[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF.
July 8 OHIO: Man faces retrial in slaying after death penalty overturned A man accused of raping and killing a female bartender is set to face retrial after the Ohio Supreme Court overturned his conviction and death sentence. The News-Herald in Willoughby reports jury selection was set to begin Monday in Lake County court for 34-year-old Joseph Thomas’ retrial in the 2010 slaying of Annie McSween. Prosecutors say Thomas attacked the 49-year-old woman by her car after she asked him to leave the bar where she worked in Mentor-on-the-Lake in northeastern Ohio. The state’s high court overturned his conviction in 2017, ruling that Thomas’ knife collection shouldn’t have been introduced into evidence during the original trial because the weapons weren’t used in the slaying. Thomas has argued he’s innocent. (source: Associated Press) CALIFORNIAfemale may face death penalty 7-year-old involved in drowning incident dies The 7-year-old boy who was found unresponsive in a deep irrigation ditch died Saturday night at Valley Children's Hospital. He was found a week ago Saturday morning, June 29, along with his 12-year-old brother, also unresponsive in a full irrigation ditch near a corn field in the 18900 block of Avenue 184. The 12-year-old died as a result of the incident and the 7-year-old died a week later. The boys' mother, 45-year-old Sherri Telnas, is responsible for the death of both children, Tulare County homicide detectives stated. An autopsy ruled the 12-year-old's death was caused by fresh water drowning. Sherri Telnas, 45, has been charged with drowning the 12-year-old. She will most likely face an additional homicide charge for the 7-year-old's death. Telnas told Tulare County Sheriff's Office deputies she drowned her children because "they were possessed by demons," court documents stated. The 12-year-old died after being submerged in water, deputies stated. The 7-year-old suffered a trumatic brain injury likely caused by lack of oxygen. An autopsy will be done to determine the exact cause of death Telnas was arraigned last week and faces one count of murder with the special circumstance of lying in wait, one count of attempted murder causing great bodily injury, one count of battery, and one count of battery on a peace officer. The count of murder with the special circumstances of lying in wait means Telnas faces the death penalty. Telnas planned to enter a not guilty plea. Telnas next court date is August 15 in Department 17 of the South County Justice Center. (source: recorderonline.com) * 7-year-old Tulare County boy dies, mother now accused of double homicide in sons' deaths. After a week of fighting for his life, a 7-year-old boy died at Valley Children's Hospital. The boy's mother is responsible for his death and the death of his 12-year-old brother, according to Tulare County homicide detectives. Sherri Telnas, 45, has been charged with drowning Jacob's older brother, Jackson Telna. She will most likely face additional homicide charges in connection with Jacob's death. Last week, District Attorney Tim Ward filed a four-count complaint against Telnas. The charges shed light on the "horrific" June 29 morning in rural Tulare County. Detectives believe the mother took her children to a rural irrigation ditch and drown both boys. Telnas told deputies she drowned her children because "they were possessed by demons," according to court documents. After being interrogated, detectives said Telnas "threw spit" on the deputies who interviewed her. Jackson died after being submerged in water, according to deputies. Jacob suffered a traumatic brain injury likely caused by a lack of oxygen from drowning. An autopsy will determine an exact cause of death, deputies said. Telnas, who was arraigned last week, faces 1 count of murder with the special circumstance of lying in wait, 1 count of attempted murder causing great bodily injury, 1 count of gassing, and 1 count of battery on a peace officer. The special allegation that Telnas was lying in wait before allegedly killing her sons means she could be eligible for the death penalty. (source: Visalia Times-Delta) ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF., ORE., USA
Sept. 2 OHIO: Ohio governor reschedules 19 upcoming executions Gov. John Kasich has rescheduled executions for 19 condemned killers on Ohio's death row. The reprieves granted by Kasich push most executions previously scheduled over the next several years forward by a few months. The latest is now set for April 21, 2022. Kasich said Friday he adjusted the schedule following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this summer upholding Ohio's 3-drug lethal injection process. The governor says the goal is ensuring that executions are carried out in a humane and professional fashion. On Friday Kasich also rejected a clemency request by death row inmate Gary Otte, scheduled to die Sept. 13 for killing 2 people in Parma in suburban Cleveland in 1992. (source: dailyjournal.net) Kasich denies clemency, moves execution dates Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Friday denied clemency to a Cuyahoga County man scheduled to be executed later this month. Gary Otte is slated to die in the Ohio death chamber at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville on Sept. 13. He was convicted of the 1992 robbery and murder of Robert Wasikowski, 61, and Sharon Kostura, 45, at their apartments in Parma. Otte's attorneys asked for clemency, citing the fact that he was under 21 at the time he committed the murders, Cleveland.com reported. The Ohio Parole Board in February rejected the request 11-0. Otte's execution would be Ohio's 2nd in 3 years. Ronald Phillips was executed July 26 after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the state's lethal-injection protocol. Also on Friday, Kasich announced the execution of Raymond Tibbetts will be moved from Oct. 18 to Feb. 13, 2018. He was convicted in Hamilton County of the 1997 murders of his wife and their landlord. The execution of William Montgomery has been moved from Jan. 3, 2018, to April 11, 2018. He was convicted in Lucas County of the 1986 murders of Debra Ogle and Cynthia Tincher. Robert Van Hook, who was convicted in Hamilton County of the 1985 murder of David Self, will be executed on July 18, 2018, instead of Feb. 13, 2018, as originally scheduled. The Nov. 15 2017, execution date for Alva Campbell Jr. is unchanged. He was convicted in Franklin County of the 1997 murder of Charles Dials, whom he had taken hostage after assaulting a sheriff's deputy and stealing her pistol. Also unchanged is the Sept. 13, 2018, execution date for Cleveland Jackson. He was convicted in Allen County of the 2002 murder of Lenishia Williams, 17, during a robbery. (source: Columbus Dispatch) * Prosecutors seek death penalty in Cleveland car dealership murders The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office will seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing a married couple at a Cleveland car dealership. Trina Tomola, 46, and Michael Kuznik, 50, owned Mr. Cars on East 185th Street. Their 19-year-old son was unable to get in touch with his parents and found them dead at the car lot on April 14. Prosecutors said Joseph McAlpin broke into the dealership, then shot and killed the couple and their dog. He's also accused of stealing a car. Cleveland police identified McAlpin as a suspect through DNA evidence and arrested him on June 13. He was originally indicted on 25 counts, including aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, kidnapping and cruelty to animals. A Cuyahoga County grand jury returned a new indictment with death penalty specifications against the 29-year-old suspect. "The Capital Review Committee thoroughly reviewed the facts and circumstances surrounding this case and the decision was made to seek capital charges against McAlpin," said Prosecutor Michael O'Malley in a news release on Friday. (source: Fox News) CALIFORNIAdeath row inmate dies Death row inmate Christopher Adam Geier, convicted of murder, dies Christopher Adam Geier, who was on death row on his conviction of 2 counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in San Bernardino County, died Thursday at San Quentin State Prison, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a news release. Geier, 49, collapsed just before 11 a.m. in the prison's recreational yard, the release said. He was pronounced dead at 11:34 a.m. The cause of death is unknown, pending the results of an autopsy. Geier was sentenced to death by a San Bernardino County jury on July 21, 1995, in the slaying of military police Officer Erin Tynan and the fatal stabbing of Curtis James Dean. He also was convicted of attempted murder in an attack on Gail LeBouef, who survived after being shot in the face. The release said he had been on death row since Oct. 20, 1995. (source: San Bernardino Sun) OREGON: Minnesota 'family killer' could face death penalty for killing Oregon cellmateCraig Dennis Bjork, now 57, could be the first Minnesota prisoner sentenced to death in
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF.
