June 20
TEXAS----impending execution
Texas assures court it can carry out aging death row inmate's execution
The Lone Star State is confident it can kill Danny Bible.
Earlier this month, the aging Houston serial killer filed a last-minute lawsuit
arguing that his veins are so bad and his health problems so severe that he
can't be put to death - or it'll turn into a painfully botched procedure.
But the state of Texas begged to differ, touting its long history of successful
executions.
"Texas is the most prolific death-penalty state in the nation," the state wrote
in a Friday afternoon court filing. "Bible provides no example of a Texas
execution, performed under the current protocol, gone horribly awry because of
vein failure."
Officials say that a Florida killer's screams of "murderers!" during his
execution were not caused by the drugs used for the lethal injection.
The 66-year-old 4-time killer, who is set for execution on June 27, pointed to
bloody botched procedures in other states. In February, a lethal injection team
in Alabama spent hours poking Doyle Hamm before calling off his execution. The
year before that, Ohio found itself in a similar place with condemned killer
Alva Campbell.
But that hasn't happened here, the state pointed out in its response.
"Texas is not Ohio or Alabama, and the court should give little consideration
to isolated examples of problematic executions in other states when it has
numerous uneventful Texas executions upon which to base its opinions," state
attorneys wrote. "Bible has not managed to present even a single instance of
defendants failing to successfully access a vein during an execution."
The state raised a number of other points, alleging that the condemned killer
should have raised the issue sooner and pointing out that prison medical
staffers have managed to draw blood for medical testing over the past year.
But Bible's lawyers fired back in a Monday court filing, calling out the
state's "inflammatory rhetoric" they deemed "devoid of any viable argument."
"Defendants' response is most notable for the things absent from it," attorneys
Jeremy Schepers, Nadia Wood and Margaret Schmucker wrote, noting that the state
doesn't dispute Bible's host of medical conditions ranging from edema to
obesity to Parkinson's disease.
The state also "attempts to obfuscate" the "real issue" as to whether its
execution procedures represent a substantial risk of harm to a man in Bible's
medical condition. That particular claim, defense lawyers argue, the state
didn't really refute.
This isn't the first time a Texas death row prisoner has fought his sentence by
questioning the lethal injection process. But other recent cases focused on the
possibility that the drugs themselves would cause suffering, a claim that could
more generally apply to any death row prisoner. Bible's argument focuses more
narrowly on the possibility that he, specifically, is unfit to execute.
Instead, his lawyers have suggested alternative methods such as a firing squad
or nitrogen gas in order to decrease the risk of suffering.
Bible was initially sent to death row in 2003, more than 2 decades after the
crime that landed him there.
A former drifter, Bible's lengthy string of violence dates back to at least
1979. That May, a passerby found the bloodied, half-naked body of Inez Deaton
along the slope of a Houston bayou. She'd been stabbed 11 times with an ice
pick before her killer posed her corpse by the water.
For nearly 2 decades, Deaton's slaying went unsolved - but Bible's violent
streak continued.
In the years that followed, Bible terrorized women in the Midwest, once setting
his girlfriend's car on fire because he didn't like her haircut. After he
returned to Texas and settled west of Fort Worth, he murdered his sister-in-law
Tracy Powers and her infant son Justin. Then, he killed Powers' roommate, Pam
Hudgins, and left her body hanging from a roadside fence.
Following those killings, he fled to Montana, where he kidnapped a woman and
raped an 11-year-old girl, according to court records.
Eventually, he was caught and in 1984 he pleaded guilty to Hudgins' murder. He
was sentenced to 25 years for the killing and 20 years for a Harris County
robbery. He was released on parole 8 years later, under a since-repealed
mandatory supervision law.
While still on parole, he raped and molested multiple young relatives,
including a 5-year-old. Then in 1998, he raped Tera Robinson in a Louisiana
motel room before stuffing her into a duffel bag when he became enraged that he
couldn't maintain an erection.
The woman broke free and called for help.
Bible was eventually caught in Florida, and freely admitted to his crimes under
questioning.
Weeks after he was sentenced, Bible narrowly escaped death during a
head-on-collision on the way to death row. The officer behind the wheel of the
prison transport vehicle, 40-year-old John Bennett, died in the wreck, while
Bible ended up in a wheelchair.
In past appeals, Bible's attorneys have used his deteriorating medical
condition to argue against his execution, saying he can't be a danger in his
current state.
Texas has already executed 6 men this year, including another Houston serial
killer, Anthony Shore. Aside from Bible's, there are 7 other death dates on the
calendar in Texas.
