March 5
TEXAS:
Former Texas Prosecutor Withheld Email that Could Have Prevented Innocent Man
from Landing on Death Row: Report
In an announcement late Friday, Harris County, Texas, District Attorney Kim Ogg
revealed that a former prosecutor had withheld a key email that could have
prevented Alfred Dewayne Brown from receiving the death penalty.
As the Houston Chronicle writes, the email helped establish "a clear alibi" for
Brown, who was convicted in a high-profile murder case in 2005 that landed him
a death sentence.
Brown always maintained his innocence, and spent nearly 10 years on death row
before his case was dismissed in 2015 and his conviction overturned. According
the Chronicle, the 36-year-old Brown later sued a slew of Harris County
officials, including the DA's office, the prosecutor and police officer who
handled the murder case, accusing them of hiding and falsifying evidence
against him and violating his constitutional rights to due process and a fair
trial.
The new e-mail, which came to light because of Brown's lawsuit, backs up his
claims, showing that the prosecutor at the time, Dan Rizzo, was aware of
evidence that could exculpate Brown.
Some necessary context: Brown was accused and convicted of killing a Houston
police officer and a store clerk during a robbery at a check-cashing store. But
Brown maintained that there was no way he could have done the crime since he
was at his girlfriend's house at the time of the murders.
And he could prove that he was at his girlfriend's house, Brown said, because
he had placed a call to her at work from her house phone during the time of the
murders. But as the Chronicle reports, for years, officials claimed they had no
record of such a call.
That changed in 2014, when an investigator, Breck McDaniel found phone records
in his garage that supported Brown's alibi. The discovery was enough to
overturn Brown's death row conviction. At the time, the Chronicle writes, the
DA claimed the phone records had simply been "inadvertently misplaced."
The newly released e-mail refutes that claim. A day after Brown's girlfriend
testified before a grand jury that Brown had called her from her apartment,
McDaniel wrote to then-prosecutor Rizzo about the phone records.
From the Chronicle:
"I was hoping that it would clearly refute Erica's claim that she received a
call at work," McDaniel wrote, later continuing: "But, it looks like the call
detail records from the apartment shows that the home phone dialed Erica's
place of employment on Hartwick Street at about 8:30 a.m. and again at 10:08
a.m."
Rizzo didn't share the evidence with Brown's legal team or the jury - a clear
Brady violation.
In light of the evidence, Brown's lawyers want the current Harris County DA,
Ogg, to formally declare their client "actually innocent" - a label that would
allow Brown to get compensation from the state for his wrongful conviction.
Following his overturned sentence in 2015, Brown petitioned the state for
nearly $2 million in compensation for the years he spent on death row, but the
request was denied by state officials because he hadn't met the eligibility
requirement since Brown was never found "actually innocent."
That phrase ended up pushing Brown to sue Harris County officials for their
denial of his due process rights. The civil lawsuit has born certainly borne
fruit, without it, the email would have never come out, and the public wouldn't
know that not only was Brown actually telling the truth the whole time, but
that the real criminals may actually be the Harris County DA's office.
"Vindication," tweeted Brian Stolarz, one of Brown's attorneys when he appealed
his criminal case.
"Only now, after a civil lawsuit, does the whole truth finally come out,"
Stolarz added in a statement, according to the Chronicle. "I am sickened and
disheartened, but encouraged that Dewayne is vindicated and his long journey to
justice is near the end."
(source: The Root)
SOUTH CAROLINA:
South Carolina's death row dilemma
Without access to lethal-injection drugs, the state has been unable to execute
convicted killers since 2013. That leaves the Legislature with 3 choices, none
of them good. Do lawmakers revive the electric chair, a relic that fell out of
favor nationwide after numerous botched and gruesome executions? What about
firing squads, an archaic and particularly violent method of execution that
failed to garner support here 3 years ago? Or should the state make secret
deals to obtain lethal-injection drugs from unidentified drug-makers?
Prosecutors such as 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe are fed up with waiting
for an answer. From their perspective, a jury found these men guilty of heinous
crimes, they were sentenced and the state must find a way to carry out the
sentences. If not, what's the point of being a capital punishment state?
The questions are complicated by the excruciatingly slow legal process of
carrying out death sentences, which also is unfair to the victims' families
even when the drugs are available. All but 3 death row inmates in South
Carolina have been awaiting their turn for at least a decade. No one has been
executed since 2011. The number of death-row inmates has declined from 51 in
2013, when the state's drug supply ran out, to 36 today.
In a grim war of attrition, the inmates are either dying or getting their
sentences converted to life faster than the state can find a way to execute
them.
Drug-makers stopped selling the necessary drugs to states because of the
potential backlash of being associated with capital punishment. Fewer states
and countries have the death penalty today but support remains strong in South
Carolina, where 65 % of respondents to the Winthrop Poll released Wednesday
said they want to keep it. Just over 1/2 of them, however, agreed that it's not
applied fairly nationwide.
