[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----N.Y., USA, W. VA., OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

April 8



NEW YORK----re: possible federal death penalty

Notorious Brooklyn Drug Lord Could Face Death Penalty


A federal judge has cleared the way for a notorious drug lord in Brooklyn
to face the death penalty.

Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff and 4 co-defendants were supposed to go on trial
in Brooklyn later this month on murder and conspiracy charges. But the
judge has given McGriff, a reputed crack kingpin with ties to the rap
music industry, a separate trial scheduled for later this year.

McGriff allegedly admitted to killing a rapper known as E-Money Bags in
2001. He is also accused of arranging the murder of a suspected drug
informant within his own crew.

Prosecutors also charge McGriff funneled more than a million dollars in
drug proceeds through rap label Murder Inc.

Murder Inc.'s founder, Irv Gotti, whose real name is Irving Lorenzo, and
his brother Christopher were acquitted of money laundering charges last
year.

(source: NY1)






USA:

Flight 93 hero's mom opposes death penalty for Moussaoui


Alice Hoagland, the mother of Mark Bingham, who with fellow passengers
sacrificed his life preventing United Flight 93 from being flown into the
White House on September 11, 2001, tells The Advocate she opposes the
death penalty for 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. "We Americans have
the opportunity to keep him from becoming glorified as a martyr," Hoagland
said during an interview that will appear in an upcoming issue of the
magazine. "Al Qaida, other fundamentalist Muslim groups - even mainstream
Muslims - would be tempted to view Moussaoui's death as a martyrdom. This
man does not deserve that honor."

Hoagland is a former flight attendant and has been active in both
transportation security issues and the fight for LGBT equality since the
death of her son. Mark Bingham was an openly gay entrepreneur and rugby
enthusiast who is believed to have been among the passengers of Flight 93
who fought hijackers for control of the San Francisco-bound aircraft on
September 11, 2001. The plane crashed in Pennsylvania not long after other
airplanes had been flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Hoagland also urged mercy toward Moussaoui. "We Americans have the
opportunity to demonstrate our compassion toward a man who has shown no
compassion for America. We are a nation of laws, of justice, and of
mercy," said Hoagland, who has recently changed the spelling of her last
name from "Hoglan." "By sparing his life, we can demonstrate our humanity
by acknowledging the humanity of a human being who badly needs compassion.
By sparing his life, we will have overcome the sort of hatred that he
displays toward us."

The exercise of mercy for Moussaoui, Hoagland said, would honor a
"reverence for all life." "It is difficult to imagine a more despicable
human than Zacarias Moussaoui has shown himself to be. But he, like all of
us, is a bundle of traits and attitudes. His lower self has dictated his
present low behavior. I hope we as a nation can demonstrate our higher
impulses by sparing his life - while keeping him safely behind bars for
the remainder of his life. If we can do that, we will honor our own high
standard of reverence for all life, and we will model a better standard of
behavior for Zacarias Moussaoui to take to heart."

(source: The ADvocate; The Hoagland interview, which will appear in the
May 9 print issue of The Advocate, was conducted by Jon Barrett, author of
the Bingham biography Hero of Flight 93: Mark Bingham)






WEST VIRGINIA:

Kanawha prosecutors to visit Texas inmate


A Kanawha Circuit judge will let county prosecutors travel to Texas to
interview convicted serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells.

In 2000, Sells confessed to the 1991 killing of 2 Kanawha County women,
murders for which Dana December Smith was convicted. Smith has always
maintained his innocence, and his attorneys pointed to Sells confession as
grounds for a new trial for Smith, who is serving a life sentence.

In February, Sells recanted his confession in a sworn statement given to
the Val Verde (Texas) Sheriffs Department. Sells is on death row in Texas
for an unrelated murder.

Kanawha Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey Walker said on Friday that she had
informed assistant Kanawha County prosecutor Don Morris and Smiths defense
attorney, George Castelle, of her decision, and asked Morris to prepare an
order for her to sign.

At a hearing in February, Smiths attorneys argued that Sells recantation
should not be made part of the record, because it was not made in Kanawha
Circuit Court. Prosecutors asked for permission to interview Sells so that
his recent statements could be entered as evidence.

(source: Charleston Gazette-Mail)






OHIO:

DEATH ROW INMATE----Killer's lawyer to ask board for clemency


A lawyer for convicted murderer Joseph Lewis Clark will try to convince
the Ohio Parole Board on Tuesday that Clark has changed since shooting
David Manning to death during a Toledo gas station robbery 22 years ago.


Members of Clark's family are not expected to appeal personally to the
board. His Akron attorney, George Pappas, stated in a clemency petition
filed yesterday that Clark asked his family not to participate.

But 3 members of Mr. Manning's family - his wife, Mary Ellen, and 2
brothers, Michael and Stephen - are expected to join Lucas County
Prosecutor Julia Bates in urging the board and Gov. Bob Taft not to
interfere with Clark's scheduled May 2 execution. He would become the 21st
person executed by Ohio and the 1st from Lucas County since the state
resumed carrying out the death penalty in 1999. Mr. Pappas will cite
Clark's history of drug addiction that began during his teen years with
codeine cough syrup and escalated to barbiturates, amphetamines, and
heroin. The petition states that Clark is deeply remorseful.

"There is no doubt that Joe Clark's drug addiction was inextricably linked
to his criminal behavior," reads the petition. "Every offense he committed
was the result of the influence of illicit drug abuse and addiction. This
is a condition and secret which he concealed and protected within himself.

"Joe Clark's drug-induced state of mind during the commission of his
criminal acts, his dull-normal range of intelligence, and inept ability to
seek help to understand and treat his psychological issues all contributed
to his life of crime over 20 years ago," it adds.

Clark shot and killed Mr. Manning, 23, on Jan. 13, 1984. The opposing
petition filed by the state reminds the parole board that Mr. Manning's
murder was part of a 9-day robbery spree.

2 days earlier, Donald Harris, 21, was shot in the back of the head during
a store robbery in Toledo. Clark was sentenced to life with the
possibility of parole for that murder.

A 3rd man, Robert Roloff, was robbed and shot during a robbery at an ATM
machine. Mr. Roloff survived, and the incident led to Clark's arrest and
the recovery of the 32-caliber handgun that tied him to the 2 murders.

Included with the state's brief was a hand-written letter dated March 23
from Kim Reno, who was robbed by Clark at the gas station where she worked
5 days before Mr. Manning was killed.

"I don't believe he deserves to live any longer," she wrote. "He's lived
[22] years longer than those whose lives he took that horrible week in
January, 1984. And so many times I thought, 'It could have been me.'"

Clark's petition paints a picture of a man, now 57, who grew up in a
household where there was no real discipline for bad behavior following
the death of his father. During the 7th grade, he was sent to the
Fairfield School for Boys.

On death row at the Ohio State Penitentiary at Youngstown, he will not be
permitted to attend his hearing. He was interviewed in prison by a parole
board member who will later report to the full board behind closed doors.

In the 23 cases that have come before him, Gov. Bob Taft has commuted just
1 sentence, that of Jerome Campbell of Hamilton County, to life in prison
without parole. That followed new DNA evidence that, Mr. Taft said, shed
doubt on the sentencing phase of the trial but not Campbell's guilt.

He recently granted delays in the execution of John Spirko in the murder
of a Van Wert County postmaster while new DNA testing is conducted on
24-year-old evidence.

(source: Toledo Blade)