(source: Houston Chronicle)
************************
Son of 3-time Super Bowl champion Erik Williams arrested, facing death penalty
The 20-year-old son of former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Erik Williams
has been charged with capital murder in the deaths of 2 teenagers last week in
Mesquite, Texas, TMZ Sports reported Tuesday.
Cassius Shakembe Williams was booked into the Dallas County Jail about 1:45
a.m. Sunday, according to the Dallas Morning News.
His alleged accomplice, Rozman Rah-saan Shannon Jr., 21, was booked around 9
a.m. Monday.
Police said they were being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
Williams and Shannon each face 2 charges of capital murder in the June 12
shootings of Dalton James Prater, 18, and Jacob Bradley Hollett, 19.
Police believe Williams and Shannon met the teenagers under the pretense of
buying marijuana from them and then pulled a gun and demanded they hand over
the drugs. Shots were fired.
The Morning News reported Prater was found dead in the driver's seat of a red
Dodge pickup with multiple gunshot wounds.
Hollett was still alive when he was found nearby in a gray Nissan. The teenager
was rushed to a hospital, where he died.
Williams and Shannon could face the death penalty if convicted.
Erik Williams was a key part of the great Cowboys teams in the 1990s,
protecting Troy Aikman and opening holes for Emmitt Smith.
The 6-foo-6, 325-pound tackle won 3 championship rings (in 1993, 1994 and 1996)
with Dallas.
Williams also was named to the Pro Bowl 4 times and the All-Pro team 3 times.
Erik Williams has had some legal problems of his own.
He was accused of sexual assaulting a 17-year-old girl in 1995, but she reached
a civil settlement with him and asked that he not be prosecuted. A grand jury
declined to indict him.
Williams and teammate Michael Irvin were accused of rape in 1997, but they were
cleared when the woman admitted it was a hoax.
In 2003, Williams was charged with assault and harassment after a drunken
argument with his wife, Chanda, allegedly became physical. Prosecutors agreed
to drop the charges if he completed counseling.
Cassius Williams followed in his father's footsteps in playing college football
at Central State in Ohio. Unlike his father, the 6-foot-1, 290-pound Cassius
was a defensive tackle.
(source: westernjournal.com)
FLORIDA:
Brooksville man convicted of murder awaits possible death sentence
Although he was convicted last week on 1st-degree murder charges, George Mason
III will wait nearly 2 months to find out whether he will face death for the
crimes.
The fate of the 47-year-old Brooksville man - found guilty by a jury on June 15
of fatally shooting 3 people and critically injuring a 4th in 2014 - could have
been decided Monday morning. But when Mason appeared before Hernando County
Circuit Judge Stephen Toner and a jury for his penalty phase, his attorney
Devon Sharkey asked that the court hold off until August.
"After speaking with our witnesses and gathering as much information as we can
... it seems the earliest that we would be able to proceed collectively ...
would be Aug. 13," he told the court.
Toner and Assistant State Attorney Pete Magrino, the prosecutor in the case,
agreed.
Following the jury's guilty verdict, Magrino told the Tampa Bay Times: "The
Office of the State Attorney, law enforcement and the victims' family are
pleased that the jury returned the verdict as they did."
Before dismissing jurors on Monday, Toner acknowledged the lengthy continuance
and them not to indulge in conversations or read anything about Mason's case.
"It's tough, I get that," he said. "Just keep in mind that it's very, very
important."
Just before leaving the courtroom, Mason, dressed in a blue plaid button-down,
raised his hand and told Toner he wants to challenge a pending charge against
him - being a felon in possession of a firearm.
"I want to fight it sir," Mason said. "I want to take the state to trial on
that charge."
The judge told him a pre-trial date would be set, likely for Aug. 13.
Brooksville police said on the night of Aug. 29, 2014, Mason shot 4 people at a
small, cream-colored house at 820 Peach St. - home to his half-brother, Gabriel
"Bo" Taylor, their mother Tracey Taylor and their 81-year-old grandmother,
Jannie V. Taylor.
3 people died: Tarasha Yata Townsend, Mason's 37-year-old girlfriend and mother
of his 2 daughters; his grandmother, and Ralph Peyton, another son of his
mother's. Gabriel Taylor, 33, was critically wounded.
At the time, police said they weren't aware of a motive. Mason, whose criminal
history dates back to 1991, records show, was "just hellbent on violent
outrage," said then-Brooksville Police Chief George Turner.
