August 9 TENNESSEE: Jordan may face death penalty----Man pleads not guilty to 10 charges in TDOT shooting that killed 3 David Lynn Jordan will face a possible death sentence if convicted of shooting 5 people at the Tennessee Department of Transportation garage Jan. 11. At his arraignment Monday in Madison County Circuit Court, Jordan pleaded not guilty to charges that he killed his estranged wife and 2 others and wounded 2 of his wife's co-workers at the garage. "We have filed the paperwork stating our intentions to seek the death penalty or a life sentence without parole," said District Attorney General Jerry Woodall, who said he will be the lead attorney for the state in the case. Jordan was arraigned because the Madison County grand jury returned a 10-count indictment against him last week. He faces 3 counts of 1st-degree murder, 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in perpetration of a felony, 2 counts of attempted 1st-degree murder, 2 counts of aggravated assault and 1 count of leaving the scene of an accident. Judge Roy B. Morgan Jr. set a tentative trial date for May 16, with jury selection beginning the day before. He also set a March 6 plea deadline, and a Nov. 7 hearing to check the status of the case with lawyers for both sides. Jordan, one of several prisoners brought in manacled and handcuffed from the County Jail, quietly answered questions put to him by Morgan, then briefly met with Assistant Public Defender Steve Spracher to go over paperwork before being returned to jail. Morgan ruled that the public defender's office would continue to represent Jordan. Assistant Public Defender Steve Spracher said District Public Defender George Googe would probably handle the case. Assistant District Attorney Jody Pickens represented the state Monday, but directed all questions about the case to Woodall. According to court documents, Jordan admitted to investigators that he loaded 2 handguns, a shotgun and an assault rifle and carried them into the TDOT garage, off Interstate 40. There, he allegedly shot his wife, Donna Renee Jordan, who was a clerk with TDOT. He also allegedly shot and killed Jerry W. Hopper of Enville, who was an employee of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture's forestry division, and delivery man David Gordon of Medina. Hopper was having a vehicle serviced in the garage at the time of the crime. Gordon had followed Jordan to the garage after Jordan hit his vehicle and did not stop, according to witnesses. 2 other TDOT garage employees, Larry Taylor of Finger and James Goff of Henderson, were wounded. Police recovered the weapons from Jordan's truck, which was stopped a few miles from the crime scene without incident. (source: The Jackson Sun News) GEORGIA: Hearing date for defendant is postponed----Man facing death penalty in police officer's shooting The arraignment of a 27-year-old man charged with gunning down a Pendergrass police officer in December has been postponed because his attorney has a conflict, court officials said Monday. Richard Alexander Whitaker was to appear this afternoon in Jackson County Superior Court, but Atlanta-based attorney Bruce Harvey asked that the hearing be reset, according to the Jackson County District Attorney's Office. No date has been set for when Whitaker might be arraigned on charges he shot officer Chris Ruse after a police chase along U.S. Highway 129 through Pendergrass and Talmo. Whitaker faces 17 charges, including murder, in the Dec. 29 shooting. In most cases, arraignments are rather quick proceedings, lasting only minutes. However, in a case like Whitaker's, where prosecutors also are seeking the death penalty against him, the arraignment could take longer than usual. In March, prosecutors struck a deal with 18-year-old Nolan Leon Chauvin IV, turning him into a key witness against Whitaker. Chauvin, of Dacula, was initially charged with aggravated assault and felony murder in Ruse's death. However, he pleaded guilty to lesser charges of conspiracy to commit a burglary, possession of tools for the commission of a crime and possession of a sawed-off shotgun and is expected to testify against Whitaker. Whitaker and Chauvin were driving to commit a burglary at an unspecified location on the night of Ruse's murder, according to the indictment against Whitaker. At about 8 p.m. on Dec. 29, Ruse tried to pull over their white 1998 GMC Sierra pickup driving north on U.S. 129 in Pendergrass, according to authorities. When it did not stop, Ruse pursued the truck, and in nearby Talmo, the truck overturned. Ruse was shot and killed as he approached the wreck, according to authorities. Authorities found the 2 had guns and burglary tools, according to court records. No motions have been filed in Whitaker's case as of Monday morning. Harvey could not be reached for comment. (source: Athens Banner-Herald) USA: Justice right to worry about death penalty----John Paul Stevens, addressing the American Bar Association, takes note of improper verdicts and urges caution on use of capital punishment. U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens lashed out against the death penalty Saturday, on the heels of a vote by the Conference of Chief Justices of state courts to oppose a wrongheaded bill by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., that would put capital punishment into overdrive. Stevens, addressing an American Bar Association meeting in Chicago, did not call for abolition of the death penalty. But