[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, PENN., FLA., OHIO, TENN.
Sept. 26 TEXASexecution Texas executes Robert Sparks after brutal deaths of his stepsons, wifeSparks was convicted in the 2007 stabbing deaths of his family members in his Dallas home. His lawyers sought to stop his execution with arguments of intellectual disability and a jury tainted by a bailiff wearing a syringe tie. 12 years ago, Robert Sparks told police he killed his wife and 2 stepsons, ages 10 and 9, by repeatedly stabbing them in their Dallas home in the middle of the night. He then confessed to raping his 12- and 14-year-old stepdaughters. He told investigators his family had been poisoning him; he wanted to be tested for poison and for the girls to undergo polygraph tests, according to court records. He said a voice told him to kill his family. On Wednesday, Sparks, 45, was executed for the deaths of his stepsons, Raekwon Agnew and Harold Sublet Jr. His siblings and nephew watched through a viewing glass in one room, according to a prison witness list. 7 of the victims' family members — including the 2 women he raped as girls and Harold's father — had indicated they would watch from a room next door. But only six actually did so, according to a spokesperson, who did not know which relative was absent. “I am sorry for the hard times and what hurts me is that I hurt y’all," he told his family in his final statement. "... I love y’all. I am ready.” At 6:39 p.m., he was pronounced dead on a prison gurney, 23 minutes after being injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital. Starks' lawyers fought until the end for more time and resources to fully prepare a filing arguing that Sparks was intellectually disabled, which would have legally barred him from execution. And they had long contended his trial was tainted by false testimony and a bailiff who wore a tie with a syringe on it during jury deliberations. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeal about an hour before his execution was scheduled to begin, but Justice Sonia Sotomayor took note of the bailiff's attire, calling it "disturbing." "That an officer of the court conducted himself in such a manner is deeply troubling," she wrote in the order, though she didn't disagree with the court's denial since legal issues with the tie had already been argued in lower courts. "I nevertheless hope that presiding judges aware of this kind of behavior would see fit to intervene in future cases by completely removing the offending item or court officer from the jury’s presence." Sparks was diagnosed as psychotic with delusions and with schizoaffective disorder, according to court records. At his trial, Dallas County prosecutors detailed how Sparks called police after the murders and later confessed on tape to killing the boys, as well as his wife, Chare Agnew. According to WFAA-TV, Sparks said he had been recording his family because he thought they were poisoning him, and he threatened to kill Agnew if he found out she had been. When everyone was asleep in September 2007, he stabbed his wife 18 times in their bed, court records state. He then woke the boys and stabbed them repeatedly — Harold at least 45 times. At the trial, emotions ran high. The court was disrupted several times by Harold’s father, who jumped up and ran toward Sparks when attorneys detailed how his son died, according to court records. A large blade found in the gallery disrupted court proceedings one day. And closing arguments were delayed in the guilt phase of the trial after Sparks apparently tried to kill himself, The Dallas Morning News reported. Ultimately, he was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in December 2008. In recent court filings, Sparks’ attorneys asked for funds to hire a neuropsychologist to determine if Sparks was intellectually disabled. They said things like an IQ score of 75 (a borderline number for the disability), his struggle in special education classes, and poor learning and memory indicate a strong possibility Sparks would be ineligible for the death penalty under U.S. Supreme Court precedent that forbids execution of the intellectually disabled. “Without a stay of execution, it is likely that Texas will execute an intellectually disabled man,” Sparks’ attorney, Jonathan Landers, wrote in a federal district court filing. Intellectual disability is often discussed in Texas death penalty cases since the U.S. Supreme Court slammed Texas for a second time in February and invalidated its method of determining whether a death penalty inmate is disabled. Sparks’ lawyers said the appeal wasn’t brought forward earlier because Texas’ old method of determining intellectual disability was more restrictive than current medical standards. They argued that now Sparks’ low functioning, in addition to his borderline IQ of 75, “necessitates a full intellectual disability analysis.” A federal district court judge denied the request for funds and a stop to his
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
September 25 TEXASexecution Texas inmate executed for stabbing 2 stepsons to death Robert Sparks was executed via lethal injection for the September 2007 killings of 9-year-old Harold Sublet and 10-year-old Raekwon Agnew in their Dallas home. A Texas inmate who said he's intellectually disabled was executed for fatally stabbing his 2 stepsons during an attack more than 12 years ago in their north Texas home that also killed his wife. Robert Sparks, 45, was executed by lethal injection Wednesday night for the September 2007 slayings of 9-year-old Harold Sublet and 10-year-old Raekwon Agnew in their Dallas home. In his final moments, Sparks uttered these words: "Umm, Pamela, can you hear me? Stephanie, Hardy, Marcus, tell all the family I love them. I am sorry for the hard times and what hurts me is that I hurt y'all, and um, even for y'all too, and Patricia, she wrote me, tell Patricia I wrote her back and to tell y'all what I said. I love y'all. I am ready." Prosecutors say Sparks' attack began when he stabbed his wife, 30-year-old Chare Agnew, 18 times as she lay in her bed. Sparks then went into the boys' bedroom and separately took them into the kitchen, where he stabbed them. Raekwon was stabbed at least 45 times. Authorities say Sparks then raped his 12- and 14-year-old stepdaughters. His attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene, alleging his trial jury was improperly influenced because a bailiff wore a necktie with an image of a syringe that showed his support for the death penalty. Sparks also alleges a prosecution witness at his trial provided false testimony regarding his prison classification if a jury chose life without parole rather than a death sentence. Lower courts and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles turned down requests by Sparks' attorneys to stop his execution. seventh in Texas. Seven more executions are scheduled in Texas this year. On Tuesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stop his execution on claims he was intellectually disabled, saying his attorneys had not presented sufficient evidence to show Sparks was mentally disabled and had failed to raise such a claim in a timely manner. In August, the 5th Circuit did grant a stay for Dexter Johnson, another Texas death row inmate who also claims he is intellectually disabled. In that case, the appeals court ruled Johnson had made a sufficient showing of possible intellectual disability that needed further review. After his arrest, Sparks told police he fatally stabbed his wife and stepsons because he believed they were trying to poison him. Sparks told a psychologist that a voice told him "to kill them because they were trying to kill me." Sparks' lawyers argued he suffered from severe mental illness and had been diagnosed as a delusion psychotic and with schizoaffective disorder, a condition characterized by hallucinations. A psychologist hired by Sparks' attorneys said in an affidavit this month that Sparks "meets full criteria for a diagnosis of" intellectual disability. "Without a stay of execution, it is likely that Texas will execute an intellectually disabled man," Seth Kretzer and Jonathan Landers, Sparks' appellate attorneys, wrote last month in court documents. The Supreme Court in 2002 barred execution of mentally disabled people but has given states some discretion to decide how to determine intellectual disability. However, justices have wrestled with how much discretion to allow. The Texas Attorney General's Office, which called the killings "monstrous crimes," said in court documents that Sparks' "own trial expert testified that he was not intellectually disabled." His attorneys said that at the time of his trial, Sparks was not deemed intellectually disabled, but changes since then in how Texas makes such determinations and updates to the handbook used by medical professionals to diagnose mental disorders would change that. On whether Sparks' jury was improperly influenced by the bailiff's necktie with an image of a syringe, the attorney general's office said the jury foreperson indicated she never saw the tie and had no knowledge of it affecting the jurors. The attorney general's office said the testimony from the prosecution witness on prison classification was corrected on cross-examination. "Sparks committed a heinous crime which resulted in the murders of two young children. He is unable to overcome the overwhelming testimony" in his case, the attorney general's office said in its court filing with the Supreme Court. Sparks becomes the 7th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 565th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. Sparks becomes the 47th condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas since Greg Abbott became governor in 2015. There are currently 7 more executions scheduled in Texas this year. Sparks becomes the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
Sept. 10 TEXASexecution Texas executes Mark Soliz for a 2010 Johnson County slaying. He said fetal alcohol disorder should have excluded him from death. Soliz and another man were convicted in the shooting death of a Johnson County woman during a robbery in her home. His lawyers pushed to stop his execution, saying fetal alcohol spectrum disorder should be treated like an intellectual disability. On Tuesday, Texas executed Mark Soliz for the 2010 home robbery and shooting death of a North Texas woman. Soliz, 37, was convicted and sentenced to death in 2012 for the murder of Nancy Weatherly, 61, and the robbery of her Johnson County home, according to court records. Prosecutors said the murder was part of an 8-day crime spree during which Soliz and another man, Jose Ramos, robbed random people at gunpoint, and Soliz killed another man. Soliz and his lawyers had long argued that his life should be spared because he had fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which they claimed is the “functional equivalent” of an intellectual disability, a condition the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled disqualifies individuals from execution. Both state and federal courts rejected the claim during Soliz’s relatively short seven years on death row. Shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday, Soliz was taken into the execution chamber in Huntsville and placed on a gurney. Soliz was apologetic in his final words, addressing Weatherly's family members. "I wanted to apologize for the grief and the pain that I caused y’all," Soliz said. "I’ve been considering changing my life. It took me 27 years to do so. Man, I want to apologize, I don’t know if me passing will bring y’all comfort for the pain and suffering I caused y’all. I am at peace." He was then injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital, the only drug used in Texas executions. He was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m. In June 2010, prosecutors said, Soliz and Ramos terrorized residents in the Fort Worth area for eight days before they were arrested on suspicion of one of several crimes, including multiple robberies, carjackings and shootings, another of which was fatal. When police interrogated Ramos about one stolen car, he began talking about another crime — in which he said the two men forced their way into Weatherly’s house in Godley at gunpoint, and Soliz shot her in the back of the head as they robbed her home. Soliz initially denied killing Weatherly, telling police he was outside by the car when he heard a gunshot and then saw Ramos exit the house. Later during the interrogation, he said he would confess “just to get this over with,” according to a 2014 ruling from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. A friend of Soliz’s later said he bragged to her about killing an “old lady.” Ramos received life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder. At his trial and in his appeals to state and federal courts, Soliz repeatedly raised the claim that he should not have been executed because of his disorder. Several defense experts testified before the jury that he was diagnosed with partial fetal alcohol syndrome, which his lawyers claim caused mental impairments like lack of impulse control, serious adaptive learning deficits and hyper-suggestibility. But the testimony did not keep the jury from handing down a death sentence, and appellate courts did not interfere, partially because the claim was raised at trial and failed. But Soliz argued his execution would go against his constitutional rights and recently noted changes in what is clinically considered an intellectual disability. Legal precedent prohibits states from executing people with intellectual disabilities, but Soliz sought to expand that, saying there are so many similarities between intellectual disability and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder that the conditions should be treated the same way in capital cases. “There are striking parallels between the diagnostic criteria for intellectual disability and FASD,” Soliz’s lawyers wrote in a court filing last month. “Those afflicted with FASD should be categorically ineligible for the death penalty just as the intellectually disabled are, and Soliz’s death sentence violates his Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment.” The Texas Attorney General’s Office, which won the backing of the courts, countered that Soliz’s request to change legal precedent is “overbroad.” “The Supreme Court has not held that individuals with FASD are exempt from capital punishment. Consequently, Soliz seeks to create — not rely on — a new rule of constitutional law,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Jefferson Clendenin last week in response to Soliz’s last appeals. Clendenin also argued that Soliz was the leader in the crimes and was “sophisticated, calculated and dangerous.” Soliz becomes the 6th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 564th overall since the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
September 4 TEXASexecution Texas executes Billy Crutsinger in Fort Worth slayings of two elderly women Crutsinger had pushed to stop his execution based on claims of bad lawyering during his trial and in the appellate process. In 2003, an 89-year-old woman and her 71-year-old daughter were stabbed to death in their Fort Worth home. On Wednesday, Texas executed Billy Crutsinger for the crime. Crutsinger was sentenced to death for the home robbery and slayings of Pearl Magouirk and her daughter, Patricia Syren. The 2 women were found 2 days after their murders, and police tracked Crutsinger to a Galveston bar using Syren’s credit card, according to court records. In Tarrant County, Assistant Criminal District Attorney and lead prosecutor Michele Hartmann said Tuesday the loss of the mother and daughter “is still felt deeply by their family and the Fort Worth community.” After his last appeals were denied by the U.S. Supreme Court just minutes before his execution was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., Crutsinger, 64, was strapped to a gurney in the death chamber in Huntsville. No relatives of the women were present to witness the execution, according to a prison spokesman. Crutsinger had three friends in the viewing room, who, in his final words, he thanked for coming and supporting other death row inmates. Into the microphone hanging above his head, he said the system "is not completely right," but he was at peace and was going to be with Jesus and his family. "I am going to miss those pancakes and those old time black and white shows," he said. "Where I am going everything will be in color." Crutsinger was then injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital at 6:27 p.m., and pronounced dead 13 minutes later, according to the prison department. He was the fifth person executed in Texas this year and the 14th in the country. After the murders, Crutsinger was arrested — albeit illegally — after he didn’t identify himself to police in Galveston. He consented to a DNA swab that linked him to the crime scene and confessed to the murders while in custody, the records state. A judge ruled that police were not justified in arresting Crutsinger on the spot for credit card abuse because they didn’t have a warrant, and he didn’t commit the crime of failure to identify himself before his arrest. Still, despite the illegal arrest, the judge found his confession and DNA sample were admissible evidence in court because the police conduct was not “purposeful or flagrant,” and there was probable cause for his arrest, just not a warrant. During his nearly 16 years on death row, Crutsinger appealed his sentence arguing against the legal validity of his confession and DNA sample. But more recently, he pointed to his lawyers’ failings. Crutsinger argued that his trial lawyer failed to adequately investigate mitigating factors that could have swayed the jury to hand down a sentence of life in prison instead of execution. Specifically, he claimed the attorney overlooked evidence of mental impairment caused by alcohol addiction, head trauma, depression and low intelligence, according to a recent federal district court ruling. His most recent lawyer, Lydia Brandt, had also knocked his state appellate lawyer — claiming his incompetence and the courts’ refusal to grant investigatory funding kept Crutsinger from any meaningful appeals process. She noted that a judge in another capital case found Crutsinger’s state appellate lawyer “sloppy” and lacking professionalism, and that his filings were “poorly done and of minimal assistance to the court,” according to Crutsinger’s petition. “The State of Texas denied Mr. Crutsinger his initial right to one full and fair opportunity to present his claims concerning violations of his fundamental constitutional rights,” Brandt wrote in a final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court last week. Brandt did not respond to The Texas Tribune on Tuesday. The federal courts, as well as the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals, rejected his arguments. U.S. District Court Judge Terry Means ruled last month that despite a lack of funding for Crutsinger to investigate it, Means fully addressed the merits of the ineffective counsel claim and found it was without merit. He referred to trial records that revealed the lawyer presenting multiple witnesses at the phase of trial where jurors weigh questions that lead to life in prison or death, including prison officers who testified to his good behavior and family members who described his grief and issues with drinking. According to the testimony of his ex-wife and wife at the time of trial, Crutsinger had lost a newborn daughter; his toddler son to drowning; his teenage son to lymphoma; his brother from illness; his father, who was hit by a car; and his sister, who was killed in a car crash in which he was driving. “The assertions that the denial of funding precluded a true merits
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
August 21 TEXASexecution Texas executed Larry Swearingen for a 1998 Texas slaying. His lawyer says bad science got him on death row. Swearingen consistently maintained his innocence in the strangling death of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter. Texas prosecutors, however, had no doubt he was her killer. For decades, a staunch claim of innocence and doubts over forensic science engulfed the death penalty case of Larry Swearingen. On Wednesday, he was executed in Texas' death chamber. The 48-year-old man lived on death row for nearly 2 decades, consistently expressing his innocence in the 1998 strangling death of Melissa Trotter, a 19-year-old community college student in Montgomery County he has said was his friend. Multiple state courts had previously taken five execution dates off the calendar over the years to look into different issues surrounding Swearingen’s conviction, but prosecutors and Trotter’s family remain firmly convinced he was her killer. After a late appeal was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court minutes before his scheduled execution time of 6 p.m., Swearingen was taken into the execution chamber in Huntsville and connected to an IV. “Lord forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing,” Swearingen said into a microphone hanging above his head. He was then injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital and pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m., according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Swearingen only had a spiritual adviser present at his execution, watching through a glass pane in a small viewing room, according to a TDCJ witness list. Trotter's parents, brother, grandfather and uncle stood in an adjacent room. Trotter had been missing for weeks before her body was found by hunters in the Sam Houston National Forest on Jan. 2, 1999, with a leg from a pair of pantyhose tied around her throat. Law enforcement had already pegged Swearingen as the main suspect in her disappearance, arresting him on unrelated traffic warrants 3 days after Trotter had last been seen with him on Dec. 8, 1998. Based on what judges have since called a mountain of circumstantial evidence, he was convicted and sentenced to death in 2000. Swearingen and his legal team relentlessly fought his conviction and death sentence, gathering numerous scientists who concluded that, based on the condition her body was in when it was found, Trotter was killed within two weeks of being found — more than a week after Swearingen was already behind bars. They also argued against the science used by state experts who matched a leg of pantyhose in his home to the piece used to strangle Trotter. And they balked at the courts’ dismissal of blood flecks found under Trotter’s fingernails that did not match Trotter nor Swearingen. “They are going to execute someone that the legitimate forensic science has proven innocent,” said James Rytting, Swearingen’s attorney, Tuesday. “And the execution is going through on the basis of other forensic science that is borderline quackery — in fact it is quackery.” The Montgomery County district attorney’s office, however, has zero doubt that Swearingen was Trotter’s killer. Kelly Blackburn, the office’s trial bureau chief, recited a laundry list of circumstantial evidence prosecutors obtained to secure and uphold Swearingen’s conviction, including cell phone records that put him near the spot Trotter’s body was found, her hair in his truck, and some of her school papers being found near his parents’ home. Blackburn also noted Swearingen’s actions after Trotter’s disappearance — saying he falsely reported a burglary when he and wife came back to their home in disarray. Trotter’s brand of cigarettes and a lighter were inside, even though neither Swearingen nor his wife smoked. And Swearingen also wrote an anonymous letter in Spanish with details of the crime scene to pull suspicion away from him. Swearingen later admitted to writing the letter, claiming the details came from an autopsy report he read. Blackburn said Tuesday some of the details were only known by police at the time. “When you look at all the forensic evidence, and then all of the other circumstantial evidence...the only person who has ever been tied to this murder is Larry Swearingen,” he said. The main conflicting points involving forensic science in Swearingen’s case were Trotter’s time of death, the matching of pantyhose and blood flecks found with her fingernail scrapings. The courts had long looked into the issues, sending Swearingen’s case back for reexamination several times and cancelling five previously-scheduled execution dates. Swearingen brought forward multiple forensic experts who contested the state’s theory that Trotter was killed on the day she went missing after being seen with Swearingen, 25 days before her body was found — including the original medical examiner who said as much at trial. They instead said her body was
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
July 19 TEXAS: After defeats in 2019, a group of Texas lawmakers is teaming up to push criminal justice reformThe new Criminal Justice Reform Caucus in the Texas House will set its sights on changes in 2021. Lawmakers entered 2019 with high hopes that they could change Texas' bail procedures, death penalty laws and drug policies. But the legislative session ended this summer without major reforms in any of those issues. Trying to prevent a similar outcome in 2021, a bipartisan group of House representatives has banded together to form an uncommon, issue-based caucus in the Texas Capitol: one targeting criminal justice reform. “I’m sad to say that for all our other successes, the 86th Legislature was a failure for criminal justice reform,” said state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, in a statement given to The Texas Tribune on Thursday. “Misinformation and a lack of issue-specific guidance on the floor stopped a lot of commonsense, crucially needed bills.” Moody and state Rep. Jeff Leach, a Plano Republican who chairs the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee, will initially lead the House Criminal Justice Reform Caucus, which has 10 other House members — 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans — signed up. The goal is to help educate colleagues on criminal justice issues and work together to advance reform proposals, Moody said. In some ways, the 2019 legislative session was marked by bipartisan progress on issues that have vexed the Legislature for years, most notably school finance. But time and again, key proposals to change the criminal justice system fell flat. A bipartisan push to reform bail practices, which have been ruled unconstitutional in several counties, slowly moved through the House with backing from Gov. Greg Abbott before dying quickly in the Senate. House lawmakers messily scrambled back and forth on a measure to limit arrests for nonjailable offenses, like traffic violations or theft under $100, before it finally fell apart. Proposals to restrict or require reporting on law enforcement’s ability to seize property without a criminal conviction failed, were partially resuscitated and then later killed again in the House. And a House bill to lessen criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana arrived at the Senate’s doorstep with a death notice already pinned to it. For Moody, who announced Thursday he'd seek reelection to the Texas House after weighing a run for the open El Paso district attorney seat, the biggest failures this year pertained to death penalty bills. The most notable was one that would have created a pretrial process for determining if a capital murder defendant is intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for execution. Texas’ top criminal court has been slammed twice by the U.S. Supreme Court in the last 2 years for how it determines intellectual disability in death penalty cases, and state judges have begged for the Legislature to step in for years. “[These are] reforms that have been essentially dictated by the U.S. Supreme Court, and we failed to act again for 20 years running now on intellectual disability, and that should just be unacceptable,” he told the Tribune. “What was a session that could have seen monumental reform in criminal justice saw very little.” Leach has also been a rare Republican voice advocating for death penalty reforms. He said in the statement that Republicans and Democrats can find common ground on criminal justice priorities. “I am confident that, working together, we can make the Texas system a shining beacon of smart, effective criminal justice that leads the nation,” he said. Although notable House bills often died after impasses with the lawmakers in the Senate, Moody said he hopes the caucus will help combat misinformation that disrupts reform efforts. “All those positive structural things will create fewer roadblocks to success and will create a better line of communication to the Senate,” he said. Other members of the newly minted caucus weren’t as keen on marking the session as a failure. State Rep. James White, R-Hillister, chair of the House Corrections Committee, marked as achievements legislation to improve care for women in prison, tackle the backlog of rape kits and end the widely reviled Driver Responsibility Program. But he said the caucus will allow for lawmakers to take a broad approach and look at the criminal justice system as a whole, noting that several of the members are chairs of relevant committees dealing with public health, the judiciary and the state’s prison system. State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, a Houston Democrat who leads the chamber’s Public Health Committee, said that lawmakers have recognized that Texas has over-criminalized our society. “I’m happy that we’re going to be able to come together and have some consensus on some issues that have plagued us for a long time,” she said.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
November 7 TEXAS: Death sentence for sex offender who killed prison officer A convicted sex offender found guilty of killing a female corrections officer in Texas has been sentenced to death. A Jones County jury on Tuesday ordered the death penalty for 24-year-old Dillion Compton. Compton was convicted of capital murder Oct. 15 in the July 2016 slaying of guard Mari Johnson, whose beaten body was found in a storage unit at the Robertson prison in Abilene. The killing occurred while Compton was incarcerated for aggravated sexual assault of a child in a 2010 attack on a Dallas County girl. Prosecutors say Johnson suffered blunt force trauma and a crushed throat. Compton was found with scratches on his face and his skin underneath Johnson's fingernails. Compton's defense attorney said Compton and Johnson had a sexual relationship. (source: Associated Press) USA: The Kafkaesque Machinery of the Death Penalty in America Capital punishment is losing support in the United States, but what about on the Supreme Court? The Supreme Court, its conservative majority in place for years, no longer debates whether state-imposed death is morally right or constitutionally valid. Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation last month all but guarantees this will remain true for another generation, despite Justice Stephen Breyer’s best efforts. Since the court doesn’t weigh the substance of the death penalty, it instead focuses on the aesthetics of the system it oversees. These aesthetics are vital to maintaining public support for the system. American capital punishment is ritualized, with a carefully orchestrated set of appeals that often culminates in a last-minute denial from the Supreme Court. It’s also theatrical: Executions are choreographed to produce a quiet spectacle for an audience of witnesses, who then convey what they see to the wider world. Justice Harry Blackmun, concluding in 1994 that the system no longer met constitutional standards, described it as “the machinery of death.” The court’s docket this term shows how much that machinery has deteriorated since then, and raises questions about how long the justices can uphold capital punishment while Americans increasingly lose faith in it. The court first heard oral arguments on Tuesday in Bucklew v. Precythe, an unusual lethal-injection case. A Missouri jury sentenced Russell Bucklew to death in 1998 for murdering a man he found with his ex-girlfriend, whom Bucklew then kidnapped and raped. Bucklew does not challenge the validity of his sentence or any of the procedural aspects surrounding it. Instead, he’s challenging the manner in which Missouri seeks to end his life. Bucklew suffers from a gruesome condition known as cavernous hemangioma, which creates malformations in some of the body’s blood vessels. Over time, those malformations swell and fill with blood until they form benign tumors. The rare condition can manifest anywhere on the body. Bucklew’s case is even more unusual because it primarily affects his mouth and throat. His uvula is covered in blood-filled tumors that make it harder to eat, breathe, and sleep. There is no cure for the condition, and it will progressively worsen for as long as he lives. Missouri plans to execute him using the sedative pentobarbital. Bucklew contends that his medical condition raises the likelihood that the lethal injection will go awry. In his brief for the court, his lawyers warned that “the violence of his choking as he slips into unconsciousness will likely cause his tumors to rupture and lead him to aspirate his own blood.” To prevent this, Bucklew asks to be put to death by lethal gas, specifically by asphyxiating him with nitrogen. State officials oppose Bucklew’s request on both substantive and procedural grounds. Neither Missouri nor any other state has performed a nitrogen asphyxiation, the state argues, so it does not count as a “known and available” procedure under the Supreme Court’s precedents. Bucklew argues that all he has to do under those precedents is demonstrate that alternative methods exist. “How a state implements those other options ... are ultimately up to the state,” he told the court. “An inmate need not specify every last step the state should take along the path to killing him.” Since the 2008 case Baze v. Rees, the court has favored a state’s desire to perform executions over concerns that its methods may be cruel and unusual. “We begin with the principle ... that capital punishment is constitutional,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the plurality. “It necessarily follows that there must be a means of carrying it out.” That logic isn’t airtight, to say the least. But it’s the law of the land. The court’s conservative justices took it even further in Glossip v. Gross in 2015. In a 5-4 decision, they gave Oklahoma the green light after the state botched 2 executions, and set a high legal
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA
Nov. 7 TEXASimpending execution Efforts fail to halt execution of MexicanGovernment calls Texas execution an 'illegal act,' citing international Mexico had vowed to exhaust all efforts to prevent the execution tomorrow of a Mexican inmate on death row in a Texas prison but now it appears those efforts were unsuccessful. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles today voted unanimously against a recommendation to the governor to halt the execution of Mexican national Rubén Cárdenas. In 2 votes that went 6-0, the board voted against recommending that Governor Greg Abbott postpone the inmate’s death by lethal injection and that his sentence not be commuted. Yesterday, Foreign Affairs official Carlos Sada told a press conference yesterday in Mexico City that Texas prosecutors did not follow due process in the case of the 47-year-old Cárdenas, who was sentenced to death for raping and killing his 15-year-old cousin in 1997. “From the start, there has been a failure, and from our perspective, this is an illegal act,” Sada said of the execution. The foreign affairs undersecretary for North America said Cárdenas was not given the opportunity to speak with Mexican consular officials, a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The inmate is one of 51 Mexican prisoners on death row in the U.S. who were the subject of a 2004 ruling by the International Court of Justice that the U.S. had violated international law for not informing them of their right to consular assistance. The court ordered a review of those cases. Sada also said Mexico would seek to overturn how Cárdenas’ confession was obtained, and look to exonerate him with up-to-date DNA testing, Reuters reported yesterday. His lawyer has alleged that Cárdenas didn’t commit the crime. The Laredo Morning Times reported last week that the case has been plagued by claims of unreliable forensic evidence, conflicting statements and witnesses, concerns about ineffective lawyers, and allegations of a coerced confession. But Texas prosecutor Ted Hake said the international court’s ruling is “not enforceable” and there is no mechanism in Texas to hold the review it ordered. Besides which, he said, “This guy is guilty as sin.” It is not the first time Mexico and the U.S. have clashed over the execution of Mexican nationals on U.S. soil because there is no death penalty in Mexico. The case is yet another irritant for troubled Mexico-U.S. relations, already hurt by President Donald Trump’s plans for a border wall and his threats to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement. “It is as if the United States were thumbing its nose at the government of Mexico and the United Nations,” said Sandra Babcock, a Cornell Law School professor specializing in international issues surrounding capital punishment. “And when I say the U.S., I should be clear that we’re talking about Texas.” Unless the Texas governor chooses to grant a 30-day postponement, Cárdenas will die tomorrow at 6:00pm. (source: Mexico News Daily) *** Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present26 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-544 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 27-Nov. 8--Ruben Cardenas-545 28-Dec. 14-Juan Castillo--546 29-Jan. 18-Anthony Shore--547 30-Jan. 30-William Rayford548 31--Feb. 1-John Battaglia-549 32--Feb. 22Thomas Whitaker550 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) USA: Upcoming Executions Demonstrate Irreparable Failings of the Death Penalty Share 3 executions set for this week all demonstrate the irreparable failings of the death penalty, experts from Amnesty International USA said today. “3 states are set to put prisoners to death this week, and every single one of these cases raises disturbing questions about the fairness of the legal proceedings that put them on death row,” said Kristina Roth, senior program officer for criminal justice programs at Amnesty International USA. “These cases show that there is no justifiable way for the state to put a prisoner to death. The death penalty system is irrevocably broken and should be done away with for good.” Prisoners scheduled for execution this week are: Patrick Hannon, who has been on death row in Florida for over 26 years, or more than half of his life. Hannon’s co-defendants received lighter sentences due in part to what two Florida Supreme Court judges attributed to ineffective counsel. Hannon is scheduled to be put to death on November 8; Ruben Cárdenas Ramírez is a Mexican national who was denied consular assistance as was his right under the law and interrogated without counsel for days despite asking for a lawyer. He has also been
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
June 12 TEXAS: Rodney Reed's mother hopes finding of false testimony leads to 'justice' The mother of death row inmate Rodney Reed said Saturday she is guardedly optimistic about her son's chances for freedom after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled prosecutors presented "false and misleading" testimony in his 1998 capital murder conviction. "I'm hoping for justice," Sandra Reed told the American-Statesman. "But we have presented so many other pieces of evidence before this that should have at least opened up a new trial. How can you bring a case to justice without the truth?" She and other family members held a news conference late Saturday at the Bastrop County Courthouse. "We want to keep it in the air that there is an innocent man on death row and that he's suffered enough," she said. "We're ready for him to come home." Reed was convicted of the 1996 murder of Stacy Stites, a 19-year-old Giddings resident with whom he claimed he was having a secret affair. Prosecutors argued Reed abducted, raped and strangled Stiles on her way to work. But defense attorneys have argued that Stites was was killed by her fiance, Jimmy Fennell, a former Georgetown police officer who is now serving a 10-year sentence for the kidnapping and sexual assault of a woman in his custody in 2007. Reed's attorney Bryce Benjet has said that the state's key expert witness at the trial, then-Travis County Medical Examiner Roberto Bayardo, has since disavowed his testimony implicating Reed, saying that the sperm found in Stites' body was likely deposited more than 24 hours before her death. Benjet said a new analysis of medical and forensic evidence by a pair of forensic pathologists shows that Stites was likely killed hours before she was supposed to have left for work and that her body was moved to a rural Bastrop County road after her death. The court of appeals last month rejected the defense claim that the new evidence established Reed's innocence, but sent the case back to a Bastrop County court to consider the claims of false testimony during the original trial. Bastrop District Attorney Bryan Goertz said at the time: "It's just another legal hurdle that needs to be dealt with." Reed was 10 days from his execution date in February 2015, when the court ordered a closer look at his request for modern DNA testing of items linked to the murder. But in April the appeals court denied Reed's request for additional DNA testing, citing the possibility of "cross-contamination" of evidence that had mingled in boxes after repeated handling by court employees. Sandra Reed said though she's hopeful the finding of false testimony will lead to a new trial and her son's exoneration, she remains somewhat skeptical. "You're sending him back to the same county that convicted him in the first place," she said. "We will keep fighting and demanding justice for as long as it takes." (source: Austin American-Statesman) USA: Why America still executes peopleThe legal reasoning behind the continued use of the death penalty America is 1 of only a few countries in the Western world that still puts criminals to death. Even there, executions are on the wane: just 20 were carried out in 2016, down from a peak of 98 in 1999. Popular support is declining, too. Just 60% of Americans approve of the death penalty for murder, down from 80% in the 1990s. Only 8 states have carried out an execution since 2015, and around 2/3 either have abolished capital punishment or have a moratorium on its use. But it has not disappeared altogether: during an eight-day stretch in April, Arkansas executed 4 people, so as not to waste its expiring supply of a lethal-injection drug. And last month in Alabama, a man who spent 35 years on death row - and eluded 7 execution dates - was finally put to death. Why does America continue to execute people? Following the Supreme Court's 1972 ruling in Furman v Georgia, capital punishment was put on hold. The penalty was applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner, violating the Eighth Amendment bar on "cruel and unusual punishments", the justices held. If any factor explains why some criminals get death sentences while most do not, Justice Potter Stewart wrote, "it is the constitutionally impermissible basis of race". 4 years later the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in Gregg v Georgia by a 7-2 majority, finding that states had mended their death-penalty laws to address the concerns in Furman. One way to understand why America still executes people is to look at the Fifth Amendment, which provides that nobody will "be deprived of life...without due process of law". How could the framers of the constitution have banned capital punishment in the Eighth Amendment when, in the Fifth, they specifically contemplated its existence? In Gregg, the court cited 2 justifications for the death penalty: retributive justice and
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
Jan. 11 TEXASimpending execution Texas Killer Christopher Wilkins Tries to Stop Year's 1st Execution A Texas man who claims his lawyers did a bad job of defending him against charges he callously murdered 2 men could become the 1st prisoner executed this year if the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't call off his Wednesday night lethal injection. Christopher Wilkins, 48, is set to die for fatally shooting Willie Freeman, 40, and Mike Silva, 33, because he was angry that he was tricked into paying $20 for a rock disguised as a chuck of crack cocaine. Wilkins admitted to the 2005 double slaying - and claimed he had committed another murder and other crimes - during the sentencing phase of his trial. "I tend to want to take the easy way out," the ex-con truck driver told the court. "I make bad decisions. I know they're bad decisions when I'm making them. I make them anyway. "I think subconsciously, I've been trying to kill myself or get myself killed since I was probably 12 or 13 years old," he added. In his appeals, Wilkins has argued that his attorney ignored his wish to plead guilty and did not put on a vigorous defense and that an appellate lawyer had a huge conflict of interest, having already accepted a job with the prosecutor's office. Executions hit a 30-year low in the United States last year, in part because some states were unable to obtain the needed drugs or put lethal injections on hold after executions that did not go as planned. Texas has a supply of drugs, but the number of lethal injections in the state fell by nearly 1/2 to to s7 last year. Georgia had the most executions - 9 - in 2016. (source: NBC news) USA: Charleston bishop opposes death sentence for man convicted of killing churchgoers Jurors unanimously agreed to sentence Dylann Roof to death for killing 9 black churchgoers. In closing statements before the deliberation Jan. 10, the unrepentant 22-year-old told jurors that "I still feel like I had to do it," the Associated Press reported. Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone said in a statement that the Catholic Church opposes capital punishment and reminded people that all life is sacred. "We are all sinners, but through the father's loving mercy and Jesus' redeeming sacrifice upon the cross, we have been offered the gift of eternal life. The Catholic opposition to the death penalty, therefore, is rooted in God's mercy. The church believes the right to life is paramount to every other right as it affords the opportunity for conversion, even of the hardened sinner," Bishop Guglielmone said. "Sentencing Dylann Roof to death conflicts with the church's teaching that all human life is sacred, even for those who have committed the most heinous of crimes. Instead of pursuing death, we should be extending compassion and forgiveness to Mr. Roof, just as some of the victims' families did at his bond hearing in June 2015," the bishop added. The jury had to reach a unanimous decision to sentence Roof to death. Had they disagreed, he would have been automatically sentenced to life in prison. He was convicted of 33 federal charges last month, including hate crimes. Roof acted as his own attorney and did not question any witnesses. In his FBI confession, he said he hoped the massacre would bring back segregation or start a race war, the Associated Press reported. Bishop Guglielmone offered prayers of support for those who were killed and their families. "Our Catholic faith sustains our solidarity with and support for the victims of the Emanuel AME Church massacre and their relatives. We commit ourselves to walk with these family members as well as the survivors as they continue to heal from the trial and this tragedy," he said. The bishop asked people to continue to pray for the victims, survivors and families connected with the shooting. He also encouraged people to pray for Roof and his family. "May he acknowledge his sins, convert to the Lord and experience his loving mercy," Bishop Guglielmone said. The Rev. Clementa Pinckney, pastor of Emanuel AME Church, Tywanza Sanders, the Rev. Sharonda Singleton, the Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, the Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., the Rev. Cynthia Hurd, Myra Thompson, Ethel Lance, and Susie Jackson were killed in the shooting. (source: catholicregister.org) *** U.S. Seeks Death Penalty for Fort Lauderdale Airport Gunman The Iraq war veteran accused of killing 5 travelers and wounding 6 others at a busy international airport in Florida was charged Saturday and could face the death penalty if convicted. Esteban Santiago, 26, told investigators that he planned the attack, buying a 1-way ticket to the Fort Lauderdale airport, a federal complaint said. Authorities don't know why he chose his target and have not ruled out terrorism. Santiago was charged with an act of violence at an international airport resulting in death - which carries a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, US MIL.
July 5 TEXAS: Mom and girl slain, family awaits justice Elizabeth Goodman was on the phone in her kitchen with her youngest daughter when the call was dropped. 10 minutes later, she heard from a friend that her daughter had been shot in her doorway on Hartel Street in Beaumont's South End, less than 3 miles from the Goodmans' home on Potts. Mary Goodman, 41, wasn't the only one who was hit. Her 16-year-old daughter, Briana Goodman, was found shot to death in the backyard. "To lose a child and a grandchild like that, I just don't understand," Elizabeth Goodman, 72, said in her 1st interview since the July 31, 2010 double slaying. "No one deserves to be killed in cold blood." Elizabeth and Joseph Goodman, 77, mourn the loss daily. Pictures of anniversaries, birthdays, rodeo and zydeco events fill their home - reminders of what was stolen from them. Briana Goodman, the youngest of 13 grandchildren, hoped to become a teen model in Houston. Her grandmother tore up an acceptance letter from a modeling agency she received four months after Briana's death. "Briana was too young to die," Elizabeth Goodman said. 6 years after the deaths, the accused killer has yet to go to trial, and the Goodmans have grown impatient with the criminal justice system. 3 close relatives have died while waiting. Joseph Kenneth Colone, 37, remains in jail on a $2 million bond in the killings - Jefferson County's oldest capital case, which is scheduled for trial in January 2017. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Colone, who unsuccessfully sought his release last year because of the trial delays, intends to plead not guilty. "We're ready for closure," said Andre Goodman, 52, Mary's brother, who lives in Liberty County. "This has changed our lives. I don't even drive to Beaumont like I used to because I think about it every time I come here." 'Gaming the system' The Goodmans said they believe Colone is "gaming the system" by attempting to delay the trial, but his is not the only case to linger in the system. Of 230-plus active cases on the 252nd District Court trial docket, more than 1/2 date to before 2015. After the Ninth Court of Appeals turned down his request to be released pending the trial, Colone's focus turned to prosecutors' pursuit of the death penalty. Bob Loper, Colone's Houston-based attorney, unsuccessfully tried to have the state's death penalty law declared unconstitutional, which would eliminate it from consideration at trial. Such suggestions are rarely given much consideration in capital cases, Loper admitted. But defense attorneys often challenge death penalty laws based on fear of innocent people being executed. District Judge Raquel West ruled against Colone's attorneys. They preserved the issue for possible later appeal by an appellate attorney, since it was rejected at the trial level. Loper was part of a defense team that in 2010 convinced a Houston judge to call executions unconstitutional. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stopped the judge's plans to hold a hearing on the matter. The capital murder suspect, John Edward Green, escaped the death sentence by pleading to a last-minute 40-year deal in 2011. "This is not something new and novel, but it has been tried in many other cases," Loper said. In Colone's case, Loper argues the law requirement for a jury to consider whether a capital offender has a likelihood of being a "continuing threat to society" is something not even members of the psychiatric community can do accurately. The delays irritate Joseph Goodman, an aging and ailing man who wants to see his daughter's killer die before he does. Andre Goodman points out other family members have died waiting for justice since 2010 - his and Mary's grandmother, an aunt and uncle. "We're just sick and tired of nothing happening," Joseph Goodman said. DNA calculations Last year, the FBI notified crime labs across the country that data used to calculate the chances of someone's DNA being found at a crime scene was determined in error, though they downplayed the errors' impact. Their methods drastically overestimated reliability of DNA results, from 1 in a billion, down to less than 1 in a 100. DNA is key in the case against Colone, lead prosecutor Pat Knauth said. Knauth did not want to comment on specific evidence for fear of contaminating the local jury pool, he said. Colone's attorneys are still considering a push to have the trial transferred out of Jefferson County for a 2nd time, a costly move that prosecutors do not want to make. Prosecutors were ready to try the case this past April, but Colone's attorneys wanted more time to recalculate any DNA allegedly linking Colone to the crime. M "There's a lot of (DNA at the crime scene), some that's very crucial to the case," Knauth said. The Goodmans call it "trial strategy," despite the discrepancies in DNA calculations becoming a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
Jan. 19 TEXASimpending execution Did a Dubious Confession Sway a Medical Examiner's Autopsy in a Texas Death Penalty Case? WHEN HE HADN'T HEARD from his best friend, Darin Shane Honeycutt, by Saturday morning, January 27, 2001, Larry Brown was worried. Brown knew that Honeycutt often went to Houston's gay bars dressed as a woman named Brandy Houston, and that he'd intended to do so that previous Thursday night - that was the last Brown had heard from him. On Saturday he went to Honeycutt's apartment and asked the landlord to let him in. Inside, his fears were realized: Honeycutt was dead. Lying naked in his bedroom, Honeycutt was upside down with his legs still on the bed and his head face down on the floor. There was no sign of forced entry and the place hadn't been ransacked - only 1 drawer of a jewelry cabinet was out of place, though nothing appeared to have been taken. Honeycutt's ID and his red Ford Escort were missing. The next day, a Houston man named Richard Masterson went to his brother's workplace looking to borrow some money. His brother wasn't there, but the boss, Morgan Potter, was. Masterson was acting edgy and made an opaque admission: "I think I put someone to sleep," Potter, in court testimony, would recall him saying. Potter had once heard Masterson say that he knew how to perform a sleeper hold; he figured that's what Masterson was talking about. But Masterson allegedly told him no, it was "more than that." Masterson said he planned to drive to Georgia. Potter bought Masterson some gas and Masterson drove off - in a red Ford Escort. Afterward, Potter heard about Honeycutt's death. He called the police. Days later, Masterson confessed to Houston police that he'd killed Honeycutt by strangling him in a sleeper hold. After a 2-day trial in 2002, Masterson was found guilty of murder; a day later he was sentenced to death. This Wednesday, January 20, Texas plans to execute him by lethal injection - the state's 1st execution of 2016. But today Masterson claims he is an innocent man. At trial, he recanted his confession, testifying that although he was with Honeycutt the night of his death, he had died during a consensual sexual encounter - and Masterson panicked, fleeing in Honeycutt's car. Jurors were unconvinced, however, relying in large part on the testimony of Texas medical examiner Paul Shrode, who conducted the autopsy on Honeycutt and provided the critical evidence that Masterson was guilty of murder: Blood spots known as petechiae, caused by ruptured capillaries, had been found around Honeycutt's eyes. Shrode said this was an indication of death by strangulation. Yet there is evidence to suggest that Honeycutt was not murdered, but instead may have died from a sudden heart attack during sex that included erotic asphyxiation. Masterson's lawyer, Washington, D.C.-based attorney Gregory Gardner, believes that Shrode's analysis was skewed by his knowledge of the confession. Although Shrode conducted Honeycutt's autopsy on January 28, 2001, before Masterson was interviewed by police, he did not complete his autopsy report until February 23, well after Masterson made his confession. "It seems like primarily he reached his medical conclusion [based] on Richard's confession and then got some anecdotal evidence to back it up," Gardner told The Intercept. In the meantime, Gardner said, Shrode ignored evidence suggesting the death was accidental and "missed some very basic medical principles in this autopsy - and [in] other ones too." Indeed, since Masterson's conviction, serious questions about Shrode's qualifications and credibility have come to light. Shrode has drawn inaccurate conclusions about the cause of death in at least two different cases - including a death penalty case. In 2001, just months before Masterson's trial, Shrode was officially reprimanded by his supervisor in the Houston medical examiner's office for reaching an erroneous cause of death determination. Although they should have, prosecutors did not disclose the reprimand to Masterson's trial counsel during the evidence discovery process. Later, in 2010, Shrode was fired from his job as El Paso's medical examiner after officials found that he'd reached an erroneous cause of death determination in a capital case out of Ohio - a revelation that led to the commutation of the inmate's death sentence. In addition to these grave errors, Shrode has also had issues with his resume, once insisting during an El Paso court hearing that he had earned a "graduate law degree" at a Texas university that did not have a law program. (Shrode has never faced any state sanctions for his mistakes or alleged credibility issues. In the wake of his termination in El Paso, the Texas Medical Board dismissed a formal complaint about his work, finding in part there was "sufficient evidence" that Shrode was qualified "for the position of medical examiner.")