Sept. 30 OHIO: Cuyhoga County's 2nd death penalty trial this year opens Friday: a look back at the Warrensville Heights massacre Opening statements are scheduled to begin Friday for a 21-year-old man charged with aggravated murder who faces the death penalty in the 2015 massacre at a barbershop in Warrensville Heights. Douglas Shine Jr. is accused of gunning down 3 people inside the Chalk Linez barbershop on Feb. 5, 2015, by order of a heroin kingpin. It is the 2nd time this year someone in Cuyahoga County will face the death penalty. Brandon White and Walter Barfield, members of the Loyal Always gang, were shot to to death, barbershop owner William Gonzalez and several others were injured Feb. 5, 2015 in a shooting that prosecutors say was part of an ongoing beef between the gang and Tevaughn "Big Baby" Darling's drug operation. According to prosecutors, Shine's criminal history began when he was a juvenile. He was convicted of 2 robberies, an assault, 2 criminal damaging incidents, 4 burglaries and an attempted burglary by the time he was 15 years old. Over the next year he committed another robbery, 2 felonious assaults, another burglary and unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon, and pleaded guilty to a series of offenses in 5 separate criminal cases. He served 4 years in prison and was released on Dec. 22, 2014. The barbershop massacre spawned a series of revenge killings and arrests. Here's a look back at the Warrensville Heights killings and the events that led to the shootings and the trail of death that followed. April 24, 2014 -- Loyal Always gang members Stefon "Ching" Robinson robbed Tevaughn "Big Baby" Darling during a dice game. He later told police, that he knew Darling would seek retribution. Jan. 12, 2015 -- Another Loyal Always member, Deandre "Prada" Gordon, robbed Darling at his home in Bedford Heights with a .45 caliber hand gun, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office said. Gordon shot Darling in the foot, stole money and drove away in Darling's rental car. Jan. 20 -- Robinson was part of a 5-man card game inside his grandmother's home on Angelus Avenue. He phone rang and he walked outside. Shine jumped from a minivan and shot Robinson 13 times with a .9mm handgun, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office said. Robinson survived. Jan. 22 -- Police respond to a call of shots fired at the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and and Corlett Avenue. Witnesses tell police they saw a man fire 7 to 10 shots. The man jumped out of a GMC Acadia and got into a white Toyota Avalon. Police later learned that the GMC was being driven by Lashawn Roby, a known associate of Shine, and determined that Walter Barfield fired shots at Shine, reports say. Jan. 24 -- A man later identified as Shine opened fire on a car driven by Brandon White, police said. The shooter missed White's Ford Taurus, but hit another car on East 149th Street three times. Feb. 5 -- A man dressed in all black walked into the Chalk Linez Barbershop in Warrensville Heights about 8:30 p.m. Shine walked up to Barfield, smiled and fired 2 shots at close range, prosecutors say. Armed with a gun in each hand, Shine turned and opened fire on the remainder of the barbershop, prosecutors say. William Gonzalez and Brandon White are also killed and 3 others were injured. It is the deadliest shooting in the suburban city's history. Feb. 13 -- Shine is arrested after police surround the Clement Avenue home where he was hiding, police said. Officers tracked him down by following the owner of the GMC Acadia from the Jan. 22, 2015 shooting on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. Lashawn Roby rented a Volkswagen Passat after the barbershop shooting, and was seen visiting to the Clement Avenue home, according to court filings. Roby later pleaded guilty to attempted obstruction and was sentenced to 180 days in jail. Feb. 19 -- Aaron Ladson, the brother of barbershop shooting victim Brandon White, told investigators that he saw Shine walk in and out of the barbershop during the shooting. He was taken to county jail "for his own protection," according to motions filed by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty. His attorney on several outstanding drug cases, Ralph DeFranco, successfully filed a motion in court to have Ladson released. DeFranco also represented Shine's cousin, Darling. March 16 -- DeFranco's motion was granted, and Ladson was released from county jail. He would stay under GPS monitoring at his grandmother's house on Harvard Avenue. April 28 -- Prosecutors file new charges against Shine, this time including underlying felony specifications that level the death penalty as the maximum sentence if Shine is convicted at trial. June 4 -- Ladson, who needed to attend a pretrial hearing for his pending drug cases, walked to his car in the driveway of his grandmothers home. A hitman in a black SUV driven by Lawrence Kennedy fatally shot
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF., WASH., USA, US MIL.
