July 25
KANSAS:
Lawmaker Proposes Audit of Death Penalty Costs
The Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit will not be analyzing the costs
of the state death penalty, at least for now.
The committee overseeing the division decided not to pursue Representative
Steven Becker's request for an audit of the practice. Becker is a Republican
from Buhler and a retired district court judge. He has introduced legislation
to repeal the death penalty.
Becker says Kansas should determine how much capital cases cost the state and
local governments, and how much money could be saved by eliminating the death
sentence as a punishment option.
"The cost is one of the big issues and all we'll be able to say is 'this is
what it was 10 years ago.' I would like to be able to say 'this is what it is
now.'"
Kansas reinstated capital punishment around 20 years ago, although no
executions have been performed.
The committee's vice chair, Senator Jeff Longbine, says there aren't enough
resources to approve all the audits that are proposed. He says the audit of
death penalty costs could be considered again in the future.
(source: KCUR News)
NEBRASKA:
Ruling on execution drug energizes foes of Nebraska's policy
If Nebraska wants to keep a viable death penalty, it needs to change the drugs
used to chemically end someone's life, an expert on capital punishment said
Wednesday.
A federal appeals court ruling Tuesday effectively ruled out the use of a key
drug used in lethal injections and will add momentum to the movement to repeal
capital punishment, said Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information
Center.
"This is another delay," Dieter said. "It makes the death penalty ineffectual."
State Sens. Ernie Chambers and Brad Ashford, leading death penalty opponents,
agreed.
"It shows that the whole death mechanism is fraught with so many flaws that the
prudent thing for the state to do is to abolish the death penalty," Chambers
said. "The only reason for maintaining it is political."
Tuesday's ruling involved a case brought by death-row inmates in Arizona,
California and Tennessee.
The Washington, D.C., court agreed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
violated federal policies by failing to approve imports of sodium thiopental, 1
of 3 drugs used in lethal injections.
While the ruling did not directly affect Nebraska's supply of the drug, Dieter
and others said any attempt to use it would inspire a legal challenge that
would likely block an execution.
Bob Houston, director of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, said
his agency is not considering a switch at this time.
"We work with Attorney General's Office in matters relating to execution,"
Houston said. "There's really nothing about this recent action that moves us to
do anything different."
The state's supply of sodium thiopental will expire in December. After that,
Houston said he would confer with the attorney general.
Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning and Gov. Dave Heineman were reviewing the
court decision, their spokeswomen said.
"I believe strongly in the death penalty and will continue to work to ensure we
have a legal means of carrying it out," Bruning said in a prepared statement.
In January 2012, Bruning suggested that the state might need to change its
drugs to avoid the "circus sideshow" that had emerged. But no action followed.
The ACLU of Nebraska called on the state Tuesday to voluntarily surrender its
supply of sodium thiopental.
Chambers also called on the state to give up its drugs and avoid the time and
expense of a court challenge "it is certain to lose."
The ACLU said Wednesday it was filing a public records request to see whether
Nebraska had obtained other supplies of sodium thiopental. A corrections
department spokesman said it had not.
Nebraska adopted lethal injection in 2009 after its previous means of carrying
out the death penalty, the electric chair, was declared unconstitutional cruel
and unusual punishment.
The state, which hasn't had an execution since 1997, has faced several
complications with lethal injection, including having to abandon its initial
supply of sodium thiopental because it lacked the proper authority to import
it.
Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial, who supports the death penalty, said he has
no problem with the state changing its death drugs. He said the state might
also look at a backup plan for executions if lethal injection is blocked, such
as firing squads.
In 2010, Utah death-row inmate Ronnie Lee Gardner chose a firing squad instead
of lethal injection for his execution, which is allowed in that state. Oklahoma
allows the use of a firing squad if other execution methods are blocked.
The Nebraska Corrections Department has the authority to change the lethal
injection protocol, including the drug or drugs used, but such a change would
take several months, require a public hearing and likely prompt legal
challenges.
This spring, a majority of state senators appeared to support the repeal of
capital punishment, but lawmakers lacked the votes to halt a filibuster. Action
on the measure could resume in the 2014 session.
Ashford, chairman of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee, said he hopes the
repeal bill comes to a vote.
