium passed both houses by overwhelming margins two years ago but was vetoed by then-Gov. Jim McGreevey without enough time for an override, said the sponsor, Sen. Shirley K. Turner (D., Mercer). 10 men are on death row at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. New Jersey has not executed anyone since 1963. (source: Associated Press) ARIZONA: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/962744711 Petition for Manuel Tomas Lujan In 1978, Manuel Tomas Lujan (Apache/Tarahumara/Mexican) was sentenced to death for deliberate murder and burglary. Tried again one year later, his penalty has been commuted to life sentence, without any possibility of parole before 25 years. Since 1987, Manuel has been arbitrarily imprisoned in the Maximum Security Unit (MSU) of Florence State Prison in Arizona. Nothing can account for his being placed and kept in this high security area, where the incarceration conditions constantly violate the human rights. According to the information delivered by his French support committee, Manuel is kept in confinement 165 hours a week. For his going out, a guard leads him to a kind of concrete cage covered with a grating roof where he goes round in circles, and then he can take a 8-minutes' shower. He has never seen again the sun or the moon since he's been imprisoned. In the U.S., a study about the MSU confirms that the aim of these units is to destabilize the "militant prisoners" through a physical, psychological and spiritual collapse created by a too-long sensorial isolation. Imprisoned since 27 years, Manuel is now legally eligible for a parole hearing, but, to get a possible appearance before the Commission, he must get out of the MSU. This is why we, the undersigned, are asking for the re-classification of Manuel Tomas Lujan and for his immediate going back in the general population, so that he can enforce his legal rights according to his judgment. Note: This Petition for Manuel Tomas Lujan petition was submitted by Jean-Luc Pron. ILLINOIS: Protecting innocents: When the safety nets fail----A horror that makes its way from someone else's house to ours One of the worst crimes in DuPage County history; a pivotal case in the debate over the death penalty and wrongful conviction; the genesis of shocking allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. The Nicarico case, which recently surfaced again when Brian Dugan was charged with the 1983 murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico in Naperville, was all of that. But for me, raising 2 daughters as the case made its strange way through the criminal justice system, it was more. It was my Leopold and Loeb; my William Heirens and his victim, Suzanne Degnan; my Schuessler-Peterson murders. Every era has its parental nightmare, a highly publicized terror that plays in the background as the children play in the back yard. The kidnap, rape and murder of Jeanine was mine. My 1st daughter was born 5 years after Jeanine was killed; my second, two years later. Memories of the horrific crime were fresh. And as the years passed, the memories were refreshed repeatedly by the bizarre events that followed. 2 men were convicted and sentenced to death, but later exonerated. 7 prosecutors and sheriff's officers were indicted for misconduct, but acquitted. Dugan implicated himself in 1985, but was not charged until last month. But it wasn't the extraordinary aftermath that made me think of Jeanine Nicarico so often as my girls grew to be the age Jeanine never passed; it was the ordinary circumstances surrounding the crime. The girl home from school with the flu. The nice home on a leafy street. The mom coming home for lunch before returning to work. The grilled cheese sandwich. The sister coming home later and finding the front door open. The empty glass in the family room crusted with chocolate milk. How ordinary, how unremarkable, how easy to imagine with my own daughters. I could picture it so clearly that I could hardly bear to read the news stories. There was no comforting rationalization I could use to tell myself that such a thing could never happen to my child. Even if I didn't leave them home alone at that age--and it was because of the Nicarico case that I didn't--how long could I wait before taking that inevitable step? By the time my children were 12, I had crossed that Rubicon. Could a 12-year-old fight off a killer any better than a 10-year-old? Could a 14-year-old? Even a 16-year-old? I thought of Jeanine Nicarico so often. When I left one of my daughters in the car for a moment while I dashed into a store. When my husband and I left the girls with a young baby-sitter. And there was one time my younger daughter was home from school sick when she was about 12. I stayed home, but left the house at one point to walk the dog. I got about 2 blocks before I remembered Jeanine Nicarico. Had it been a sunny day like this? Had her mother, too, been cheerful in the knowledge that her child was only mildly ill, before she came home and entered hell? And then I was damp with sweat and pulling the disappointed dog home. I never told my daughter why I came back so soon. The killing of Jeanine Nicarico was the ghost that haunted my years as a mother. It was the reminder that a sweet, ordinary life can be interrupted any time by anything. It was the brutal proof of the randomness of fate in the world into which I had brought two girls as innocent as Jeanine. There was no lesson I could take away, no comfort to be drawn. There was only the hard realization that parenthood, like life, is a gamble. The odds are good and the rewards inestimable, but odds are not guarantees. Part of being an adult is learning to live with that uncertainty. With the Nicarico case playing in the background throughout my daughters' childhoods, I knew that I had grown up. The case continues its strange journey through the criminal justice system. My older daughter is 17 now. We are starting to visit colleges. I am lucky beyond imagining. The unimaginable murder of Jeanine Nicarico was a reminder that not everyone is. 22 years later, the lesson is as fresh as her forever frozen smile. (source: Chicago Tribune) NORTH CAROLINA: N.C. should expand DNA testing Let's hear it for deoxyribonucleic acid. Never heard of it? You know it by the initials, DNA. Ever since the 1980s when DNA tests gained acceptance as a forensic tool, DNA findings have saved innocent people from