March 26 OKLAHOMA: Michael Portillo inspires Oklahoma to consider execution by nitrogenAs US states look for alternatives to lethal injection Oklahoma is on the verge of becoming the 1st to allow for asphyxiating death row inmates Oklahoma is moving forward with plans to become the first US state to allow executions using nitrogen gas after being inspired by a BBC documentary in which Michael Portillo suggested it was the most painless way to implement capital punishment. States where the death penalty is imposed are scrambling for alternative methods as pharmacies that provide drugs for lethal injection increasingly refuse to do so on ethical grounds. Later this week Oklahoma's Senate will vote on allowing death by nitrogen hypoxia. The proposal has already been approved by a large majority in its lower house and it would become the state's first back-up option if lethal injection drugs run out. Mike Christian, the Republican state politician behind the plan, has said his opinion on using nitrogen was solidified after he saw a 2008 BBC Horizon documentary called How to Kill a Human Being in which Michael Portillo, the former British Cabinet minister, searched for the most humane execution option. In the film Mr Portillo, who as an MP voted both for and against the death penalty, said: After some investigation I think I've come up with a perfect killing device, an entirely humane way of killing a prisoner who is under sentence of death. It's nitrogen, which renders him at first euphoric, and then makes him unconscious pretty quickly and he dies entirely without pain. Mr Christian said recently: I believe it's revolutionary. It's probably the best thing we've come up with since the start of executing people by government. You can pick up nitrogen anywhere they use it. Industrially, you can pick it up at a welding supply company. Condemned prisoners would be asphyxiated by putting a mask on them which would be used to replace oxygen with inert nitrogen. Supporters say the person would experience brief euphoria, lose consciousness after about 10 seconds, and their heart would stop beating within 2 minutes. According to Amnesty International no US state has ever used nitrogen gas to execute an inmate and it had no reports of the method being used in other countries. Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Oklahoma, said: We would be experimenting on the condemned using a process that has been banned in many states for the euthanasia of animals. In Oklahoma, where three people were scheduled to die next month, executions are already on hold following a botched lethal injection last year. Clayton Lockett, convicted of murder, took 43 minutes to die. The US Supreme Court is reviewing the state's lethal injection procedures after remaining death row inmates claimed they were inhumane. Earlier this week Utah approved the firing squad as its back-up method if it runs out of lethal injection drugs. (source: The Telegraph) CALIFORNIA: Attorney General Reportedly Moving To Block 'Death Penalty For Gays' Ballot Initiative California Attorney General Kamala Harris is reportedly moving to prevent a ballot proposal criminalizing sodomy and allowing the death penalty for anyone who touches another person of the same gender for purposes of sexual gratification from ever appearing on the California ballot, according to Patrick McGreevy of the Los Angeles Times. Huntington Beach attorney Matt McLaughlin filed papers to begin gathering signatures for the ballot measure, known as the Sodomite Suppression Act, on February 26th. Harris??? move would effectively prevent signature gathering. In California's direct democracy any citizen can follow procedures to propose just about any law. That doesn't mean that any law could pass, and even if passed, it doesn't mean that any law could actually go into effect. Even laws passed by a majority of California voters may been overturned by judicial review, as was the case in the Prop. 8 gay marriage debate. This latest initiative is creating news not because of what it would do if passed but because of the fact that it, so far, stopping it has not been possible. Along with the required $200 fee, McLaughlin's letter asking for certification of his initiative includes the following language: The abominable crime against nature known as buggery, called also sodomy, is a monstrous evil that Almighty God, giver of freedom and liberty, commands us to suppress on pain of our utter destruction even as he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha. The Sacramento Bee reports that the Legislature's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus has now written a letter to the State Bar calling into question McLaughlin's fitness to practice law. A petition to take away his law license already has over 40,000 signers. (source: CBS news) WASHINGTON: Life or
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF., WASH., USA
Nov. 13 OHIO: Jury urges death for Sandusky man Curtis Clinton, guilty of killing 3 Jurors are recommending the death penalty for a northern Ohio man convicted in the deaths of a woman and her 2 young children just over a year ago. The jury in Sandusky came back with its decision Tuesday, a week after finding 42-year-old Curtis Clinton guilty of aggravated murder and rape. A judge will decide Thursday whether to accept the jury's recommendation. Clinton denied killing 23-year-old Heather Jackson, her 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son at a Sandusky home. They were killed in September 2012. Police officers said that they found the children's bodies behind boxes in a utility closet and that the woman's body was under a mattress. (source: Associated Press) CALIFORNIA: Man gets death penalty for torturing, killing 84-year-old widow A 29-year-old man was sentenced to death Tuesday for raping, torturing and fatally stabbing an 84-year-old widow after breaking into her Anaheim home. Authorities said Anthony Darnell Wade drank champagne and smoked a cigar as he left the crime scene. Wade, a Los Angeles resident, broke into the home of Bessie Whyman through a broken window on January 2010 and attacked her. He raped Whyman and bound her hands and feet before punching and kicking her, according to Orange County prosecutors. Prosecutors said Wade tortured the woman and finally killed her by attacking her with a saw and stabbing her repeatedly with a kitchen knife. Before driving toward San Bernardino with her purse and car, Wade covered Whyman's body with a blanket and other household items in the living room. In San Bernardino, he was stopped by grocery store employees after he tried to use Whyman's credit cards at a Food 4 Less, prosecutors said. A grocery store staffer detained him after a fight with an employee and he was arrested by San Bernardino police. Officers with the Anaheim Police Department conducted a welfare check at Whyman's home and discovered her body. One of the hardest things for me to accept is that my daughter will never have memories of her grandma BeBe's smile, watching her dance, hearing her play the piano and sing or feeling the love that BeBe had for her, said Whyman's daughter-in-law, Lori Laucik, during Tuesday's sentencing. On Sept. 6, a jury found Wade guilty of one felony count of special circumstances murder during the commission of rape, robbery, burglary and murder with torture. He was also