Feb. 27
FLORIDA:
Brothers reject plea in police killing
Almost 25 years after 2 brothers allegedly shot a Miami police officer, they
rejected a plea that would have spared them the death penalty.
Dennis Escobar, 52, agreed to the plea Friday, The Miami Herald reported. But
the judge postponed a final hearing on the case to give his brother, Douglas,
more time to understand the agreement, and on Monday Dennis rejected the plea.
The brothers allegedly shot Officer Victor Estefan during a traffic stop in
March 1988. Prosecutors say Dennis was the shooter but that Douglas told him to
kill Estefan.
Both Douglas and Dennis were tried, convicted and sentenced to death in 1991.
Six years later, the Florida Supreme Court ruled they should have received
separate trials.
Angel Estefan, the slain police officer's son, cursed at the brothers and
walked out of the courtroom.
"Playing games is what he's doing," Estefan said.
Dennis is currently on trial. The prosecution suffered a blow last week when an
audiotape was discovered showing he asked for a lawyer during questioning in
1991 before telling a police officer about the crime, contradicting the
officer's story that he confessed voluntarily.
Douglas Escobar, who was brought to court Friday after his brother agreed to
the plea, appeared confused, telling Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Leon Firtel he
"didn't shoot nobody."
The brothers had not seen each other for 6 years until their courtroom reunion
Friday. If they are ever released in Florida, they face lengthy prison terms in
California for the attempted killing of state troopers 2 months after Estefan
was killed.
(source: United Press International)
MISSISSIPPI:
Greene County man previously on death row will now serve life
Jeffrey Keller Davis, the man who has spent 20 years on death row for his role
in the 1991 slaying of a Greene County woman, was re-sentenced today to life
without the possibility of parole.
In May 1992, Davis was found guilty in the July 11, 1991, shooting and stabbing
death of his friend Linda Hillman.
Davis, now 52 years old, was convicted of capital murder while engaged in
robbery, and he was given a death sentence.
After an appeal, however, his death penalty sentence was overturned in 2012,
and he went before the court again on Monday for re-sentencing.
A jury was selected, but Davis agreed to plea to life without parole after
consulting with his attorneys and his family, according to District Attorney
Tony Lawrence's office.
"The sentence of life without parole provided the victim's family with a sense
of justice today," Lawrence said.
"They are satisfied with the sentence of life without parole," he said, though
"20 years has not erased the pain they experience every day because of the loss
of their loved one."
Lawrence said the 1991 crime "was a senseless and unnecessary taking of a life
that has had a tragic affect on all the families involved."
Court records show that on July 12, 1991, Davis called now deceased Greene
County Sheriff Tommy Miller at home and confessed to killing Hillman 30 hours
earlier.
Davis told Miller that he had gone to Hillman's trailer before 6 a.m. on July
11 to get money to buy drugs.
When she refused him, Davis shot and stabbed her to death and then went to
Pascagoula to buy drugs.
Records show Davis had a history of cocaine, alcohol, Valium, Xanax and
marijuana abuse.
After conviction, Davis filed multiple appeals as he spent more than 2 decades
in prison.
The state Supreme Court agreed in 2012 to vacate his death sentence and ordered
a second sentencing trial after agreeing that he was denied effective counsel
at the sentencing phase of his original trial.
The Supreme Court found that his attorney failed to conduct an independent
investigation, did not present readily-available evidence of Davis being abused
as a child by his father and did not call witnesses to testify about Davis'
good behavior while incarcerated.
(source: The Mississippi Press)
LOUISIANA:
Judge refuses to block evidence in BR murder trial
A state judge has ruled that evidence recovered from the Baton Rouge home of a
man now accused of fatally shooting 2 employees of the CarQuest Auto Parts
store in March 2011 can be used at trial.
The evidence - money, Regions Bank bags and CarQuest deposit slips - was seized
from the home of Lee Turner Jr. on March 28, 2011, the day after Edward Gurtner
III, 43, of Denham Springs, and Randy Chaney, 55, of Greenwell Springs, were
gunned down inside the store that Gurtner managed.
