Feb. 15
TEXAS:
Sabine County grand jury re-indicts man accused in baby death for capital
murder
A 27-year-old Pineland man who was arrested back in December of 2014 in
connection to the death of his girlfriend's 5-month-old daughter has been
re-indicted on a capital murder charge, according to the Sabine County District
Attorney's Office.
Sabine County District Attorney Kevin Dutton said Tuesday that Matthew Hudson's
original charge was 1st-degree murder. Jail records show that Hudson has posted
a bail amount of $100,000 and has been released from jail.
"We can prove this was more than just negligence," Dutton said. "The original
autopsy report didn't have photographs."
Dutton said his office was getting ready to take the case to trial, and they
met with the medical examiner. At that time, the medical examiner showed them
the photos.
"We determined that the grand jury needed to hear new evidence, and then they
indicted him for capital murder," Dutton said.
The death penalty is not off the table, Dutton said. The district attorney
explained that Hudson has been appointed a death penalty counsel.
Dutton said although no court date has been set yet, they are hoping to try the
case by the end of the year.
According to the affidavit, a Sabine County Sheriff's deputy was contacted by a
Child Protective Services investigator on Nov. 7, 2014, in reference to a
5-month-old baby girl that had been airlifted from the Sabine County Hospital
to Texas Children's Hospital, where she died less than 48 hours later.
When the deputy went to the Sabine County Hospital, a doctor told him that a CT
scan of the child had shown "some possible brain trauma."
Then the deputy spoke to Sophia's mother, who said that Hudson took her to work
at about 5:55 a.m. that morning. She said that her daughter was fine when
Hudson dropped her off at work.
In addition, the baby's mother told the deputy that she had taken Sophia to the
Sabine Family Medicine a couple of weeks before her baby wound up in the
hospital. She also took her daughter to Complete Healthcare Services in Jasper
a few days before Nov. 7, 2014 for treatment of a cough.
Hudson told the deputy that after he dropped his girlfriend off at work, he
went back home to a residence in the 300 block of Westwood Loop in Hemphill
with Sophia, according to the affidavit. Hudson allegedly left Sophia in the
car seat until she began to get fussy, and he moved her closer to him.
According to the affidavit, Hudson took Sophia out of the car seat and changed
her dirty diaper. He told the deputy that he lay the baby on her back and
started to give her a bottle of formula. When Sophia started to get sleepy,
Hudson laid her on her back in his bed and started giving her the baby formula
again.
Hudson told the deputy that Sophia started bubbling milk out of her mouth, and
he wiped her mouth before trying again with the formula. This time, Sophia
bubbled the milk again and coughed, according to the affidavit. When Hudson
noticed that Sophia was unresponsive, he allegedly shook her in an effort to
get a response.
After Hudson woke up the 3 other people who were at the house, all 3 of them
came running to help, and one of them started doing CPR on the baby and kept
doing it until the first responders from the Fairmont Volunteer Fire Department
arrived on the scene, the affidavit stated.
Hudson told a 2nd SCSO deputy who came to assist at the hospital the same
version of the story, according to the affidavit.
The 2nd deputy went with Hudson to his home. According to the affidavit, the
deputy noticed that there was no working light in the bedroom where Hudson had
taken Sophia to feed her. When asked about the lack of a working light, Hudson
allegedly told the deputy that he used the light on his cell phone.
The affidavit stated that the deputy did not see any sign of aspiration on the
bed, the living room, or on the floors of the residence.
On Nov. 10, 2014, Hudson met with a Sabine County deputy, a Texas Ranger, and
CPS workers in Hemphill. During the interview, he gave almost the same version
of what he had earlier said had happened. However, this time, he told
authorities that after Sophia started getting fussy, he took her out of the car
seat and started tickling her and making her laugh, according to the affidavit.
In addition, Hudson allegedly started tossing Sophia in the air and catching
her to make her laugh.
Later, after Hudson talked to authorities about Sophia bubbling up the milk and
coughing before becoming unresponsive, he said that he didn't remember how many
times he shook the baby or how hard, according the affidavit.
When the Texas Ranger asked Hudson who he thought was responsible for Sophia's
death, Hudson allegedly said that he believed he was.
