death penalty news August 14, 2005
OHIO: Ky. man faces death penalty Authorities say John David Anderson took a man's life and for that, he could lose his own. A Lawrence County grand jury has returned an eight-count indictment against Anderson, the man arrested in connection with the death of Arthur Boyer last month. That indictment includes two aggravated murder charges, both of which carry death penalty specifications. Both murder charges are in connection with Boyer's death but are different on technicalities. One stipulates that the murder was the result of a robbery or attempted robbery and the other that the murder was the result of a burglary or attempted burglary. This makes Anderson the second person facing the death penalty in Lawrence County right now, and the third person with a murder charge pending. "We've certainly had our fair share of really bad crimes lately," Lawrence County Prosecutor J.B. Collier Jr., said. "This was a very straightforward case and now we get ready for the trial." The grand jury also chose to indict Anderson charges of first-degree aggravated robbery, first-degree aggravated burglary, second-degree aggravated arson, fourth-degree grand theft, third-degree tampering with evidence and fifth-degree abuse of a corpse. The robbery and burglary charges also carry firearms charges. Anderson is likely to be arraigned in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court early next week, Collier said. Anderson was recently returned from Kentucky and is lodged in the Lawrence County Jail. Anderson was arrested late on the evening of July 21 in Carter County, Ky., hours after the body of the elderly Boyer was found in his burned out residence in Deering. What started as a fire call escalated into a fatality, and authorities soon began investigating the incident as an arson that was used to cover up a murder. It is perhaps unprecedented that two men face death row in Lawrence County at the same time. Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Frank McCown, who practiced law for many years before taking the bench, said he could not remember a time when the county had two death penalty cases pending at the same time. "Certainly not in the time that I have been around the court," McCown said. "The death penalty has come and gone and now it is back again. It's possible that we had more than one death penalty case as an outcome of the jail break here in the 1960s, when the police chief of Ironton, Gene Markel, was killed." (source: Ironton Tribune) USA / TENNESSEE: Double death penalty case begins Monday Two men charged in a Danville murder-for-hire scheme will go on trial for their lives starting Monday in Lynchburg?s U.S. District Court. The case, moved here because of the new federal courthouse has more holding cells, accuses a Danville man of hiring two Tennessee men to murder a Danville man he believed to be a police informant. The trial, involving dozens of witnesses, is expected to last about four weeks. According to court documents, federal officials said Lanny Benjamin Bodkins, 32, and Darel Keith Taylor, 24, drove from Johnson City, Tenn., to Danville to murder Tyree Wimbush, 23, at the request of Anthoine Plunkett, 37. Plunkett believed Wimbush was a police ?snitch? and he offered to pay Bodkins and Taylor $2,500 to commit the crime. Federal authorities will seek the death penalty against Bodkins and Plunkett. Taylor pleaded guilty in March as part of a plea agreement and is scheduled to testify for the prosecution. The three suspects were indicted in February on charges of conspiracy to commit murder for hire; murder for hire; conspiracy to commit interstate stalking; interstate stalking; and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence resulting in death. Plunkett?s defense attorneys, Beverly M. Davis of Radford and Roger D. Groot with Washington and Lee University?s Law School, both said they couldn?t divulge anything that could come into play at trial. ?Mr. Plunkett has always maintained his innocence in the matter and will do so at trial,? Davis said. Though prosecutors and defense attorneys declined to comment on the specifics of the case, newspaper articles and court documents give some details about what might have happened that night as well as the prosecution?s theories: Shortly before midnight on July 22, 1999, Tyree Wimbush stood chatting with his pregnant girlfriend on the front porch of his aunt?s house in Danville. He pointed to a dark-colored car and said, ?There go those white guys from Tennessee.? Thirty minutes later, Wimbush lay dead in the road after being shot multiple times by those same men, police said. Danville police said in 1999 that two men in a black car pulled up in front of an abandoned building at 712 Claiborne St., a block away from where Wimbush lived. Wimbush stopped his car in front of the vehicle, got out and walked around to the passenger side of their vehicle. Several shots were fired and Wimbush fell to the ground as