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
Sept. 26 TEXAS: Questions raised after shock belt used at Texas murder trial A potential death penalty trial in East Texas is set to resume on Monday after it was put on hold when a judge was said by a TV station to have had a shock belt used on the defendant for misbehaving. James Calvert, 45, of Tyler, Texas, is on trial in Smith County, where prosecutors allege he beat and fatally shot his former wife at her home and abducted their 4-year-old son in October 2012. Judge Jack Skeen allowed Calvert to defend himself, over objections from attorneys specializing in the death penalty, at the outset of the trial in August. Skeen also ordered a shock device be placed on Calvert for security reasons because of his unpredictable behavior, legal officials said. On Sept. 15, when Calvert did not stand up at the judge's request, Skeen had an electric shock administered on the defendant that caused him to twist in pain before the jury, local TV broadcaster KLTV reported. "Calvert refuses to stand up when talking to judge. Shock belt is administered, Calvert scream 'ahh' for about 5 seconds," Cody Lillich, a KLTV reporter, tweeted from the courtroom. After Calvert was shocked, Skeen allowed public defenders who had been monitoring the hearings to defend him, court officials said. The trial is set to resume on Monday after it was put on recess on Sept. 16. The judge has issued a gag order in the case, a court official said. Skeen did not respond to requests for comment. Legal experts said the judge's conduct could open the door to appeals if Calvert is convicted and possible sanction for abuse of the shock belt, which is to be used only if the defendant poses an immediate security risk. "This is just a travesty of justice as far as I'm concerned. This man is facing an execution if he's convicted," said George Parnham, a Houston lawyer who represented Andrea Yates, who drowned her 5 children and was found innocent by reason of insanity on appeal. Skeen, who was Smith County district attorney before he was elected a district judge, has had no disciplinary sanctions, according to the Texas Bar Association. Calvert has been disruptive because of mental illness, making it all the more reasonable to have had a lawyer represent him from the start, said Kathryn Kase, executive director of the Texas Defender Service, which has been monitoring the case. "I know of no death penalty trial in the state of Texas where the defendant has been able to represent himself who got life in prison," Kase said. It is common to have a shock belt on defendants at jury trials for safety, and the device is less obvious than handcuffs or leg irons, Smith County Sheriff's Lieutenant Gary Middleton said. "It's really pretty effective when we use it. It's kind of like a Taser," he said. (source: Reuters) USA: International Community Condemns U.S., Recommends End to Police Deadly Force, Racial Profiling and Death Penalty America's racist practices - including police violence and the implementation of its criminal justice system - have human rights implications and face international scrutiny. The United Nations has reviewed the country's human rights record and the international body slammed the U.S. for its racial profiling and use of deadly force, and its implementation of the death penalty. Of the 343 recommendations made by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, the U.S. accepted 44 recommendations for eliminating racial discrimination and addressing excessive use of police force and racial bias in the death penalty, as Al Jazeera America reported. In addition, the U.S. supported another 20 recommendations "in part" and rejected 1 - calling for an independent commission to prosecute racially motivated crimes. During the peer review process - in which 117 UN member states participated, and each state must undergo every four years - the international community was able to weigh in and offer comments and recommend changes. The panel called on the U.S. - which often characterizes itself as a beacon of human rights and criticizes other nations on their human rights record - to abolish the death penalty, end extrajudicial killings, and protect the human rights of indigenous people and immigrants. The council also urged the U.S. to punish torturers, and close its Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba. The French delegation recommended the U.S. "take necessary measures to fight against discriminatory practices of the police based on ethnic origin." Meanwhile, Malaysia suggested the U.S. "double its efforts in combating violence and the excessive use of force by law enforcement officers based on racial profiling through training, sensitization and community outreach, as well as ensuring proper investigation and prosecution when cases occur." The U.S. accepted these peer recommendations, while also explaining its criteria for
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
Jan. 29 TEXASexecution Texas Executes Man for 1996 Strangling, Beating Death A Texas man convicted of killing a 38-year-old woman nearly 2 decades ago while he was on parole for a triple slaying years earlier was executed Thursday evening. Robert Ladd, 57, received lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected arguments he was mentally impaired and ineligible for the death penalty. The court also rejected an appeal in which Ladd's attorney challenged whether the pentobarbital Texas uses in executions is potent enough to not cause unconstitutional pain and suffering. Ladd was executed for the 1996 slaying of 38-year-old Vicki Ann Garner, of Tyler, who was strangled and beaten with a hammer. Her arms and legs were bound, bedding was placed between her legs, and she was set on fire in her apartment. Ladd came within hours of lethal injection in 2003 before a federal court agreed to hear evidence about juvenile records that suggested he was mentally impaired. That appeal was denied and the Supreme Court last year turned down a review of Ladd's case. His attorneys renewed similar arguments as his new execution date approached. Ladd's deficits are well documented, debilitating and significant, Brian Stull, a senior staff lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union Capital Punishment Project, told the high court. Kelli Weaver, a Texas attorney general, reminded the justices in a filing that each court that has reviewed Ladd's claim has determined that Ladd is not intellectually disabled. Ladd's lawyers cited a psychiatrist's determination in 1970 that Ladd, then a 13-year-old in custody of the Texas Youth Commission, had an IQ of 67. Courts have embraced scientific studies that consider an IQ of 70 a threshold for impairment. The inmate's attorneys also contended he long has had difficulties with social skills and functioning on his own. Ladd also was a plaintiff in a lawsuit questioning the quality and viability of Texas' supply of its execution drug, pentobarbital. The Texas Attorney General's Office called the challenge nothing more than rank speculation. When he was arrested for Garner's slaying, Ladd had been on parole for about 4 years after serving about a third of a 40-year prison term for the slayings of a Dallas woman and her 2 children. He pleaded guilty to those crimes. Ladd becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 520th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. Ladd is the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death since Greg Abbott became governor on Jan. 21. Ladd becomes the 6th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1400 overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: Associated Press Rick Halperin) Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present2 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-520 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 3Feb. 4Donald Newbury---521 4Feb. 10---Les Bower, Jr.---522 5Mar. 5Rodney Reed--523 6Mar. 11---Manuel Vasquez---524 7Mar. 18---Randall Mays-525 8Apr. 9Kent Sprouse-526 9Apr. 15---Manual Garza-527 10---Apr. 23---Richard Vasquez--528 11---Apr. 28---Robert Pruett529 12---May 12Derrick Charles--530 (sources: TDCJ Rick Halperin) USA: Lawyers Snipe as Jury Selection Resumes in Tsarnaev Trial As jury selection resumed Thursday in the federal death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a prosecutor accused 1 of Tsarnaev's lawyers of trying to encourage a hung jury. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Weinreb said attorney David Bruck asked a wholly inappropriate question when he probed a man with a supervisory job about whether he would listen to the opinions of other jurors. Weinreb told Judge George O'Toole Jr. he viewed Bruck's question as an instruction that no juror could change another juror's view about whether the death penalty would be an appropriate punishment. Bruck said he was merely asking the juror if he understood that in the end, all jurors have to make their own decisions. Bruck said it was appropriate to ask if the juror could respect the fact that other jurors might have different moral views. Judge George O'Toole Jr. said the questions asked by lawyers in the case should be aimed at discovering bias or some other issue that would disqualify them as serving as jurors in Tsarnaev's trial. Tsarnaev, 21, is accused in the 2013 bombing that killed 3 people and injured more than 260. He
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
Feb. 5 TEXASfemale execution Woman Executed in Texas for 1998 Torture Killing A woman convicted of torturing and killing a mentally impaired man she lured to Texas with the promise of marriage was put to death Wednesday evening in a rare execution of a female prisoner. The lethal injection of Suzanne Basso, 59, made the New York native only the 14th woman executed in the U.S. since the Supreme Court in 1976 allowed capital punishment to resume. Almost 1,400 men have been put to death during that time. Before being put to death, Basso told a warden who stood near her, No sir, when asked to make a final statement. She appeared to be holding back tears, then smiled at 2 friends watching through a window. She mouthed a brief word to them and nodded. As the lethal dose of pentobarbital took effect, Basso, dressed in a white prison uniform, began to snore. Her deep snoring became less audible and eventually stopped. She was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. CST, 11 minutes after the drug was administered. Basso was sentenced to die for the 1998 slaying of 59-year-old Louis Buddy Musso, whose battered and lacerated body, washed with bleach and scoured with a wire brush, was found in a ditch outside Houston. Prosecutors said Basso had made herself the beneficiary of Musso's insurance policies and took over his Social Security benefits after luring him from New Jersey. The execution, the 2nd this year in Texas, came about an hour after the Supreme Court rejected a last-day appeal from Basso's attorney who argued she was not mentally competent. Lower federal courts and state courts also refused to halt the punishment, upholding the findings of a state judge last month that Basso had a history of fabricating stories about herself, seeking attention and manipulating psychological tests. Leading up to her trial, Basso's court appearances were marked by claims of blindness and paralysis, and speech mimicking a little girl. It was challenging, but I saw her for who she was, said Colleen Barnett, the former Harris County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Basso. I was determined I was not going to let her get away with it. Basso's attorney, Winston Cochran Jr., argued she suffered from delusions and that the state law governing competency was unconstitutionally flawed. Her lawyer said a degenerative disease left her paralyzed, but Basso, who used a wheelchair, blamed her paralysis on a jail beating years ago. At a competency hearing two months ago, she testified from a hospital bed wheeled into a Houston courtroom and talked about a snake smuggled into a prison hospital in an attempt to kill her. But she acknowledged lying about her background, including that she was a triplet, worked in the New York governor's office and had a relationship with Nelson Rockefeller. She originally was from the Albany and Schenectady areas of New York. Prosecutors said Musso was living in New Jersey when he met either Basso or her son at a church carnival, then moved to Jacinto City, east of Houston, with an offer of marriage. Evidence showed Basso was already married but took over Musso's benefits and insurance. An autopsy showed Musso had several broken bones, including a skull fracture and 14 broken ribs. His back was covered with cigarette burns, and bruises were found all over his body. Basso became a suspect after reporting Musso missing following the discovery of his body. 5 others also were convicted, including Basso's son, but prosecutors only sought the death penalty for Basso. Suzanne ran the show for sure. ... She was the one in charge. She directed them. She wanted the money, Barnett said. She's a heinous killer. Among witnesses testifying at Basso's punishment trial was her daughter, who told of emotional, physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her mother. About 60 women are on death row in the U.S., making up about 2 % of the 3,100 condemned inmates. Texas, the nation's busiest death-penalty state, now has executed 5 women and 505 men. The last woman executed in Texas before Basso was Kimberly McCarthy, who was put to death last June for killing her neighbor near Dallas and cutting off the 71-year-old victim's finger to steal her wedding ring. Basso becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 510th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. Basso becomes the 271st condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas since Rick Perry became governor in 2001. Basso becomes the 7th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1366th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: Associated Press Rick Halperin) ** Executions under Rick Perry, 2001-present-271 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982-present510 Perry #scheduled execution date-name-Tx. # 272Mar.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
Oct. 18 TEXAS: Holberg hearing comes to a close A hearing on behalf of death row inmate Brittany Holberg came to a close Thursday after 8 full days of testimony. Holberg was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in March of 1998 for the murder 80-year-old A.B Towery in his Amarillo apartment in November of 1996. Towery was stabbed more than 50 times, beaten, and had a lamp post shoved down his throat. In May, The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered that a Randall County court hear testimony from Holberg's original defense team to investigate allegations that the original defense threw the case by not presenting mitigating evidence that could have spared Holberg from the death penalty. During the hearing, which started Tuesday, October 9, the state and Holberg's current defense squared off on whether Holberg's original defense team properly prepared for and presented adequate mitigating evidence during the punishment phase of the trial. Defense attorneys Candace Norris, and Cathy Dodson each took the stand for several hours over the course of the hearing, as did Kathy Garrison and Jim Patteron, private investigators hired by Norris and Dodson. Holberg's current defense, a team based out of San Francisco, claims the original defense failed to investigate leads that would have provided the mitigating evidence needed for a jury to have mercy on Holberg and spare her life. They say the lack of sufficient defense violated Holberg's 6th amendment right to counsel, and the jury's right to knowledge in making an informed decision. Thursday, the state and Holberg's current defense team gave closing arguments on the hearing. The defense stated that in a case with such a brutal crime scene, mitigating evidence is crucial, and the original defense had no clear strategy on presenting it and they were making it up as they went along. It was a haphazard mitigation investigation, said H. Christian L'Orange, one of Holberg's attorneys. The team of attorneys accused Norris and Dodson of not preparing Dr. Dhiren Patel, the medical witness for the defense, on the mitigation phase of the trial. Patel diagnosed Holberg with post-traumatic stress disorder, battered woman syndrome, and chemical dependance, but gave no examples of Holberg's traumatic past to back up his diagnosis. L'Orange also brought up alleged sexual abuse of Holberg by her step-father that was never brought up in the original trial. In closing argument for the state, Assistant Attorney General Leslie Kuykendall, the scope of the hearing had been taken way past what was ordered by the Criminal Court of Appeals. Kuykendall said the purpose of the hearing was not to look back in hindsight on what the original defense could have done differently, but to prove they did not provide reasonable professional assistance. A defense council does not have the duty to scour the globe on the off-chance something may turn up, she said. The defense took a reasonable strategy. Before closing arguments, Holberg's defense asked Judge Richard Dambold for a bench warrant to expedite the process of getting Holberg released from the state penitentary in Gainsville next week in order to get nueropsychological testing done at the University of Texas Medical Center in Galveston. Dambold denied the request, saying it was outside the scope of the hearing. Results of the hearing will likely not come down until some time next year. The state and defense have until December 2 to send their findings of the hearing to Dambold, then Dambold must submit his findings to the Court of Criminal Appeals. (source: newschannel10) USA: Judge won't give Tsarnaev lawyers more time for death penalty argument A federal judge has denied accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's request for more time to persuade prosecutors not to seek the death penalty, saying the matter is beyond his authority. In a ruling issued today, U.S. District Court Judge George O'Toole Jr. denied Tsarnaev's request for the court to intervene and extend an Oct. 24 deadline that prosecutors have set for his court-appointed lawyers to make their case on why his life should be spared. What the defendant asks is that the Court set dates for events occurring not in the course of the judicial proceeding but rather in the course of the Department's internal deliberations, he wrote. That would be well beyond the scope of any inherent authority to manage judicial business. Prosecutors are expected to make their death-penalty recommendation to the U.S. Department of Justice on Oct. 31. Attorney General Eric Holder will decide whether to seek Tsarnaev's execution. In his ruling, O'Toole says Tsarnaev's opportunity to tell prosecutors why he deserves to live if convicted does not create a legal right that can be overseen and enforced by the Court. Extending such an opportunity may easily be described as
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
June 4 TEXAS: Complaint: Judge's Death Penalty Remarks Show Racial Bias A federal appellate judge from Texas is facing a judicial misconduct complaint over comments she made regarding race and the death penalty during a speech. According to a complaint filed Tuesday by civil rights groups, ethicists and a legal aid organization, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Edith Jones allegedly said during a February event at the University of Pennsylvania Law School that racial groups like African-Americans and Hispanics are predisposed to crime, and that they get involved in more violent and heinous crimes than people of other ethnicities. A staff member reached by phone at Jones' office said the judge would not make any comments about the complaint. No audio recording of the speech is available. Jones, a former chief judge of the New Orleans-based appeals court who practiced in Houston before her 1985 appointment to the federal bench, wrote the court's opinion last year that allowed the Texas sonogram law to stand. At the February event, she also reportedly said that Mexican nationals would rather be in a Texas prison than in a prison in their home country. The complaint also takes issue with comments the judge reportedly made criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court's prohibition on executing the mentally retarded. Judge Jones' biased remarks demonstrated both an utter disregard for the fundamental judicial standard of impartiality and a lack of judicial temperament, the complaint argues. Among those who filed the complaint are the NAACP, the Texas Civil Rights Project and the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program, which is funded by and represents Mexico in cases where its foreign nationals face capital murder charges in the U.S. It was filed with the 5th Circuit Court's chief judge, who would decide whether to refer the case to a judicial council made up of 5th Circuit and district court judges. Because Jones is a former chief judge of the 5th Circuit, the group asked that its complaint be transferred to another circuit court for review. In affidavits filed with the court, people who attended the event where Jones spoke said she denied the existence of systemic racism in the application of the death penalty. They said she contended that more Hispanics and African-Americans are on death row because people from these racial groups get involved in more violent crime. The complaint indicates that Jones also told the audience that exempting the mentally retarded from the death penalty was a disservice. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court - amid what Jones reportedly described as a judicial law-making binge - decided that the mentally retarded are not eligible for execution because their lack of intellectual ability renders them less culpable for the behavior. I am not able to capture the complete outrage she expressed over the crimes or the disgust she evinced over the defenses raised, Marc Bookman, a capital defense lawyer from Pennsylvania who attended the discussion, wrote in an affidavit. In remarks about foreign nationals on death row, the complaint states, Jones reportedly said that Mexicans would rather be in a U.S. prison than in one in their own country, where they would not be provided the same kind of legal protections. Christina Swarns, director of the Criminal Justice Project of the NAACP Legal Defense Educational Fund Inc., who is also an attorney for African-American death row inmate Duane Buck, said in a press release that comments like the ones Jones reportedly made undermine the criminal justice system. Attorneys for Buck argue that his death sentence ought to be reversed because an expert used during his trial told jurors that a defendant who was black would pose an increased risk of future danger to society. Racial bias and stereotypes should not and must not be tolerated in our courtrooms, by our juries, or by our judges, she said. (source: Texas Tribune) *** Judge Edith Jones: Blacks and Hispanics More Violent; Complaint filed over Jones's discriminatory and biased comments A complaint filed today by several civil rights groups, including one funded entirely by the government of Mexico, alleges that federal Judge Edith Jones has violated her duty to be impartial and damaged the public's confidence in the judiciary, in statements she made in a public lecture - including that blacks and Hispanics are more violent. Indeed, Jones also said that a death sentence provides a public service by allowing an inmate to make peace with God. Jones, who sits on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals - based in New Orleans, its jurisdiction includes Texas - made numerous offensive and biased comments during a February lecture at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, according to the complaint filed pursuant to the federal Judicial Conduct and Disability Act. The complaint, filed by
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, ARK., ARIZ.
April 22 TEXAS: Prosecutor at Granger trial: We want him to sit on death row Ed Shettle and other Jefferson County prosecutors Monday before proceedings beganJefferson County Criminal District Judge John Stevens testified Monday morning in the capital murder trial of accused Jefferson County Courthouse shooter Bartholomew Granger during the 1st day of testimony in a Galveston courtroom. Granger is facing capital murder charges after police say he shot and killed 79-year-old Minnie Ray Sebolt in March of last year. They say Granger opened fire outside of the Jefferson County Courthouse., killing Sebolt and injuring 4 others, including his daughter and her mother. He is also facing 3 other counts of attempted capital murder, 4 counts of aggravated kidnapping and 1 count of aggravated assault. Judge Stevens was called by prosecutors, as Stevens was hearing the original case against Granger that was scheduled to begin later that day. Granger was facing aggravated sexual assault charges. Stevens said he in court when he was made aware of the shooting. He said a man burst into the courtroom, yelling They're shooting downstairs. He said he left the courtroom to go retrieve a firearm, went downstairs and came across about 10 ladies saying they were being shot at. He said he covered the women and notices 1 had been shot. He said he then took the woman into County Clerk Carolyn Guidry's office to be tended to, He said Guidry told him that there was another woman there who was shot in the stomach. Stevens said he recognized her to be Claudia Jackson, the mother of Granger's daughter. Last Wednesday, a jury was seated consisting of 9 women and 3 men. 2 men are alternates. The jury members were sworn in by 9 a.m. Monday. In opening statements Monday, Jefferson County Assistant District Attorney Ed Shettle told jurors that there was no questions who did the crime. This is not a question of mistaken identity, said Shettle. He was always in sight of law enforcement. He never left the crime scene. Shettle said the state will show how he jumped out of the truck to the middle of the street with an assault rifle and shot his 20-year-old daughter three times. We want him to sit on death row, he said. No family members of Granger or of Seabolt were present as proceedings began Monday. For security reasons, local bailiffs are inside the courtroom. Galveston County officials are patrolling the parking lot the entire trial. Judge Bob Wortham, who is the presiding judge, tells 12News there are private walkways and private elevators just for jurors. The 2012 Courthouse shooting happened during the break of Granger's sexual abuse case. Prosecutors say Granger opened fire on March 14 outside the courthouse. 79-year-old Minnie Seabolt was killed and 3 others were injured, including Granger's daughter. The trial has been moved to Galveston to avoid jurors walking through the crime scene as they go to court each day. The state is expected to call over 40 witnesses to the stand to testify in a trial that is expected to last 2 weeks. Granger's mother is expected to attend trial. His brother, Lyndon, is currently in jail on a $4 million bond in connection with the same sexual abuse case as Bartholomew. Judge Stevens was the judge overseeing that sexual abuse trial at the time of the courthouse shooting. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty if Bartholomew Granger is found guilty. The defense asked jurors to consider life in prison if Granger is found guilty. (source: 12NewsNow) USA: R.I. judge upholds death-penalty elements of accused killer Pleau's case A federal judge has refused to dismiss the death-penalty aspects of the government's case against accused killer Jason Pleau. Judge William Smith rejected Pleau's challenges to the constitutionality of the federal death penalty law. Smith found that, contrary to Pleau's claims, courts have held that the federal death penalty may be imposed in states that do not authorize capital punishment, like Rhode Island. By law, a jury would assess after conviction whether aggravating factors existed such as if the defendant placed people in grave risk of death or committed the crime for monetary gain. It then must weigh those factors against mitigating factors in deciding whether to impose the death penalty. Smith struck down Pleau's challenges to several aggravating factors. Authorities say Pleau fatally shot a gas station manager while robbing him outside a Woonsocket bank. (source: Providence Journal) Dzhokhar Tsarnaev charged with using 'weapon of mass destruction' Federal authorities on Monday charged the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings with using a weapon of mass destruction against people and property, and the White House rejected demands by some congressional Republicans that he be tried before a military tribunal as an enemy combatant.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, N.J., VA., FLA.
April 3 TEXAS: Texas Senate considering bill request by El Paso officials A Texas Senate committee is considering a bill requested by El Paso County officials who want to make it easier to hire a medical examiner. For the past 3 years, the county has been looking for a permanent replacement to Paul Shrode, who was fired after a lengthy scandal over falsehoods on his resume. It's critical that medical examiners be truthful because their testimony is often used against criminal defendants facing lengthy sentences or the death penalty, officials have said. The El Paso County Commissioners Court was reluctant in 2010 to fire Shrode for fear that it would be difficult to replace him. After Shrode was fired, county officials found it tough to recruit a new medical examiner despite offering a salary of more than $250,000. There's a national shortage of qualified medical examiners, state Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, said Tuesday. There are only 400 to 500 full-time forensic pathologists in the United States, where 2.5 million people die every year, National Public Radio reported in 2011. To make it easier for Texas communities to recruit medical examiners, Rodriguez on Tuesday introduced a bill in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee that would drop a requirement that medical examiners have to be licensed by the Texas Medical Board. Instead, they could assume their jobs if they're licensed in another state and have applied to the Texas Medical Board to become licensed in Texas. Under a provisional license, medical examiners could perform autopsies and other non-administrative tasks, Rodriguez said. The measure, Senate Bill 336, must now be passed by the committee before going to the full Senate. Even if it doesn't become law, El Paso County is in the process of hiring a new medical examiner. County officials last month said that Khalid Jaber of Ireland is the leading candidate for the job. He must first pass the Texas medical licensing exam and get a visa to work in the United States -- a process that could last a year. (source: El Paso Times) 2 inmates, including 1 facing death penalty, escape Texas jail 2 inmates with long criminal histories - including 1 awaiting trial for capital murder - escaped an East Texas jail, dumped their black-and-white scrubs and were fleeing a manhunt Tuesday, authorities said. Brian Allen Tucker of Sulphur Springs and John Marlin King of Cumby slipped past a fence around a recreation yard at the Hopkins County Jail around 8 a.m. Tuesday, officials with the Hopkins County Sheriff's Office said. The 2 men dumped their jail uniforms on rail tracks near the jail, Deputy Alvin Jordan said. They had white T-shirts and boxer shorts on underneath, and Sheriff Butch Adams said it was possible they had clothes stashed on the outside. Certainly, we're going to do our best to get them back, Adams told reporters. We have a lot of help here from other counties and jurisdictions. Dispatcher Beth Renfro said a maintenance person noticed a problem with the fence around a recreation yard used by female inmates at the jail in Sulphur Springs, about 75 miles northeast of Dallas. Jordan said the men either slipped through a gap in the fence or they scaled it. Hours later, deputies and other law enforcement were searching the woods and area east and northeast of the jail. Tucker was being held on $1 million bond in the 2011 death of Bobby Riley of Mahoney. Riley was found strangled in his home and some music instruments and firearms had been stolen. Jury selection in his murder trial was set to begin June 3. Tucker was previously convicted of burglary and driving while intoxicated, and has been arrested several times for violating parole. King was being held on several charges, including evading arrest, burglary and possession of a controlled substance. He's been convicted previously of burglary and possession of a controlled substance. According to court documents, he pleaded guilty last month to the possession charge as a habitual offender and received a sentence of 40 years in prison. Local schools were locked down as a precaution, though classes were continuing as normal, an official for the Sulphur Springs schools said. Kris Mitchell, who lives across a field from where officers were focusing their search, said she was telling her family to lock their doors and stay vigilant. This land is all ponds, tree lines and brush, Mitchell said. You could hide pretty easily, I think. (source: Associated Press) Courthouse shooting suspect's capital murder trial begins in Galveston The trial of courthouse shooting suspect Bartholomew Granger begins Tuesday morning in Galveston. Investigators said Granger, 42, opened fire outside the Jefferson County Courthouse on March 14, 2012. Police believe the shooting stemmed from a trial in which
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, MD., VA., N.C., GA.
Feb. 11 TEXASnew execution date Vaughn Ross has been given an execution date of July 18; it should be considered serious. Executions under Rick Perry, 2001-present-253 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982-present492 Perry #scheduled execution date-name-Tx. # 254-February 21---Carl Blue---493 255-April 3---Kimberly McCarthy---494 256-April 9--Ricky Lewis--495 257-April 10--Ribogerto Avila, Jr.---496 258-April 16--Ronnie Threadgill497 259-April 24--Elroy Chester498 260-April 25Richard Cobb---499 261-May 14John Quintanilla Jr.--500 262-May 15---Jeffrey Williams-501 263-July 18---Vaughn Ross-502 264-July 31---Douglas Feldman503 (sources: TDCJ Rick Halperin) *** 2nd Week of Robertson Murder Trial to Focus on Mental Health Is Stanley Robertson mentally retarded? To some, the question may be simple, and the answer may be clear in their opinion. The ultimate opinion of 12 Brazos County jurors on that question will likely be the deciding factor on whether he lives or dies. Robertson, 45, was convicted Thursday of capital murder in the August 2010 kidnapping and stabbing death of Annie Toliver, the mother of his ex-girlfriend. In phone recordings played for the jury Friday in the 1st day of the trial's punishment phase, jurors heard Robertson tell ex Tammy Toliver that her abandonment of him was the catalyst for the defendant attacking Annie in the parking lot of the College Station Walmart. The victim was stabbed 31 times with a 5-inch utility knife Robertson had bought less than an hour earlier, causing wounds in the eye, neck and abdomen, among other places. She bled to death over upwards of 6 hours, an autopsy revealed. On the very 1st day of the trial, the defense noted that they would work to show Robertson is mentally retarded. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Atkins v. Virginia case that those shown to have the disorder should not be executed. It's a violation of the Eighth Amendment, the ruling said. The route to proving it is one that can prove interesting. There are 3 prongs of mental retardation according to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. - an IQ below 70, or below 75 within a margin of error - clear deficiencies in adaptive behavior - the low IQ and deficiencies clearly showing up before the age of 18 Defense attorneys for the last Brazos County defendant facing the death penalty, Stanley Griffin, made the mental retardation argument, bringing forward experts in the mental health field who said Robertson tested low in IQ tests and was deficient in a variety of behavioral areas, all before 18. The jury believed the prosecution's experts that countered, and Griffin sits on death row. Throughout the 1st 5 days of this latest trial, prosecutors have tossed in questions to those who have known Robertson for extended periods. Is he gullible? Naive? Able to cook and clean for himself? Dress himself? Handle his own bank account? The answers have been yes. While only a fraction of what would be needed to disprove the defense theory, it laid the foundation for the fight the State of Texas will put up. The prosecution could wrap up its first set of witnesses in punishment Monday, leaving the defense to bring its experts and those who have been the recipients of good deeds and acts by the defendant, the standard practice in this phase. The State of Texas will then have its chance to bring experts of its own. The lawyers must show Robertson is a clear danger to others if allowed to live, that there are no mitigating circumstances that would prevent his execution, and that he is not mentally retarded. Then and only then would he face the ultimate punishment. Otherwise, he would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The 1st day of the punishment phase played to the danger aspect. After dumping Annie Toliver's body in Fort Worth, he led police on a chase through the city. Following through on his claims to harm any law enforcement and himself if they attempted to take him, Robertson rammed his SUV into an FWPD patrol car, seriously injuring the officer driving. One month earlier, Robertson had put a knife to Tammy Toliver's throat in front of her three children. He was arrested after a hostage situation in their College Station apartment. Robertson would later say the fact that Tammy wouldn't visit him in jail or return his calls led him to attack her mother. The punishment phase is expected to last through this week, possibly into next. (source: KBTX News)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, MD., KY., MO., ARIZ.
Jan. 28 TEXASimpending female execution North Texas woman set to be executed A North Texas woman, convicted of murder, is set to be executed Tuesday. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles refused the clemency request of Kimberly McCarthy. The 51 year old faces death by lethal injection in Huntsville. She stabbed and beat her 71 year old neighbor, Dorothy Booth, to death, in Lancaster in 1997. McCarthy would be the 4th woman executed in Texas since 1998. (source: myfoxdfw.com) USA: Relative of 9/11 victims want terror plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to spend the rest of his days behind bars instead of execution; Loreen Sellitto and Phyllis Rodriguez each lost a son when Cantor Fitzgerald office was destroyed in attack against the World Trade Center's south tower. Sellitto says, 'I don't think there would be any better hell for them than to be under our rule. Death is too good.' They planned the murder of nearly 3,000 people on 9/11, but Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and 4 underlings should not be executed for their crimes, say relatives of 2 of their victims. Loreen Sellitto and Phyllis Rodriguez each lost a son when their workplace at Cantor Fitzgerald was destroyed along with the World Trade Center's south tower. But execution would be too good for the quintet, said Sellitto, mother of Matthew, who was a 23-year-old rising star at the finance firm. I would be very comfortable knowing that these men have to spend the rest of their lives locked up and controlled for the rest of their lives by the country they tried to destroy, said Sellitto, whose family has established a foundation in her son???s name that awards scholarships. I don't think there would be any better hell for them than to be under our rule, she added. Death is too good. Rodriguez has a different reason for fighting the capital charges against KSM and his cronies. She believes the military court and the death penalty are violations of human rights. What kind of society are we if we condone state-sanctioned murder? asked Rodriguez, whose adventure-seeking son Greg, 31, worked in cybersecurity at the firm. Rodriguez is certainly not alone in her views - but she and her husband Orlando are the most outspoken among 9/11 relatives. After the terror attacks, they publicly urged then-President George W. Bush not to respond militarily. Orlando, a professor of criminology and justice studies at Fordham University's Rose Hill campus, even took the stand on would-be hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui's behalf in the sentencing phase of his trial, in which he was spared death and give life imprisonment. Sellitto and Phyllis Rodriguez will be on hand for more proceedings beginning Monday. I did not want to go down there (to Guantanamo Bay) and be overly emotional or aggressive or angry, Sellitto said. I had to make sure I could be a good representative for the relatives, all of the 9/11 community and the whole country. (source: New York Daily News) * Court rulings dim outlook for trials at Guantanamo; An appeals court reversed the verdicts of the only 2 Gitmo prisoners convicted in trials by military tribunal, as proceedings are set to resume for men accused in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. A civilian appeals court has now reversed the verdicts of the only 2 Guantanamo Bay prisoners convicted in trials by military tribunal, casting a shadow over proceedings set to resume this week at the U.S. base in Cuba for the men accused in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. A federal appeals court Friday threw out the military-commission conviction of Ali Hamza al-Bahlul, who was charged with providing material support to terrorism and conspiracy for making propaganda videos for al-Qaida. That followed the dismissal in October of the conviction of Salim Hamdan, a driver for Osama bin Laden. Al-Bahlul and Hamdan were the only prisoners convicted in a trial by the tribunals known as a military commission. The 5 other convictions of Guantanamo prisoners came through plea bargains. There are 2 pending death-penalty cases at Guantanamo: 1 against a prisoner accused of orchestrating the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, the other against 5 men accused of planning and aiding the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But the recent reversals have raised new questions about the use of military commissions in complex terrorism cases. The fact that no conviction can stand up on appeal does not bode well for the military-commission system, said James Connell, a lawyer for Ammar al-Baluchi, a Pakistani who is 1 of the 5 charged in the Sept. 11 attacks. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday overturned al-Bahlul's November 2008 conviction. In October, the court overturned Hamdan's August 2008 conviction. In both cases, the reasoning was the same. The court determined that before enactment of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, ALA., ILL., VA., GA., ARIZ., CALIF.
Jan. 22 TEXASstay of execution 'Spider' granted stay of execution A convicted and twice sentenced murderer received a stay of execution that will prolong his case even longer than the almost 20 years it's been in the system. Michael Dean Spider Gonzales was scheduled to die at the hands of a Texas Department of Criminal Justice executioner after 6 p.m. on March 21, 2013, but the actual date is a little murkier now. Federal District Judge Robert Junell granted Gonzales a stay of execution after three attorneys with the Texas Habeas Assistance and Training Project filed a motion to delay his death date until they could formulate proper motions to show his execution is not warranted. Gonzales, who was convicted in the 1994 stabbing deaths of Merced and Manuel Aguirre, was originally sentenced to death in 1995. However, that ruling was overturned and sent back to state court, where he was resentenced in 2009, again with the death penalty. After often being disruptive and displaying lewd gestures and foul language throughout his resentencing, Gonzales waived his right to state habeas appeal, one of the appeal options after his automatic direct state appeal. Fernando Aguirre, one of the sons of Manuel and Merced Aguirre, said that he is no longer holding out hope for a quick resolution and execution in this case. It's very frustrating because we were told he'd exhausted all of his appeals and they set the date for the execution, Fernando Aguirre said. And then they said, nope, guess what, he can file another appeal. Fernando Aguirre said he was present at both the original trial and the resentencing trial, and he believes Gonzales was more than competent both times. Instead, Fernando Aguirre said he believes the continuing battle is mostly legalese, and harms the family members more than anything. I've made it a point not to put my life on hold for this. It's not what's going to define me, he said. Otherwise, that bastard wins. He's not going to win. Fernando Aguirre said he believes it will be at least another few years before the case is finalized, as he said the defense attorneys are just trying to prolong the situation. But the attorneys filing court documents on his behalf claim that Gonzales may have been mentally incapable of standing trial, explaining that drugs, alcohol and abuse from his father played a role in deteriorating his psychological state. The document filed by the attorneys claims defense attorneys and the trial court did not explore Gonzales??? competence well enough and that his original attorneys saw Mr. Gonzales as bad, rather than mad. In his order, Junell allowed defense attorneys until May 24 to present an amended federal habeas corpus petition. Fernando Aguirre said Gonzales made it up in his mind he was going to kill the elderly couple, despite a good rapport between the Aguirres and Gonzales' family. Anytime his mom needed help on something, my parents were right there, Fernando Aguirre said. My parents were great folks. They were very good, hardworking people. They always helped people who asked for it. (source: Odessa American-News) re: Craig Watkins A long article in the DMN indicates that Dallas DA Craig Watkins plans to advocate for race-based appeals in death penalty cases. This is a proposal to be applauded. However, the article also quotes Watkins as saying that his own views on capital punishment are somewhat irrelevant, and that Texas has an opportunity to lead the country when it comes to what it means to be a prosecutor and what justice is. Justice can NEVER be equated with the death penalty in any form whatsoever. Watkins himself has pursued and attained death sentences in Dallas courtrooms. His own pro-death penalty views are therefore VERY relevant in these cases, because he also has the option of seeking life without parole in capital cases. As long as Craig Watkins, and any other prosecutor in this country, believes that justice can be attained through a firing squad, electric chair, gallows, gas chamber or lethal injection, this state and this nation will be forever hindered in the true pursuit of human justice. Rick Halperin (source: Letter to the Editor, Dallas Morning News) USA: Our Death Penalty: Inciting Murder And Killing Arbitrarily When Robert Gleason Jr. was put to death in Virginia on January 16 (he chose the electric chair) he became the 140th so-called volunteer for execution since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976. In fact, over 10% of US executions have been voluntary, usually meaning that the prisoner has given up his appeals. But in Gleason's case it was more than that. He specifically killed to get the death penalty. He strangled his cellmate and vowed to keep on killing unless he was executed. And this is not the 1st time someone has committed murder in order to get the state to kill him.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, COLO.
Jan. 10 TEXAS: Jacksonville man now facing capital murder charge in death of coach The man accused of fatally shooting Stacy Hunter, a well known Jacksonville coach and mentor, was indicted on capital murder charges. Jimmy Deshawn Mosley, 24, of Jacksonville, was indicted by a grand jury on Dec. 17, officials with the Cherokee County District Attorney's office said. Mosley is accused of shooting Hunter at his nightclub, Stacy's Club, just after 4 a.m. Oct. 20. Hunter died at the scene. Police believe Mosley also may have tried to steal money from Hunter, officials with the Jacksonville Police Department said in October. (Mosley) has a history of violence, Jacksonville Sgt. Daniel Franklin said. He has several cases that have been filed in the past for him pulling a gun on somebody or threatening to kill somebody. Officials in the district attorney's office said Wednesday Mosley was still in jail with a $250,000 bond. No trial date has been set and a judge has not been assigned to the case. A capital murder charge carries the potential punishment of life in prison or the death penalty. (source: The Tyler Paper) USA: Supreme court fast-tracks execution for mentally ill The Supreme Court unanimously decided Tuesday that mentally ill death row inmates should not receive unlimited suspensions of their post-conviction challenges. The nation's highest court decided that such suspensions make sense on a case-by-case basis, but should be left to the discretion of individual judges, and not be automatic. The court offered its ruling based on arguments from 2 death penalty cases. One concerned Sean Carter, who has been diagnosed as schizophrenic, and the other Ernest Gonzales, who suffers from psychosis. Their lawyers had invoked their clients' mental health to get procedures against them frozen until they can become competent to participate in their own defense. Writing for the court, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that lawyers were quite capable of defending their clients without their help. The ruling overturned decisions by lower courts in Ohio and Arizona, respectively, granting unlimited stays of execution for the 2 men. Carter was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of his adoptive grandmother, while Gonzales was sent to death row for stabbing a couple in front of their seven-year-old child during a robbery. In both cases, the states of Ohio and Arizona, supported by the federal government, appealed to Supreme Court to protest against the lack of a time limit on the suspensions, once given. In its ruling, the court also reversed a 1967 decision in which it had frozen the death sentence of a mentally deficient man without giving a timeframe. The inmate ended up dying in prison. In 2002, in its Atkins v. Virginia decision, the Supreme Court forbid the execution of people with intellectual disabilities, because their handicap could increase the risk of an arbitrary execution. But it left it to individual states to determine what constitutes a mental handicap. In 2012, Texas defied international protest to execute 2 inmates suffering from mental health troubles. A 3rd prisoner, in Georgia, was saved at the last minute because of a change in the procedure for lethal injection. (source: SBS News) * Guantanamo war court prosecutors drop conspiracy charge in 9/11 trials The Pentagon's war crimes prosecutor has decided to no longer seek a conspiracy conviction at the Sept. 11 death penalty trial, a move designed to shore up the case after a federal court undercut the authority of the Guantanamo war court 3 months ago, the Defense Department said Wednesday. The announcement means that reputed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and 4 alleged accomplices would still face a capital trial at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba. The next pre-trial hearing is Jan. 28. But the Pentagon would allege 7 rather than 8 war crimes, notably 2,976 counts of murder - 1 for each person killed when terrorists hijacked passenger planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001. Other alleged crimes include terrorism and hijacking aircraft. A senior Pentagon official, retired Vice Adm. Bruce MacDonald, has yet to sign off on the move. But the Defense Department statement made clear that the 9/11 prosecutor was trying to drop the conspiracy charge to make the case less vulnerable to civilian court challenge. This action helps ensure the prosecution proceeds undeterred by legal challenge, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins said the statement, which was released Wednesday afternoon. At issue is the Oct. 16 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that overturned Guantanamo's best-known conviction - that of Osama bin Laden's driver. The federal court said the Pentagon had no authority to prosecute the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, CALIF., OKLA., GA.
Nov. 24 TEXAS: Gore steps down after only 2 months as ED of Hope 4 Peace Justice; Longtime local lesbian activist cites 'philosophical differences,' resigns as leader of social justice ministry founded by the Rev. Michael Piazza Hope for Peace Justice is without an executive director after Susan Gore, who was hired in August, left in October. Gore, a longtime local lesbian activist, said she stepped down from H4PJ due to philosophical differences. Gore said she wasn't with H4PJ long enough to be able to discuss specific programs and declined to comment further. Steven Jolly, chair of the H4PJ board, issued a statement. We are grateful for the time that Susan was with H4PJ, Jolly said. She is a person with a great deal of talent and a warm personality. We wish her the very best as she continues to pursue her passion and works towards her Masters of Theological Studies program at Brite Divinity School at TCU. Jolly said a national search for a new executive director is under way. Hopefully we'll have someone by the 2nd quarter, he said. H4PJ was launched in 2004 by Michael Piazza, the longtime senior pastor of Cathedral of Hope. Piazza, who is now pastor of Virginia Highland Church in Atlanta and co-executive director of United Church of Christ's Center for Progressive Renewal, remains president of H4PJ. Piazza didn't respond to a message seeking comment about Gore's resignation. The Rev. Jo Hudson said the board of Cathedral of Hope established H4PJ but they operate as separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. We consider ourselves yoked as partner organizations, Hudson said. Hudson serves on the board as 1 of 5 H4PJ board members that the Cathedral names out of a total of 15. We have no other links, she said. We keep separate finances. She said that H4PJ keeps the Cathedral of Hope congregation engaged with social justice issues. When they have an action, we're a base of strong support, she said. She said she was thrilled with the work of interim director Lynn Walters and her work restarting the Safe Schools program. She said she looked forward to linking with additional peacemaking organizations. This is a time of rebuilding and reforming, she said. Hudson declined to comment on Gore's departure but said she likes and admires her. H4PJ's stated mission is to equip progressive people of faith to be champions of peace and justice. It is based at Cathedral of Hope and works closely with the church on social justice issues. Piazza served as H4PJ's executive director from its founding until his move to Georgia in 2011. MJ Kaska became program director after Piazza's departure and served until earlier this year. Gore was hired this summer and stayed about 2 months. The work of the organization will continue with Walters as interim director. Walters has been a board member since 2007 and was previously on staff. She said the organization currently has a paid staff of 2. And 2 on staff at Cathedral of Hope are lent to us a few hours a month, Walters said. The organization uses between 7 and 20 volunteers a month. According to H4PJ's 990 report filed with the IRS, the organization had an annual budget of $97,813 in 2010. That was down from almost $297,034 in 2008 and $110,012 in 2009. DeSorrow Golden is an H4PJ board member who is picking up some of the slack since Gore's departure. He organized an art show and sale of works by prison inmates currently on display in the Fellowship Hall of Cathedral of Hope. Jolly said the art show is related to the organization's safe schools and anti-bullying program. Bullies have a higher rate of going to prison, Golden said. I think there's a certain type of person who doesn't have empathy for other people. Bullies are less likely to have compassion. They're anti-social. He said the question is how to break that path. Art is therapy, he said. They need an outlet to express themselves and make meaning out of their struggles and give purpose to their lives. Walters said another goal is to make people aware of issues facing inmates when they get out of prison. So far, several of 1 prisoner's pencil sketches have sold. Frank McRae is on death row in Arizona. He does paintings of Native Americans. Walters said he mixes some of his paint from Kool Aid and other creative ingredients and makes brushes from his own hair because of restrictions on certain items. The show continues through Dec. 9. Half of the proceeds go to the inmates and half is a fundraiser for H4PJ. Inmates may use the money for personal needs but are responsible for purchasing their own art supplies. McRae is donating all proceeds to H4PJ. Working with the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, H4PJ has begun holding vigils at the Peace Chapel on nights when an execution is taking place in Texas. There was an execution on the 15th of someone who claimed to be innocent, Walters said. It didn't
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
Nov. 20 TEXAS: Travis County DA seeks death penalty in Padron killing; No trial date set for Brandon Daniel The Travis County District Attorney will seek the death penalty for Brandon Daniel, the suspect arrested in Senior Austin Police Officer Jaime Padron's shooting death in April. Daniel, who turned 25 just 9 days ago, has a court hearing set for Dec. 3 His last appearance was in mid-September. Daniel is charged with capital murder in the April 6 death. District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg had since been carefully considering whether to seek the death penalty in the case -- something Chief Art Acevedo had immediately pushed for when initially responding to the media in the early morning hours of the shooting inside a North Austin Walmart. In a county where the death penalty is rarely sought, officials weighed the community outrage over the officer's killing, the grand funeral procession, the arrangements and the amount of people moved over the entire incident in the community -- among many other things. He wasn't just taken from his family, said Acevedo. He wasn't just taken from us, the Austin Police Department and his law enforcement colleagues. He was taken from this community. And it was not just an attack on an officer, he continued. It was an attack on the fabric that holds our community together. So I believe -- what he has taken from this community -- this community should have that option, the ultimate price for the ultimate act of committing a capital murder of a police officer. Although it was ultimately Lehmberg's decision, it was one the district attorney had to first run through a committee of trusted advisors within her office -- people with differing views and some who even oppose the death penalty itself. Steps before a decision is made --Office will review all evidence --Officials will talk to Austin Police Department thoroughly, including detectives who will explain all the evidence --Authorities will talk to Padron's family, though that won't be the deciding factor. Montford said there have been cases, however, where families sometimes don't want to seek the death penalty but the DA's office goes ahead with pursuing it. --DA's office will review previous cases where the death penalty has been sought, analyzing what the jury did. Likely defense stance Because Daniel was reportedly drinking and on Xanax when the murder happened, many have wondered about a plea of temporary insanity. It's one that KXAN Legal Analyst Mindy Montford said is not a valid defense, adding that while voluntary intoxication is not a defense to your conduct. The defense, however, may be able to get into that slightly once a verdict is returned, as a mitigation of conduct -- though still not as a defense to the conduct itself. The defense may be able to use it to explain -- putting into perspective for the jury -- and in an effort to try to get some sympathy from the jury. Defense attorneys would argue that because of the voluntary intoxication, this is not the way that the suspect normally acts. In addition, Montford noted that while Daniel does have a criminal history, it does not include any violent offenses. It's likely, then, that the defense will pose to the jury that something went terribly wrong that night -- making sure the jury knows that the person Daniel was on the morning he allegedly shot Padron dead was not the person Daniel typically was. Background, history and all sorts of other varying information will all play into the trial. Along those same lines, prosecutors will bring up for the jury the legacy Padron left behind, in addition to his two young daughters and family members. (source: KXAN News) USA: Partisan Election of Judges + Death Penalty = Bad Idea On November 6th, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Sharon Keller was re-elected despite previously facing removal from the bench over a case in which she refused an after-hours appeal by a death row inmate who was executed later that night. The election of judges based on popular vote is not unique to Texas, though it is one of only 8 states that choose judges for its highest courts with partisan elections. But 39 states elect at least some judges by popular vote. Since this approach is implemented in most of the United States, it is important to evaluate whether picking judges this way is a good idea. Proponents of electing judges argue that it is more democratic than having them appointed, and that it makes judges directly accountable to the people. But, especially for death penalty cases which as high profile crimes are usually deeply politicized to begin with, how fair and accurate can judges be when they are beholden, not just to the law, but also to voters? Electing judges by popular vote makes them politicians, with all that entails: campaigning, fundraising, partisan loyalties, etc. Concerns about the practice of
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, FLA., ARIZ., OHIO, PENN., CALIF.