(source: KTRE news)
NORTH CAROLINA:
Trial underway for Wake County man accused of killing in-laws
Before opening statements even began Tuesday morning in the death penalty trial
of a Wake County man accused of murdering his in-laws, the defendant
interrupted the judge. And there was more drama later in the day when the man's
ex-wife -- and only survivor of the attack -- took the stand.
Nathan Holden interrupted Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway during
jury instructions to say he wanted jurors instructed on the constitution.
"Attention your honor, I'm pleading that the jury can instruct their own truth
and constitution and that the white man's interpretation of law," he said. "And
uhh ... and free (inaudible). I believe that the jury be instructed the
constitution be up to natural interpretation."
The jury is made up of 9 men and 3 women. The racial makeup is 11 white and 1
African American.
Holden faces 1st-degree murder charges in connection with the fatal shootings
of 57-year-old Angelia Smith Taylor and 66-year-old Sylvester Taylor near
Wendell in April 2014.
Latonya Holden was shot and seriously injured on April 9, 2014 at her parent's
home in the 1100 block of Lake Glad Road.
"I was like I'm leaving. I'm not happy. I don't see us working this out and I'm
gone," Latonya Holden said on the witness stand Tuesday.
Latonya Holden has not yet testified about the day of the attack. She is
expected to do so Wednesday morning.
Nathan Holden's defense attorney said during opening statements that the case
is not a "'who done it,' this is not about what happened."
"Nate Holden is the one who is responsible for the deaths of Mr. and Mrs.
Taylor. He did shoot his wife." Defense Attorney Elizabeth Hambourger said.
The couple's 3 children were in the home at the time of the shooting, but they
were not hurt.
"Latonya did what any mother would do, she took her attention and focused it on
her kids. She did everything she could to keep them safe. She put them in the
closet, told them that she loved them, because she didn't know if she was ever
going to see them again," Prosecutor Jason Waller explained to the jury during
opening statements said.
He went on to explain that Latonya called 911 to report that Nathan Holden was
at the home shooting after hearing her mother call out for her father and
hearing shots fired while in a back bedroom.
Jurors were told by the prosecution that Holden beat and shot his wife while
their children listened from a closet. Waller said Latonya's survival was
miraculous.
Hambourger told the jury that what the defense wants them to understand is "how
things got to this point within this particular family."
"This case is about why this happened and it is about Nate Holden's state of
mind at the time it happened," she said.
Investigators said Angelia Smith Taylor was found dead inside the home, while
Sylvester Taylor was found dead in the yard.
Authorities arrested Holden after a standoff near his home hours later.
Court documents show Latonya Holden had a restraining order against her husband
when the incident happened. The couple separated back in December 2013.
(source: WTVD news)
GEORGIA:
New Towaliga DA seeks death penalty in 1991 murder case
18 years after the lifeless body of Heather Danielle Davidson was found dumped
on a roadside in Butts County, the new Towaliga Circuit district attorney
announced he will seek the death penalty for her accused killer.
Davidson, 22, had been kidnapped, beaten and strangled to death on Oct. 2,
1992. Her body was found along Kermit Williams Road, just west of Interstate 75
near Jackson.
On Feb. 17, 2015, 46-year-old Fuquah Dewalt Cashaw was arrested by U.S.
Marshals in Pearland, Texas, where he was working as a welder, according to a
report from KCRP-TV. Later that year, he was indicted by a grand jury in the
cold-case murder.
Davidson, of Stockbridge, was a dancer at a Forest Park club where
investigators allege Cashaw was a customer, Jackson Progress-Argus reported.
Cashaw has been in jail since his arrest.
On Tuesday, the circuit's new DA, Jonathan Adams, said in a news release that
he would seek the death penalty for Cashaw, who'd pleaded not guilty in
December.
"After my review of this case, the manner of death and other factors that
cannot be released publicly at this time, I am convinced we must pursue the
death penalty," Adams said. "The DA's Office will vigorously prosecute this
case and finally secure justice for Heather Davidson in her vicious murder."
The case resurfaced in 2005 when DNA was collected from Cashaw in an unrelated
involuntary manslaughter case out of state.
Butts County Sheriff Gary Long told the Jackson newspaper that a DNA match more
than a decade ago was not enough for an arrest warrant. Further investigation
and improved DNA technology led to the arrest.