found guilty of elder abuse, 1st-degree robbery, 1st-degree residential burglary, torture, forcible rape and the unlawful taking of a vehicle. They also agreed with sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a deadly weapon and causing great bodily injury to an elder. The jury had recommended the death penalty on Oct. 7. (source: Los Angeles Times) *** Judge denies motion to dismiss charges for defendant in Modesto triple homicide A judge on Tuesday denied a motion to dismiss charges against 1 of 7 men accused of murder in the shooting of 3 people inside an east Modesto home last year. A criminal grand jury in December indicted Ricky Javier Madrigal, Jose Osegueda Jr., Richard Tyrone Garcia, Armando Osegueda, Joseph Luis Jauriqui, Robert Palomino and Juan Jose Nila. The defendants are charged with murder in the shooting deaths of 16-year-old David Siebels, 19-year-old Alyxandria Tellez and 31-year-old Edward Joseph Reinig. They were killed March 3, 2012, inside a home on McClure Road, across from Creekside Golf Course. Mary Lynn Belsher, Madrigal's defense attorney, was asking the judge to throw out the indictment against her client, because she said the prosecution had presented inadmissible evidence in front of the grand jury. She argued that her client's rights to due process had been violated, since the grand jury transcript contained speculation, hearsay and testimony with inadequate foundation. The grand jury was instituted for finding the truth, not for indicting someone who had nothing to do with anything, Belsher told the judge. The court can't abide by this. Deputy District Attorney Marlisa Ferreira argued that there was sufficient admissible evidence presented to the grand jury to support the indictment. She spent nearly 45 minutes explaining to the judge why testimony the grand jury heard would be admissible at trial. They are material facts of a conspiracy, operative facts of a crime, the prosecutor told the judge. There are numerous exceptions of why this evidence is admissible. After hearing the attorneys' arguments, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Thomas Zeff said there was some inadmissible evidence submitted to the grand jury. There was, however, sufficient admissible evidence to support the indictment against Madrigal, he said. In criminal grand jury proceedings, witnesses testify without the defendants or their attorneys
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF., N.H., MD., ARIZ.
Dec. 6 OHIO: Death penalty trial next week for Xenia man A Xenia man will go on trial in Kentucky starting Monday in an attempt to avoid the death penalty for his role in a 2005 double homicide. A Rowan County, Ky., jury on Tuesday night found Ronald Christopher Fairchild, 44, guilty on 2 counts of complicity to commit murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary in the deaths of Donald Walker and Marlane Mauk in May 2005. Walker and Mauk were found in Walker's home in Fleming County, Ky., on May 6, 2005, after not being seen in several days. Both were shot more than once and their bodies locked in Walker's trailer from the outside. Earlier this year, 2 co-defendants each pleaded guilty to 2 counts of complicity to commit murder in the case. Those co-defendants, Jason Jackson of Xenia and Rodney Dodson of West Carrollton, are to be sentenced Dec. 14. The Greene County Sheriff's Office helped Kentucky State Police in the investigation that led to the arrests of all 3 men in May 2011, sheriff's Capt. Eric Spicer said Wednesday. Fairchild agreed to a polygraph exam, administered by the sheriff's office, and made incriminating statements indicating his involvement in the slayings, Spicer said. On May 10, 2011, Chris (Fairchild) made a life-altering decision of submitting to a polygraph test, the Ledger Independent reported defense attorney Paul Cox as saying in closing statements to a jury on Tuesday. Cox tried to explain what he called faults with the interview process done by the Greene County detectives, insisting to the jury that Fairchild was pressured into taking the test and into making false statements incriminating himself in order to tell the polygraph administrator what he wanted to hear. According to trial testimony, by the end of the test, Fairchild had admitted being in the Walker trailer in the eastern Kentucky county of Fleming when Walker and Mauk were killed, describing where everyone was in the room and pointing an accusatory finger at Jackson as the shooter. During the trial, DNA evidence on the trailer lock put Jackson at the crime scene; other evidence linked the weapon to Jackson, including the bullet magazine from his gun, which was found in a Fleming County pond in 2010. Testimony from Jackson and Fairchild put Dodson on the couch next to Mauk when the shooting started and the gun in the hand of Jackson or Fairchild, Under the guise of engaging Walker in a drug transaction, Jackson and Dodson entered the home and left Fairchild in the car, facts that did not appear to be disputed, based on video and testimony. Testimony also revealed that Mauk was seated on a couch and Walker took a seat in a chair, with Dodson sitting next to Mauk on the couch. A few minutes later, Fairchild testified that he entered the trailer and went to warm his hands on the wood stove. Walker was shot at first, with a bullet grazing his face - before he was shot a 2nd time. Mauk was shot where she sat and more shots were fired into Walker, according to testimony. Cox, the attorney, contended Jackson did the shooting, to the surprise of Fairchild. Jackson locked the trailer, left with the others, and went to his home, ordering his wife to drive Dodson and Fairchild back to Ohio and stay there until he moved their things to Ohio. The bodies were found days later. (source: WHIO TV News) *** 450 pounds and on death row: Inmate too fat to kill? Weighing 450 pounds and on death row, Ohio inmate Ronald Post claims he is too fat to kill. In Ohio, the death penalty is lethal injection. However, Post believes that executioners will have a difficult time finding the veins inside his morbidly obese body, and that could lead to complications that translate into cruel and unusual punishment. According to a report by The Huffington Post dated Dec. 5, 2012, attorneys for the man who is 450 pounds and on death row presented the following argument: Given his unique physical and medical condition there is a substantial risk that any attempt to execute him will result in serious physical and psychological pain to him, as well as an execution involving a torturous and lingering death. His attorneys also note that Post's request for gastric bypass surgery was declined, and his weight makes walking dangerous because he might fall and hurt himself. His depression has contributed to overeating and his back and knee problems make exercising impractical at best. There are essentially 3 ways that Ronald Post could be executed. The 1st is lethal injection the traditional way, lying on a gurney in the death chamber with a cocktail of drugs pumped into his veins. However, this method will not be viable if his veins are inaccessible. The 2nd way that Post could be executed is by having the drugs injected directly into the muscle tissue buried beneath hundreds of pounds of fat. This method could potentially take
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF., ARIZ.