Bills in the House and the Senate would make the electric chair the default
method for killing death row inmates if the state can't get lethal injection
drugs. The Legislature should resist the urge to approve these measures.
Electrocution dates back to the 1880s when it was used to kill animals, but it
soon found favor as an alternative to hanging criminals. It hasn't always
worked as planned, leading to death-chamber horror stories and executions
lasting a grueling 20 minutes or more.
Many would say these killers got what they deserved and that they didn't give
their victims a choice, which always brings up the question: Is the purpose of
capital punishment to dispense justice or to inflict pain and suffering?
Mr. Pascoe recently mentioned the firing squad idea after reluctantly agreeing
to a life sentence for a convicted murderer who had won a new sentencing
hearing. The prosecutor didn't want to put the victim's family through that
ordeal again.
The firing squad, while a strange ritual to most people, does have the
advantage of bringing about death faster than electrocution or lethal
injection, which at times also has resulted in long, painful deaths. Even so,
it might be difficult for citizens to get behind the idea of the state shooting
people to death. Rep. Joshua Putnam proposed a firing squad bill in 2015 that
failed to catch on. After hearing of Mr. Pascoe's frustration, Rep. Putnam,
R-Piedmont, is taking another swing at it. Oklahoma, Mississippi and Utah are
the only states that permit firing squads, though they have been used rarely
over the years.
Lethal injection is the most acceptable of the 3 execution options. And South
Carolina should be able to obtain the necessary drugs without having to keep
the names of drug providers secret, a proposal endorsed by Gov. Henry McMaster
and Corrections Director Bryan Stirling. While this would give companies the
anonymity they desire and allow executions to resume, the state shouldn't have
to resort to secret deals to carry out a judicial mandate supported by a large
majority of South Carolinians.
(source: Editorial, The Post and Courier)
LOUISIANA:
Murder-for-hire defendant 'impoverished' after 3 years in jail, seeks funds for
death penalty case
Nearly 3 years behind bars has left Baton Rouge automobile dealer Hamid
Ghassemi financially unable to hire investigators and experts to help him
defend against capital murder charges that he paid $10,000 to have his ex-wife
killed in 2015, his attorneys claim.
East Baton Rouge Parish prosecutors announced in January they'll seek the death
penalty if Ghassemi, 66, is convicted of 1st-degree murder in the alleged
murder-for-hire of 54-year-old Taherah Ghassemi.
Prosecutors said Tuesday they'll pursue the death penalty against Baton Rouge
automobile dealer Hamid Ghassemi if he is found guilty of 1st degree murder.
Now, Hamid Ghassemi's lawyers, who were hired by him, have filed motions asking
state District Judge Lou Daniel to declare Ghassemi indigent.
"Hamid Ghassemi is indigent, and therefore his counsel must petition the Court
for the funds necessary to obtain the investigative and expert witness
assistance required," Brent Stockstill, one of Ghassemi's attorneys, wrote in a
motion filed Feb. 14.
Ghassemi, who owned Import One and Import One Elite on Airline Highway at the
time of the killing, also is represented by Tommy Damico. Stockstill is
Damico's law partner.
Damico said Wednesday that if Daniel finds Ghassemi indigent, the funds for
experts would have to come from the Louisiana Public Defender Board.
The "motion to determine indigency status" that Stockstill filed says Ghassemi
has been in jail since his May 17, 2015, arrest and made no income in 2016 or
2017.
"Hamid Ghassemi does not have access to funds sufficient to allow him the
experts necessary to adequately defend a death penalty case," Stockstill wrote.
A mitigation expert and other experts are needed, he said.
Damico said Ghassemi no longer owns Import One and Import One Elite.
"He lost everything when he went to jail," Damico said.
Last year, the son of Hamid and Taherah Ghassemi sued his father and his 3
alleged accomplices in the slaying. Hamed Ghassemi is seeking damages from his
father; Daniel Humberto Richter, 36, of Walker; and Tyler Lee Ashpaugh, 23, and
Skyler Williams, 20, both of Denham Springs. Williams was 17 at the time of the
incident. Prosecutors have said they will seek a sentence of life without
parole for him.
Ashpaugh told detectives he went with Richter, who once worked at one of Hamid
Ghassemi's auto dealerships, and Williams to Taherah Ghassemi's North Laurel
Creek home and kidnapped her, authorities have said. She was put in the trunk
of her car and driven to a heavily wooded area near Pine Grove in St. Helena
Parish.
Her body was found May 16, 2015, in a shallow grave in that area. She had been
shot in the head. Her burned car was found in Baton Rouge.
Doctor says Taherah Ghassemi was alive, but probably unconscious when shot in
2015 murder-for-hire case
Stockstill also has filed a motion asking that Hamid Ghassemi's attorneys be
allowed to file all applications for investigative and expert assistance under
seal to prevent prosecutors from eavesdropping on the defense.
"Unless such defense motions are filed under seal ... the District Attorney, in
effect, will be permitted to 'eavesdrop' on the defense preparation of its case
and learn the information it would not otherwise be privy to, were the
defendant not indigent," Stockstill argued.
