[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., TENN., ARK., N.C.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 20


KENTUCKY:

Allen prosecutor won't seek death penalty in 2nd trial


The prosecutor won't seek the death penalty in the retrial of 2 Barren
County men accused of murder.

Dustin L. Asher, 31, of Glasgow and Lonnie Dale Freeman, 39, of Etoile are
accused of 2 counts of murder and 2 counts of tampering with physical
evidence in the deaths of Daniel Froedge, 38, of Park City and Kelly O.
Johnson, 32, of Smiths Grove.

The first trial ended in a hung jury Oct. 5 after 101/2 hours of
deliberation.

There are plans to file a motion to seek an enhanced penalty of life
without the possibility of parole, according to Clint Willis,
commonwealth's attorney for Allen and Simpson counties.

"Unless there becomes additional information that 1 of the 2 defendants
shot both persons, there will not be a death penalty motion," Willis said.

Multiple deaths were the only possible aggravating factor in the case that
could have allowed prosecution to seek the death penalty, he said.

The information from the 1st trial does not lend itself to proving that
either Asher or Freeman shot both men, Willis said.

Asher and Freeman's attorney for the 1st trial, Daniel Taylor III of
Louisville, withdrew from the case at a hearing Tuesday, according to
court records.

Steven Romines and Pat Renn, both of Louisville, are the new defense
attorneys for the retrial. Renn is the attorney who represented Charles
Boney when he was accused of killing the family of retired Indiana State
Trooper David Camm in Floyd County, Indiana. Camm was also charged in that
case.

Boney's trial and Camm's retrial are ongoing.

The bodies of Froedge and Johnson were found July 20 on a small road just
outside Scottsville. Forensic evidence in the initial trial indicated they
were killed between July 12 and July 14, 2005.

The trial will probably be held outside Allen County, Willis said. New
Allen Circuit Judge Janet Crocker, who takes the bench Jan. 1, will make
the decision regarding venue about the 2nd trial.

"The jurors that I talked to wanted a place with a secure parking lot for
jurors; that leaves only the new facilities in Warren and Simpson
counties," he said.

The original trial was delayed by a day due to a bomb threat that was
related to the trial that threatened the Allen County Courthouse, Allen
County-Scottsville schools and an unidentified factory.

Retiring Judge William Harris has canceled the trial date set in late
February. A new date hasn't been set. There will still be a pretrial
conference on Feb. 16 to discuss any motions. Freeman is currently serving
a state prison sentence. Asher is at the Allen County Jail on a $500,000
full cash bond.

Freeman was sentenced for 1st-degree fleeing and evading, 2 counts of
possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of drug
paraphernalia 2nd offense, 1st-degree wanton endangerment and 2 counts of
receiving stolen property over $300.

(source: Bowling Green Daily News)






TENNESSEE----federal death penalty trial

Federal death penalty trial set in abduction-slaying


In Chattanooga, a Georgia man charged in the abduction-slaying of an
Atlanta restaurant owner will be prosecuted in a rare federal death
penalty case in Tennessee.

Records show it is the 1st in the court's Eastern District in more than 2
decades.

Trial is set February 5th for 22-year-old Rejon Taylor of Atlanta. He is
charged in the August 2003 kidnapping and killing of restaurant owner Guy
Luck.

2 co-defendants -- Joey Marshall and Sir Jack Mathews -- pleaded guilty
last week and face sentences of life without the possibility of parole.

Assistant U-S Attorney Steve Neff says the decision to seek the death
penalty is made by officials at the attorney general's office in
Washington, D-C.

Court records show the threesome is accused of abducting Luck at the
Violette restaurant in Atlanta and driving him to Tennessee in his own
van. Taylor drove the van, while Mathews held Luck at gunpoint and
Marshall followed in a car. Testimony shows the shooting started when Luck
tried to overpower his abductors.

A status conference is set December 5th.

(source: Associated Press)






ARKANSAS:

Pet DNA to be tested in death-penalty case


A police investigator delivered DNA samples taken from pets owned by a
Desha County murder suspect to the University of California, Davis, last
week for testing at the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory there, Prosecuting
Attorney Thomas Deen said.

The suspect, Kenneth Ray Osburn, 46, is charged with kidnapping and
capital murder in the Aug. 27 slaying of 17-year-old Casey Crowder of Pine
Bluff. He is accused of strangling the Watson Chapel High School senior
and dumping her body near a drainage canal east of Dumas. The state is
seeking the death penalty in the case.

After police found Crowders body on Sept. 2, investigators reportedly
found what they believed were dog hairs, and possibly cat hairs, on her
and her clothes. Osburn owned several dogs, police said.

"I wanted those hairs analyzed," Deen said in an interview. "I'm not going
to leave any stone unturned."

Arkansas State Police investigator Scott Woodward hand-delivered the
samples to the California laboratory on Wednesday, the prosecutor said.
UC-Davis houses one of the few testing sites in the country that processes
forensic veterinary DNA.

Deen said he expected test results by the end of the year.

Though DNA testing is common, the possible introduction of forensic
veterinary evidence in a Desha County case would be a first for the 10 th
Judicial District prosecutor and his staff.

"We've never had an occasion to use, or attempt to use, animal DNA," the
prosecutor said.

Although Deen declined to go into detail about what Woodward took to
California, records in Desha County Circuit Court in Arkansas City show
that investigators collected 6 swabs from the cheeks of animals as well as
a tape lift, which collects hairs. An affidavit for a search warrant
indicates that Woodward intended to take evidence from "dogs and or cats"
owned by Osburn.