he lamented the impending departure of Sandra Day O'Connor, whose vote helped restrict the death penalty for mentally retarded defendants and those whose crimes were committed before their 18th birthday. Stevens told ABA delegates that the jury selection process, by screening out potential jurors opposed to capital punishment, could bias the system toward convictions. He also warned jurors might be improperly swayed by victim-impact statements. Stevens' speech was particularly timely in view of the efforts by Kyl and Lungren to stop what they call "endless delays" between convictions in capital cases and executions. Congress passed a measure in 1996 to streamline death penalty procedures, but Kyl and Lungren want an even faster rush to judgment. Yet, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, more than three dozen death-row inmates have been exonerated since 2000. Surely, even advocates of capital punishment should be concerned that they not execute the innocent. While not a capital case, the recent freeing of Luis Diaz, who spent 25 years in prison for a series of rapes that DNA evidence now proves he didn't commit, underscores the need to make the most exacting scientific evidence available in all cases involving possible death penalties. The Post also shares the concern voiced by Justices O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg about the poor quality of legal representation in many death penalty cases. Some states, including Colorado, field well-qualified public defender teams in capital cases. But too many states, particularly in the Southern "death belt," appoint underpaid, often inexperienced lawyers. President Bush's nominee to replace O'Connor, John G. Roberts Jr., has a limited record on the death penalty. While serving in the Reagan White House, Roberts suggested that the high court could cut its caseload by "abdicating the role of fourth or fifth guesser in death penalty cases." Yet, Roberts later did volunteer legal work for a death row inmate. If he does reach the high tribunal, we hope Roberts takes a responsible view of the death penalty, not the "execute first and ask questions later" tack advocated by Kyl and Lungren. (source: Editorial, Denver Post) ALABAMA: Experts say Moore has PTSD, disagree about his mental state 2 mental health experts testified Monday at the capital murder trial of Devin Moore that the defendant suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, but they disagreed about whether he was in a dissociative state when he allegedly gunned down two Fayette police officers and a dispatcher. Charles Nevels, a psychiatrist with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, testified for the defense that Moore, 20, suffers from PTSD. Nevels said Moore was in a dream-like dissociative state when he allegedly shot the victims. "My opinion was that he was unaware of what he was doing, the wrongfulness of it," Nevels said. "And there wasn't anything he could do about it." Moore is charged with capital murder in the deaths of officers Arnold Strickland, 55, and James Crump, 40, and dispatcher Leslie "Ace" Mealer, 38. Moore allegedly stole Strickland's gun and used it to fatally shoot the victims while being booked on a stolen auto charge on June 7, 2003. Brent Willis, a psychologist with Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility, agreed that Moore suffers from PTSD. But he testified that tests indicate Moore intentionally exaggerated his symptoms, and he believes the defendant knew exactly what he was doing. Under cross-examination, Nevels also admitted PTSD doesn't necessarily impair a person's ability to distinguish right from wrong. Willis said Moore has clear recollections of the shootings and demonstrated goal-directed behavior in his effort to escape, indicating he was not in a dissociative state, The Tuscaloosa News reported. Defense lawyers do not dispute that Moore committed the murders, but they argue that he shot the victims while suffering from PTSD brought on by abuse and neglect as a child. The defense also claims that Moore was programmed to kill after obsessively playing the video game "Grand Theft Auto." Prosecutors say Moore knew exactly what he was doing and opened fire to escape jail time. Moore's relatives testified earlier in the trial that he was beaten severely as a child and often retreated into himself. But 2 of Moore's former teachers said they never noticed such behavior and saw no need to send him for counseling. (source: Associated Press) ******************************* Disorder or dishonest? Defense attorneys and prosecutors questioned witnesses with conflicting psychological testimony Monday in the capital murder trial of Devin Moore. Charles Nevels, a psychiatrist with extensive experience treating veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder said Moore suffers from PTSD. He said Moore was in a dream-like dissociative state when he killed Fayette police Officers Arnold Strickland and James Crump and dispatcher Leslie "Ace" Mealer in June 2003. Brent Willis, a psychologist with Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility agreed that Moore suffers from PTSD. But he said tests indicated that Moore intentionally exaggerated his symptoms. And he believes Moore knew what he was doing that night and knew right from wrong. The entire case may well hinge on psychological testimony, because defense attorneys don't dispute that Moore shot the 3 officers. The question remains