[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----S. DAK., ILL., WASH., GA., ALA.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 17



SOUTH DAKOTA:

Measure to clean up death penalty clears


A bill that corrections department officials say will clean-up capital
punishment laws passed the Senate State Affairs Committee 9-0 Wednesday.

The bill revises old laws dealing with competency hearings for death-row
inmates and procedures to be used if a pregnant woman is ever on death
row.

South Dakota executed convicted killer Elijah Page last summer, the 1st in
the state since 1947, by lethal injection. Three men are under death
sentences in the state prison.

Laurie Feiler, deputy secretary of corrections, said the bill assures
immunity from civil or criminal liability to persons who in good faith
assist in executions. It also moves from policy to law the confidentiality
of the persons who actually carry out the death sentence.

"Without that, I think we'd have a very difficult time finding suitable
people" to handle the executions, Feiler said.

Max Gors, a former circuit judge who is a staff lawyer for the corrections
department, said the liability provision was necessary because the law
doesn't specifically "say that executing an inmate is an exception to the
homicide law."

Democratic Sen. Ben Nesselhuf of Vermillion, who said he is a
death-penalty opponent, voted for the changes.

"I went over the bill with a fine-tooth comb looking for reasons to be
against it," Nesselhuf said. "For lack of a better option, I'll support
the (bill)."

The measure next goes to the full Senate for debate. That could come today
or next Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

(sourceL Argus Leader)






ILLINOIS:

Ruling upheld in Gilberts man's death penalty case


The state's high court sided with a Kane County judge in a Gilberts man's
quest to change lawyers in a death penalty case.

Frank Hill, 31, is charged with murder and arson in the Jan. 9, 2007,
death of 27-year-old Karyn Pearson. He has pleaded not guilty and could be
sentence to the death penalty if convicted.

Hill, who remains in Kane County Jail on $5 million bail, is represented
by Public Defender David Kliment. He originally had a private attorney
Andr Grant  but Kliment was added to the case because Grant was not
certified by the Illinois Supreme Court to try a death penalty case.

After Circuit Judge Timothy Sheldon appointed Kliment as lead counsel,
Hill asked to have a 2nd attorney, Stanley Hill, to be paid through the
states Capital Litigation Fund. Stanley Hill is not related to Frank Hill.

Sheldon denied Stanley Hill access to the fund, which is reserved in cases
when the Public Defender cannot try a case because of a conflict, along
with other trial expenses.

Assistant State's Attorney Greg Sams said Wednesday that the Illinois
Supreme Court agreed with the ruling.

Stanley Hill appealed the decision to the high court late last year.

The case now continues to proceed to trial, which could be scheduled for
later this year.

(source: Kane County Chronicle)






WASHINGTON:

Man could face death penalty


Pierce County prosecutors might charge a 26-year-old man with the state's
highest crime today in the slashing deaths of 2 Tacoma men in a South End
apartment last year.

Deputy prosecutor Ed Murphy told a judge Wednesday that he expects to
charge Pierre Thelberg Spencer III with 2 counts of aggravated 1st-degree
murder in the deaths of Ruben P. Doria Jr., 24, and Abraham "Warren"
Abrazado, 22.

Friends found the 2 dead in Doria's apartment in the 9300 block of South
Ash Street on Sept. 23. The medical examiner determined that the 2 died of
stab and slash wounds.

Aggravated 1st-degree murder is the only charge in Washington that
qualifies for the death penalty.

Police arrested Spencer and booked him into the Pierce County Jail about 1
a.m. Tuesday as part of what police spokesman Mark Fulghum described as
"an ongoing investigation" into the deaths of Doria and Abrazado. Fulghum
provided few details.

Spencer made his first appearance in court Wednesday, where Superior Court
Judge Bryan Chushcoff ordered him held without bail until his 1:30 p.m.
arraignment today.

Outside court, Murphy declined to provide details about his case against
Spencer, saying the investigation is "still fluid."

Spencer, who was assisted in court by a Spanish interpreter, said little
during his appearance.