Oct. 4 TEXAS: Texas Court Upholds Death Sentence of Innocent Man Although There is Something Very Wrong with Case Against Him With an opinion yesterday from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, ACLU client Max Soffar moves a step closer to an unjust execution. And, little more than 1 year after the execution of Troy Davis, our system moves closer to another miscarriage of justice. Soffar is an innocent man on Texas's death row, who falsely confessed to crimes he didn't commit. He's been there most of the last 32 years after being convicted of killing 3 people in a 1980 Houston bowling alley robbery. His conviction was based entirely on false words from his own mouth. Yesterday's opinion came in Soffar's latest appeal, filed by attorneys from the law firm Kirkland Ellis. The court upheld Soffar's death sentence, even as 3 judges declared in a joint concurring opinion that they lack faith in his conviction. They note that Soffar's confession does not inspire confidence in its accuracy [and] appears to be a tale told by one who heard about the robbery-murders rather than by one who committed them. Penned by Judge Cathy Cochran, this powerful concurrence begins by recalling what a previous appellate judge had said about this case. When Judge Harold DeMoss reviewed the case (and reversed the original 1981 conviction), he stated that he had lain awake nights agonizing over the enigmas, contradictions, and ambiguities which are inherent in this record. Judge Cochran expressed that she feels the same way about the similar record from the second trial conducted 25 years later. She added, There is something very wrong about this case. Sadly, despite the serious doubt over his confession, the court upheld the death sentence against Max Soffar because they didn't think he proved there were any constitutional violations in his treatment and legal representation (a point on which we disagree, but that's for another day). Judge Cochran's analysis of Soffar's confession echoes the framework set out just last week by my colleague Denny LeBoeuf in her recent piece for the New Orleans Times-Picayune concerning the exoneration of Damon Thibodeaux -- who also falsely confessed -- from Louisiana's death row. She explained that the police should scrutinize confessions given by suspects suffering from cognitive confusion, limited intellectual functioning or substance abuse, and that officers should check to see if the suspect is providing new information - not information already in the public domain - that matches with the forensic evidence. Judge Cochran checked all of these boxes in her list of problems with Soffar's confession: 1) he had a child-like mind, low IQ and substance-abuse problems; 2) he provided no new information not already publicized in the extensive coverage of this well-known crime; and 3) perhaps most importantly, Soffar's details did not match the known facts. Indeed, Judge Cochran reviewed 15 different inconsistencies between Soffar's confession and the known facts. Summarizing, she observed, None of these individual inconsistencies, by themselves, would necessarily cast doubt upon the accuracy of applicant's version of events, but when so many of his details do not comport with the known evidence, something smells fishy. Echoing LeBoeuf, Judge Cochran noted that many people believe that only a guilty person would ever confess to murder. But Judge Cochran showed the common wisdom is wrong with a list of proven examples of false confessions from those in the Central Park jogger case to the Norfolk 4. Damon Thibodeaux makes 1 more. Judge Cochran concluded by noting her hands were tied by procedural rules, despite her significant doubts in Soffar's guilt: [A]lthough I personally do not have great confidence in the reliability or accuracy of applicant's written statements and hence in his culpability for the triple murders, I was not the chosen factfinder. This is more proof that the death penalty is a failed government program. When our criminal justice system surrenders these types of decisions to procedural technicalities, it surrenders any moral authority to execute. (source: ACLU) USA (TEXAS)foreign national faces federal death penalty Feds to seek death penalty in human smuggling case Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a Salvadoran man accused in a human smuggling operation in which 2 immigrants were fatally beaten trying to escape. A federal grand jury in Houston returned a superseding indictment Thursday against Wilmar Rene Duran-Gomez. It accuses the 40-year-old man of conspiracy, money laundering and harboring aliens resulting in the deaths of 2 Honduran men. 5 others also were charged with conspiracy. A Justice Department statement says illegal immigrants were delivered to a southwest Houston warehouse in November 2006. Some started a fire as cover for an escape attempt that
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, MONT., CONN.
Sept. 5 TEXAS: Texas death row inmate's appeal dismissed A federal appeals court has dismissed the appeal of a Texas man who got a last-minute reprieve from execution for a neighbor's slaying. The decision by a 3-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came Tuesday in the appeal of Anthony Bartee. He had sued the district attorney in Bexar County, where Bartee was convicted of the 1996 shooting and stabbing death of David Cook in San Antonio. The reprieve had come about 90 minutes before Bartee was scheduled to receive a lethal injection May 2. The lawsuit was filed earlier that day. The Tuesday ruling sends the case back for further action to the federal judge in San Antonio who had issued the reprieve. (source: Associated Press) USA: For immediate release: September 5, 2012; Contact: Margot Friedman at 202-332-5550 or mfried...@dupontcirclecommunications.com Award-Winning Death Penalty Curriculum Now Available as an Apple iBook The Death Penalty Information Center's High School Curriculum on the Death Penalty is now available as a free electronic textbook for use on the Apple iPad. This balanced and dynamic resource uses an issue of public concern to teach civic responsibility, research, and critical thinking. Capital punishment continues to be a timely and relevant issue, as many states around the country are debating whether to keep the death penalty on their books, said Richard Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center. This new interactive format ensures that our award-winning curriculum will be readily available as textbooks move from paper to an electronic platform. To download the e-book onto your iPad, visit www.deathpenaltycurriculum.org/ibook or go to the iBooks Store and search Death Penalty Information Center. The e-textbook contains all the features of DPIC's online curriculum, including summaries of arguments for and against the death penalty, case studies based on actual trials, summaries of the legal stages in a capital case, a brief history of the death penalty, color maps and interactive features. (The web version of the curriculum is available at www.deathpenaltycurriculum.org.) The e-book combines the rich collection of resources that has been available online with the interactivity and user-friendly interface of a tablet including: -- touch-screen navigation; -- access to the full curriculum even when offline; -- use of standard iBook features, such as instant word definitions and easy note-taking functions; and -- further references to outside materials when used with wifi. DPIC???s High School Curriculum on the Death Penalty website has received numerous awards for educational value and high quality content. The site received the Awesome Library Editor's Choice recognition as being among the top 5% of educational sites on the web and a Busy Educator Award. This curriculum is fair and balanced, extremely easy to navigate, full of options, and does all my lesson-planning work for me, said Jennifer Bishop, an A.P. U.S. History Teacher and earlier curriculum user. The High School Curriculum on the Death Penalty was principally designed by Michigan State Communications Technology Laboratory. Factual content was provided by DPIC. The e-book version was produced by DPIC. (source: Death Penatly Information Center) MONTANA: Death Penalty: Practice is actually more costly I was standing at a desk at a local company where a friendly employee was helping me design some buttons. That is just one of the things that Flathead Industries does. The buttons would say, Ask me about the Abolition Coalition. I explained to her that I was a volunteer for that organization, and had long been interested and active in abolishing the death penalty in the state where I was living. Now, I am happily here in Montana, so it is only right for me to be active here in the last best place. The employee who was helping me design the buttons said, in a tone that was just seeking information, isn't it just cheaper to kill those people instead of locking them up for so many years? She said exactly the right thing to send our conversation down the road I wanted to take! Actually, the death penalty is wasteful and expensive, and we all have to pay. Because of all the legal fees and other costs, it is 10 times more expensive, according to research done in other states. It does not make us safer, and it uses taxpayer funds that could better be used for crime prevention and education. In the last 40 years, about 150 inmates have been released from death row in this country because of evidence of their innocence. In Montana, more than 83 % of all death penalty cases are overturned. Families endure decades of grief because of appeals and retrials. People of color and the poor disproportionately receive the death penalty. Life without the possibility of parole is a swift and
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
Aug. 30 TEXASnew execution date Ronnie Threadgill has been given an execution date of April 16, 2013; it should be considered serious. (source: TDCJ Rick Halperin) USA: Study: Death Row Inmates Pick Comfort Foods For Last Meals On death row, last meals tend to be high in calories and heavy on meat. French fries, soda, ice cream, hamburgers, chicken, steak and pie are commonly requested items among inmates imminently facing execution, according to Cornell University researchers who studied 193 last meal requests in the United States. The final meals of condemned prisoners are an enduring, if morbid, source of fascination -- whether those convicted of the most heinous crimes opted for a final lobster dinner or canned spaghetti. Requests vary greatly, but the Cornell researchers found some general trends in a quirky bit of research analyzing last meal orders. No surprise: Many last meal requests are tasty but unhealthy. More than 2/3 of the condemned ordered fried foods, mostly french fries, and they ordered dessert at about the same rate. Inmates were 5 times more likely to request soda than milk. The average meal request came in at an estimated 2,756 calories, more than a typical grown man needs in a whole day. Researchers estimated that 4 of the meal requests tallied more than 7,200 calories, including a request for 12 pieces of fried chicken, 2 buttered rolls, mashed potatoes with brown gravy, 2 sodas and a pint each of strawberry and vanilla ice cream. Comfort foods were popular among the condemned. More than 1/3 asked for the most popular meat, chicken, followed by hamburger (24 %) and steak (22 %). 4 % requested fast-food takeout from chains like McDonald's, Wendy's or KFC. Fruits and vegetables were much less popular, though more than 1/4 requested a salad. Lead researcher Brian Wansink, who directs the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., said the popularity of comfort foods and name-brand products like Coca-Cola could reflect people trying to deal with extremely high stress by surrounding themselves with familiar food. In some ways, this might be a way to bring the level of stress and negative excitement down to something that's something a little bit more manageable, Wansink said. You don't find people going for Neapolitan ice cream or for Chunky Monkey or Chubby Hubby. They go for chocolate; they go for vanilla. Researchers said it's also possible that some of patterns, like the paucity of vegetarian meals, could reflect the socio-economic backgrounds of people on death row. Researchers looked at 247 people executed in the United States from 2002 through 2006. All but 2 were men, and the average age at the time of execution was 43. They focused on 193 meals after excluding 51 inmates who did not choose a last meal, and 3 more who had a meal under 200 calories, including a person who requested a single pitted olive. Wansink cautions they are not aware of what the inmates actually ate, only what they requested. Researchers noted that meal requests usually must fall within a budget, and no alcohol is allowed. Texas, one of the states included in the study, stopped the practice of giving special final meals last year after an extensive request from a man being executed for his role in a notorious hate-crime dragging death. The study was posted online this week in the journal Appetite. (source: Associated Press) ___ DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/ ~~~ A free service of WashLaw http://washlaw.edu (785)670.1088 ~~~
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, KAN., S. DAK., US MIL.
Aug. 25 TEXAS: Texas Man Spared Death Penalty In Murder Of Air Force Recruit Bexar County jurors opted for life in prison without parole rather than the death penalty for a San Antonio man convicted of capital murder in the 2010 death of an Air Force recruit who was killed a purse snatching. The jury deliberated less than a half hour Friday before rejecting the death penalty for Lorenzo Leroy Thompson, 23, in the death of recruit Vanessa Marie Pitts, 25. Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty. Thompson and other witnesses testified Pitts was pumping gas when Thompson tried to steal her purse. Pitts ran after him and jumped on the stolen pickup truck he was driving in an attempt to recover the purse. After swerving to try to shake her from the truck, Thompson drove toward another vehicle to knock her off. (source: KWTX News) * TDCJ Faces Ongoing Staffing Challenges Duane Stuart, who has been employed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for 22 years, says conditions for workers in prisons are only getting worse. The only thing keeping him in his job as a correctional officer is his desire for the retirement benefits that he will be eligible for after 30 years of employment. Stuart added that his peers have been voicing concerns that some of the units are becoming increasingly unsafe, especially as staffing numbers shrink and employees are being forced to work overtime. Several TDCJ facilities built in rural areas have had particular difficulty in attracting and retaining correctional officers. During fiscal year 2011, units in Kenedy, Beeville, Beaumont and Lamesa all had turnover rates above 40 %. While TDCJ has increased its efforts to bring employees to these positions - addressing staffing issues remains a top priority for the department, said TDCJ spokesman Jason Clark - the problem has made headlines throughout the summer. 2 recent downsizings were announced at the Connally unit in South Texas: In June, 4 dorms containing a total of 376 beds in the facility were taken off-line explicitly because of employee shortages. (As of the end of the month, more than 1/3 of correctional officer positions for the unit remained open.) And in July, another four dorms containing an additional 320 beds went idle. Declining incarceration rates allowed flexibility for these temporary cuts, but appropriate long-term solutions remain in debate. Clark attributes much of the staffing problems in South Texas to the growing oil and gas industry, which can offer higher-paying jobs. But correctional officers and advocates argue that the job conditions are simply too horrible for the position to be desired, no matter what other options may be available. Problems on the Job Reasons abound for why the job as a correctional officer is a tough one: Pay is low, most prisons are not fully air-conditioned and inmates are not always happy to be taking orders. With such staffing complaints, the overall turnover rate in TDCJ facilities has hovered above 20 percent at least since 2005. The average rate for fiscal year 2011 was 22.4 percent, with higher turnover seen among lower-level positions, and although this is not the highest it has been the department has identified seven rural units in particular that suffer from significant staffing shortages with a turnover rate above the average. To help improve those facilities, in June the agency doubled its initial offer of a $1,500 bonus to correctional officers who agree to work for at least 1 year. The department also built bachelor officer quarters that can house up to 96 employees in the Beeville and Kenedy area. Still, in a survey by the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, in partnership with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, 79 % of correctional officers polled said they felt under-compensated. (The current starting salary for full-time correctional officers is $2,319.05 a month. Veteran officers, those with 90 months on the job, earn more than $3,000 monthly.) It's a horrible job, said Ana Yanez-Correa, executive director of the TCJC. The stress that you go through is horrific. The poll was conducted for submission to the Sunset Advisory Commission, which is currently conducting its 12-year review of TDCJ. The survey also highlights the need for an improved employee grievance process. About 3/4 of those surveyed said they did not find the process to be fair and effective. Stuart agreed that staff are hesitant to report any corruption or wrongdoing to TDCJ. In addition to his role as correctional officer, he also helps to manage an independent site called The Backgate Website, which provides a forum for TDCJ employees to discuss prison and job issues and could be considered to be helping fill that void, he said. Clark wrote in an email that TDCJ encourages employees and supervisors to attempt resolution of a situation
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, MASS., OHIO
Aug. 23 TEXAS: Death penalty trial headed to jury Thursday After 3 days of prosecution testimony and no witnesses from the defense, both sides rested their case Wednesday in the capital murder trial of admitted thief Lorenzo Leroy Thompson. He's accused of intentionally killing a woman 2 years ago as she clung to the outside of his stolen pickup, trying to get back the purse he'd snatched. Closing arguments are to take place this morning in 290th state District Court. The final witness for prosecutors Wednesday was Dr. James Feig, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who conducted the autopsy of Vanessa Marie Pitts, 25, a recent Air Force basic training graduate, in April 2010. In her airman's uniform as she stopped at a West Side gas station, Pitts had been headed to Del Rio to begin her 1st military assignment. She chased after Thompson, jumped onto the truck's driver's side running board as he sped away and was ejected when he deliberately collided with another pickup to peel her off, prosecutors have contended. Attorneys for Thompson, 23, suggested the death was unintentional. Feig testified the wreck left Pitts with extensive cuts and bruising from head to toe; bleeding of the brain; fractured ribs that would have made it difficult to breathe: a broken leg, arm and pelvis; a bruised heart and lung; a removed lung and spleen; a lacerated liver; and hemorrhages in her intestines and kidneys. There are several severe injuries that really you have to look at in combination, the pathologist testified. Multiple blunt force injuries caused the death. Prosecutors also called to the stand a former panhandler at the gas station, now serving time on a prostitution conviction, who said Thompson offered her several dollars that day to distract another woman so he could mug her. I told him yes, said Sarahbeth Nunez, explaining that she got nervous and her yelled request for money caused the older lady to drive away quickly before any crime could take place. Nunez said she did not help Thompson steal Pitts' purse but heard the squeal of tires and Pitts' scream. Defense attorneys had an expert accident reconstructionist observe the trial but decided to call neither him nor the defendant to the witness stand. Thompson could face the death penalty if convicted of capital murder. Outside the jury's presence, defense attorneys asked the judge to allow jurors to also consider lesser charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and felony murder. State District Judge Melisa Skinner said she will allow them to consider felony murder but rejected the other charge requests. (source: San Antonio Express-News) ** Last Hour Reprieve for Texas Death Row Inmate The U.S. Supreme Court again halted the scheduled execution of a Texas inmate convicted of a triple murder less than an hour before he could have been taken to the death chamber Wednesday. Justices decided to stop the punishment of John Balentine, condemned for fatally shooting three teenage housemates in Amarillo in 1998. Balentine also came within an hour of receiving the lethal injection a year ago and the high court took the same action on an appeal that ultimately was rejected. In 2009, he won a reprieve a day before his death date. The high court said in a one-paragraph ruling Wednesday that it was giving the reprieve so it could consider Balentine's petition for a review. Attorneys said the appeal would be discussed by the court at a conference late next month. If the request for review is rejected, the reprieve would end and prosecutors again could ask for a judge in Amarillo to set another execution date. Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark said Balentine, who was inside a small cell near the death chamber when the court action came down, was laughing and smiling when Clark approached him about the decision. Clark said Balentine did not want to comment to reporters. Balentine, from Newport, Ark., already had a long criminal record in his home state when he was arrested in Houston 6 months after the bodies of 3 teens were found at a house in January 1998. His guilt was not an issue in court appeals. Balentine's lawyer, Lydia Brandt, argues his legal help was deficient at his 1999 trial and in his early appeals. Lawyers failed to uncover evidence of Balentine's abusive and poor childhood that could have persuaded jurors to sentence him to life in prison, instead of death, Brandt contends. Brandt says Balentine's lawyers, in his early appeals, didn't question those aspects of his trial defense and that the opportunity to do so has expired under court rules. She contends that a recent court ruling in an Arizona death penalty case should open the door for justices to stop Balentine's execution and allow for a review of his case. In court filings, lawyers for the state dispute Brandt's arguments, saying Balentine's trial
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, S.C.
Aug. 21 TEXASimpending execution Parole board rejects clemency for death row inmate The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has rejected a clemency petition from a condemned prisoner facing execution this week for a triple killing in Amarillo almost 15 years ago. John Balentine is set for lethal injection Wednesday evening in Huntsville. The parole board voted 7-0 Monday against recommending clemency for the 43-year-old Balentine. He was convicted of the fatal shootings of 17-year-old Mark Caylor Jr. and 2 15-year-old friends of Caylor as they slept in an Amarillo house. Evidence showed the January 1998 slayings culminated a feud between Balentine and Caylor. A federal court appeal seeking to halt the execution was rejected Friday by a 3-judge-panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Balentine's lawyer has asked the full New Orleans-based court to reconsider the appeal. (source: Associated Press) USA: Across the country, family members of murder victims have come out against capital punishment Victoria Coward remembers hearing the gunshots ring out from Edgewood Park, not far from her New Haven, Conn., home in June 2007. Later that night her worst fears were realized when detectives knocked on her front door. Her 18-year-old son, Tyler, was dead from gunshot wounds to the head and chest. 2 years later, when police arrested and charged Jose Fuentes-Pillich, a 23-year-old who she thought was Tyler's friend, Coward had already joined a campaign against the death penalty. When she contacted Fuentes-Pillich after his conviction in 2010, she explained why she didn't wish him dead. I told him it would be wrong for me to say, 'You should die.' That's not in me. That's in God???s hands -- the 1st thing I need to do is forgive you for taking my son's life, Coward recalled in an interview with The Crime Report. Connecticut became the 17thstate to abolish the death penalty in April. As opponents step up their national campaign, they are discovering some surprising allies among people like Coward - challenging the long-held stereotype that the families of murder victims automatically support capital punishment. Coward and other relatives of murder victims were important players in Connecticut's abolition movement, which was spearheaded by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and partner non-profit the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty (CNADP). Submitting Testimony She volunteered to submit testimony to the Connecticut General Assembly when a notorious triple murder just weeks after her son was killed appeared to galvanize a new wave of public support for capital punishment. In the July 2007 case that made national headlines, Stephen Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky, both on parole at the time, murdered Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Michaela, 11, and Hayley, 17, in their Cheshire, Conn., home. Michaela and Hawke-Petit were sexually assaulted before all 3 were burned alive. Hawke-Petit's husband, William Petit, was bludgeoned and bound in the basement. In early 2011, when it looked as though Connecticut's death penalty was headed for repeal, Petit met with 2 state senators who were on the fence. State Sen. Edith Prague, a Democrat, was one of them. She said later she was persuaded to withdraw her support for repeal because she felt Komisarjevsky deserved to die. They should bypass the trial and take that 2nd animal and hang him by his penis from a tree out in the middle of Main Street, she told the website CT News Junkie. After the 2nd senator, Andrew Maynard, followed suit, there were no longer enough votes to repeal Connecticut???s death penalty and the bill never made it to the Senate floor. It was the 2nd defeat for Connecticut death penalty opponents in 2 years. In 2009, a bill to abolish the death penalty made it to then-Gov. M. Jody Rell's desk, only to be vetoed. On Jan. 27, 2012, Komisarjevsky was sentenced to death by lethal injection. His appeal is currently pending. Changing the Conversation With the Cheshire cases finished, and a Democratic governor in Hartford, the ACLU and CNADP doubled down on their efforts to bring victims' survivors who opposed the death penalty to the forefront of the statewide conversation, according to Isa Mujahid, an ACLU Connecticut field organizer. There was a lot of anger among victims' family members who don't support the death penalty, Mujahid told The Crime Report. They were angry that Dr. Petit's voice was getting all the attention. Despite heavy snow, nearly 200 people showed up at the state Capitol on Feb. 29 to lobby against the death penalty and for other ACLU causes. A letter signed by 179 members of victims' families was presented to the Connecticut General Assembly. The letter argued that the death penalty appeals process forced victims' families to relive the trauma of facing their loved ones??? murderers over and
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, VA., N.C., US MIL., FLA., OHIO, MD., CALIF.
Aug. 17 TEXAS: 2 Men Indicted for Murder of Navasota Business Owner 2 men have been indicted by a Grimes County grand jury in the shooting and killing of a Navasota liquor store owner. Don Stolz was murdered on July 17th 2009 during an alleged robbery. Christopher Boulds, 26, and Joshua Dewayne Ragston, 20, both of Hempstead are charged with capital murder. Boulds could face either the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted of the crime. Ragston, who was 17 at the time of the murder, could only be sentenced to life in prison because of his age at the time of the crime. Grimes County District Attorney Tuck McLain has not yet indicated whether he will seek the death penalty. This is a decision I take very seriously. It is a decision to take another person's life. It is also decision to commit tremendous resources and time for many years. It is the ultimate punishment with no room for errors. I will continue to discuss the case with my staff and the family of Don Stoltz. I will also have to pray and search my own soul to make sure I make the right decision McLain said. As of this time, no court dates have been set for Boulds or Ragston. (source: KBTX News) USA (WASHINGTON): Suspects in Everett slayings could face federal death penalty A couple accused in a 3-state killing spree last fall, including the slayings of an Everett couple, now face federal hate crime charges alleging they killed 4 people as part of a white supremacist campaign. Amanda Marshall, the U.S. attorney for Oregon, said Friday that a federal grand jury has indicted 32-year-old David Joey Pedersen and 25-year-old Holly Ann Grigsby on federal racketeering charges. Convictions on the new charges could bring a federal death penalty, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Marshall says Pedersen and Grigsby are accused of going on their rampage to promote a movement that would purify and preserve the white race. The 24-page indictment alleges that Pedersen and Grigsby robbed their victims to finance their white supremacist movement, stole their cars to escape and killed them to eliminate witnesses. The indictment also states that Pedersen had researched the names and addresses of Jewish organizations in Seattle, Portland and Sacramento, Calif., to identify potential targets for elimination. He possessed a draft 'press release' to alert the media about the purpose of the planned murders, the indictment states. Pedersen pleaded guilty in Snohomish County Superior Court to killing his father and stepmother. He faces life in prison. Grigsby is still awaiting trial in Snohomish County. She confessed during a 5-hour videotaped interview with Oregon state police, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Craig Matheson wrote in a probable cause statement last fall. Police allege that after killing Everett residents Red and Leslie Pedersen last fall, the couple drove Red Pedersen's SUV to Oregon, where they shot and killed 19-year-old Cody Myers and stole his car. Grigsby told police they shot Myers because his last name made them think he was Jewish, according to charging documents. Prosecutors said Grigsby claimed she and Pedersen planned to drive to Sacramento, Calif., to kill more Jews. The couple also are suspected of killing Reginald Alan Clark, 53, an African-American man who was found shot to death in the back seat of his pickup in Eureka, Calif. Pedersen and Grigsby were arrested Oct. 5 in Yuba City, Calif. Peter Mazzone, one of Grigsby's attorneys in the Snohomish County prosecution, said he learned of the federal indictments Friday morning. With Grigsby now accused in federal court with racketeering, conspiracy and gun crimes that could bring a federal death penalty or life in prison, Mazzone said he understands the state charges will be dismissed next week. He said that the Snohomish County Prosecutor's Office had already decided to not seek a death penalty against Grigsby. Mazzone said he hopes federal prosecutors will arrive at the same conclusion. Whether Pedersen and Grigsby will be eligible for a death penalty prosecution will be determined later by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Portland. (source: Seattle Times) * The Right to Counsel at Guantanamo Bay Lawyers for the government and for detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are scheduled to square off in federal court in Washington on Friday over new rules imposed this spring by the Obama administration restricting access to counsel for prisoners not actively challenging their detention. They are neither fair nor constitutional. A court order currently ensures that detainees have access to lawyers and sets out steps they must follow to work with counsel, including how they use classified material. Under the new rules, those not challenging their detention would not be guaranteed access to their
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, CONN., GA., TENN., CALIF.
July 17 TEXAS: Criminal Justice Petition: Texas Department of Criminal Justice: Stop Torturing Inmates with 130+ Degree Temperatures | Change.org https://www.change.org/petitions/texas-department-of-criminal-justice-stop-torturing-inmates-with-130-degree-temperatures-2utm_source=action_alertutm_medium=emailutm_campaign=7691alert_id=tFXyWkGCQm_tNnLKuaLUp (source: Change.org) USA: Capital punishment and nurses: professional position statementsee: http://gm6.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/Policy-Advocacy/Positions-and-Resolutions/ANAPositionStatements/Position-Statements-Alphabetically/prtetcptl14447.pdf (source: Nursingworld.org) CONNECTICUT: Death row inmate says new law unfair Daniel Webb is awaiting execution for the 1989 kidnapping and murder of a Connecticut bank executive, but he believes he is also paying a price for another, unrelated crime that has heavily influenced the state's debate on capital punishment. Webb told The Associated Press in a death row interview that he thinks there would be no capital punishment in the state if not for the public's desire to execute the men responsible for 2007 home-invasion slayings of a mother and her 2 daughters in suburban Cheshire. The only survivor of that crime, Dr. William Petit, lobbied to keep the death penalty for the men who killed his family, Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky. Dr. Petit is angry with them and with his anger he wants to kill all of us, said Webb, who spoke by telephone from behind a glass window. Now you are trying to increase my suffering and take away the little that I had because you want to make Komisarjevsky suffer. That's not right. Webb was sentenced to die for the slaying in Hartford of Diane Gellenbeck, a 37-year-old Connecticut National Bank vice president, who was taken from a downtown parking garage and shot to death near a local golf course as she ran from an attempted sexual assault. The state legislature in April abolished capital punishment, but only for future crimes. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and key state lawmakers had insisted on that as a condition of their support for repeal in a long-running debate that focused on the Petit case. If you are going to abolish the death penalty, abolish the death penalty, said Webb. I don't think you can have a law that has double standards. Abolish means abolish, doesn't it? A spokesman for Malloy declined to comment on Webb's assertion. William Petit's sister, Hanna Petit Chapman, said she does not care what Webb thinks. She compared him to her relatives' killers for laying blame with others. His condemnation is a direct result of his choices and actions. His finger pointing and blaming others sounds very familiar to what we heard from Komisarjevsky and Hayes. He could have let her go, yet, chose to shoot her five times when she escaped. I am not sure how that translates to being my family's fault, she said. The balding, bearded Webb also complained during the hour-long interview Friday that the conditions of his confinement are unbearable and amount to torture. Death-row inmates at Northern Correctional Institution are kept isolated in 8-by-12 foot cells with almost no human contact, even with other death-row inmates. They are given an hour of recreation a day, alone in cell-sized cages in the prison yard. Webb, 49, says he has no friends on death row. He can only communicate by shouting through his steel door or into an air vent, something he says makes conversations with other inmates almost impossible. Correction Department spokesman Brian Garnett described the conditions as humane and constitutional. The mother of Webb's victim is not sympathetic. Dorothy Gellenbeck, 86, said Webb deserves to live in the harshest conditions and to die for killing her daughter. I have had a lot of years to miss my girl, Gellenbeck said from her home in Pennington, N.J. I don't care what the new Connecticut law is. He is guilty of murder and at the time of the murder the death penalty was in effect. And why should he live, when he killed someone? Connecticut's only execution since 1960 came in 2005, after serial killer Michael Ross voluntarily gave up his appeals. I can now see what can push a man to that point, said Webb. I'd rather be dead than live like this. Webb said he attempted to hang himself in January, and later wrote a letter to court officials asking to give up his appeals and be executed. He has since rescinded that decision, saying lawyers and mental health professionals convinced him to wait and see how legal challenges to the death penalty are received. (source: Associated Press) GEORGIAimpending execution Execution to go ahead despite mental disability In the US state of Georgia, a convict is due to be executed on Wednesday, in spite of doubts about his mental capacity and a US Supreme Court ruling that has prohibited the death penalty for
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, ARK., MONT., CALIF.
May 1 MAY 1, 2012: TEXAS3 new execution dates The following men have all received execution dates: Yokamon Hear, for July 18, Marvin Wilson for August 7, and John Balentine for August 22; all dates should be considered serious. (source: TDCJ Rick Halperin) USA (federal death penalty case//Louisiana): Death row saga of killer cop Len Davis continues The 18-year legal drama of convicted killer cop Len Davis continued this week, with the government seeking to thwart appeals filed on Davis' behalf and set the stage for his execution. Federal prosecutors filed a motion Monday asking a judge to strike a recent request for post-conviction relief filed by 2 attorneys without Davis' knowledge. In a court filing Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McMahon asked that U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan sanction the 2 attorneys, Rebecca Hudsmith and Sarah Ottinger, noting that Berrigan previously ordered them not to file anything without Davis' consent. Davis, a crooked New Orleans police officer who ran a drug-protection racket, was convicted in 1996 and sentenced to death for a hit he ordered on Kim Groves in 1994. Davis, the only police officer to have received a federal death sentence, is imprisoned in Terre Haute, Ind. Right now we are trying to keep him alive and in the court system, said Hudsmith, the federal public defender for the Western and Middle Districts of Louisiana. She and Ottinger, a local attorney, are acting as Davis' standby counsel. In a court telephone conference weeks ago, Davis, 47, told the judge he did not authorize the recent filing on his behalf, but noted that he would like to adopt portions of the filing. He also noted that he does not want anyone to argue his competency. His standby attorneys are arguing that Berrigan should grant a new trial or toss Davis' conviction or his death sentence. The lawyers had argued that the Justice Department had a conflict in prosecuting the former NOPD officer. The attorneys also argued that they have an ethical obligation to represent Davis, who has sought to represent himself. As part of their representation, the standby defense team has hired former NOPD Lt. Dwayne Scheuermann as an investigator. Scheuermann was charged and acquitted in the civil rights case of Henry Glover, who was fatally shot and burned by police. Berrigan has yet to rule on the recently filed motions. (source: New Orleans Times-Picayune) * Death penalty outdated... Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy just singed the bill that replaces the death penalty in his state with a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of release. More than 180 murder victims' family members supported this bill, believing the death penalty does not serve their needs or provide the promised closure after the loss of a lvoed one. Replacing the death penalty with alternative sentences of long-tem incarceration, and without the possibility of parole in certain cases, reduces the risk of executing the innocent and better serves the needs of victims' families. Capital punishment belongs to an earlier period in human social evolution and has no place in a modern society. Timothy Bell, Carrollton ...Let's ensure guilt first Texas and the other death-penalty jurisdictions in America should adopt a we won't actually kill you until we are 100 % sure you are guilty procedure. Guilt and sentencing can remain under current rules but we -- the state -- should not acutally put the needle in someone's arm until guilt is certain beyond all doubt. Unless we do this, there is always the risk that we may kill someone who didn't derserve to die. I for one will sleep better at night if I know this won't happen. David Richardson, Dallas (source for both: Letters to the Editor, Dallas Morning News) Sometimes the death penalty is warranted If anyone personifies evil, it is Anders Breivik. The 33-year-old Norwegian violently disrupted his country’s usual peace on July 22, 2011, by gunning down 69 mostly young people at a summer camp. A bomb he planted in Oslo killed eight others. He did it all to defend Norway against multiculturalism, he later raved. Yet, on one point, Breivik is not talking crazy. At his trial, which began April 16, he pronounced the maximum penalty for his actions — 21 years in prison, or longer if the government meets certain conditions — “pathetic.” He “would have respected” the death penalty, Breivik said. Of course, he won’t get it; Norway abolished capital punishment long ago. Norway has suffered deeply because of Breivik, and I don’t mean to add insult to injury. But this situation illustrates what’s wrong with banning the death penalty in all cases. If executing an innocent man is the worst-case scenario for proponents of the death penalty, then threatening Breivik with prison is the reductio ad absurdum of death-penalty abolitionism.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
April 26 TEXASexecution Texas man executed for role in robbery-shooting A Texas man was executed Thursday for his role in a 2002 robbery in which three people were shot, one fatally. The lethal injection of Beunka Adams, 29, was carried out less than 3 hours after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last-day appeal to postpone the punishment, the 5th this year in Texas. Adams expressed love to his family and apologized to witnesses, including one of the women who survived the attack and relatives of the man who was killed. He said he was a stupid kid in a man's body at the time of the crime. I'm very sorry. Everything that happened that night was wrong, Adams said. If I could take it back, I would. Not a day goes by I wish I could take it back. ... I messed up and can't take that back. He asked those gathered to not let any hate they had for him eat you up. Find a way to get past ... I really hate things turned out the way they did. For everybody involved, I don't think any good came out of it. Adams took about a dozen breaths, then began wheezing and snoring. Eventually, he became still. He was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m. CDT, 9 minutes after the lethal drugs began to flow into his body. His attorneys had asked the nation's highest court to halt the execution, review his case and let him pursue appeals claiming he had deficient legal help at his trial and during earlier stages of his appeals. He won a reprieve from a federal district judge earlier this week, but the Texas attorney general's office appealed the ruling, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the death warrant Wednesday. Adams was 1 of 2 East Texas men sent to death row for the slaying of Kenneth Vandever, 37. He was in a convenience store on Sept. 2, 2002, in Rusk, about 115 miles southeast of Dallas, when 2 men wearing masks and carrying a shotgun walked in and announced a holdup. After robbing the store, Adams and Richard Cobb drove off with the 2 female clerks and Vandever in a car belonging to 1 of the women. Testimony at Adams' trial showed he gave the orders during the holdup and initiated the abductions. They drove to a remote area about 10 miles away in Cherokee County, where Adams demanded Vandever and 1 woman get into the trunk of the car and then raped the other woman. Testimony also showed he forced all 3 to kneel as they were shot. Vandever was fatally wounded. The women were kicked and shot again before Cobb and Adams, believing they were dead, fled. Both were alive, however, and one was able to run to a house to summon help. Adams and Cobb were arrested several hours later in Jacksonville, about 25 miles to the north. Adams was identifiable because he had slipped off his mask after one of the women said she thought she knew him. Adams becomes the 5th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 482nd overall since Texas resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. Adams also becomes the 243rd condemned inmate to be put to death since Rick Perry became governor of Texas in 2001. Adams becomes the 17th condemned inmate to be put to death in the USA this year and the 1294th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. Adams is the 4th person to be executed in the USA since April 18; 4 more condemned inmates are scheduled to be executed in the country in May. (sources: Associated Press Rick Halperin) USA: Shifts detected in support for death penalty The campaign to abolish the death penalty has been freshly invigorated this month in a series of actions that supporters say represents increasing evidence that America may be losing its taste for capital punishment. As early as this week, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, is poised to sign a bill repealing the death penalty in that state. A separate proposal has qualified for the November ballot in California that would shut down the largest death row in the country and convert inmates' sentences to life without parole. Academics, too, have recently taken indirect aim: The National Research Council concluded last week that there have been no reliable studies to show that capital punishment is a deterrent to homicide. That study, which does not take a position on capital punishment, follows a Gallup Poll last fall found support for the death penalty had slipped to 61% nationally, the lowest level in 39 years. Even in Texas, which has long projected the harshest face of the U.S. criminal justice system, there has been a marked shift. Last year, the state's 13 executions marked the lowest number in 15 years. And this year, the state — the perennial national leader in executions — is scheduled to carry out 10. Capital punishment proponents say the general decline in death sentences and executions in recent years is merely a reflection of the sustained drop in violent crime, but some lawmakers and legal analysts
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, COLO., KY., ALA., MO., LA.
March 23 TEXASnew death sentence Jury decides Soliz must die for killing Godley women Convicted killer Mark Anthony Soliz was sentenced to die by lethal injection in the fatal shooting of a 61-year-old Godley woman during a 2010 crime spree that left another man dead in Fort Worth and 2 others injured. The 6-man, 6-woman jury in state District Judge William Bosworth's court deliberated 1 hour before reaching a decision. Family and friends of Soliz's victims -- who had wept quietly during closing arguments -- sat quietly in the courtroom as the decision was announced. Johnson County District Attorney Dale Hanna had urged jurors to send a message to criminals. If this is not a death penalty case, you will never see one, Hanna told jurors during closing arguments Friday. The evidence is overwhelming. “What happened to Ruben (Martinez) and Nancy (Weatherly) can happen to anyone. Soliz, 30, a Fort Worth gang member with a criminal history that dates back to his elementary school years, was silent as the decision was announced. He was convicted earlier this month of capital murder in the slaying of Weatherly, a 61-year-old grandmother from Godley. Testimony during trial said Soliz shot her in the head then laughed later about how she begged for her life. Johnson County prosecutors Martin Strahan and Larry Chambless, assisted by Tarrant County prosecutor Christy Jack, had asked for the death penalty, saying Soliz would continue to be a threat to society, even behind bars. Wherever he is, he is going to be a danger, Strahan told jurors. Whether he goes to ad seg (a tight-security prison unit) or Death Row, he will hurt someone again. Defense attorneys Mike Heiskell and Greg Westfall urged jurors to choose life in prison, saying Soliz had brain damage from fetal alcohol syndrome because of his mother's heavy drinking during pregnancy. They presented evidence that Soliz's mother, Donna, also sniffed paint almost daily while pregnant and used cocaine and other drugs. She left him to fend for himself from a young age, and sometimes kicked him out of their one bed so she could prostitute herself for drug money. Heiskell urged jurors to consider the humanity of their decision. Are we doing the right thing when we are confronted with a wretched soul like this? he asked. Weatherly's son, Ben Davis, watched the closing arguments Friday from the same front-row seat he has held throughout the four-week trial. He was joined Friday by his wife, Kila, and their 2 sons, Riley and Rhett. The grandsons testified Thursday about how much they missed their fun-loving Granny, who would do anything to help her family. Soliz is also facing a capital murder charge in Tarrant County in the death of beer deliveryman Ruben Martinez, who was fatally shot during a robbery of a Texaco station earlier on the same day Weatherly was killed. Authorities say the 2 fatal shootings capped an 8-day crime spree that stretched across two counties and included at least 13 separate offenses, including several non-fatal shootings, burglary, robbery and car-jackings. Martinez's widow, Lisa Martinez was among those in the courtroom. Martinez's parents and brothers were also in the courtroom. (source: Fort Worth Star-Teleglram) USA (IOWA)federal death sentence for female overturned Iowa woman on death row has death sentence vacated by federal judge U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett has overturned the death sentence of a Forest City woman accused of helping her drug-dealing boyfriend kill 5 people in 1993. Bennett, who originally imposed death sentences on both Angela Johnson and her boyfriend, Dustin Honken, in 2004 and 2005, issued a 448-page ruling Thursday in which he set aside the death sentences based on mistakes made by Johnson’s lawyers during trial. Federal prosecutors now have 60 days to protest the decision. Bennett’s ruling notes that “the relief I am granting here is not about the case that jurors heard, or about the appropriateness of their ruling…. but about the case that the jurors did not but should have heard, but for trial counsel’s woefully unconstitutional performance.” Johnson was convicted in 2005 for the the drug-related slayings of 3 adults and 2 children in northern Iowa. She was sentenced to death in 4 of the killings and given a life sentence for the 5th. The victims included 2 male suspected police informants, and an adult female and her 2 children. The victims’ bodies were found in shallow graves in 2000. Bennett’s ruling was made in a 2009 lawsuit filed by Johnson who alleging that she was incompetent and had had ineffective lawyers. Court papers say Bennett granted “only four of the 65 grounds that she asserted.” Johnson’s attorneys also argued she was tried while she was incompetent, in violation of her constitutional rights. They say she suffered from brain damage, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, PENN.
Jan. 26 TEXASexecution Texas executes convicted killer in '94 rape, death Convicted murderer Rodrigo Hernandez was executed Thursday night for the abduction, rape and strangulation of a 38-year-old woman in San Antonio 18 years ago. The lethal injection was carried out about 2 1/2 hours after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal to block the punishment. Hernandez, 38, told a chaplain as witnesses filed into the death chamber: I'm ready. They better hurry up. Moments later, when asked by the warden if he had a statement, Hernandez said: I want to tell everybody, I love everybody. Keep your heads up. We are all family, people of God almighty. We're all good. I'm ready. As the lethal drugs began taking effect, he said, I'm gonna go to sleep. See you later. This stuff stinks, man. He then blurted out almighty before slipping into unconsciousness. He was pronounced dead 10 minutes later at 6:19 p.m. CST. Hernandez was condemned for the slaying of Susan Verstegen, an employee of snack maker Frito-Lay. She was attacked at a storage area behind a supermarket and her body was found dumped in a garbage barrel behind a San Antonio church. The February 1994 slaying went unsolved for 8 years until Hernandez, as a requirement for parole from a Michigan prison, had to submit a DNA sample that went into a national database. The DNA linked him to her death. Advances in DNA technology more recently also tied Hernandez to the 1991 slaying of a 77-year-old homeless woman in Michigan. Hernandez insisted he was innocent of both slayings, telling The San Antonio Express-News in a recent interview that his grandmother who raised him taught him to respect women. I'll take that to the grave, he said. However, he told a San Antonio police detective, George Saidler, who questioned him after the DNA match was discovered in 2002 that he was high on marijuana and alcohol and that he grabbed Verstegen, wrapped his hands around her neck when she struggled, drove off in her car and threw her body in the trash can when he realized she was not breathing. I never meant to kill her, Hernandez said, according to Saidler, who obtained the confession. He was trying to convince me he was sorry for what he had done, Saidler, now an investigator for the Bexar County district attorney, said. Verstegen's son, Charles Monney, who watched through a death chamber window a few feet from where Hernandez was belted to a gurney, said while he supported the death penalty he found no joy. Today's execution doesn't change the fact that my kids will never hear the sweet laugh or feel the tender embrace of their grandmother, who would have been crazy for them, Monney said afterward. He was 15 when his mother was killed. Every holiday or family get together will forever be missing something, he said, his voice cracking. My mom was a wonderful woman, and she will forever be missed. In his Supreme Court appeal, Hernandez's lawyers argued he had deficient attorneys early in his appeals who failed to address claims he had equally ineffective legal help at his trial when claims Hernandez was mentally impaired weren't pursued. The high court has ruled mentally impaired people aren't eligible for the death penalty. The arguments cited an Arizona case the high court now is reviewing where a condemned prisoner contends shoddy legal help in his initial appeals is a constitutional violation. State attorneys told the justices the legal help early in Hernandez's appeals was not deficient because mental impairment issues were addressed with testimony from a mitigation specialist and a mental health expert at Hernandez's capital murder trial. Hernandez had a long criminal record. The DNA sample that linked him to Verstegen's slaying was submitted as he served a sentence in Michigan for using a bottle to severely beat a man. 2 years ago, DNA evidence linked him to the 1991 murder of Muriel Stoepker in Grand Rapids, Mich. He was not tried for her death. When Michigan authorities went to Texas death row to question him about her slaying and showed him a letter indicating he would not be prosecuted, he refused to discuss the killing, Saidler said. In a 2010 interview with a psychologist arranged by his appeals lawyers, Hernandez said he moved from South Texas to Grand Rapids around age 12. At 17, he said he was shot in the head and in the back while he was drunk. Also at 17, he was arrested for breaking and entering, returned to Texas as part of a deferred adjudication and then bounced in and out of jail back in Grand Rapids for parole violations. He said he met Verstegen while working at a San Antonio supermarket in 1993 and 1994 and that they had a consensual sexual relationship. Saidler said there was no evidence of such a friendship. The execution was the 1st this year in Texas, which carries out the death penalty more than any other state. At least 5 other Texas
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, MISS.
Jan. 6 TEXAS: Williamson County district attorney to seek death penalty in 2010 robbery, killing The Williamson County district attorney's office is seeking the death penalty in the capital murder case of Bobby Ray Burks Jr., set to begin after a jury is selected, District Attorney John Bradley said. Jury selection began Thursday. Burks, 34, and his sisters-in-law, Veronica Evonne Ortiz, 26, and Isabel Michelle Gonzales, 23, are charged with capital murder and two counts of aggravated robbery in the death of Raul Vizveth-Torres, 19, on April 18, 2010. The women met Vizveth-Torres and his friend Jorge Castaneda both of Austin, at a club near East Riverside Drive on April 17, 2010, investigators said. Ortiz and Gonzales asked the men for a ride home to Taylor early the next morning, officials said. They asked the men to pull over about 4 a.m. just past the Travis County line near FM 1660 and FM 973 after 1 of the women said she was sick, investigators said. When the SUV stopped, Burks, who had been waiting, stole cash from the 2 men and fired 2 shots, striking Vizveth-Torres, officials said. Ortiz and Gonzales then left in Burks' car, officials said. Castaneda drove Vizveth-Torres to St. David's South Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:45 a.m., officials said. Ortiz and Gonzales pleaded guilty in April to two counts of aggravated robbery in exchange for testifying in Burks' trial and getting their capital murder charges dropped , said Russell Hunt, Ortiz's attorney. They will be sentenced after the trial and face up to 40 years in prison, Hunt said. Both girls were very contrite and very shocked when this happened, and they never intended for anyone to get hurt, Hunt said. He said Burks is married to another sister of Ortiz and Gonzales. Bradley said he couldn't comment on the case because of the upcoming trial. (source: Austin American-Statesman) USA: US pharmaceutical firm Hospira under fire over use of its drugs in executionsDoctors from around the world call on Illinois firm to impose restrictions on sale of muscle relaxant for use in lethal injections One of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, the Illinois-based firm Hospira, is coming under heavy pressure from the medical profession to tighten up its procedures to prevent the use of its drugs in US executions. 25 prominent doctors from the UK, Italy, India and Australia have published an open letter in the Lancet to Michael Ball, Hospira's chief executive. They urge him to take a more rigorous approach to the use of Hospira's trademarked drug Pancuronium in the triple cocktail of lethal injections used by many of the 34 states that still practise the death penalty. No responsible pharamceutical company should have anything to do with executions, the doctors say. They add that it is time for the company to impose restrictions on its disbribution system of the drug to prevent it ending up in the hands of executioners. Pancuronium is an extremely effective muscle relaxant used widely by anaesthetists to prevent patients moving, for instance in the event of abdominal surgery. In many US states it is also used as the 2nd of 3 lethal drugs to be administered to condemned prisoners. First, a barbiturate is used to put prisoners to sleep; then, the muscle relaxant is given to stop them moving or screaming; finally, a third chemical, potassium, is injected to stop their heart. The doctors who signed the open letter, led by David Nicholl, a neurologist at City Hospital in Birmingham, want to see Hospira following the example of Lundbeck, the Danish manufacturer of a barbiturate called pentobarbital that has been also used in US executions. Lundbeck last year introduced a strict end-user agreement that prevents the product finding its way into death chambers even via third parties. Lundbeck recently sold pentobarbital, under the trade name Nembutal, to an American company called Akorn. But it did so only on the condition that Akorn continued the restricted distribution system. In his response to the Lancet letter, Hospira's chief executive writes that he shares the doctors' concern about the improper use of its drugs in US executions. We do not support the use of our products in lethal injections, Ball says. He adds that Hospira has written to every state to make clear the company's opposition. But Nicholl said that words were not enough. I don't think that stating their opposition is satisfactory. There's more that they can do – they can follow Lundbeck's example and impose an end-user agreement that will put a stop to this. Lundbeck confirmed to the Guardian that it has offered to provide advice to all other pharmaceutical companies, including Hospira, on how to set up an end-user agreement that will effectively block use of medical drugs in killing prisoners. Hospira is, of course, welcome to contact us, a Lundbeck
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, ORE., MD.