(source: tampabay.com)
ALABAMA:
Request to remove death penalty from Colbert County murder case denied
A judge in Colbert County has denied a request to bar the death penalty from
the upcoming capital murder case involving Thomas Hubbard.
Colbert County Circuit Judge Jackie Hatcher denied that request Tuesday
morning, according to our news partners at the Times Daily.
Police believe Hubbard was orchestrating a March 2016 shooting in Tuscumbia
that resulted in the death of Ki-Jana Freeman. He was indicted in August 2016
for capital murder, 1st-degree assault and shooting into an occupied vehicle.
One expert witness said Hubbard should be considered "intellectually disabled",
but Chief Assistant District Attorney Kyle Brown argued that Hubbard was aware
of what he was doing when he gave authorities a statement about the incident.
He also said that Hubbard was the head of a gang, and that he sold and bought
marijuana through that gang.
(source: WAFF news)
LOUISIANA:
State to seek death penalty in Facebook killer trial
Caddo Parish prosecutors today announced the state will seek the death penalty
in the 1st degree murder trial of Johnathan Robinson.
His arraignment, originally scheduled for today, will be postponed until July
31 to allow the Caddo Parish Public Defender Office time to turn over
Robinson's case to attorneys with Louisiana's Capital Defense Project.
Robinson is accused in the April 12, 2018 death of Rannita Williams, a former
girlfriend, as she begged for her life on Facebook Live.
Lead prosecutor Mekisha Creal made the state's decision to seek the death
penalty in a hushed courtroom packed to capacity with family members of both
the defendant and the victim, as Caddo Parish District Attorney James Stewart
observed from the jury box.
Caddo Parish Sheriff's deputies lined the courtroom, as the defendant was
brought in through door behind the bench where Judge Ramona Emmanuel sat.
Although Robinson was accompanied by the Caddo Correctional Center's Special
Response Team, who had to tackle the defendant to the floor after an outburst
in a previous court appearance, it wasn't necessary. Today, Robinson stook
respectfully at the defense table, not making a sound.
Originally, Robinson was charged with 2nd degree murder in Williams' death, but
on June 13, a Caddo Parish grand jury brought back an indictment for 1st Degree
Murder. The indictment states Robinson "committed the 1st degree murder of
Rannita Williams while he was in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of
an aggravated burglary or 2nd degree kidnapping."
Robinson also was scheduled to be arraigned today on7n attempted 1st Degree
murder charges, after wounding 1 Shreveport police officer and shooting at 6
others during the standoff when he was inside the home with the victim, but
that arraignment also was moved to July 31. He also faces charges on firearms
violations and property damage, after he shot up a house and car when he was
shooting at police during a standoff during and after the homicide took place.
(source: arklatexhomepage.com)
TENNESSEE:
Featured letters: Should the state buy 'black market drugs' for executions?
I am responding to your article about the State of Tennessee buying black
market drugs for executions.
The State of Tennessee is not above the law. If our state has to resort to
shady dealings and the use of black market drugs to carry out executions, then
we need to hit the pause button. The Tennessee Commissioner of the Department
of Correction claims that acquiring the drugs is not illegal because if he
"felt like it was illegal" he wouldn't do it.
The state of Tennessee has hundreds of lawyers to advise him on this issue, and
it appears that he is choosing to remain ignorant, which does not excuse any
illegal actions. Manufacturers do not want their drugs used for this purpose,
and they have requested that the drugs be returned. If Tennessee wants to
execute people, the state needs to do so in a way that is not legally suspect.
Robert Goodrich, Nashville 37215
Never mind legalities
Why are we spending thousands of dollars to find a perfect "lethal" of drugs to
execute a murderer?
My opinion is that a killer should die the same way as the killer's victim, but
we have too many "bleeding hearts" that say this is inhumane.
The simplest and easiest way is not to find a "lethal cocktail,??? but just
give the killer an overdose of opiates. Instead of destroying the confiscated
drugs, put them to good use.
Jack VanDerhoef, Clarksville 37042
----
Suspend executions
An article in the Tennessean (Tennessee must rely on 'black market drugs' for
executions, attorney says) highlighted 2 issues embedded in the abhorrent death
penalty in Tennessee.
One (midazolam) of the three drugs scheduled to be used in the lethal injection
is not legally available. In fact, the manufacturer of that drug has requested
TDOC to return the drug, not wanting it used for such purposes.
