Sept. 9 FLORIDA: Inmate to die though 198 sentenced before him Richard Henyard was born 2 months after Gary Alvord was condemned to die. Yet Henyard, 34, scheduled for execution this month for the murders of 2 Lake County girls, leapt ahead of 198 other Florida killers sentenced to death before him, including Alvord, 61, who has resided on death row longer than any other inmate in the nation. Why Henyard now? "I'm not able to answer that question," said lawyer Mark S. Gruber, who again asked the Florida Supreme Court on Monday to spare Henyard's life. "There's no plain or clear explanation. It's a process shrouded in secrecy and a topic of much speculation in our office." Florida has no "hard formula set down on paper" to decide who's next, said Sterling Ivey, spokesman for Gov. Charlie Crist, who signed Henyard's death warrant July 9, a week after the state executed Mark Dean Schwab, a child killer who had been on death row 16 years. But it's clearly not first-come, first-served in Florida, which has the nation's 2nd-largest death-row population (388 inmates), behind California (667) and ahead of Texas (361). 56 Florida inmates have been on the state's death row a decade or longer than Henyard, who arrived in August 1994. Florida has executed 65 inmates since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Henyard is to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Sept. 23. The state Department of Corrections did not participate in the choice of Henyard in any way, said Jo Ellyn Rackleff, a DOC spokeswoman. He was recommended for execution by the governor's two-man legal team -- General Counsel Jason Gonzalez and Assistant General Counsel Rob Wheeler -- which reviews details of death-row cases, including "how heinous, atrocious and cruel the crime is" and whether the victim was a child or elderly, said Ivey, Crist's spokesman. Henyard would seem to be the right pick on both of those issues. He and 14-year-old co-defendant Alfonza Smalls carjacked Dorothy Lewis and her daughters, Jamilya, 7, and Jasmine, 3, from the parking lot of a Eustis grocery Jan. 30, 1993; raped and shot the mother four times in front of her screaming daughters; and then shot the girls at close range. An autopsy revealed the 3-year-old's eyes were wide open when the child was shot in the face. Dorothy Lewis, who survived the attacks, is now a pastor. She did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment for this article, but she has previously opposed the death penalty for her attackers. "It won't bring back my girls," she told the Orlando Sentinel in July. Smalls, now 30, was ineligible for the death penalty because of his youth and is serving consecutive life terms in prison. Other factors also may have figured into the choice of Henyard, including the quality of his defense and status of his appeals. His trial lawyers, T. Michael Johnson and Mark Nacke, are now judges in the 5th Judicial Circuit, which includes Lake County. The state Supreme Court has twice reviewed and upheld Henyard's convictions and death sentence, which was recommended unanimously by the jury. His appellate lawyers have petitioned federal courts for a case review four times, including the U.S. Supreme Court twice. In what could be Henyard's final state appeal, his lawyers argued Monday to Florida Supreme Court justices that he ought to be declared ineligible for the death penalty because of mental and emotional disabilities similar in effect to mental retardation. The court did not immediately issue a ruling. Like Henyard, Alvord has lost numerous legal appeals of his sentence for raping an 18-year-old Tampa woman and then strangling her, her mother and her grandmother with a nylon cord in 1973. Though he was found not guilty by reason of insanity of kidnapping and raping a 10-year-old girl in 1970, his convictions and death sentences in the Tampa killings have been upheld. No appeals are pending. "It's politics, politics, politics," said Michael Radelet, a former University of Florida sociology professor who has studied Florida's death-penalty system. "The decision on who is next to die is a political one and not a criminological one. With 400 people on death row, they can kill pretty much anyone they want to -- so the capricious desires of those in the Governor's Office are the force behind it." Radelet and Richard Dieter, executive director of Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, said Florida's process lacks transparency, which leads to doubt. Through his spokesman, the governor denied that politics were a factor in Henyard's case. "This individual killed two children in cold blood who had no way to defend themselves," Ivey said. Assistant State Attorney Bill Gross, who prosecuted Henyard and was among the first people at the crime scene, said there should be no doubt: Henyard's crime was outrageous and cruel, and his sentence fair and just. "It doesn't matter who's 1st and who's 325th," Gross said. "If he doesn't deserve the death penalty, then we should throw it away." (soruce: Orlando Sentinel) SOUTH CAROLINA: Prosecutors expect to conclude death penalty case Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case for a death sentence against a man who has pleaded guilty to raping and strangling a Clemson University student more than 2 years ago. Prosecutors in Pickens were expected to conclude their presentation on Jerry Buck Inman to Circuit Judge Edward Miller on Tuesday. Inman's lawyers will then have the chance to make their case why Miller should spare the 37-year-old convicted sex offender. Inman's guilty plea last month in the death of 20-year-old engineering student Tiffany Marie Souers left the decision between execution and life in prison up to the judge. There was no word from Inman's