Sept. 10
TEXAS:
Treaty with Mexico takes death penalty off table for Terry murder suspect
The arrest announced Friday by Mexican federal police of Jesus Leonel Sanchez
Meza, a suspect in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, will bring
another perpetrator closer to justice if found guilty, but at the same time
hits a legal roadblock that could complicate the prisoner's extradition from
Mexico to the United States. Unless assurance are given that the death penalty
will not be sought or imposed, Mexican authorities will refuse to turn Sanchez
Meza over for prosecution.
That's because, by treaty, "When the offense for which extradition is requested
is punishable by death under the laws of the requesting Party and the laws of
the requested Party do not permit such punishment for that offense, extradition
may be refused unless the requesting Party furnishes such assurances as the
requested Party considers sufficient that the death penalty shall not be
imposed, or, if imposed, shall not be executed."
"According to the indictment," the FBI unsealed in July, "Manuel
Osorio-Arellanes, Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, Ivan Soto-Barraza, Heraclio
Osorio-Arellanes, and Lionel Portillo-Meza [per the BBC, an alias for Jesus
Leonel Sanchez Meza] are charged with crimes including 1st-degree murder,
2nd-degree murder, conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, attempted
interference with commerce by robbery, use and carrying a firearm during a
crime of violence, assault on a federal officer, and possession of a firearm by
a prohibited person."
And per U.S. Code, "if the defendant, as determined beyond a reasonable
doubt...intentionally killed the victim...intentionally inflicted serious
bodily injury that resulted in the death of the victim...intentionally
participated in an act, contemplating that the life of a person would be taken
or intending that lethal force would be used in connection with a person, other
than one of the participants in the offense, and the victim died as a direct
result of the act; or...intentionally and specifically engaged in an act of
violence, knowing that the act created a grave risk of death to a person, other
than one of the participants in the offense, such that participation in the act
constituted a reckless disregard for human life and the victim died as a direct
result of the act...shall be sentenced to death if...it is determined that
imposition of a sentence of death is justified--"
The treaty would appear to take that option away from prosecutors. This has
been a source of outrage and contention in the past, when suspects in heinous
crimes such as "[a] methamphetamine dealer who gunned down a deputy during a
traffic stop in Southern California...[a] man in Arizona who killed his
ex-girlfriend's parents and brother and snatched his children [and a] man who
suffocated his baby daughter and left her body in a toolbag on an expressway
overpass near Chicago" were refused extradition by the Mexican government.
While tentative moves are underway to get the State Department to expand treaty
provisions concerning extending the statute of limitations and adding
extraditable crimes, capital punishment remains off the table as an option for
prosecutors. If they want Sanchez Meza handed over, they'll need to provide the
Mexicans with a guarantee.
(source: The Examiner)
GEORGIA:
Death row inmate appeals murder conviction over claims jurors' 'erotic
chocolates' show they didn't take trial seriously
Erotically shaped chocolates may mean the difference between life and death for
one death row inmate, according to an appeal filed by his attorney on Friday.
2 decades after Marcus Wellons, of Cobb County, Georgia, was convicted of
raping and strangling a 15-year-old girl to death, his lawyer claims penis and
breast shaped chocolates given to the judge and bailiff show his trial wasn't
taken seriously.
'This is a travesty,' Wellons' attorney Mary Elizabeth Wells told the 11th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, according to the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution.
'This was a death penalty case. How can anyone say this was dignified?'
State Attorney Beth Burton argued there was no evidence of the chocolate having
been ever present during the 1993 trial.
But in 2010 the rumour was enough for a federal appeals panel to order a review
of the trial after the allegations of the raunchy gifts appeared.
'Who would think that chocolate would get out of hand like this?' said Karen
Mandel, who claimed responsibility in 2010 for manufacturing the erotic candy
on behalf of a friend who was a member of the jury.
During Wellons' trial over the death of India Roberts, a high school sophomore
from the Atlanta suburbs, juror Mary Jo Hooper said Ms Mandel made her a few
dozen handmade chocolates to share with jurors and court staffers.
The package of candies was screened by a bailiff who saw the penis-shaped white
chocolate during what was a tense 2-week trial.
'Just to remind you of what you're missing,' read a note included with the
candy.
Ms Hooper said she was shocked when she saw it and quickly put the candy away.
She said she was later told that Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley
wanted to see it after trial.
Later on, it's said to have been presented to her as a gift.
'This is even embarrassing to discuss in open court,' Ms Wells told judges on
Friday. 'This is not dignified.'
Intrigued: Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley is said to have requested to
see the chocolate passed around, which was later gifted to her In 2010 Wellons'
attorneys also claimed that jurors gave the court bailiff, Loretta Perry,
chocolate in the shape of women's breasts.