whether he was responsible for his actions. Moore is charged with six counts on three different charges of capital murder. He pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of serious mental defect. After hearing testimony from Nevels and psychologist Marianne Rosenzweig that Moore wasn't responsible for his/sactions, jurors heard their 1st expert/stestimony to the contrary from Willis. He said his interviews and tests with Moore in November 2004 indicated he knew what he was doing and knew right from wrong. Willis said he didn't believe Moore was in a dream-like dissociative state, because he had clear recollections of the events. He also demonstrated goal-directed behavior in trying to escape. Moore's statements to Willis paralleled his statement to Alabama Bureau of Investigation Agent Johnny Tubbs, Willis said. However, it also revealed some new details not heard before in court. Moore admitted to breaking into several Jasper businesses and stealing the white Toyota Camry that Strickland found him sleeping in the night of the killings. He also admitted to breaking in a laundry and stealing clothes. Willis said Moore told him that the strap holding Strickland's pistol in its holster was unsnapped and that Strickland kept touching the gun. Moore said he feared Strickland would shoot him. Willis said Moore claimed he shot Strickland as the officer charged Moore in an effort to get his pistol back. Also, Willis said Moore told him that he shot Crump while Crump was trying to draw his gun. As he walked past Crump, the officer moved so Moore shot him again, Willis said. He said he shot Mealer and the dispatcher was on his hands and knees so he shot Mealer in the head. Willis said Moore told him that after killing the officers, he went back for his tennis shoe that Crump had been making a print of. "I wanted my brand new K-Swiss shoes," Willis quoted Moore as saying. "I paid $85 for them and they looked good. I didn't want to throw them out," Defense Attorney Jim Standridge chipped away at Willis' testimony, citing behavior he indicated was irrational. At times, Willis admitted that a patient with PTSD might display irrational, dissociative behavior. However, Willis stuck to his evaluation of Moore. Standridge also tried to present Willis as a state employee whose job is to assist the district attorney. Willis said his job required him to form an independent opinion and work with anyone who asked for help. "You didn't work with me," Standridge said. "You didn't call me," Willis responded, sparking laughter in the courtroom. Nevels has extensive experience with treating patients with PTSD as a psychiatrist with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He said Moore shot the officers while in a dissociative state. "My opinion was that he was unaware of what he was doing, the wrongfulness of it," Nevels said. "And there wasn't anything he could do about it." In his interviews with Moore, he said Moore told him events didn't seem real; that they seemed like a nightmare. Moore didn't seem to have a clear memory of events, he said. When Moore begged police to shoot him, Nevels said Moore was trying to wake up from a bad dream. People in a dissocative state can take part in goal-directed behavior, thus explaining some of Moore's actions, Nevels said. He said he believed Moore would retreat into a dissociative state when his father beat him. He said it seemed as if his father were beating someone else. Nevels said he is surprised that Moore didn't develop multiple personalities. The amount of abuse was that severe. Under cross-examination, Nevels admitted that having PTSD doesn't necessarily impair someone's ability to know right from wrong. Judge James Moore refused to allow Nevels to testify about video games. Defense attorneys claim Moore was programmed to kill by the video game Grand Theft Auto. Moore asked questions about research Nevels had done relating to video games and PTSD patients in dissociative states. Nevels said he knew of none. Standridge renewed his objection that the judge was too narrow in defining the parameters for testimony. Moore's family members testified that he frequently zoned out or retreated from reality. But 2 of Moore's teachers said they never noticed this kind of behavior. Sue Tucker said she taught Moore computer classes and described him as a typical "C" student. She said she saw no reason to send him for counseling. Hubbertville High School Principal Morris Moore, Devin Moore's former football coach and history teacher said the same. A teacher from a Walker County alternative school offered similar testimony. She said counselors examined Moore during the spring of 2003 when he was sent to the alternative school and found no reason to refer him for further treatment. (source: The Tuscaloosa News) WASHINGTON: Husband charged, death penalty open Prosecutors might seek the death penalty for a Pierce County man accused of killing his estranged wife and her boyfriend. Patrick Arthur Piccolo, 52, was charged Monday with 2 counts of aggravated 2st-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Janine Piccolo and Kenneth DeBord, both 26. Piccolo also was charged with 2nd-degree arson. Detectives believe he asked his son to burn his truck to conceal evidence of the crime, according to court documents. Superior Court Judge Vicki Hogan ordered Piccolo held without bail during a brief hearing attended by relatives of Patrick Piccolo and DeBord. Aggravated first-degree