Jan. 24
ILLINOIS:
Suspect in 3 murders may face trial soon
The trial of a man accused in a series of murders is set to begin next
month, but that may change, an Illinois prosecutor told a judge Friday, if
Utah tries the suspect there first.
Donald E. Younge Jr., 42, is set to go to trial Feb. 23 in St. Clair
County for the deaths of 3 women, but Assistant State's Attorney Jim Piper
said that may change.
"We are still awaiting information from Salt Lake County, and the person
who was to provide that information has been out with a family emergency,"
Piper told Circuit Judge Milton Wharton. "We should know something before
next week."
Younge remained in St. Clair County Jail for 6 years, awaiting trial for
the murders of Tracy Williams, 38; Ramona Sidney, 32; and Seriece Johnson,
33. 2 of the bodies were found near the Black Bridge in the Rush City area
of East St. Louis.
Prosecutors originally sought the death penalty against Younge but
withdrew it when Antonina Brummund, a woman who testified he'd tied her
up, beat and sexually assaulted her, was killed just 3 weeks before his
trial was set to begin.
Salt Lake County District Attorney later charged Younge with the 1999
stabbing death of a University of Utah drama student.
Amy Quinton and her 37-year-old roommate were at their apartment Aug. 2,
1999, along with the roommate's 19-year-old friend, when Younge walked in.
The 19-year-old woman ran into Amy Quinton's room and told her to call
911. As Quinton was talking to the operator, Younge came into the room and
told her to hang up, "or he would kill all 3 of them."
The report states that Younge stabbed Quinton and the 19-year-old, and hit
the other woman in the head. Quinton died at a hospital.
The woman who was hit on the head "has positively identified" Younge as
the attacker, Scharman's report states.
Afterward, Younge used credit cards stolen from the women to flee back to
the metro-east, according to the report.
Younge will return to the St. Clair County courtroom next week to decide
whether he will face trial here or return to Utah.
(source: Belleville News Democrat)
*********************
Judge rules against firing of lawyers in Seneca murders
A man accused of murdering a Seneca couple during a burglary in 2007 may
not fire his public defenders, a LaSalle County judge has ruled.
Keith Mackowiak, 41, of Seneca is charged with killing Aloysius
Twardowski, 84, and his wife, Catherine, 87, on July 12, 2007. Authorities
said they interrupted him during a burglary at their home, so he beat them
to death with a shovel.
The Twardowskis were the parents of Fran Kauffmann of Normal.
Mackowiak told Judge H. Chris Ryan on Friday that he cannot work with his
public defenders, Tim Cappellini and Jim Reilly, "because it always ends
up in a shouting match." He also says they are making it impossible for
him to avoid the death penalty.
On Wednesday, a jury took less than half an hour to decide Mackowiak is
mentally fit to stand trial. Cappellini had sought a ruling on Mackowiaks
sanity before Ryan rules on Mackowiaks request to plead guilty.
Ever since his arrest shortly after the couple was killed, Mackowiak has
said he wanted to plead guilty despite LaSalle County State's Attorney
Brian Towne's promise to seek the death penalty. He also has wanted to
represent himself.
A lot of that attitude initially came from when he was a "suicidal,
drugged-out freak," Mackowiak said in court Friday. Now he said he wants
to defend himself "because I can't do any worse" than the present defense
attorneys.
He also asked about a state fund to provide an investigator to assist him
with his defense. Ryan said he would have to investigate any legal help
available for a person defending himself.
Mackowiak is jailed in lieu of posting $500,000. A jury trial set for
March 2.
(source: Bloomington Pantagraph)
KANSAS:
Fairness a worry as jury forms in Thurber murder trial
In Arkansas City, from this town of about 12,000 residents and the mostly
rural county surrounding it, attorneys this week will begin selecting 12
jurors for a case that has shaken the community, perhaps like no other.
And jurors will be asked to reach an unbiased decision in a trial where
the defendant could face the death penalty if convicted.
