July 12
TEXAS:
Abolition Movement:
My name is Ray and I want to inform you about a new book entitled TRIAL &
ERROR: THE TEXAS DEATH PENALTY by Lisa Maxwell on Lulu.com. This book
highlights injustices that have taken place in Texas that most people have
forgotten or probably never knew. Lisa talks about executions that were
protested, in prison, for the people who were more than likely innocent, the
law of parties, and other aspects of the death penalty. There's an interview
with a death row inmate at the end of each chapter. This book may be the most
blunt and personal look at the death penalty than anyone has ever offered to
the public. It will make you want to take a more active stand against the death
penalty in an even greater way. Here's a brief quote from the book.
"The Texas death penalty is a broken and severely failed system that is devoid
of truth, equality, and justice. It is only taking lives and it needs to be
abolished. Enough people are dead. Texas will forever be steeped in the blood
of old and new deaths. Now there is life without parole and murdering people no
longer makes with a death penalty toppling over with injustice"-- Lisa Maxwell.
Please mention TRIAL & ERROR: THE TEXAS DEATH PENALTY on your websites, blogs,
and newsletters. Everyone needs to read this book. The interviews with the men
on death row make a very special, yet informative read. They are intelligently
speaking out against the system. Whether you've been in the movement for years
or know of someone who may need to be educated about the death penalty in
Texas, you will find the personal stories interesting. Get this book and pass
the word.
In Solidarity,
Ray L.
**************************************************
2 capital murder defendants wait on trial dates in death of doctor
There are still no dates set for two capital murder defendants accused of
killing a Lubbock doctor 1 year ago Thursday.
Doctor Joseph Sonnier was found shot and stabbed to death in his Lubbock home.
Police believe Amarillo plastic surgeon Michael Thomas Dixon paid David Shepard
to murder doctor Sonnier out of jealousy. Sooner was involved with Dixon's
ex-girlfriend.
Doctor Dixon and Shepard are each charged with capital murder. District
attorney Matt Powell said a thorough background investigation is underway that
will factor into his decision on whether to seek the death penalty in these
cases.
He said law enforcement agencies are nearly through with extensive evidence
testing.
"Some of the computer forensics, phone forensics, those types of things are
just now wrapping up. From my knowledge it is done. We just got a bunch of
information from them here in the last month or so. So I think we're about done
with that. We have a little bit of DNA testing that's still being performed.
Some of that as you know takes 6 months to a year to get accomplished." Powell
said.
(source: myfoxlubbock.com)
VIRGINIA:
Joaquin Rams, accused of capital murder, asks for Mark Petrovich to serve in
his defense
The hearing Thursday in Prince William County Circuit Court was expected to be
a quick, perfunctory matter to appoint a lawyer for Joaquin S. Rams of
Manassas.
That didn't happen.
Instead, a surprising turn of events left Rams, who has been charged with
capital murder in the death of his 15-month-old son in October, without a
lawyer for at least a month.
Rams, 41, was indicted on capital murder recently in the "willful, deliberate
and premeditated killing" of someone younger than 14. If convicted, he could
face the death penalty.
Authorities say Rams took out more than $500,000 in life insurance on his son,
Prince McLeod Rams, before drowning the boy in a bathtub. Prince was the
subject of a custody dispute and died during a court-ordered visit with his
father.
Rams's attorney has said that the boy was ill and that Rams rushed him to the
bathtub and splashed water on him to quell a fever-induced seizure.
At Thursday's hearing, Circuit Court Judge Craig D. Johnston was prepared to
appoint Edward Ungvarsky of the Northern Virginia Capital Defender Office in
the case. Ungvarsky didn't take the seat next to Rams at the defense table but
stood near the podium, ready to address the court.
Then Rams raised his hand.
Speaking clearly and softly, Rams told the judge that he wanted to be
represented by Mark Petrovich, a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer who has
represented D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo as well as Mark E. Lawlor, who was
sentenced to death for the 2008 murder of a woman in Fairfax County.
"I just don't feel comfortable with the representation," Rams said, likely
referring to Ungvarsky. "I just feel they will serve my defense .?.?."
Johnston cut him off. "The gravity [in this case] is considerably greater than
most cases .?.?. I am required to appoint in a certain fashion off a certain
list," the judge said.
Petrovich is on a list of about 30 lawyers qualified to try a capital case,
Johnston said.
"Mr. Ungvarsky is available, and I think he'll be a vigorous defender on your
behalf," Johnston said.
Ungvarsky said he wanted to speak with Rams about the situation. The trial
shouldn???t be clouded by a potential problem from the get-go, he told the
judge.
