Feb. 20 USA: "It's difficult to describe what it is like to serve time on death row knowing you are innocent. All you know is that what seems like an awful nightmare is now reality, a reality beyond comprehension." - Ray Krone, released from prison April 8, 2002 Death Row Survivors Available to Speak to Your Group Is your group interested in expanding its efforts against the death penalty or simply helping to raise awareness about this critical human rights issue? Consider organizing an event featuring someone who has personal experience with our fatally flawed criminal justice system. Witness to Innocence (www.witnesstoinnocence.org) challenges the public to grapple with the crisis of wrongful convictions in death sentencing. It does this by exposing citizens to the incredibly powerful stories and compelling testimony of individuals who were sentenced to death and lived to tell about it. The project maintains a speakers bureau of exonerated former death row prisoners who bring to the public a unique firsthand account of an innocent person's experience with the justice system. Experienced speakers are available to give presentations to colleges, religious communities, organizations and community groups. Witness to Innocence is spearheaded by former death row prisoners who have been exonerated and released from death rows across the United States and who are now actively engaged in the struggle to end the death penalty. No one can describe the horror of the death penalty and the reality of life on death row better than someone who has experienced it. Regardless of a person's position on capital punishment, he or she will learn a great deal from hearing one of these courageous individuals speak. Their stories invariably have a transformative impact on audiences. To learn more about how Witness to Innocence can help you organize an inspiring educational event featuring an exonerated former death row prisoner, contact: Witness to Innocence P.O. Box 34725 Philadelphia, PA 19101 215-387-1831 [email protected] www.witnesstoinnocence.org We appreciate the work that you and your group do to help bring issues of injustice to the center of our nation's attention and look forward to working with you to help you achieve your goals! (source: Witness to Innocence) ILLINOIS: Death penalty decisions trickyProsecutors consider many factors One decision might make the difference between life in prison and death by lethal injection for Jason D. Smith. St. Clair County State's Attorney Robert Haida made that decision on Jan. 27 when he determined Smith should face the death penalty if he is convicted of killing 4 people, including a 9-week-old infant. Smith will face a death sentence if he's convicted of the shotgun murders of his former girlfriend, Nicole Willyard, 19, her infant son, Jason Smith, and her friends, Mary Cawvey, 19, and Brandon Lovell, 23. The process of making such a decision can vary, but Haida said he based his determination on the model used by federal prosecutors. Haida and his senior felony prosecutors meet with police, victims' families and defense lawyers before deciding which cases should be certified for the death penalty. But Haida makes the final determination. "Every case is evaluated the individual facts and circumstances," Haida said. "We take into consideration the wishes of the victim survivors, but ultimately, the decision is mine." But Haida's decision has the father of another slain man wondering why his son's alleged killer isn't facing the ultimate punishment. "He decided to go for life in prison; he said it would be too hard to get the death penalty," said Larry Dunnavant, father of Wayne Dunnavant, who police said was stabbed to death by LeRon Wilborne. Wilborne faces trial for the stabbing murders of his wife, Nicole Jacobs, and her friend, Wayne Dunnavant. If Wilborne is convicted, he faces life in prison without parole. "I think he should pay with his life for what he did," Larry Dunnavant said. Illinois law provides 21 aggravating factors by which a prosecutor can seek the death penalty. One aggravating factor is if the murdered victim is younger than 12 and murdered under exceptional brutal or heinous behavior, said John Hanson, staff attorney for the Death Penalty Trial Assistance Office in Springfield. Another factor is if 2 or more victims or if the murder occurred in the course of felonies such as rape or home invasion. When Smith goes to trial, he will be represented by John O'Gara and Corey Easton, both certified by the Capital Litigation Trial Bar to defend capital cases. They will be paid from the Capital Litigation Fund. They also can ask the fund to pay for investigators, experts and consultants. "During the 1st part of a capital case, you begin building your team, going through the (police reports and investigation)," Hanlon said. "You will have your two defense lawyers, an investigator, a mitigation specialist and other experts depending on the defense strategy." Prosecutors have 120 days to decide whether to certify a capital murder case. Though Smith's case was certified as a capital case, that does not mean that it will stay a death penalty case. "You can always pull it off the table, but once the 120 days have elapsed, you can't put it on the table," Haida said. (source: Belleville News-Democrat) TENNESSEE: High court backs death sentence----Execution date for convicted rapist, murderer set for June The Tennessee Supreme Court has upheld the convictions and