Prosecutors allege that Justin Thurber abducted, sodomized, raped and
strangled 19-year-old Jodi Sanderholm and left her battered body in a
wooded area in January 2007. And he stalked other young women, prosecutors
said.
The defense team has argued unsuccessfully that Thurber can't get a fair
trial in the county where the crime occurred, and that issue remains in
contention.
The crime jolted the community partly because Sanderholm was a popular and
accomplished Arkansas City college student. Since her death, a large
portrait of her has occupied a prominent place in a dance studio downtown
where she taught children to dance. Under her picture: "May we dance
together some day."
Jury selection is scheduled to begin in Winfield on Monday. The entire
week has been set aside for jury selection.
Attorneys expect to question 20 potential jurors a day, said Ashley
Anstaett, spokeswoman for the Kansas Attorney General's Office, which is
leading the prosecution.
Opening arguments in the trial are set for Feb. 2.
The prosecution and some residents maintain that Thurber can receive a
fair trial in Cowley County. But Richard Ney, a prominent Wichita defense
attorney, said he doubts that.
Ney -- who is not involved in the case -- cited a survey commissioned by
the Death Penalty Defense Unit that found 9 out of 10 people in Cowley
County have already concluded that Thurber is guilty.
The trial should be moved to another county "when you have those kind of
numbers," Ney said.
But in July, Judge Jim Pringle found that Thurber's defense team had not
met its burden of showing that it would be "virtually impossible" for him
to receive a fair trial in Cowley County. Pringle had said he would
consider moving the trial to another county if circumstances changed.
Ney, who has handled death-penalty cases in Kansas and other states, said:
"It's virtually impossible to prove that it's virtually impossible... that
you can't get an unbiased jury."
"I don't understand why we have such a fervor in the courts of why we have
to try the case where it happened," Ney said.
Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder said a community affected by
a major crime should be able to monitor the case, and that moving the
trial elsewhere makes that difficult. A change of venue also
inconveniences witnesses and raises costs, Schroeder said.
Debate over fairness
Ney and Schroeder also disagree over whether jurors can be trusted to
consider only evidence presented at trial and fairly weigh it.
When potential jurors say they can be fair, "the Supreme Court says we
should take that with a huge grain of salt," Ney said. "I'm not saying the
jurors are lying."
But jurors feel pressure to say they can be fair because that's what
society expects, Ney said.
It's not realistic to think people can divorce themselves from emotions
about a high-profile case when "they've sat around and talked about this
case with their neighbors and their friends," he said.
Schroeder said that although he's not familiar with the Sanderholm case,
"I still have faith... that jurors appreciate the obligation of being fair
and impartial."
Most people are inclined to be honest and to disclose if they have a bias,
Schroeder said.
In declining to move the trial, Judge Pringle has said that although there
has been extensive pretrial publicity about Sanderholm's death, the news
reports have been factual and not inflammatory.
Schroeder, a prosecutor for 20 years, said he has seen that even in
high-profile cases, a significant number of prospective jurors know little
or nothing about the cases.
"It always surprises me how little they can recall about the case," he
said.
'A lot of emotion'
Pringle is preparing for a trial in Winfield, the county seat, which is
about 11 miles from Arkansas City.
In late September, about 325 potential jurors filled out an 18-page
questionnaire. It was an initial step to help eliminate people with bias.
They answered questions including whether they knew Sanderholm or know
Thurber, and how so. They wrote down their views on the death penalty. The
questionnaire provided the names of 80 residents who could be called as
witnesses and asked potential jurors to mark by each name whether they
know the witness.
An 88-year-old Arkansas City man who completed the questionnaire said he
didn't know Sanderholm but realizes she was popular and thinks she
suffered at the hands of the killer.
"She was terrorized," the man said, declining to give his name.
In his more than eight decades in Cowley County, he said, he can't
remember a worse crime.
"I know there's a lot of emotion in this case," he said.
Still, he said he could set aside emotions and evaluate the evidence.
"They've got to prove it," he said.
"I think the system will work. And I'm sure the judge thinks it will, or
he wouldn't hold it in Cowley County."