"I am now hesitant to tell you I'm available to take the case," Ungvarsky said.
Rams raised his hand again. There was no lawyer sitting next to him to advise
him on what to say.
"You do not have counsel now," Johnston warned him. "The commonwealth's
attorney is listening and taking notes."
"Can I still address your honor?" Rams asked. "If you can allow me."
He then requested that Timothy Olmstead, who represented him until the capital
murder charge was brought, also be appointed to the team.
Johnston said Olmstead might not be qualified. In the end, Commonwealth's
Attorney Paul B. Ebert (D) agreed to set an Aug. 13 hearing to settle the
issue.
Olmstead said the hearing was surprising, but declined to comment further.
Ebert said after the hearing that he has seen defendants ask for specific
lawyers before. He would not be surprised, he said, if lawyers were visiting
Rams to offer their services. Capital cases can be lucrative and receive media
exposure. The budget and associated compensation can climb as high as $500,000,
Ebert said. Defense lawyers "travel all over the country, all over the world at
the government's expense," he said.
Petrovich did not immediately return a call Thursday seeking comment.
Earlier in the hearing, prosecutors dropped the original murder charge against
Rams so the court could proceed on the capital murder offense, once a defense
lawyer is appointed.
(source: Washington Post)
GEORGIA:
Georgia to use compounding pharmacy to get drug for execution set for next week
The state of Georgia plans to use a compounding pharmacy to obtain an execution
drug for an inmate scheduled to die next week, making it one of the 1st states
to acknowledge using these pharmacies as execution drugs become increasingly
difficult to get.
The Department of Corrections will get pentobarbital from a compounding
pharmacy for the execution of Warren Lee Hill, which is set for Monday,
spokeswoman Gwendolyn Hogan said in an email Thursday. The state's supply of
pentobarbital expired in March. It has become tough for states to get the drug
because the manufacturer has said it doesn't want it used in executions.
Compounding pharmacies custom-mix small batches of a drug for specific clients.
They've come under scrutiny after a deadly meningitis outbreak was linked to
contaminated injections made by a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy. The FDA
considers compounding pharmacy products unapproved drugs and does not verify
their safety or effectiveness.
It's hard to tell how many states have used or are planning to use compounding
pharmacies for execution drugs because states frequently resist disclosing the
source of the drugs, death penalty experts said.
South Dakota has confirmed that it used compounded pentobarbital in an
execution in October. A handful of other states that had acknowledged execution
drug shortages have begun scheduling executions months into the future,
suggesting they've found a stable supply, said Richard Dieter, executive
director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington.
Georgia Department of Corrections emails obtained by The Associated Press
through an open records request make it clear that the state is using a
compounding pharmacy to mix a doctor-prescribed dose of pentobarbital for Hill.
The names of the sender and recipient of the emails are redacted, but it is
clear from an email signature that one person is a corrections employee and the
other person appears to be a doctor.
"I spoke with the compounding pharmacist earlier today and I wanted to relay
some instructions he gave regarding the prescription," the corrections employee
wrote in an email dated Monday. "Along with the patient name, he also needs
their birthday and social security number. I will be happy to forward this
information along to you when you are preparing to write the prescription."
Another email from Tuesday provides the relevant information for Hill and says
the Department will need 6 50-milliliter syringes of pentobarbital.
In response to questions about the emails, Hogan confirmed that the department
would use a compounding pharmacy.
Brian Kammer, an attorney for Hill, said the use of a compounding pharmacy
raises concerns.
"I think it's a violation of the Hippocratic Oath on the part of whatever
physician prescribes it," Kammer said.
He pointed out that the American Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics
says doctors should not prescribe drugs for use in an execution. But a Georgia
state law says that medical professionals cannot have their licenses challenged
or suspended for participating in a court-ordered execution.
It is not clear what doctor is writing the prescription for the pentobarbital
for Hill's execution, and it's not clear what pharmacy or pharmacist will mix
it. A law passed by the Georgia Legislature classifies the name of any person
or entity who participates in an execution as a "confidential state secret,"
off-limits for release to the public. That includes any company that
"manufactures, supplies, compounds, or prescribes the drugs."
Supporters of the law have said it's necessary to protect people and companies
involved in court-ordered executions from retaliation by angry families of the
condemned or opponents of capital punishment. The law's sponsor, Republican
state Rep. Kevin Tanner, also said in an interview before the law passed that
it would help the state obtain execution drugs from companies or pharmacies
that might not want people to know they were involved in executions.
