[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----NEV., N.H., UTAH, KY.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 22


NEVADA:

DA Mulling Death Penalty in Machete Slaying


Prosecutors may seek the death penalty against a 29-year-old man accused
of using a machete to kill a Las Vegas woman and slash her son and
daughter.

"We're going to be going to the death penalty review committee,"
prosecutor Giancarlo Pesci told Hearing Master Pro Tem Michael Federico on
Tuesday, before Federico scheduled Victor Orlando Cruz-Garcia to appear
Feb. 8 in Clark County District Court.

Deputy Public Defender Tim O'Brien entered a not guilty plea on
Cruz-Garcia's behalf to felony charges of murder and attempted murder with
a deadly weapon.

Cruz-Garcia, who police say also used the name Jaime Cruz and provided
authorities with an El Salvador identity card, is accused of wielding a
machete in the slaying of 46-year-old Beatrice Alvarez on Dec. 20.

He also allegedly wounded Alvarez's 27-year-old son and 12-year-old
daughter in the attack in an apartment northeast of downtown Las Vegas.

Friends said Alvarez took Cruz-Garcia and his girlfriend in off the
streets several weeks before the attack.

The son, Sergio Casterjon, underwent surgery at a Las Vegas hospital to
reattach his right arm and a finger, according to a police report. The
daughter, Sylvia Gonzalez, was treated for cuts to her head and face.

(source: Associated Press)






NEW HAMPSHIRE:

Lawyers Attack Death Penalty In Murder-For-Hire Case----Attorneys Call New
Hampshire's Law Outdated


Lawyers for a Las Vegas millionaire charged in connection with a
murder-for-hire plot argued in court Tuesday that the state's death
penalty law is outdated.

John Brooks was charged with capital murder. Prosecutors said he
orchestrated the death of Jack Reid, of Derry, N.H., 2 years ago.

Brooks' attorneys said the state has only imposed the death penalty on
three occasions in the last century, with the most recent execution coming
in 1939.

"It's like a rusty old musket that is hanging on the wall that can't be
used safely," attorney David Bruck said. "It raises much too much of a
risk of sentencing to death an innocent man."

The case is 1 of 2 capital murder cases in New Hampshire's court system.
Michael Addison has been charged with capital murder in connection with
the shooting death of Manchester police Officer Michael Briggs.

Brooks' lawyers also said that recent advances in DNA testing need to be
in place in New Hampshire.

"None of the protections that would safeguard against those sorts of
errors that people realize nowadays that are necessary are in the New
Hampshire law," Bruck said.

But prosecutors said the reason the law is rarely used is because it is
selective. They said there are only a narrow range of circumstances where
it can be applied, and there are safeguards in place.

"They specifically speak to instances of DNA where it may exonerate
somebody, and there are avenues that are available to any criminal
defendant to come back and attack a guilty verdict if it's appropriate to
do so," Assistant Attorney General Kirsten Wilson said.

As a judge heard arguments on the death penalty, a federal magistrate
ruled that Brooks should not have been transferred to the state prison on
orders of the attorney general's office. Brooks was taken out of the
Strafford County Jail because the state alleged that he was paying inmates
for services behind bars.

The magistrate said Brooks was transferred to punish him, and the state
was wrong to do so.

Brooks was also ordered Tuesday to provide handwriting samples to the
state.

The trial is scheduled to begin in August.

(source: WMUR News)






UTAH:

Floyd Maestas guilty of aggravated murder; faces death penalty


A jury has found Floyd Maestas guilty of aggravated murder. He now faces
the death penalty for the brutal murder of 72-year old Donna Bott.

She was found beaten, strangled, sexually abused and beaten in her home in
2004.

Maestas also was convicted for a similar crime against an 86-year old
woman but she survived and even testified at Maestas trial.

After the verdict, Botts family said they felt "great relief."

"We're just pleased with the verdict and we're glad they saw the truth and
this phase is over and we'll go onto the next phase," said Phyliss Hancey,
Bott's niece.

Maestas attorney said they were disappointed that the jury found him
guilty of aggravated murder instead of murder.

He will return to court next week when the same jury will decide if he
should be put to death or sent to prison for the rest of his life with no
chance of parole.

(source: ABC News)





KENTUCKY:

State to seek death penalty in Rineyville double murder


The Fort Campbell soldier accused of killing his wife and her former
mother-in-law could face the death penalty.

Prosecutors filed notice in Hardin County Tuesday of their intention to
give Brent Burke's jury the option of sentencing him to death if he's
convicted. Burke is charged with killing his estranged wife, Tracy Burke,
and her former mother-in-law, Karen Comer, in September while Tracy
Burke's three kids were in the house.

Brent Burke's lawyer told the court Tuesday they may challenge testimony
from one of those children, a 4 year old who identified Burke as the
shooter.

Kevin Hackworth says that's on the basis of, "whether or not a 4 year old
is competent to testify. It is my understanding, from what has been
reported in the press is that there was a 9 year old who made the call to
911, that was one of the family children, obviously, and there's no
identification from the 9 year old."

Burke remains in jail.

(source: WAVE News)