Another Arkansas City resident, Mike Dobson, readily said he doesn't think
he could be a juror in the case. Dobson, an insurance agent, has an office
across the street from the glass business owned by Sanderholm's parents.
"You want the guy to get a fair trial," Dobson said.
Still, he said, "I couldn't be an unbiased juror."
Sanderholm's death has been deeply felt.
"It's almost like you yourself have been violated," he said.
"It's going to be something that none of us ever forget."
(source: The Wichita Eagle)
MARYLAND:
Interfaith group works to end death penalty
Clergy representing more than 1,000 congregations across Maryland, have
signed and sent a letter to the General Assembly and Gov. Martin O'Malley,
urging the repeal of "the law allowing for the state execution of men and
women."
As part of the Interfaith Coalition to End the Death Penalty's advocacy
campaign, preachers across the state will be join in a "Death Penalty
Sabbath" effort Sunday, discussing the hope for repeal with their
congregations, and in some cases, organizing letter-writing drives to
state representatives.
Beth Reilly of Frederick, a lay member of the United Methodist Church,
said Brookhill United Methodist Church pastor Conrad O. Link plans to
encourage a letter-writing campaign this Sunday and Middletown United
Methodist Church plans a similar effort Feb. 1.
Reilly said she's contacted numerous religious groups on behalf of the
coalition, including other Methodist congregations, several Catholic and
Presbyterian churches, Kol Ami (a reformed Jewish congregation), the
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick, the Unity Church, the
Frederick Friends Meeting House, Evangelical Reformed United Church of
Christ, Grace United Church of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church, and
All Saints Episcopal Church.
"I've been making calls to ministers, writing letters, and making it known
that we need them to take the time to act on this issue," Reilly said.
"It's such a critical period right now."
Reilly said momentum is building for the repeal based on the recent
Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment findings and their
recommendations, and the fact that the governor is on board.
"What I'm finding in my contact with church leaders in Frederick is that
there is incredible support for repealing the death penalty," she said.
"But we can't sit by quietly and expect it to happen -- especially, if you
live in Frederick. We need a critical vote from Sen. Alex Mooney."
Mooney, a member of St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in
Frederick and a member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee where
previous repeal bills have failed, has not supported the death penalty
repeal effort in the past. Reached by phone earlier this week, he
indicated he has not changed his position, adding, however, that he will
listen to testimony again this year "with an open mind."
"A number of factors weigh into my decision, the view of my constituents,
history, the facts, and religion, obviously -- my faith informs my
conscience as well," Mooney said.
The coalition
The dozens of religious leaders in the statewide interfaith coalition are
urging lawmakers to follow the recent recommendations of the Maryland
Commission on Capital Punishment, which called for an end to the death
penalty.
"What's unique is this is the strongest group of religious leaders from
different faith communities -- Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim --
that have come together from any time before," said the Rev. John
Deckenback, of Frederick. Deckenback serves as Conference Minister of the
Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ, and is one of
the signatories of the letter sent to the General Assembly and the
governor's office.
Deckenback said his inspiration for working toward the repeal came from a
meeting with former United Church of Christ pastor the Rev. Byron
Eschelman, who wrote "Death Row Chaplain" in 1962 based on his experience
working with inmates at San Quentin.
"He had a conversion experience," Deckenback said. "He witnessed the
horror of the death penalty and the state taking a life. He spoke out,
with risk to his own career, and called it one of the greatest
shortcomings of the judicial system and a scar on the landscape."
Tim Hanavan, executive director of the Central Maryland Ecumenical Council
and a member of the Interfaith Coalition to End the Death Penalty, said
religious leaders across the state came together over the summer and early
fall as they were asked to give testimony to the commission.
He said Baltimore Delegate Samuel Rosenberg (D) and Baltimore state Sen.
Lisa Gladden (D) are expected to bring repeal legislation this session.
Religious leaders have approached Mooney, a Republican, in the past about
repealing the death penalty, but to no avail thus far, Hanavan said.
At a press conference in Towson last week, clergy representing nearly 3
million members of their denominations, cited the commission's findings
that the state's death penalty system is unfair, costly and legally
burdensome.