Sept. 25 OHIO: YEAR AFTER COMMUTATIONNo future, but it beats death for spared man Joseph Murphy, 47, was on death row for 24 years. Joseph Murphy knows he will die in prison. He just doesn???t know when. He's OK with that. I have accepted the fact I will be here the rest of my life, he said. Whatever happens in here, it's better than it was at home. Murphy was supposed to be executed by the state on Oct. 18, 2011, for the 1987 throat-slashing murder of 72-year-old Ruth Predmore during a robbery at her home in Marion. Over 24 years, courts at all levels had rejected his appeals. His attorneys, public defenders Pamela J. Prude-Smithers and Kathryn L. Sandford, knew Gov. John Kasich was their client's last hope. On Sept. 26 last year, Kasich intervened, commuting Murphy's death sentence to life without the possibility of parole. Kasich said considering Murphy's brutally abusive upbringing and the relatively young age at which he committed this terrible crime, the death penalty is not appropriate in this case. Murphy, 47, who spent most of his life - beginning at age 6 - in juvenile lockups, mental-health wards and prison, now faces the prospect of living the rest of his days with no hope of freedom. The 3rd of Stella and Jerry Murphy's 6 children, he was raised in a West Virginia tarpaper shack with no plumbing or electricity. His mother often failed to feed him as a child, and his father beat him and his siblings with switches, belts and extension cords. Murphy was stabbed in the head with a steak knife by his brother, raped by a man who supplied Murphy's father with moonshine and set on fire to prevent a children's services worker from seeing welts on his back from recent beatings. Prison is the only real home Murphy knows. He calls himself state-raised. After spending 2 decades alone in a cell, Murphy now has a cellmate and is housed in a unit with dozens of other prisoners. It was mind-rattling, he said during an interview last week at the Toledo Correctional Institution, where he was transferred from death row at the Ohio State Penitentiary at Youngstown. It was kind of hard being around a bunch of people. ... It's hard getting used to the noise. In nearly a year in Toledo, Murphy hasn't had an infraction, said Darlene Mitchell, assistant to the warden. He has corresponded with Peg Predmore Kavanagh, the 68-year-old niece of Murphy's victim. Kavanagh testified via video in support of clemency for Murphy at the Ohio Parole Board hearing last year. I was trying to encourage him to find a job once he went into general (prison) population, she said in a telephone interview from Florida. I was very much disappointed with the letter I got from him in some respects. He hinted around to me about money. He said he was waiting for God to send him a money order to help with toothpaste and slippers and other things. I helped save his life. I'm very proud of what I did, but I'm disappointed in him. She hasn't written back. Murphy has a job earning $16 a month as a porter at the prison. He also referees inmate sports competitions and washes inmates' jerseys. He hopes to get a better job, paying $24 a month. Inmates buy their own toiletries, personal items and snacks. His abusive father is dead, and Murphy hasn't had a single visit, letter or call from his mother or 4 brothers. At first, I was upset. I wrote to them and said I was off death row, he said. I sent her more letters and cards at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but she didn't write back. I love my mother to death and I always will. But it seems like she's upset that I wasn???t executed. (source: Columbus Dispatch) CALIFORNIA: Death penalty repeal close in poll California voters are closely divided on a November ballot measure to repeal the state's death penalty law, with significant differences in support among regions and age groups, a new Field Poll reports. The survey found that Proposition 34, which would make life in prison without parole the maximum punishment for murder, was opposed by 45 % of likely voters and favored by 42 %, with 13 % undecided. The results amounted to a statistical tie, since the poll's margin of error was 4.3 % points. The poll, released Tuesday, was conducted Sept. 6-18 among a random sample of 468 voters. The Field Poll also reported that Prop. 31, which would revise the state's budget process, trailed 40 to 21 % among likely voters. The remaining 39 % were undecided, a reflection of the lesser attention the ballot measure has received. Prop. 31 would require most new state laws to describe how they would be paid for, would allow the governor to cut state spending unilaterally during a fiscal emergency, and would change the state budget from a one-year to a 2-year process. It would also transfer about $200 million a year from the state to local governments to run programs now administered statewide. Prop. 34 will
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF., GA., N.C., ALA.
Feb. 8 OHIO: Victim's Family Helps Keep Killer Off Death Row A man convicted of raping and killing an 11-year-old girl will not die for his crime, thanks in part to the girl's family. Christopher Ballard admitted last month that he sexually assaulted and beat Tina Dykes to death in October 1987. In court on Friday, Dykes' family asked the three-judge panel to spare Ballard's life. (source: WLWT News) COLORADO: ACLU: Take death penalty off tableDA researching death sentence in Chase murder Civil-liberties advocates are urging Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy to declare that the death penalty is off the table for a man suspected of killing University of Colorado senior Susannah Chase. Lacy has said her office is researching whether a death sentence is an option in the case against Diego Olmos Alcalde, 38, who was arrested Jan. 27 on suspicion of beating Chase, 23, to death a decade ago. Because Alcalde must be tried under the laws that existed at the time of the crime -- and Colorado's death-penalty statute from 1997 has since been deemed unconstitutional and amended -- Lacy said prosecutors are unsure if they can push for a death sentence if Alcalde is convicted. Now, she said, her office is focused on the homicide investigation and isn't yet researching sentencing options. It's not a high priority right now, she said. Judd Golden, director of the Boulder County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a letter sent to Lacy on Friday that his organization opposes the death penalty in all situations and that capital punishment is the ultimate denial of civil liberties. Alcalde was arrested last month in connection with Chase's homicide after his DNA -- which was entered into a national database -- matched evidence recoveredfrom Chase's body. She was found nearly dead early Dec. 21, 1997, in an 18th Street alley between Pearl and Spruce streets. Police said she had been brutally beaten with a baseball bat across the street from her 1802 Spruce St. home, dragged down the sidewalk and sexually assaulted. She died the next day. Alcalde is expected to be charged Wednesday in Boulder County District Court with 1st-degree murder, felony murder, second-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault. In the ACLU's letter to Lacy, Golden said research indicates race and gender play a role in which cases prosecutors choose to pursue the death penalty. According to one analysis cited in the