Early last January, when Richard Milam was circuit's district attorney, Cashaw
was granted a bond of $1 million because he had not been indicted within 90
days, the Jackson Progress-Argus reported.
(source: macon.com)
FLORIDA:
157th Death Row Prisoner Exonerated
Isaiah McCoy, a death row inmate, became the 157th person in the United States
and the 1st one this year to be exonerated for a crime he didn't commit.
Prosecutors charged McCoy with shooting to death James Munford, 30, during a
drug deal in the parking lot of a Dover, Delaware, bowling alley on May 4,
2010.
A jury found McCoy guilty of murder in June 2012, but the Delaware Supreme
Court later overturned his conviction and death sentence in 2015 because of
prosecutorial misconduct, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The court suspended Deputy Attorney General R. David Favata from practicing
because of his misconduct at McCoy's trials. His acts included belittling McCoy
and making intimidating comments during a break in proceedings and then lying
to the judge about making the comments. McCoy, who acted as his own attorney,
rejected a plea deal.
In a bench trial, Kent County, Delaware, Superior Court Judge Robert B. Young
acquitted McCoy after ruling that there was no physical evidence tying McCoy to
the murder.
After he was released from prison on January 19, McCoy said, "I just want to
say to all those out there going through the same thing I'm going through to
keep the faith and keep fighting."
(source: jacksonvillefreepress.com)
*****************
Convicted killer moves to overturn death sentence
An Okaloosa County serial killer sitting on death row is trying to get his
death sentence overturned.
Frank Walls has been on death row since 1988 after being convicted of two
murders. He later confessed to 3 more murders.
Walls argued his sentence should be overturned because the jury wasn't allowed
to consider aggravating factors required under a recent state Supreme Court
ruling.
He also argued that because of his low IQ of 72 he suffers a mental disability
that should prevent him from facing the death penalty.
In 2016 the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a Florida law that used a
bright-line IQ score of 70 to determine whether a killer could be put to death.
These are the last motions Walls will be entitled to before a death warrant
will be signed in his case.
If approved, Walls still faces life in prison without the possibility of
parole.
(source: WEAR TV news)
OHIO:
Prosecutors seek death penalty for Cleveland teen's slaying
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a man charged with killing a
14-year-old Cleveland girl found dead in an abandoned house last month.
44-year-old Christopher Whitaker, of South Euclid, was indicted Monday on
charges including aggravated murder, kidnapping, rape and offenses against a
corpse in the death of Alianna DeFreeze.
Court records listed no attorney for Whitaker. A message seeking comment was
left with the public defender's office.
A prosecutor says the facts of the case and Whitaker's criminal history compel
his office to seek the death penalty. Whitaker has previous convictions for
assault and sexual battery.
Alianna was reported missing after failing to show up for school. Surveillance
cameras recorded her getting off a public bus on Jan. 26 near where her body
was found days later.
(source: Associated Press)
MISSOURI:
Missouri doesn't have to reveal source of lethal injection drugs, appeals court
rules
In Missouri on Tuesday, a state appeals court ruled prison officials do not
have to reveal their source of lethal injection drugs.
Missouri prison officials are not obligated to publicly reveal the source of
the state's lethal injection drugs, a Missouri appellate court ruled Tuesday.
The decision by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, overturned a
trial court ruling last March that said the state violated the Sunshine Law by
withholding documents that would identify pharmacists who supplied the prison
system with the drugs used in executions.
At issue is whether the law that protects the identity of the state's execution
team applies to those who supply the drugs. The appeals court found that it
did.
Tuesday's decision is the latest development in an ongoing legal battle that
has drawn in several news organizations and civil liberties groups that have
sought information about how the state carries out lethal injections. The
source of the drugs is of interest to critics of the death penalty, and similar
litigation has played out in other states.
Missouri prison officials said they would not comment on the decision Tuesday
because it remains under litigation.
Bernie Rhodes, the Kansas City attorney who represents The Kansas City Star,
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Associated Press and other media organizations
in the case, said Tuesday that the appeals court was wrong to conclude that the
pharmacists are covered by the state's "black hood law."