Nov. 2 TEXASimpending execution Let DNA decide the Henry Skinner death-row case Michael Morton was set free last month after spending 25 years in a Texas prison for a murder he did not commit. Mr. Morton would still be languishing behind bars had his lawyers not discovered new DNA evidence that incriminates a man with criminal convictions in several states. The extraordinary outcome of the Morton case and the pivotal role played by DNA evidence appear to have gone unnoticed by a different set of Texas prosecutors — those handling the case of Henry W. Skinner, who is scheduled to be executed Nov. 9. Mr. Skinner was convicted in 1995 of murdering his girlfriend and her 2 grown children. But key pieces of evidence were not tested, including a knife that might have been used in one of the murders and scrapings from the fingernails of one victim that could contain the killer’s DNA. Mr. Skinner argued that testing this evidence could prove another man committed the crimes. He won a victory this spring when the Supreme Court ruled that he should be given the opportunity to persuade a court that testing should be done. Since then, Mr. Skinner has pressed his case in state and federal courts in Texas — and the state has aggressively pushed back. Prosecutors argue Mr. Skinner has not established that the new DNA tests will probably exonerate him. They say revelations that turn in Mr. Skinner’s favor would not erase the existing evidence that points overwhelmingly to his guilt. But how is Mr. Skinner to prove that tests will clear him, and how can prosecutors be so sure that no set of results could cast doubt on the conviction unless the tests are performed? The state court judge overseeing the case should put the execution date on hold and order the testing. We oppose capital punishment, but for all anyone knows, the results could definitively prove that Mr. Skinner is guilty. The state should want this level of proof before it puts a man to death. (source: Editorial, Washington Post) USA: Under ‘Color of Federal Law’ The Supreme Court ruled 3 decades ago in Carlson v. Green that a federal prisoner could sue for money damages from prison employees who abused his constitutional rights. On Tuesday, in Minneci v. Pollard, the court heard the government and others contend that a prisoner held in a facility operated by a private contractor cannot bring this kind of action. The court should reject this argument. If not, it will allow the government to contract away prisoners’ constitutional rights — and contract away its own responsibility to protect individuals imprisoned under the law. While incarcerated for 20 months in a privately run facility, Richard Lee Pollard fell and broke his elbows, a serious injury. When he sought medical treatment, he was refused a splint to help repair his arms and forced to wear a handcuff-like device that caused him tremendous pain. If he had been in a government-run prison, he clearly could have sued those who mistreated him for damages. The private facility where Mr. Pollard was imprisoned was different only in ownership. It operated under federal authority and functioned as a government facility. Those who worked there or provided services for it were operating “under the color of federal law,” a critical test. The government and others also contend that such actions are reserved for extraordinary circumstances where the person alleging injury has no other basis for suing because, for example, state law provides no remedy and that Mr. Pollard could have brought a civil action under tort law in state court. But after the court held that is no substitute because of the vagaries of state laws, Congress twice affirmed the right to sue officials for redress in federal court. The Pollard case matters so much because one of every six federal prisoners is now held in a privately run facility, compared with none two decades ago. Private facilities also house half the federal immigration detainees. Bad as many government-run prisons are, some privately run prisons may well be worse. There is mounting evidence that private prisons pay guards less, have smaller staffs and give limited training, reducing the level of care and oversight and exposing prisoners to greater threats to health and safety. The prisons and the people who work there must be held accountable when they badly perform this role of government. (source: Editorial, New York Times) OREGON: Instead of a midnight execution, state plans 7 p.m. death for Gary Haugen When the state executed Harry Charles Moore in 1997, it chose the eeriest of hours -- just after midnight -- to deliver the lethal combination of drugs to the double murderer. -- Execution costs Corrections officials don't have a cost estimate for Gary Haugen's planned execution, but they released figures for the state's 2 executions since the death penalty was
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, FLA.
Oct. 18 TEXAS: CAMPAIGN TO END THE DEATH PENALTYANNUAL CONFERENCE, in AUSTIN Register now for the CEDP's 11th Annual Convention! The Prison System is the New Jim Crow. Date: November 11, 2011 8:15 pm Location: Ventana Del Soul, Austin, Texas This November, the Campaign to End the Death Penalty is headed straight to the belly of the beast - Texas - for a weekend of struggle and organizing! The CEDP's 11th annual national convention will take up questions on how to build a movement that combats racism in the criminal justice system, supports resistance behind bars, aims to end mass incarceration and harsh punishment and makes the death penalty history. Session will feature discussions about some of our victories over the last year - abolition in Illinois, the release of the West Memphis free and the rise of prisoner organized activism behind bars. And we will also discuss our challenges - especially around the many important cases we are working on around the country, many of which which have exhausted legal avenues and are at critical phases. As always, our convention will be a chance for family members of prisoners, former prisoners, and activists to gather, share our stories and experiences, build our forces in Texas and everywhere, and strategize next steps forward for our organization and the cases we work on. Register now for the CEDP's 10th Annual Convention. November 11 - 13 Ventana Del Soul 1834 East Oltorf, Austin, Texas Convention registration: $60 with Saturday night dinner. $35 for family members, former prisoners and students. Friday night plenary is free to all convention attendees, otherwise $5 suggested donation. Click here to register. Or you can mail in your registration to: CEDP, P.O. Box 25730, Chicago, IL 60647, make Check out to: CEDP Hotel rooms available: We have reserved a block of rooms at the Clarion Inn at a special rate of $113.85 (includes tax). To make reservations, call 800-434-7378 and mention the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. The hotel offers a free breakfast and is within walking distance of the convention site. Check out the Clarion website to view pictures or get more information. For more info, call the CEDP’s national office at 773-955-4841. A limited amount of space will be available with CEDP members in Austin and will be worked out on a needs basis. The Costella Cannon Scholarship Fund: We have limited scholarship funds available to help cover the costs of travel for former prisoners and family members attending convention. To request a scholarship application or for more information please call our office at 773-955-4841.Please DONATE to the scholarship fund! Your generosity will help make it possible for those with financial hardship to make it to the convention. Click here to donate via PayPal right now! Or you can make a check or money order out to CEDP and mail to: P.O. Box 25730 Chicago, IL 60625: Ventana Del Soul - our convention site: The Campaign to End the Death Penalty is excited to be hosting our annual convention in Austin at Ventana Del Soul – a unique venue here. Ventana is a charitable organization that provides foodservice and culinary arts training to young people and adults who are undermployed – with a emphasis on reentry support for the formerly incarcerated. The Ventana Del Soul facility hosts a kitchen and café that is open daily, as well as a large space for special events and a group of smaller meeting rooms. The venue offers catering services as well. The folks involved in food preparation and working at the venue are part of Ventana's various training programs, often through scholarships provided by the organization. There are a few rules we need to follow at the venue – the first is no outside food or drinks can be brought into the venue. The café has a full coffee menu, smoothies and breakfast and lunch options. In addition we should be respectful of the space and the folks working there who will be setting up rooms and taking care of the coffe and water service throughout the day. This is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with a charitable mission the meshes nicely with the CEDP's commitment to fighting against the injustices in the system. We should do whatever we can over the weekend to talk with and support the folks at Ventana Del Soul. For more information check out http://ventanadelsoul.org/ Featured Speakers will include: Sandra Reed: Mother of Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed Mark Clements: Former police torture victim, sentenced as a juvenile and spent 28 years in prison Lawrence Hayes: Former Black Panther and New York death row prisoner Darby Tillis: Exonerated death row prisoner Lawrence Foster: Grandfather of Kenneth Foster whose death sentence was commuted to a life in 2007 Delia Perez Meyer:
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, GA., CALIF., N.C., UTAH
Oct. 8 TEXAS: Impending executions in Texas date--# under Gov. Perryname--# since 1982 Oct. 27---237--Frank Garcia--476 Nov. 9238--Hank Skinner--477 Nov. 16--239--Guadalupe Esparza---47850 % Jan. 26--240--Rodrigo Hernandez---47950 + % (sources: TDCJ Rick Halperin) USA: Churches Debate Troy Davis Capital punishment again faces much religious opposition -- and renewed support. Georgia's recent execution of convicted police-killer Troy Davis activated many religious death penalty opponents. But there was significant dissent from the claims that Christianity uniformly opposes capital punishment. The 16 million Southern Baptist Convention, America's largest Protestant communion, specifically affirms it. And its most prominent theologian defended it amid the Davis controversy. The death penalty is intended to affirm the value [and] sanctity of every single human life, and thus by the extremity of the penalty to make that visible and apparent to all, declared Louisville-based Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler, who presides over his church's largest seminary. There is something within us that cries out for the fact that murder must be punished and that the lives of the innocent, in terms of being the victims of these crimes, must indeed be vindicated. Mohler warned that the general trend of secularization and moral confusion has undermined the kind of moral and cultural consensus that makes the death penalty make sense. And he observed: We really do not now have the bedrock shared consensus that every single human life is a life made in the image of God and that every single human life at every stage of development is to be honored and protected and preserved. As Mohler pointed out in his podcast, Georgia's execution of Davis inflamed thousands of protesters. But the execution on the same day of a far less appealing Texas white supremacist who brutally dragged to death a black man did not arouse the same fury. It seems that even those who oppose the death penalty outright believe there are some cases that ought to be opposed more than others, Mohler said. Of course, some of Davis' advocates insisted he was actually innocent of gunning down a police officer who was defending a homeless man in a Burger King parking lot amid multiple witnesses, though the courts rejected appeals across 20 years. It is precisely because the taking of one human life by another means that the murderer has effectively, morally and theologically, forfeited his own right to live, Mohler explained. The death penalty is intended to affirm the value [and] sanctity of every single human life, and thus by the extremity of the penalty to make that visible and apparent to all. The official Southern Baptist stance on capital punishment cites the divine command to Noah after the flood, as recorded in Genesis: Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. Unlike the punishments instituted later under the Mosaic code for the Hebrew theocracy, this command is considered by Southern Baptists and many Christians as still universally binding. They also cite St. Paul's admonition in Romans that government is divinely ordained to wield the sword against the wicked. In a resolution Southern Baptists approved in 2000, they declared they support the fair and equitable use of capital punishment by civil magistrates as a legitimate form of punishment for those guilty of murder or treasonous acts that result in death. They also emphasized that the death penalty is right only when the pursuit of truth and justice result in clear and overwhelming evidence of guilt. Contrastingly, and speaking for liberal Protestants, the 7.7 million U.S. member United Methodist Church declares that when governments implement the death penalty then the life of the convicted person is devalued and all possibility of change in that person's life ends. Emphasizing reconciliation, the denomination's Social Principles insist: We oppose the death penalty and urge its elimination from all criminal codes. Methodism has opposed capital punishment since 1956. Similarly other liberal governed denominations such as the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterians have also opposed it since the late 1950's. Although not addressing the Troy Davis case, the National Council of Churches has opposed capital punishment for over 40 years. The more conservative Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod declares that that capital punishment is in accord with the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. Although more liberal now and rarely discussing it, the National Association of Evangelicals still has a 40-year policy noting that if no crime is considered serious enough to warrant capital punishment, then
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, GA.
Oct. 4 TEXAS: Goodbye to Marge Meakin Marge Meakins was one of the closest pen pal friends of Mark Ströman, who was executed on July 20th, 2011 in Texas for hate crimes he committed in the wake of 9/11. Marge was 78 years old and couldn't cope with the shock: soon after the loss of her friend, she died of a massive heart attack, leaving a distraught family behind. Like the many pen pals around the world who were persuaded that Mark Ströman was a worthy individual, she had fought all the way to try to save her friend's life. Her sudden death, occurring almost symbolically just after the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and a day before world peace day, may be a new opportunity to question the philosophical meaning behind Mark Ströman's execution. During my time at Reprieve, I have been blessed to meet and interview a lot of extraordinary people with many extraordinary stories. I have seen the tears in the eyes of the forgiving mother whose daughter had been murdered as I have seen the tears alike in the eyes of a begging mother whose son had killed two people. I have seen exonerated prisoners, who had been through various execution dates. Or lawyers who were blessed enough to have made the decisions to help save the lives of many people. I have met with unusual individuals who had gone through situations most of us would not survive. These extraordinary people include, Rais Bhuyian, the surviving Muslim victim of Mark Ströman, who asked the State of Texas to grant clemency to his attacker, his religion and his education both made him believe more in the power of compassion, forgiveness and healing – to no avail. Definitely, the list also includes Marge Meakins and her daughter Linda. I will never forget the experience of filming Margaret Meakins, who had been writing to Mark Ströman since 2004. Back at the time, she was deeply depressed, as she had lost her husband, been moved into an old people's home, and had effectively given up the will to live. Her daughter Linda had tried everything she could to cheer her up, without success, when she was advised by her social carer (another of Mark's pen pal friends) to write to Mark Ströman. Without ever asking for anything in return, Mark corresponded with her for the next seven years, often writing twice a week, encouraging her and teasing her kindly in every letter, calling her his little rose. Finally, Mark had managed to help her overcome her depression and she just had finally moved back into her own little home, when Mark was finally executed. As she was talking to me on the day I went to see her, there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes. The idea that she was given the opportunity to express herself in favor of her friend seemed to brighten her day. Mark's letters were putting a smile on her face every time she talked about them. . I do not know what I will do if you execute him, she wrote later in a clemency letter, you may as well take my life from me!. Sadly, this is exactly what happened: Within only a few weeks of Mark's execution, Marge Meakins died of a sudden massive heart attack. Marge Meakin's touching friendship with Mark Ströman was not an isolated one. I will never forget all the other friends of Mark Ströman whether journalist, mother at home, devoted Christian, or religious Muslim. Some had suffered from racism, others were simply compassionate individuals. None of them were alike, yet all of them have been saying the same thing: How Mark Ströman had been making a difference in their lives, helping in some cases to relieve some acute pain, or simply changing their outlook on it. How Mark was only caring about others, not himself. They also all said how truly and sincerely regretful of the hate crimes he had committed in the wake of 9/11. More important than everything, many expressed how much a difference he could make in the world by advocating on behalf of more unity and peace. There is no certainty today that the State of Texas is any safer now that Mark Ströman has been executed, than it would have been if he had been kept alive. In fact, the opposite could be very well true: it is very possible, even probable that Mark Ströman could have positively contributed to more peace in the world by advocating on its behalf, and helping to change the mind of negatively-minded individuals (as he was himself back at the time that he committed his crimes). The power that some death row prisoners have to help heal people of their negative state of mind is largely ignored. No one, amongst those who didn't know Mark, seemed to have given much credit to the notion that he could be genuinely repented. Or that he could be of any help to anyone. Some have even alleged that his repentance was insincere, that he was only trying to save his own skin. I don't want to be like hate, I want to be like myself, he declared in a TV interview shortly before his execution. The truth is: Mark
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, GA.
Sept. 23 TEXAS: Death Penalty No Longer Includes a Last Meal in Texas Texas may lead the U.S. in executing criminals, but that doesn't mean the condemned are getting cushy treatment: Texas prison officials have halted the practice of letting death row inmates choose their last meal. Texas state Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, was apparently incensed that Lawrence Russell Brewer, a white supremacist who was executed Wednesday for dragging a black man to death behind his truck, ordered a massive meal of 2 chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, fried okra, a pound of barbecue, 3 fajitas, a meat lover's pizza, a pint of ice cream and a slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts and then didn't eat any of it. It is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege, Whitmire wrote in a letter Thursday to Brad Livingston, the executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Livingston swiftly responded to the criticism, nullifying the practice of offering prisoners a last meal within hours of receiving Whitmire's letter, according to The Associated Press. From now on, inmates about to be executed will be served the same meal as other prisoners. Texas has a longstanding practice of accommodating last meal requests so long as they can be cooked in the prison kitchen, using ingredients already on hand. Whitmire, a Democrat, said the practice was an attempt to diminish the magnitude of executing someone. We're fixing to execute the guy and maybe it makes the system feel good about what they're fixing to do. said Whitmore. Kind of hypocritical, you reckon? (source: International Business Times) USA: Thoughts on the Death Penalty Is the possibility of error too great? What do Singapore, Bahrain, Japan, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, North and South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Vietnam, Yemen, Taiwan, and the United States have in common? They all have a death penalty as a means of curbing crime. What do Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Columbia, France, England, Canada, Scandinavia, Spain, Mozambique, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, Senegal, Gabon, New Zealand, Nepal, Paraguay, Panama, Peru and Italy have in common? No death penalty. The 2000 Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union opposes the death penalty. A moratorium on the death penalty in Russia makes it impossible to carry out an execution. Germany abolished the death penalty in 1945 and the Netherlands in 1878. In Brazil it was last used in 1876. Many nations make exceptions for treason during war time. Why then do I feel less threatened going to Denmark than going to say Iraq? Apparently the death penalty is not the answer to ridding a nation of violent crime. According to a current Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) report, 35 of the United States had a death penalty in 2010, and 15 did not. Massachusetts is among those in the not column. California has 697 people on death row. And Texas has 337, which is shrinking quickly. In 2010 Texas executed 24 of its residents. That topped the charts. Many states with a death penalty did not execute. Concord’s Norma Shapiro, who was a lobbyist on the death penalty for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, says that the states with death penalties have a higher crime rate. And, she added, a study on the effect of the death penalty showed that the murder rate increases for the 2 weeks following an execution. The financial cost of bringing a person from trial to lethal injection is high. In California, Norma said, it costs 10 times more to hear the repeated appeals and other legal fees than to keep some one in in prison for 40 years. According to the DPIC, the California death penalty system costs taxpayers $144 million per year beyond the cost of lifetime imprisonment. The most comprehensive study in the country, the Center writes, found that the death penalty in North Carolina was $2.16 million per execution above what it would cost to punish all first-degree murderers with life imprisonment without parole. In Texas, a death penalty case costs an average of $2.3 million, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at highest security for 40 years. But Texas is eliminating its last meal request, so that should save them a few dollars. In Florida it costs $7 million for each death penalty case. In the on-line Significance site, Claire Packham (“The Death Penalty in the USA: is it worth the cost?”) writes that the United States was one of only18 countries worldwide to carry out an execution in 2009. That puts us in an elite group I would prefer not to join. And then there is the chance of error, as in last week’s nail biter execution. After four appeals, Troy Davis was given sedatives, strapped to a cot and injected
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA., MD.
Feb. 3 TEXASimpending execution Condemned prisoner wants no appeals, set to die Condemned killer David Martinez insists he's not giving up but just wants to move on with the death sentence a San Antonio jury gave him. They convicted me, Martinez, 36, said recently from a tiny visiting cage outside death row as his Wednesday evening execution approached. That's the end of it. Martinez would be the 6th inmate executed already this year in the most active death penalty state in the U.S. 2 more are scheduled for lethal injection in Texas next week. Martinez has been on death row since he was convicted more than 13 years ago of using a baseball bat to fatally beat his live-in girlfriend and her teenage son at the woman's San Antonio home. A federal appeals court nearly a year ago turned down an appeal of his conviction. Last summer, a federal judge ruled he was competent to waive his appeals, as he requested. No new court actions have been filed and none was expected. I'm not asking for clemency, I'm not asking for squat, he said. February 4, that's it. I'm not going to appeal nothing. Martinez was on parole after serving 5 months of a 5-year sentence for attempted sexual assault when he was arrested for the July 1994 slayings of Carolina Prado, 37, and her son, Erik, 14. At the time of his arrest at his grandmother's home in San Marcos, where he fled after the killings, he'd also been sought for 9 months as a parole violator for refusing to report to his parole officer. Prado's younger daughter, who was 10 at the time of the slayings, testified against Martinez, telling a Bexar County jury she saw him bash her brother's head. The girl, awakened by the sound of the bat, was told to be quiet or she would get the same treatment. She was tied up, then freed herself after Martinez left the house and walked to her grandmother's house nearby. The woman found her grandson's body, then called police who discovered Prado's body. Martinez told officers who arrested him that he killed them just like cockroaches. In a statement to police, he said the slayings occurred after he drank a 12-pack of beer and a large bottle of rum. He later testified at his trial, however, that police coerced him into making a confession and denied any role in their deaths. (source: Associated Press) USA: Anti-death penalty lobby hopes for discreet Obama support In a country that has almost two-thirds support for the death penalty, US President Barack Obama will likely shy away from addressing the issue head on but could signal a discreet change in attitude, analysts say. During the presidential campaign, Obama only addressed capital punishment once, when the US Supreme Court ruled that sentencing someone to death for raping a child is unconstitutional. (source: International News) MARYLAND: Death penalty ban may get Senate vote The death penalty in Maryland has perhaps the strongest chance in recent years of being repealed, as lawmakers in favor of capital punishment - including two Republicans - say they may allow all 47 Senate members to vote on the legislation. We've been dealing with this issue for years and years. I think it may be time that it comes to the floor, said Sen. Bryan W. Simonaire, Ann Arundel Republican and member of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, which has stalled the bill in recent years. During that time, the committee has not given the legislation a favorable recommendation, typically a prerequisite for a full Senate vote. Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, appealed to the General Assembly last week to allow a vote on the issue. Decent people can disagree on this issue, but as your governor, I ask that you give this important moral question of repeal of the death penalty a fair up-or-down vote in both houses of this legislature, he said. The last repeal bill died in committee in 2007 on a 5-5 vote and was not considered for a vote last year. Since the General Assembly reinstated the death penalty in 1978, five people have been executed, and 5 more are now on death row. A de facto moratorium on executions has been in place since 2006, when the state's highest court ruled that lethal-injection protocols were not properly followed. I'm hoping the governor's speech will create momentum, said Sen. Brian E. Frosh, the committee chairman, who supports a repeal. Mr. Frosh, a Montgomery Democrat, said a favorable vote in the committee is obviously my first choice. A hearing on the legislation has been scheduled for later this month. Sen. Alex X. Mooney, a Frederick Republican on the committee, has said that he would probably support moving the bill from the committee without voting on its merits. Mr. Mooney's decision may be the weight repeal advocates need, as he was the swing vote that prevented the bill from moving out of committee in 2007. Sen. James Brochin, Baltimore Democrat and death-penalty supporter, also has come out in support of the move. Mr.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, CALIF., N.C., WYO.
Jan. 4 TEXAS: On Texan of the Year: I second this award Re: Craig Watkins -- Dallas County district attorney made his name not by securing convictions, but by clearing the way for them to be overturned, last Sunday Points. Craig Watkins is an exemplary choice. He is a man who puts justice into perspective in lieu of flaunting numbers. Edward E. Sharp II, Bedford -- Unit's funding should go elsewhere So many others are so much more deserving than Craig Watkins. Like Ken Mayfield, I believe that the $480,000 that the county spends to fund the salaries of his conviction integrity team could be better spent elsewhere. If that makes me one of his detractors, then so be it. Nancy Black, Dallas -- Surprise: a Democrat! Congratulations! Craig Watkins is an excellent choice. You didn't pick a group or someone notorious. Picking a Democrat was totally unexpected. Good for you. Ronald W. Landen, Plano -- A mixed record at best Your choice of Craig Watkins as Texan of the Year is pathetic and amazingly hypocritical, with your paper's own position on the death penalty. The Dallas Morning News recently called for the complete abolition of the death penalty, correctly citing the inherent flaws of the system. Watkins clearly deserves much praise for leading the effort to free wrongfully convicted people from Dallas jails. But his recent decision to seek the death penalty and to personally prosecute the case smacks of moral and political inconsistency. Abolition of the death penalty means that no one should ever be sentenced to death for any reason. Officials who espouse the philosophy and practice of death, and who involve themselves in the process, should be seen for who they are: opponents of human rights and not to be praised and rewarded. I hope the New Year brings Watkins and your staff more wisdom. Rick Halperin, president, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Dallas -- He's fighting shameful trend I have resided in Texas for more than 30 years now. Throughout that time, I have been ashamed, year after year, of our state's enthusiasm for the death penalty. Quite frankly, we should all be embarrassed by the intensity of death penalty advocates. Thank you, Dallas Morning News, for selecting Craig Watkins as your Texan of the Year. He has provided Texans with a balanced approach to this divisive issue and deserves your award. Just ask the death penalty people who have been exonerated. Ted Moock, Dallas -- His name isn't known statewide Nastia Liukin is a name known around the world, as are other possible choices on the ballot, but you pick the Dallas district attorney. I'm guessing Texans in Hondo, Amarillo, Gladewater, Victoria or even San Marcos don't have a clue who the Dallas DA is. Maybe its time to just call it the Dallas-Fort Worth person of the year after picking illegal immigrants last year and now a local district attorney. Better yet, just forget the whole thing. Jim Hivner, Plano -- He let politics prevail A rather disturbing Dallas Morning News article on the capital murder trial of Robert Sparks from early December suggests that Craig Watkins may be pursuing the death penalty -- against his own conscience -- in that case (and others) for political reasons. If quotes attributed to Watkins in that article are accurate, he personally asked the jury to condemn Sparks to death in order to prove to Dallas County citizens that he isn't soft on crime. In the short time he has been in office, Watkins has become internationally known as the prosecutor who established a convictions integrity unit to examine questionable convictions in Dallas County. But neither this unit nor his public expression of ambivalence about imposing the death penalty will exonerate him from responsibility for any death that may occur because of a sentence handed down at the behest of his office. If he believes the death penalty is wrong, he should not pursue it -- for political or any other reasons. Despite his incredible achievements in office so far, Watkins does not deserve the Texan of the Year award until he resolves this issue. He's halfway there. Patricia H. Davis, Dallas -- Why not Ron Paul? I don't disagree that Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins should be the Texan of the Year. However, I am disappointed that Ron Paul did not make it into the top 10. He did get the most nominations from across the state, country and world. I don't know why you chose to ignore his impact. Richard Bach, Garland (source: Letters to the Editor, Dallas Morning News) USA: Death penalty continues its national dropEconomic woes contribute to sustained decline Executions and new death sentences each continued their sharp nationwide decline in 2008, as states wrestled with legal, moral and financial concerns about capital punishment. 37 people were executed in nine states, the lowest total in 14 years and a 62 % drop from the 98 death sentences carried out in 1999,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, ALA., GA., MISS., DEL.
Oct. 15 TEXAS: Court denies appeal of death row inmate who killed Plano clerk A court rejected the appeal of death row inmate Gustavo Garcia, who killed a clerk at a Plano liquor store in 1990 and was involved in an escape attempt 10 years ago. In his latest appeal, Mr. Garcia raised 88 challenges, all of which were denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Mr. Garcia was 19 when 43-year-old Craig Turski was shot and killed during a robbery at Warehouse Beverages in Plano. He was arrested a month later, found hiding in a cooler after another deadly robbery at a Plano convenience store. He was 1 of 7 death-row inmates who on Thanksgiving night 1998 broke out of the Ellis Unit, northeast of Huntsville. Only 1 prisoner made it beyond the prison's outer fence, and he drowned in a nearby creek. After the escape attempt, death row was moved to the more modern Polunsky Unit and security was increased dramatically. No date has been set for Mr. Garcia's execution. (source: Dallas Morning News) *** Texas Jail Project decries inmate abuse At the Taylor County Jail in Abilene, some inmates say they've been strapped to chairs and left outside all day in the sun or rain. Others say guards sometimes sprayed pepper spray directly into their eyes. Another staffer allegedly asked a mentally ill inmate: Why don't you do something positive and hang yourself? The allegations, some among 200 pages of complaints filed with a state agency, are alarming even in a state with a hang 'em high mentality, according to the Texas Jail Project. The group rallied Wednesday in Abilene to decry inmate mistreatment, saying reform is still needed nearly 2 years after the U.S. Justice Department lambasted the Dallas County Jail for serious lapses resulting in deaths. We want to bring awareness that these people are worth worrying about, Diana Claitor, the Texas Jail Project co-founder, told The Associated Press. Quite frankly, it's a widespread problem. There's a persistent philosophy that you're guilty and you deserve whatever bad things happen to you in there, that jail is supposed to be the punishment. But some local and state jail officials disagree. Jails have improved in the last decade, said Capt. Robert C. Green, the Montgomery County Jail administrator and president of the Texas Jail Association. Most county jails are very much in good shape, said Adan Munoz, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards' executive director. Only 31 of the 248 jails are currently out of compliance for violations from management issues to broken smoke detectors found during annual inspections. About 1,200 complaints are filed with the commission each year. Munoz said his agency can penalize jails for such violations as withholding mail, not providing a change of clothing or failing to give medical attention. Munoz said his agency could not substantiate the 23 complaints filed since 2005 against the Taylor County Jail, which is among those listed as meeting state standards. Jail is not supposed to be a positive experience, and some people are griping for the sake of griping, said Taylor County Sheriff Jack Dieken, who denied any wrongdoing by his staff. For some of them, this is their 1st taste of discipline. Collectively, they're mean little rascals, but individually, they're pussycats. The Texas jail population has increased nearly 19 percent from 2000-07, according to a study by the Council of State Governments Justice Center. Also, many county jails are understaffed. Claitor said some problems might be prevented if authorities knew more about who was behind bars. Half of Texas inmates are being held before their trials, while only 7 % are convicts, according to the study. Complaints vary from the dire to mundane. After food vendors were changed at the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth a few years ago, inmates threw trays and almost rioted over the bland and meager rice-and-beans meals. Sheriff's Office spokesman Terry Grisham said county officials eventually agreed to switch vendors. He said the jail's 3,700 inmates most often complain about medical treatment. The problems aren't different for big jails and small jails, because everybody has to provide services to people whose freedom has been taken away, Grisham said. But serious problems may be easier to uncover in larger facilities. In late 2006, the U.S. Justice Department said inadequate medical care led to constitutional rights violations for the 7,000 inmates at the Dallas County Jail, where 11 had died in 3 years. Included was an HIV-positive prisoner who was denied an antibiotic to treat an infection and a woman who hanged herself despite pleading for her medicine. A legal order issued last year outlined specific ways the jail must correct the problems. Earlier this year the Justice Department began investigating Houston's Harris County Jail, saying it will focus on protecting the 9,900 inmates from harm, environmental
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
Oct. 1 TEXAS: Jury convicts man in 1983 Kilgore KFC slayings trial A convicted robber already serving a life prison term for perjury was convicted of capital murder Tuesday for the fatal shootings of 5 people abducted from an East Texas Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant 25 years ago. Darnell Hartsfield, 47, of Tyler, was found guilty on all 5 counts. He stood between his attorneys and had no visible reaction to the verdicts. He received an automatic life sentence after prosecutors chose not to seek the death penalty. The jury deliberated less than two hours Tuesday afternoon after prosecutors took nearly 2 weeks to present their case against Hartsfield, whose cousin, Romeo Pinkerton, agreed to plead guilty to 5 murder charges midway through his trial a year ago. Hartsfields defense began and ended Monday. The notorious killings, one of the longest unresolved mass murder cases in Texas, occurred the night of Sept. 23, 1983, when the 5 victims were taken from the KFC store in Kilgore during an apparent robbery. They were driven about 15 miles to a remote oilfield road and fatally shot. Their bodies were found the next morning. It's a very emotional case, Hartsfield's lawyer, Donald Killingsworth, told jurors in his closing argument. He looked toward several victims' relatives among spectators in the courtroom and said they deserved to have someone convicted and punished. I can understand that, I really can, he said. But just because they deserve that closure, these wonderful people, just because they need that, is not a reason to ignore the lack of evidence against Darnell Hartsfield. Nothing in the evidence puts Darnell Hartsfield in that store, robbing and kidnapping people and then taking them to Rusk County and killing them. Lisa Tanner, an assistant Texas attorney general who is lead prosecutor, said no witnesses could talk about the shootings because the killers eliminated them. They made sure who was there to speak against them and who wasn't, she said in her closing arguments. The people who could best tell you what happened aren't here anymore. The evidence will tell you what they cant, and the evidence will tell you one of the people responsible is here. She described the crime as one big long armed robbery that turned very very bad. Hartsfields trial was moved more than 100 miles to Bryan because of publicity in the Kilgore area. Earlier Tuesday, defense attorneys argued for nearly an hour outside the jury's presence about whether prosecutors could allow a former Tyler convenience store clerk to testify how she was robbed 3 days after the KFC slayings. Hartsfield pleaded guilty to the robbery and prosecutors argued the 2 robberies were noticeably similar. State District Judge Clay Gossett allowed the testimony. A woman described the robbery 25 years ago and said she identified Hartsfield as the gunman and 1 of 2 men who threatened to kill her and a co-worker as they were ordered to lay face down on the floor. The KFC victims were found face down on the oilfield road. Don't put your heads down, Tanner urged jurors in her closing. Don't deny the evil that is here. The evidence is here. The law is here. We know this defendant is one of the people responsible for this. On Monday, defense lawyers started and ended their case, calling only four witnesses and reading the grand jury testimony of a now-deceased Texas Ranger who was one of the investigators of the slayings. Through that testimony, they attempted to show how 2 Texas Rangers described different places where a box with blood spots was found. The box is key because the blood on it was identified through DNA testing as Hartsfields and led to his indictment, although he has denied being in the restaurant. Blood on a napkin was tied to Pinkerton. Defense attorneys never challenged whether the blood was Hartsfields but suggested it may have been mixed up with Hartsfields other crimes or that it was planted by investigators. The only thing we questioned is how the blood got there, Killingsworth said. We don't know. Nobody knows. Do you really think they would be so stupid to work on the biggest thing to happen in their community and they would submit evidence in the wrong case? Tanner said. That's preposterous. She said the idea of planting the evidence also made no sense because authorities didnt have Hartsfields blood at the time and records show the box and napkin were submitted to crime lab technicians within a few weeks of the crime. You can't plant something if you dont have it, she said. Prosecutors took nearly 2 weeks to build their circumstantial case against Hartsfield, who already has been serving a life prison term for aggravated perjury in a KFC-related case because of 6 earlier felony convictions. The murder victims were David Maxwell, 20; Mary Tyler, 37; Opie Ann Hughes, 39; Joey Johnson, 20; and Monte Landers, 19. All but Landers worked at the restaurant about 25 miles east of Tyler and 115 miles east
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, CALIF.
Aug. 18 TEXAS: The Execution of Jose Ernesto Medillin - Inside America's Death Chamber When the reporter from the Mexican news weekly Proceso was ushered into the death chamber, the condemned man was already strapped down on the gurney with several clear plastic tubes inserted in his arms. The straps were yellow. The walls were green, the color of life. He was swaddled in a white hospital gown. White is the color of death. The man on the gurney's name was Jose Ernesto Medillin, 33 years of age. He was about to be executed by the state of Texas for the rape and murder of Elizabeth Pena, 16, on June 23rd 1993. Another girl, Jennifer Ertman, 14, was also killed but contrary to newspaper reports, Medillin was not convicted of her murder. The details of the murders are as banal as they are brutal. 6 young men had gone to a Houston park to fight, an initiation into the Black White gang. Afterwards, they got loaded. Walking back along the railroad tracks, they spotted the 2 girls and chased them down. Both were raped and eventually strangled. The belt the boys were using broke so they used their shoelaces. Derrick O'Brian, an Afro-American, was executed for his role in the killings in 2007. 3 of the other boys were underage - Medillin's brother, Vanancio, 14 at the time, is serving 40 years. Jose Medillin, who was 18 when he killed Elizabeth Pena, has spent the last 15 years on death row. How equitable was Medillin's trial? The lawyer assigned his case called no defense witnesses. Unbeknownst to the court, the lawyer had been suspended from practice by the State of Texas at the time of Medillin's trial. An appeals court deemed his defense adequate. Despite the demeaning details of these gratuitous teenage killings, Jose Ernesto Medillin was soon to become an international cause celebre. Because he was a Mexican citizen, born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas (although he had spent most of his life on the Texas side of the border), Medillin had a right to contact the Mexican consul in Houston after his arrest under the terms of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, signed in 1963 and designed and ratified by the United States to protect U.S. citizens abroad from arbitrary prosecutions. 160 nations have since signed on to the treaty. Although the Houston police had reason to believe that Medillin was a Mexican illegally living in the United States, they failed to advise him of his right to notify his consulate. Such violations of Mexican citizens' Vienna Convention rights are routine in the U.S., particularly in Texas. Eventually, after he had been convicted, Medillin contacted the Mexican consul in Houston and complained that he had never been advised of his right to contact him. The Mexican government, which provides lawyers for its citizens on U.S. death rows, has repeatedly denounced the failure of authorities to inform arrestees of their Vienna Convention rights. But after obtaining no redress in United States courts, Mexican officials bundled together 51 such cases under the heading of Avena vs. the United States and submitted them to the International Justice Court in the Hague, more commonly known as the World Court. In 2004, the IJC handed down a 14 to one decision ruling that executions of the 51 Mexicans on U.S. death rows be suspended pending new hearings to evaluate how denial of the Vienna Convention had impacted their convictions. Although the 1st case on the docket was that of an inmate named Avena, he had already been removed from death row by the time the World Court decision was published and Jose Ernesto Medillin, the next scheduled execution, became the poster boy for the case. For the Mexican government, the Medillin decision was an extraordinary victory. Even more extraordinary: U.S. President George Bush, fretting about the safety of his own citizens abroad and Washington's credibility when it came to fulfilling its obligations to international treaties, accepted the decision. Bush, who, as 2-term governor of Texas, and his then-clemency officer Alberto Gonzalez signed off on 152 death warrants while in office (the list includes women, mentally incapacitated inmates, and minors), then sent letters to the governors of the states in which the 51 Mexicans were being held, recommending compliance with the World Court ruling. But to insure that the IJC would never again intervene in such matters, Bush withdrew the United States from the court's jurisdiction on Vienna Convention disputes. Sandra Babcock, who has often been contracted by the Mexican government to appeal Death Row cases, was flabbergasted by the unlikely turn of events. We had the court, we had the president - I couldn't believe it, she told this reporter at the time. But George Bush's entreaties fell on the deaf ears of his successor in the Texas state house, Rich Perry, who has signed off on more executions than even Bush (168) during his two terms as governor. The World Court had no standing in
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, ALA., FLA., KY.
July 7 TEXAS: Sentencing hearing resumes for cop killer A witness testified about cop killer Wesley Lynn Ruiz's criminal history during his sentencing hearing that resumed this morning. A Dallas County jury last month found the 28-year-old guilty of capital murder in the death of Dallas police Senior Cpl. Mark Nix. Cpl. Nix, 33, was killed after a March 2007 chase that ended in Dallas. After Mr. Ruiz spun out and crashed in front of a house, Cpl. Nix got out of his police car and tried to beat the front passenger window of the car Mr. Ruiz was driving. Mr. Ruiz shot Cpl. Nix in the chest as he used 2 hands to swing his baton at the window. Mr. Ruiz testified during his trial that he believed officers fired at him first and that he was simply firing back in self-defense. But the jury rejected that notion. The jury will consider whether Mr. Ruiz should be sentenced to death or life in prison without the opportunity for parole. (source: Dallas Morning News) USA: Conservative Response to Death Penalty Ruling On June 26, the Supreme Court struck down a death sentence in Louisiana for a man convicted of raping his eight-year-old stepdaughter. In a 5-4 decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that we conclude that there is a national consensus against capital punishment for the crime of child rape. Once again, the Court engaged in judicial activism and handed violent criminals new rights. The 8th Amendment prevents the state from imposing cruel and unusual punishment. According to David F. Forte, writing in The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, the ban on cruel and unusual punishment in the 1689 English Bill or Rights applied only to punishments not authorized by Parliament. The American colonial understanding, on the other hand, was that the ban applied to torturous punishments such as pillorying, disemboweling, decapitation, and drawing and quartering. In short, the death penalty is not explicitly banned by the 8th Amendment. According to Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who introduced legislation as a state legislator to authorize the death penalty for child rapists, We are talking about really heinous cases involving the rape of a child. Given that, I think it should be left to up to state legislatures to set penalties. Rep. Paul Broun of Georgia has introduced an amendment to the Constitution to make the death penalty constitutional for convicted rapists of children under 16. Such an amendment shouldn't be necessary; many conservatives are understandably wary of changing the Constitution. Yet the Supreme Court has effectively written into the Constitution a new limitation that prevents the death penalty for violent rapists, and Broun's proposal could spur a needed debate on this subject. (source: Brian Darling is director of U.S. Senate Relations at The Heritage Foundation; Human Events) ALABAMA: A DNA test for Arthur Gov. Bob Riley should order DNA tests for Tommy Arthur, who is scheduled to be executed July 31. Death row inmate Tommy Arthur has been here before. Twice, he's had dates set with death. Both times, he came within a day of being executed. Both times, courts intervened. The state of Alabama no doubt hopes the third time's the charm. Arthur's new execution date is July 31. While it's possible courts will again provide Arthur a reprieve, it doesn't seem likely. Which makes it all the more imperative for Gov. Bob Riley to step up and do the right thing. Riley has the power to block this, or any, execution. He has shown no willingness to do so. But he should at the very least order DNA testing in this case. Make no mistake: Arthur is no Boy Scout. He was sentenced to death for the 1982 slaying of Troy Wicker. Admittedly, he had killed before. Admittedly, at the time of Wicker's death, Arthur was a work-release prisoner and involved romantically with the victim's wife, Judy. But he has steadfastly denied killing Troy Wicker. Since the advent of DNA exonerations, he has repeatedly sought testing of the evidence in his case, claiming it would clear him. Could he be lying? Without question, yes. But if he were being tried today, the evidence would certainly undergo this now-standard scientific screening. Riley has nothing to lose and everything to gain in ordering the tests. Suppose the tests clear Arthur or raise doubts about his conviction. Better to find out before Arthur is executed. Even if DNA tests merely confirm his guilt, what has Riley lost? Yet Riley has gone through a series of pitiful excuses not to order the tests. He has claimed at some points he didn't have the authority to do so. He has said at other times he shouldn't substitute his judgment for that of the courts. He even suggested once there was no evidence to test. Riley's excuses don't hold up under scrutiny. Judy Wicker originally claimed an intruder in her home raped her and killed her husband. A rape kit was collected, along with other evidence that could be and should be tested for
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, OHIO, CALIF.
June 29 TEXAS: Locals react on death penalty ruling Barely a year after Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed into law this state's version of Jessica's Law last year's legislation that brought the death penalty into play for repeat child sexual predators a Supreme Court ruling on a Louisiana case has nullified the death penalty as punishment for crimes that do not cause the death of the victim. The Texas bill, House Bill 8, was supported by this county's legislative delegation and by local law enforcement officials, including Sheriff Arnold Zwicke and District Attorney Vicki Pattillo. It set a minimum 25 years to life sentence for a new category of crime continual sexual abuse of a child or children under age 14 and made the sexual assault of a child subsequent to a previous conviction for the same offense a capital crime punishable by death or by life in prison without parole. No one has been executed for sexual assault in the United States since 1964, and opponents questioned the constitutionality of the law because the federal laws that reimposed the death penalty did not include sexual assault as a death penalty offense. The Louisiana case decided Wednesday on a split 5-4 vote was widely anticipated to test such laws in several states. In his majority opinion which called the death penalty cruel and unusual punishment in child sex assault cases, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, ... the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child. But the decision does not totally overturn Jessica's Law in Texas. When House Bill 8 was passed last year, it included a fallback penalty of life without parole if capital punishment was outlawed for child sexual assault. In anticipation of an adverse decision, the legislature included as a safety valve that, should the Supreme Court invalidate the death penalty, then these people are just going to be sentenced to life without parole, said Shannon Edmonds, staff attorney with the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. It certainly invalidates the death penalty for any of these cases that does not result in a childs death, but 'Jessica's Law' was a 75-page bill, and this was just one part of it. There are still a lot of provisions in 'Jessica's Law that are useful to prosecutors and are not affected by this opinion. Edmonds said he was aware of no prosecutions in Texas where a district attorney had so far sought the death penalty in a sexual assault case since House Bill 8 took effect last September. I think everyone was waiting for this decision, Edmonds said. Pattillo expressed scant surprise at the Supreme Court outcome. I didn't expect the U.S. Supreme Court to expand the death penalty for sexual assault cases, Pattillo said. But I still think that our 'Jessica's Law' is a big step in the right direction to get repeat sex offenders locked up forever. The Texas Legislature passed a law that provides for life without parole as an option in certain cases even if the death penalty provision is overturned. I have long believed that Texas needed an option for life without parole in egregious cases. We must take strong measures to protect the children in our communities and to ensure that violent sex offenders do not have the opportunity to repeat their heinous crimes against our defenseless children. Sheriff Arnold Zwicke supported the death penalty for child sexual predators when the law passed, and he supports it today. I know I'll offend some people, Zwicke said. But I was very disappointed that they did not uphold the death penalty simply because the victim serves an automatic life sentence, and I get very frustrated to see sex offenders get off with probation or deferred adjudication probation. The sentence should be at least as severe for the perpetrator as it is for the victim. Life without parole would be more suitable to the offense, in Zwicke's mind and in terms of protecting the public. Many sex offenders offend again, Zwicke pointed out, and the public and especially children should be protected from repeat sex offenders. I'd rather see them stay in jail than have them out on the street where they could find their next victim, Zwicke said. For his part, Perry said Texas would continue to seek the toughest sanctions possible against repeat child predators whatever that punishment is. In my opinion, laws should be strong enough to deter these unspeakable offenses or, in the least, prevent these lowest of criminals from harming any child again, Perry said. I believe the vast majority of Texans agree that the death sentence is the appropriate punishment for someone convicted of raping a child. Even still, Perry said Texas would follow the law of the land. While today's opinion does not directly address Texas law, we recognize that our state is guided by the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, Perry said. That said, Texas will continue to seek the toughest punishment allowable for the predators who commit
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, DEL.