murder is the only crime in Washington punishable by death, and deputy prosecutor Gerald Costello told Hogan his office might seek that punishment for Piccolo should he be convicted. By law, prosecutor Jerry Horne now has 30 days to decide. Piccolo, led into court in shackles and gray jail-issue uniform, pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Detectives believe Piccolo shot his wife and DeBord on Wednesday as the three rode in Piccolos pickup in rural Pierce County, according to an affidavit of probable cause. The 3 apparently spent time together doing drugs even though Janine Piccolo was considering leaving her husband to start a relationship with DeBord, the affidavit states. On Wednesday, Piccolo picked up his wife and DeBord from Pierce County Jail, where DeBord was being released after an arrest Tuesday on suspicion of attempting to elude a police officer, 3rd-degree assault and resisting arrest. Piccolo told investigators 2 different stories about what happened next. In one, he said his wife pulled out a gun to rob him of his truck, and she and DeBord were shot when Piccolo tried to get the weapon away from her, according to charging documents. When detectives pointed out the implausibility of that account, Piccolo said he got the gun away from his wife and shot her and DeBord to prevent the robbery, the documents state. Janine Piccolo, who was riding between the 2 men, was shot once behind the left ear, according to the affidavit. DeBord was hit in his hand, neck and upper back. Piccolo said he drove the bodies to Klickitat County and dumped them in the Columbia River, where fishermen discovered them Thursday. Upon returning home, Piccolo asked his son to take the pickup into the woods and burn it to conceal evidence, according to the affidavit. Sheriffs deputies found the truck burning in the Wilkeson area Friday. Detectives arrested Piccolos son Friday, but he has not been charged with a crime. DeBords mother, Bonnie DeBord, said her son began dating Janine Piccolo about a month ago. They planned to move to a house in Graham in the coming weeks and start a life together, she said. "I'm going to be here every day theres a court hearing," Bonnie DeBord said. "They didnt deserve what happened to them." (source: The News Tribune) FLORIDA: Third trial for Mordenti begins----Once again, Michael Mordenti is on trial in Thelma Royston's death. But there is a new wrinkle this time The last time Michael Mordenti sat in Hillsborough Circuit Judge Barbara Fleischer's courtroom, he was staring death in the face. Now, 4 months after Fleischer declared a mistrial, the stakes aren't nearly as high. After 14 1/2 years on death row, the St. Petersburg used car salesman will try again, for the third time, to convince a jury that he did not kill Thelma Royston at her Odessa ranch in 1989. Sentenced to death in 1991 as triggerman in a murder-for-hire plot, Mordenti won't face the death penalty this time around, prosecutors say. As both sides prepare to give opening statements in Mordenti's trial today, jurors face the unusual prospect of freeing a death row inmate if the state can't prove its case. A lack of physical evidence and concerns about the credibility of the prosecution's star witness have raised questions about the strength of the case against him. "I think the system was looking for someone to convict, and they convicted him on evidence that was not there," said Mordenti's daughter, Kathy Mordenti. Much of the prosecution's case against Mordenti to date has rested on the testimony of his estranged former wife, Gail Milligan. Milligan admitted to helping set up the hit on Royston, 54. In exchange for immunity from prosecution, Milligan has said Royston's husband, Larry Royston, masterminded the murder. She said Larry Royston paid Mordenti $17,000 to shoot his wife in the head with a .22-caliber revolver. A jury convicted Mordenti of first-degree murder after listening to Milligan's testimony. The Florida Supreme Court, however, ordered a retrial in December after determining that prosecutors in the 1st trial had withheld important evidence. In May, Fleischer declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision during Mordenti's 2nd trial. A retrial was ordered and a new jury was selected Monday. Hillsborough County prosecutor Pam Bondi declined to comment on the state's decision not to pursue the death penalty. Mordenti's attorney, Martin McClain, said he does not know what led prosecutors to drop the death penalty this time. "All I know is that I'm glad," McClain said. "I absolutely believe Michael is innocent." Mordenti is one of 384 people currently on death row in Florida. He is also one of a handful of death row inmates to count McClain as part of his defense team. McClain has worked on more than 155 death penalty cases and has helped exonerate 3 high-profile death row inmates in Florida. In one of those cases, he helped free Rudolph Holton in 2003 after Holton spent 16 years on death row for a murder two other men later confessed to committing. Critics of the death penalty say they will be keeping close watch as McClain presses ahead with Mordenti's defense. "For a lawyer to have 1 person freed from death row is a milestone in their career," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center. "Marty has had a few of those and is always working on a few others with that potential." Mordenti's trial is expected to continue through Friday. (source: St. Petersburg Times)