letter, 123 death-row prisoners have been released since 1976 because they were innocent. Lacy said her office will treat the letter the same way we treat all letters from members of the community who are expressing their opinions. We read them and take into consideration what the community has to say, Lacy said. But we don't change our process based on pressure from community groups. Denver defense attorney David Lane said he thinks Lacy will find that the financial costs associated with a push for the death penalty far outweigh the odds that a jury in Boulder County will sentence a person to death. It's virtually impossible to convince 12 jurors to sentence someone to death, he said. And in Boulder, it's probably harder than impossible. (source: Daily Camera) GEORGIA: Death-penalty defendant sues judge A death-penalty defendant in Pike County has filed a lawsuit against his trial judge over the judge's decision to replace his lawyers with local public defenders. The suit was filed Thursday against Pike County Superior Court Judge Johnnie Caldwell by Jamie Ryan Weis, accused of killing a woman in her home on Feb. 2, 2006. Late last year, Caldwell removed lawyers Bob Citronberg and Tom West, who had been appointed to Weis' case and were billing their work at hourly rates to the cash-strapped state agency that funds capital defense. Caldwell said he wanted to prevent the case from being stalled if the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council ran out of money. Caldwell replaced them with two state-salaried public defenders, who quickly filed motions to withdraw on the grounds they do not have the resources to defend a death case on top of their ongoing case loads. The standoff comes at a time when the state defender council is asking the Legislature for emergency funding to keep the agency from running out of money to defend capital cases before the end of the fiscal year, which ends June 30. The unusual lawsuit was filed on Weis's behalf by Atlanta lawyers Stephen Bright, Ed Garland and Don Samuel. They contend Caldwell violated Weis's right to counsel by replacing his long-standing attorneys. We believe he has that right, notwithstanding any budgetary problems or any legislative wrangling that might be going on, Samuel said Friday. The Sixth Amendment's right to effective assistance of counsel, especially in a death penalty case, trumps. Citronberg and West represented Weis for more than a year. They filed scores of motions and spent considerable time
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF.
Sept. 21 OHIO: Attorney challenges death penalty Another accused killer facing the death penalty if convicted is hoping that he can convince a Lorain County judge to declare Ohios lethal injection process unconstitutional. Jack Bradley, defense attorney for Christopher Birriel-Torres, filed a motion Thursday asking Common Pleas Judge James Miraldi to declare the states lethal injection process cruel and unusual. Bradley said he took the step after learning that the Ohio Supreme Court had refused to halt an order from Common Pleas Judge James Burge that forces the state to turn over detailed information on how it carries out executions. The state's argument that Burge overstepped his authority when he agreed to hold hearings on the constitutionality of the death penalty has yet to be ruled on by the high court. Birriel-Torres and Jonathon Robles-Cruz are both charged in the 2006 slaying of Edgardo Alicea, whose body was discovered near railroad tracks in Lorain. (source: The Chronicle-Telegram) CALIFORNIA: Death-penalty foes make Inland stops in march 2 men marching from San Diego to Sacramento seeking to end California's death penalty came to Riverside County on Friday to address a rally and ask for prosecutors to stop filing for capital punishment. About 50 people attended the noon rally in Riverside in front of the Historic Courthouse on Main Street. Richard Carlburg , state death penalty coordinator for Amnesty International USA in California, and Jeff Ghelardi , a longtime death-penalty abolitionist and member of the San Diego chapter of Death Penalty Focus, plan to visit 15 counties during their 800-mile trek. With 61 inmates on San Quentin's death row, Riverside County has the 2nd-highest number of prisoners in California facing execution. It has the highest per-capita in the state. The loss of loved ones demands that we seek the highest form of punishment for the most dangerous criminals, District Attorney Rod Pacheco said in a statement. There are 667 inmates currently on death row. That number, Ghelardi said, reflects the state's ambivalence on the whole thing. That's what gives me hope. Some day we are going to drop the whole thing, in the not-too-distant future. Executions in California stopped in December 2006 while a federal judge reviews the state's protocol for administering lethal injections. Carlburg and Gherlardi were joined by other speakers during the rally, including Riverside County Public Defender Gary Windom. The 2 will stop at noon Monday in front of the San Bernardino County Courthouse in downtown San Bernardino. (source: Press-Enterprise) Suspect could get death penalty Weston Scott Kruger faces murder, robbery charges. He had prior burglary, domestic-violence charges, records show. Family members of slain Newport Beach liquor store clerk Hao Tony Quang Huynh filled the front row of the courtroom during Weston Scott Krugers arraignment Friday. I want to know why he killed my brother and how, said a tearful Jenni Huynh outside the courtroom. The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Kruger is accused of killing Huynh July 28 in a scuffle after the clerk accused him of shoplifting and chased him outside of Sportsmans Liquor Store in Newport Beach. Dressed in an orange jail uniform, Kruger pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and robbery Friday. The defendant chatted casually with other inmates in the Plexiglas courtroom holding cell before the hearing and appeared unemotional during the proceedings. Jenni Huynh carried a 4-by-6-inch snapshot of her brother to the hearing. Wrapped in a computer printout of a news story about the case, the picture shows Tony Huynh laid out in his coffin. The Huynh family has attended each of Kruger's scheduled court appearances since Tony Huynh's death, Jenni Huynh said. His (Tony Huynh's) children dont understand why he died, Jenni Huynh said. He was just working hard to give them a good life. The prosecution says Kruger threw Huynh to the ground in an argument over a pornographic magazine Huynh accused the defendant of stealing. Huynh died the next day from massive head trauma. Kruger was out on bail on separate charges of domestic violence and burglary at the time of the altercation with Huynh, according to court records. Kruger is scheduled to be back in court for a preliminary hearing Nov. 29. Kruger could face the death penalty or life without parole if he is convicted of murder in the commission of a robbery under state special circumstances laws, said Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew Murphy. A committee of Orange County prosecutors will meet to discuss the case before a decision is made to pursue special circumstances in the case, Murphy said. The decision is up to the committee, he said. (source: Daily Pilot)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF.
