[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, N. MEX., IND., COLO.

[Rick Halperin]

May 15


TEXAS----impending execution

Kansas prison escapee set to die for slaying of Texas sheriff's deputy


Like a Hollywood movie script, two convicts fled their Kansas prison and
headed to Texas, stealing trucks, breaking into homes in Houston and
stealing credit cards, jewelry and a .357-caliber Magnum pistol.

They eventually reached the wide open spaces of West Texas where they put
fuel in their stolen van in Bakersfield in Pecos County and took off
without paying.

Pecos County Sheriff's Deputy Tim Hudson was among officers to get the
call about the $22.50 fuel theft, spotted the van and tried to pull over
fugitives Charles Edward Smith and his cousin, Carroll Smith.

Hudson, driving alongside the van, was greeted with at least three
gunshots from Charles Smith. One of them fatally wounded the 61-year-old
deputy, who was about nine months short of retirement.

Charles Smith is set for execution Wednesday evening for Hudson's August
1988 death. He would be the 14th Texas prisoner to receive lethal
injection in America's busiest capital punishment state.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review his case.

The hunt for the escapees that summer night 19 years ago in West Texas did
not end with Hudson's slaying.

Smith and his cousin ditched their van, set it on fire and stole a
tractor-trailer truck from a farm.

Authorities put up roadblocks and when the big rig approached one of them
and suddenly turned around, the chase was on, with the Smith cousins
"using the tractor trailer as a tank, breaking through roadbocks,
endangering themselves and other fine officers," former District Attorney
Ori T. White recalled.

"It ended finally when the tractor couldn't handle any more bullets," he
said. "It certainly could have been a movie. It's something you can't
imagine happening in a small town."

Evidence showed Hudson, who had worked in law enforcement in West Texas
and New Mexico for some 30 years, never drew his gun and had radioed the
license plate number to try to determine who was in the van when Smith
opened fire on him.

Smith, a native of San Bernardino, California, who worked as a mechanic,
escaped days earlier from a minimum-security prison in Shawnee County,
Kansas. He was about a month away from becoming eligible for parole for an
August 1987 conviction for burglary, theft and aiding a felony. He was
serving 1 to 5 years.

His cousin who fled with him was serving 7 to 25 years for burglary, theft
and criminal damage to property.

Charles Smith was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. In
1992, his conviction was thrown out by the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to death again. In 1995,
the Court of Criminal Appeals threw out his second death sentence. 4 years
later, he was sentenced to die a 3rd time.

He declined from death row to speak with reporters in the weeks preceding
his scheduled execution.

"We knew there would be appeals, but we never realized we would have to
wait so long," Gwynn Hudson-Simmons, the slain deputy's daughter, told the
Kerrville Daily Times earlier this year.

"This is not a happy occasion for anyone," she said. "I have prayed for
this man and his family for 18 years. I was against the death penalty, but
it's different when someone in your family is killed like this, and their
killer doesn't show any remorse."

Smith's original Kansas conviction stemmed from a burglary where he and a
companion stole a rifle that was used in a killing in Garden City, Kansas.
According to testimony at his trial for Hudson's death, a fellow inmate in
the Pecos County Jail told him killing a police officer fulfilled one of
his lifetime goals. While in the jail, Smith also had a history of setting
fire to his blankets and destroying jail fixtures.

After Smith's 1st trial, his cousin, now 50, pleaded guilty and took a
life prison term. His 1st parole eligibility in 2003 was turned down. He's
eligible for another parole review in 2009.

At least a dozen other condemned inmates have execution dates in Texas in
the coming months, 5 of them in June.

(source: Associated Press)

******************

Capital murder trial starts with contrasts of victim, accused


Assistant District Attorney Mary Green drew a sharp contrast between
Sundeep "Sunny" Singh, fatally shot in a convenience store robbery last
year, and Johnny Llamas, whose capital murder trial on charges that he
killed Singh began Monday.

"Sunny, at 33, was a patient man, willing to take a low-paying job with
long hours so that his wife could continue with her education as a nurse,"
Green told jurors. "He was waiting his turn, but his turn never came."

If convicted, Llamas, 28, faces the death penalty. He and co-defendant
Jacob San Miguel, 25, were arrested 2 months after the May 23, 2006,
crime. San Miguel awaits trial.

Singh had come to the United States 15 years earlier. He wanted to be a
police officer and had foiled another robbery attempt a few months before
by punching a would-be robber in the face with a phone. He also was
recalled as someone who gave quarters to people short of change, with no
expectation of repayment. He had been married for one year to Shenaz Singh
and had a 17-year-old stepdaughter.