the car, which had Tennessee license plates, sped off, police said. Prosecutors believe the crime was drug-related. ?It is the government?s theory in this case that prior to the murder of Tyree Wimbush, Plunkett was a drug dealer in the Danville area, as was Tyree Wimbush, but on a smaller scale,? a government motion states. ?During the later part of June 1999, police executed two search warrants in the area where Plunkett was known to sell drugs, near Locust Street, in Danville. These search warrants were supported by information provided by a reliable informant.? Plunkett was arrested after one such search at his then-girlfriend?s house yielded a bag containing his wallet, identification, digital scales and a bag with 42 grams of crack cocaine, according to the motion. Though Plunkett was convicted of possession with intent to distribute, the conviction was overturned on appeal. The government states that Plunkett attended a meeting on or around July 14 - eight days before Wimbush?s murder - with several people to determine the identity of the police informant and to decide what to do about that person. Plunkett told those at the meeting he believed Wimbush was the informant and ?wanted him dealt with,? the motion stated. This was the genesis of the murder-for-hire plan, according to court documents. The documents also state that authorities believe Bodkins was the triggerman and Taylor was the driver of the car. Jurors for the lengthy trial will be selected from Danville and the surrounding counties, not Lynchburg, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig J. Jacobsen, who is prosecuting the case with Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Giorno. (source: Lynchburg News & Advance) SOUTH CAROLINA: Death row inmate told clock ticking for appeal - Man says he has year; judge says no After spending six years on death row for killing his parents, a Rock Hill man says he still hasn't decided whether he will file a lawsuit against his trial lawyers and prosecutors or even whether he wants a new lawyer. James Robertson was convicted of double murder for beating his parents to death in 1997 with a hammer and baseball bat. Prosecutors said Robertson killed Terry and Earl Robertson for their estate of more than $2 million. They say he tried to cover up the crime by making it appear that his parents had been robbed. Robertson had received permission in February to drop all his appeals and be put to death. But with his execution just weeks away, Robertson filed court papers in June saying he deserved a new trial because his defense attorneys were ineffective and prosecutors committed misconduct during his 1999 trial. The S.C. Supreme Court ruled unanimously to give Robertson time to file the appeal, called post-conviction relief. Robertson told Judge John Few in a hearing Friday in Greenville that he plans to file the appeal, "but not right away." "I have a year to file. ... I have 365 days. Whether I wake up tomorrow or wake up in 350 days and decide to file, I don't know," he said. But Few and Ed Salter of the state attorney general's office told Robertson he has just 60 days from the time the lawyer issue is resolved to file a suit, or the Department of Corrections can set a date for execution. Few, appointed by the Supreme Court to handle the post-conviction relief, told Robertson he should have a lawyer. Robertson said he only wants a lawyer who will respect his wishes. If Robertson decides not to get a lawyer, Few then will have to determine whether the decision was voluntarily made. York County Judge John C. Hayes III has ruled twice that Robertson was mentally competent to both fire his lawyer and drop his appeal. (source: AP / Myrtle Beach Online) FLORIDA: Death penalty cases delayed Since Chief Assistant Public Defender James Slater died unexpectedly in May, the legal system in which he played a crucial role has felt the loss. Friends and colleagues described him as diligent and passionate in the defense of his clients against the death penalty. He was the most experienced counsel in local capital cases, and his departure created a void that has rippled through Manatee County's four pending death penalty cases. Slater's death at the age of 57 - from a rare and aggressive form of lymphatic cancer that killed him a little more than two weeks after its diagnosis - left others in the Manatee public defender's office scrambling to gain the experience they need under state law before they can take the pending cases to trial. "Jim's death put us in a very bad position," said Steven Schaefer, an attorney in the office. "It certainly complicated matters because he was our lead capital attorney in the Manatee County office," said Assistant Public Defender Adam Tebrugge, who is based in Sarasota. Key to preventing additional delays in the four cases is the upcoming trial in Sarasota of Joseph P. Smith. Two Manatee public defenders, Schaefer and Carolyn DaSilva, will earn the experience they need before they can take the pending cases to trial by assisting Tebrugge in his defense of Smith, who is accused of kidnapping, raping and killing 11-year-old Carlie Brucia in February 2004. Smith's trial is set to start in November in Sarasota. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Smith. Once the Smith trial is complete, Schaefer and DaSilva will be qualified to defend suspects in the four pending death penalty cases in Manatee County, starting with Gary Cloud. Cloud, 48, is charged with killing former actress Barbara Jean Laney in her Lakeside Drive condominium on Aug. 3, 2002. The two were acquaintances and Cloud had borrowed money from Laney, who was 67, in the past, the sheriff's office said. At the time of Slater's death, the state had just announced that it would seek the death penalty for Cloud. "The Cloud case is ready," Tebrugge said. "They were ready to walk in and pick a jury." But Cloud's trial has now been pushed back to January, and Manatee's three other cases most likely will fall in line behind that trial. The three other Manatee County defendants currently facing a possible death sentence are: - Blaine Ross, 22, who is charged with beating his parents to death with a baseball bat on Jan. 7, 2004. The bodies of Richard and Kathleen Ross were found in the bedroom of their East Manatee home. - Darrell Mitchell, 35, who is charged with strangling Susan E. Tharp in her East Manatee home on July 16, 2004. Prosecutors announced in March that they had obtained new evidence and would seek the death penalty for Mitchell. - Jeffrey Leonard Pompey, 24, who is charged with fatally shooting store clerk Dong Sub Lim and customer Ramon Coto-Delgado during a robbery attempt on Aug. 14, 2002, at the Food Land grocery store on 15th Street East. Pompey was charged six months later as being the masked gunman captured on video by a store security camera. Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties make up the 12th Judicial Circuit. There are public defender offices in each county, but together they operate as a unit, Tebrugge said. A sixth death penalty case pending in the circuit is in Sarasota County. Elton Brutus Murphy is accused of stabbing Sarasota art gallery owner Joyce Wishart to death on Jan 16, 2004. Her body was found five days later in her gallery. Under the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, to be lead counsel on a capital case, attorneys must have at least five years of experience in criminal law, and have experience as lead counsel or have served as co-counsel in at least two state or federal death penalty cases tried to completion, among other qualifications. Schaefer and DaSilva have each worked on one death penalty case. In the Smith trial, they will work on one of the most high-profile cases in Florida in recent years. Prosecutors say Smith was caught on camera leading Brucia away from a car wash. It is a case that has brought great scrutiny of the probation system, as Smith had violated the terms of his probation, but was not incarcerated at the time of the slaying. Schaefer and DaSilva will assist Tebrugge in witness preparation - a demanding task in major trials, which frequently have 100 witnesses, Tebrugge said. They may also make some arguments in court. But, Tebrugge said, "I'll be captain of the ship." The trial is expected to take about a month. Upon its completion, the Manatee cases can proceed, starting with the Cloud trial in January. Tebrugge couldn't take on the Manatee cases because of his involvement in the Smith case and another upcoming trial, he said. He also said that the judicial district's chief judge, Robert Bennett, could have made an exception to the qualifications needed so that the delay in the docket could be avoided. But, Tebrugge said, Bennett chose not to and will preside over a Sept. 16 hearing in which all pending death penalty trials in the circuit will be discussed and scheduled. "I think that Judge Bennett felt there was no reason why we couldn't technically comply with the rule," Tebrugge said. Bennett, who was on medical leave last week, was not available for comment. - Jeffrey Leonard Pompey, in the shooting deaths of store clerk Dong Sub Lim and customer Ramon Coto-Delgado during a robbery attempt at the Food Land grocery store on 15th Street East, August 2002. - Gary M. Cloud, in the death of former actress and model Barbara Laney in her Lakeside Drive condominium, August 2002. - Blaine Ross, in the beating deaths of his parents, Richard and Kathleen Ross of East Manatee, January 2004. - Elton Brutus Murphy, in the stabbing death of Joyce Wishart inside her Sarasota art gallery, January 2004. - Joseph P. Smith, in the abduction, rape and slaying of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia of Sarasota, February 2004. - Darrell W. Mitchell, in the strangulation death of Susan E. Tharp in her East Manatee home, July 2004. (source: HeraldToday.com) USA / MISSOURI: execution of the innocent - Putting the death penalty on