That secrecy is worrisome when it comes to compounding pharmacies, Dieter said.
"I don't think automatically that compounding pharmacies are disreputable but
some have had problems. And this is sort of a new area where the dosage would
be sort of unusual. It wouldn't be their normal production," he said. "You'd
want to know what the history is and if they have expertise and knowledge in
prescribing or manufacturing the right amount and the right strength."
Kammer declined to say whether he planned to file a challenge to Hill's
execution based on the new law or the fact that the state is using an
unidentified compounding pharmacy to produce the drug. He's already filed a
request with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the court to consider new expert
statements he submitted in Hill's case. The high court has yet to weigh in.
Hill was sentenced to death for the 1990 beating death of fellow inmate Joseph
Handspike. Hill bludgeoned Handspike with a nail-studded board while his victim
slept, authorities said. At the time, Hill was already serving a life sentence
for the 1986 slaying of his girlfriend, Myra Wright, who was shot 11 times.
His lawyers have long said he is mentally disabled and therefore shouldn't be
executed because the execution of mentally disabled offenders is prohibited by
state law and a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
************************
Georgia Buys More Execution Drug
A Department of Corrections spokeswoman on Thursday confirmed that the state
will get pentobarbital from a compounding pharmacy for the execution of Warren
Lee Hill, which is set for Monday.The state of Georgia plans to use a
compounding pharmacy to get the drug needed for an execution scheduled for next
week.
A Department of Corrections spokeswoman on Thursday confirmed that the state
will get pentobarbital from a compounding pharmacy for the execution of Warren
Lee Hill, which is set for Monday.
The state's supply of pentobarbital expired in March. It has become
increasingly difficult for states to get the drug because the manufacturer has
said it doesn't want it used in executions.
Compounding pharmacies custom-mix small batches of a drug for specific clients.
They've come under scrutiny after a deadly meningitis outbreak linked to
contaminated injections made by a Massachusetts specialty pharmacy.
The FDA considers compounding pharmacy products unapproved drugs, and does not
verify their safety or effectiveness.
(source for both: Associated Press)
***********************************
Warren Lee Hill's last meal preparations
Condemned murderer Warren Lee Hill is scheduled to be executed by lethal
injection on Monday, July 15. He declined to request a special last meal, so
instead he will be offered the institution's meal tray.
Hill was sentenced to die for the 1990 beating death of a fellow inmate at Lee
Correctional Institution. At the time, he was already serving a life sentence
for killing his girlfriend.
There have been 53 men executed in Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court
reinstated the death penalty in 1973.
If executed, Hill will be the 31st inmate put to death by lethal injection.
(source: WALB News)
********************
Last Chance for Warren Hill
Justice Harry Blackmun surely would have confronted the case of Warren Lee Hill
Jr. - whom the state of Georgia plans to execute Monday evening ??? by
recalling perhaps his most famous dissent. "From this day forward," he wrote in
a 1994 Supreme Court case, "I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of
death."
Mr. Hill was already serving a life sentence for the murder of his girlfriend
when, in 1990, he bludgeoned another inmate to death with a nail-studded board.
He was tried and sentenced to death. He subsequently claimed that he was
mentally retarded and could not be executed under Georgia law.
4 experts testified that Mr. Hill met the generally accepted criteria for mild
mental retardation. Three others said he did not for various reasons, one being
that he had served in the Navy. Georgia, alone among the states, requires that
mental retardation be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, the strictest standard
in our justice system. The federal courts in Georgia ruled that Mr. Hill had
not met this standard.
But, in the past year, the 3 state experts all voluntarily recanted their
testimony. It didn't matter: the wheels of the machinery of death in Georgia
keep turning, greased by a breathtakingly strict federal law meant to prevent
prisoners from filing multiple appeals, even if those appeals contain crucial
new evidence. Under this law, every avenue to Mr. Hill is now blocked save one:
a direct appeal to the Supreme Court, which his lawyers filed this week.
In 2002, the court ruled that mentally retarded people may not be executed. All
seven experts who have examined Mr. Hill now agree he is mentally retarded. If
that doesn't count as proof beyond a reasonable doubt, it is hard to imagine
what would.
(source: Editorial, New York Times)
******************
Death penalty opponents seek to block Hill execution
Death penalty opponents are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to block Monday's
execution of convicted killer Warren Lee Hill on the grounds that he is
mentally disabled.
A Supreme Court ruling bars states from executing people with severe mental
disabilities. However, the state of Georgia says it has evaluated Hill and does
not believe he meets the criteria.
Hill's attorney asked a federal appeals court to delay his execution until the
U.S. Supreme Court weighs in. The court denied their request.