"This defendant and his friend Jacob San Miguel decided they weren't going
to be like Sunny. No clocking in and out of a boring job like him," Green
said before she proceeded to lay out the state's case.

She said the Road Runner Food Mart on Culebra Road was equipped with
several video cameras that captured the image of two men as they walked
in, with Llamas wielding a shotgun. Their faces were partially concealed
by their shirts and a rag.

Timeline

January 2006: Sundeep 'Sunny' Singh, who wanted to be a police officer,
thwarts a robbery at the Road Runner Food Mart on Culebra Road by hitting
1 of his 2 assailants with a telephone.

May 23, 2006: Singh, 33, is fatally shot during a robbery at the Food
Mart.

July 24, 2006: Police arrest suspect Johnny Llamas, 28. Another suspect,
Jacob San Miguel, 25, surrenders to authorities later in the day. They are
indicted on capital murder charges in October.

Singh pulled out a can of pepper spray and used it on his attackers, she
said. Llamas fired, hitting mainly the cash register and sending up debris
that cut Singh's face. The bleeding clerk kept spraying, then grabbed a
baseball bat.

"When Singh picked up the bat, this defendant coolly, deliberately and
fatally shot Sundeep Singh," Green said. He then shouted, "Get the money,
Jake!" and the 2 fled, she said.

A police officer drove through the neighborhood behind the store the next
day and found several articles of clothing, which the state said the
robbers discarded in an effort to rid themselves of the irritating pepper
spray.

Green said the state will show that the clothing bears Singh's blood,
pepper spray, and the DNA of the attackers.

Defense lawyer Richard Langlois reserved his opening statement for later
in the trial in Judge Raymond Angelini's 187th District Court.

(source: San Antonio Express-News)

*******************

Walker autopsy report goes into details


The autopsy for Sarah Anne Walker recently released by the Collin County
Medical Examiners office shows her attacker beat, strangled and stabbed
her to death.

McKinney police charged and a Collin County grand jury indicted Kosoul
Chanthakoummane, 26, of Dallas, on a charge of capital murder in
connection with Walker's death. He is accused of killing Walker, a Frisco
resident, on July 8, 2006, in the kitchen of a model home in the 5700
block of Conch Train, where she worked as a real estate agent for
developer D.R. Horton.

A Plano couple viewing homes in the area for decorating ideas found her
body around 1:30 p.m. and called 911.

The Collin County District Attorneys Office will seek the death penalty.
His trial jury is scheduled for Oct. 1 in 380th District Court.

The report, conducted and written by Collin County Medical Examiner Dr.
William Rohr, found at least 31 instances of "sharp force injury" on
Walkers body. 16 of the wounds were found on her head and neck, 10 were
found on her torso, and 6 were found on her extremities.

The report also found evidence of blunt force trauma to her head and face.
She had a 3-inch "purple contusion" on her forehead and temporal area, a
1-inch contusion on the center scalp, and 2 half-inch contusions above her
left eyebrow. Her nasal bones were "fractured" and the bridge of her nose
had a small contusion measuring 3/4 of an inch. She also had 2 fractured
teeth, a contusion on her center inner lower lip, and "scattered
superficial abrasions and contusions of the inner upper lip." The autopsy
also found evidence of strangulation. The entire anterior or front of her
neck had "patchy erythema" or redness of the skin. There were also 2
curved and 1 linear superficial abrasions" and a "partial separation of
the right side of the thyroid cartilage and cricoids cartilage
articulation with a small amount of hemorrhage," according to the report.

Examiners also found an "unequivocal" bite mark on the left side of
Walker's posterior neck. The mark is described as a "mandibular arch
consisting of a 1/16-inch-wide contusion (that) is longitudinally arranged
and 1 1/2 inches long."

The Collin County District Attorney's Office filed a "notice of intent" to
call several expert medical witnesses to the stand, including 2 dentists
from Dallas and Plano to discuss the bite mark during the trial, according
to Collin County court documents.


(source: McKinney Courier-Gazette)






USA:

Wholesale 'hate crime' hysteria


There was a time when federal crimes were few. The Constitution mentions
only three: treason, counterfeiting and piracy. Fast forward 220 years,
though, and you find that Congress has declared more than 4,000 offenses
to be federal crimes.