Shared beliefs
Religious leaders said their faith traditions share beliefs that preclude
capital punishment.
"Common to all of our faiths is the belief in the sanctity of life and
forgiveness," the coalition's letter states. "We believe that no one is
beyond redemption; and, that we are called to restore people to wholeness
in society. Even for one who has murdered -- never should we or our
government on our behalf deny the prospect of redemption."
Signatories of the letter included Deckenback and the Most Reverend Edwin
F. O'Brien, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, as well as state
and regional leaders from the Presbytery of Baltimore, the
Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, the
Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, the Baltimore Board of Rabbis, the
Delaware/Maryland Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Muslim
Cultural Community Center of Baltimore.
Hanavan said there are a number of reasons why such a diverse coalition
has come together and that for most clergy it's a moral issue.
"For Christians, there is the collective belief held that calls for making
sure that redemption is always available to each person," he said. "Jesus
also said that no person has the right to take a life except God.
"For African-American Muslims, particularly, they expressed theirs is a
justice issue, the racial disparity of who ends up on death row -- that
the sentences, as has been shown, are not applied evenly and justly.
"Finally, I think, there is no perfect system and mistakes are made, as
has been demonstrated. And the mistake of putting an innocent person to
death is unacceptable."
(source: Frederick News-Post)
**************
State still needs ultimate penalty
Once again, our General Assembly will come together and some members will
try to eliminate the death penalty ("O'Malley vows to work to end death
penalty," Jan. 16). But I believe that the ultimate penalty of giving up
one's life for the taking of another is needed in our society.
It has been argued that the death penalty is not a deterrent to violence.
But how can it be when it is not used in a timely manner and often is not
used at all?
And when someone is brutally and senselessly murdered, why shouldn't the
person who committed this crime pay for it with his or her own life?
After all the evidence is collected and there is no doubt that the accused
has been found guilty by a jury of his or her peers, I think the death
penalty should be an option.
If we take away that option and replace it with a sentence of life without
parole, what would happen?
All of us pay to give this murderer a roof over his or her head, dental
and medical care and three meals a day and the right to maintain contact
with family or friends.
But what about the victim's family and friends? All of their rights to see
the murder victim are gone forever. They are forced to live with only
memories of their loved one.
Another problem with a sentence of life without parole is what would then
stop a convicted murderer from killing again?
What if the person sent to prison comes across someone he met on the
outside and has a grudge against? What if a prison guard is killed by the
prisoner? What happens then?
The killer is imprisoned with no possibility of parole. He has nothing to
lose. So how would we prevent this person from killing again?
It seems to me that the death penalty should remain an option as long as
there remains this unanswered question: What then?JoAnn ParrishGlen Burnie
(source: Letter to the Editor, Baltimore Sun)
*************
Maryland legislators introduce bill to ensure that spying on peaceful
activists never happens again
Calling for swift passage for a bill to ban police spying on political
activists in Maryland, state legislative leaders introduced The Freedom of
Association and Assembly Protection Act of 2009. The leaders believe that
the First Amendment protects the rights of all Marylanders to organize to
advance their political and social views free of the chilling specter of
government surveillance and dossiers. However, Maryland now has no law
that protects these most basic of rights to organize, peacefully assemble,
and petition our government. Lead bill sponsors are Senators Jamie Raskin
and Brian Frosh; and Delegates Sheila Hixson, Sandy Rosenberg, Heather
Mizeur and Tom Hucker.
The legislation seeks to codify the recommendations of the report issued
in October by former Attorney General Stephen Sachs. Specifically, the
bill will mandate that law enforcement use of covert techniques and
compiling of criminal intelligence dossiers about Marylanders' political
views and activities be based on reasonable suspicion of criminal
activity.