In addition, it was reported that medical evidence from autopsies of inmates
executed nationwide using midazolam "showed that the drug frequently does NOT
render the person unconscious or unable to feel pain"; then "the 2nd and 3rd
drugs in the lethal injection cocktail will cause the person to feel as if he
or she is drowning and burning alive."
So the execution includes horrible torture. The state needs to suspend any
scheduled executions, allowing a thorough evaluation of the effects of the
lethal injection and of the death penalty itself.
Thank you for publishing the article with this important information.
BJ Bruce, Nashville 37215
(source: Letters to the Editor, The Tennessean)
SOUTH DAKOTA:
A Jury May Have Sentenced a Man to Death Because He's Gay. And the Justices
Don't Care.
On Monday, the Supreme Court announced it would not stop South Dakota from
killing a man who may have been sentenced to death because he is gay.
Some of the jurors who imposed the death penalty on Charles Rhines, who was
convicted of murder, have said they thought the alternative - a life sentence
served in a men's prison - was something he would enjoy as a gay man.
During deliberations, the jury had often discussed the fact that Mr. Rhines was
gay and there was "a lot of disgust" about it, one juror recalled in an
interview, according to the court petition. Another said that jurors knew he
was gay and "thought that he shouldn't be able to spend his life with men in
prison." A 3rd recounted hearing that if the jury did not sentence Mr. Rhines
to death, "if he's gay, we'd be sending him where he wants to go."
The justices rejected Mr. Rhines's plea to hear his bias claim, allowing his
death sentence to stand despite disturbing evidence that it may have been the
result of anti-L.G.B.T. animus. As usual, the court gave no explanation for its
decision not to review the case. But its silence sent a deeply troubling
message about the value placed on the lives of L.G.B.T. people.
In court papers opposing Mr. Rhines's request for a fair sentence, South Dakota
attempts to brush off this last remark as a "stab at humor" that didn't land
well. But a note from the jury to the sentencing judge leaves little doubt that
this extraordinary assumption infected the jury's decision-making process: "We
know what the death penalty means. But we have no clue as to the reality of
life without parole."
In that note, the jurors went on to ask a series of questions aimed at whether
Mr. Rhines would be in proximity to other men in prison. Would he "be allowed
to mix with the general inmate population?" Would he be permitted "to discuss,
describe or brag about his crime to other inmates?" Would he "have a cellmate?"
In other words, some members of the jury thought life in prison without parole
would be fun for Mr. Rhines. So they decided to sentence him to death.
Juror deliberations are considered sacrosanct, but last year the Supreme Court
carved out an important exception for cases of racial bias in the jury room. In
a race discrimination case, there was evidence that the jury decided to convict
an accused man of unlawful sexual contact and harassment because "he's Mexican,
and Mexican men take whatever they want," in the words of one juror. The
Supreme Court rightly found that such racial animus interfered with an
accused's person right to a fair and impartial trial.
The same rule should apply when anti-L.G.B.T. prejudice taints juror
decision-making. To be sure, the history of racism in America is unique and
demands unique safeguards. But that does not make anti-L.G.B.T. discrimination
any less objectionable, particularly when it may have made the difference
between life and death.
It's difficult to square allowing the state to execute Mr. Rhines because of
his sexual orientation with the Supreme Court's observation this month that
states should prevent the harms of discrimination against L.G.B.T. people. And
while bias in the criminal justice system is not always explicit, it was in Mr.
Rhines's case. That makes the court's decision not to step in even more
alarming.
Sadly, the court will almost certainly be presented with more requests to
review convictions or sentences poisoned by anti-L.G.B.T. bias. It should take
the next opportunity to correct this mistake and recognize that prejudice
against people who are L.G.B.T. should play no role in America's criminal
justice system.
However, that will probably come too late for Mr. Rhines.
(source: Opinion; Raa Tabacco Mar is a staff lawyer for the A.C.L.U.'s Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and H.I.V. Project----New York Times)
CALIFORNIA:
Nebraska advances execution plans despite secrecy concerns
Nebraska officials are forging ahead with plans to execute the state's
longest-serving death-row inmate without disclosing where they obtained lethal
injection drugs, despite a judge's order this week to identify their supplier.
The Nebraska attorney general appealed the judge's ruling on Tuesday as it
pushes in a separate case to set a July 10 execution date for Carey Dean Moore.
State officials are scrambling to execute Moore before their supply of a key
execution drug expires in August, while simultaneously fighting a legal battle
that could force them to reveal who gave them the drugs. Gov. Pete Ricketts'
administration also has sued the Legislature to block a subpoena that would
force the state corrections director to testify about Nebraska's execution
protocol.