Missouri law protects the identities of the execution team, defining the team
as "those persons who administer lethal gas or lethal chemicals and those
persons, such as medical personnel, who provide direct support" for the
execution.
The pharmacists supplying the drugs are not present at the prison during the
execution and may never have been at the prison, Rhodes said.
"We believe to directly assist, you have to be there," Rhodes said. "Selling
the drugs is no different ... from selling the syringes or the gurney or the
light bulbs in the execution chamber." But no one has asserted that the
suppliers of those other items are provided anonymity by the law.
The appeals court ruling said that disclosing the identities of "individuals
essential to the execution process" could hinder Missouri's ability to execute
the condemned.
"Releasing the identities of the drug suppliers could serve as a backdoor means
to frustrating the State's ability to carry out lawful executions by lethal
injection," reads the ruling, written by appeals court Judge Anthony Rex
Gabbert.
The identity of physicians involved in the death penalty process is a central
one in Missouri and other states that still execute prisoners by lethal
injection.
The process involves controlled substances, which requires a physician to write
a prescription for the drugs used in executions. Lethal injection in the 1980s
and 1990s became an increasingly popular choice for death penalty states. The
process replaced other execution methods like the electric chair and the gas
chamber, both of which were seen as being prone to botched executions.
Lethal injection was thought to be a painless form of execution. But death
penalty opponents and attorneys who represent prisoners on death row argue it's
unconstitutional because lethal injection methods aren't proven to be effective
and can involve inexperienced personnel to carry it out, and some point to
evidence that it may indeed cause a painful and prolonged death.
Codes of conduct for medical professionals frown upon physicians using
pharmaceuticals and medical techniques to put people to death. That makes it
difficult for states to find doctors willing to participate in executions, and
those who do insist on secrecy to avoid the fallout in their profession if
their identities were disclosed.
Death penalty defense attorneys, however, argue that the public has a right to
know the identities of physicians who take part in executions to know whether
the individuals are competent and qualified.
Drug manufacturers, many of which are based in Europe, do not want their
products used in lethal injections, which further challenges the ability to
execute prisoners by lethal injection.
Legal challenges to lethal injection practices in several states are ongoing.
In Ohio, a federal judge last month rejected the state's 3-drug lethal
injection protocol on the grounds that 1 of the drugs, the sedative midazolam,
is not sufficiently humane in its effects.
The same month, Texas officials filed a federal lawsuit seeking to get a final
answer about whether the Food and Drug Administration will hand over lethal
injection drugs the agency confiscated nearly a year and a half ago. In
Oklahoma last year, a grand jury criticized state officials charged with
carrying out executions, describing a litany of failures and avoidable errors.
In 2007, Missouri passed a law that made it illegal to disclose the identity of
current and former members of the execution team. That law passed the Missouri
General Assembly after an investigation by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch revealed
the identity of a doctor who participated in the state's execution process.
That doctor, Alan Doerhoff, was banned by a federal judge from assisting in
future executions after he testified that he was dyslexic and sometimes made
mistakes in administering the drugs used for lethal injections.
Doerhoff had also been sued for medical malpractice several times.
Missouri took a pause from executing prisoners, in part because the state had a
difficult time locating drugs and willing execution team participants. In 2013,
the state resumed its death penalty, which led to several media outlets and
death penalty defense attorneys trying to identify the state's new source for
lethal injection drugs.
The Apothecary Shoppe, a compounding pharmacy in Tulsa, Okla., was eventually
revealed as a source for Missouri's execution drugs. State and federal
inspections of The Apothecary Shoppe have found problems. A 2015 inspection by
the FDA "observed serious deficiencies in (The Apothecary Shoppe's) practices
for producing sterile drug products, which put patients at risk."
Missouri executed 16 men from 2014 to 2015, 2nd only to the 23 executions in
Texas over the same 2 years.
Last year, Missouri had just one execution, largely because most of the 25 men
on the state's death row have appeals remaining or are unlikely to be executed
because of medical or mental health concerns.
The plaintiff attorneys in the case are discussing an appeal to the Missouri
Supreme Court.
Plaintiffs in the case include the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri,
the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, former Democratic legislator
Joan Bray and the Guardian US news agency.
(source: The Kansas City Star)
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