Dec. 15 WISCONSIN: One case insufficient to reinstate death penalty Wisconsins government is under the influence of a hasty campaign for capital punishment with only one illustration to back up the plea. After the murder of a freelance photographer in Manitowoc, Wis., DNA was matched to accused rapist Steven Avery when charred remains were found buried on his property. Although exonerated from rape charges after 18 years in prison, Avery now faces trial for 1st-degree homicide. The horrific murder of Teresa Halbach was an unjustified act of violence against an innocent woman and Avery, if found guilty, deserves life behind bars. But the rally to reinstate a law that allows the execution of high-profile murderers should not be fueled by only one case. No matter how heated any argument may get over the righteousness of the death penalty, each state institutes its own laws concerning the issue. Once decided, each state should stand loyal to its decision, no exceptions. The government should not allow state legislatures to change long-standing laws on a case-by-case basis and legislatures should only have this power if there is a reoccurring problem. Sen. Alan Lasee and Tom Reynolds, however, are doing just that. They have turned the high profile murder trial of Steven Avery into a rally for the reinstatement of the death penalty in Wisconsin. No argument is being made to whether the evidence matches Avery to the murder and mutilation of an innocent victim. Instead, the issue is whether the murder itself is enough to convince Wisconsin voters that a murderers life is the price of a victims death. Wisconsin has held a position against the death penalty since 1853 and has seen its fair share of high-profile murders since. So my question to the public is this: if one murder can result in a campaign for the reinstatement of an age-old issue, will each of the sentence regulations undergo debate when faced with a high-profile felony? Avery deserves a life behind bars without parole if convicted of first-degree homicide, but in a state that has voted to shut out the idea of punishing based on the theory of an eye for an eye, that should be enough. The nation is cluttered with cases involving murderers, sex offenders and pedophiles worthy of severe punishments. Imagine the nation takes on the pattern of Wisconsin, examining punishment regulations on a case-by-case basis in the legislature. Not only will the courts be cluttered with the already exhausting appeals process, they may now be forced to make daily decisions regarding amendments of long-standing laws. The pattern should be broken before it overwhelms our judicial system. With an issue as controversial as capital punishment, a debate that has spanned for years, the fact that Wisconsin has chosen to remain loyal to its position for more than one and a half centuries should send a message to the public. No murderer has ever influenced our courts so strongly before and Avery should not stand out. How do the inhumane acts of Steven Avery compare to those of Ed Gein, the butcher of Plainfield? Surely no one can begin to find a murderer worthy of erasing the footsteps of that infamous Wisconsin murderer, which stirred up little debate regarding the laws of capital punishment. No murder or murderer should deem more justifiable for death than another. Each case involves the loss of a life or lives, the heartache of a grieving family and the lingering question of why. The case of Steven Avery should not hold the power to change or even influence our state laws. A life behind bars should remain the punishment in a state that long ago decided an eye is not worth an eye. (source: Kaitlyn Farrell is a sophomore majoring in journalism and political science; The Daily Cardinal, Univ. of Wisconsin) IOWA: Facts don't support the revival of death penalty Public policy should be based on solid research, not an emotional response to high-profile situations. Recent statements by legislators in favor of reinstatement of the death penalty are another indication of their willingness to base legislation on emotion rather than facts. The limited nature of the death penalty these public officials support does not make the position any more defensible. The League of Women Voters of Iowa agrees that some crimes are so heinous that they require extreme consequences. That is why we support maintaining Iowa's current laws that mandate life in prison without possibility of parole for Class A felonies. We oppose reinstatement of the death penalty for any offense. The facts do not support changing from life without parole to the death penalty, even in limited circumstances. There is no conclusive evidence that the death penalty acts as a deterrent. According to a survey, 84 percent of former and current presidents of the country's top academic criminological societies rejected the notion that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder. Texas and Louisiana, with two of the nation's highest murder rates, have capital punishment. Iowa, with no capital punishment, ranks fourth from the bottom in murders per capita. Iowa had 1.6 murders for every 100,000 population, while the national rate was 5.7 murders per 100,000. Cost studies on the death penalty show it is much more expensive than a system where the most severe sentence is life in prison. The most comprehensive death-penalty study in the country found that the death penalty cost North Carolina $2.16 million more per execution than a non-death penalty murder case with a sentence of life imprisonment (Duke University, May 1993). On a national basis, these figures translate to an extra cost of over $1 billion spent since 1976 on the death penalty. Because death is irrevocable, courts are required to have a heightened level of due process for capital defendants. Multiple retrials and multiple appeals are the norm, and that requires