lawyers on whether the Tennessee man would testify in an attempt to avoid a death sentence. (source: Associated Press) GEORGIA: Houston DA may seek death penalty in car-theft slaying Houston County District Attorney Kelly Burke said today he may seek the death penalty for the two Eatonton men accused of slaying a Warner Robins man for his car. "That is certainly something we are actively looking at," Burke said. The prosecutor's comments come on the heels of an indictment handed down today by a Houston County grand jury against Joshua Dupree Rounsoville, 20, and Stewart Calvert Brannon, 19, on charges of murder, armed robbery and aggravated assault with a firearm. While Burke stopped short of formally announcing he will seek the death penalty, the prosecutor said that he did use language in the indictment to set the stage to seek the death penalty should he decide to try it as a capital case. Specifically, in the indictment, the grand jury found the existence of aggravating circumstances in last month's fatal shooting of Mario Maurice Smith, 25, a maintenance worker for the Houston County Board of Education. Aggravating circumstances are required before the death penalty may be considered, Burke said. The aggravating circumstances cited by the grand jury were that the murder was committed in the commission of another capital felony, which was armed robbery, and that the offense of murder was committed for money or monetary value, according to the prosecutor. Brannon was originally charged by police as a party to the crimes of murder and armed robbery. However, the prosecutor said whatever a person's role is in the slaying doesn't change the fact that they are just as responsible for the crime, Burke said. Smith's body was discovered by his brother Aug. 24 inside a storage unit at The Glass Doctor at 2305 Watson Blvd., Rooks said. His prized red 1987 Chevrolet Monte Carlo which was stored in the unit, was gone. The car was recovered a few days later on Aug. 27 in a wooded area off Glenwood Springs Road near Eatonton in Putnam County. The tires, rims and radio the 21-year-old car had been removed. The shooting death was the third homicide in Warner Robins this year. Rounsoville also is believed to be the gunman in the Aug. 10 shooting of Zapareo Glover, 21, at the Dairy Queen on North Lee Street in Forsyth, authorities said at a joint press conference Sept. 2 at the Monroe County Justice Center in Forsyth. Glover was shot in the chest and his car was stolen, but he survived. Rounsoville was charged with aggravated battery and armed robbery in the Forsyth shooting, said Allison Willis, public information officer for the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. Also charged with aggravated battery and armed robbery in the Forsyth incident was Brannon and a third person, Robert Elon Burke, 21, also of Putnam County, Willis said. Rounsoville and Brannon were being held in the Houston County jail, while Robert Elon Burke was being held in the Monroe County jail. (source: Macon Telegraph) USA: High Court May Revisit ---- Death-Penalty Decision In a rare move, the Supreme Court said it might reconsider its June decision that struck down the death penalty for crimes that fall short of murder, after a law blog revealed that the government left out a fact that would have bolstered its argument that executions for such offenses are constitutional. The case involves a Louisiana statute authorizing a death sentence for the rape of a child. In a 5-4 decision, the court found that capital punishment for the crime violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishments." In finding the penalty excessive, Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion noted that neither the U.S. government nor the overwhelming majority of states permit capital punishment for child rape. Justice Kennedy relied on briefs filed by Louisiana and the U.S. Justice Department. But Justice Department lawyers overlooked a 2006 amendment to the Uniform Code of Military Justice authorizing death for certain sexual assaults on children under age 16. The error was found by Dwight Sullivan, an attorney and Marine Corps Reserve colonel and military-justice blogger. Louisiana and the Justice Department asked the court to reconsider the decision. In an unsigned order late Monday, the court asked both the Justice Department and lawyers for the child rapist, Patrick Kennedy, to file briefs by Sept. 17 on the relevance of military statute and whether a new hearing should be ordered. Louisiana was given until Sept. 24 to file its brief. Mr. Kennedy was convicted in March 1998 of raping his 8-year-old daughter, severely injuring her. The aggravated-rape conviction, combined with the victim's age, resulted in a sentence of death under Louisiana's rape laws. In legal papers, the Justice Department said "the Court's decision rests on an erroneous and materially incomplete assessment of the 'national consensus' concerning capital punishment for child rape." Mr. Kennedy's lawyer, Prof. Jeffrey Fisher of Stanford Law School, said he thought a rehearing unnecessary, and would elaborate in his brief next week. In a 1958 case, the Supreme Court observed that the Eighth Amendment's words "are not precise" and "their scope is not static." In what has since defined the test for cruel and unusual punishment, the court said that the amendment "must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society." Under that test, the court in 1977 struck down capital punishment for rape of a person over 16. In June, Justice Kennedy listed factors the court considers in assessing whether a penalty is cruel and unusual under contemporary standards, including practices in different jurisdictions. Six states authorize execution for child rape. Justice Kennedy was joined by Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. Justice Samuel Alito dissented, arguing that the consensus might be evolving toward broader use of the death penalty. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas joined the dissent. It takes 5 votes to order a rehearing, and at least one justice in the majority would have to switch sides to change the decision. (source: Wall Street Journal) *************************** Supreme Court Could Revist Death Penalty for Child Rape Decision----Lawyers Omitted Military Law; Decision Could Get Another Look The Supreme Court is taking another look at one of last term's most controversial decisions, that it is unconstitutional to impose the death penalty on those who rape but do not kill children. The Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that Louisiana death row inmate Patrick O. Kennedy cannot be put to death for the rape of his then-8-year-old stepdaughter. The highly unusual order from the court Monday stems from a glaring omission in the case: Lawyers on both sides failed to realize, and therefore failed to inform the court, that Congress had passed a federal law authorizing the death penalty for child rape by military personnel. The court is asking the parties on both sides, as well as lawyers for the Bush administration, to file court papers on whether a rehearing is required and whether the existence of that federal law should change its analysis of the case. The briefs are due Sept. 24. A decision to rehear the case will take the votes of 5 justices under Supreme Court rules. The case, called Kennedy v. Louisiana, was a closely divided opinion in which the court found that while the crime of raping a child is a "revulsion" to society, it does not merit the death penalty. (source: ABC News) CALIFORNIA: Man is charged in 2001 killing of Ashton Kutcher's girlfriend----Air conditioner repairman Michael T. Gargiulo, already charged with attempted murder in another case, is also charged in a 2005 killing. A 32-year-old Santa Monica man who already faces an attempted murder charge has been linked to 2 capital killings, including the 2001 slaying of the girlfriend of actor Ashton Kutcher, according to authorities. Michael T. Gargiulo, an air conditioner repairman, was arrested in June on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with a Santa Monica attack in which a woman fought off an intruder who stabbed her repeatedly after breaking into her home late at night. DNA collected at the scene linked Gargiulo to the crime through a national database, officials said. His DNA had previously been obtained in an Illinois case. Gargiulo was formally charged Thursday in the February 2001 stabbing death of 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin, who was then Kutcher's girlfriend. Her body was found in her Hollywood Hills home. Kutcher, who starred in the television series "That '70s Show" and is now married to actress Demi Moore, told Los Angeles police detectives at the time that he went to pick up the model-actress for a post-Grammy Awards party, but she did not answer the door. A friend found her the next day with multiple stab wounds in her rented home on Pinehurst Road, authorities said. Ellerin was raised in Los Altos, about 45 minutes outside San Francisco, and graduated from Los Altos High School in 1996. Gargiulo also was charged in the December 2005 stabbing death of Maria Bruno in an El Monte apartment. "There is strong circumstantial evidence here," said Deputy Dist. Atty. Joe Markus, noting that all three attacks involved break-ins at women's homes in the middle of the night, with the attacker wielding a knife. Markus declined to say whether DNA from the suspect had been found at the Ellerin and Bruno crime scenes. But a law enforcement source said there is physical evidence in the cases. In addition to murder and burglary charges, Gargiulo faces the special circumstance allegation of lying in wait for his alleged victims, which would make him potentially subject to the death penalty. Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the L.A. County district attorney's office, said a decision would be made later whether to seek the death penalty. Gargiulo's lawyer, Anthony Salerno, said his client entered a not-guilty plea to the new homicide charges and adamantly denies any involvement. Salerno said it was unclear what evidence prosecutors had against Gargiulo or whether DNA played a role in the charges. "They have no direct evidence connecting him to these crimes," Salerno said. "My client does not know these women." Gargiulo's DNA originally was obtained by authorities in the 1993 slaying of a high school girl in Glenview, Ill., where Gargiulo lived at the time. Tricia Pacaccio, a senior at Glenbrook South High School, was found stabbed to death on her front doorstep. According to a source familiar with the case, Gargiulo's DNA was found under Pacaccio's fingernail. Prosecutors have never filed charges in that case. Gargiulo has been in L.A. County Jail since June, when he was arrested in the Santa Monica case. Gargiulo lived a short distance from the site of the April 28 attack. Santa Monica Police Lt. Darrell Lowe called Gargiulo a "hot prowler" who broke into the victim's home at night and stabbed her. "In all violent crimes, we go full bore when it comes to gathering evidence," he said. "DNA was collected at the scene and matched to the suspect. DNA is now becoming a regular part of our response." Gargiulo was living in Hollywood at the time Ellerin was killed. (source: Los Angeles Times)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA., S.C., GA., USA, CALIF.
Rick Halperin Tue, 9 Sep 2008 22:52:39 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