Ms Hooper said there were no candy breasts in the package. None of the jurors
have claimed responsibility for such a gift.
Speaking with the Journal-Constitution, 1 of the 3 appeals court judges on
Friday said one argument could be fairly made that the jurors didn't take their
role seriously.
That judge, Charles Wilson, explained it as possibly being that: 'This trial
was not conducted with dignity and respect.'
In 2010 Ms Wells had also argued the white chocolate was 'evidence of the
jury's racial bias' against Wellons, who is black, according to the Los Angeles
Times.
'The question here is whether the jury conducted itself with dignity and
respect in a death penalty trial,' his attorney said on Friday.
The appeals court is expected to issue a decision in the coming months.
(source: Daily Mail)
FLORIDA:
Already on death row, Leon Davis faces another double murder trial ---- Today,
Leon Davis will be in a Polk County courtroom again to face charges he killed
two gas station clerks.
A man convicted and sentenced to death for burning 2 women alive will face a
judge again.
Today, Leon Davis will be in a Polk County courtroom on charges he killed 2 gas
station clerks.
Davis is already on Florida's death row, and as this trial gets set to start,
multiple witnesses in the previous Davis trial are expected to be in
attendance. In fact, some may even testify.
Last year, Davis was convicted of robbing two women, Yvonne Bustamonte and
Juanita Luciano, and then dousing them with gasoline and setting them on fire
at a Lake Wales insurance office. Luciano was pregnant at the time, and her
child, delivered via emergency C-section, also later died.
Davis, 34, was found guilty on 3 counts of 1st-degree murder, arson and use of
a firearm.
Today's trial focuses on the killing of 2 BP gas station clerks in December
2007, a week before the attacks in Lake Wales.
Pravinkumar Patel and Dashrath Patel were shot execution-style at the gas
station on State Road 557 in Lake Alfred, near Interstate 4.
Investigators said Davis was trying to rob the store, but the door was locked,
so he walked across the parking lot to the men, who were changing the marquee
sign in front of the station. Officials said Davis opened fire on the men,
killing them both.
Now, the court will attempt to seat a jury for the trial. That could take as
long as 3 weeks as about 300 prospective jurors have been summoned.
If Davis is convicted, he could face the death penalty.
(source: Baynews9)
******************************
Hard to argue against death penalty for Altersberger
In 2007 19-year Joshua Lee Altersberger shot and killed Florida State Trooper
Nicholas Sottile in cold blood during a routine traffic stop.
Although there were 2 witnesses to the murder, and Altersberger not only
confessed, but bragged about the killing on the Internet, it took more than 5
years for the appeals process to work through the courts.
The Florida Supreme Court brought that process another step closer to a
conclusion Thursday by rejecting Altersberger's appeal, agreeing with the jury
that voted 9 to 3 for the death penalty. He may still appeal at the federal
level.
This ruling raises once again the long-running death penalty debate.
Critics point to the fact that it is an irreversible punishment. They argue
that innocent people are sometimes found guilty and put to death. Later, when
mistakes are discovered, the damage cannot be undone. They add a community's
thirst for revenge too often colors the entire judicial process.
Critics also argue on moral grounds -- how are we different from cold-blooded
killers, they ask, if we kill in cold blood ourselves.
Proponents of the death penalty, on the other hand, point to the menace killers
pose to society. The only way we can be sure someone never kills again,
proponents say, is to put them to death before they do.
Proponents also argue that sentencing killers to life in prison is an expensive
burden, with no guarantee a dangerous individual won't escape or be released.
Critics argue murderers may find a way to be of benefit to society. They see
the death penalty as a waste of a human life.
Proponents argue the wasted life is that of the victim. Why should a murderer
remain alive, to be visited by his family, when the victim's family will never
see their loved one again?
Both critics and proponents are often emotional in their opinions.
Some individuals see killers as victims themselves, twisted by violence or
neglect as children.
Others see them as monsters who should not just be put to death, but tortured
first.
There are cases, however, when a murder can be understood. There are even
circumstances where everyone agrees a killer should be forgiven.
The killing of Trooper Sottile is not such a case.
How can anyone argue that Altersberger deserves any pity?
Yes, he was young and had a difficult life, but so do a lot of people who never
shoot somebody. Altersberger was the one with a gun in his car. He was the one
who said he would use it. He was the one who ambushed another human being and
pulled the trigger. He was the one who bragged about what he did.
In short, both critics and proponents of the death penalty here at the News-Sun
are agreed on one point -- whatever the merits or dangers of the death penalty
in general, Altersberger brought his troubles on himself and good riddance.
(source: Opinion, News-Sun)
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