State Senator Jamie Raskin (D-20): "The State Police are not Maryland's
thought police. Marylanders have a right to work for environmental
protection, an end to the death penalty, marriage equality, peace, and
bike lanes without being spied upon and called terrorists by law
enforcement officials. Our bill will forbid covert tactics against our
citizens unless there is specific reasonable suspicion that they are
engaged in criminal activity. It will also forbid the Orwellian practice
of keeping political dossiers on citizens that are not part of actual
criminal investigations. At a time of staggering financial crisis, let's
stop wasting our money spying on people nonviolently exercising their
political freedom."
State Senator Brian E. Frosh (D-16): "Obviously, we've got to make sure
that this kind of surveillance doesn't happen again. Police need the tools
to do their jobs in cases of criminal wrongdoing. But surveillance of
law-abiding citizens shouldn't be an option."
Delegate Sheila Hixson (D-20): My colleagues and I were shocked and
appalled to learn of the covert police surveillance of our neighbors who
were simply expressing their beliefs regarding the death penalty, the war
in Iraq and environmental concerns. Still further and inconceivably, we
learned that their names were entered on a 'terrorist' list. We ask: what
has happened to our freedom to express ourselves? For that reason we have
crafted legislation to prohibit inappropriate law enforcement that
interferes with First Amendment rights."
Delegate Tom Hucker (D-20): "At a time when the state is cutting health
care, transportation, and environmental protection, it boggles the mind to
learn our state police were using precious tax dollars to spy on our
constituents. We wrote this bill to make sure state tax dollars are never
again used for surveillance of peaceful activists. We have a
constitutional right to assemble, and we will fight to protect it."
Delegate Heather Mizeur (D-20): "Takoma Park residents share a proud
history of civic engagement and issue advocacy. Sometimes we have to fight
to be heard. At other times, we're being listened to when we least expect
it. State sponsored spying on peace activists and death penalty advocates
is a mark of shame on Maryland. We are here today to reaffirm the most
basic of our rights granted by the First Amendment that Congress shall
make no law abridging the freedom of speech or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of
grievances. Here and now, we make our petition: Never again will this be
allowed to happen in Maryland."
Delegate Samuel I. (Sandy) Rosenberg (D-41): "People exercising their
First Amendment rights should not be subjected to the chilling presence of
undercover police officers."
ACLU of Maryland Legislative Director Cynthia Boersma: "The ACLU of
Maryland applauds the bills sponsors for answering the call of Mr. Sachs
report, which condemned the police surveillance that has taken place as
inconsistent with an overarching value in our democratic societythe free
and unfettered debate of important public questions.'" Mr. Sachs believes
such police conducted ought to be prohibited,' and we believe that
legislation is necessary to ensure that the protection of our most basic
rights do not change with changing administrations. This bill establishes
clear standards to protect both our First Amendment rights and our public
safety by directing that criminal intelligence and counter-terrorism
resources are used to respond to suspected criminal activity rather than
spying on legitimate political activity."
Since July 17, 2008, when the ACLU of Maryland uncovered that the MSP
engaged in covert surveillance of local peace and anti-death penalty
groups for over a year from 2005-2006, we have learned that the Maryland
State Police has engaged in a far-reaching program of covert surveillance
of political groups in Maryland. Dozens of individuals and organizations
have been targeted by the Maryland State Police which maintained criminal
intelligence files on their political beliefs and activities, labeling
them as suspected terrorists and security threats. The MSP had no evidence
or suspicion that any identified target was engaged in criminal activity
of any kind.
(source: Examiner.com)
OHIO:
Amber Hill not guilty by reason of insanity of murdering her 2
children--she drowned her 2 young daughters in bathtub
Amber Hill will not go to prison for drowning her daughters -- submerging
their heads in a bathtub until they stopped thrashing, until their brown
eyes stared vacantly from beneath the surface. A 3-judge panel on Friday
found Hill not guilty of aggravated murder by reason of insanity.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judges Nancy Fuerst, John Sutula and Jose
Villanueva deliberated for four hours before rendering their verdict,
which Sutula said was based on "uncontroverted evidence" that Hill
suffered from such profound mental illness when she killed her daughters
on Oct. 1, 2007, that she did not understand her actions were wrong.