Warren Lee Hill is scheduled to be executed July 15. His lawyers asked the U.S.
Supreme Court in May to review new evidence they have submitted.
In a court filing Monday, his lawyers said the Supreme Court is currently
scheduled to consider whether to take up Hill's case on Sept. 30. They urge the
11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to delay his execution until the high court
proceedings are done.
Hill was sentenced to die for the 1990 beating death of a fellow inmate. At the
time, he was already serving a life sentence for killing his girlfriend.
(source: Assoicated Press)
FLORIDA:
Florida Makes an Effort to Match Texas' Execution Record
Florida Governor Rick Scott, is jealous of Texas governor Rick Perry. Florida
is not executing a satisfactory number of prisoners, at a rate that might make
them number one. And, despite warnings that a number of innocent men and women
might be wrongly put to death, Scott basically said 'so what.' His goal is to
match or exceed Texas' death record.
HB 7083, called for reduced time limits on appeals and motions, and requires
court action on cases that have lengthy delays. In addition, lawyers deemed
ineffective would be barred from handling death penalty cases for as long as 5
years.
In addition, the governor must be notified when the appeals process has reached
its limit. After minimal clemency proceedings, the governor will sign the
execution warrant.
"The bill does not increase the risk of execution of persons who did not commit
murder," Scott wrote in transmitting the legislation to Secretary of State Ken
Detzner for recording. "In fact, it places additional protections for
death-sentenced persons." (Did I read that correctly?)
This bill could make Scott the greatest modern executioner of all time.
Proponents of "the Timely Justice Act," praise the new requirements. Once the
state Supreme Court declares that a candidate has exhausted his appeals, the
governor must sign a death warrant within 30 days. The inmate must then be put
to death within 6 months.
The bill passed easily in both houses, which are controlled by Republicans. The
governor is given a large amount of the authority for carrying out the
executions once the clemency options are eliminated. Scott has already eagerly
begun preparations for 13 of the 404 death row inmates who fit the
requirements.
If Scott succeeds in his ambitions, he will have executed 21 murderers since he
took office in January 2011. The only other recent governor who executed that
many people was former Gov. Jeb Bush, who ordered the execution of 21 convicted
killers but did it over an 8-year period.
It must be noted here that nearly all 13 inmates who face death are minorities.
Another 'blood thirsty' Republican governor seeks to be the 'Lord high
executioner'.
It doesn't matter which side of the death penalty the people of the United
States are on. The fact is, if one man or woman is wrongly executed, it makes
us a nation whose elected officials place themselves above the law. It proves
that America has become a self-righteous country which lacks compassion and an
affinity for equal and fair treatment under the law. We are returning to the
days of southern rule, and the policy of lynching men for an assumed crime.
The other aspect of Florida's cruel and unusual punishment addendum is the fact
that it costs more money to convict someone and apply the death penalty than it
does to proffer a sentence of life imprisonment. Appeals can last for many
years, and cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is logical to
assume that Scott is a so called 'fiscal conservative,' who is making an
attempt to reduce his state's expenses.
Or, maybe he is a racist, and seeks to surpass Texas as the state which
produces the greatest number of executions.
(source: Guardian Express)
OHIO:
Capital review committee to decide on seeking death penalty for Cleveland
suspect Ariel Castro
New details in the case of 3 Cleveland area women held captive for nearly a
decade.
The Cuyahoga County Capital Review Committee gathered Thursday to review Ariel
Castro's case.
The committee is reviewing the case based on the June's 329-count indictment.
The committee will decide whether or not to seek the death penalty.
The CRC's recommendation will then be presented to the county prosecutor.
Castro's attorneys were invited to provide mitigating evidence to the committee
to factor into their decision making process. Jaye Schlachet, Castro's attorney
told NewsChannel5 Thursday that the mitigating evidence supplied to the CRC is
not public record.
The prosecutor's office said it's unknown when the CRC's decision will be made
public at this time.
If the county prosecutor accepts the CRC's recommendation to seek a superseding
indictment to include the capital specification, making it a death
penalty-eligible case, the case shall be re-presented to a grand jury. Upon
re-presentment, the grand jury shall be informed that the State is seeking to
include capital specifications that will make the defendant eligible for the
death penalty in a capital case.
The capital review committee consists of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office
employees and must meet within 30 days of the case's original indictment.
If a superseding indictment is filed against Castro, the CRC could reconvene.
Click here for more information on the capital review committee and how it
functions: http://on.wews.com/132ctVZ
(source: newsnet5)
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