June 25 TEXAS: Court overturns conviction in Ashley's Killer case The state's highest criminal appeals court on Wednesday overturned the conviction of a man sent to death row for a 1993 child slaying that became known as the Ashley's Killer case. The Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin set aside the guilty verdict and death sentence given to Michael Blair, upholding a lower-court ruling made last month. Blair, now 38, was convicted in 1994 of strangling and molesting 7-year-old Ashley Estell in suburban Dallas. Ashley's body was found in a remote area of Collin County on Sept. 5, 1993, a day after she disappeared from a Plano park where her brother was playing soccer. Ashley's death prompted state lawmakers to pass tough sexual-predator measures called Ashley's Laws requiring longer prison terms and public registration for sex offenders. Prosecutors acknowledged last month that DNA evidence does not implicate Blair and shows that another man, now deceased, is a viable suspect in the girl's death. Blair, however, will remain in prison. While behind bars, he confessed and eventually pleaded guilty to sexual assaults of other children in the early 1990s. He was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences and a 4th to be served concurrently, according to court documents. Blair is expected to be removed from death row and returned to the general prison population, said his attorney, Roy Greenwood. Blair has been on death row in Huntsville since his conviction 14 years ago. It is also expected that Collin County prosecutors will drop the charges against Blair. The district attorney's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the court's ruling. But in a filing last month, prosecutors agreed that no reasonable juror would have convicted him in light of newly discovered evidence. For all intents and purposes, they have admitted they can't retry him, Greenwood said. So I expect they would dismiss the case against him. (source: Associated Press) USA: Computer predicts who dies on death row: study A computer program designed by U.S. researchers can predict with chilling accuracy the very few men among the thousands on America's death row who will actually be executed, according to a new study. It says the chief factor that determines whether a man will die is neither race nor poverty but education - the less schooling, the higher the chances of a lethal outcome. There are more than 3,200 men and women in U.S. prisons who have been condemned to death. Some have been on death row for decades, but only a relatively small percentage - 53 in 2006, for example - have been executed. Previous studies have argued that non-whites are disproportionately sentenced to death in the United States. But with little research as to whether there is any bias in deciding who will actually die, critics say the choice seems arbitrary. Stamos Karamouzis and Dee Wood Harper of Texas AM University in Texarkana used a computing tool modelled after the human brain, called artificial neural networks (ANN), to search for patterns linked to executions. They created profiles for 2000 death-row inmates - half of whom had been put to death - and entered them into the program. Each profile included information on race, sex, age number and type of capital offences, prior convictions, marital status, and level of schooling. The researchers then fed in 300 profiles of other inmates from the same period, and asked the neural network to predict what had happened to them. It correctly predicted the fates of more than 90 % of this 2nd group. To find out which of the 18 factors best matched these outcomes, Karamouzis and Harper ran the analysis repeatedly, withholding one factor each time. Being a woman, it turned out, was the best guarantee against having one's sentence carried out - women are rarely executed. But the next most telling indicator was the number of years an inmate had spent in high school. The results pose a serious challenge to the fairness of the administration of the death penalty, the pair write. The paper is published in a British-based journal, International Journal of Law and Information Technology, and features in a report this week by the British magazine New Scientist. (source: Agence France Presse) * Supreme Court sharply limits use of death penaltyIn a 5-to-4 ruling, the justices decide child rape isn't a capital offense. Sentencing a child rapist to death is cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Eighth Amendment. In a major ruling sharply restricting crimes carrying potential death sentences, the US Supreme Court on Wednesday invalidated part of a Louisiana statute that made aggravated sexual assault against a child under 12 a capital offense. The majority justices ruled 5 to 4 that capital punishment is constitutionally impermissible for person-on-person violent crime that does not result in the death of the victim. The case is
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, ALA., TENN., VA., OHIO
June 9 TEXAS: Top Texas court won't block execution this week The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday cleared the way for executions to resume in the nation's most active death penalty state when it turned aside an appeal that challenged the constitutionality of lethal injection procedures. In a ruling late Monday, the state's highest criminal court refused to stop the scheduled execution of Karl Eugene Chamberlain, set to die Wednesday for the rape-slaying of a woman in Dallas in 1991. The same issues successfully worked last week for another condemned Texas inmate, Derrick Sonnier, who avoided the death chamber about 90 minutes before he would have become the first prisoner in Texas executed in nearly 9 months. In his appeal, Chamberlain argued the chemicals used by Texas prison officials during lethal injections would violate his Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment, according to the court ruling. We have reviewed (Chamberlain's) subsequent application and find that it should be dismissed, the court said. 2 of the court's 9 judges dissented. Similarly, the court denied at least two other appeals and a motion for a stay of execution. David Schulman, an attorney for Chamberlain, said Monday evening he hoped the issue could be pursued in the federal courts but was uncertain whether he would file such an appeal. We'll see what happens (Tuesday), he said. Other lawyers for Chamberlain already had appeals raising other issues before the U.S. Supreme Court even before the Texas court ruled on the lethal injection claim. Monday's ruling also would appear to clear the way for a new execution date to be set for Sonnier, condemned for the slaying of a suburban Houston woman and her young son some 17 years ago. Chamberlain was arrested five years after Felicia Prechtl was raped and fatally shot at her East Dallas apartment after his thumbprint was lifted from a roll of duct tape used to bind the 30-year-old single mom. He lived in the same apartment complex at the time. Chamberlain's fingerprints got into a police database after he was arrested for a robbery in Houston and wound up on probation. Chamberlain, whose confession to police was part of the evidence against him, has not denied his involvement in the woman's death. I'm not trying to excuse my crime or justify my actions, Chamberlain, who would turn 38 later this month, said recently from death row. It was a horrible mistake. My greatest regret is going down there and not killing myself. Prechtl's brother and his girlfriend had taken her 5-year-old son to a video store to get a movie while she got ready to go out on a date. Chamberlain knocked on her door to borrow some sugar. Then he returned with a rifle and attacked and shot her. When Prechtl's son and babysitters returned home, they found her body. Executions in Texas and elsewhere in the nation were on hold since late September after 2 Kentucky prisoners challenged the constitutionality of lethal injection procedures. Then when the Supreme Court in April upheld the method, the de facto moratorium was lifted and executions were allowed to resum, although Sonnier's set for last week in Texas was halted with a reprieve from the Court of Criminal Appeals. Sonnier's appeal cited a then-unresolved case before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in seeking his reprieve. Chamberlain's execution would be the 6th this year nationally. He's among at least 13 condemned Texas prisoners with execution dates in the coming few months. (source: Associated Press) USA: Ethical implications of modifying lethal injection protocols A team of medical, ethical, and legal scholars argues in this week's PLoS Medicine that in some US states the modification of lethal injection protocols is tantamount to experimentation upon prisoners without the prisoners' consent and without any ethical safeguards. Drs. Leonidas Koniaris and Teresa Zimmers (University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA) and colleagues lay out evidence obtained in litigation and from Freedom of Information act requests that suggests that at least 10 states are performing regimens that may be akin to human experimentation. The collective practice of lethal injection, say the authors, has employed invasive testing of different drug protocols and devices, data collection and monitoring, and systematic review with outcome data being used to revise practice. Certain lethal injection inquiries, they say, may therefore constitute human subjects research. While death row inmates have been stripped of the right to freedom and to life, say the authors, they maintain the right to bodily integrity and the right to refuse to be experimented upon. And yet in these 10 states, Koniaris and Zimmer's analysis finds that inmates were not asked for their consent to be included in lethal injection practices, which are essentially experimental in nature. Guidelines for the ethical conduct of
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, MO., CALIF., ARK.
May 7 TEXAS: Renteria resentenced to death A jury sentenced David Renteria to death this morning in the 2001 abduction and slaying of 5-year-old Alexandra Flores. After more than a day of deliberation, the jury unanimously decided that Renteria posed a continuing threat to society and there were no mitigating circumstances to spare his life. His death is not going to bring Alexandra back, but we'll be glad he's not going to hurt another child again, Perla Sanchez, Alexandra's aunt, said after the sentence was read. Renteria was convicted of capital murder in 2003 and sentenced to death. An appeals court later upheld the conviction but threw out the sentence because the original jury might have been left with the impression that Renteria did not express remorse. The jury had been sequestered since the trial began April 22. (source: El Paso Times) Renteria Given The Death Penalty A jury has sentenced convicted killer David Renteria to the death penalty for the murder of Alejandra Flores. The sentence came down just before 10 a.m. at the El Paso County Courthouse. Jurors took about 20 minutes this morning to decide on the death penalty. Renteria was granted another sentencing trial after his original death sentence was overturned by the board of appeals on a technicality which involved Renteria's written express of remorse. (source: KDBC News) USA: The Death Penalty Returns Roughly 15 death row prisoners are scheduled to be put to death between now and October, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. This flood of executions is the result of the Supreme Courts ruling that upheld the constitutionality of a troubling form of lethal injection. The next few months, as states put their machinery of death into overdrive, are an ideal time for the nation to rethink its commitment to capital punishment. Last month, the Supreme Court upheld Kentucky's method of lethal injection. Although there was convincing evidence that the three drugs that Kentucky injects can cause excruciating pain and that there are not proper safeguards to avoid needless suffering, the court ruled that it does not violate the Eighth Amendments prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. After the court accepted the case last fall, many states halted executions. Now, the Death Penalty Information Center projects that by the end of the year, there could be 50 to 60 executions, which would make the upcoming months one of the busiest in years on Americas death rows. A disproportionate share of these will no doubt occur in Texas, which last year carried out more than 60 % of the nations executions. These scheduled executions come at a time when many Americans are, rightly, turning away from capital punishment. We believe that the taking of a life by the state is in all cases wrong, but it is particularly so with the deeply flawed system that exists today. Many defendants lack adequate legal representation at their trials, race distorts who is sentenced to death for what crimes and juries are death qualified jurors with moral objections to the death penalty are removed. As the recent rash of DNA exonerations has shown, judges and juries too often sentence innocent people to death. In the Kentucky case, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote a separate opinion in which he enumerated the many problems with the application of the death penalty and said that he decided that it is inherently unconstitutional. He also expressed his hope that the case would generate debate not just about lethal injection but about the justification for the death penalty itself. With executioners gearing up across the country to start putting prisoners to death, state legislatures, governors, judges and ordinary Americans should start that debate. (source: Editorial, New York Times) *** Pending executions in the United States Georgia executed a convicted murderer on Tuesday, the first person to be put to death in the United States since the Supreme Court ended a de facto moratorium on capital punishment last month. The execution is the first of a series of pending executions that were put on hold. Following is a list of those due to take place in May and June. May 27 - Kevin Green (Virginia) - Convicted of capital murder and robbery after robbing a convenience store in 1998. June 3 - Derrick Sonnier (Texas) - Convicted for the 1991 rape and murder of a woman and the death by stabbing of her son in a Houston suburb. June 10 - Percy Walton (Virginia) - Pleaded guilty to 4 counts of capital murder. All of the victims were neighbors. Has been on death row since 1997. June 17 - Terry Lyn Short (Oklahoma) - Sentenced to death in 1995 for throwing a homemade bomb into an Oklahoma City apartment building, resulting in 1 death. June 17 - Charles Hood (Texas) - Convicted of murdering 2 people in 1989 in a Dallas suburb. June 25 - Robert Yarbrough - (Virginia) - Convicted of killing a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, N.C., ARK., TENN.
May 2 TEXAS: Supreme Court ignores fatal flaws, OKs executions Starting in May executions in the United States will resume after a 7-month de facto moratorium that began last September, when the Supreme Court agreed to hear a Kentucky challenge to the constitutionality of lethal injection procedures. On April 16 the U.S. Supreme Court, in a splintered opinion, ruled 7-2 in Baze v. Rees that the three-drug protocol used in the state of Kentucky did not violate the 8th Amendment to the Constitution's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. Responding to the ruling, Harvey Tee Earvin wrote from Texas death row: The Court's determination to kill us must be met by our determination to end the killing. Death row prisoners must commit today to organizing ourselves, our families and our friends. We need them in the streets with the activists who are fighting the death penalty. The mood on the row has changed drastically since the ruling. The men here become friends, we are a community. When something bad happens to one it affects us all. And when there's good news, we are all happy. But this court ruling negatively affects every single one of us, he continues. Earvin is a founder of the Texas prisoner organization, Panthers United for Revolutionary Education (PURE). 7 out of 9 justices wrote separate opinions in the case, which indicates that the court is far from a consensus about how to resolve additional challenges that are likely to arise, both around lethal injection protocol and the death penalty itself. But the court totally ignored the fundamental facts of the death penalty (DP) itselfthat it is racially biased, meted out only to the poor, and that innocent people are often convicted and likely to be executed. Garcia White writes from Texas death row: How is it that everything concerning the DP is a hurried-up and rushed thing? What's the rush when we see and know that there are all kinds of flaws in the whole system? The American Veterinary Association forbids putting down animals with the three drugs now used in lethal injections. Prisoner Quinton Jones told Workers World: It's a damn shame when animals are put down with a higher standard of care and decency or the handlers must answer to the highest court. Now the Supreme Court has approved a lower standard for human beings. During the 7 months that no person in the U.S. was executed, several significant events occurred: New Jersey abolished the death penalty. The Supreme Court ruled that the use of the electric chair is unconstitutional, which left the state of Nebraska with no effective death penalty since electrocution was the only method used there. The American Bar Association called for a national moratorium on executions and the United Nations voted for an international moratorium, reflecting a worldwide trend limiting executions. Also during the last seven months, hearings in California and Tennessee have studied their respective death penalty systems, and New Mexico and New Hampshire have raised constitutional questions regarding application of the death penalty in those states. Wrongful convictions have led to releases in Dallas. Ongoing crime-lab woes and district attorney scandals in Houston continue to make headlines in Texas. The last person executed in the U.S. was Michael Richard in Texas last Sept. 25. Texas highest court had decided to close at 5 o'clock that day instead of waiting 20 minutes for an appeal for Richard based on the Supreme Courts acceptance of the Kentucky case just hours before Richards execution. As of April 29, there are 11 executions scheduled in the U.S. with dozens more likely in the coming months. It is no accident that 10 of these 11 scheduled are in Georgia, Virginia, Louisiana and Texas, all former Confederate states where capital punishment has historically been a legal alternative to lynching. While the Supreme Court responded to one states question about its lethal injection method, many more questions about capital punishment remain unanswered. Justice John Paul Stevens, the courts most senior member, took aim at the entire system of capital punishment, writing in an opinion that it was a pointless and needless extinction of life with only marginal contributions to any discernible social or public purposes. It is the first time 87-year-old Stevens has called on states to stop executions entirely. Many on death row in Texas have communicated with Workers World: Ronnie Neal says: This ruling affects us all, not just those given immediate dates. The fact is the door is open. The death chamber is once again operational. Any number at any time can be called. Yours or mine. Juan Reynoso proclaims: I will fight to the death. What else is there left? I'll never give in, until my last damn breath. Milton Mathis, whose family in Houston is concerned about the issues of his limited mental abilities, said: This ruling affects me because I have had a date once already and at any time
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, CALIF., MISS., OHIO, MO.
May 1 TEXAS: Study suggests bias in death penalty casesBlacks on trial for life more often in Harris County, professor claims A new study on how race affects the way death penalty cases are handled in Harris County, the so-called capital of capital punishment, finds that black offenders are more likely than whites to be placed on trial for their lives, even when their crimes are relatively less heinous. In the study, to be published in the fall issue of Houston Law Journal, University of Denver sociology professor Scott Phillips concludes that black defendants are 1.75 times more likely to face the death penalty at trial and 1.49 times more likely to be sentenced to die. Phillips also found that prosecutors were less likely to seek the death penalty in capital-eligible cases in which the victims were black. Phillips studied 504 capital cases handled between 1992 and 1999 under the administration of former Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes. A formula devised Applying a formula that attempts to control for factors such as the criminal backgrounds of the accused or the circumstances of their crimes, Phillips suggested a hypothetical: Of 100 black capital murder defendants, prosecutors would seek death for 23. Of those, 17 would be sentenced to die. Of 100 white offenders, prosecutors would seek death for 15; 12 of those would be condemned. The probabilities, Phillips wrote, translate abstract numbers into human lives: 5 black defendants would be sentenced to the ultimate state sanction because of race. Scott Durfee, general counsel for the district attorney's office, countered that the prosecutor's office has a long-standing policy of presenting capital cases in a race-neutral manner. Durfee said Wednesday that the race of the defendant and victim are never included in conferences with the district attorney during which details of the case are discussed. I can't speak to the methodology of professor Phillips, Durfee said, but what I can say is that if you review each of the cases Mr. Holmes made a decision on, case by case, the decision he made and the Harris County juries made were reasonable and rational. Holmes could not be reached for comment Wednesday. In a telephone interview, Phillips said an examination of the 504 Harris County cases showed that prosecutors sought death for 27 % of white offenders, and for 25 percent of black and Hispanic offenders. It all looked very even-handed, he said, but that's not really the whole story. What turns out to happen to black and white defendants is really very different. Less heinous crimes A closer examination of the cases, Phillips said, showed that while blacks and whites were subject to capital prosecution at about the same rate, blacks in many cases had committed less heinous crimes. Statistics showed they were less likely to have committed murders involving burglary, kidnapping or rape, committed murder by beating, stabbing or asphyxiating, or murdered victims who were vulnerable due to age or murdered women. The bar appears to have been set lower for pursuing death against black offenders, Phillips wrote. ... To impose equal punishment against unequal crimes is to impose unequal punishment. Phillips said his finding of racial disparities in capital cases does not mean that prosecutors or juries consciously discriminated. Cases involving white and Hispanic defendants seemed to have been handled equally, he noted. South Texas College of Law professor Geoffrey Corn questioned Phillips' assertion that some capital murders were less heinous than others. If you start with the premise that some are more evil than others, he said, the question becomes: How do we make that determination? Corn suggested that if statistics still reflect racial disparities even as prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and juries all strive to properly perform their duties, it may reflect just a latent social bias against black defendants. How do you cure it other than by eliminating the death penalty? That raises a 2nd question: If that's the cure, why limit it to the death penalty? Do we start to peel the onion? Are blacks convicted for more rapes or burglaries? The answer may be yes. A possible solution, he said, might be to ensure that trial juries, not just jury pools, reflect a cross-section of the community. (source: Houston Chronicle) USA: Is Death Really Different? Reflections on Death Penalty Litigation Judge Danny J. Boggs of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered the eighth of the 2007-2008 Bradley Lectures on April 7. Edited excerpts follow. A video of the lecture is available at www.aei.org/event1555/. The phrase death is different first came into the legal lexicon in an opinion by Justice Potter Stewart supporting the constitutionality of the death penalty in the case that reinstated it in 1976. However, it seemed that the phrase came to mean that old or long-established principles, traditions, or uses of
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, TENN., CALIF.
April 26 TEXAS: Death penalty distraction Re: Switching sides on justice Exposure to horrific crime changed mind of DA now at ease as part of state 'death machine,' Sunday news story. Walker County District Attorney David Weeks says that the death penalty is justified for certain heinous crimes and that it deters criminals from murdering again. It is true that certain crimes are heinous, but the death penalty does nothing to reduce violent crime. It may exacerbate it. It is clearly an expensive distraction from true crime-reducing methods. When Texas executes someone, it becomes a killer itself, no better than the murderer who is being executed. If there was ever a premeditated, cold-blooded murder, it is an execution. The criminal justice system is fraught with inconsistencies and probably always will be. There is no way that we should allow the ultimate punishment with such an imperfect system. David Atwood, Houston (source: Letter to the Editor, Dallas Morning News) USA: NAACP Meeting Discusses Death Penalty Race, the death penalty and Kansas were the topics at the NAACP monthly meeting Saturday. The Topeka branch welcomed long time death penalty opponent Bill Lucero as their guest speaker at the Brown vs Board of Education National Historic Site. A native of Topeka, Lucero co-founded the Kansas coalition against the death penalty after his father was murdered He is also a charter member of murder victims' families for reconciliation and has served on the National Board. (source: WIBW News) TENNESSEE: Death penalty sought in veteran's killingState cites suspect's role in similar crimes Prosecutors want Christopher Davis to pay the ultimate price in the slaying of an Iraq War veteran last summer during a robbery attempt. Assistant District Attorney Roger Moore told a judge on Friday that the state will seek the death penalty against Davis, 20. He is charged with fatally shooting Herbert Clayton Jr., 26, who was using an ATM on Murfreesboro Pike. Davis allegedly shot Clayton in the eye after he refused to give Clayton any money. Following a review of the case, the history and background of Mr. Davis, our office felt it was an appropriate punishment, Moore said. Davis' conviction in another county for similar crimes bolstered the state's decision. In Trousdale County, Davis was sentenced to 49 years for aggravated robbery, carjacking, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. In that case, Davis and three other men committed a carjacking in Hartsville. The men were trying to get the victim to withdraw money, but he escaped while they were duct-taping him. The victim called the police, which eventually led to the arrests of the 4 men. But not before Clayton was shot once through the eye when he was at the Bank of America at 2669 Murfreesboro Pike. The shooting at 12:45 a.m. June 13 was captured on video. Clayton was found dead with his car still running. Court ruling called no factor Prosecutors say their decision has nothing to do with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in which the justices upheld the constitutionality of Kentucky's lethal-injection method, which is similar to Tennessee's process. Tennessee, like Kentucky and many other states, administers a 3-drug cocktail at executions: a sedative, then a paralytic and finally a drug to stop the heart and lungs. The courts were concerned whether there are enough safeguards in place to guarantee that the drugs are administered properly and in the right order. Regardless of the Supreme Court's decision, the state was going to seek the death penalty for Davis, Moore said. I think we have a thorough protocol, he said. In fact, we are held up as a state model when it comes to administering the death penalty. 3 other men also have been charged with Clayton's killing. Charged with criminal homicide are James E. Phillips and Michael Miller, of Castalian Springs, and Marcus Bradford, of Antioch. Their case was severed from Davis'. (source: The Tennessean) * Shooting Suspect Faces Death Penalty The man accused of killing Herbert Clayton, Jr. is facing the death penalty. The man accused of fatally shooting an Iraqi War veteran last summer is facing the death penalty. Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against Christopher Davis. Davis and 3 other men are charged in the shooting death of Herbert Clayton Junior, 26. Clayton died while using an ATM on Murfreesboro Road in Antioch last June. (source: NewsChannel5) CALIFORNIA: Death-penalty play A death-penalty performance piece based on the artwork of Vacaville-based artist Malaquias Montoya will be staged Thursday at Jesuit High School in Carmichael. Montoya, who is an art professor at the University of California, Davis, will sign books after the 1st performance, which begins at 7 p.m. at the 900 Gordon Lane parochial school. The 2nd performance is at 8:30 p.m. Admission is free for Jesuit
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, OHIO, TENN.
April 21 TEXAS: Court lifts stays of execution for Turner, 2 other death row inmates The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for Texas and 2 other states to set new execution dates for three inmates it granted last-minute reprieves last year. Justices today rejected appeals from Carlton Turner Jr. of Texas, Thomas Arthur of Alabama and Earl Wesley Berry of Mississippi. The court had blocked their executions last fall while it considered a challenge to Kentucky's lethal injection procedures. The justices said last week that those procedures aren't unconstitutionally cruel. The decision almost certainly will lead to a resumption of executions after a 7-month hiatus. Turner was condemned for killing his adoptive parents at their Irving home in 1998. Turner was 19 when he shot Carlton Turner Sr. and Tonya Turner several times in the head in 1998 at their home in the upscale Valley Ranch neighborhood. Prosecutors say he bought new clothes and jewelry but continued living in the house as his parents' bodies rotted in the garage in the August heat. (source: Associated Press) USA: Court lifts stays of execution for 3 death row inmates The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for Alabama, Mississippi and Texas to set new execution dates for 3 inmates who were granted last-minute reprieves by the justices last year. The court on Monday turned down appeals from Thomas Arthur of Alabama, Earl Wesley Berry of Mississippi and Carlton Turner of Texas. The court blocked their executions last fall while it considered a challenge to Kentucky's lethal injection procedures. The justices said those procedures are not unconstitutionally cruel, a decision that almost certainly will lead to a resumption of executions after a 7-month hiatus. The high court's last-minute orders temporarily sparing the 3 inmates automatically expired when the justices denied their appeals Monday. 7 other death row inmates also lost their appeals Monday, but they had not been facing imminent execution. The other inmates are: Juan Velazquez in Arizona, Samuel Crowe and Joseph Williams in Georgia, Michael Taylor in Missouri, and Kenneth Biros, Richard Cooey and James Frazier in Ohio. It is unclear whether they can mount new appeals to stop their executions, although the court's decision last week left the door open to challenging lethal injection procedures in other states where problems with administering the drugs are well documented. Roughly 3 dozen states use 3 drugs in succession to put to sleep, paralyze and kill inmates. Critics of the procedures have said that if the 1st drug is administered incorrectly or in an insufficient dosage, the inmate could suffer excruciating pain from the other 2 drugs. But because the 2nd drug is paralytic, he would be unable to express his discomfort. (source: Associated Press) *** Court rejects appeals by 11 death row inmates The Supreme Court on Monday followed up on its ruling last week upholding the commonly used lethal injection method of execution and rejected appeals by 11 death row inmates in 7 states. The ruling cleared the way for a resumption of executions that had been halted for nearly 7 months while the justices considered a constitutional challenge to the 3-drug cocktail used in the executions. The ruling means more than a dozen death row inmates likely will get early execution dates. Officials in the leading death penalty states, like Texas, Virginia and Florida, said they planned to schedule executions that previously had been on hold. With last week's 7-2 vote, the high court ruled against 2 Kentucky death row inmates who argued the lethal injection method violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment by inflicting needless pain and suffering. The appeals by the 11 death row inmates raised the same issue, and the cases apparently had been held by the high court pending the ruling in the Kentucky case. The rejection of the appeals was expected. The cases involved appeals by 3 death row inmates in both Georgia and Ohio and one each from Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas. In last week's ruling, Justice John Paul Stevens said for the 1st time that he believed the death penalty itself was unconstitutional. Stevens in 2 of the cases said he agreed with the court's decision to reject the appeals, but emphasized that in turning down the appeals the court expresses no opinion on the merits of the underlying claim. (source: Reuters) Supreme Court meets Monday morning The Supreme Court is meeting to hear arguments and announce whether it has accepted any new cases. Following their decision last week upholding lethal injection executions in Kentucky, the justices could take action in several death penalty cases that might allow states to re-start executions quickly. There have been no executions in the U.S. in nearly 7 months. (source: Associated Press) *** How
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, MD., N.C.
March 30 TEXAS: Texas death-row doc bares chaplain Carroll Pickett's thoughts after each execution All filmmakers aren't created equal, but most documentaries are still only as good as their subjects. In At the Death House Door, the latest doc from Hoop Dreams creators Steve James and Peter Gilbert, the Rev. Carroll Pickett makes for a subject you won't soon forget. For 15 years Mr. Pickett was the chaplain that accompanied death house inmates during their final hours in Huntsville, Texas. Was he in favor of the death penalty? Was he against it? Not even his kids knew. But he did make audiocassettes after each of the 95 executions he witnessed. And in At the Death House Door, he slowly but surely bares his soul. The filmmakers blend Mr. Pickett's story with that of Carlos De Luna, executed in Huntsville in 1989 for killing a man at a Corpus Christi gas station. In the film we see Chicago Tribune investigative reporters Steve Mills and Maurice Possley pursue and present evidence that the state killed the wrong man. (The Tribune also produced the film.) The reporters' path leads them to Mr. Pickett, who has been haunted by the De Luna case ever since he watched the young man die. At the Death House Door doesn't quite reach the epic intimacy of Hoop Dreams, or even Mr. James's heartbreaking Stevie. But it's still a quiet powerhouse that leaves you thinking about the central issues and character long after the lights have gone up. If you can't catch it at the festival, it will premiere May 29 at 8 p.m. on IFC. DETAILS: At the Death House Door screens today at 10:15 p.m. at the Magnolia. (source: Dallas Morning News) USA: Death penalty shouldn't be killed Columnist Judge James Gray has, for 2 weeks, used his allotment of ink on these pages more than 2,900 words to tell us why the death penalty should be abandoned. In his first installment, (Facing facts on the death penalty, March 15), he lists for us what he perceives to be five justifications for the implementation of the death penalty. They are: appropriate punishment for the offender of such a serious crime; rightful societal vengeance; reducing to zero the chances that the offender will return to society; deterrence against future violations by other offenders and closure for the families of the victims. He then explains why none of these are worthy considerations for the death penalty. Within his 1st essay Judge Gray told us that, California has had only 15 executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978. He went on to say, But as of this time there are more than 660 convicted offenders on death row. 30 of those offenders have been there for more than 25 years, 119 for more than 20 years, and 408 longer than 10 years. Yikes! I impatiently waited for another week to read his promised sequel (More thoughts on death penalty, March 22) and busied myself reading the online comments posted on his 1st article, the majority of which were posted by one person a guy who identified himself as dudleysharp. Last weekend, the 2nd installment presented us with even more doom and gloom on the subject. Delving into the financial side of the death penalty, Judge Gray told us that it costs the taxpayers at least 7 times the amount of money to have a death penalty trial and all its attendant proceedings and filings than it would cost to try, convict, conduct the appeals for and actually keep the offenders in prison for the rest of their lives! Yikes, again! The judge provides us with a couple of examples of convicted criminals who are on death row, still appealing their convictions after more than 20 years, to bolster his point. He concludes, paraphrasing him, that our society would be much better off financially and emotionally if we abandoned the death penalty and replaced it with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP). Following the publication of Gray's 2nd installment there were more online comments, most of which were, again, posted by dudleysharp. So, I looked this guy up. Dudley Sharp is perhaps the most outspoken proponent of the death penalty in this country, although until just a few years ago he was a very outspoken critic. Then he saw the light. He has written at length on the issue and has been interviewed extensively in the media. In his lengthy online comments he rejects each of Judge Gray's points with verifiable facts. I don't know if Sharp is an expert on this subject, but a lot of people apparently think he is. So, where does this leave us, the potential victims of crimes for which the death penalty presently is the ultimate punishment? For my part, I read and re-read Judge Gray's epistles and Sharps retorts to be sure I understood their positions. Then I did more research until my head hurt. Heres my view: The death penalty as its presently administered in this state is a failed program. It is completely unreasonable for the appeals process to take 2 decades and longer before
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, PENN., KAN.
March 28 TEXAS: Women make up 1.5 % of capital punishment convictions As of December 2007, 51 out of 3,263 people on death row were women, according to the Death Penalty Information Center Web site. In an effort to understand this gender disparity, the history, political science and sociology departments are co-sponsoring Wretched Sisters: The Gendered Face of Capital Punishment, a presentation by Radford University's department of criminal justice professor Mary Welek Atwell as part of Women's History Month. The event will be at 5 p.m. today in Bennett Auditorium. All faculty, staff and students interested in the issue of capital punishment, national politics and women's history are welcome. Atwell is the author of three books on gender and criminal justice in the United States. Her most recent book, with the same titled as the presentation, focuses on 12 women who have been executed in the U.S. since the Supreme Court reinstituted capital punishment in 1972, said Dr. David Longfellow, associate professor of history. She is interested in what we can find in common about these women, he said. The book is an examination of female victims of capital punishment and how the system works or how it doesn't work. Dr. Byron Johnson, co-director of the Institute for Studies of Religion and professor of sociology, expressed an interest in the large difference between the number of women on death row and the number of men. If you're going to do a story of women on death row, the story is why they were convicted, he said. Atwell's book will address the 1998 execution of Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman to be executed in the state of Texas since the Civil War, and the first woman in more than a decade to be executed in the U.S. Since 1998, 2 other women, Betty Lou Beets and Frances Newton, have been executed in Texas. Atwell's presentation will be focused not only on the subset of women but also on capital punishment as a whole. I think the majority of the general public supports the death penalty, Johnson said. He cited public opinion polls from the last 60 years as proof of the support for capital punishment. Longfellow expressed the need for increased capital punishment education. There are not more important issues than issues of life and death, he said. We all owe it to ourselves to think about this issue. Longfellow said capital punishment is something that is done deliberately. It's a process that involves deliberately taking the life of a person, and most countries disapprove of capital punishment, he said. The U.S. finds itself in very unpleasant company in this, he said. El Paso senior Sarah Viesca expressed an interest in capital punishment and regarded it as an issue that deserves attention. It's the death penalty. I don't think we will ever find a solution for it, said Viesca, who is taking a criminology course this semester. It's just good to get out and educate yourself and just find out as much about the topic as you can so you can know where you stand. (source: Baylor University) USA: With injustice of AEDPA, presidential candidates must discuss death penalty The AEDPA law mentioned in Ben Jones' column Still, candidates avoid death-penalty debate (3/26) is affecting my father, Alabama death row inmate, Thomas Arthur Z-427. Alabama is the only state in the United States that does not provide or guarantee attorneys for death row inmates during post-conviction appeals. He did not have an attorney and his appeals were filed late (AEDPA law). He has never had his 1st Habeas Corpus Review or rule 32. In November 2007, DNA testing of the crime scene evidence was denied by the United States Supreme Court (USSC) because of the AEDPA Act. My father was scheduled twice for execution: September and December 2006. The 1st was stayed because I put so much media attention on the governor, the 2nd was stayed by the USSC while they awaiting their decision on cruel and unusual punishment. What the USSC should be talking about is the AEDPA Act and how it is denying death row inmates their rights to new trials that could show evidence that can prove their innocence. There are 2 sets of victims when a crime is committed: the family and loved ones of the victim, and the family and loved ones of the condemned. Is either set going to have justice or closure if the state legally murders the wrong person? Now, that is cruel and unusual punishment. Can you imagine how it feels to sit with your father just hours away from his legalized murder by the state when there is DNA testing that, if done, could prove his innocence? I can, because I had to do it twice. So did the family and loved ones of the victim. Troy Davis example exemplifies other failings of the AEDPA Act. But there are many more. Both Davis and my father will be legally murdered by the state because they filed their paperwork late. This is not justice. It is a flawed system that must be discussed by the presidential
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, CALIF., PENN.
March 27 TEXAS: 'Ten Commandments Judge' defends Texas jury's use of Bible Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is arguing in a legal brief that a Texas jury's use of the Bible did not taint deliberations in a death penalty case. Khristian Oliver was found guilty and sentenced to death for killing an East Texas farmer during a home invasion nearly a decade ago. However, Oliver's attorney claims the death sentence should be overturned because several jury members brought Bibles and consulted scripture in the deliberation room. But attorneys with the Foundation for Moral Law -- headed by Judge Moore -- have argued in a brief that the jury's consultation of Bible passages did not taint the jury in violation of the Sixth Amendment. Furthermore, Moore states the murderer's argument reflects a trend in society. It's all about one single, solitary thing ... eliminating the knowledge of God from society, argues Moore. It's not about the Bible, the Ten Commandments, or prayer in a school classroom They're simply saying that if a person considers a belief toward God in his jury deliberations, the case must be reversed. Moore continues his argument by stating that the evidence in the case proves that Oliver beat the farmer to death, and that the farmer was beaten so badly his face was unrecognizable. He also cites a 1952 Supreme Court ruling that recognized Americans are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a supreme being -- one of those institutions being the jury system. The brief asks the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reject Oliver's claims as constitutionally, historically, and logically baseless. (source: American Family News Network) USA: US marks 6 months with no executions The United States has marked its 6th consecutive month with no executions of prisoners, its longest such period since 1982. But experts say the death penalty could make a swift return once questions about lethal injection are resolved. The last execution took place on September 25, when 48-year-old Michael Richard was put to death for the rape and murder of a woman 20 years earlier. He was executed by lethal injection, the method most commonly used. Just hours before Richards was pronounced dead by a Texas physician, the US Supreme Court had announced it would examine the legality of the lethal injection method. The court is considering arguments from several death row inmates, led by a pair from Kentucky, that execution by lethal injection violates the US Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Richards' case was rushed through after a Texas court refused to stay open to hear his appeal, angering those who oppose the death penalty in the state which has convicted the highest number of prisoners since 1976. According to the Death Penalty Information Centre, only one more execution is planned this year, that of a convict in Louisiana in July. The Supreme Court is expected to announce its ruling by the end of June on the three-part injection method by which the first part sedates the inmate, the second paralyses the muscles and the third stops the heart. Around 2/3 of Americans favour the death penalty, according to the DPIC, in a country where 3,260 detainees are presently on death row. (source: Agence France Presse) ** Consular law protects Americans, tooTexas murder case has international ramifications It's hard to argue with the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Jos Ernesto Medelln, a Mexican who confessed to killing a Houston girl in 1993. There was a technical flaw in his conviction: The Mexican Consulate was not notified of his arrest, as required under a 1963 treaty. The International Court of Justice ruled that Mr. Medelln and 50 other Mexican citizens deserved to have their cases reviewed because their rights under the treaty had been violated. To enforce the treaty, President Bush requested that the Medelln case be retried. But the Supreme Court ruled that a retrial wasn't appropriate because Congress had never passed a law requiring states to abide by the treaty. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court's decision doesn't end this controversy; Congress still has to fix that loophole. Just as foreigners should respect the letter of the law in this country, the United States should abide by its treaty obligations not just at the federal level, but in state and local jurisdictions as well. Millions of Americans travel abroad every year. Thousands of them are arrested, often in countries with dubious human rights records. An arrest abroad is among the most frightening experiences any traveler can have. The 1963 treaty is all that stands in the way of foreign police holding American citizens without ever notifying U.S. consular officials so they can arrange legal assistance or notify family members back home. Some countries don't provide food for prisoners, and that consular visit is the only way of ensuring that the detainee will
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, CONN. N.H., MD.
Jan. 23 TEXAS: 2 women on Texas death row lose appeals 2 Texas death row inmates have lost their appeals today before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Chelsea Lea Richardson was 19 when authorities said she helped kill her boyfriend's parents in December 2003 so he could inherit a $1.65 million estate. The victims were Rick and Suzanna Wamsley of Mansfield. Their son, Andrew Wamsley, also was charged with capital murder. A jury decided the son should be sentenced to life in prison. The appeals court upheld the conviction and sentence of Taichin Preyor for the 2004 fatal stabbing of a woman in San Antonio. Jami Tackett was killed during a burglary. Court documents indicate Tackett sold drugs and kept cocaine in a safe in her apartment. On the Net: http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/richardsonchelsea.htm http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/preyortaichin.htm (source: Associated Press) * Death penalty decriedLawyers say killer of 3 is retarded An Amarillo man convicted in the 2003 shooting deaths of 3 people should be spared the death penalty because he is mentally retarded, his new attorneys say in court papers. In November, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals commuted Gregory Van Alstyne's death sentence to life in prison when it determined he was mentally retarded and ineligible for execution under U.S. Supreme Court guidelines. Van Alstyne was convicted for the fatal beating and stabbing of James Benton Atkinson Jr., a 42-year-old pizza delivery man. In all, 405 people have been executed in Texas since 1982, including 26 last year. The last execution was Sept. 25. Lawyers representing Jimmie Urbano Lucero say in a 280-page writ of habeas corpus application that their client's previous attorneys ignored obvious signs of his mental illness leading up to his May 2005 trial. He was mentally incapable of assisting in his own defense and should have been deemed incompetent to stand trial, they argue. Had defense counsel performed even at the most minimal level of effectiveness ... Jimmie Lucero's life almost certainly would have been spared by the jury, said attorney Jeffrey A. Koppy, one of several from a Chicago-based law firm handling his appeal. Federal law forbids the death penalty from being carried out against defendants who are deemed mentally retarded. Amarillo attorney Joe Marr Wilson, who represented Lucero 3 years ago, defended his work on the case and said nothing emerged before and during trial to suggest his client was retarded. A court-ordered examination found him fit for prosecution. A 2nd evaluation called by the defense was inconclusive because Lucero refused to cooperate with the examiner. He just didn't want to ... answer questions, Wilson said. That doesn't mean he's retarded. Lucero, 50, is being housed at a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison in Livingston, awaiting his death sentence. He was convicted in the Sept. 6, 2003, shotgun slayings of 3 next-door neighbors - 71-year-old Pedro Robledo; his 72-year-old wife, Maria; and their 31-year-old daughter, Fabiana - at the family's home on East Sixth Avenue. Guadalupe Robledo also was shot in the arm, but survived the attack. 47th District Attorney Randall Sims said his office planned to respond to the writ soon. In court papers, Lucero's new attorneys say he was examined by two psychologists. Each concluded Lucero's IQ was below 70 and that he is mentally retarded to a reasonable degree of professional certainty. It is unclear when the matter would return to a courtroom. (source: Amarillo Globe-News) *** DeFriend reviews death penalty history at Lions Some interesting facts about the death penalty and the use thereof were presented by Roy DeFriend, Limestones County/District Attorney, during Tuesday's Lions Club luncheon. A majority of the states do have the death penalty, although many do not carry out the penalties, or wait for long periods of time before doing so, Roy explained. Over 400 are on death row at Huntsville, while 10 have the same status among women - at Gatesville. However, all Texas executions are carried out in Huntsville. He alluded to the Karla Faye Tucker case (she was put to death when then George Bush would not act for clemency, despits urgings of preachers and many others who tried to get the murderess freed. Another female put to death in recent years was Betty Beets, who had both Corsicana and Athens connections. She buried a husband or two in her back yard. DeFriend, whose wife Bonnie accompanied him to the club luncheon, took as his general theme, the Texas Criminal Justice System, with Capital Punishment in particular, dominating the discussion. Although Texas leads the nation among states to make use of the death penalty, the Lone Star State cannot match China in the number of executions carried out. China averages about 10 executions a day, DeFriend explained. He said that New Jersey has abolished the death penalty, and told
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, CALIF., MD.
Jan. 19 TEXAS: Texas and the Death Penalty Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Baze v. Rees, a case that has effectively imposed a national moratorium on the death penalty since September. States are delaying executions until the high court rules. To get a sense of what's at stake as the high court considers the future of capital punishment, I spoke with Texas Solicitor General R. Ted Cruz, the state's top lawyer. Mr. Cruz is a rising star among conservative jurists. He's a protg of former U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, for whom he clerked and, by the nature of his job, a leading defender of the death penalty in Texas. 40 states have the death penalty on the books, but only 34 have carried out executions since the Supreme Court permitted states to resume capital punishment in 1976. None come close to Texas, which has carried out 405 executions over three decades. Virginia, with 98 executions, is a distant 2nd. What accounts for this Lone Star peculiarity, that some find horrifying? When a sentence is legally and justly imposed, the state of Texas carries it out, says Mr. Cruz. And in the judgment of the Texas Legislature and in the judgment of the significant majority of Texans, the death penalty is fundamentally a matter of justice. Attorneys for Ralph Baze maintain that Kentucky's protocol for lethal injection -- the same three-drug protocol 37 states favor as a method of execution -- violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Mr. Cruz authored an amicus brief for Texas, one of 20 states holding that the protocol when properly administered is consistent with the Constitution and modern standards of morality. While the court's ruling, which is expected in July, may alter that protocol, it's unlikely five justices will find the death penalty itself to be unconstitutional, as some opponents hope. In fact, it's possible that conservative justices wanted to hear Baze in order to do precisely the opposite -- explicitly reject death penalty challenges on the merits, rather than merely address the procedural issues activist judges have seized on to thwart death penalty laws. Victims, not policy issues, move Mr. Cruz. I certainly understand that people of good faith can disagree on this, he says. But frequently when those in the media or those in the legal profession or in the academic world who are opposed to the death penalty are presenting their arguments, one of the aspects that is strikingly missing is any consideration of the nature and barbarity of the crimes these people commit and any genuine consideration of the impact these crimes have on the victims' families. That's certainly so in the case of Ralph Baze, who murdered a Kentucky sheriff and deputy in a 1992 ambush, shooting both in the back. And it's so in another death penalty case Mr. Cruz argued before the Supreme Court last fall. The facts about Jos Ernesto Medellin's role in the brutal gang rape and murder of 2 teenage girls in Houston in 1993 are not in doubt. He gave a written confession; a Texas jury found him guilty of murder in the course of a sexual assault; then a judge sentenced him to death. Though Mr. Medellin was born in Mexico, he lived most of his life in the United States. At no time during his trial, sentencing or initial appeal did he or his court-appointed attorneys assert any claims under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The convention requires a consular post to be notified if a citizen of its nation is arrested. Only after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Mr. Medellin's conviction did he begin the series of federal appeals on the basis of the Vienna Convention that arrived, ultimately, at the Supreme Court. The 2 issues the justices must address have far reaching implications for American judicial and political systems. The 1st issue is whether the rulings of a foreign tribunal -- the International Court of Justice in The Hague -- can bind the U.S. justice system. The ICJ has ruled that foreign-born defendants (including Mr. Medellin) are entitled to review based on violations of the Vienna Convention. The 2nd issue is whether the president of the United States can compel state courts to obey a foreign court. That's what President George W. Bush asserted in 2005, after the ICJ issued its ruling, when he ordered the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to review Mr. Medellin's conviction. The Texas court rejected Mr. Bush's order on constitutional grounds. In an amicus brief filed in Medellin v. Texas, the Bush administration holds that the court's action undermines presidential authority to determine how the United States will comply with its treaty obligations. 28 states along with Puerto Rico signed onto one brief supporting Texas inMedellin. An ideologically diverse group of constitutional law scholars joined in another. Former Attorneys General Ed Meese and Dick Thornburgh, along with former Justice officials
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, COLO., IND., CALIF.
Jan. 11 TEXAS: Texas AG agrees to investigate Harris County district attorney The Texas Attorney General's office agreed Thursday to investigate whether Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal should lose his job for sending and receiving inappropriate messages through his county e-mail account. Republican officeholders and party leaders are calling for the GOP prosecutor's head following the release of hundreds of his e-mails, including love notes to his secretary, racist jokes and videos of men sneaking up to women and tearing their clothes off in public. He also used the county e-mail account to plan his now-aborted re-election campaign. Those e-mails, while tamer, may be more damaging to Rosenthal's career because such messages may violate Texas laws barring the use government property for political activity. Under Texas law, judges may remove district attorneys from office for incompetence, official misconduct or intoxication on or off the job. Official misconduct is defined as intentional, unlawful behavior relating to official duties. County attorneys are normally responsible for investigating district attorneys and taking the case to court if necessary. But Harris County Attorney Michael Stafford asked the state attorney general to look into the case because his office is representing the county in the lawsuit through which the e-mails were discovered. Tom Kelley, a spokesman for Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott, declined to comment beyond confirming the investigation would occur. Neither Rosenthal nor his attorney, Ronald Lewis, returned telephone calls from The Associated Press. Rosenthal told top county officials Wednesday he would not resign despite admitted poor judgment. Thankfully, stupidity is not grounds for removal, Rosenthal told Ed Emmett, the county's top executive, in an e-mail that Emmett gave reporters on Wednesday. Rosenthal withdrew from the Republican ballot for the March 4 primary last week at the urging of local GOP leaders after the affectionate e-mails between him and his secretary were released. He considered running as an independent, and Assistant District Attorney Kelly Siegler filed for the Republican nomination. But this week, more e-mails surfaced from public information requests by local media. Rosenthal forwarded a racist e-mail comparing former President Clinton to stereotypes of black men and received other racist e-mails. Another e-mail, sent to Rosenthal by Siegler's physician husband, included the video of men forcibly pulling down women's clothing in public. Rosenthal was first elected in 2000. He has said the death penalty is God's law as well as the state's and that he follows both. He presides over an office that sends more convicts to death row than any other prosecutors' office in the nation. The 860 e-mails emerged as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Harris County Sheriff's Department. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt mistakenly released the 1st batch of e-mails last month following a request by Houston television station KHOU. He later resealed those messages, saying he had only meant to make public Rosenthal's request that those e-mails be withheld. The 2nd batch of e-mails were released after Hoyt said Monday they were not subject to a protective order. Hoyt is also looking into accusations that Rosenthal deleted more than 2,500 e-mails requested by the plaintiffs' attorney in the civil rights lawsuit. Rosenthal said in court documents last month that he deleted the e-mails to reduce their large volume visible on his computer. He said he believed a list of the e-mails had been printed and that even if deleted, they could still be retrieved by his technical staff. He said that staff has been working to try and retrieve the e-mails. (source: Associated Press) OKLAHOMAposition available Position Description: Lead trial counsel in the sentencing phase of death penalty cases. Requirements: We are looking for an energetic attorney, with at least 5 years of criminal trial experience, committed to defending the lives of clients facing the death penalty. Capital trial experience is a must. The ideal candidate will possess excellent research and writing skills, a working knowledge of capital law, the ability to work well with all members of the defense team, and a willingness to spend long hours developing mitigation. Candidate must be licensed to practice law in Oklahoma or demonstrate an ability to obtain a temporary license, which will become permanent based on reciprocity. Please direct all contacts, curriculum vita, or information to: Pete Silva, Public Defender Tulsa County Public Defender's Office 423 S. Boulder Avenue, Suite 300 Tulsa, OK 74103 (918) 596-5530 main number (918) 596-5540 fax WASHINGTON: 2 accused in Seattle-area killings plead not guilty The 2 people accused in the murders of 6 family members near Seattle on Christmas Eve have entered not-guilty
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, S.C., NEV.
