[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA., LA.

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 31



TEXAS:

Why the Texas Governor Commuted a Death Sentence


Kenneth Foster clearly did not deserve to die. His crime: driving a car
used in a robbery that led to a murder he never took part in. But his case
was by no means unique in Texas, and so it came as a surprise today when
Gov. Rick Perry commuted his sentence. "I'm concerned about Texas law that
allows capital murder defendants to be tried simultaneously," Perry said
in a statement, "and it is an issue I think the legislature should
examine." A conservative Republican wants to examine capital murder law?
To say the least, Perry is doing his part to Keep Austin Weird.

So why did this happen? It certainly helped that Foster had become an
international anti-death penalty cause celebre supported by President
Jimmy Carter, South African Archbishop Desmund Tutu and Susan Sarandon.
Still, celebrities and activists have adopted other death row inmates
(free Mumia!) to little effect.

Weird as it may sound, the pardon is probably best explained as the result
of a gradually increasing skepticism in Texas of the criminal justice
system and, yes, the death penalty. Consider this: death penalty
prosecutions in the nation's execution capital, Harris County, Texas, have
been in steep decline; every major newspaper in Texas has called for a
moratorium on the death penalty or opposes it entirely; and in 2005 the
state legislature passed a law allowing life imprisonment without parole,
which has given judges and jurors a new way to be "tough on crime" without
killing people. "Perhaps the reality that people aren't so hip on the
death penalty anymore is finally getting across, even to Rick Perry," Jeff
Blackburn, the founder and chief counsel of the Texas Innocence Project,
told me. "I think this is about where people are at in the State of
Texas--the old lies that have been told them are starting to be revealed."

Anyone living in Texas in recent years couldn't help but notice a string
of high-profile criminal justice scandals--racism in Tulia, pervasively
botched evidence in the Houston crime lab, and most recently, a striking
number of exonerations in Dallas on DNA evidence. "Ten years ago if you
told people that the criminal justice system falsely convicts the
innocent, you were either a communist or a nut or both," Blackburn says.
"Now, everybody gets that. Everybody has seen it fail."

Including Perry. Which is not to say that he cares most of the time.
Blackburn and other defense advocates still believe plenty of people are
wrongly put to death in the state. But Perry is a good politician: he
appears to understand that the pendulum--or the scythe--is swinging the
other way in Texas, and that he needs to get out of the way before it lops
his head off.

(source: Mother Jones)






GEORGIA:

Public defender chief quits; says courts should be 'told the truth'


The head of the state capital defender office said Friday he will resign
because there is not enough money in the budget to adequately fund the
representation of death-penalty defendants.

In a letter sent Thursday to the Georgia Public Defender Standards
Council, Chris Adams said the council should "tell the truth" to the
courts about the lack of resources and halt all capital proceedings until
there are enough resources for the office's lawyers to do their jobs.

"We must have the type of resources that allow us to get the job done,"
Adams wrote. "The current budget does not."

Because the public defender council does not support his position, Adams
said, he will step down. The council was created by the Legislature four
years ago to oversee representation for people unable to afford their own
lawyers. The statewide defender system replaced a patchwork of county-run
programs widely criticized for their inability to adequately represent
many defendants.

Since Adams became director of the capital defender office in 2005, the
office has enjoyed a remarkable success rate in a state where support of
capital punishment runs high.

None of the 35 cases resolved so far by the office resulted in a death
sentence. All but 4 of these cases were resolved by plea agreements
reached with prosecutors before they went to trial, saving the state and
counties large sums of money in court costs and fees for attorneys and
expert witnesses.

"It's a shame the state is losing someone of Chris's stature because of
the failure of the state to provide sufficient funds to do the job,"
Atlanta criminal defense lawyer Jack Martin said. "How can anyone expect
the office to represent clients competently with half the money they need
and an increasing caseload?"

In his letter, Adams notified the council there is not enough money to pay
for private lawyers and expert witnesses in so-called "conflict" cases.
These are multi-defendant cases where, because of legal ethics rules, the
capital defender office can only represent one defendant. Private
attorneys, who are paid by the hour, are appointed to represent the
others.

The funding for almost 2 dozen conflict cases has already run out this
fiscal year, which begin July 1, Adams said.In his letter of resignation,
Adams said he was recently rebuffed by the defender council when he
submitted a $10.5 million budget request for next year. Instead, the
council approved a budget of only $4.3 million. That is about $3 million
less than the capital defender was provided 2 years ago and, in the
meantime, its caseload has continued to rise.

The current level of funding is not nearly enough to give the capital
defender office the resources it takes to effectively represent its
death-penalty clients, Adams said.

"The old adage 'you get what you pay for' is particularly true with regard
to the defense of capital cases," Adams wrote, "which involve the greatest
responsibility and most difficult assignment that any lawyer is asked to
undertake."

(source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)






LOUISIANA:

Lawyers Debate Death Penalty in Slaying


A man accused of murdering and dismembering a woman should not face the
death penalty because taking her victim's body parts was not "robbery,"
his attorney argued.

Sean Vincent Gillis, accused of killing 8 women between 1994 and 2004,
faces 1st-degree murder charges in the February 2004 death of Donna
Bennett Johnston. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree
murder last week in another of the deaths.

Under state law, Gillis can be convicted of first-degree murder  which
could bring the death penalty  only if prosecutors prove an "aggravating
circumstance." In a hearing Thursday, lawyers sparred over the prosecution
argument that the death of Johnston met that definition because it
occurred along with two other crimes, kidnapping and armed robbery.

The items taken in the robbery, prosecutors said, were a belt, blanket,
earring backing, and one of Johnston's arms and a tattoo from one of her
legs.

But it isn't robbery to take body parts because they don't have any
monetary value, defense attorney Steven Lemoine told state District Judge
Bonnie Jackson. As for the other items, he said, they were just "left
over" from the homicide.

"There is no market for the (body parts) Mr. Gillis is accused of taking,"
he said.

But prosecutor Prem Burns said the case is unique: Most robbers want
jewelry or money, but Gillis wanted body parts.

"He has to kill the victim first in order to take them," Burns argued.
"These are things that have value to this defendant." Jurors should answer
the questions raised by Lemoine, she said.

The defense said there are also problems with the kidnapping charge. The
prosecution says she was tricked into going with him thinking he would pay
her for sex. The defense says there is no way to know whether Johnston was
held against her will for any amount of time.

A couple walking a dog found Johnston's body in a field on Feb. 27, 2004.
Jackson did not immediately rule on the defense motion to throw out the
1st-degree murder charge in Johnston's death.

First-degree murder can be punished either by life in prison or death by
injection. Gillis already faces an automatic life sentence after pleading
guilty last week in Port Allen to second-degree murder in the death of
Joyce Williams, whose dismembered body was found in 2000.

Police have said the first victim was Anne Bryan, 81, who was slain in
1994 in her apartment in an upscale nursing home, but most of his victims
were prostitutes and drug users. He allegedly confessed to eight slayings
but defense lawyers are challenging the validity of the confessions.

(source: Associated Press)