Nov. 13 OHIO: US Supreme Court action gives trooper's killer new sentence hearing The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review an appeals court decision throwing out the death sentence for the man who shot to death a state trooper 10 years ago during a traffic stop. The ruling means Maxwell D. White Jr. will get a new sentencing hearing. His attorneys argued for a new sentence because a juror said during jury selection that she was biased in favor of the death penalty. A state court ruled the juror was not biased. The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati overturned that decision but upheld White's aggravated murder conviction. Ashland County Prosecutor Ramona Francesconi-Rogers said new jurors will be chosen and all the evidence will have to be presented again for them to make a decision. White, 41, was convicted of killing trooper James Gross in 1996 when the trooper pulled him over after motorists reported his vehicle was travelling eratically. White wounded Gross when he approached, then shot him in the back, according to the records. The appeals court now must issue an order giving the state 180 days to hold a new sentencing proceeding for White. (source: Associated Press) * Forum calls for end to racist death penalty Student workers had to keep setting up chairs as the crowd swelled to over 250 in the University of Toledo Student Union on Oct. 29. The program was the last in a 10-stop tour called Witness to an Execution, organized by the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Community members of all ages and nationalities mixed with students to hear Barbara Becnel, long-time friend of the late Stanley Tookie Williams and editor of his books. Conveners of the program called for a moratorium on the death penalty because it is racist, targets the poor, is barbaric and doesnt deter crime. In addition, it murders the innocent. Washington Muhammad from the Nation of Islam expressed Minister Louis Farrakhan's support for Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan, one of the Lucasville 5 wrongly convicted for the death of a guard in connection with a 1993 prison uprising in Lucasville, Ohio. He declared that the conviction of Imam Hasan was due to fear of a warrior and fear that we might unite across racial boundaries, economical boundaries and religious boundaries. Hasan was an imam, or prayer leader, for the Sunni Muslims in the Lucasville prison and their spokesperson before and during the rebellion, which led the prosecution to target him for capital crimes. Hasan sent a taped statement from death row. A judge on Aug. 14 recommended denial of his petition for habeas corpus and request for an evidentiary hearing. Hasan's attorneys filed objections to the recommendations and the ACLU filed a friend of the court brief. However, Hasan may be nearing the end of his appeals at the federal level. The tape pointed out that prosecutors played to anti-Islamic prejudice and racism in his trial. As an illustration of the racism of the death penalty, Hasan quoted statistics that 80 % of executions are for killing whites, whereas only 13 percent are for killing Black people. Hasan stated, We have to strive, to struggle to bring about change in the criminal justice system, just like the people of Toledo stopped the neo-Nazis from marching. Join forces. Its going to be a long road. (See Nazis kicked out of Toledo, Oct. 18, 2005, and Cops defend Nazis as hundreds protest, Dec. 15, 2005, at www.workers.org.) The audience then warmly greeted featured speaker Becnel, who had been present at the execution of Tookie Williams on Dec. 13, 2005. She was also a witness at a hearing to determine if something was wrong with the way the State of California had carried out Williams' execution. According to Becnel, the California standard is that some pain is okay but excruciating pain is unconstitutional. She stated, I knew that Stan had been tortured to death. When I came out and spoke my truth, they said I was hysterical. They said, 'Don't believe untutored eyes.' This is the `st time in the history of San Quentin prison that a federal judge ordered an execution team to testify under oath. By the end of the first day of testimony, it was admitted that the execution was bungled. Becnel related the testimony of a veterinarian at the September hearing who stated that the protocol used by the State of California is a process he would never use to euthanize an animal. Asked why not, he answered, Because I have ethics. I have standards. I wouldn't do something that would cause the animal pain. The hearing revealed that the state of California uses a 3-drug cocktail to kill. The 1st drug makes the prisoner lose consciousness instantly, but it has a rapid half-life, losing its potency in 2 to 3 minutes. The botched process that Williams was subjected to took 10 minutes, allowing him to regain consciousness. The 2nd drug is a paralytic agent, affecting all parts of the body, including the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF., N. DAK., USA, PENN.
September 5 OHIO: New hope for Richey as retrial plea approved DEATH row Scot Kenny Richey has been offered new hope in his bid for freedom. The 42-year old, who has been on death row in Ohio for nearly 20 years, has been told a court will hear his pleas for a retrial. The news grants him another stay of execution until at least January. Richey, sentenced to death in 1987 for the murder of 2-year-old Cynthia Collins, has always protested his innocence. In January, his lawyers will argue before Ohio's Supreme Court that his case should be retried. It will be the first time defence lawyer Ken Parsigian has come face-to-face with Ohio prosecutor Gary Lammers, who is intent on keeping Richey behind bars. Both men are prepared to see the case to the end but Lammers has admitted he wants Richey executed. The good news from Richey's lawyers came in the week he is to have an emotional reunion with his mother. Eileen, 61, from Edinburgh, is to make her first visit for 3 years to the Mansfield Correctional Institute. Richey said: I cannot believe I have to wait another 6 months to find out what is happening. I am happy that my lawyers are going to be able to argue my case, but I am devastated that I have to spend another Christmas in here with a heart condition. (source: The Scotsman) CALIFORNIAre: federal death penalty to be sought Feds to seek death penalty in case of body dumps near Yosemite The demands of the kidnappers were simple: Pay the ransom and the hostages would be freed. But prosecutors said the crew of Russian immigrants killed their hostages anyway - even after collecting $1 million from some of the victims' relatives. More than 4 years after the 5 bodies were found in a reservoir north of Yosemite National Park, opening statements are expected this week in the federal trial of 2 men accused of orchestrating the crimes. It's a rare instance in which federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Regardless of whether the ransom money defendants demanded was paid or not, each of the defendants' victims met the same fate, prosecutors said in court documents. Defendants brutally murdered each one of them. Iouri Mikhel, 41, and Jurijus Kadamovas, 39, have pleaded not guilty to charges that include conspiracy and hostage-taking resulting in death. A third defendant, Petro Krylov, 33, is scheduled for trial in January after denying the allegations. 