Dec. 9
TEXAS:
Review: 'Into the Abyss' a sobering examination of Texas death penalty case
Director: Werner Herzog
Rated: PG-13 (for mature thematic material and some disturbing images)
Running Time: 1 hour, 47 minutes
The Reel Story: Director Herzog examines the case of a Texas inmate who, along
with another man, committed a triple homicide and was executed in this film
that subtlely argues against the death penalty.
"Into The Abyss" is a documentary about the death penalty. Unlike most such
films, it is not a diatribe against the state killing of prisoners, even though
director Werner Herzog says in the first few minutes that he opposes the death
penalty.
Rather, it is an examination of a single case, a 2001 triple homicide in the
small town of Conroe, Texas, for which Michael Perry is sitting on death row
when the film begins while his accomplice, Jason Burkett, is serving a life
sentence with a minimum of 40 years.
Herzog tells the story through interviews with both men, their families
(including a Nebraska woman who moved to Texas to marry Burkett after he was
incarcerated), a few friends, a sheriff's deputy who investigated the murders,
family members of the victims and a former prison officer who headed the team
of guards in the death house. He also uses crime scene video taken by police
after the murders.
The result is a sobering, chilling examination of 3 pointless murders. Perry
and Burkett killed a woman to get her Camaro, then after dumping her body in a
nearby lake tried to return to the gated community where she lived. The gates
were locked, so the pair waited for someone to come along to unlock them. A
pair of teen boys turned up and were murdered.
After a shootout with police, Perry and Burkett were arrested. Perry, who
confessed, was sentenced to death. Burkett got life for the same crimes -- a
disparity which is not fully explained but not unusual.
Herzog, a prolific German filmmaker who makes both features and documentaries,
stays out of sight in "Into The Abyss." He can be heard asking questions of his
witnesses, always polite and sympathetic, never badgering.
The responses he gets from these 1-time interviews that took place in homes and
in prisons are direct and illuminating.
Among the observations easily gleaned from the interviews: The killers and
their friends were uneducated (one is illiterate) and came from bad homes, if
they had a home at all. All involved, save the deputy who is primarily
delivering facts and pointing out places, talk about their faith in God and how
it has brought them through the tragedy.
That includes Perry, who was interviewed 8 days before he was executed in July
2010, and Burkett's father, who is also in prison and whose pleas may have
spared his son from execution.
But the most telling testimony comes from Capt. Fred Allen, who was in charge
of the death detail at Huntsville prison for several years, overseeing, by his
count, more than 125 executions, sometimes as many as 2 a week.
Allen matter-of-factly describes the death day routine, down to who straps
which of the prisoner's legs to the gurney. Then he nearly breaks down, having
come to oppose the death penalty, quitting his job and risking his pension.
Allen's talk is the only anti-death penalty speech to be heard in the film. But
the hopelessness that pervades the picture makes a subtle argument that the
execution of Perry was as pointless as the killings he committed.
(source: Journal Star)
GEORGIA:
DA to seek death penalty for McDaniel
Billy Giddings had known for a while that authorities might seek the death
penalty for the man accused of killing his daughter, Lauren. So it wasn’t a
shock Thursday when prosecutors made it official: They aim to send Stephen Mark
McDaniel to Georgia’s death row.
Billy Giddings wonders if the prospect of capital punishment might prompt the
26-year-old suspect to cooperate with authorities, to provide information about
where his slain daughter’s remains might be -- if, in fact, McDaniel is
responsible.
Stephen McDaniel leaves court after a commitment hearing.“I’m not sure whether
this will put the heat on him or not. I’m not sure what state of mind he’s in.
I’ve been given no indication about how he feels. ... I hope it turns up the
heat a little (and leads to) a little bit of talking back and forth,” Billy
Giddings said.
He says he and his family have had private discussions for months about the
possibility that prosecutors might seek the ultimate punishment for his
27-year-old daughter’s alleged killer.