Dec. 31 TEXAS: Jurors' use of Bible questioned in Waco man's death sentence -- Lawyers say jurors improperly consulted Scripture at hearing Jurors with Bibles have created an ongoing controversy over the death sentence of a Waco man convicted of killing an East Texas farmer during a home burglary nearly a decade ago. Khristian Oliver, now 30, was condemned by a Nacogdoches County jury in 1999, a year after authorities said he and 3 companions were involved in the break-in of the home of Joe Collins, 64, who was shot and beaten. Mr. Oliver's 3 accomplices received prison terms ranging from five to 99 years. He got the death penalty. In his appeals, lawyers argue that jurors improperly consulted Scripture that called for death as punishment for murder. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month upheld Mr. Oliver's conviction, but agreed to consider written arguments on Bible-related claims and then hold oral arguments. This is headed toward a showdown on a very fundamental question on the use of the Bible, said Winston Cochran, Mr. Oliver's lawyer. Oral arguments before the New Orleans-based court are not likely until late in 2008. I'm really surprised the 5th Circuit has got much interest, said special prosecutor Sue Korioth, who handled the initial appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which also upheld the conviction and death sentence. I think the Supreme Court ruled on this years ago, that you can't tell people to leave their values at the door. Unless there's a suggestion they used religious law as opposed to the Code of Criminal Procedure and the instructions the judge gave them, but that wasn't an issue in this case. At issue is Numbers 35:16, which, in the New American Standard Bible, reads: But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. This poor old farmer, he got shot and when he was lying outside on the ground, he was struck with the barrel of a gun, Mr. Cochran said. So he was literally struck with an iron rod. Ms. Korioth said there never was an implication jurors voted based on Scripture or had any kind of religious discussion. Several of them carried Bibles in and out like my daughter carries her Seventeen magazine, she said. Judges at the 5th Circuit, in their ruling Nov. 16, asked lawyers to explain whether the jurors' consultation of the Bible amounted to an external influence that raises a presumption of prejudice. Mr. Collins came home on March 17, 1998, to find Mr. Oliver, 20, and Benny Rubalcaba, 16, inside. Mr. Rubalcaba's 15-year-old brother and Mr. Oliver's girlfriend were waiting in a pickup. Mr. Collins got a rifle and shot Benny Rubalcaba in the leg. Mr. Oliver fired his pistol at Mr. Collins, then grabbed the man's rifle and beat him with it, evidence showed. The wounded Mr. Rubalcaba, taken by his friends to a hospital, gave police details. Mr. Oliver, who was tied to a series of burglaries mostly around Waco, was arrested in Houston with his girlfriend. Defense lawyers interviewing jurors after Mr. Oliver's capital murder trial discovered jurors had Bibles with them during deliberations. At a state district court hearing 2 months after the trial, 4 jurors testified about the Bibles in the jury room and gave varying accounts. 1 juror testified he and fellow jurors carried them because they would go to Bible study after court. Another juror testified that any reading from the books came after they had reached a decision. A 3rd said the reading of Scripture was intended to make people feel better about their decision. What do you expect them to say? Mr. Cochran said. Some judge is scowling at them. Are they going to come in there and say they've just ruined your 5-week death penalty trial? (source: Associated Press) USA: Race emerges as a death penalty issue Across the nation, death chambers sit idle while the U.S. Supreme Court mulls the viability of lethal injection. But it's another less-publicized death penalty issue that in the long run may prove to have a much larger impact on who dies and who decides if they should. The issue is race. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the appeal of a black man from Louisiana convicted by an all-white jury. In his case, the prosecutor admonished jurors to not let the defendant get away with murder like O.J. Simpson. Beyond the prosecutor's closing-argument theatrics looms his alleged desire to strike blacks from the jury. It highlights what many see as the ongoing racial disparity in how capital punishment is meted in this country. Whether real or perceived, when black defendants face a jury with no black faces in it, particularly in a case involving the question of life or death, they are often left with the feeling of being unfairly judged, according to some attorneys and death penalty researchers. Perception is reality, said Kansas City defense attorney John P. O'Connor. The
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, PENN., ALA., US MIL.
Dec. 16 TEXAS: Death judge broke rules So many judges, so little time. One article on this paper's front page Thursday revealed that U.S. District Judge Sam Kent had hired lawyer Dick DeGuerin and undergone questioning by the FBI in connection with findings that he had sexually harassed an employee. Right next to it was an article disclosing the fact that the state's highest judge on criminal matters grossly violated at least the spirit of her court's policy in September by turning down a request to keep the clerk's office open an extra half hour or so to accept a last-minute appeal for a Texas man scheduled to be executed that night. Lawyers for convicted murderer Michael Richard were trying to respond quickly to a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier in the day that stayed the execution of a Kentucky man while the justices decided whether the chemical cocktail used in the executioner's injection led to a slow and painful death. The policy Keller flouted When Richard's lawyers had computer problems printing out their briefs, they called the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and asked a clerk to stay open so they could petition for a stay based on the fact that Texas uses a similar or identical chemical cocktail. The clerk contacted Judge Sharon Keller for guidance, and Keller said to close at 5 p.m. Yet in response to public information requests from the Houston Chronicle and at least 2 lawyers, Keller herself disclosed a contrary policy that was in place on that day, though it wasn't set down in writing until later. The policy required that one of the court's 9 judges be assigned to be in charge of each scheduled execution. Unless the Court has been informed by defense counsel that no pleadings will be filed, or pleadings have been filed and ruled on, both that judge and the court's general counsel must be available until the time of execution has passed. Richard deserved to die In other words, unless the condemned person's lawyers notified them otherwise, the court's policy was to assume there would be last-minute appeals and to be ready to receive them. Part of the policy was carried out. Judge Cheryl Johnson was assigned to be the judge in charge, and made herself available to be contacted. The policy also required that all communications regarding the scheduled execution shall first be referred to the assigned judge. That specifically includes telephone calls. Johnson expressed anger that she was not alerted of the attempt to appeal. By the time she learned of it from media accounts, Richard was dead. Later that week, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed another Texas execution based on the same arguments Richard's lawyers attempted to use. Keller has declined all requests for interviews and has not explained why she did not instruct the clerk to stay open or to put Richard's lawyers in touch with Johnson. Richard's family has filed a wrongful death suit against Keller. Friday, her lawyers filed a motion to dismiss it. The reaction of many to Keller's actions is that Richard deserved to die. Anybody who believes that judgment can be made by anybody other than God would agree. The miscreant raped and murdered a mother of 7, then drove off in her van. But issues around the death penalty aren't about whether men like Richard deserve to die. As far as I'm concerned, many more people in this world deserve to die than will ever be condemned to do so. It's not about the bad people. It's about the good people. And the good people do not agree with each other on many issues. How do we make sure that we execute only the deserving ones? Efforts to address that problem have led to excruciatingly long stays on death row, including 21 years for Michael Richard. And how should we kill them? That is the question that should have stayed Richard's execution even longer. Some would execute the killers in the way they killed their victims: torture first. But the societal consensus appears to express our cultural ambivalence toward the death penalty. We want to kill the bad guys humanely. We're not the first society to embrace this strained attempt at merciful vengeance. The guillotine was approved by the French as the official mode of execution because it was less painful and more egalitarian than previous methods. Nobles were beheaded, sometimes tipping the executioner while requesting a sharp ax. The methodology with commoners ranged from hanging to dismemberment on the wheel. We, of course, are egalitarian except that we rarely execute anyone with the means to hire excellent lawyers. All of this is to say that we will continue to slowly work our way through the complex issues associated with being righteous killers. In our society we do that with laws, with courts and with rules. If we expected criminals to follow the rules, we would quit building prisons. And if we expected judges not to follow the rules, we would quit building courthouses. In the end, Michael Richard was held
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA
Dec. 3 TEXAS: Texas set for death penalty anniversary Texas reaches the 25th anniversary of the return of the death penalty this week as federal officials debate the ethical nature of the ultimate punishment. While Texas prisons have carried out 405 executions since the death penalty resumed in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court and even some of the state's wardens have questioned the constitutionality of the criminal punishment, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram said Sunday. Former Texas warden Jim Willett, who oversaw the most executions of any U.S. prison warden in history, said the finality of the act still weighs heavy on his mind. An overwhelming feeling comes over you as you give the signal to take a perfectly healthy human being and cause his death, the former Texas Department of Criminal Justice official said. You can't help but wonder whether what you're doing is right. As the nation's highest court reviews the death penalty process at length, scores of other death row inmates sit in Texas prison cells. The Star-Telegram said that in early November, the population of death row had reached 371 and among those inmates are 10 women convicted of various crimes. (source: United Press International) LETHAL INJECTIONTexas reaches milestone: 25 years, 405 executions No prison warden in America has ordered more executions than Jim Willett. And perhaps no warden anywhere has searched deeper into his soul in wondering if he was doing right by the state, right by the inmate, right by the crime victim and right by his God. An overwhelming feeling comes over you as you give the signal to take perfectly healthy human being and cause his death, said Willett, who ran theTexas Department of Criminal Justice's Walls Unit in Huntsville from 1998 until he retired in 2001. You can't help but wonder whether what you're doing is right. The former warden's reflections come as Texas prepares to mark this week's 25th anniversary of the resumption of the death penalty. And they come during a rare lull in the pace of executions in Huntsville as the U.S. Supreme Court once again weighs the question of whether the execution process passes constitutional muster. Willett, a 30-year corrections professional who now runs the Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville, presided over 89 of the 405 Texas executions that have been carried out by lethal injection since Dec. 7, 1982, at one of the oldest and most foreboding lockups in the nation. He'll mark the anniversary Friday with a symposium and panel discussion at the museum involving former prison officials, advocates both for and against the death penalty, and a journalist who has witnessed nearly all the executions carried out in the United States' most active death chamber. Willett's time at the Walls, which ended in May 2001, was the busiess 3-year period in the state's modern application of the death penalty. He arrived shortly after the Feb. 3, 1998, execution of pickax killer turned born-again Christian Karla Faye Tucker and remained on the job through the politically turbulent times when then-Gov. George W. Bush was in hot pursuit of the presidency. That year, 2000, saw the high-water mark in executions when 40 inmates went to their deaths at the Walls. The 'killing machine' Huntsville's death chamber reopened 25 years ago, in the same stark red-brick building that had once housed the electric chair, which the state used to execute 361 inmates from 1924 to 1964. Just after midnight on Dec. 7, 1982, Fort Worth's Charlie Brooks was strapped to a steel gurney for killing 26-year-old David Gregory after kidnapping him 6 years earlier from Danny Sides Used Cars on East Lancaster Avenue on the pretext of road-testing a Pontiac Grand Prix. Gregory, a married father of 2, was shot to death a couple of miles away at the Lincoln Motor Hotel on East Rosedale Street. Brooks, 40, would become the 1st inmate in the nation to die by lethal injection as Texas and most of the other states with capital punishment laws looked for a new, more humane way to put killers to death. Now, a quarter century later, executions across the country are on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether lethal injection is as humane as its advocates say. After Brooks' execution, the Texas death chamber would remain dormant for 15 months. And for the remainder of the 1980s, only a handful of inmates each year would be administered the lethal 3-drug cocktail that would first put them to sleep, then paralyze them and finally stop their hearts. But by the latter half of the 1990s, the pace of executions quickened dramatically and the Texas prison system was derisively called the killing machine by a growing legion of death penalty opponents. You lose so many friends here that pretty soon you really don't want to too many close friendships anymore, said Ronald Chambers, a 51-year-old Dallas killer who arrived on death row in January 1976 and is now the longest serving
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA
Oct. 10 TEXAS: 2 Texas death row inmates lose at Supreme Court A convicted murderer condemned for fatally shooting a Port Arthur firefighter nine years ago lost an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court when justices refused to review his case. Elroy Chester, 38, confessed to the slayings of at least four other people during a 6-month crime spree. He pleaded guilty to killing Willie Ryman III, who was trying to keep Chester from raping his two nieces at their Port Arthur home. Ryman, who frequently checked on the girls when their mother was at work, had interrupted Chester's burglary of the home and the rapes. A Jefferson County jury in 1998 took just 12 minutes to decide Chester should be put to death. His appeal was one of two involving Texas death row inmates that the Supreme Court refused to consider Tuesday. In the second case, the justices rejected a review for Derrick Sonnier, a suburban Houston man convicted of beating, stabbing and strangling a woman and her 2-year-old son in 1991. The Supreme Court in 2002 barred the execution of mentally retarded people, and a federal judge that year ruled Chester's trial court never determined whether he was retarded. A federal appeals court in 2003 refused to rule on Chester's appeal until all state appeals were exhausted. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in February had refused to overturn a lower court ruling that said Chester was not mentally retarded. Chester does not have an execution date. He was on mandatory supervision, a form of probation, when he went on the crime spree that left 5 people dead, 2 people sexually assaulted and at least 5 homes burglarized. Court records show he also fired shots at at least five other people. Chester also confessed to killing John Henry Sepeda, 78, and Etta Mae Stallings, 87, during burglaries; Cheryl DeLeon, 40, whom he stalked and fatally beat with his gun as she arrived home from work; and Albert Bolden Jr., 35, who was his brother-in-law and was shot in the head. According to court documents, Chester told police he killed Bolden for beating his sister or for setting him up with a date with a woman who turned out to be a transvestite. The killings all took place in the Pear Ridge neighborhood of Port Arthur. Sonnier has an execution date for early next year but Harris County prosecutors said Tuesday they would move to withdraw the date until the Supreme Court resolves a Kentucky case that challenges the constitutionality of lethal injection procedures. Kentucky and Texas use the same procedures and the courts in recent weeks have stopped 2 executions in Texas after appeals were raised citing the challenge from 2 condemned Kentucky inmates. The high court is expected to rule on that case by next June. Sonnier was convicted in 1993 in the 1991 stabbing deaths of Melody Flowers and her 2-year-old son, Patrick. Prosecutors said Sonnier lived in the same Humble apartment complex as Flowers and had bothered her several times, including 2 break-ins at her apartment. Both times, prosecutors and witnesses said, Sonnier laughed and jokes about Flowers' fear. In March, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused a rehearing he requested after the court rejected an appeal that argued his trial lawyer had been ineffective. (source: Houston Chronicle) USA: Death Penalty Derailed) ELIZABETH SCHULTE reports on the Supreme Courts decision to take up the issue of lethal injection. THOUSANDS OF death row prisoners received a reprieve after the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear arguments on whether execution by lethal injection is constitutional. The court will consider the cases of two Kentucky death row inmates and rule on whether the execution method used by all but one of the 38 states that have the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment, and therefore in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. The justices are supposed to issue their judgment sometime during the current session, which began October 1 and ends in June 2008. Until then, it appears that most, if not all, states will halt executions--a de facto national moratorium on the death penalty. When capital punishment was reinstated 30 years ago after being halted in early 1970s, lethal injection was supposed to be a humane alternative to other execution procedures, such as hanging and the electric chair. It is a three-step process. First, a prisoner is injected with a chemical that is supposed to sedate them and keep them from feeling pain. This is followed by a chemical that paralyzes, and then another that stops the heart. But according to witnesses, lethal injections more resemble torture than a humane procedure. It took an hour and a half for Joseph Lewis Clark's humane execution in Ohio in May 2006. It don't work, it don't work, Clark cried, shaking his head, as technicians struggled to find a vein. During Angel Nieves Diaz's half-hour lethal injection ordeal in Florida, his executioners mistakenly
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA
Aug. 29 TEXASexecution/impending execution San Antonio taxi driver's killer executed 13 years later A man who was on parole for his involvement in the fatal stabbing of his stepfather in California was executed Wednesday evening for the robbery-slaying of a San Antonio taxi driver 13 years ago. Speaking slowly and barely above a whisper, John Joe Amador said in a brief statement from the gurney, God forgive me. God forgive them for they know not what they do. After all these years our people are still lost in hatred and anger. Give them peace God for people seeking revenge toward me. Amador expressed love to his wife and several friends who watched through a window. God give them peace, he said, before pausing for several seconds. Freedom, he said. I'm ready. As the drugs began taking effect, he uttered, Wow. He was pronounced dead at 6:37 p.m., 9 minutes after the lethal drugs began to flow. Amador becomes the 23rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas, and 402nd overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. Amador becomes the 163rd condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas since Rick Perry became governor in 2001. Amador becomes the 38th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1095th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: Associated Press Rick Halperin) * Had he remained on the streets, a convicted San Antonio killer said his lifestyle might already have left him dead. Instead, his confinement to death row since 1995 has ironically kept John Joe Amador alive. I was on a really big path of destruction, Amador, 32, said recently from behind glass at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, where he was put to death today for the 1994 slaying of cab driver Reza Ayari. Amador's violent and poverty-saddled childhood includes a list of tragedies, those involved in his case said, topped perhaps by the sexual and physical abuse he allegedly endured from his stepfather, whom Amador and his mother helped kill when Amador was a teenager. Both pleaded guilty to the charge, and Amador served 3 years in a juvenile facility in California. H His attorneys had said they hoped Amador's upbringing might spare his life, or at least extend it. In a brief filed with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Sunday, Amador's attorneys argued that the mitigating factors of his childhood were not sufficiently presented at his trial or considered by the jury that heard his case more than 12 years ago. They also argue that those factors have hampered his federal appeals. As precedent, his attorneys used the case of another Bexar County man whose execution was stayed in July for similar reasons. On Tuesday, those claims were denied. The suggestion is derisive to JoAnn Ayari, who was widowed when her husband was shot to death. In the ensuing years, she has been divorced twice, nearly lost her eldest son to a drug overdose and no longer speaks to her youngest, whom she said was driven by his father's death to join a gang. He took my everything, she said. Amador has repeatedly maintained his innocence. His attorneys have argued that it was never proven at his trial that he was the one who hailed a cab, ordered Ayari toward rural Southwest Bexar County and then shot him in the head. With Amador that night was his 17-year-old cousin, who was later accused of shooting Esther Garza, Ayari's front passenger. Prosecutors said that case was dismissed on a technicality. Ayari and Garza, who survived the shooting, were dumped from the cab and left to die, and $100 was taken from the cab. Amador's attorneys have questioned Garza's testimony the state's main witness and a 113-pound woman who had drunk 15 beers and one wine cooler before the shooting. Garza initially described Amador as of Arabic decent and only picked him out of a lineup after she saw homicide investigators interview him. And a 2nd witness, who identified Amador as the person she saw at the scene, only briefly viewed him as she drove past at 4:30 a.m., his attorneys said. No fingerprints or other physical evidence connected Amador to the murder. But prosecutors said Garza's description of the cab's passengers led to a composite sketch that matched Amador. She also identified a house the gunman instructed Ayari to go to as the residence of Amador's ex-girlfriend Yvonne Martinez. Martinez, who initially claimed she didn't know anything about the murder, later told investigators that Amador had talked about wanting to do something crazy involving a taxicab and bragged about the slaying. A threatening letter Amador sent Martinez didn't help his case, in which he told her, The (district attorney) ain't got nothing, but that is if you don't give them anything. ... You know what I can and have done to anyone who gets in my way. Neither did a statement the defendant made during the punishment phrase of his trial, when he yelled,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, TENN., FLA.
Aug. 28 TEXAS: Execution delayed as Supremes consider innocence claim A former high school honors student convicted of killing a woman in a holdup at an East Texas bar where she was 1 of 4 people gunned down is currently awaiting a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. The execution of DaRoyce Lamont Mosley, 32, has been delayed as the nation's highest court considers an appeal by Mosley that he is not quilty in the 1994 slaying in Kilgore. Mosley didn't deny walking into the Kilgore bar intending to rob the place, but insisted his uncle who accompanied him was responsible for the slayings 13 years ago. The uncle, Ray Don Mosley, now 44, took a plea bargain and is serving life in prison. DaRoyce Mosley said he wrongly confessed to the slayings of Patricia Colter, 54; her husband, Duane, 44; Alvin Waller, 54; and Luva Congleton, 68. Sandra Cash, then 32, who worked at Katie's Lounge in Kilgore, was shot in the spine but was able to call police. Mosley did not request a last meal before he made his way to the execution chamber. He spent the afternoon with a TDCJ chaplain. TDCJ spokesperson Jason Clark said that Mosley was calm and collected Tuesday afternoon. He listened intently to what the warden had to say, Clark said, (and) he indicated that he would like to make a last statement. (source: Huntsville Item) USA: Civilians have 650 million firearms, global survey finds There are 9 guns for every 10 people in the United States, with about 270 million firearms in circulation, according to a report released today. Worldwide, civilians now have access to 650 million small arms from handguns to semiautomatic rifles an arsenal that far outstrips what is held by police and militaries, according to the annual Small Arms Survey. It estimates that civilians account for about 3/4 of the 875 million such weapons in circulation. Civilian holdings of weapons worldwide are much larger than we previously believed, the director of the Geneva-based group, Keith Krause, told reporters. But it is the United States that has the heaviest concentration of firearms. Of the 8 million new firearms manufactured annually around the world, roughly 4.5 million are bought in the United States. Other countries with high per capita ownership include Yemen, with 61 small arms per 100 people; Finland with 56; Switzerland with 46 and Iraq with 39. Much lower on the scale are Brazil, with 9 guns per 100 people, England and Wales with 6, India with 4, China with 3 and Nigeria with 1. The report notes that only about 12 % of all weapons worldwide are registered with authorities, making it difficult to collect exact data on gun possession. 5 years ago the group estimated a total of 640 million small arms worldwide. There's a large number of states in the middle, mostly northern industrial states in Western Europe and North America, said Krause, citing France, with 32 per 100 people; Canada and Sweden, with 31 each and Germany, with 30. The figures dispel the idea that gun ownership and high levels of violence necessarily go hand in hand, he said. There's no clear relationship between more guns and higher levels of violence, Krause said, pointing to low ownership and high crime rates in Latin America. He said studies had shown that gun violence often occurred in places undergoing rapid urban growth, and when lawless areas are created by extreme poverty and the absence of effective policing. The problem is worsened when members of government or police forces sell ammunition on the black market, Krause said. In Rio de Janeiro, a combination of factors suggest that state security forces most notably the police are the source of much of the assault rifle ammunition in the hands of criminal gangs, the report said. Thousands of arms supplied to Iraq by the United States are believed to have been acquired by insurgents through rogue elements in the Iraqi security forces. Sudan, meanwhile, has purchased more than 25 million firearms in recent years mostly from China and Iran despite well-documented human rights violations committed by government-backed militias. Krause said wealthy countries with lower crime rates, such as those in the 27-nation European Union, are dealing with an increased flow of small arms across borders where controls have been loosened. Recent shootings in Britain where ownership is severely restricted and the gun crime rate is low highlight the need for greater police cooperation in Europe, he said. On the Web: Small Arms Survey: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/ (source: Associated Press) TENNESSEE: Sevier Man Loses Death Penalty Appeal A Sevier County man has lost his death penalty appeal The Tennessee Court of Appeals today sided with Blount County Circuit Court in the case against James A. Dellinger. The Circuit Court had previously denied Dellinger's appeal for post-conviction relief in connection from his 1992 conviction for 1st degree murder, and resulting
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, WASH. PENN. FLA., N.H., GA.
Aug. 25 TEXAS: Texas carries on capital punishment EU has asked Texas Governor to put a ban on ultimate penalty. Texas, disregarding international calls to abandon capital punishment, has exacted the ultimate penalty a 400th time, executing a killer. Johnny Ray Conner, a 32-year-old native of Shreveport, La., died by lethal injection just after 6 p.m. in the Texas death chamber in Huntsville not long after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to step in. Conner was executed for the 1998 shooting death of Houston convenience store clerk Kathyanna Nguyen and the wounding of a customer who survived. The European Union had asked Texas Gov. Rick Perry not to execute Conner and declare a death penalty moratorium. But in response, gubernatorial spokesman Robert Black referring to the Revolutionary War of the US forefathers that threw off the yoke of a European monarch said that Texans long ago decided that the death penalty was a just and appropriate punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against their citizens. Black added: While we respect our friends in Europe, welcome their investment in our state and appreciate their interest in our laws, Texans are doing just fine governing Texas. (source: United Press International) *** Shame on Gov. Perry's spokesman Robert Black for his comment about the execution of Johnny Conner: Texans long ago decided that the death penalty is a just and appropriate punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our citizens. (AAS Thursday, August 23). Texans long ago decided a lot of things that it was O.K. for one human being to own another, that it was O.K. to steal land from Indians and Mexicans, that it was O.K. to hang horse thieves. Attributing sanctity to the decisions of Texans long ago makes no sense to me. The fact is that Texans today are still executing human beings Johnny Conner was the 400th in 25 yearsand modern, civilized states do not execute their citizens. The time when that punishment was appropriate expired, along with those Texans of long ago. Jimmie L. Coombes (source: Letter to the Editor, Austin American-Statesman) ** Kenneth Foster's Songs of Freedom The debate over black culture has taken a turn for the especially absurd in recent months. If one were to take the Don Imuses of this country at their word, then somehow the daily horrors of the African-American experiencethe poverty, the discrimination, the brutalitystem from the way the community views itself, from the self-loathing of the ghetto to the thug mentality of hip-hop. Its the classic argument; that if only the black community would trade in its bling for bootstraps, then they will most surely prosper in the land of opportunity. Tell that to Kenneth Foster. 10 years ago, Kenneth was a young college student, a music lover, and recent father. Born in Austin, Texas, he spent his high school years working for several small record companies in the area. In 1995 he began his 1st year at St. Phillips College majoring in sociology, and less than a year later, in May of '96, he started his own label, Tribulation Records. Kenneth had a bright future ahead of him, no doubt. But a year later, Kenneth was convicted of murder. The previous August, he had been driving a car with 3 friends in the San Antonio area. One of those riding in the car, Mauriceo Brown, got out in front of a party to talk to a woman, Mary Patrick. While Kenneth and his other 2 friends were 80 feet away, waiting in the car, they heard a gunshot. Brown had shot Patricks boyfriend, Michael LaHood. Kenneth never had a gun in his hand, never saw, let alone aimed at LaHood, and never he pulled the trigger. Even the prosecution admits this. And he did not know anyone was going to be shot that night. But according to Texas' law of parties, Kenneth should have anticipated the loss of life that was to come that night because he was in the same car as Brown. It's a law straight out of a Franz Kafka novel, where the accused are expected to have an almost psychic ability to predict when a crime is going to happen. Kenneth's execution has been set for August 30th, 2007. He is guilty of nothing except driving a car. Perhaps it should come as no surprise. This is Texas, the state that has executed the most people of any state since the reinstatement of the death penalty. A disproportionate number of these people have been of color. This is the former stomping ground of the Texecutioner George Bush, and the current Governor Rick Perry has already surpassed Dubyas record of 156 executions. LaHood was the white son of a prominent Houston attorney. Kenneth is a working-class black man. It was the perfect concoction of sick ingredients to continue the pattern of the racist American injustice system. But Kenneth has not spent the past ten years wallowing in misery. He is a founding member of DRIVE (Death Row Inter-Communalist Vanguard Engagement), a radical,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, WASH., CONN.
Aug. 24 TEXAS: Judge adds sentences in trucker's smuggling caseTyrone Williams already is facing a life term in deaths of 19 immigrants A judge's decision on Thursday gave new sentences to a truck driver already facing a life term for his role in the 2003 smuggling deaths of 19 illegal immigrants in South Texas. Tyrone Mapletoft Williams Jr., a long-haul trucker from Schenectady, N.Y., was found guilty last year for his part in the Victoria tragedy, a botched smuggling attempt that led to horrific suffering for more than 70 illegal immigrants sealed in his truck's refrigeration trailer. It was the greatest loss of life caused by immigrant smuggling in modern history. U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal on Thursday issued sentences of nearly 34 years and 20 years to run concurrently with the life term a jury gave Williams in January. The sentences covered additional charges of immigrant transportation and conspiracy. The judge also handed down the maximum $150,000 fine. Williams abandoned his load at a Victoria truck stop in May 2003 after discovering the compartment had become a death trap. To get air, some passengers punched holes in the trailer. The victims from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic died from dehydration and suffocation. The dead included a 5-year-old and four teenagers. Williams was the 1st person to face a death sentence under a 1994 federal smuggling law that his lawyer, Craig Washington, says is unconstitutional and will be the grounds for an appeal. Williams was the only one of the case's 14 defendants to face the death penalty. 1st jury deadlocked In his 2005 trial, a jury convicted Williams on 38 transporting and harboring counts, but the jury deadlocked on 20 other charges. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the verdict because jurors failed to specify Williams' role in the crime. Last year, in a 2nd trial, jurors chose life imprisonment over the death penalty for the 19 smuggling counts. On Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Rodriguez dropped 19 counts for duplicity, he said, because Williams was harboring and transporting at the same time. He also asked Rosenthal to prevent Williams from profiting from his story through book, movie or television deals. Williams, 36, a legal Jamaican immigrant, did not speak before the judge announced his punishment. Tough words exchanged The lawyers' 4 years on opposite sides of the legal battleground spilled outside the federal courthouse in a news conference of tough words. Rodriguez said the case's outcome will deter smugglers. He knew that they wanted out and he had the ability to open the doors ... of a rolling chamber of death, the prosecutor said. You do this, you will be at least exposed to the death penalty if you don't receive it. Washington argued that the extra prison time didn't matter much and predicted the life sentences will be overturned because the death penalty should not have been an option. The most that Tyrone should have been looking at is 20 years, Washington said. He is guilty of transporting. He is not guilty of causing the deaths of the people in the trailer. Washington also foreshadowed next month's sentencing of Abelardo Flores Jr., a smuggling organizer who gave Williams $7,500 for driving the route from South Texas. Flores pleaded guilty and testified against the trucker in hopes of a lighter sentence. If you win the race to go and snitch, then you get rewarded for it that's the message that goes out to the people in the community, Washington said. I hope (U.S. District Judge Vanessa) Gilmore sentences him to life. Other sentences Fatima Holloway, who was riding in the cab with Williams and became the government's star witness by testifying against him and others was sentenced in May to time served. She spent 3 days in custody after her arrest. Ringleaders have received from 12 to 23 years in prison. Minor players were sentenced to time served awaiting trial, 1 was acquitted, another had her charges dropped and 1 remains a fugitive. (source: Houston Chronicle) USA: Death never a remedy Re: Remember 'Ms. Lee' As state nears 400th execution, focus on victim, Sunday Editorials. This editorial about Texas' 400th execution is correct to focus on the agonies endured by survivors of violent crime victims. The scourge of murder is a national disgrace. But the death penalty is not, nor has ever been, a remedy. The death penalty is inherently flawed, racist, arbitrary and capricious, laden with prejudices and mistakes, a failed public policy. Society should promote a higher ideal of life, including efforts to ensure public safety and true justice, instead of bearing death via gas, electrocution, hanging, shooting or chemical poisoning. It is not enough to focus only on the innocent survivors of violence; we must continue to oppose any state's willingness to be a carrier of the disease of violence. Rick Halperin, president, Texas
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA
Aug. 19 TEXAS: Remember 'Ms. Lee': As state nears 400th execution, focus on victim Texas' busy death chamber is scheduled to reach a milestone Wednesday, with the 400th execution since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. We believe our readers deserve more than a sterile recitation of the facts of the case or the killer's life. Especially since this newspaper has come out in opposition to the death penalty, it's appropriate today to focus on a part of the story that's too often overlooked: the murder victim. What follows is a portrayal of that person's life, drawing from the memories of her only child, a daughter. We did not seek the daughter out for what she might say about the death penalty. We sought her out because it's important for people on all sides of the issue to learn more about the loved one who was taken from her 9 years, 3 months and 2 days ago. Kathyanna Gon Thi Nguyen (pronounced when) was a hard-working shopkeeer just north of downtown Houston. She may have been 57 years old; no one knows for sure, since records were lost long ago in her native Vietnam. Kathyanna Gon Thi Nguyen People knew her as Ms. Lee. She was a self-educated entrepreneur with a knack for helping others get small businesses off the ground. Living in the back of her own convenience store/gas station, she worked from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. most days, for 20 years, without a vacation. Ms. Nguyen's road to Houston began in the South Vietnamese village of Vinh Long. At age 5, she was homeless on the streets, having been separated from her family by warfare that raged around her. Taken in by a country couple, she worked as a nanny and taught herself to read and write her native language. When Saigon fell, she and her daughter escaped by boat and made their way to Fort Chaffee, Ark. It was there that she became victim of a violent crime for the first time in her new country; as she begged for her daughter's life, muggers behind her church took her purse and shot her in the chest. Ms. Nguyen moved to Houston after hearing about opportunities for work there. She taught herself to read and write English and managed to speak the language well enough to establish a solid business. She learned her customers' names and knew their children. She offered them food from her kitchen. She was known for good humor and practical jokes. Because she knew the value of freedom, the Fourth of July was her favorite holiday. She loved to bask in the sparkle of fireworks while watching in front of her store. After months of studying, Ms. Nguyen qualified for citizenship. She hugged her daughter, crying, after taking the oath; she felt complete. She was something of a community leader; when the city wanted to close a nearby road, she rallied the neighborhood to defeat the plan. Weary from years of tending shop, Ms. Nguyen agreed to give up her business as her daughter began a full-time job, with benefits. But fate would be cruel. Ms. Nguyen was robbed and killed one day before the sale on her business would close. She would never know her son-in-law, Danny. She would never know her two grandchildren, Jordan, 16 months, or Darrell, 4 months. This week will bring an end to another life, that of 32-year-old Johnny Conner, who went out one Sunday afternoon and shot an innocent shopkeeper 3 times in the head. Kathyanna Nguyen's daughter, Marie, does not consider herself an opponent to the death penalty. She says this about the sentence that's about to be carried out: I am numb about the execution right now. It's not closure to me. I have found that through my faith in God. ... My family has been praying for Mr. Conner and especially his family. They are suffering, also. ... So far, I am planning to go. My purpose is not to go watch a man die for his mistake. He was lost long before my mother's life was ever taken. My mission is to let Mr. Conner know I have forgiven him. ... I am still so very sad that my mother is not here. (source: Editorial, Dallas Morning News) USA: AG Alberto Gonzales: Death row expediter? Today's paper sports a headline that would almost be laughable were it not so deadly serious. It announces that under a little noticed provision of the Patriot Act, the attorney general is seeking to exercise powers granted to him to fast track state executions of prisoners on death row. Alberto Gonzales? A man whose judgment has been questioned by friend and foe alike, who remains in his job only because his lame duck boss is impervious to criticism, now given new life-and-death power? This at a time when DNA evidence has repeatedly been used to prove the imperfections of the system of determining guilt, and medical questions about lethal injection as a method of execution have led to moratoriums in several states? The new provision is the latest chapter of the ongoing effort by death penalty proponents to speed up the period between a sentence of death and its execution, which in some states can take
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, ARK.
August 19 TEXAS: Alternatives eyed to crowded jails East Texans have long been known for dispensing tough justice. A man who stole a candy bar was handed a 16-year prison term in 2000. (It was a king-sized bar, the prosecutor noted at the time, before a visiting judge ordered a new trial.) That 'throw-the-book-at-em' mentality has come up against a hard reality: jail overcrowding. And that has forced officials in Smith County to soften up. The county now operates a day reporting center for offenders who otherwise would be behind bars. They include hard-core habitual offenders, felons and misdemeanants alike, who'd otherwise be facing months in jail or years in prison. Instead, they can walk the streets under what amounts to intensive supervision. State lawmakers have come up with a relief plan of their own. Beginning Sept. 1, local communities will have the option of ticketing, rather than sending to jail, most nonviolent Class B misdemeanor offenders. Giving suspected criminals a get-out-of-jail card in Smith County left state District Judge Cynthia Stevens Kent panicked at first. I've had to step outside my zone of comfort, said Kent, a 22-year veteran who is so tough on the guilty that she allows no plea bargains in her court. But the cost to Smith County of renting jail beds from other jurisdictions was problematic. So late last year, Kent, a self-described right-wing conservative Republican, began promoting the Alternative Incarceration Program, or AIC. Designed for 100 offenders, it will soon be expanded to 200, and so far, none of its participants has committed the kind of violent crimes that would lead the 10 p.m. news and create a public relations nightmare for local officials. Crowded jails are a fact of life for communities around the state, not just Smith County. Everybody's bursting at the seams, said Adan Muoz, executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, which oversees county lockups. Texas counties are coming dangerously close to running out of jail beds a little more than a decade after the last major jail construction boom, which occurred as the state was embarking on a massive prison buildup. Some 34,000 county jail beds were added between 1990 and 1995, bringing the total to 64,000 in 1995. But tougher laws and a growing population have filled those local jails, which now house about 73,000 offenders statewide, from shoplifters who may be awaiting trial or serving short sentences to accused killers. The number of available beds stands at 84,000. 52 new jails are being constructed or are in the planning stages. But in the meantime, 39 % of the 246 county jails across Texas are overcrowded, which the state defines as being at 85 % capacity or higher. (Jails must have more beds than inmates because of the need to separate violent felons from nonviolent offenders and women from men). Almost 27 % of jails are at least 90 % full. (Bexar County stands at 98 % capacity.) 18 county jails are 100 percent full. They are among nearly 40 that don't meet the state's minimum standards because of overcrowding, a shortage of personnel or structural problems. For all the problems associated with overcrowding, the idea of allowing Class B misdemeanor offenders to avoid jail with a ticket, which the new law will allow, appears about as popular as releasing potential mass murderers, at least to officials in a half-dozen counties surveyed. Bexar County First Criminal District Attorney Cliff Herberg said failing to jail defendants would create huge practical and political problems. How do you positively identify a defendant if you don't process him into the jail? They need to be booked, fingerprinted and photographed, Herberg said. What if defendants went home after being ticketed and went on a killing spree? Officials would be left saying, Well gee whiz, we didn't think you were important enough, Herberg said Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said he's warned local law enforcement chiefs that his office won't prosecute anyone who's been ticketed for a Class B misdemeanor. Fort Bend County Sheriff Milton Wright left it at this: I think a crook's ass ought to be in jail. Smith County officials believe they've found a middle ground between jailing offenders and simply issuing a citation. They think the results should make their intensive supervision program a model. They've had inquiries from three other counties so far. The option First, there's the savings, which to Smith County amounts to about $238,000 so far this year and an estimated $1.1 million by the end of the year. Gerald Hayden, who directs the county's community supervision and corrections department, says it costs about $10 a day to supervise someone outside jail, about one-fourth the cost of housing that offender inside jail. Right now, the county is spending about $4 million a year to house its surplus jail population at other lockups, which this week stood at 253. Hayden says
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news------TEXAS, USA, CALIF., FLA., GA., OHIO, N.C.
Aug. 7 TEXAS: Walker defendant's attorney to seek change of venue Attorney Steven R. Miears, of Bonham, said he will ask Collin County District Judge Charles Sandoval to move Kosoul Chanthakoummane's murder trial out of McKinney. Chanthakoummane, 26, of Dallas, faces a charge of capital murder and possibly the death penalty for the murder of Sarah Anne Walker, 40, of Frisco. A househunting couple from Plano found Walker's body in a D.R. Horton model home in McKinney where she worked as a real estate agent at 1:23 p.m. July 8, 2006, in the 5700 of Conch Train Drive. Walker was stabbed, beaten and strangled to death, according to reports from the Collin County Medical Examiner's Office. Police arrested 25-year-old Kosoul Chanthakoummane on Sept. 5, 2006, at his home in the 3600 block of Frankford Drive in north Dallas in connection with Walker's murder. He is being held in Collin County Detention Center on a charge of capital murder and a $1 million bond. Miears filed 39 subpoena requests July 11 in 380th District Court for various media outlets across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, including the McKinney Courier-Gazette, the Dallas Morning News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, WFAA, KXAS, FOX4, CBS11, WBAP and KLIF, asking editors and station managers to testify before the court and supply them with any and all notes, stories and circulation and ratings records related to the Walker murder case, according to documents filed in the 380th District Court. Miears said he subpoenaed members of the news media in anticipation of the change of venue motion. What I'm concerned about is being able to get a jury picked that can still follow the law as far as the defendant's right to a fair trial and whether or not there's enough publicity in the case to have affected the jury pool so that we can find 12 people who can follow the law, Miears said. Not only to follow the law as far as it applies to the guilt-innocence phase, but also to be able to rationally go through the special issues on whether or not he should receive life without parole or the death penalty. Miears also filed 76 motions June 22 asking the court to suppress evidence and statements claiming search warrants didn't authorize police to seize parts of his vehicle. The motions also asked the court to preclude Mr. Chanthakoummane from being shackled in public, prevent uniformed police officers from attending the trial against his client to limit the show of force in the courtroom, allow his client's family to testify on how a death sentence would affect them and allow Chanthakoummane to sit at the table nearest to the jury box, according to court records. He also filed a restrictive order regulating news accounts, comments and editorials concerning certain circumstances of the case June 22, but he said he doesn't plan to pursue that motion. It's one that should any type of pre-trial publicity or anything that would have occurred that could prejudice [Chanthakoummane's] right to a fair trial, Miears said. We were looking for some relief from the judge for protection for that. Sandoval will rule on the motion Aug. 30. Miears said Sandoval will choose the new location of the trial if he approves Miears' change of venue motion. Prospective jurors will fill out questionnaires Aug. 31, and the court will begin voir dire proceedings the following week to choose a 12-person jury, Miears said. The trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 1 in McKinney, according to court records. (source: McKinney Courier-Gazette) 5 Jurors Dismissed In KFC Jury Selection Several people state prosecutors plan to call as witnesses in the capital murder trial detailing the 1983 Kentucky Fried Chicken murders were once suspects themselves. Romeo Pinkerton, 49, is accused of taking part in killing five people abducted from what was then a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kilgore. The victims, including 2 mothers and 3 Kilgore College fraternity brothers, were found shot to death miles away on a secluded oil lease. The list of potential witnesses, which was released Monday, includes Darnell Hartsfield, a co-defendant in the case, and Jimmy Earl Mankins Jr., who was once indicted for the murders but cleared through DNA. During the 1st day of jury selection, State District Judge Clay Gossett of Rusk County did not allow a continuance in the case and told both prosecution and the defense he plans to pick a jury with voir dire beginning next week. After the jury is selected, Gossett said there will be at least 1 week before any testimony is heard to give both sides adequate time for last minute DNA testing. Gossett moved the trial to New Boston on a change of venue because of lengthy coverage of the case in the media. Mary Tyler, 37; Opie Ann Hughes, 39; Joey Johnson, 20; David Maxwell, 20; and Monte Landers, 19, were abducted Sept. 23, 1983, from the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kilgore. Their bodies were found the next day on a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, MD., ILL., MICH.
July 29 TEXAS: An appointment with death despite the evidence Another trip to death row. Another man scheduled to die on the gurney in Texas' infamous killing chamber. Another human being who does not deserve this tragic fate. And another case that speaks to the absurdity of how capital punishment is applied in general throughout this country, but particularly in the Lone Star State. The case of Kenneth Foster Jr., scheduled to die next month for a 1996 murder in San Antonio, is further proof of how cruel, capricious, unjust and utterly insane our death penalty laws have become. Because of this tainted system, whether you believe in capital punishment or not, a man who did not plan or commit a murder will die Aug. 30 unless somebody -- a judge, the Board of Pardons and Paroles and/or the governor -- has the heart and the guts to stop it. On Aug. 14, 1996, Foster -- who was 19 at the time -- was driving around with 2 guys he recently had met, Dewayne Dillard and Julius Steen. They were in a car that had been rented by Foster's grandfather, the man who basically had raised him since he was in the 4th grade because my mother and father ran the streets, he said. According to Steen's testimony, they were just goofing off, more or less, and smoking some weed when they decided to pick up a 4th person, Mauriceo Brown, who rode with them into the night. Testimony showed that at some point, Brown announced that because they had a gun, they ought to jack someone. With Foster as the driver, Steen and Brown first got out of the car and robbed a Hispanic woman at gunpoint and later robbed a man and 2 women in a parking lot. On their way home, they came off the freeway and ended up in a residential neighborhood and saw, according to court documents, a scantily-clad woman, Mary Patrick, who approached them and demanded to know why they were following her. As it turned out, Patrick had been following her friend Michael LaHood to his home, and the car driven by Foster was right behind their 2 cars until they came to a dead end and turned around. After seeing Patrick standing at the edge of the driveway, they assumed there was a party going on. They stopped and chatted with her for a few seconds, when she started cursing Steen and accusing the group of following her. Foster put his foot on the gas and prepared to leave, he said, knowing he needed to get the car back to his grandfather. But Brown jumped out of the car, he said, went up the steep driveway and started talking to LaHood, who was more than 80 feet away from the car. He said he heard a pop, and when Brown got back to the car, We're asking -- everybody's asking -- what went down? What happened? Brown had shot LaHood. Shortly afterward, the 4 men would be arrested and later charged with capital murder. Dillard and Steen were never made available to Foster's attorney while the district attorney held other cases over them. The district attorney chose to try Foster and Brown together, and the judge refused to sever the cases. Foster was convicted along with Brown under the Texas law of parties, even though he never participated in, intended for or anticipated a murder. Prosecutors, with the help of testimony from Steen, made jurors believe that Foster had conspired in the killing and should have anticipated it. [Foster] was a victim of a statute that was never intended by its authors to be used this way, said Austin attorney Keith S. Hampton, who recently filed a 2nd application for a writ of habeas corpus with the district court in San Antonio and an application for commutation of sentence with the Board of Pardons and Paroles. I talked to the authors, and they intended [the statute] to be used in conspiracy cases, Hampton said. Steen has since said that he was pressured by the prosecutors to give the trial testimony and has signed an affidavit clarifying that he did not intend to imply that Foster was aware of what Brown was about to do. Brown himself testified that neither Foster nor the others had planned a robbery or a shooting of LaHood, nor did they know what he was doing. At least one of the jurors has said in an affidavit that he would have given a different verdict if he had known that Kenneth Foster did not anticipate that Brown would take the gun when he got out of the car, did not anticipate Brown would shoot LaHood, or that he tried to drive away when he heard the shot, according to court documents. Federal District Judge Royal Furgeson of San Antonio overturned Foster's death sentence in 2005, saying: There was no evidence before Foster's sentencing jury which would have supported a finding that Foster either actually killed LaHood or that Foster intended to kill LaHood or another person. Therein lays the fundamental constitutional defect in Foster's sentence Therefore, Foster's death sentence is not supported by the necessary factual finding mandated [by the U.S. Supreme Court] and, for that reason, cannot
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, ARK., GA.