death sentence for William Glenn Rogers, who was convicted of the 1996 rape and murder of 9-year-old Jackie Beard of Clarksville. The court's ruling sets up a June 28 execution date for Rogers, who still has state and federal appeals remaining. Justice Janice M. Holder wrote the 25-page opinion in the case, which was joined by Chief Justice William M. Barker and Justices E. Riley Anderson and Cornelia Clark. Justice Adolpho A. Birch Jr. agreed with upholding the convictions but dissented with the death sentence, saying the state does not have a process to ensure the penalty is applied uniformly and fairly. "Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the state, we conclude that the proof points the finger of guilt unerringly at Rogers and Rogers alone," Holder wrote. Jackie was abducted July 8, 1996, while playing outside her Clarksville home. She was last seen picking blackberries near her Potter's Lane home, just hours after Rogers came to the house looking for his lost keys. 3 days after Jackie disappeared, Rogers was taken into custody and questioned about her disappearance. He first denied any involvement and then told law enforcement he accidentally backed over her in his car. He said that in his fear and confusion, he threw Jackie into the Cumberland River while she was still alive. 4 months later, 2 hunters came across her remains on the Stewart County side of Land Between the Lakes. Human semen stains and fibers consistent with carpet in Rogers' house were discovered on the shorts Jackie had been wearing the day she disappeared. Rogers argued that the evidence presented at his trial was insufficient to support his convictions. But Holder wrote the evidence points to Rogers, citing the incidents leading to her body being found and Rogers' conflicting statements to law enforcement. "The proof in this case showed that Rogers kidnapped, raped and murdered the 9-year-old victim. He had seen the victim 5 days earlier when she was with her brother and cousin. Rogers returned to her home and waited for an opportunity to capture her alone. Rogers drove the victim almost 50 miles away to a remote, wooded area where he left her body to be scavenged by animals," Holder wrote. "Rogers did not cooperate with authorities or express remorse for the crime. To the contrary, he evaded responsibility by giving law enforcement officers conflicting statements. He toyed with the victim's family by contacting them but never disclosing where the victim's body was located." Jackie's killing inspired District Attorney General John Carney to present a bill to state legislators that called for the revamping of the state's sexual offender registry. Carney carried a photo of Jackie inside his notebook when he advocated for the bill, which went into law Aug. 1, 2004. The law required registration by sex offenders within two days of conviction, applying to all convicted offenders, including those no longer on parole and those convicted in other states who have moved to Tennessee. (source: The Leaf Chronicle) CALIFORNIA: Condemned inmate has 2 appeals in U.S. Supreme Court Lawyers for a condemned murderer scheduled to be executed Tuesday said they were filing 2 separate appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court today in last-minute bids to block the execution. Michael Morales, 46, is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison for murdering 17-year-old Terri Winchell of Lodi in 1981 by trying to strangle her, beating her with a hammer and stabbing her. Morales was also convicted of raping her. The petitions to the high court followed rulings by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Sunday rejecting the appeals and refusing to halt the execution. In 1 appeal, Morales claims his death penalty was based on allegedly false testimony by a jailhouse informant. That appeal and an emergency motion for a stay of execution were filed with the U.S. Supreme Court this morning by attorney David Senior of Los Angeles. Morales has admitted he murdered Winchell, but claims he should not have been given a death penalty. In the 2nd high court appeal, Morales claims the state's procedure for lethal injection executions is unconstitutional because there is a risk that he could suffer extreme pain. Attorney Richard Steinken of Chicago said defense attorneys plan to file that appeal in the high court in early afternoon. As a result of a ruling by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose last week, the state for the 1st time will have an anesthesiologist present in the execution chamber to make sure Morales is unconscious and unable to feel pain. But defense attorneys say the plan is a vague 'quick fix' that allegedly leaves a high level of uncertainty and an even greater opportunity for mistakes than before.' Steinken said that among other arguments, the high court appeal will contend that Morales is entitled to a full evidentiary hearing on his challenge to the execution procedure. The 9th Circuit disagreed in its ruling on Sunday, saying that Fogel's conditions requiring the presence of an anesthesiologist 'adequately address Morales' concerns.' Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer, said today, 'I think the case speaks for itself. Morales has had no valid claims to raise with the courts for the past 25 years. 'The 9th Circuit rejected his appeals yesterday and we expect the Supreme Court to do the same,' Barankin said. (source: Bay City News Service)