“Quite frankly, we really don’t have another choice at this point that I can
see. There’s not too many other options,” he said, adding that he and Bibb
County District Attorney Greg Winters had been in touch “on a regular basis”
for the past week or so.
“We’ve both come to the same conclusion that this is probably the right way
forward at this time. Today’s just the day that he suggested we move forward,”
Billy Giddings, 56, said by phone from Maryland, where Lauren was raised and
her family still lives.
It has been nearly half a year since Lauren Giddings’ dismembered torso was
found wrapped in plastic bags and stuffed in a trash can beside her Georgia
Avenue apartment in downtown Macon.
She and McDaniel, a Lilburn native, had been next-door neighbors and were
members of Mercer University law school’s May graduating class. A police
officer helping search for Giddings discovered her torso June 30, four and a
half days after she was last heard from.
McDaniel was jailed the next day on unrelated burglary charges and, in early
August, was charged with her murder. His attorney, Floyd Buford, said the
district attorney informed him Wednesday of prosecutors’ intentions to pursue
the death penalty.
“I am not surprised. I am disappointed,” Buford said. “I was hoping that it
would not be a death penalty case. From our side, it doesn’t seem like it
merits” capital punishment.
As of mid-afternoon Thursday, Buford hadn’t told his client of the death
penalty development in his case, but said he planned to soon.
The possibility McDaniel could face death if convicted is troubling for
McDaniel’s parents, Buford said. “They are convinced their son is innocent. ...
They are disappointed. They are confident their son will be exonerated.”
Reached by phone, McDaniel’s mother said, “We have no comment.”
McDaniel is scheduled for arraignment Monday in Bibb Superior Court on sexual
exploitation of children charges brought against him. A separate hearing will
be scheduled later on the murder charge.
There are presently five death penalty cases involving seven suspects pending
in Bibb County.
Meanwhile, on the day the state announced its intention to have McDaniel put to
death, one of his alleged victim’s closest friends from college shared personal
glimpses that portray Giddings as young woman full of life.
They came from Giddings’ own hand, in a Facebook post from early 2009.
Giddings told of her love for her mother’s PB&J sandwiches, of how her radio
“hasn’t left the country station since ... ever,” and of how she drank “at
least 4 Coke Zero’s a day plus 2 cups of coffee.”
She wrote, “I hate tattoos, unless there’s a really good drunken story behind
it and not on my body. The combo of needles and permanency scares me.”
Giddings wrote of still sleeping with her beloved stuffed animal bunny,
Snowball, and that she was “obsessed with flossing.”
She mentioned that she ate oatmeal and a hard-boiled egg for breakfast each
day, that she wanted an autumn wedding and to have a big family: “2 boys and
two girls in the following order: boy, girl, girl, boy with the 1st daughter
named Lillian Teresa.”
Giddings, whose middle name was Teresa, said she attended Mass three times a
week. She kidded that she didn’t “understand the difference between a caribou
and a moose.”
“I’ve lived in 5 places in my short life: Scaggsville (Md.), Atlanta,
Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria), Lubbock and Macon. ... I’ll never figure out why I
moved away from my family,” she wrote, “but I’m sure I’ll stay in Georgia.”
The Facebook post is a keepsake for Kristin Miller. She and Giddings met in
2002 as undergraduates at Agnes Scott College.
Miller, 28, received word of Thursday’s development in a text message. A lawyer
herself, Miller had been in a meeting at her Atlanta office.
“I really couldn’t react to it in the meeting,” she said, “but after I kind of
processed it, my immediate reaction was tears.”
Miller said the news was “bittersweet,” that “it’ll never be enough, but I’m
very, very glad to see (Greg Winters, the DA) take such a bold action. ... I’m
happy and ready to see him be Lauren’s last voice and her advocate. ... He
seems like he’s really going to bat for Lauren.”
Miller, from memory, recalled another passage from that self-describing
Facebook post Giddings wrote in early 2009.
In it, along with the fun-loving remarks and observations, Giddings credited
Miller with encouraging her to study law and discover her true calling: “As
painful as law school has been ... I will never know how to thank or repay
Kristin for insisting it was where I belong -- it is.”