July 9 TEXASimpending execution Hitman in San Antonio murder-for-hire plot set to die Tuesday A hitman who was paid $2,000 to kill a San Antonio woman in 1992 remains on track for execution tomorrow. Rolando Ruiz is to die for the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Theresa Rodriguez as she got out of her car in the garage of her home. Ruiz would be the 19th prisoner to receive lethal injection this year in Texas -- which is the nation's busiest death penalty state. Prosecutors say her husband, Michael Rodriguez, wanted to collect at least a quarter-million dollars in life insurance coverage. Michael Rodriguez wound up on death row as 1 of the 7 inmates who killed an Irving police officer on Christmas Eve 2000 after escaping from a South Texas prison. He's asked that his appeals be stopped and his execution move forward, although no date's been set. The US Supreme Court refused Ruiz's appeal last March. Appeals lawyers asked the state parole board to recommend that Governor Rick Perry commute the sentence to life in prison. They contend inept lawyering earlier in the state appellate process forfeited Ruiz's access to the courts. A similar argument to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals failed last week. On the Net: Texas Department of Criminal Justice execution schedule http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/scheduledexecutions.htm (source: The Associated Press) *** Mother charged with murder in son's strangling death An East Texas woman accused of strangling her 2-year-old son was charged with capital murder Monday. Tyler police said Catherine Alana Stevens, 39, confessed to strangling her child. Police responded to a call shortly after 11 p.m. on Sunday that there was an unconscious child at Stevens' home. The child was taken to East Texas Medical Center and pronounced dead. Stevens remains under psychiatric care in the Smith County Jail, where she's being held on $1 million bond. She requested a court-appointed attorney, but a lawyer has not been assigned yet. The child's body was taken to Dallas for an autopsy. (source: Associated Press) ** John Hill, former Texas chief justice and attorney general, diesA winner thrice, he became 1st Democratic nominee to lose for governor in 100 years. John Hill, a former Texas attorney general, state Supreme Court chief justice and crackerjack litigator who twice ran for governor, died in Houston today. He was 83. Hill was the only person in state history to serve as secretary of state, attorney general and chief justice. He had a pacemaker installed early last month and left the hospital, St. Luke's in Houston, but returned to regain his strength, family friends said. The native of Breckenridge in North Central Texas served 11 years in state government, first as secretary of state from 1966 to 1968, at the behest of Gov. John Connally. In his first bid for governor, Hill placed a distant sixth in the 1968 Democratic primary. In 1972, he unseated Crawford Martin as attorney general before winning re-election in 1976. In 1978, Hill took on Democratic Gov. Dolph Briscoe. The challenger said in his announcement: I'm certain I can and will win. He derailed Briscoe in the primary, but struggled before the general election to overcome what he called apathy and overconfidence. Less than a week before the November election, Hill told several hundred people in the Rio Grande Valley he was winning: For (Republicans) to win we would have to have tornadoes in West Texas, rainstorms in East Texas, hailstorms in North Texas and hurricanes in South Texas. None of that is going to happen. Yet he lost to Dallas oilman Bill Clements by 18,000 votes. Clements was the first Republican elected governor since Reconstruction. Hill was elected chief justice of the Supreme Court in 1984. He left the court in 1988 after it had been characterized by CBS-TV's 60 Minutes as being for sale to deep-pocketed campaign contributors. Hill subsequently championed the selection of judges by gubernatorial appointment rather than partisan election. The plan, which never got traction, called for appointed judges to be subject to retention elections at the polls. Hill told an interviewer for PBS-TV's Frontline that if it were ever put to the vote of the people of Texas it would pass readily, but we've been stopped by politics. We've been stopped by the political parties. After leaving the court, he worked as a senior partner with Locke Liddell Sapp LLP, later becoming a senior partner with the Winstead firm, where he was a shareholder in its litigation and appellate practices, often advising other lawyers. At both firms, he started a mock-trial program to train young associates. Hill attended public school in Wink in West Texas and Kilgore in East Texas before attending Kilgore Junior College, where he was a national debate champion in 1940. He served as a Navy lieutenant in the Pacific during World War II. After
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, N.J., KY.
July 3 TEXAS: Convicted killer's defense offers new evidenceInsect activity on victim's body shows Swearingen didn't kill 19-year-old, attorney says In seeking a new trial for convicted killer Larry Swearingen, who won a stay a day before his scheduled execution, defense attorneys on Monday presented new evidence they say contradicts the state's case and proves he is innocent. Swearingen is on death row for sexual assault and strangulation of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter of Willis, who disappeared from Montgomery College on Dec. 8, 1998. He was set to die Jan. 24, but the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals granted him a reprieve. During a hearing before Judge Fred Edwards of Montgomery County's 9th state District Court, Swearingen's attorney, James Rytting, tried to show that Swearingen could not have committed the crime based on the state's theory of how it happened because he was in jail. Trotter's body was found Jan, 2, 1999, in the Sam Houston National Forest. The Harris County medical examiner determined that her body had been in the forest for 25 days before it was found, based on insect activity, and placed her date of death on Dec. 8. Swearingen's experts say that based on the presence of the insects on her body, Trotter died after Dec. 11 and as late as Dec. 18, when they say insect infestation occurred. Swearingen was arrested on Dec. 11 on an unrelated charge and remained in jail until his trial.P Defense entomology expert James Arends testified Monday that the body could not have been in the forest for any longer than a week because of the lack of insect activity reported in the medical examiner's report and a second report by another defense expert. He also said that Trotter's body was likely frozen and moved to the forest. Jeffery Tomberlin, an expert for the prosecution, said it is not unusual to see a delay of insect activity on a decomposing body. He also said that the Dec. 18 insect infestation date would be consistent with the body being in the woods for 25 days. Trotter's family attended the hearing, sitting behind Swearingen, who appeared in court in a tropical shirt and handcuffs. Sandra Trotter, Melissa's mother, said the hearing was a waste of time. ''I don't feel like there's any evidence to overturn anything, she said. The court has 30 days to give each side a transcript of the hearing. Then the defense and prosecution have another 30 days to submit a proposed fact of findings and conclusion of law to the state judge. The judge can accept one of their proposals or write his own opinion to submit to the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals, which will decide whether to grant Swearingen a new hearing or reschedule his execution. (source: Houston Chronicle) ** Preparations continue for Woodruff capital murder trial Preparations continue for the next capital murder trial in Hunt County, that of Brandon Woodruff, accused of killing his parents in their Royse City-area home in the fall of 2005. Woodruff's defense attorneys have issued a motion, asking for any recorded statements Woodruff may have made. The defense team has also subpoenaed Woodruff's sister and several Rockwall residents to testify as witnesses. Woodruff's trial is currently scheduled to begin Sept. 5. Prosecutors have waived death by lethal injection as a potential punishment in the case. Dennis Woodruff and his wife Norma were slain inside their home on Hunt County Road 2648, just northeast of Royse City, in October 2005. Brandon Woodruff was arrested for the crime and was indicted on one count of capital murder. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody at the Hunt County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond. The Woodruffs were both shot and/or stabbed, according to the indictment. Defense attorney Jerry Spencer Davis filed a motion with the 354th District Court on June 27th, for production of all recorded conversations made of the defendant by the State of Texas, any law enforcement agency, the Hunt County Sheriff's Office, personnel at the Hunt County Jail, or any civilian who would provide information to the prosecution. Davis has also subpoenaed almost three dozen witnesses, including Ron Merritt, the Rockwall County Health Director and Rockwall County Extension Agent Todd Williams. Davis has also subpoenaed Woodruff's sister, Charla Woodruff, and several investigators with the Hunt County Sheriff's Office, as well as the Texas Ranger who headed the probe into the parents' deaths. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for July 12 to consider Davis' motion, with the witnesses to be sworn-in on Aug. 13. (source: The Herald-Banner) *** Inmates can dial, but prisons will listen inNew pay phone system could bring in millions, but security is a worry Giving prison inmates in Texas greater access to phones was easy for the Legislature this year. Now comes the hard part making sure convicts won't be dialing numbers to harass victims or commit more crimes.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news------TEXAS, USA, FLA., IND., UTAH, WASH.
June 28 TEXAS: U.S. SUPREME COURT SAYS THAT TEXAS MAY NOT EXECUTE SEVERELY MENTALLY ILL MAN REVERSES DECISION ALLOWING EXECUTION OF SCHIZOPHRENIC MAN WHO REPRESENTED HIMSELF AT TRIAL WEARING PURPLE COWBOY COSTUME Texas may not execute a severely mentally ill man who believes his execution would be the result of a satanic conspiracy to prevent him from preaching the Gospels of Jesus rather than for murdering his wife's parents, the U.S. Supreme Court said today. Scott Louis Panetti, 49, was allowed to represent himself at his capital murder trial in 1995, despite having been involuntarily committed to mental hospitals over a dozen times in the years leading up to the crime. Mr. Panetti defended himself dressed in a purple cowboy outfit and wanted to subpoena John F. Kennedy, the Pope, and Jesus. Gregory W. Wiercioch, a staff attorney with Texas Defender Service who argued the case before the Supreme Court in April, hailed the decision. He said, The Supreme Court today reaffirms the wisdom of a legal principle nearly a thousand years old - that the execution of persons like Scott Panetti serves no purpose and offends our sense of decency and common humanity. Today the Supreme Court recognized that executing Scott Panetti would be a mindless, meaningless, and miserable spectacle, said Mr. Wiercioch. Since his conviction and death sentence, Mr. Panettis mental condition has deteriorated even further. Although he is aware that he killed his parents-in-law, he suffers from psychotic delusions that cause him to believe that demonic forces have conspired with the State of Texas to put a stop to his preaching by seeking his execution. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that Mr. Panetti's execution could proceed - despite his irrational, delusional belief that had no connection with his crime. The Supreme Court reversed and held that the lower courts must consider whether a person has a severe mental illness which renders them to rationally understand the reason they are to be put to death. The Court reaffirmed the analysis articulated in Justice Powell's concurrence in Ford v. Wainwright, that the retributive goal of capital punishment is not met if a person fails to meaningfully appreciate the connection between his crime and punishment, and in those cases, the execution would be cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The decision represents the fourth time this term that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a ruling by a Texas state or federal court allowing an execution to proceed. (See Jalil Abdul-Kabir, fka Ted Cole v. Quarterman (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, issued Apr. 25, 2007), Brent Brewer v. Quarterman (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, issued Apr. 25, 2007), and LaRoyce Smith v. Texas (Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, issued Apr. 25, 2007)). (source: Texas Defender Services) USA: Friday is the 35th anniversary of the 1972 US Supreme Court decision of Furman v Georgia, which at the time stopped the death penalty in this country, declaring its administration to be too arbitrary and capricious. All death sentences were commuted to prison terms as the nation struggled to find a way to standardize the laws governing state killing of inmates. It is clear that the USA has not found an answer in the intervening 3 1/2 decades. National polls show a growing uneasiness with the entire capital punishment system, from flawed trials, sleeping and inept defense lawyers, prosecutorial misconduct, and an ever-stunning total of at least 123 inmates released from death row beacuse their innocence was discovered in time. Gary Ridgway killed 48 women and was sentenced in Washington to life without parole, and Terry Nichols was convicted of 153 murders in the Oklahoma City bombing and is likewise doing a LWOP sentence. Death sentences, while declining nationally, are still an exercise of futility and arbitrariness across this country, and serve as a constant reminder as to why the death penalty itself must, and eventually shall be, abolished in our lifetime. Rick Halperin, Chair, Amnesty International USA Board of Directors, and President, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (source: Letter to the Editor, Dallas Morning News) NAACP Remains Steadfast in Ending Death Penalty Fighting Injustice in US Justice System The NAACP will not back down in its fight to end capital punishment in America. In remarks made before a Senate Judiciary Committee sub-committee today NAACP leaders said capital punishment is ineffective, unfairly utilized and makes no financial sense. The NAACP remains resolutely opposed to the death penalty, said NAACP Washington Bureau Director Hilary Shelton. The government's claim to the moral authority to exact the ultimate punishment is based on the belief that the punishment will be administered fairly and even-handedly. But even a cursory
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, S.C., GA., ILL.
June 21 TEXASexecution(s) Man convicted of stalking, killing ex-girlfriend executed A West Texas man who stalked his ex-girlfriend after their breakup was executed Thursday evening for raping, strangling and using a claw hammer to fatally beat the woman. I love y'all and I'm going to miss y'all, Gilberto Reyes said with a big grin on his face in his brief final statement. Reyes, 33, had no witnesses on his side of the death chamber. He never looked at the parents or other relatives of his victim, who watched through a window. He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. When the parents of 19-year-old Yvette Barraz reported her missing after she failed to return home from work, police wanted to ask Reyes, her ex-boyfriend, about her disappearance. Reyes already was known to authorities in Muleshoe in Bailey County along the Texas-New Mexico border about 70 miles northwest of Lubbock. A month earlier, Reyes had chased Barraz around town and took a shot at her with a rifle. We certainly wanted to find him and visit with him, recalled Don Carter, the former Muleshoe police chief. I don't think you have to be in law enforcement to figure that deal out. And the fact was we never could find him, which just made him even more so a suspect. Two days after she was last seen, Barraz's battered body was found stuffed under clothing in the hatchback area of her car some 450 miles to the south in Presidio, along the Rio Grande across from Mexico. She'd been beaten with a claw hammer, strangled and raped. It would take another nearly 3 months before police arrested Reyes in Portales, N.M., about 40 miles west of Muleshoe. When picked up, he was carrying keys to Barraz's car and home. Lawyers for Reyes filed suit in federal court challenging the Texas lethal injection procedures as unconstitutionally cruel. The suit was dismissed by a judge in Houston. Blood evidence found outside the restaurant where Barraz worked led police to believe she was attacked there as she left work the evening of March 12, 1998. Then before dawn the next morning, border police questioned a man identified as Reyes as he was walking toward Mexico across the International Bridge at Presidio. He was carrying as much as $100 in coins but authorities had no reason to detain him and allowed him to continue into Mexico after a background check showed no warrants were out for him. They later speculated the coins were Barraz's tip money. The sad part about it was he crossed over by the time she was determined to be a missing person, said Carter, now a captain with the Lubbock County Sheriff's Department. So we were just behind him, and since he got across the border, it delayed apprehension. At some point, Reyes returned to the United States. Acting on a tip, authorities arrested him June 7, 1998, in Portales. At his trial, witnesses told of Reyes and Barraz having a stormy relationship. A police officer testified Barraz had complained about Reyes stalking her 2 weeks before she disappeared. DNA evidence from Reyes was found on the victim's clothing. A Bailey County jury deliberated about two hours before convicting him of capital murder. They took another 2 hours before deciding on the death penalty. She was a beautiful, vivacious, respectful young lady, Victor Leal, who ran the Muleshoe restaurant where Barraz had been working about three months, said this week. I regret the fact apparently he'd been stalking her and she did not tell me that. I've always looked back and thought if I had taken time, sat down and known her a little better, maybe she would have shared that with me and I would have done something like make sure she was getting walked out to her car. Leal, a former mayor of Muleshoe, said the slaying was a jolt to his community. When you have an employee abducted and attacked and eventually killed in your own parking lot, it takes away what you perceived was some safety in a small town, he said. Wednesday evening, Rodriguez, 36, apologized profusely and sought forgiveness from his victim's family before he was executed. You have every right to hate me, he told them. None of this should have happened. Another condemned inmate, Patrick Knight, 39, is set to die Tuesday for the slayings of Walter and Mary Werner, a couple who lived next door to him outside Amarillo. Reyes becomes the 17th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 396th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 17, 1982. He is the 157th condemned inmate to be put to death since Rick Perry became Governor of Texas in 2001. Reyes becomes the 25th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1082nd overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: Associated Press Rick Halperin) ** Man executed in shooting death of Fort Bend County woman Lionell Rodriguez apologized to the family of the woman he murdered some 17 years ago in downtown
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, WASH., S.C., KAN.
May 31 TEXAS: Arrest made in 2004 rape and murder of Houston woman A Houston man has been charged with capital murder in the September 2004 rape and murder of a a homeless woman whose body was found in a parking garage stairwell, police said today. Jimmy Robert Kimble, 31, is charged in the death of Linda Joyce Oaties-Roumo, police said. The woman was beaten and strangled, police said after her body was found in the 3200 block of Travis Street on Sept. 22, 2004. Houston police refused today to say how Kimble was identified as a suspect in the case or when he was arrested. Police referred questions to the Harris County District Attorney's office. Prosecutors handling the case were unavailable for comment late this morning. Public records indicated that Oaties-Roumo had been living in a local homeless shelter in the months preceding her death. (source: Houston Chronicle) USA: States Move to Enact Laws Allowing the Death Penalty for Pedophiles: A Good Sign with Respect to Public Dedication to Protecting Children, But Potentially Not the Most Effective Way to Do So Last week, the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the death penalty as applied to a child abuser. Louisiana has led the way in passing laws to execute pedophiles. However, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia, and Montana also have passed such laws, with Texas soon to follow when Gov. Rick Perry signs such legislation. A major impetus for the death penalty in child sex cases is the heinous crime by a previously-convicted sex offender against Florida nine-year old Jessica Lunsford, who suffered horrific abuse, including burial alive in a shallow grave, where she eventually suffocated. If there is a way to measure the temperature of public opinion against child abuse, this is it, and it bodes well for children, even if it is not the most effective way of protecting children. Concerns with the Death Penalty Legislation, and Priorities in the Fight Against Child Abuse Some have expressed concern that if the penalty for pedophilia is raised to death, children may be deterred from reporting abuse, especially when it is committed by a relative. Yet such a small percentage of child sex abuse victims report their abuse at this point - estimates run about 10% -- that one has to wonder about the marginal effect of the death penalty. Kids already are terrified to report, usually because they are threatened by their abusers, so this shift in the law would seem to make little difference. My concern, however, is that pedophile-death-penalty laws are, in the end, a distraction from what needs to be done to truly protect the most children possible, the most effectively. It's important to remember that the difference between a pedophile in jail and one put to death, from a child's perspective, is negligible - in either case, children are safe from that perpetrator. Moreover, the main problem we currently have when it comes to pedophilia (and this is an element in the huge and powerful response to Jessica Lunsford's death) is that we are not succeeding in identifying many of the perpetrators that are out there. As I discussed in a previous column, legislative reform for children is not hitting at the heart of the problem - the anonymity of the predators, which is guaranteed by overly short statutes of limitations. Megan's Law created public lists of sex offenders, but those lists are woefully short, because the statute of limitations in the vast majority of child sex abuse cases runs long before the victim has the ability to come forward to anyone, and without a criminal conviction, an offender cannot be placed on any state-maintained Megan's List. The result is that thousands upon thousands of predators are out there, unidentified to unsuspecting families and children. Why Abolishing Criminal and Civil Statutes of Limitation Will Protect Far More Children than the Pedophile Death Penalty Will As I have argued more than once, the key is to abolish the statutes of limitation on childhood sexual abuse - both criminal and civil. Most states are moving in a forward direction in this respect, in that they are at least extending the statutes of limitations on childhood sexual abuse, with a few, like Alaska and Maine, abolishing them outright. This was the right decision: Surely the interests of the victims and society as a whole are more valuable than the perpetrator's need to be free from concern about prosecution or litigation. In this area, abolition will eventually happen, because it is the only just solution to an intractable social problem. The question is just how quickly, and how many additional victims will suffer due to the delay. Because of the Supreme Court's unfortunate 5-4 decision in Stogner v. California, no legislature can abolish the criminal statutes of limitations retroactively. Rather, they may only abolish criminal limitations with respect to future cases. Importantly, however - because this restriction comes from the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, ARIZ., N.J., N. MEX.
May 12 TEXAS: Deal reached on sex offender bills Key lawmakers in both chambers said Friday that they have reached a compromise on the Jessica's Law sex offender bills passed by the House and Senate, nearly ensuring that Texas will be the sixth U.S. state to allow capital punishment for certain sex crimes against children. Under the version approved in conference committee late this week, the death penalty would be reserved for offenders who have been convicted twice of raping a child. A 1st conviction for raping a child under 6 would come with a mandatory 25-year minimum sentence, as would cases against youths between age 7 and 14 that involve a weapon, bodily harm or kidnapping. The legislation also creates a new charge - continuous sexual abuse of a child - to punish habitual child-sex offenders. Though the House version of the bill would've made that crime eligible for capital punishment on a 2nd conviction, under the compromise, it would carry a 25-year minimum sentence. That provision was tweaked in conference committee to include people charged with indecency with a child who have had contact skin-to-skin or below the waist. It also adds a 5-year Romeo clause to protect a 17-year-old boy with a 13-year-old girlfriend from being put away for 25 years. Jessica's Laws, named for a 9-year-old Florida girl who was raped and buried alive by a convicted sex offender in 2005, are part of a national movement to deter and punish child molesters. The latest version of the bill should be up in the House and Senate next week. (source: Dallas Morning News) USA: When Should a Judge Face Discipline for What an Opinion Says? Earlier this month, the Investigative Panel of the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission issued formal disciplinary charges against an appellate judge serving on Florida's 1st District Court of Appeal based on statements contained in a concurring opinion the judge had issued in the course of deciding a case on appeal. This would be quite remarkable if that opinion were in fact deserving of censure, but what makes this event all the more outrageous is that it is difficult to conceive from reviewing the case that the concurring opinion provides any cause for disciplining its author. The underlying case began as an appeal from a criminal conviction. The appeal was originally argued before a panel that ultimately decided by a vote of 2-1 to overturn the conviction. Before that ruling was issued to the parties and docketed as the appellate court's judgment, the decision was circulated within the appellate court to all active judges. At that point, a majority of the non-recused active judges voted in favor of rehearing en banc. As a result, the three-judge panel's decision never issued. Following rehearing en banc, the full appellate court voted 10-4 in favor of affirming the convictions. Thereafter, the criminal defendant asked the appellate court to certify for review by the Supreme Court of Florida the question whether specific guideposts should exist for determining whether and how a case should qualify for en banc review at the behest of an intermediate appellate court's judges. In June 2006, the appellate court denied the criminal defendant's request to certify issues for review by Florida's highest court. When denying the defendant's request for certification, Florida's 1st District Court of Appeal issued a per curiam opinion providing reasons for the denial. In addition, Judge Michael E. Allen issued a concurring opinion in which he explained why he voted for rehearing en banc. Allen wrote that he concluded that one of the judges in the majority on the original panel had made a mistake in failing to recuse because published press reports and that judge's own background gave rise to an appearance of partiality. In his concurring opinion, Allen quoted in full 3 separate news reports to support the assertion that an appearance of partiality existed. Now, it certainly is rare to see one appellate judge publicly call into question a colleague's refusal to recuse from deciding a case. But a central question before the court when Allen wrote his concurring opinion was whether the case presented a good vehicle for the Supreme Court of Florida to announce the procedure and grounds for court-initiated rehearings en banc. It was directly relevant to that question for Allen to explain why he had voted in favor of rehearing en banc. The basis for the disciplinary charges against Allen strike me as especially weak. The charges suggest that no judge other than the one whose impartiality is being questioned has the ability to comment on that subject. The charges also accuse Allen of acting improperly in relying on newspaper articles, which were outside of the record on appeal and constituted hearsay evidence in any event. The charges further accuse Allen himself of undermining public confidence in the judiciary. Examining these accusations in turn, it is certainly true, at
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, MASS.
Feb. 25 TEXASfemale facing impending execution KC native's troubled past lands her on death row Only clemency or action by high court will spare this murderer, but boys parents seek final justice. Cathy Lynn Henderson forged the instinct to run at an early age. As a child, she ran from bullies in a Kansas City housing project. As an adult, she ran from the responsibilities of motherhood. And with her panicked final flight from the horror of holding a little baby's lifeless body, she ran herself onto death row in Texas. It likely will be the last stop in her tumultuous journey. Henderson is scheduled to drift into death sometime after 6 p.m. April 18 when an executioner unleashes the flow of poison into her slender arm. Only a governor's grant of clemency or intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court can save her. She is to die for the 1994 murder of a 3-month-old boy she was baby-sitting. She will be only the 12th woman put to death in the nations modern era of capital punishment. The self-described nobody maintains that the crushing skull fracture suffered by Brandon Baugh was the result of a terrible accident. Her story has attracted a nationwide network of supporters that includes Sister Helen Prejean of Dead Man Walking fame. In the only media interview she has granted, Henderson told The Kansas City Star that she hopes her life might yet be spared. The U.S. Supreme Court could announce as soon as Monday if it will agree to hear Henderson's case. But to the parents robbed of a lifetime of memories, Henderson's execution will be well-deserved justice. The sad circumstances of her life are no excuse for the violent circumstances of their little boy's death, Eryn and Melissa Baugh said. This will never be over until she pays for it with her life, Eryn Baugh said. Nothing but crumbs Born Cathy Lynn Stone at Kansas Citys old General Hospital two days after Christmas 1956, Henderson's earliest memories are a fuzzy collage of the faces of men who drifted in and out of her mother's life. To the pretty little blond-haired girl, those strangers passed out on the couch when she woke up in the morning were actually a welcome sight. I think they felt sorry for me, she said. They always gave me change out of their pocket so I could go to the store and get something to eat. Hunger was one constant in her early years. It drove her to neighbors' doors to beg for cookies and to a Kansas City park to scrounge for clover that tasted like pickles. Henderson's brother, Robert Wright, who is 4 years younger, summed up her life in 3 letters. B-a-d, he said. They are unsure how many children their mother had. Their mother, who lives in a Franklin, Texas, nursing home, declined to be interviewed for this story. She dated a lot of men and had a lot of kids, Wright said. She would leave us in the house with nothing to eat but crumbs. Cathy would watch us. She was a little kid watching kids. It was not unusual for their mother to vanish for days, Henderson said. I was used to not knowing where she was or when she would be back. Her mother moved often to avoid social workers and bill collectors. Henderson cant remember ever attending the same school for an entire year. She does remember the beatings whipped with a belt for not washing the dishes properly, spraying too much water on clothes she ironed, not cleaning the house well enough. Sometimes she came to school with makeup on her face to hide bruises, according to friend Debra Huffstutter. She never wanted to talk about her life, said Huffstutter. But there were days you could tell she had been through hell the night before. Huffstutter lived in Trenton, Mo., northeast of Kansas City, where Henderson and her mother moved when Henderson was about 12. They lived in a run-down hotel frequented by railroad workers, according to Huffstutter. Hendersons mother worked in the bar, and Henderson sometimes worked 16 hours a day in the restaurant. When Henderson was 15, her mother and a younger sister disappeared in the middle of the night. By then, Hendersons brothers lived with their father. Henderson never knew for sure who her father was. She moved between foster families before briefly living in her own apartment. She enjoyed high school and friends. Reminiscing about those good days, Henderson mentioned: I got to eat lunch every day. As high school graduation approached in 1975, she and best friend Mary Fries took the test to join the Navy. I really didn't have anyplace to go, Henderson said. But I flunked the test. Chasing mom Henderson yearned to be with her mother, Fries recalled. She always really loved her mom, regardless of what happened, Fries said. I just think she had this idea they were all going to be a family. After high school, Henderson followed her mother to Texas, hoping she had changed. You always want to have a bond with your mother, she explained, and you keep on hoping things will be different. They shared an
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, ALA., CALIF., CONN.
Feb. 24 TEXASimpending execution 2 shouldn't die over one bullet, appeal saysJoseph Nichols' defense team says state misled jury The morning rush-hour business was tapering off that mundane October Monday almost 3 decades ago when 2 men stepped into Joseph's Grocery and Delicatessen, a gritty vendor of chips, cigarettes and sodas on Fannin south of downtown. One plunked a jumbo bottle of beer on the counter; the other ordered a corn dog. Then, as deli workers watched, the men flashed pistols, demanded cash and started shooting. When it was over, clerk Claude Shaffer lay bleeding to death on the floor. The Oct. 13, 1980, shooting passed largely unnoticed in crime-weary, oil-boom Houston. But the government's prosecution of the 2 suspects has gotten plenty of attention, stirring controversy even today. The defense lawyers' chief complaint: that prosecutors told 2 juries two conflicting stories about who fired the fatal bullet so they could secure death sentences against both defendants. Already, 1 man has been executed in the case. Now, just weeks before the 2nd defendant is to be put to death, defense attorneys are rushing to stop the execution. They argue in petitions filed this week that the government has mishandled the case all along, and that prosecutors tried to conceal the name and location of a key witness who might have aided the defense. The District Attorney's Office says these claims already have been and dismissed by a number of courts. 'Punished twice' At stake is the life of Joseph Nichols, 45, of Houston, who has been on death row since 1982. His accomplice, Willie Williams, was executed in January 1995. Nichols' defense team is headed by J. Clifford Gunter III, of Bracewell Giuliani. If Gunter succeeds, Nichols could win a new trial, be freed or have his death sentence commuted to life in prison. If not, he will be executed March 7. Nichols recently said he's angry at being punished twice for the single crime. I've already served a life sentence. Now they want to kill me, he said. They want to punish me 2 times. If they were going to kill me, they should have done it a long time ago. The lawyers have filed a clemency petition with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and a 3rd post-conviction petition for writ of habeas corpus, which alleges a person has been illegally imprisoned. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals could act on the habeas writ, determining whether it warrants further consideration, within days. An appeal based on the triggerman issue was already in federal court when Nichols' lawyers learned of the additional witness, but the federal judge could not rule on that until it had been considered by state judges. Death penalty opponents contend Nichols has become a positive influence to troubled youth during his years on death row. Prosecutors argue otherwise, citing his involvement in a plot to escape from the Harris County Jail and at least 2 other robberies for which he never was prosecuted. Nichols, a one-time high school football star who had multiple offers of athletic college scholarships, was on nine years' probation for another armed robbery at the time of the grocery stickup. About the broad outline of the robbery there can be little doubt. Clerk Shaffer and deli workers Cindy Johnson and Teresa Ishman were on duty at the otherwise empty store at 9 a.m. when Williams, 24, and Nichols, 19, sauntered in. Williams placed a 40-ounce beer on the counter as Nichols ordered a corn dog. Both produced pistols and demanded money. Then the shooting started. Johnson and Ishman darted for cover in the kitchen. Shaffer, 70, crouched behind the counter. Nichols and Williams bolted for the door. Then Williams stopped, fired close-range at Shaffer's back, grabbed a gray metal cashbox containing $8 and continued his escape. The robbers fled with 2 women, who later testified that Nichols told them he had shot the store clerk in the shoulder blade. Within days, Nichols and Williams were in police custody. Williams told investigators he had fired the bullet that smashed through Shaffer's aorta. He pleaded guilty at his capital murder trial and was sentenced to death. A mistrial Nichols was tried under the state's law of parties, which holds all participants in a crime equally culpable. Jurors found Nichols guilty of capital murder, but deadlocked over punishment, leading to a mistrial. Jurors later told prosecutors they had difficulty sentencing Nichols to death when Williams already had confessed to firing the fatal bullet. At Nichols' 2nd trial, prosecutors still argued that he was guilty under the law of parties but added a significant twist: Nichols, they insisted, fired the fatal bullet. Forensic evidence was not conclusive. Prosecutors argued that based on the bullet's trajectory, it could have come from where Nichols was standing. A medical examiner, who earlier had offered testimony pointing to Williams as the triggerman, now offered
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, FLA., CALIF., IND.
Feb. 19 TEXAS: Proposed Jessiica's Law requires caution It would be easier to find a needle in a haystack than to find someone who didnt want to do everything possible to protect children from sex offenders. Texas lawmakers have filed more than 30 bills this legislative session to crack down on sex offenders. All 4 candidates for governor this past election supported legislation to get tougher on child sex offenders. The challenge is to find the best and most effective way to prevent children from becoming victims of sex offenders. Legislation introduced by Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, and supported by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst would allow the death penalty option for repeat child predators. The proposed legislation, which would be referred to as Jessica's Law, was inspired by the death of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, abducted from her Florida home, raped and killed in March 2005. This horrific crime has spurred lawmakers in a number of states to pass stronger child sex-offender laws. Besides the death penalty option, this version of Jessica's Law also calls for minimum sentences of 25 years to life for 1st-time violent sex offenses against children younger than 14; doubles the statute of limitations on sexual crimes against children from 10 to 20 years; and mandates lifetime monitoring of convicted child sex offenders by employing global-positioning technology. Surprisingly to some, Deuells proposals have drawn opposition from many prosecutors, victims' rights groups and legal experts. They believe the death penalty provision is unconstitutional. They also believe it could hurt, not help, efforts to protect children from sexual predators. These on-the-ground experts believe juries would be more hesitant to convict sex offenders if the death penalty looms. They also warn that sex offenders would be more likely to kill their victims so there would be no witnesses. Also, since most child sex abuse occurs in families, the death penalty might be a deterrent to reporting the crime, which would expose victims to more abuse. Lawmakers should listen to the experts. No one wants to make matters worse. (source: Editorial, Waco Tribune-Herald) *** Retrial in 1994 murder-for-hire to start Testimony is set to begin Monday in the retrial of a man previously sentenced to death in a murder-for-hire plot. Howard Paul Guidry was convicted in 1997 as the triggerman and sentenced to death for the 1994 murder-for-hire slaying of Farah Fratta. Her death was masterminded by her husband, former Missouri City public safety officer Robert Fratta. Guidry will be retried because while he claimed that while he was in jail, he was apparently tricked into making a confession to police. In 2004, a federal judge agreed with him and ordered the retrial. After some 7 years on death row, he will get another say in court. (source: KHOU News) *** Still an eye for an eye in Texas Americans have a complex relationship with the death penalty, which is rooted in their national identity and yet which is becoming increasingly difficult to support. In the 2nd of a 3-part series, Mary Vallis examines what the changing attitude toward capital punishment means for those whose lives hang in the balance. - - - Ronald Curtis Chambers has been on death row longer than I have been alive. For the past 31 years, he has lived in a small cell on death row. Most days, he spends 22 hours inside it. He is the longest-serving inmate in Texas facing death. When he was convicted of murder in 1975, Gerald Ford was president. The Vietnam War was ending. Tiger Woods had just been born. The year's top single was Love Will Keep Us Together by The Captain and Tennille. Chambers was just 20 years old when he was convicted. He is now 52. He has spent more time on death row than he did in the outside world. He has become a grandfather behind bars and watched his 18- year-old grandson grow up. He was supposed to die by lethal injection on Jan. 25. Death came so close that he had ordered his last meal -- sirloin steak, fried shrimp and German chocolate cake. But 4 days before his execution date, Chambers was granted a stay of execution on a legal technicality. On death row, they call Chambers Old School. He says he's just trying to get older. But he is certain he will be executed, someday. Ma'am, we're talking Texas. We're talking Texas, Chambers said in an interview, speaking by telephone from behind a soundproof glass barrier. I think the whole world can have a moratorium, and Texas would be the only one that's fighting against it. Texas is the state most actively killing its prisoners. More than 380 people have been executed in the state since 1976 (Virginia, in second place, has killed fewer than 100 prisoners in the same time period). And while the number of executions in the United States declined between 2005 and 2006 (60 and 53 deaths respectively), the number of executions in Texas
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, N.Y., ILL., COLO.
Feb. 8 TEXAS: Anti-death penalty Spring Break option Students looking for an alternative way to spend their spring break can do so protesting in Austin. The Texas Students Against the Death Penalty and other groups are sponsoring an anti-death penalty alternative spring break. The event will be held in Austin and consist of five days of activism and education against the death penalty. Students will participate in workshops led by experienced, knowledgeable presents who will teach skills that can be used after the students go back home. During the week, students will immediately put what they learn into action during activities such as Death Penalty Issues Lobby Day and a Direct Action Day. There will also be opportunities to write press releases, speak in public, meet with legislators or their aides and conceive and carry out direct action. For more details on the alternative spring break or to register for the event, log onto www.springbreakalternative.org. (source: The (SFA) Pine Log) * Former Youth Pastor Gets Death Penalty A former youth pastor was sentenced to death Wednesday for killing a teenager and her fetus in what is believed to be the first such order in Texas, the nation's busiest death penalty state. Adrian Estrada, 23, was convicted Friday of one count of capital murder for the death of Stephanie Sanchez and the fetus, of which he was the father. This is a significant case, said Bexar County prosecutor Susan Reed. This is significant for the state. A 2003 Texas law amended the definition of the word individual to include an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth. The death sentence is Texas' 1st in the death of a fetus, said Dave Atwood, founder of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, which monitors capital cases. Sanchez, 17, was 3 months pregnant Dec. 12, 2005, when her body was found in her family's home. She had been choked and stabbed 13 times. During the trial, DNA evidence was presented to show Estrada was the father. Estrada, a former youth pastor for a church, admitted to the stabbing the day after the killings. Prosecutors also said he worked out at a gym and went shopping after the crime. He showed no emotion when his punishment was read. The bad guy that you don't suspect is the one that you can't protect your loved one from, said Scott Simpson, Bexar County assistant prosecutor. And that's what he was and that's what he is. Estrada's attorney, Suzanne Kramer, had argued that her client made bad decisions. It that enough to execute him? Is that enough to kill him? she asked the jury. According to the Web site of the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 36 states have homicide laws defining a fetus as a person. (source: Associated Press) ** Man gets death penalty in pregnant girl's killing In San Anotnio, a jury gave the death penalty Wednesday to a man convicted of murdering a teenage girl and their unborn child in what prosecutors think is the 1st time someone in the nation's most active capital punishment state has been sentenced to death for killing an unborn child. Jurors spent about 3 hours deliberating in the case of Adrian Estrada, 23, who showed no emotion when his punishment was read. Estrada was convicted on Friday of capital murder in the deaths of Stephanie Sanchez and her unborn child. Sanchez, 17, was 3 months pregnant on Dec. 12, 2005, when she was found in her family's home. During the trial, DNA evidence was presented to show Estrada was the father. (source: Houston Chronicle) USA: States push tough death penalty laws Lawmakers in at least 6 states, including Texas and Tennessee, are considering measures that would strengthen the death penalty in their states. Legislators in Texas and Tennessee want to include certain child molesters who did not kill their victims, while Virginia is considering measures that would make accomplices and killers of judges and court witnesses eligible for the death penalty, USA Today reported. The governor of Missouri says he wants a mandatory death penalty for the murder of law enforcement officers. The newspaper said a bill in Georgia would allow judges to impose the death sentence if at least 9 of 12 jurors voted for it. In Utah, the House just approved the death penalty for anyone convicted of killing a child under age 14. Utah lawmakers are also considering a measure to allow the death penalty for killing a child during abuse or kidnapping, even if prosecutors cannot prove intent to kill, the newspaper said. (source: UPI) NEW YORK: Wrongful convictions dispute death penalty In response to the Feb. 1 article, Killer's sentence sparks a debate: Death penalty foes say prosecutors in police murders ducked law: Retired Colonie Police Chief John Grebert's acknowledgment of the potential for wrongful convictions is a welcome law enforcement voice in the death penalty discussion.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, OHIO
Nov. 16 TEXAS: Truck-death witnesses say AC turned on at endProsecutor contends that riders had chills from heatstroke The cooling unit in a sealed trailer where illegal immigrants were dying of heatstroke was turned on near the end of a journey that left 19 dead, four survivors testified Wednesday. Their testimony contradicts the accounts given by others who said the refrigeration unit was never in operation while they were among an estimated 100 riders packed into a trailer towed by truck driver Tyrone Williams. I felt like the air was running, but I didn't feel a thing, Jose Martinez Zuniga, 26, of El Salvador, told defense attorney Craig Washington. All of us who were in the back felt the fresh air, said Heliodoro Mireles, 35, of Mexico. Jesus D. Villanueva, 18, of El Salvador, and Francisco Esquivel, 38, of Mexico, said they could feel cool air in the area closest to the cab. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Rodriguez suggested, however, that they were suffering from chills, a symptom associated with heatstroke. The testimony could be crucial in convincing jurors that Williams should be spared the death penalty in his retrial on 58 smuggling counts, 20 of which carry a possible death sentence. A jury in March 2005 failed to reach a verdict. The prosecution is trying to show that Williams, a Jamaican immigrant from Schenectady, N.Y., was callously indifferent to the suffering of the people trapped in his trailer. The defense wants to blunt that allegation by convincing jurors that Williams turned on the refrigeration. The defense contends that Williams, 35, didn't realize that conditions in his trailer were deadly until he stopped at a Victoria truck stop to buy water for his passengers and heard someone say that people were dying. Most of the 20 survivors who testified for the prosecution said the refrigeration unit was never turned on, but Washington began trying to chip away at that scenario this week. Through testimony by law enforcement officers, Washington introduced statements by survivors who said the cooler was turned on. The statements were given within days of the May 14, 2003, discovery of the abandoned trailer at the truck stop. Several came from survivors who testified in this trial that they didn't recall saying they had heard or felt the refrigeration. Juan Martinez, a retired U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, said Wednesday that several survivors told him the cooler was turned on and off during the trip. One woman said she was able to get out after the trailer doors were opened because the cooler air had revived her, Martinez said. U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal recessed the trial until Monday. Scheduled to testify then are Fatima Holloway, who rode with Williams in the cab during the journey; Abelardo Flores, the convicted smuggler who recruited Williams; 1 more survivor and 6 immigration agents. (source: Houston Chronicle) USA: Father knows nothing I looked around at the school meeting I was attending Monday and saw something that's fairly common at these types of events: women outnumbered the men 4-1. Think about that for a second. I'll get back to you. The meeting was about the Montgomery County School System's proposed middle-school initiative plan. The local school system wants to overhaul or at the very least re-assess its middle-school program, and that is a good thing. Unfortunately, I don't think it goes far enough. The language the school system used in its proposal for change is muddy at times, referring to the Baldridge method, vertical articulation processes, differentiated instructional practices that promotes shared ownership for student and staff success. What the board really wants to do is build a better mousetrap. It wants to help children reach a higher standard based on each child's ability and using the best curriculum possible. Why doesn't the committee that penned this opus merely say so? The meeting I attended at Shady Grove Middle School spoke volumes about what the real problems are in middle school. Should anyone care to open their eyes in the school system or at the school board, they will see what's going on. As I said, women outnumbered the men 4-1 at the meeting. Here's why that number is significant: It's indicative of the fact that adolescent boys need fathers and male role models and there simply aren't enough around. There is no doubt that most of the real problems that kids get into in high school, including crime, drugs and violence, all start in middle school. If you really want to reform middle-school policies and procedures, then the school system has to dramatically re-think what school is and who is involved. School isn't a place where children are dropped off by parents and then picked up at the end of the day. Schools shouldn't be geared just to take care of those children who have no parents - enabling parents to kick back and let school officials handle problems. School is
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, VA., MO.
Nov. 9 TEXAS: Dewhurst proposes death penalty for re-offending child molesters Fresh from his 60 % re-election Tuesday over San Antonio Democrat Maria Alvarado, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in Midland Wednesday promised to take a series of initiatives to protect children in the 2007 state legislative session in Austin. While presiding over the 31-member Texas Senate, Dewhurst said, he will seek to make sexually assaulting a person under age 14 punishable by a minimum 25-year prison sentence. When such offenders are paroled, he told a Midland County Republican Women's luncheon at the Petroleum Club, they would be under Global Positioning System surveillance for life and if they re-offended would be subject to the death penalty. We've got to send this chilling message, he said to heavy applause from 170 club members. Dewhurst said 21,000 of the state's 46,000 registered sex offenders have molested children. Dewhurst said 2 years of Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Charlie Rangel and John Conyers, prominent congressional Democrats, will make it easy for Republicans to regain control of the U.S. House and Senate. He said the GOP lost power because 10 or 12 people forgot we Republicans stand on principle and doing the right thing and that at the end of the day, voters look at character. (source: Midland Reporter-Telegram) Michael Moore charged with murdering Rachel CookeChristina Moore's killer pleads not guilty in case of Georgetown woman who disappeared in 2002. In Georgetown, convicted murderer Michael Keith Moore pleaded not guilty to the death of Rachel Cooke, a Georgetown woman who has been missing since January 2002, after he was charged with her murder in court this morning. Judge Burt Carnes arraigned Moore, 31, on the murder charge in the 368th District Court in Williamson County. Cooke's family and friends filled half of the small courtroom, with many wearing buttons bearing her photo. How do you plead? Carnes asked Moore after calling him to the bench. Not guilty, Moore replied. Carnes looked up quickly and said, Will you repeat that for me? Not guilty. Carnes sent Moore back to the defense table, where he had a four-minute conference with his attorneys. Defense attorneys and prosecutors then approached the bench and Carnes called for a 15-minute recess. Moore was charged by a 1-page criminal information, which was filed last night by Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley. The filing charges Moore with killing Cooke by striking her with a hammer, by suffocating her, by some manner and means unknown, or by a combination of these acts. The filing differs from an indictment in that it is usually filed when the defendant has agreed to plead guilty. The charge connects 2 of the highest-profile cases in recent Williamson County history: Cooke's 2002 disappearance and the 2003 murder of Christina Moore, who was not related to Michael Moore, in her Round Rock home. A Williamson County jury in February convicted Michael Moore of murdering Christina Moore. Cooke was 19 when she vanished while jogging near her parents' home in the Northlake subdivision northwest of Georgetown on Jan. 10, 2002. Officials have said that neighbors last saw her jogging at about 10:30 a.m., 100 or 200 yards from her home. Her disappearance rocked the usually quiet community in Williamson County and drew both local and national media attention. Hundreds of volunteers helped search for Cooke on foot and horseback in the days following her disappearance. They later drove around Central Texas distributing flyers with Cooke's picture. Her parents have made numerous pleas for anyone with information about the case to come forward. They have helped organize runs in honor of Cooke, who was an all-state cross country runner in high school, and dedicated a tree in her name at her alma mater, Georgetown High School. The family has also offered a $50,000 reward for information that could lead to a break in the case. And in January 2004, the Williamson County sheriff's office assembled a multi-agency team, including investigators from the Austin Police Department and the FBI, to examine the case. But no one was ever charged in connection with Cooke's disappearance until this morning. Michael Moore was convicted in February of murdering 35-year-old Christina Moore on Sept. 23, 2003. Christina Moore was 14 weeks pregnant when Michael Moore slit her throat as she knelt on the floor of her bedroom closet, her right arm restrained by a handcuff. He then stole her purse, some jewelry and her wedding rings, according to testimony heard during the trial. Her husband, Robert Moore, came home to find his wife dead and the couple's then 15-month-old daughter Gracie crying, unharmed, in her crib. Michael Moore targeted Christina Moore's home because he had planned to steal checks and credit cards and thought it would easier to be easier to use them if he stole them from someone with the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
Sept. 20 TEXAS: Trial Starts, East Texas Man Accused Of Murdering 93-Year-Old The capital murder trial of Clifton Lamar Williams began today. Williams is accused of robbing, stabbing 93 year old Cecelia Schneider in Tyler last year and then burning her house down. Because of a leak in Judge Cynthia Kent's courtroom yesterday Williams' trial was delayed. Today, the trial began in a federal courtroom. Smith County District Attorney, Matt Bingham's opening statements lasted almost an hour. Bingham demonstrated for the jury- how he believes Williams stabbed Schneider in her heart with a knife. He says that explains the cut on Williams' hand. Bingham says Williams' DNA was found in Schneider's car: from his blood and saliva from a cigarette. The defense argued the cut on Williams' hand is from fighting with a man. They say Clifton Williams is also known as Crazy C because he's a mental patient from the Andrews Center in Tyler. The defense says an acquaintance of Williams' forced him to go to Schneider's home that night. The jury makeup in this trial is 5 women and 9 men that includes the 2 alternates. If convicted, Williams faces the death penalty. Judge Kent told the jury it may take up to 2 to 3 weeks. She also said they may be able to move back to the Smith County Courthouse on Thursday. (source: KLTV News) *** Large reward offered for information in 1992 convenience store murder In San Antonio, a reward of up to $12,000 is being offered for clues in the 1992 murder of Darren Holden, a store manager killed on his birthday. The reward includes a guaranteed $7,000 from the victim's family, and up to $5,000 more from Crime Stoppers. Darren was just a good boy. Never gave us any trouble at all, never, said Melvin Holden, Darren's father. Darren, 24, was the manager at the Phillips 66 on St. Mary's Street. On Feb. 8, 1992, police said 2 Hispanic men and 1 Hispanic woman shot and stabbed Darren before he opened the store for business. It's been 14 1/2 years. No closure, his father said. However, police are tracking new leads. We do have information coming in. These individuals actually bragged about this murder and have discussed it through the years, said Det. Liz Greiner, with the San Antonio Police Department's cold case unit. Police said Darren was robbed of his wallet, watch and rings, and so for now, the motive appears to be robbery. Investigators said the female suspect and her 2 male accomplices are just 1 phone call away from being arrested for the crime. It's amazing. One person may think it's just a small little detail, but that fills in the piece of the puzzle for us, Greiner said. For that reason, Holden holds out hope that his son's killers will soon be brought to justice. Keep looking over your shoulder, because statute of limitations never runs out on murder. They gonna get ya eventually, he said. If you've heard anyone bragging about killing Darren Holden, call Crime Stoppers at (210) 224-STOP (7867). You don't have to give your name. Crime Stoppers will assign you a special identification number. If your anonymous tip leads to an arrest, you could make up to $5,000 from Crime Stoppers, and a guaranteed $7,000 from the victim's family. (source: KENS 5 Eyewitness News) Rethinking Richards' legacy Enough with the myth-making already. Liberal commentators have been falling all over themselves for the last week to get a word in about how much they just loved Ann Richards, painting a picture of the former governor that has nothing to do with reality. So, she was feisty and witty, and it was just hilarious when she got on that Harley. Ann Richards sure was a barrel of fun. Unless you were in prison or on death row, that is. She oversaw the largest prison expansion in U.S. history, adding greatly to the number of Texans, primarily blacks and Hispanics, locked away for years on end. She also presided over 50 executions. Despite what her defenders say, her hands weren't tied on this issue. Most members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles are appointed by the governor, and the board's chairman serves at the pleasure of the governor (Texas Administrative Code). Given the flaws of the Texas justice system, she could have instructed the board to commute all death sentences they reviewed to life in prison. But she didn't. What kind of civil rights pioneer doesn't do anything to stop the Texas death penalty that so unfairly targets people of color and the poor? And what kind of progressive was Richards when she callously signed the death warrant of Johnny Frank Garrett, a juvenile offender? Amnesty International cited Garrett as being extremely mentally impaired, chronically psychotic and brain-damaged. Who is remembering her for this? Progressives need to stop making excuses for the miserable leaders who claim to represent us. We should expect so much more. Some may say it's inappropriate to criticize Richards at the time of her death. If her family
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, VA.