more time and greater expense. The possibility that innocent people will be killed is not only possible, but likely. Since 1973, 122 inmates on death row in 25 states have been exonerated and set free after it was discovered they had been wrongfully convicted. The most recent, on Nov. 15, was a death-row inmate in Pennsylvania. The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles recently pardoned a woman who was executed 60 years ago. A civilized society should not condone such taking of innocent lives. The call for reinstatement of the death penalty in Iowa comes at a time when the nation's death sentences are lower than they were 5 years ago. That's also true for the size of death row, number of executions and public support for the death penalty. Iowans - as demonstrated by results of the recent Iowa Poll - are concerned about many issues that they want the Iowa Legislature to address. Reinstatement of the death penalty will solve none of them. (source: MARLA SHEFFLER is president of the League of Women Voters of Iowa; Des Moines Register) MISSOURI: county waited too late, lawyer says----Defense in Precious case asks for no death penalty The attorney for a man accused of killing 3-year-old Erica Green on Wednesday asked a judge to forbid prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. The legal filing contends that Jackson County Prosecutor Mike Sanders acted too late in filing aggravating circumstances for the death penalty against Harrell Johnson. Sanders announced the decision this month. Prosecutors declined to comment Wednesday. Earlier, they said that the final decision in their seven-month review of the case was not made until this month. It was based on material recently received from Oklahoma police concerning alleged violent crimes there, they said. Ericas decapitated body was found in Kansas City woods in April 2001. Her head was found later in a trash bag nearby. The community named her Precious Doe and rallied to identify the girl and her killer, a task that took police 4 years. Johnson allegedly kicked Erica, knocked her unconscious and left her untreated for up to 12 hours until she died, court records say. His wife, Michelle Johnson, 30, is charged with felony 2nd-degree murder and child endangerment for not getting her dying daughter medical help. Defense lawyer Bill Raymond said Judge Charles Atwell repeatedly gave Sanders deadlines for deciding whether to seek the death penalty, then extended them. Raymond contends that Sanders told the defense and the judge in October that he would not seek death. That action should have ended the deadline extensions, Raymond said. He asked the judge to deny prosecutors the right to seek death or grant the defense a hearing on the matter. Johnson, 26, is in Oklahoma, serving a 5-year sentence for beating a man with an axe handle, prosecutors said. In Ericas case, he has pleaded not guilty to 1st-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child and possible alternative charges of felony second-degree murder and child abuse. (source: kansas City Star) ************** Expert: Man's DNA not present in evidence Missouri death row inmate Brian J. Kinder's DNA was not present in the re-testing of evidence from the 1990 rape and murder for which he was convicted, a DNA expert said Wednesday. But there is little DNA to test, and some of the original samples have degraded to the point where testing can't be done, Missouri Highway Patrol DNA technical leader Cary Maloney said in a Cole County courtroom. Kinder, his attorney Frederick Duchardt Jr. and lawyers from the Missouri Attorney General's Office were there to discuss the results of testing that could be the only thing standing between Kinder and the death chamber. Those tests were ordered by St. Louis Circuit Judge Lisa Van Amburg, who was assigned as special master to the case by the Missouri Supreme Court after Duchardt questioned the original DNA testing. DNA helped convict Kinder in 1992 of the Dec. 21, 1990, rape and murder of his distant cousin, Cynthia Williams, in her home in Crystal City. All of Kinder's appeals have been denied so far, but after the attorney general's office asked the Supreme Court to set an execution date, Kinder got another chance. Duchardt argued that the original DNA testing was either flawed or contaminated, and that the state's DNA expert erased a mark on the DNA test that would have exonerated Kinder. That court exhibit has been lost. But the attorney general's office said the evidence was never altered, and the DNA expert testified at the trial that the mark in question either indicated a match with Williams' DNA or was produced by photocopying. Although Van Amburg stressed that Wednesday's hearing was simply a status conference, if Kinder's DNA had matched evidence taken from the scene, it would likely have marked an end to delays in setting his execution date. If tests identified another male's DNA, it might not help Kinder either. The attorney general's office could argue that the DNA came from the victim having consensual sex with someone else before the murder. The tests have been inconclusive so far. Assistant Attorney General Deborah Daniels said that for Kinder to prevail under the law, DNA testing must produce evidence that would have changed the outcome of the trial if jurors had been aware of it. Duchardt said that if further rounds of testing are also inconclusive, the questions might still cause the Supreme Court to say, "This smells to high heaven, and we are not going to execute a man based on flawed testing." Van Amburg told Duchardt to propose another round of testing by Dec. 31, and to research the advanced testing technologies that might be used on what little DNA evidence is left. That testing could include 1 method so new it's not yet accepted for use in Missouri courts. (source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch) ILLINOIS: CBS's "48 Hours" to revisit Rhoads murder in Saturday's program The nearly 20-year-old Paris double homicide involving Dyke and Karen Rhoads of Paris will be revisited on CBS news program "48 Hours" at 9 p.m. Saturday. CBS previously aired an hour-long program on the case in 2000. Saturdays program will feature highlights from interviews taken by "48 Hours" while visiting the Paris community during the past summer. Former Illinois State Police Lt. Michale Callahan, who won a $650,000 suit against his superiors for violation of his civil rights, was also interviewed and will be part of Saturdays airing. Callahan maintained that his investigation into the Rhoads murder was thwarted by his superiors after he gathered evidence pointing toward the innocence of Randy Steidl and Herb Whitlock, who both were convicted for the crimes. Steidl spent over a dozen years in death row, followed by several more in prison before he was set free in May 200. He is still under a cloud a suspicion. Meanwhile, Whitlocks quest for freedom was short-lived when an Edgar County Judge denied him a new trial recently. A preview of Saturdays program can be viewed at www.cbsnews.com. (source: Paris Beacon News) FLORIDA: Life On Death Row Exposes The Spirit Juan Roberto Melendez learned how to read, write and speak English on death row in Starke and Raiford. "I was taught by the worst of the worst," said Melendez, 54. "By the ones they call monsters. They taught this Puerto Rican how to read and write in English. I did not know how to." After 17 years, eight months and one day, Melendez was cleared of a Polk County slaying after authorities said another man claimed responsibility. During his time on death row, Melendez said, he learned about the human spirit and the path to redemption. "Some change rapidly; some change slowly," Melendez said from his home in Puerto Rico. "They believe in the spirit of faith. They learn love, compassion and how to forgive." The Melendez story is different in many ways from the case of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, co-founder of the notorious Crips gang, who was executed this week in California. Williams used his time on death row for good works - writing children's books and working to stop gang violence - but he went to his death denying responsibility for his crimes. Still, Melendez sees important similarities in their stories as the Williams case rekindles the national discussion over the death penalty, religious faith and the concept of redemption. "The truth is most of the people they execute are not the same person that committed the crime," said Melendez, who attended a California rally to protest the Williams execution. "They change for something divine. They know they are not going to the streets. So what's the next step? They become Christians, they turn Muslim and praise Allah, and turn to Buddhism." Melendez was convicted of the 1983 killing of Delbert Baker. No physical evidence linked him to the crime. A transcript of a statement from another man was discovered in 1999. Melendez was released in 2002. 'It's An Eye For An Eye' Edward McDonald, Baker's former partner, sees no place for redemption in the discussion of justice. He approves of the death penalty, and to this day, he is dismayed over Melendez's release. "If somebody kills another person, they should get the same penalty," said McDonald, 75, of Lakeland. "It's an eye for an eye. I was hoping the California governor would not change anything. Even though he [Williams] reformed for what he did and the Lord may have forgiven him, that would be great. But that does not change anything." Florida has executed 60 people since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. Two men, Clarence Hill and Arthur Rutherford, are scheduled for execution on Jan. 24 and 31, respectively. Florida's death row has 367 inmates, according to the state Department of Corrections Web site. Religious groups and death penalty opponents argue that faith should play a role in public policy decisions on punishment, said the Rev. Robert Schneider, a member of the Florida Catholic Conference Committee on the death penalty. "We believe that faith values always have a place in public discussion in any issue," said Schneider, pastor of Espiritu Santo Church in Safety Harbor. "We have grave concerns, in spite of guilt or innocence, if this is an appropriate punishment." Retired Catholic Bishop John J. Snyder, of St. Augustine, and Dale Recinella, of Macclenny, a Catholic lay chaplain, look into the eyes of the men on death row. Recinella said he is moved by the level of concern for others expressed by people who are about to lose their lives. "I can say I have been extremely moved that foremost in their thoughts are their family and the family of the victim," Recinella said. "That's a very remarkable statement of redemption." Snyder tries to gauge their sincerity when it comes to faith. What the bishop doesn't know - nor does he care to - is whether they have redeemed themselves. "The word 'redemption' is placing us in a position of judging," Snyder said. "Only God can make that final judgment. I've encountered a number of men who certainly are deeply reconciled with the Lord, and their expression of faith is deeply moving. In one sense there's nothing to gain by faking this." 'We Forgive You' Snyder and Recinella were with Glen Ocha, the first person executed this year in Florida, on his final day in April. The former bishop knows that Ocha and the men on death row have committed dreadful acts. But he says he sees many search for redemption. He administered the Catholic sacraments to Ocha for the last time and asked whether he had sought forgiveness. Ocha replied that he had. "He wrote to the family of the victim and asked forgiveness," Snyder said. "They wrote back, 'We forgive you.'" (source: Tampa Tribune)