In yet another motion, Stockstill wants the judge to order prosecutors to
disclose any victim impact evidence it intends to use if the capital case
proceeds to a penalty phase.
Stockstill, a former East Baton Rouge Parish prosecutor, cautioned that there
is a "dark and distasteful side of this sort of evidence."
"The defense finds all of this quite distasteful but it will be the
prosecution's choice to present victim impact evidence," he stated. "If it
chooses to do so, it must disclose to the defense any 'degrading evidence'
about the victim.
"The defense reiterates that it finds this request to be distasteful, but no
more so than the notion that a given capital defendant should live or die based
on whether the prosecution views a given murder victim to be more or less
'worthy' than another murder victim," Stockstill wrote.
The East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office has not yet filed its
responses to the motions.
Ghassemi and Ashpaugh do not have trial dates. Richter and Williams are
scheduled to stand trial June 11 and Aug. 27, respectively. All 4 men are being
held without bond on 1st-degree murder charges.
So far, prosecutors have announced their intention to seek the death penalty
only against Ghassemi.
(source: The Advocate)
OHIO:
Ohio man could face death penalty in rape, murder case
An Ohio man charged with raping, torturing and killing a 24-year-old woman
could face the death penalty if convicted.
A prosecutor announced a capital indictment Thursday against 53-year-old
Anthony Pardon. He faces charges including aggravated murder, rape and
kidnapping in the death of Rachael Anderson.
Anderson was found dead inside a closet at her Columbus home on Jan. 29, the
day after her 24th birthday. Police have declined to release details of the
attack but described it as torture.
Investigators say Pardon's DNA was found at the crime scene.
Pardon previously served 24 years in prison for a 1982 rape and attempted
murder conviction. He is a registered sex offender.
(source: Associated Press)
******************
Convicted of murder in 1986, Toledo killer on death row is fighting for a new
trial
William Montgomery has been sitting on Ohio's death row for 31 years after
being convicted in Lucas County Common Pleas Court of committing 2 murders.
To this day, Montgomery maintains his innocence.
This week Montgomery finds out if he lives or dies.
Montgomery's case was the focus Sunday of a public forum to discuss the death
penalty in Ohio.
The group Toledoans for Prison Awareness is fighting to end executions in the
state.
"To me, it's a matter of fairness and seeing some people can change over time
and can be rehabilitated," said Jim Prager.
Montgomery was found guilty of killing Debra Ogle and Cynthia Tincher in 1986.
For the Ogle case, Montgomery was sentenced to death.
This Thursday he goes before the Ohio Parole Board asking for clemency and a
new trial.
Montgomery claims evidence withheld from his defense team at trial raises
serious doubts about his guilt.
"I think it's more likely the parole board, if they have an open mind and look
at all the facts of this case, there's too many inconsistencies, too many
pieces of withheld evidence," said Kevin Werner, Executive Director of Ohioans
to Stop Executions.
Also at the forum was Joe D'Ambrosio of Cleveland.
He sat on death row for 22 years for a murder he didn't commit.
He walked out a free man after the real killer stepped forward and confessed.
"They cannot release you from the grave and it's bad. When there's a chance
that an innocent person dies for something they didn't do we shouldn't be doing
it at all," said D'Ambrosio.
That's why William Montgomery's hearing is a life or death situation.
If he's denied clemency, Montgomery is scheduled to die by lethal injection on
April 11th.
(source: WTOL news)
TENNESSEE----new death sentence
Urshawn Miller sentenced to death in murder of convenience store employee
A jury has unanimously decided the man convicted of killing a convenience store
employee should be sentenced to death.
It was an emotional moment as family members of Urshawn Miller said their final
goodbyes in court.
The jury deliberated around 4 hours before sentencing him to death on felony
murder charges.
"The Dhalai family has suffered a great loss, and while nothing we do here will
ever change that, we do think justice was served by this jury today," District
Attorney Gen. Jody Pickens said.
Investigators say when Miller attempted to rob Bull Market on Hollywood drive
in Jackson, he shot and killed 24 year old Ahmad Dhalai who was working at the
store.
After intense days of witness testimony and arguments from both sides,
attorneys spoke to the jury for a final time before they went into their
deliberations.
"He chose to pull the trigger once, he chose to pull the trigger the 2nd time,
striking the victim in the back of the head," Pickens said.
Pickens brought up Miller was previously convicted on an aggravated robbery
charge, and argued the death penalty was the only punishment to give peace to
the Dhalai family.
But district public defender George Googe argued Miller was victimized before
birth, saying results from forensic psychologists show he was abused and
neglected growing up.
"He has mental disorders, there's no question about it," Googe said.
Googe said he will be filing a mandatory death penalty appeal.
"I've always felt symphany for both families, both families suffer in this kind
of case," he said.
Through the tears, Millers family they told the victim's family they are sorry
for their loss before walking out the door.
Urshawn Miller will be back in court on April 16 for a 2nd sentencing on his
remaining charges.
(source: WBBJ news)
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