He has no criminal record in Washington except for 2 traffic offenses,
according to state records.

(source: The News Tribune)






GEORGIA:

Police: Arrest in Ga. cop killings


Police have arrested a 32-year-old man and charged him with murder in the
shooting deaths of 2 off-duty DeKalb County police officers, Officer
Jonathan Ware, a DeKalb County police spokesman, said late Wednesday.
Authorities were still looking for other suspects, Ware said.

Earlier Wednesday, police combed the area for two gunman after the
officers died in a possible ambush at an apartment complex in what
residents described as a high-crime neighborhood.

The 2 officers, Ricky Bryant, Jr., 26, and Eric Barker, 33, who earned
extra money as security guards at the Glenwood Gardens apartments, were
investigating a suspicious person at the complex when shots were fired
early Wednesday, DeKalb County Police Chief Terrell Bolton said.

Bryant was a 2-year veteran of the department, and Barker had worked there
for 4 years. Both were married and had 4 children each.

Authorities were searching for 2 males seen running from the scene. Police
used dogs and a helicopter to search for the suspects, and schools were
locked down during the investigation in the area about 6 miles east of
downtown Atlanta.

He told reporters the dead officers were wearing their police uniforms.

Bolton said the shooting looked like an ambush. "It just appeared that
they were gunned down without a chance," he said.

At an afternoon news conference, Bolton called the shootings a "must-solve
crime" and urged witnesses to come forward.

"Don't lie to us," he said. "Tell us the truth."

Bolton did not say whether the officers had a chance to return fire before
they were killed and he did not say what led to the shooting.

A $55,000 reward was offered for information leading to arrests in the
case, county officials said.

"These police officers were heroes, they were committed and dedicated to
law enforcement," said DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones.
"We will not rest until those folks responsible for this are apprehended
and justice is served."

Patreka Anderson, a resident of the complex, said she was awakened by the
gunshots but did not think anything of it because the neighborhood around
the Glenwood Gardens apartment complex is a high-crime area with a lot of
drug activity and prostitution.

"We always hear shooting," she said. "I didn't think that was any big
deal."

Teofil Taut, who said he has owned the 176-unit complex for about 2 years
and lives in one of the buildings, said he hired police as part-time
security officers in December to keep homeless people from breaking into
the apartments.

Another resident, nurse's assistant LaShawn Corbin, said she is
considering moving, even if it means paying more for an apartment.

"We don't expect the people who try to protect us to be hurt so
seriously," she said. Corbin said she would fear leaving her children
there "because the person who did it has no conscience for human life."

"It's a challenging day for us," Bolton said. "However, today's act of
senseless violence is a display of what we're seeing around the country
where people will shoot down a police officer without regard to any
repercussions."

(source: USA Today)






ALABAMA:

Because of youth, man avoids death sentence for Decatur slaying


A young man convicted of capital murder in the shooting death of a Decatur
man avoided the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the crime.

Jameth McDonald, who is now 21, was convicted by a jury Wednesday of
capital murder in the death of Billy Wayne Casey on June 30, 2004, and was
sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The defense contended McDonald was drunk and noted a witness testified
that McDonald had said he saw Satan in Casey's eyes and "I sent Satan back
to hell where he came from."

Authorities questioned whether he was drunk and said McDonald confessed to
police that he killed Casey, 54, at his home when he and 2 accomplices
went there to rob him. McDonald said Casey told them he had no money and
gave him drugs.

He said he went to Casey's home after breaking into another home, hitting
a man on the head with a claw hammer and taking $250, according to
authorities.

A co-defendant, Tim House, 25, entered a plea agreement with the district
attorney and got capital murder charges against him dropped. House, who
apparently did not take part in the violence, pleaded guilty this week to
robbery and received a 25-year prison sentence.

A 3rd defendant, Jessica Hill, 24, still faces capital murder charges.
McDonald said in his statement that she recommended the victims to rob and
drove them to the homes.

The death penalty didn't apply in McDonald's case because of a Supreme
Court ruling that bars death sentences for defendants under the age of 18.

(source: Associated Press)