3 other coconspirators have pleaded guilty to similar charges. One is the girlfriend of Kadamovas, who will likely testify during the upcoming trial. Authorities suspect the ring had links to Russian organized crime, but it appears prosecutors won't raise that issue during trial because no racketeering charges have been filed. Prosecutors and defense attorneys declined to comment about the case. The indictment, however, provides a detailed look at the kidnappings that occurred over a frenzied four-month period beginning in late 2001. The documents allege the crew demanded a total of more than $5.5 million from relatives and associates of the victims, and eventually collected about $1.2 million that was used to buy expensive cars and make mortgage payments on luxury homes. Mikhel used $2,500 to put a down payment on two Doberman pinschers to guard his house, the documents state. At trial, prosecutors intend to present tape recordings of ransom calls; DNA belonging to two victims collected from handcuffs; and a pair of shoes that were matched to a bloody footprint found on a bridge near the reservoir. The scheme began when Mikhel and Kadamovas targeted George Safiev, 37, a wealthy Russian banking mogul who had recently moved to Los Angeles to start Matador Media, a film production company, the documents state. But after several failed abduction attempts and discussions about staging a car accident, the kidnappers turned their attention to real estate developer Meyer Muscatel, according to the documents. Mikhel is accused of posing as a possible investor and luring Muscatel to what was billed as a business meeting in October 2001. Kidnappers killed him after they were unable to get money from his bank accounts, the documents state. His body was weighted down and dumped over a bridge along the New Melones Reservoir. It was discovered a few days later, hands bound and a plastic bag over his head. Prosecutors wrote that Safiev's accountant, Rita Peckler, was abducted and killed two months later when she was unable to lead the crew to Safiev. The next victim was Alexander Umansky, who owned a car accessory business that once employed Krylov. Umansky was killed after his family paid more than $230,000 for his release, documents state, adding the crew sought even more money after his death, promising he would be returned alive. Prosecutors wrote that Safiev was finally snared in early 2002 after his business partner, Nick Kharabadze, was abducted and forced to arrange a meeting with Safiev. Another business associate
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF., USA, FLA., IND., VA.
Dec. 30 URGENT ACTION APPEAL -- 22 December 2005 Death Penalty UA 221/05 (Originally issued 24 August 2005 and re-issued 9 September 2005; 1 November 2005; 10 November 2005) USA/Ohio: John Spirko (m) John Spirko is scheduled to be executed on 19 January. He was sentenced to death in 1984 for the kidnap and murder of Betty Jane Mottinger in August 1982. He denies carrying out the murder and no physical or forensic evidence links him to the crime. Concerns about Spirko's guilt have been raised by the courts considering his case and by members of the Ohio Parole Board considering a clemency petition. Spirko had two execution dates postponed by Governor Taft in 2005, each time only days before he was due to be put to death. The first time was in September at the request of the Ohio Parole Board, which wanted more time to consider a clemency petition; the second was in November, to allow time for DNA testing of evidence from the crime scene, after the Board had voted against a clemency recommendation. The DNA testing is now in progress, and Spirko's attorneys are attempting to get more information on this. The state has now found fingerprint evidence from the crime scene, which it had lost, and Spirko's attorneys are urging the authorities to check these prints against the national database of criminal suspects' fingerprints. Prosecutors at John Spirko's trial are alleged to have knowingly presented a false case against him, linking him to the crime through the involvement of a co-defendant, Delaney Gibson, who they had evidence to suggest was 500 miles away at the time of the crime. Delaney Gibson was charged but never tried in the crime, and all charges against him were dropped in May 2004. One of the original state investigators was recently reported to have stated that he told prosecutors at trial that he believed Delaney Gibson did not take part in the murder. Spirko's attorneys have argued that this casts doubt on John Spirko's conviction and warrants reopening of the case. An appeal to review the case in US District Court was denied in October 2005. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is now considering a further appeal. The Ohio Parole Board voted 6-3 against making a clemency recommendation to the Governor in October 2005. The three dissenting members reportedly concluded that there was too much doubt to allow the execution to go ahead, expressing concerns about these issues. Writing a dissent to the majority opinion in May 2004 which dismissed John Spirko's appeal for an evidentiary hearing on claims that the prosecution at trial knowingly presented false evidence, federal judge John Gilman said that ''the case against Spirko was far from overwhelming'' and left him with ''considerable doubt as to whether he has been lawfully subjected to the death penalty.'' He noted, ''a striking fact about the record in this case is the complete absence of any forensic evidence linking Spirko to the crime,'' and said that the state's case against John Spirko was built on ''three shaky pillars'' with ''a foundation of sand''. Former federal judge William Sessions, who has been active in an initiative to promote procedural safeguards in death penalty cases, two retired federal judges and a former federal prosecutor have reportedly raised concerns about John Spirko's conviction and death sentence. Betty Jane Mottinger, the postmistress of Elgin, a small town in Ohio, was kidnapped and murdered in August 1982. John Spirko contacted police two months later, offering to trade information about the murder in exchange for help with charges he was facing in another, unrelated case. He reportedly gave a series of differing accounts of the murder, according to one of which his best friend and former cellmate, Delaney Gibson, had admitted to him that he had carried out the murder. Prosecutors at trial argued that Gibson and Spirko committed the crime together, saying that the information John Spirko had provided could only be known by the murderer, and relying on the testimony of an eyewitness who testified that she was ''100 percent sure'' that she had seen Delaney Gibson outside the post office the morning Mottinger disappeared. The prosecution allegedly had evidence that Gibson was actually 500 miles away at the time. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Amnesty International opposes all executions, regardless of issues of guilt or innocence. This is a punishment that is an affront to human dignity and a part of a culture of violence rather than a solution to it. It has not been shown to deter crime more effectively than other punishment, and denies the possibility of rehabilitation and reconciliation. In the US the capital justice system is marked by arbitrariness, discrimination and error, and the US authorities have frequently violated international standards in their pursuit of judicial killing of prisoners including people whose guilt remained in doubt. RECOMMENDED