A separate court record, the affidavit filed in support of Osburn's
arrest, states that surveillance cameras recorded some of the suspects
movements on the morning of Aug. 27, about the time Crowder reportedly ran
out of gas in Dumas while driving back to Pine Bluff from her boyfriends
house.

A camera at a Sonic Drivein restaurant showed Osburn traveling south on U.
S. 65 about three minutes after Crowder made a cell-phone call at 6: 39 a.
m., according to the affidavit. He was driving a white 2002 Chevy
Silverado.

The Sonic camera also showed Osburn driving back north about 2 minutes, 45
seconds later. A camera at the Dollar General Store on U. S. 165 recorded
Osburn driving east at 6: 46 a. m., the affidavit states. Crowders body
was found about 6 miles east of Dumas.

The arrest affidavit states that during a police interview on Sept. 4,
officers asked Osburn to take off his shirt and lower his trousers.
Investigators reported seeing numerous scratches on both his arms and
"faint abrasions" on his chest, elbows and knees. Osburn told police that
his dogs caused those wounds, noting that he often played with his pets.
Osburn also told police that at least 2 of his dogs frequently rode with
him in his truck.

While acknowledging that the veterinary DNA tests "could prove
inconclusive," Deen said he had dipped into his budget to pay for them and
that the FBI, which helped investigate the crime, was providing additional
funds.

The arrest affidavit also quotes a witness, interviewed after Crowder's
body was found, as telling state police that she had seen Osburn driving
east on U. S. 165 the morning of Aug. 27 and that someone was "slumped
down and laid over toward the passenger window."

Investigators say U. S. 165 is the quickest route to a wooded area just
off Buckshot Road, where the body was found. Police say Osburn was raised
three miles from the scene.

According to the arrest affidavit, Osburn told police that the reason he
had driven back north on U. S. 65 was to buy a pack of cigarettes at a
truck stop where he had earlier drank coffee. Clerks at the truck stop,
however, reportedly told investigators that Osburn did not return.
Cash-register receipts did not reflect any purchase of a single pack of
cigarettes about 6: 45 a. m., as Osburn claimed, according to reports.

In the charging affidavit prepared by Deen, the prosecutor accused Osburn
of kidnapping Crowder "for the purpose of... engaging her in sexual
intercourse, deviate sexual activity or sexual contact." In a separate
affidavit, Deen said the killing was done "in an especially depraved or
cruel manner, as part of a course of conduct intended to inflict mental
anguish or serious physical abuse upon the victim."

Neither Deen nor police investigators have said how Crowder was strangled.

The FBI, the state police and the Desha County sheriffs office conducted
the investigation into Crowders death.

More than 100 people assisted in the 6-day search for her body, which was
identified by dental records.

Police arrested Osburn on Sept. 28 in McGehee. He continues to be held
without bail in the Dumas city jail.

In an affidavit of indigency filed with the circuit court, Osburn states
that he had $ 492 in cash, $ 300 in savings and was nearly $ 17, 000 in
debt. At his initial court appearance, on Sept. 29, Osburn said he wanted
to hire a private attorney. But, later, the court appointed Public
Defender G. B. "Bing" Colvin of Monticello to represent him.

Colvin subsequently asked to be removed, noting that his office already
was involved with 4 death-penalty cases. Colvin also noted that Osburn
purportedly had confessed to the crime, and because of the "disclosures of
certain witnesses to the alleged confession to this attorney, this
attorney has become a witness."

Colvin could not be reached for further comment.

The Arkansas Public Defender Commission appointed Little Rock attorney
James Wyatt to the Osburn case, according to court documents.

Pending the completion of a mental-health evaluation, Osburn is scheduled
for a circuit court appearance in Arkansas City on Nov. 27 before Circuit
Judge Sam Pope. Trial dates have been tentatively set for May 1-4.

(source: Democrat Gazette)






NORTH CAROLINA:

Death row inmate wants to fire attorneys, expedite execution


A death row inmate who wants to fire his attorneys and expedite his
execution must undergo a psychiatric evaluation before a judge will make a
decision.

James Floyd Davis, convicted in the 1995 murders of 3 co-workers at the
Union Butterfield plant in Asheville, could continue appealing his case
for several years. But during a recent hearing in Buncombe County Superior
Court, Davis told Judge Ronald Payne that he wanted to die.

"For closure for all concerned: for me, the Union Butterfield families of
the victims," Davis said. "I'm just asking this court for closure."

Payne ordered a mental evaluation to make sure Davis, 58, was capable of
making the decision and sent Davis to the Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh
in September. When a report is issued, another hearing will be held to
determine whether further court hearings and appeals should be heard,
District Attorney Ron Moore said.

Moore said he didn't object to Davis' request.

"That's going to be between him and the court," Moore said. "If he's
competent to proceed, I would not have a problem with it. You have a right
to represent yourself under the Constitution."

Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated, 1,054 people have been
executed in the United States and about 12 percent of them dropped their
appeals, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty
Information Center in Washington, D.C.

Mental illness and suicidal thoughts prompt some inmates to seek expedited
executions, as does life on death row, where inmates spend all but about
an hour a day in solitary confinement, Dieter said.

"So the years of that kind of isolation and condemnation wear on an
individual," he said. "And for some it's preferable to say 'let's get it
over with.'"

Leah Broker, one of Davis' court-appointed defense attorneys, said she has
tried to convince Davis to keep pursuing appeals, even though the process
could take another 5 to 10 years.

"It's very sad," Broker said. "I don't think it's a good decision, but I'm
not living on death row."

(source: Associated Press)