Sept. 20 TEXAS: CAPITAL MURDER TRIAL BEGINS A Smith County jury began hearing evidence Tuesday about the life and death of Cecelia Schneider. Clifton Lamar Williams, 22, is charged with capital murder for the death of 93-year-old Ms. Schneider, who was killed July 9, 2005. The defendant faces the death penalty if convicted. During opening statements, Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham said Ms. Schneider was a widow who lived alone. He said that in the late hours of July 8, 2005, or early hours of July 9, 2005, Williams entered her house and killed her. Bingham said her face was beaten badly, she might have been strangled and she was stabbed three times, including once in the heart. He said her body was horrifically and totally burned, found lying on the floor in front of her bed. Her 2 cats were found dead and her purse and car were stolen. At about 5 a.m., July 9, 2005, Williams went to a friend's house outside town, changed clothes and threw away the clothes he had arrived in. When asked about the cut on his hand, he said a man had pulled a gun on him and he had to stab him, and then he took his car, Bingham told the jury. Ms. Schneider's car was later found wrecked on Greenbriar Road. The knife used in the murder was found in a nearby pond, and the victim's purse was found by the pond. Bingham said a mixture of Ms. Schneider's and the defendant's blood was found on the steering wheel of her car. Williams' fingerprints were also found inside the tan Toyota Camry and a cigarette with his DNA was found in the ashtray of the car. The defendant called his girlfriend and told her to get out of his apartment and lock the door, Bingham said. For about 6 days, Williams told different people a similar story of stabbing a man who threatened him with a gun. When one man heard the story, he called police and told him about the defendant, whom he knew as Crazy C. Police issued a warrant for his arrest and, late on July 15, 2005, Williams was brought to police by his father and uncle, Bingham said. Williams told police he had never been to Callahan Street and denied any involvement in the murder. He eventually said that he was forced by a man with a gun to smoke crack cocaine and break into the home, and that the other man stabbed Ms. Schneider with a knife from her kitchen. Williams said the man forced him to cut his own hand and drip his blood in the house so police would find his DNA, Bingham said. Bingham said there was no evidence linking the other man to the murder. Bingham said about $40 taken from the victim was used to buy drugs. He said Ms. Schneider's body smoldered for hours in the sealed house before the smoke could be seen. DEFENSE Defense attorney LaJuanda Lacy said the man who Williams claimed killed Ms. Schneider told police he heard from Williams that he stabbed a man. But, she said, no one Williams told about stabbing a man ever called police. Ms. Lacy said that according to the story Williams told several people, he was threatened by a man with a gun, stabbed him, stole his car and wrecked it. Ms. Lacy said Williams, who was a mental patient at the Andrews Center, denied at all times that he caused the death of Ms. Schneider. When he began to tell police about the man who killed the victim, he became very tearful and cried, Ms. Lacy said. She said the other man stabbed the woman as Williams cried out in protest. He then covered the body with a blanket and set her on fire, Ms. Lacy said. She said there was no DNA or fingerprints that placed Williams in the victim's home. TESTIMONY Mamie Johnson said Ms. Schneider came into the Tyler Senior Citizens Center on Garden Valley Road 3 or more times a week to play games and eat lunch. Ms. Johnson said Ms. Schneider was an independent woman, whom she last saw on Thursday, July 7, 2005. Ron Lewis lived directly across the street from Ms. Schneider's house at 311 Callahan St. He testified that his neighbor was more like my grandmother, and that he looked out for the woman. He said she was extremely independent and wouldn't allow anyone to do much for her. Lewis said Ms. Schneider had a schedule she followed each day, including watering her flowers in the early mornings and evenings and attending a Catholic church. He said she was extremely meticulous in caring for her things, and not many people visited her home. On July 9, 2005, he woke and looked out his window at about midnight and saw Ms. Schneider's car parked in the carport and all of the lights on in her house, he said. At about 4:30 p.m. that Saturday, he was alerted by a neighbor that smoke was coming from her house. He said he believed Ms. Schneider was gone because her car wasn't there, but they called 911 and tried to enter the home to save her cats. Lewis said that for more than a year before the murder, he had seen Williams on the street regularly, visiting several houses. He said other than walking through the backyards of Ms. Schneider and others, he
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, CALIF., ALA.
Sept. 14 TEXAS: Texas death-row prisoner gets out I'm in a good position now: As a 20-year veteran of death rowone who's escaped the executioner's axethat gives me a platform to speak from, and I AM going to speak. I'm a walking, talking testimonial of hope and inspiration to all the guys that I left behind, said Martin Draughon here on his 1st night of freedom in 20 years. Draughon was released from prison on Aug. 25 after a plea deal for a 40-year sentence, which made him eligible for parole. As he was led out of jail, members of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement were out on the sidewalk, along with Rene Feltz, Pacificas KPFT news director, and a Houston Chronicle reporter. Abolitionist Njeri Shakur was elated at the release. I'm gratified. As an activist who has been working on this issue for a decade, I know were on the right track. The system has exposed itself. People are advancing their careers at the expense of justice and human lives. The crime lab has manufactured evidence, lost evidence, hidden evidence. And poor people pay with their lives. The Abolition Movement is happy for Martin and his family and we are anxious to spend a lot of time talking with Martin. We have a great deal to learn from him. Draughon paroled to Livingston, Texas, the city that houses the 400 men on Texas death row in the Polunsky Unit. His fiance, Joy Weathers, works for radio station KDOL in Livingston, which does a prison ministries program devoted to the men on death row. Draughon is now doing the show with her, and says after 3 shows that it is great to speak over the airwaves to his friends and to all the men on death row. Conviction overturned Draughon was sentenced to death in 1987 for shooting a man following a botched robbery. As I was running away from a fast food place I wanted to rob, I was being chased. I fired a few shots up in the air to scare them. One bullet apparently hit something and ricocheted and struck a man named Armando Guererro in the heart. I didn't even know anyone had been hurt until I was arrested later and I feel deep remorse for that. But I did not intend to shoot anyone, and did not point the gun and fire into Guerrero like the ballistic expert said I did. That's a lie, Draughon told Workers World. Draughon's conviction was overturned in 2004 when U.S. District Judge Lee Rosen thal heard evidence from a ballistics expert that the bullet that killed Guerrero had ricocheted. That fact contradicted the testimony provided by Houston Police Department ballistics expert C. E. Ander son at the time of Draughon's original trial. Draughon stressed, C. E. Anderson, the HPD firearms' expert, perjured himself at my trial and said under oath that the bullet did NOT ricochet, that it entered between the ribs and entered the chest cavity and pierced the heart of Armando Guerrero. After 15 years, we got evidence into federal court that the bullet had in fact ricocheted. There's no way else to put ithe lied about what happened at my trial. 2 other men were also sent to death row based on false ballistic evidence: Nanon Williams and Johnnie Bernal. Both were 17 years old at the time of their arrest, so their death sentences were commuted last year after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling did away with sentencing juveniles to death. Both are still fighting their unfair convictions We've all heard about the 200-plus boxes of evidence that have been misplaced by the crime lab in Houston, Draughon continued. Well, my biggest fear was that that evidence that I needed to retest would come up missing. But once we got the evidence, we proved that the police lied at my trial. Now that I am out, I want to show people that we can be redeemed, that we're not irredeemable monsters just because we were put on death row, Draughon said. The Texas parole system has placed severe restrictions on Draughon, but he says he is not worried about complying with them. I have lived on death row. There is nothing the parole people can ask me to do that I can't do, he concluded. I hope they will relax things eventually, but I am not worried. I have plans for speaking out against the death penalty and nothing is going to stop me! 'Remember Frances Newton!' Despite the good news of Draughons release and the upcoming re-trials of Howard Guidry and Thomas Miller-El, the execution machine of Texas is not taking a rest. 2 executions are scheduled in September, 2 in October and 2 in November. There are also 3 set for January 2007. But the movement against capital punishment is also not taking a rest. It is growing daily. Death row families are becoming active. Students are mobilizing. The 6th annual October march to the state capital is building momentum and Houston activists are chartering a bus for it. It was just 1 year ago that Texas executed Frances Newton. Shakur told Workers World, We have not forgotten Frances. Coming on the heels of the Katrina tragedy, the African community was outraged at the racism and
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, S.C., CALIF, NEV.
August 19 TEXAS: 'Special' prison visits reducedOfficials say foreign visitors abused the rules on traveling long distances The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has rolled up the welcome mat for prison visitors who, it contends, are abusing a special once-a-month visitation opportunity reserved for those who must travel long distances to the state's far-flung prisons. TDCJ's recently implemented action limits European visitors or anyone who has traveled more than 300 miles to one special visit per trip. The special visit consists of 2 4-hour sessions scheduled on consecutive days. Regular weekly visits, consisting of 2-hour sessions, are not affected by the change. Prison system spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said the policy was changed because some European visitors to the Polunsky Unit's death row in Livingston attempted to establish a residence. One woman, she said, obtained a post office box and local cell phone number and talked about starting a business. The agency has always supported visits to offenders from family and friends it is beneficial for morale and an important part of the rehabilitation process, Lyons said. We do not, however, support practices that allow for certain visitors to circumvent visitation rules. Some European visitors, irate that they will be limited to 1 8-hour visit per trip to the United States, have launched a petition calling on the state agency to reconsider. Most visitors, Sandrine Ageorges said in an e-mail from her home in France, can only afford to stay a week or so. 2 special visits, when one visits at the end of a month back to back with another (early monthly visit) makes the trip, the expense and the time really worthwhile to all concerned. Lyons confirmed that such piggybacked visits no longer are permitted. For years and years, she said, this has not been a problem. But the change has been prompted by foreign visitors who have taken it a step further and established residency for months at a time. When you've got a local post office box, we no longer consider you someone who has traveled more than 300 miles to make a visit. Ageorges, who noted that she has advocated for Texas death row inmates for 10 years, typically visits the United States 4 times a year, sometimes staying a month. She is one of scores of European death penalty opponents, some of whom have married inmates by proxy, who journey to the United States to visit condemned prisoners. European capital-punishment foes and media are especially drawn to Texas, whose execution of 373 inmates since the punishment was resumed in 1982 has made it notorious in activist circles. Ageorges said the regular 2-hour weekly visits are less than satisfactory because two hours is about the time a segregated prisoner needs to adjust to a visitor. A regular visit in itself is very short when you consider that most overseas visitors make at least a 10,000-mile round trip to come for a visit, Ageorges said, adding that she has made the journey for a single 2-hour visit with an inmate. This recent modification to the special visitation rule (done very quietly by the warden) is probably one too many for all death row visitors and for the prisoners, she wrote. Our longtime fears are taking shape and we cannot sit there and let it happen. (source: Houston Chronicle) * Insanity Plea Successful In Andrea Yates Retrial APA leaders say debate and discussion about serious mental illness and criminal responsibility generated by the first trial and its outcome may have influenced the verdict in the 2nd. Andrea Yates, the Houston woman convicted in 2002 of killing her 5 children, was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a retrial after her original convictions were overturned earlier this year. Shortly after the July 26 verdict, Yates was transferred to Vernon State Hospital, a maximum-security state mental health facility in north Texas. The now 42-year-old Yates had been sentenced to life in prison for drowning her 5 children in a bathtub in June 2001. Although her attorney had argued in the first trial that Yates was legally insane at the time she drowned her children, she was found guilty. Under Texas law, the standard for a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity hinges on whether the defendant knew that his or her behavior was wrong. Yates petitioned for a mistrial when a forensic psychiatrist, Park Dietz, M.D., who was an expert witness for the prosecution, informed prosecutors that he had given incorrect testimony. The trial court rejected Yates' petition for a mistrial, but this ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeals for the 1st District of Texas. A new trial was ordered on January 6, 2005 (Psychiatric News, February 4, 2005). The verdict from Yates's 2nd trial was welcomed by mental health advocates, including APA leaders. It is a great relief to hear that justice has prevailed, said APA Vice President Nada Stotland, M.D. It's heartbreaking that she
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, CALIF., MISS.
July 10 TEXASimpending execution Killer's death date up againExecution set for Tuesday in '93 rape, slaying of 2 teens at park It wasn't news to anyone that Derrick Sean O'Brien was bad news. He fought often at school, once breaking a kid's jaw. Lots of times he was drunk. Sometimes he carried a knife. He was full of bluster about his prowess as a car thief. But it was in 1993 that O'Brien hit rock bottom. In January of that year, O'Brien later admitted, he murdered and tried to rape Patricia Lopez, a 27-year-old mother of 2 young children, in Melrose Park. And on June 24, 1993, he took part in the brutal gang rapes and murders of Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pea, 16, after the girls stumbled into a drunken midnight gang initiation rite in T.C. Jester Park. Tuesday, O'Brien, 31, is scheduled to be executed for his role in that crime. The death date is the killer's 2nd this year. In May, O'Brien received a brief stay as judges considered his claim that death by injection is cruel and unusual punishment. O'Brien's attorney, Catherine Burnett, an associate dean at the South Texas College of Law, filed a new appeal on his behalf with the U.S. Supreme Court. I hope the son of a bitch rots in hell, Ertman's father, Randy, said last week. He deserves it. It doesn't make me happy, Pea's father, Adolfo, said in a recent interview. But this is the punishment he was given, and it's justifiable. ... I kind of feel numb in a way, knowing that I've been waiting so long for this day to come. ... I've been looking forward to this for a long time. The murders of Ertman and Pea rocked the city in a way that few deaths could. The Waltrip High School students, balanced at that awkward point between childhood and young womanhood, spent the hours before their deaths at a poolside party at a northwest Houston apartment complex. As their midnight curfew approached, they debated the best way to Pea's home. Their normal route would have taken half an hour, but they chose a well-known shortcut down the railroad tracks through the park. Minutes after the girls left the party, they were intercepted by O'Brien and five other members of the loose-knit gang, who had just concluded a track-side initiation rite. The girls were pulled from the tracks, raped and strangled. Court testimony revealed that O'Brien grunted with exertion as he tightened a belt around Ertman's neck. Then, after stomping on the girls' throats, the killers divided the victims' belongings. O'Brien was at the crime scene 4 days later when police, alerted to the bodies' location by the brother of a gang member, began their investigation. Unobtrusively, the killer stood among spectators who gathered in the park. Ertman's father also was in the crowd. Days later, O'Brien was arrested. He will be the 1st of the convicted gang members to be put to death. Others facing execution are Peter Anthony Cantu, described as the gang's leader, and Jose Ernesto Medellin, both 31. Death sentences for 2 others Efrain Perez and Raul Omar Villarreal were commuted to life in prison when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that those who were minors when they committed murders could not be executed. The 6th gang member, Venacio Medellin, who was 14 at the time of the murders and testified against the others, received a 40-year sentence. Don't say time makes things better, Pea's father said. It never goes away. It's never going to go away. The hurt is still the same. I still find myself crying just out of the blue. (source: Houston Chronicle) * Cops' past further clouds questionable execution The sergeant in charge of an investigation that led to the possibly wrongful execution of a Texas man had arrested innocent people before and had been suspended 3 times for errors in judgment over his 31 years at the San Antonio Police Department. As a supervisor in the homicide unit, Bill Ewell was one of the driving forces behind a controversial 1985 capital murder conviction. Executed for the crime, in which one man was shot to death and another critically injured, was Ruben Cantu, who went to his death claiming he was not the killer. Authorities reopened the Cantu case last year after a Houston Chronicle investigation found that the lone eyewitness the man who survived the shooting had recanted, claiming officers pressured him into accusing Cantu. The Bexar County district attorney is exploring the politically charged question of whether Texas took an innocent life with the 1993 execution. Attorneys on both sides of the case now say Ewell's past mistakes as well as the possibility that he may have had a personal reason for pursuing Cantu could have undermined the prosecution. Ewell denies he was influenced by anything other than the truth. The witness had numerous opportunities to qualify or withdraw his identification of Cantu, and he never did, Ewell said. I believed then, and I believe now, that Cantu was guilty of the murder. The
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, KY., MISS.
June 24 TEXASimpending execution 'Railroad Killer' files for stay of executionThe lawyers for Maturino Resendiz seek help at the federal level after losing a ruling After a major defeat in state district court, lawyers for convicted killer Angel Maturino Resendiz on Friday filed a flurry of motions in federal court in a desperate bid to save their client from a Tuesday date with the executioner. Houston attorney Jack Zimmermann said he has filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court here seeking a review of an adverse ruling Maturino Resendiz received in Judge William Harmon's 178th state District Court. Harmon ruled Wednesday that the Mexican national, convicted of the December 1998 rape-murder of West University physician Claudia Benton, was aware that he soon would be killed and that he knew the reason for the death sentence. By meeting that legal test, the judge found, Maturino Resendiz was competent to be executed. The ruling came after two days of hearings in which the defense counsel attempted to prove that Maturino Resendiz, who has claimed to be half-man, half-angel, was psychotic and could not legally be put to death. Zimmermann said a motion for a stay of execution was filed in connection with the writ of habeas corpus. In other action, U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal agreed that Maturino Resendiz could become a plaintiff in a civil rights lawsuit originally filed on his behalf by the Mexican consulate that seeks an injunction against the execution on the grounds that lethal chemicals might lead to a protracted, torturous death. Rosenthal rejected a separate motion for a postponement submitted so that lawyers could prepare a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, noting that she did not have jurisdiction in the matter. The legal action came as the Mexican government, which opposes capital punishment, lodged an appeal on Maturino Resendiz's behalf with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which already is considering a motion for a stay filed in early June by the killer's Houston lawyers. The pardons board will make a recommendation to Gov. Rick Perry. Maturino Resendiz, 45, was convicted of Benton's murder in Harmon's court. He has confessed or been linked by evidence to at least 12 other slayings. The Mexican consulate in Houston hired Zimmermann to represent Maturino Resendiz in a last-ditch effort to save the drifter's life. In the civil rights lawsuit filed by Austin lawyer Robert Owen in Houston federal court, Maturino Resendiz argues that prison officials have demonstrated deliberate indifference to the basic human right of condemned individuals not to be subject to a torturous and unnecessarily painful death without the ability to communicate the fact that they are in pain. The lawsuit contends that sodium thiopental, a short-acting barbiturate use to initiate the procedure, might not be effective in keeping the killer from feeling the intense pain associated with potassium chloride, which is administered to stop the heart. Additionally, the lawsuit claims, pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxant, might act to neutralize the sedative effect of the barbiturate. Resendiz's action is among a flood of lawsuits nationally challenging the 3-drug formula used in lethal injections in many states. (source: Houston Chronicle) USA: Death penalty experiment has failed You brush up against a lot of weird stuff in the course of child rearing, but one phenomenon that always had me scratching my head was the parents who hit their kids to teach them that hitting was a bad thing. In their defense, they had a civic model for that kind of bizarre circular reasoning. Americans still live in one of the few countries that kill people to make clear what a terrible thing killing people is. Hardly any other civilized place does this anymore. Last year four countries accounted for nearly all executions worldwide: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States. Last week the Supreme Court agreed to cogitate once more about capital punishment, a boomerang the justices find coming back at them time and time again. This new case is about the way lethal injection is administered. The argument is that even though one drug anesthetizes, a 2nd paralyzes and a 3rd stops the heart, the 1st is not sufficient to mitigate the pain and the 2nd makes the inmate appear peaceful when he is in agony. In other words, the case is about whether being put to death hurts. Much of the debate about the death penalty since it reared its ugly head again in the '70s has been about whether it is disproportionately meted out to poor minorities, whether it should be permitted for juvenile offenders, whether various methods constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Most of these discussions are designed not to examine underlying deep moral issues but to allow Americans to continue to put people to death and still feel good about themselves. That's become increasingly difficult. At the same time
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
June 10 TEXAS: DA stays in charge of execution probe A judge ruled Friday that he has no power to remove District Attorney Susan Reed from an investigation, even though critics say she has a clear conflict of interest when it comes to examining allegations that a San Antonio man may have been wrongfully executed. The ruling momentarily settled a dispute about who should delve into questions about whether Ruben Cantu was innocent when he was executed in 1993. Critics have challenged Reed because her role in the case has changed over time. She reopened the case last year after three witnesses came forward claiming firsthand knowledge of Cantu's innocence, but 13 years ago, as a judge, she reviewed one of his appeals and ultimately set his execution date. The issue was forced into court Friday by Cantu's co-defendant David Garza, an inmate who has told conflicting stories over the years. Garza now insists Cantu was innocent, but doesn't trust Reed to investigate fairly and has requested that a special prosecutor be appointed in her place. Garza's concerns about Reed's dual roles were echoed in a letter that his attorney, Keith S. Hampton, tried to enter into evidence at Friday's hearing. In it, 22 professors of legal ethics concluded that Reed and her staff should be disqualified. Hoping the district attorney would admit to an emotional stake in the case, Hampton forced Reed to testify, a move prosecutors resisted, saying it was a ploy to intimidate and harass her. But Reed appeared less intimidated than irritated as she listened to the lawyer's questions. As you sit here today, Hampton asked Reed, do you have any knowledge that leads you to believe you ordered the execution of an innocent man? Reed didn't directly answer. She said she wasn't a witness in the case and couldn't draw any conclusions about Cantu's guilt or innocence this early in the investigation. Asked if her investigators would examine her own role in the case as a judge, Reed said she didn't see why they should. I didn't do anything criminal in this case. Don't look at me like that, counsel, she added, scolding the defense lawyer. I didn't sit in the witness chair and lie. This was a jab at Juan Moreno, the witness who testified convincingly against Cantu years ago, but now says he lied after police repeatedly pressured him into accusing Cantu. Apart from Reed's 10 minutes on the witness stand, prosecutors did relatively little talking. Most of the roughly 90-minute hearing was dominated by State District Judge Mark Luitjen's questioning of Hampton. Repeatedly, Hampton tried to persuade the judge that even Reed's limited role in sending Cantu to the execution chamber made her the exact wrong person in the universe to investigate this case. Supporting his argument, Hampton offered the letter from 22 law professors, who said Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct prohibit lawyers and their co-workers from taking part of any case they may have previously ruled on as a judge. The state's paramount interest is not to convict but to see that justice is done, one of the professors, Robert P. Schuwerk of the University of Houston Law Center, said by phone. If fulfilling that interest would expose the judge as a person who made a fatal error, literally, signing the death warrant of someone who wasn't guilty, that seems to create a conflict between the judge's personal interest and the state's interest in seeing that justice was done. Prosecutors, however, objected to the professors' letter as hearsay and, outside the courtroom, Reed's chief deputy ridiculed the notion that Reed should be a suspect in her own investigation. First Assistant District Attorney Cliff Herberg said Reed's judicial role in the Cantu case was minimal and that she simply followed the law when she set his execution date. Ultimately, Luitjen said he could find nothing in the law permitting judges to remove prosecutors from their own investigations, at least not prior to an indictment being issued. (source: San Antonio Express News) USA: Death Penalty in Some Cases of Child Sex Is Widening Oklahoma became the 5th state to allow the death penalty for sex crimes against children yesterday, a day after South Carolina enacted a similar law. The constitutionality of the new laws is unclear. The Oklahoma measure, signed into law by Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, makes people found guilty of rape and other sex crimes more than once against children younger than 14 eligible for the death penalty. The South Carolina law also requires multiple offenses, but against children under 11. Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican, said in a statement that the law would be an incredibly powerful deterrent to offenders that have already been released. But Richard C. Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a research group that opposes capital punishment, said the new laws were largely symbolic, would impose disproportionate
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, ILL., MONT., LA.
June 9 TEXAS: Capital murder pretrial held The extra steps toward security - 4 deputies flanking 3 jumpsuit-clad inmates sitting together at the defense table - was a stark reminder Thursday of the viciousness of the crime the defendants are accused of committing. The pretrial hearing in Judge Martha Trudo's 264th District Court was a chance for the prosecution and defense attorneys to complete some housekeeping items before the accused young men have their day in court on June 26. We want to make sure everyone is on the same page, said First Assistant District Attorney Murff Bledsoe, the lead prosecutor. Harker Heights residents Russell J. Alligood, 25, a former 1st Cavalry Division soldier; Brandon Lee Hammock, 16; Erik Leonard Siperko, 18; and Matthew Allen Harris, 22, are charged in the slaying of Capt. Jason Luz Gonzalez at his Harker Heights home on June 3, 2005. Alligood, Hammock, and Siperko will be tried together; Harris will be tried separately. Each was indicted on charges of capital murder committed during the course of a burglary by a Bell County grand jury on Sept. 28, 2005, and each was re-indicted on May 17 for charges of capital murder committed during the course of a robbery. The court had a pretrial hearing before the last scheduled trial date (April 3) on the previous indictments, Bledsoe said. Subsequent to that, new indictments were returned. The difference between a robbery and a burglary is whether a victim is physically present. A person is charged with a burglary when he or she breaks into a home or building and no one is there. The new indictments were not changes to the original indictments, but merely additions. The new capital murder indictments don't change the severity of the punishment in the event of a guilty verdict - life in prison. Hammock - certified to stand trial as an adult - and Siperko, 15 and 17 years old at the time of the offense, are not eligible for the death penalty. Bledsoe explained to Trudo that a couple of the defendants had not been arraigned on the re-indictments. An arraignment is simply having the indictment read to the defendant and the accused entering a plea. Hammock and Siperko pleaded not guilty to the new charges; Alligood waived his right to an arraignment. The prosecution and 3 defense attorneys declared they were ready to proceed with the trial. The defendants are accused of killing the 28-year-old captain at his home in Harker Heights during a burglary. Gonzalez died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Gonzalez was an Apache helicopter pilot with the 4th Infantry Division and had been scheduled to leave for Iraq this past November. In the arrest affidavit, the four men admit to breaking into the house on Iron Jacket Trail, shooting and killing Gonzalez and stealing several items, including the victim's truck which was later found at the bottom of Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir. (source: Killeen Daily Herald) *** AT THE COURTHOUSEProsecutors demand proof of misconduct; Defense attorney in truck-death case said his opponent met with a judge Federal prosecutors are demanding that a defense attorney retract or prove his allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in the case of a truck driver accused in the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants who were packed into his stifling trailer. The demand, in a court filing made public this week, was in response to Craig Washington's recent allegation that the lead prosecutor knew in advance that an appeals court was going to remove U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore from the case. Tyrone Williams faces a possible death sentence this fall when he goes on trial a 2nd time for his role in a botched smuggling attempt in which the illegal immigrants died. Gilmore presided over his 1st trial last year, but a 3-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals removed her from the case in early May. Washington should either retract his statements and face sanctions by this court, or should produce evidence to support his absurdly groundless claim of improper contact, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Roberts wrote. 'Made in good faith' Washington stood by his allegation that comments in December by lead prosecutor Daniel Rodriguez indicated that an improper meeting had taken place between a circuit judge and a prosecutor. My statement was made in good faith upon the sworn affidavit of a lawyer whose credibility is above reproach, Washington said this week. He accused Rodriguez on May 25 of predicting - during a casual conversation with defense attorneys - that the 5th Circuit panel would remove Gilmore from the case. Washington presented an affidavit by attorney David Adler, stating that Rodriguez had made the prediction on Dec. 8. The 5th Circuit Court panel, in an order that also reversed Gilmore for the third time in the Williams case, removed her on May 10. The judges cited her busy caseload and the history of this case, in which
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, OHIO, MASS.
June 3 TEXASimpending execution Amarilloan's execution set for Tuesday Barring a stay by Gov. Rick Perry or any last-minute appeals, an Amarillo man condemned for the 1992 ax-slaying of a woman will face lethal injection next week. The execution of Timothy Tyler Titsworth, 34, is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Huntsville Unit in Huntsville. No federal appeals had been filed as of Friday for Titsworth, who has until the time of execution Tuesday to appeal or be granted a stay, said Jerry Strickland, spokesman with the Texas Attorney General's Office. A Randall County jury convicted Titsworth in October 1993 for the July 23, 1992, slaying of Amarilloan Christine Marie Sossaman, his live-in girlfriend. Sossaman was found dead in the bedroom of her trailer at 6601 W. Arden Road in Amarillo. She had been attacked with an ax, according to the attorney general's office. Titsworth told police that he left the trailer to buy cocaine after he and Sossaman argued the night of her death. Titsworth, at the time on probation for vehicle theft, said he was high on crack cocaine when he returned to the trailer, took an ax from a closet and struck Sossaman as she slept. Titsworth then stole Sossaman's credit cards and car, and returned to the trailer several times to steal other personal items to sell for drugs. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Titsworth's conviction in 1995 and denied a relief petition on his behalf in 1999. Both the U.S. District Court and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also denied appeals and petitions for review between 2003 and January. 181st District Judge John Board set Titsworth's June 6 execution date on Feb. 10. If executed Tuesday, Titsworth will become the state's 11th offender put to death in 2006 and Randall County's 2nd offender executed since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. (source: Amarillo.com) How much should death row inmates suffer during execution? It's become the latest legal tactic to stop executions: claim the very way Texas puts people to death is cruel and unusual. Critics say lethal injection can leave condemned inmates paralyzed but still conscious as the chemicals kill them. Could that really happen? It's the method used by Texas to execute more prisoners than any state in the nation. You may have seen a story we did about patients who wake up during surgery. Could the same thing be happening to prisoners as they're being executed? When asked if they are conscious of in essence, being suffocated to death, Correct, said Jared Tyler, Texas Innocence Network. Tyler said that's what they'd call torture. Is lethal injection a humane way to execute someone? It sure sounds better than electrocution or hanging but some say a number of cases here in Texas and elsewhere show it may not be any better a way to die. Texas uses 3 chemicals: the first is supposed to put the inmate to sleep, the next 2 paralyze the lungs, then the heart. But last year, researchers said autopsies done in other states suggested some inmates might still have been awake as the paralyzing drugs hit their organs. Just this past April, a report by a group called Human Rights Watch said the whole lethal injection process is slipshod and needlessly risks putting prisoners in excruciating pain. It cited several examples from Texas, including the execution of Claude Jones, as viscous a killer as any on death row. Early one evening 17 years ago, Jones, a thief and bank robber who was well known to police in Houston, went with 2 accomplices to San Jacinto County to rob what was then a liquor store. Jones went in with this .357 Magnum and confronted the owner, Allen Hilzendager. He went in there and shot him in the back, said Lacy Rogers. Rogers is the sheriff. ... shot him again, and shot him a 3rd time, said Gayle Currie, sister of the victim. There was blood everywhere. On the wall, on the floor, on Hilzendager. We met with the family of the victim. He didn't have to shoot him, said his brother Ralph Hilzendager. A senseless murder but within days, police caught Claude Jones. And 2 weeks before Christmas in the year 2000, the State of Texas would try to execute him. But as the victim's family waited to witness it, they learned there was a problem. They said they was having trouble finding a vein, said Hilzendager. Jones had apparently been a junkie and executioners couldnt find a good vein for the needle. After reportedly looking for 30 minutes, they finally found one and the family of the man Jones killed watched Jones die. Wasn't a whole lot to it, just strapped him down and put him to sleep, said Hilzendager. I don't think there was any problem with it. I think it was way too easy, aid Currie, My brother suffered plenty. I wouldn't expect the victim's family members to particularly care, said Tyler.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
May 29 TEXAS: 25-year-old Lucas murder case may reopen in Brownfield A little more than 25 years ago, 17-year-old baby sitter Dianna Bryant was killed - found with a vacuum-cleaner cord wrapped around her neck. 3 years later, serial killer Henry Lee Lucas confessed to the killing. It was 1 of 77 murders Lucas said he committed. Later, he added to that number. By the time Lucas died in Huntsville's Ellis I Prison Unit in 2001, doubts had been raised about the number of killings he said he did. After investigators found numerous discrepancies in his claims, Lucas recanted many of his confessions. Officials who investigated his confessions believe Lucas did kill 3 people - his mother, girlfriend and another woman. Lucas had been sentenced to die by lethal injection, but then-Gov. George W. Bush stopped the execution - his only commutation. Now, 5 years after Lucas' death, officials in Brownfield are considering if they should reopen Bryant's case. I'm going to invite the Texas Rangers, Terry County Sheriff Jerry Johnson and Terry County Attorney Ramon Gallegos so we can get an answer whether it is or isn't (going to be reopened), said Roy Rice, Brownfield's police chief. But Bryant's family hopes officials will leave things alone. Her father, Charles Bryant, said, The only thing I can say is this: They caught him. He admitted to it, adding he'd rather the case not be reopened, preferring to leave the pain of his daughter's loss as far in the back of his mind as possible. Why did Lucas end up being a serial confessor? He was the kind of person who had a very lonely and empty and very insecure life, and all of a sudden he had everybody's ear. He had everybody's attention, said Carolyn Huebner, then head of a San Antonio-based missing children network who extensively interviewed Lucas to solve missing-persons cases. They said dance, and he'd dance. According to Lucas Lucas told investigators he rolled into Brownfield on April 25, 1981, in his blue and white 1973 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. He said he was traveling with longtime companion Ottis Toole and Toole's niece and nephew, Freida Becky Powell and Frank Powell. Lucas said he pulled into H-Bar-C Barbecue, a small restaurant on the west side of the road owned by Sue Cottrell. Well, me and Becky, Frank and Ottis were heading west and we had driven into this small town and came on a barbecue place on the right hand side of the road and got out, went in and got coffee, and we sat down there and talked about a place to break into, Lucas told investigators in his confession. The restaurant's front window looks out on a complex of brown duplexes in the distance - including the duplex where Bryant was found strangled. In apartment 912, Bryant was baby-sitting the 2 children of Stephen and Shayne Peterson, a divorced couple. Shayne Peterson shared the duplex apartment with her children, while Stephen Peterson had a mobile home about 2 miles away. According to Lucas' confession: We decided we would go out messing around and try to find a place, we drove catty-corner to the barbecue place to an apartment complex, a bunch of one-story apartments. He knocked on the door of apartment 912. Wearing blue jeans and a white shirt with blue polka dots with blue ribbed sleeves, Bryant answered, pushing open the metal storm door to see Lucas and Becky Powell. Lucas claimed he always used the same method to access a home. We asked her if we could have some food, he said. She said, Well, 'I will fix you something. Come on in'. While Bryant went to the kitchen, preparing a sandwich for Lucas and a bowl of cereal for Becky Powell, Toole and Frank Powell went into the house, also asking for something to eat. And she got sort of nervous because they came in, Lucas said. Lucas told Toole, I can't leave no witnesses, the girl will have to go. Lucas said he went into the utility room and cut off the vacuum cleaner cord with a knife he carried. I took the cord back to where the girl was and put it around her neck, with Becky and Frank sitting there. Lucas, who said he targeted the home with the intent of robbing it, said he left the house with nothing. The others left with something, but Lucas could not recall what. Getting caught In May of 1982, Reuben Moore found Lucas hitchhiking with Becky Powell near Stoneburg, east of Wichita Falls. Moore, who ran the All People's House of Prayer, told the two they could stay at the commune. Lucas and Powell moved in and Lucas worked as a roofer until late August, when he disappeared. Later that month, he reappeared and told Moore that Powell had run away with a truck driver. Investigators believe Lucas killed Powell on Aug. 24, 1982, according to a report by Jim Mattox, former Texas attorney general. Powell's body was never found, but officials believe she is one of the few people Lucas did kill. Mattox told The Avalanche-Journal he believes Lucas killed three people, but added, We found no indication that he
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, LA.
May 21 TEXASimpending execution Family prepared for killer's execution In Harlingen, a portrait of Leonardo and Annette Chavez and their 2 sons will likely be the last photograph that Jesus Ledesma Aguilar sees before he's executed nearly 11 years after the couple's murder. I want to show it to him so he can see the family he destroyed, said Nicolas Chavez Jr., Leonardo Chavez's brother. Aguilar, 42, of Primera is scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday for the June 10, 1995, murders of Leonardo and Annette Chavez. Aguilar, a member of the Texas Syndicate prison gang, and his nephew shot the couple as their 9-year-old son Leonardo Jr. watched as he hid under a kitchen table, prosecutors said. Christopher Quiroz, Aguilar's nephew, is serving a life sentence for his role in the drug-related murder in the trailer in which Annette Chavez's brother, Rick Esparza, lived. This week, family members will travel to Huntsville to witness the execution. I've been debating back and forth whether to go, said Nicolas Chavez Jr., 52, a retired Hunstville prison guard. I feel kind of bad going because I'm a church-going person, and I'm going to see a guy die. For me, this is final closure. Chavez said his nephew, Leonardo Chavez Jr., now 20, will watch the execution. I didn't want to bring back memories that were hurting so long, (but) my nephew wants to go, and I want to support him, Chavez said. I owe my brother and sister-in-law that much. Leonardo Chavez Jr. declined an interview. For Sulema Esparza Rivera, the execution will bring justice to the man who killed her sister, she said. Everybody asks us why we're going, that it's going to hurt more. But (Aguilar) will think we don't care if we don't go, said Esparza Rivera, 46, a restaurant manager who was Annette Chavez's big sister. He's going to die, but he's going to die the easy way. My sister suffered a lot. Hes going to suffer nothing. Esparza Rivera plans to read from a written statement in the moments before Aguilar is put to death. I'm going to tell him that what he did is not forgiven, she said. May God bless his soul because he will never replace my sister and brother-in-law. If he doesn't try to apologize, it will make us hate him more. Esparza Rivera's daughter Monica Medrano will write the words to be read to Aguilar. We're Christians and we go to church. It's not something we look forward to, watching this man die, said Medrano, 27, a pharmacy technician. Judicially, it may be the right thing to do. It sets an example for people. But by putting this man to death, it doesn't replace what we lost. There's always going to be an open gap in my heart. People say we're going to have justice. But it's not going to bring back the one we lost. For Raul Esparza, the execution of his sister's killer will help bring closure to the horror that's shattered his family. We waited almost 11 years for this, and I'm sure it's been a struggle for him, counting the days, the months. I feel bad for his family, said Esparza, 41, a salesman. It's not going to bring my sister back. She should have been there for the 2 kids. But justice is going to be served. It will bring closure. (source: Valley Morning Star) USA: Inmate population rises 2.6% from previous year Prisons and jails added more than 1,000 inmates each week for a year, putting almost 2.2 million people, or 1 in every 136 U.S. residents, behind bars by last summer. The total on June 30, 2005, was 56,428 more than at the same time in 2004, the government reported Sunday. That 2.6% increase from mid-2004 to mid-2005 translates into a weekly rise of 1,085 inmates. Of particular note was the gain of 33,539 inmates in jails, the largest increase since 1997, researcher Allen J. Beck said. That was a 4.7% growth rate, compared with a 1.6% increase in people held in state and federal prisons. Prisons accounted for about 2/3 of all inmates, or 1.4 million, while the other 1/3, nearly 750,000, were in local jails, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Beck, the bureau's chief of corrections statistics, said the increase in the number of people in the 3,365 local jails is due partly to their changing role. Jails often hold inmates for state or federal systems, as well as people who have yet to begin serving a sentence. The jail population is increasingly unconvicted, Beck said. Judges are perhaps more reluctant to release people pretrial. The report by the Justice Department agency found that 62% of people in jails have not been convicted, meaning many of them are awaiting trial. Overall, 738 people were locked up for every 100,000 residents, compared with a rate of 725 at mid-2004. The states with the highest rates were Louisiana and Georgia, with more than 1% of their populations in prison or jail. Rounding out the top 5 were Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma. The states with the lowest rates were Maine, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire. Men
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, N.C., FLA., ALA.
April 29 TEXAS: COLD CASESA way to answer: Did we kill innocent man? Texas has 2 legal means to investigate claims Do Texans have a right to know whether the state has probably executed an innocent person? Do the families of the murder victim, or the families of the executed? Right now, for all practical purposes, the answer seems to be no. As illustrated recently by the case of Ruben Cantu in San Antonio, when investigative journalists uncover significant evidence that an innocent person has been executed in Texas, local district attorneys are in a difficult position. District attorneys can only convene grand juries to determine if there is a prosecutable offense. But if statutes of limitations have expired on perjury, police misconduct or any other offense that might have given rise to a wrongful execution, there's nothing to prosecute. The same applies if the real perpetrator has died or evidence of another suspect's guilt is significant but not sufficient to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt (especially when someone else has already been executed for the crime). And if the grand jury doesn't charge anyone, all its deliberations, and the evidence it gathered, must be kept secret, thereby shackling the district attorney from offering a detailed explanation about what the investigation showed and why. In old cases where guilt of the executed is seriously in question but DNA testing cannot be done - and that's almost invariably true, since DNA evidence is not available in most cases - there is no legal mechanism in place to get an official, credible answer to the question everyone wants answered: Did Texas probably execute an innocent person? Without an independent entity that holds subpoena power to investigate such cases, that question will remain unanswered. District attorneys will continue being put in untenable positions. And doubts and questions will linger. The 2 simplest and most credible mechanisms for determining whether there's probable cause that an innocent person was executed are an Innocence Commission or a Court of Inquiry. Both would have full subpoena power to look into serious, legitimate claims, appoint experts and get access to critical evidence. Either one could be recommended by Gov. Rick Perry's Criminal Justice Council for passage in the next legislative session. An Innocence Commission would have appointees from different branches of the state government, much like the recently formed Forensic Science Commission that is charged with investigating claims of official misconduct or mistakes. A Court of Inquiry, which would not require the creation of a new entity, is a solid alternative for those who are reluctant to add more layers of government. It is an existing mechanism under Texas law that could, with minor changes, be properly used to investigate innocence claims. A Court of Inquiry is currently available to Texas judges when probable cause exists to believe that a specific offense has been committed against the laws of the state. When this happens, the judge may request that another judge be appointed to examine witnesses in relation to the offense in question, hire experts, or do whatever else is necessary to resolve the matter credibly. Just a small change in the Court of Inquiry statute - adding authority to investigate whether there is probable cause to believe an innocent person was executed and issue a report on the matter - could provide Texans with an official response to concerns that go to the very core of public confidence in the criminal justice system. Courts of Inquiry have been politicized in some recent instances (as have other important entities that are sound in theory), but there is nothing about the structure that necessarily lends itself to such abuse, and the gravity of these execution cases would be sobering. Either of these options would result in a sound process to provide a meaningful answer to the question of whether or not Ruben Cantu, or anyone else whose case comes to public attention through a serious investigation, was probably innocent of the crime for which he was executed. An Innocence Commission or Court of Inquiry would act in just a few appropriate cases, and it would finally provide an evidence-based, nonpartisan answer to a question that troubles so many Texans. Whether one favors or opposes the death penalty, the public deserves to have these questions asked by entities that are empowered to get serious answers once and for all. (source: Houston Chronicle, Viewpoints -- Barry Scheck is the co-founder and co-director of the Innocence Project. Murry Cohen, a Houston attorney, served for 20 years as a judge on the Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas, in Houston) Detectives add, revise details of attack on youth A 16-year-old Hispanic youth was savagely beaten and sodomized by 2 other teens while the only adult in the house slept, investigators said Friday as they
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, USA, CALIF.
April 1 TEXAS: Michigan authorities await warrant in baby death case A young couple accused by police of killing their 2-month-old baby girl is fighting extradition to Hays County to face capital murder charges. Cipriano Gonzales IV and Esther Marie Gonzales were arrested in their hometown March 17, days after Cynthea Gonzales died at a San Marcos hospital of what investigators say were intentionally inflicted head injuries. The couple could face the death penalty if convicted although Chief Deputy District Attorney Wes Mau has said he does not yet know if he will seek it. Holland, Mich. District Judge Brad Knoll on Thursday postponed a hearing for up to 60 days because that state's attorney general had not yet received a warrant from Texas Gov. Rick Perry calling for the couple's return to Texas to stand trial. Until he sees that paperwork, Esther Gonzales' attorney said he will not know how he will challenge the extradition. But mounting questions about conflicting autopsies gives reason to doubt their guilt, said Holland lawyer John Moritz. If they are returned and found guilty - and I'm certainly not implying that they would be - they could be put to death. We take that very seriously and we're going to resist extradition as much as possible, Moritz said. Cipriano Gonzales IV's attorney, Brad Johnson, did not return a phone call seeking comment. Their options may be limited. The only defense against extradition is to argue that the arrested parties are not the same people being sought, Mau said. Essentially, their only option is to say, We're not the people you're looking for.' Their guilt or innocence has nothing to do with it at this point. That will be decided in a court in Hays County, Mau said. Moritz concedes the difficulties, but said he believes his client and her husband are innocent. It's my considered opinion that she did not commit this offense. I don't say that lightly [because] we're talking about the death of a child. She's a grieving mother that's lost a child and now she's being blamed for it Moritz said. Travis County Chief Medical Examiner Roberto Bayardo concluded in the 1st autopsy that Cynthea Gonzales died a sudden unexpected death of undetermined causes. Tarrant County Chief Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani preliminary has told investigators the death was caused by severe head trauma. The Daily Record reported on Wednesday that Peerwani did not have the child's brain to examine before reaching his conclusion. Moritz said photos show bruising on Cynthea Gonzales' body after the Peerwani autopsy that were not present at a viewing after the Bayardo autopsy. Also on Thursday, Bayardo, who is likely to be called as a defense witness if the case goes to trial, announced his retirement after 28 years as Travis County's chief medical examiner. (source: San Marcos Daily Record) ** Keel looks to reverse 2nd-place finishFirst round in court primary favored incumbent Holcomb; 3rd Court candidates also in runoff. A 14-year string of election-night victories is on the line for Austin's Terry Keel, who hopes to outspend, outcampaign and out-Republican his rival, incumbent Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Charles Holcomb, for a come-from-behind primary runoff victory on April 11. Keel expects to raise $100,000 and says he has devoted virtually all of his spare time to campaigning the past 9 months, driving and flying across Texas to address Republican clubs and county groups. His car radiator recently gave in under the pressure. Holcomb has taken a more laissez-faire approach, making few campaign stops and declining to actively raise money. In most political races, the advantage would belong to the hard-charging Keel, but not necessarily with the Court of Criminal Appeals, which toils in obscurity despite being the state's highest criminal court. The court also reviews death penalty appeals. Relying solely on the power of incumbency and reputation, Holcomb received 45 % of the vote in last month's GOP primary, collecting almost 75,500 more votes than Keel (31 %) and eliminating District Judge Robert Francis of Dallas (24 %). With far fewer voters expected for the primary runoff, Keel hopes to motivate core Republicans by spotlighting Holcomb's history as a Democrat. Early voting begins Monday. I think Republicans are beginning to understand that a lot of people who ran for the judiciary are not actually philosophical Republicans, but they put an 'R' by their name once it became fashionable statewide to be a Republican, Keel said. In contrast, Keel noted, he was a teen volunteer for Ronald Reagan's 1976 presidential campaign and was the first Republican elected sheriff in Democrat-dominated Travis County. He has served in the Texas House since 1997. Keel's court campaign has been endorsed by the Texas Alliance for Life, the National Rifle Association and more than 70 elected GOP officials statewide. Holcomb, elected to the court in 2000, denied