For some lawmakers, that's not enough. They want to make a lot of violent
crimes into federal offenses if the perpetrators are so vile as to
entertain certain thoughts while plotting their deeds. You could call it
the "Criminal Mind-Reading Act," but it passed the House as the "Local Law
Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act" of 2007. The Senate could take up
a similar measure any day. President Bush has promised a veto.

Expanding 'hate'

The bill would greatly expand the reach of existing federal hate-crime
law. It defines "hate crime" so broadly that actual "hate" isn't even
required.

One provision would make certain common crimes federal cases if the
defendant intentionally selects a victim "because of the actual or
perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender
identity or disability of any person."

This may seem reasonable. But consider the all-too-common crime of a thug
who spots an elderly lady using a walker and targets her for a mugging.
Did he select his victim because she is (a) a woman and (b) disabled?
Sure. But does the preference to prey on the vulnerable make the mugging a
hate crime?

Similarly, most sexual predators choose victims based on gender. Should
almost all violent mugging and rape prosecutions be handled by the feds?

Such wholesale "defining down" of hate crimes would quickly swamp federal
law enforcement agencies. This would leave significantly fewer federal
resources devoted to fighting organized crime, terrorist plots, kidnapping
and interstate scams of all stripes. The net effect would be less security
for all.

And for what? The criminal act already is a criminal act. Declaring the
mugging a hate crime does nothing to help the victim.

Well, proponents claim, it would reduce crime. The NAACP used this
argument in the 2000 elections when it ran an ad lambasting George W. Bush
for not supporting hate-crime legislation in Texas. Their example: the
appalling death of James Byrd, a black man murdered by white bigots two
years earlier.

But murder was already a capital offense in Texas. Byrd's killers surely
knew that. If the prospect of getting the death penalty didn't deter them,
how would adding a lesser federal penalty?

'Federalizing' hate crime

Finally, we need to ask if it's really necessary to "federalize" hate
crime. No one has made the case that local and state law enforcement
officials are failing to prosecute hate-filled criminals. Indeed, many
states apply stiffer penalties for those convicted of hate crimes than the
federal legislation provides.

In criminal matters, what matters most is the act itself. Crime should be
punished to the fullest extent of the law, no matter who the victim is or
what the perpetrator thinks about that person. As Thomas Jefferson wrote
in his famous letter detailing the separation of church and state, "The
legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions."

Congress should want criminals prosecuted for what they've done, not what
they believe. Federal attorneys are busy enough trying to lock up those
who directly threaten our nation's security. Let's not force them to play
thought police, too.

(source: Guest Column--Ed Feulner is president of the Heritage Foundation;
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

***************************

Supreme Court changes death penalty course


The U.S. Supreme Court's 9 justices were narrowly divided on a capital
punishment ruling that changed direction from 3 previous death penalty
rulings.

In a 5-4 decision announced Monday, the court upheld the Arizona death
sentence of Jeffrey Landrigan, who had contended his lawyer's defense was
inadequate.

Monday's ruling was opposite of decisions in 3 similar cases involving
Texas executions, all of which were overturned in narrowly split votes,
The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Writing for the majority in the Landrigan case, Justice Clarence Thomas
said Landrigan's case was extremely weak and that he would not be able to
show that the lawyer's performance had made a difference to the outcome of
the sentencing hearing.

Chief Justice John Roberts voted with Thomas as did the other conservative
justices -- Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has developed into the key swing vote this
term, joined the majority. His was the fifth vote that overturned the
Texas cases, the Times said.

Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in dissent that Thomas' assumption on
strength of Landrigan's case was pure guesswork. The other dissenting
justices were David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.

(source: UPI)






NEW MEXICO:

2 SF inmate avoid the death penalty


Prosecutors have decided against seeking the death penalty in the case of
2 Santa Fe County jail prisoners accused of fatally beating a fellow
prisoner.

Assistant District Attorney Joseph Campbell says it's become clear that
the death penalty issue would continue to hold up prosecution of the case.

Charges against 29-year-old Jesus Aviles-Dominguez and 34-year-old Daniel
Good include 1st-degree murder.

They've pleaded not guilty.

Campbell says Good's trial is set to begin August 20th, and
Aviles-Dominguez's trial is scheduled for November.

Authorities say 32-year-old Dickie Ortega of Chimayo was beaten to death
in June 2004. Authorities say he'd been labeled a snitch by other
prisoners.

(source: Associated Press)






INDIANA:

Sister tells court: Self-admitted killer abused as a child


The sister of Akeem Aki-Khuam, who admitted he killed 3 people in 1992,
described a horrific home life filled with violence and sexual abuse.