Scott Collier, one of Turner's attorneys, told The Advocate
(http://bit.ly/XDdiid ) he will ask the state 1st Circuit of Appeal to review
state District Judge Richard Anderson's ruling.
The judge's ruling came 9 months after he also rejected a defense request to
suppress Turner's videotaped statement in which he confessed to detectives that
he shot and killed Gurtner and Chaney.
Turner, now 23, told detectives his initial motive was to rob the store, but he
wound up shooting the men because Gurtner recognized him.
The auto parts store closed that day at 3 p.m., and a police detective
testified at a December 2011 hearing that it is believed the two men were
killed between 2:47 p.m. - when the last employee to see them alive clocked out
- and 3:13 p.m., when the men could not be reached by phone.
Turner was hired by the company on March 16, 2011, and had worked at other
CarQuest locations.
Anderson agreed, then set a March 27 status hearing. A trial date is expected
to be selected at that hearing.
Turner is charged with 2 counts of 1st-degree murder. The East Baton Rouge
Parish District Attorney's Office intends to seek the death penalty.
(source: The Advocate)
SOUTH DAKOTA:
Berget appeal cites his long-lost son
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has asked a Minnehaha County judge
to deny a death row inmate's appeal for a jury sentencing, saying the inmate's
recently cultivated interest in his long-lost son does not justify a second
chance at a life sentence.
Rodney Berget, 50, pleaded guilty to the 2011 murder of senior corrections
officer Ronald "R.J." Johnson and waived his right to a jury trial on the
sentencing phase of his case.
At his initial sentence hearing with Judge Brad Zell, he said he "deserve(d)
the death penalty" for the murder. His lawyer, Jeff Larson, later appealed to
the state Supreme Court, arguing that Berget's sentence was disproportionate
for the crime as compared with other death row inmates, and that Zell had
failed to consider his case separately from his co-defendant, Eric Robert.
Robert was put to death by lethal injection last October.
Inmates Berget and Robert attacked and killed Johnson on April 12, 2011, the
officer's 63rd birthday, during an escape attempt.
The Supreme Court reversed Berget's death sentence in January, denying that the
sentence was disproportionate but affirming that Zell improperly considered a
sealed psychiatrist's report.
Larson now has asked for a new sentencing hearing with a jury, arguing that his
waiver of a jury trial was not voluntary or intelligent in light of his
newfound relationship with his 31-year-old son, daughter-in-law and
grandchildren.
Jackley argues in his response brief that Berget's failure to seek out his son
until Feb. 12, 2012, is proof that his interest in parenting is self-serving.
"If family and fatherhood was such a meaningful consideration for Berget, it
should have deterred him from robbing R.J. Johnson's son and daughter of their
father."
Larson last week also requested that Judge Zell remove recuse himself for
re-sentencing. Zell noted in an email that the Supreme Court had remanded
Berget's case to him for re-sentencing on the existing record, without
considering the statements the inmate made to his psychiatrist, Dr. David Bean.
The high court allowed Larson to call Bean to testify , but the justices did
not write an opinion that allows for a new sentence hearing, Zell wrote.
"As a result, does Mr. Berget wish to offer the testimony of Dr. Bean? If yes,
please contact the Court to set up a hearing for that limited purpose. If no,
then please alert the Court of the same and the Court will re-sentence Mr.
Berget on the existing record," Zell wrote.
Last week, Larson filed an official request for a change of judge.
As Larson had argued unsuccessfully to the Supreme Court, he wrote that Zell's
consideration of Robert's case first made him incapable of deciding Berget's
case fairly. Were Zell to accept Berget's arguments against the death penalty,
"he would have made factual findings contrary to those he made in Robert's
case, thus jeopardizing the sentence he had already imposed on Robert."
Zell's emails, Jackley's response to the jury request, and Larson's request for
a new judge all were filed Monday in Minnehaha County. No hearings have been
set.
(source: The Argus Leader)
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