trial Nine hundred and seventy-two men and women have been executed in states with the death penalty since 1976. Last month one of them, Larry Griffin of St. Louis, got a chance at a post-mortem reprieve. Found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, he could soon be found innocent beyond the grave. Missouri killed him by lethal injection at the Potosi Correctional Center in 1995. This remarkable case bears watching. It could not only affect the 52 inmates currently on death row in Missouri, but all 3,415 death row inmates in the nation. Griffin?s case is being reopened 25 years after he was accused of the drive-by murder he said he didn?t commit. Victims-rights groups should want to know what happens because they most of all should want to see the guilty person ? not just anyone ? punished for violent crimes. Evidence provided by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund suggests that not only was Griffin innocent of the crime that sent him to death row, but he wasn?t even there at the time. The probe into the Griffin case was conducted over a year and was overseen by University of Michigan law professor Samuel Gross, who worked with a team of civil rights investigators in other states. Based on the review of the case, the team presented a file that led St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce to reopen the case for further investigation. Besides comments from a new witness who says Griffin wasn?t there, the civil rights investigators provided Joyce with the names of three men believed to be responsible for the drive-by killing. ?The evidence of Larry Griffin?s innocence is much stronger than the evidence we have on the identity of the actual killers,? Gross said. ?If she (Joyce) concludes that Larry Griffin is innocent, I have no doubt that she will say so.? Missouri is a conservative state with an ambitious and conservative Republican governor who supports capital punishment. Nevertheless, Joyce deserves plaudits for taking this courageous and legally responsible stand. A re-examination of this case will not bring Griffin back to life, obviously, but it may result in clearing his name and bringing the real killers of 19-year-old Quintin Moss to justice. One problem with the death penalty is that it is irreversible. When mistakes are made, there really is no way to correct them. Missouri may have to admit that it killed the wrong man. If so, an apology won?t be enough. ?This may encourage other prosecutors and other government officials to look seriously at cases where errors may have been made,? Gross said. It must. Execution is cruel and unusual punishment that doesn?t reduce violent crime. This case is the best argument for a moratorium on executions in Missouri. Illinois did that in 2000 when then-Gov. George Ryan commuted the sentences of 167 death row inmates after appeals courts exonerated 13 inmates on death row. Ryan used to support the death penalty but evidence of flaws in the system caused him to insist on a review of capital cases. U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens spoke recently at an American Bar Association meeting where he raised concerns about jury prejudice, prosecutorial errors and ?special risks of unfairness? in the appellate process. Stevens also said DNA evidence has shown ?that a substantial number of death sentences have been imposed erroneously.? He added, ?It indicates that there must be some serious flaws in our administration of criminal justice.? Indeed. If DNA evidence can be used to close cold cases, some decades old in Kansas City, why shouldn?t it be called upon in capital cases where such forensic advances are a matter of life and death for the accused? ?Of course Larry Griffin was no angel,? Gross said. ?One of the real criminals in this case went on to a prolific career as a hitman and killed, by his own admission, 11 people.? The three men believed to be the real killers are currently serving life sentences for other murders in Missouri. In March, the Supreme Court wisely determined that executing persons under age 18 is unconstitutional. And in June, the court overturned death sentences of four inmates. The court is moving in the proper direction, but that could change with the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O?Connor. While so many people are debating how this court defines the beginning of life in the abortion debate, they must also ponder how it could redefine the end of life on death row. Griffin is African-American. Most death-row inmates ? and victims ? aren?t. Of the 3,415 inmates on death row as of July 1, 1,553 are white, 1,432 are black, 350 are Hispanic, 40 are Native American and 39 are Asian. Only 54 are women. Missouri ranks fourth in the nation (Texas is No. 1) in executions. This is nothing to be proud of. Neither is the possibility that Missouri killed a man who maintained his innocence until his dying breath and who maybe was telling the truth. (source: Centre Daily Times)