(source: Macon Telegraph)
*************************
Lilburn man could face death penalty in Mercer grad's dismemberment killing
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the suspect accused of killing
Mercer University law school graduate Lauren Giddings.
The Macon Telegraph reports that prosecutors filed a notice of their intention
to seek the death penalty in Bibb County Superior Court Thursday morning.
The suspect, 26-year-old Stephen McDaniel, of Lilburn, has been charged with
her murder.
McDaniel, who attended law school with Giddings, was taken into custody after
Giddings' dismembered torso was found in a roll-away trashcan near the
apartment building where they lived.
The 27-year-old Giddings, who grew up in Laurel, Md., and attended college in
Georgia for much of the past decade, was last seen June 25. Macon police
investigating her disappearance discovered her remains 5 days later.
(source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
****************
Anti-death penatly advocates vow to abolish death penalty in Georgia
Democratic state Senator Vincent Fort rallied with anti-death penalty activists
and religious leaders in front of the state capitol Thursday. Those attending
the rally say they will fight against Georgia's death penalty in the upcoming
legislative session.
Senator Fort says in light of the recent Troy Davis execution he will introduce
legislation to abolish the death penalty when the legislature resumes. Fort
also plans to back legislation to prohibit the use of the death penalty in
cases that only rely on eye witness testimony.
"There were commitments made that when they executed Troy Davis we would create
a movement against the death penalty like none seen before."
Among those joining Fort was Georgia State NAACP president Edward Dubose:
"It's time to execute the death penalty. We know this barbaric act of killing
for no good reason serves no purpose."
Dubose says he spoke with Davis the day before his execution and made a
commitment to work to end the death penalty. Davis was convicted in 1991 in the
shooting death of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. But several key
witnesses in the case recanted their testimony and number of celebrities, civil
rights organizations and people around the world believed Davis was innocent.
Meanwhile, MacPhail's family believed Davis committed the murder and justice
was done with his execution.
(source: WABE News)
CALIFORNIA:
Abolish the Death Penalty, Replace With Life Without Parole
The death penalty should be abolished in the United States because life without
parole is more humane, less discriminatory, and a less costly alternative – and
it avoids the risk of executing an innocent person.
34 states impose the death penalty, including California and there are 41
Federal capital crimes for which the death penalty can be applied. Each state
has its own list of capital crimes. For example, in 1977 California reinstated
the death penalty for 1st degree murder under special circumstances, including
murder for financial gain, murder by a person previously convicted of murder,
murder of multiple victims, murder with torture, murder of a peace officer, and
murder of a witness to prevent testimony.
From 1976 through November 18, 2011, there have been 1,277 state executions in
the United States with Texas leading with 477 and California with 13. Since the
death penalty was reinstated in 1988, 58 federal defendants have been executed.
As of January 1, 2011, 3,251 prisoners are on death row awaiting execution.
The death penalty is widely used because, supposedly, it acts as a deterrent.
As this argument goes, people will think twice about committing a capital crime
which may result in the death penalty. Yet, the murder rate in the sixteen
non-death penalty states is consistently lower than death penalty states, and
the gap has widened since 1990. During the 17th century, when the public
hanging of pickpockets drew crowds to English cities, pockets in the crowd were
being picked as the trap door was being sprung. So much for the death penalty
being a deterrent!
Imposing the death penalty is much more expensive than imposing a sentence of
life without parole. Why? Because the Constitution requires a long and complex
judicial process for death penalty cases. This process is needed to ensure that
innocent men and woman are not executed for crimes they did not commit. Even
with these protections, the risk of executing an innocent person can not be
completely eliminated.
According to a number of surveys, it is less expensive to imprison killers for
life than to execute them. For example, California has spent $4 billion since
1978 to execute 13 people, or about $308 million for each death penalty case.
And a study by Judge Arthur L. Alarcón and Paula M. Mitchell found that
California spends $184 million more per year on death penalty cases than it
would have for life without parole sentences.
