[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA, PENN., OHIO, CONN., MD.

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 28



USA:

Benefit of death penalty overlooked


Steven Asin provides a few reasons to abolish the death penalty and there
is good faith debate on both sides of this argument ("Death penalty repeal
is sound policy," Feb. 21 letter).

However, Mr. Asin overlooks one critical benefit to the death penalty; it
may be the most effective negotiating tool for law enforcement.

Ironically, murderers become very concerned with life when its their own
that hangs in the balance. Possible imposition of the death penalty often
results in plea bargains that spare the victims family from reliving the
murder.

The best local example is the case of Bruman Alvarez, who killed 5 people
in Potomac in 1995. In exchange for taking the death penalty off the
table, he spared everyone the pain of a trial.

Plea bargaining away a death penalty also results in agreements to locate
where bodies have been disposed. It seems to me that this certainly
provides comfort to a victim's family.

Chester Speed, Bethesda

(source: Letter to the Editor, (Md.) Business Gazette)






PENNSYLVANIA:

Death penalty out in Flanigan Park fatal shooting case


The Philadelphia man accused of killing 19-year-old Michael K. Riley and
wounding a teenager on the busy basketball courts of Flanigan Park on
March 27, 2006, chose to waive his right to a jury trial Monday afternoon
in exchange for the district attorney's agreement to withdraw the death
penalty.

First Assistant Public Defender Nicole J. Spring said discussions about an
exchange in the case against Kyion Ball are "relatively recent." Jury
selection  which was to span over three days  was scheduled to begin this
morning.

Ball, 24, is accused of approaching Riley, pulling a gun out from the
pocket of his hooded sweatshirt and firing 3 shots at him from behind, a
prosecution witness testified at Balls preliminary hearing.

A stray bullet struck 16-year-old Anthony Barasky in the back of his right
arm. The teen, who was treated for his injuries at Williamsport Hospital,
previously testified that he never saw the shooter.

The trial was scheduled to take place over two weeks, Spring said, with
the first week dedicated to the guilt phase and the second week dedicated
to the penalty phase. She now expects the trial, which will begin March
12, to last only 4 days.

District Attorney Michael A. Dinges said time was one of the many factors
he considered when agreeing to withdraw the death penalty in exchange for
a nonjury trial.

"Basically, with a nonjury trial, you're in a situation where its just one
person and there's no chance of a hung jury," he said. "Generally, it's a
better procedure for the commonwealth and theres clearly a cost savings to
the county as well."

County Judge William S. Kieser was to preside over the jury trial but
because he has heard and ruled on many pre-trial motions in the case, the
trial is now scheduled to take place before Judge Dudley N. Anderson.

"Sometimes things come up in pre-trial motions that shouldn't come up at
trial," Spring said. "We thought, and he (Kieser) agreed, that he'd heard
some things that could influence his decision one way or another if he
thought the evidence was a close call."

Ball will stand trial on several charges, including an open count of
criminal homicide, possessing instruments of a crime, carrying a firearm
without a license, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another
person.

Spring declined to comment on the defense team's strategy.

(source: Williamsport Sun-Gazette)






OHIO----female faces federal death sentence

Moonda asks judge for no death penalty


Donna Moonda is asking a federal judge to declare the death penalty
unconstitutional or  at the very least  take it off the table in her
upcoming trial.

The Sharpsville, Pa., woman accused in the May 13, 2005, shooting death of
her millionaire urologist husband, Dr. Gulam Moonda, on the side of the
Ohio Turnpike filed a slew of motions late last week.

Moonda is being held in the Medina County Jail in Ohio until her June 4
trial in which she will face the death penalty if found guilty.

Moonda also is seeking to bar any testimony from nonfamily members on the
impact of Dr. Moonda's death. A motion in federal court in Akron filed by
Moonda's attorneys specifically asks to exclude friends and patients from
testifying in the matter.

Moonda, 47, was arrested and charged in July 2006 after her former
boyfriend, Damian Bradford, agreed to cooperate with authorities.

Bradford, 25, of Beaver County, Pa., had been set to go on trial in Dr.
Moonda's death when he told authorities he shot Dr. Moonda at the urging
of the urologist's wife.

Police have said Bradford and Donna Moonda met in an outpatient drug
rehabilitation program in Beaver County and began an affair.

Bradford has been promised a 171/2-year prison sentence in exchange for
his testimony.

U.S. District Court Judge David O. Dowd, as of late Monday afternoon, had
not ruled on Moonda's motion.

(source: Youngstown Vindicator)






CONNECTICUT:

Death Penalty Rules Unfair


After grilling 5 of the state's top prosecutors last week, lawyers for
convicted murderer Jesse Campbell III apparently made their point that in
Connecticut, as in other states, the process for seeking the death penalty
is unfair, inexact and perhaps unconstitutional.

Jurors in Mr. Campbell's case deadlocked on whether to order him executed,
which opened the door to the constitutional challenge. Testimony by the
prosecutors showed that they pretty much play by their own rules when it
comes to deciding whom to target for capital punishment. Moreover, none of
the 5 had ever consulted with the panel of senior state's attorneys that
was created to advise on capital cases.

It should follow that without a consistent set of guidelines, the chances
of receiving the death sentence depend upon which prosecutor is trying the
case. A defendant in Waterbury, for example, is 3 times more likely to be
sentenced to death than a defendant in Windham.

Prosecutors can't say with certainty that they would all have arrived at
the same decision in the same cases. In fact, they maintain that the state
constitution protects their right to be arbitrary.

Fortunately, the state's Supreme Court isn't as certain as the prosecutors
are about that unfettered right. If it were, the court would not have
ordered them to testify in Mr. Campbell's case.

7 more regional state's attorneys are scheduled to testify next month. It
would be surprising if the pattern of testimony set by the first 5 - that
the death penalty is unequally applied - were to change.

Capital punishment is ineffective in stopping crime, unjust, inhumane and
should be abolished. Short of that, there should at least be formal
written guidelines on how to employ it in Connecticut.

(source: Editorial, Hartford Courant)






MARYLAND:

Death penalty forum rescheduled at church


A free forum on Repeal of the Death Penalty, postponed due to February
snows, has been rescheduled for March 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Towson
Unitarian Universalist Church, 1710 Dulaney Valley Road.

Co-sponsored by the Baltimore County League of Women Voters and the Towson
Unitarian's Adult Education Committee, the forum is being organized by
Maryland Citizens Against State Executions.

It will include presentations by the mother of a murder victim and a man
who was sent to death row and later found innocent.

Legislation to repeal Maryland's death penalty has been filed in Annapolis
and has the backing of Gov. Martin O'Malley.

Call 410-343-2072 for forum information.

(source: MyWebPal.com)