Brenda Phillips, testifying at Aki-Khuam's sentencing hearing before Lake
Superior Court Judge Clarence Murray, occasionally wiped away tears as she
described how their father routinely beat their mother and all eight
children, and molested the older girls.

One of the girls became pregnant and delivered a handicapped child whom
the father threw across the room and broke his leg, she said.

Aki-Khuam, 39, formerly known as Edward Earl Williams, pleaded guilty in
March to three counts of murder in the June 19, 1992, shooting deaths of
Carver Elementary School teacher Michael Richardson, 41, his sister, Debra
Ann Rice, 42, and their neighbor, Robert Hollins, 26.

The shootings took place at 744 Garfield St. in the Horace Mann section of
Gary. By admitting his guilt, Aki-Khuam, once a death row inmate, avoided
the death penalty.

Aki-Khuam's family relocated from Arkansas when Phillips was 5 years old
and moved from home to home, Phillips said. Despite the fact their father
made a good living at U.S. Steel, he didn't pay the bills and the children
did without, sometimes having to wear each other's clothes, she said.
Aki-Khuam wore his sister's pink jeans and, like his siblings, was teased
and picked on at school, she said.

The abuse continued, Phillips said, until her father was put in jail for
the incest and abuse. During one violent episode, Phillips said, their
father was beating their mother and shot at the children as they peeked
around the corner.

Judith Ransom-Lewis, a mitigation specialist with the Indiana Public
Defender's office, compiled a report based on interviews with Aki-Khuam,
his siblings, former teachers, neighbors and others, along with records
she could collect from the family's past.

Ransom-Lewis said Aki-Khuam's father ruled the house "with a gun or his
fists," and would engage Aki-Khuam and his brothers in a contest to see
who could take blows to the head longer without crying. Whoever cried
first was called names, she said.

Aki-Khuam never graduated from high school, Ransom-Lewis said. In prison,
however, he has been taking paralegal correspondence courses. After he had
an execution date set on July 7, 2000, Aki-Khuam began working in earnest
on his appeal, she said.

"I know he didn't want to die," she said.

He hopes one day to be released, to spend time with his 18-year-old son
and to work as a paralegal to help other inmates.

Aki-Khuam's defense team of Karen Coulis, Teresa Hollandsworth and Mark
Bates are expected to present 6 witnesses today.

Deputy Prosecutors John Evon and Jacky Jacobs have relatives of the
victims in court, along with lead investigator, Gary police Detective Sgt.
Thomas Branson.

Aki-Khuam, convicted of all counts by a Lake Criminal Court jury in 1993,
received a death sentence in March 1993. His appeals continued until 2002,
when the U.S. District Court issued a writ of habeas corpus and a new
trial was ordered.

(source: Gary Post-Tribune)






COLORADO:

Death penalty upheld for killer of 4 at pizzeria


The Colorado Supreme Court upheld the death penalty verdict Monday for
Nathan Dunlap, who was convicted of the 1993 murders of four people at a
Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant.

"We're happy that the victims are one step closer to having this
resolved," said Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers.

Dunlap's attorney, Philip Cherner, has 14 days to request the Colorado
Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling.

"We will also seek relief in the federal courts if necessary," Cherner
said in a release. Such an appeal could delay execution by several years.

On Feb. 26, 1996, Dunlap, then 22, was convicted of shooting to death 4
employees at the Aurora Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant on Dec. 14, 1993.
Killed were Sylvia Crowell, 19, Benjamin Grant, 17, Margaret Kohlberg, 50,
and Colleen O'Connor, 17. Dunlap had recently been fired from the
restaurant.

He was sentenced to death on May 17, 1996, but appealed, arguing that he
had inadequate counsel during his trial and the penalty phase.

Monday, in the 114-page decision delivered by Justice Nancy E. Rice, the
court reversed a lower court's ruling.

On one issue, Dunlap had argued - and the lower court agreed - that his
trial attorneys, Forrest Lewis and Steve Gayle, should have pursued a
diminished capacity defense, since Dunlap had a lengthy post-arrest stay
at the state mental hospital, where he often behaved erratically.

But the Supreme Court found nothing wrong with the tactics that Dunlap's
attorneys used.

"Presenting a mental health mitigation case would have been risky at best
given the substantial amount of damaging evidence from CMHIP (Colorado
Mental Health Institute at Pueblo) that the People had to rebut Dunlap's
claims," wrote Rice.

(source: Rocky Mountain News)