Race also plays a significant role in the disproportionate application of the
death penalty and for this reason it is considered discriminatory. For example,
since 1976, while African Americans comprise just 12.1 % of the US population,
35 % of all death penalty sentences were handed down to African Americans . By
comparison, 56 % of death penalty defendants since 1976 were White, 7 % Latino.
There is no way of knowing how many of the over 1,300 people executed since
1976 may have been innocent. Once the defendant is dead, there is little
incentive for defense attorneys and others to continue the case. The Death
Penalty Information Center has published a list of 8 inmates “executed but
possibly innocent.” At least 39 US executions are claimed to have been carried
out despite evidence of innocence or serious doubts about guilt.
The death penalty then is no more effective in deterring crime than a sentence
of life without parole. The death penalty is discriminatory and the risk of
executing an innocent person can never be eliminated. Moreover, the lengthy
appeals deprive victims’ families of closure and costs the states millions of
dollars that could be better spent elsewhere.
Anti-death penalty advocates plan to begin a state-wide campaign to qualify the
“Savings, Accountability and Full Enforcement for California Act”, or SAFE
California, for the 2012 general election. If passed, the SAFE California Act
would replace the death penalty with life without parole; require work and
restitution into the Victim Compensation Fund; and increase public safety by
directing $100 million saved from death penalty costs into a fund to solve
unsolved murders and rapes. And the initiative just may pass. In September, the
Public Policy Institute of California published a poll showing that 54 percent
of Californians prefer life imprisonment without parole, while only 39 percent
favored the death penalty.
It is time to abolish the death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life
without parole. If SAFE California passes, then California may set the standard
for the remaining states that still impose the death penalty.
(source: Fog City Journal)
ARKANSAS:
Juror's tweets get death row inmate new trial
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday tossed out a death row inmate's murder
conviction and said he deserves a new trial because one juror slept and another
tweeted during court proceedings.
Erickson Dimas-Martinez's attorneys had appealed his 2010 conviction for the
death of 17-year-old Derrick Jefferson after a robbery, according to CBS
affiliate KFSM in Fort Smith, Ark. Dimas-Martinez received the death penalty
for the murder of Jefferson, and life in prison for aggravated robbery. During
the time, the defense claimed Dimas-Martinez was mentally handicapped during
the crime, but the jury voted unanimously that he did not have a learning
disability and was responsible for the crime.
However, Dimas-Martinez's attorneys claimed that one juror sent tweets despite
the judge's instruction not to post on the Internet or communicate with anyone
about the case. The lawyers also complained that another juror slept.
In one tweet, juror Randy Franco wrote: "Choices to be made. Hearts to be
broken...We each define the great line." Less than an hour before the jury
announced its verdict, he tweeted: "It's over."
Other tweets by Franco made passing references to the trial, with posts such
as, "the coffee sucks here" and "Court. Day 5. Here we go again."
The court said Franco, known as Juror 2 in court documents, violated general
instructions to not discuss the case.
"Because of the very nature of Twitter as an ... online social media site,
Juror 2's tweets about the trial were very much public discussions. Even if
such discussions were 1-sided, it is in no way appropriate for a juror to state
musings, thoughts, or other information about a case in such a public fashion,"
Associate Justice Donald Corbin wrote.
An assistant attorney general had argued before Arkansas' highest court that
the tweets were merely about the juror's feelings and not about specifics of
the trial.
Courts in Arkansas and around the country are grappling with problems caused by
jurors using Twitter, Facebook or other online services during trials. In 2009,
a Washington County judge dismissed an attempt to overturn a $12.6 million
judgment against a building materials company, despite the firm's complaint
that a juror's Twitter posts showed bias.
In the Arkansas case, the justices said, Franco had been given specific notice
that tweeting was taboo.
"More troubling is the fact that after being questioned about whether he had
tweeted during the trial, Juror 2 continued to tweet during the trial," Corbin
wrote.
The justices sent the case back to a lower court for a new trial.
(source: CBS News)
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