spending their lives behind bars. In more chilling cases, DNA testing has saved prisoners who were awaiting execution. Since 1973, 124 prisoners on death row have been freed, according to The Associated Press, and in most cases DNA testing proved their innocence. This week DNA did it again. Two Virginia men, who were convicted of rape more than two decades ago, were exonerated after DNA tests proved them innocent. One had been convicted of rape in Norfolk, the other in Alexandria. Both asked that their names not be released. A year ago Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, ordered DNA tests on a small number of old criminal cases to determine whether any innocent people might have been wrongfully convicted. Then came the jarring news that 2 men, out of a sampling of 31 cases, were innocent. DNA tests revealed that they had not committed the rapes. One man had already served 20 years in prison. Gov. Warner now thinks that other innocent people might be behind bars. He has ordered a broader review of old criminal cases. In fact, 660 boxes containing thousands of cases from 1973 to 1988 will now undergo DNA scrutiny. Many cases predate DNA technology, but if biological evidence still exists in the files, it will be tested. Warner's announcement this week is something of a first. Few governors have ever ordered such a sweeping DNA review of old criminal cases. The tests will take time and cost money, but they are justified. For as Gov. Warner said, "I believe a look back at these retained case files is the only morally acceptable course, and what truth they can bring only bolsters confidence in our system." Virginia has been second only to Texas in carrying out executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. (Neither man who was exonerated this week was eligible for the death penalty.) Even though Virginia keeps the death chamber busy, nobody wants innocent people to die -- or to serve years behind bars for crimes they did not commit. A Gallup Poll taken in October found that 64 % of Americans favor capital punishment (a big drop from 80 % in 1994). But even death penalty supporters worry that innocent people might be put to death, according to surveys. Gov. Warner's announcement will -- and should -- spur other states to expand DNA testing in criminal cases. North Carolina requires DNA tests for all convicted felons, but Gov. Mike Easley has never ordered a sweeping review that would require old criminal cases to be DNA tested. Virginia's discovery that two innocent men, out of 31 tested, were wrongfully convicted raises skepticism about the criminal justice system. "This is a 7 % innocence rate among people who never even asked for testing. That should give pause to people who think mistakes in our criminal justice system are flukes," Peter Neufeld, co-director of the New York-based Innocence Project, told The Washington Post. "This should be a beacon for other governors across the country to implement post-conviction DNA testing." Worth noting is that DNA testing not only saves innocent people, but also sends guilty people to prison. That's all the more reason for states to expand DNA tests, as Virginia is wisely doing. (source: The News & Record) PENNSYLVANIA: Teen Faces Death Penalty in Pa. Slayings A prosecutor said Friday he will seek the death penalty against a man already accused of shooting to death his 14-year-old girlfriend's parents, and announced he does not plan to charge the girl. Lancaster County District Attorney Don Totaro also added a firearms violation and sexual assault charge against 18-year-old David Ludwig. Totaro said Ludwig's statements have exonerated Kara Beth Borden, and convinced investigators that she did not have any role in planning or carrying out the shooting deaths of her parents Michael and Cathryn inside their Lititz home on Nov. 14. "There was no plan or no agreement to harm her parents in any way," Totaro said. Ludwig said only that he had no questions Friday morning as he signed a court document waiving his preliminary hearing, meaning the charges against him were forwarded to county court. Also Friday, prosecutors dropped the kidnapping charge against Ludwig, who fled the state with Kara before being captured in Indiana. He still also faces one count of reckless endangerment. Totaro said the death penalty is justified because the killing occurred while perpetrating a felony, the firearms charge; that it created a great risk of harm to the couple's children, who were at home at the time; and that more than one person was killed. Prosecutors said Ludwig killed the Bordens after an argument over his relationship with their daughter. He was captured the next day following a high-speed chase that ended with him crashing his parents' car. Police said Ludwig dropped off the girl at her house at about 5:30 a.m. on the morning of the killings, after the teens had spent the night together at Ludwig's house. After Ludwig didn't receive a text-message that she had made it into her room undetected, he called the girl on her cell phone and learned she had been caught by her parents and needed him to come over, according to the court filing. He returned to the house at her request _ sticking a Glock pistol in his waistband and grabbing some other weapons, authorities said. He had 2 guns and a hunting knife when he showed up at about 7 a.m., police said. Michael Borden told Ludwig during a 30- to 45-minute talk that he could no longer see his daughter. It was then, Ludwig allegedly told police, that he then decided to kill the couple. He shot Michael Borden from behind as he was going down the hallway to the front door, and then Cathryn Borden from six feet away as she was getting of out a chair, according to the court papers. Both were shot in the head. Ludwig then started to drive away before turning back to look for the girl, who came running after him and got in the car, authorities said. He told detectives that the girl wanted to "get as far away as possible, get married, and start a new life," according to court documents. Totaro said Friday that the teens had discussed what they would do if the parents discovered their relationship. "There was a plan if they were caught in the relationship, to possibly run away. That was the extent of the plan," Totaro said. Ludwig's formal arraignment in Lancaster County Common Pleas Court was scheduled for Jan. 25. (source: Associated Press)