Ricketts and Attorney General Doug Peterson have said the state is long overdue
to execute Moore, 60, who has spent nearly 4 decades on death row for the 1979
shooting deaths of 2 Omaha cab drivers. But a leading death penalty critic
contends state officials want to execute an inmate before the November election
- and before they're forced to disclose how they obtained their drugs.
"If they got these drugs in a legitimate way from a legitimate provider, then
all they'd have to do is ask for another batch," said Sen. Ernie Chambers, of
Omaha. "If everything was legitimate, the supplier would say, 'Sure, coming
right up.'"
Chambers said the request to have the Nebraska Supreme Court set an execution
date is politically motivated, given promises by the Republican governor and
attorney general to revive capital punishment and their pending re-election
bids this year. Ricketts and Peterson have denied the allegations, saying
they're trying to carry out the will of voters.
Nebraska's last execution took place in 1997, using the electric chair, and the
state has failed to carry out any others because of legal challenges and lack
of access to the required drugs. Lawmakers abolished capital punishment in
2015, overriding Ricketts' veto during his 1st year in office. But voters
reinstated it the following year through a petition drive partially financed by
the governor.
On Monday, a judge ordered the Department of Correctional Services to release
public records that could identify the state's supplier, including invoices,
photographs of the drugs' packaging, and correspondence between state officials
and the supplier. Judge Jodi Nelson also ruled that the state can withhold any
documents that directly identify members of Nebraska's execution team, whose
identities are confidential under state law.
The order came in response to lawsuits filed by the American Civil Liberties
Union of Nebraska and the state's two largest newspapers, the Omaha
World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star, after state prison officials denied
their requests for the records.
"We appreciate that Nebraskans of goodwill hold divergent viewpoints on the
death penalty, but the citizens' referendum did not grant permission to state
officials to cloak the death penalty in secrecy," said Danielle Conrad, the
ACLU of Nebraska's executive director. The order to release the records
"ensures transparency and accountability as the state seeks to carry out its
most grave function."
Corrections department officials have traditionally released such records
without objection, and a bill that would have given them the legal authority to
withhold them stalled in the Legislature last year. The Nebraska attorney
general's office argued that releasing the records could eventually lead to
identifying an execution team member.
In April 2017, The Associated Press used a records request to identify and
contact the manufacturer of 1 of Nebraska's lethal injection drugs to see if
the company was aware of how the department planned to use them.
A spokesman said the company never wanted its drugs to be used in executions
and only sold it to Nebraska corrections officials because one of its
distributors made a mistake. Fresenius Kabi spokesman Matt Kuhn said the
company discovered the error through an internal audit and asked state
officials to return the drug, but the state refused.
Suzanne Gage, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Doug Peterson, said state
attorneys were pleased that the state doesn't have to disclose records that
identify execution team members.
"We respectfully disagree with the court's analysis on the remaining records
and plan to appeal," she said.
Spokespeople for Ricketts and the Department of Correctional Services did not
immediately return messages seeking comment.
Nebraska's situation is unique among states with the death penalty because
lawmakers have never given the department permission to withhold such records,
said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Washington-based Death Penalty
Information Center. Other state legislatures have enacted so-called shield laws
to keep their suppliers' identities confidential. Supporters say shield laws
protect suppliers from intimidation and harassment by death penalty opponents,
but Dunham described the practice as troubling.
"This is the type of questionable activity that undermines public confidence in
the institution of capital punishment," said Dunham, whose group has criticized
the way states carry out executions. "We shouldn't be hiding this information
from the public when they have an interest in making sure the process is
carried out fairly."
(source: Associated Press)
USA:
Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a 32-year-old Alaska
man charged in the deaths of 2 people
Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a 32-year-old Alaska
man charged with federal murder charges in the deaths of 2 people.
Prosecutors filed a notice Tuesday to seek the death penalty against John Pearl
Smith II if convicted for the June 2016 deaths of Wasilla residents Ben Gross
and Crystal Denardi.
Smith has pleaded not guilty in the case. Defense attorney, Steven Wells of
Anchorage, said he's "quite saddened" that prosecutors are seeking that route.
The state of Alaska doesn't have the death penalty. U.S. Attorney General Jeff
Sessions approved seeking the death penalty.
Prosecutors say Smith shot and killed Gross and Denardi in a robbery attempt.
Their bodies were found in a burned home.
Autopsy results showed they had been shot before the fire started.
(soure: Associated Press)
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