"Justice is not always punishment," Sutula said. "These killings shocked
the conscience of every person including this panel. But the law demands
that in order to be convicted of a crime, the defendant know its
wrongfulness."
Hill, 23, didn't deny killing the girls: Janelle Cintron, 4, and Cecess
Hill, 2.
She waived her right to a jury trial. A panel of 3 judges heard the case
because Hill could have faced the death penalty if convicted. A hearing
will be held in the next 10 days to determine whether Hill will be set
free or remanded to a mental health facility.
Prosecutors said the state will push for long-term institutionalization in
a secure facility, arguing that Hill poses a threat to herself and others.
Hill's attorneys Fernando Mack and Myron Watson called the verdict
courageous.
They said that as Hill's mental state stabilizes on powerful
anti-psychotic drugs, they expect she will develop greater insight into
the events that brought her to kill her daughters.
"She cared for those children deeply," Watson said. "The real Amber Hill
wouldn't have done this but for her severe mental illness."
After the judges announced their decision, Hill's mother, Carolyn
Hutchins, sobbed and trembled, as she thanked God for the verdict and
clung to other weeping relatives.
She said she knew her daughter was not herself when she killed the girls.
And she called for a greater awareness of mental illness in the community.
During their closing arguments, prosecutors asked the judges to set aside
the expert testimonies of a psychologist hired by the defense and a
court-appointed psychiatrist. Both testified that Hill suffered from
severe depression that eventually escalated to a psychotic break from
reality when she drowned her children.
Hill made no attempt to conceal evidence or flee after the killings.
Instead, she called her boyfriend, Jaime Cintron, who came home and found
her sitting on the couch staring blankly ahead in an unresponsive daze.
The lawyers highlighted that even the court-appointed psychiatrist, who
reviewed Hill's case on the state's request, said that Hill heard voices
that urged her to kill her children.
Assistant County Prosecutor Mark Mahoney said the state decided to
prosecute Hill despite the court psychiatrist's diagnosis because it was
an important case to the community and deserved the criminal justice
system's full attention.
Prosecutors did not call upon a 3rd medical opinion because sanity is
always assumed, he said, and the burden is upon the defense to prove the
defendant insane.
"We knew it would be a challenging case," Mahoney said, "to have the court
set aside the opinion of the court's doctor. But we thought it best to go
through the process because of the profound loss to the community of two
children of tender age. Could there be a more important case?"
(source: Cleveland Plain Dealer)
**************
Man facing death penalty ---- March sentencing set in death of Kenmore
resident, stabbing of his wife in 2008
An Akron man will face the death penalty after being convicted late Friday
of aggravated murder, attempted murder, aggravated robbery and other
offenses in the February slaying of an elderly Kenmore man and the
stabbing of his wife, authorities said.
Hersie R. Wesson, 51, who waived his right to a jury trial last year, was
found guilty in a trial before Summit County Common Pleas Judges Thomas A.
Teodosio, Brenda Burnham Unruh and Robert M. Gippin.
Wesson will be sentenced by the same 3-judge panel after the penalty phase
of his trial begins March 6. If the judges decide the aggravating factors
of the crime outweigh mitigating factors presented by the defense, he will
be sentenced to death.
Under Ohio law, a 3-judge panel must hear a potential death penalty case
if the defendant waives his right to a jury.
Prosecutors said Wesson attacked the couple in their home on Kenmore
Boulevard on the night of Feb. 25.
Emil Varhola, 81, was stabbed to death. His wife, Mary, 71, was also
stabbed and left for dead, but survived by acting as though she were dead.
She then called her son, who alerted authorities, prosecutors said.
Wesson, who fled the scene, was arrested the next day by Akron police and
officers from the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force of the U.S.
Marshals Service.
Summit County court records, dating back to 1986, show Wesson has felony
convictions for theft, burglary, domestic violence, failure to comply with
the order or signal of a police officer and violating a protection order.
The victims knew Wesson as a neighbor and let him into their home before
the attack, police said. Wesson was looking for a weapon in the home after
a breakup with his girlfriend, prosecutors said.
(source: Akron Beacon Journal)
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