(source: Omaha World-Herald)
*******************
State's Stock of Lethal Injection Drug May Not Be In Compliance With FDA
On Tuesday, a Federal Circuit court in D.C. ruled that a drug commonly used in
lethal injection must obtain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.
The drug, sodium thiopental, has been a topic of controversy in Nebraska due to
the manner in which the state has purchased the current supply. On Wednesday,
the ACLU of Nebraska filed an open records request to determine if Nebraska's
existing supply would be impacted by the ruling.
The court upheld a lower court ruling which found that drugs imported by states
for use as anesthesia prior to execution are subject to the same FDA
requirements applicable to all imported drugs. Most important, the drugs must
be reviewed for safety and effectiveness and must come from FDA-registered
foreign drug providers.
"The court's decision should be a warning to the state of Nebraska: don't
purchase drugs without going through the FDA," said Amy Miller, Legal Director
for the ACLU of Nebraska.
"If Nebraska tries to use unapproved drugs from fly-by-night dealers, it once
again shows that the death penalty is broken beyond repair and cannot guarantee
it achieves real justice," she said.
5 states were included in the complaint reviewed by the D.C. Circuit Court. The
ruling did not immediately require Nebraska to turn over its supply of sodium
thiopental.
It did make it clear, however, that any drugs entering the U.S. need FDA
approval and that foreign-made sodium thiopental cannot be approved by the FDA.
"The records we've reviewed so far indicate that should the supply of sodium
thiopental be challenged in court, it will not pass the legal standard set
forth by the D.C. Circuit," added Miller.
"We've filed an open records request to determine if Nebraska has found an
additional supply or if it is continuing to waste taxpayer dollars purchasing
an illegal drug," she said. "Our hope is the state will hand over its stock
voluntarily without needing to resort to a costly lawsuit."
The ACLU's existing documents, from earlier in 2013, show the state had 2
batches of sodium thiopental which is used to cause paralysis.
One batch expired in May and the other batch is set to expire in December. Due
to the recent ruling, the ACLU says it is unlikely that the existing would not
stand up to a legal challenge.
"Resorting to illegal practices and black-market drug distributors isn't what
the people of Nebraska should expect from their government," said Miller.
"We're asking Nebraska to come clean about its supply of sodium thiopental. If
the state did not seek FDA approval then officials should dispose of the supply
immediately."
(source: Nebraska.tv)
ARIZONA:
Arias deal could have her avoiding death penalty
Convicted killer Jodi Arias is apparently working to reach a deal that will
keep her off Arizona's death row.
Arias is currently awaiting a new penalty phase where a new jury will decide
her fate.
This week, however, a tweet from the Jodi Arias twitter account suggested that
she's trying to save the taxpayers money by not going to another trial.
The tweet read, "The state rejected my 3rd request for a plea to settle quietly
and less expensively. Off to retrial we go. Sorry, taxpayers."
On Wednesday, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said a deal that would
land Arias in prison for life is a possibility.
"Under Arizona law, the state and defendant can agree to virtually anything for
resolution of a case, so that would be possible," said Montgomery.
Valley attorney Brent Kleinman says a new sentencing phase would take months,
and could cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
"Making this deal now, saving the aggravation and taxpayer money, would be a
smart move," said Kleinman.
Kleinman said he believes the prosecution has a strong case when it comes to
the death penalty, but said he thinks it will be tough to retry the case.
Kleinman adds that if a new jury were to sentence Arias to death, that could be
overturned on appeal, leaving Arias with life in prison.
Arias is due back in court August 26.
(source: azfamily.com)
COLORADO:
Race and the death penalty
Most people instinctively recoil from actual gun violence. Human brains seek
distance from thoughts of bullet holes piercing our bodies. We want to believe
it could not happen to us. We would never be out that late, in that
neighborhood, or engaging in such conduct.
But sometimes, the gun violence personally reverberates in a way not easily
dismissed. That could be us or our child in a movie theater, a public school, a
Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant, or the common area of a gated community.
When shootings hit close to home, they take on different meaning. On July 23,
1993 - 20 years ago - many Denverites heard the gunshot that ended the life of
businessman Tom Hollar. 2 gang members targeted Tom and his wife, Christina, in
a parking lot adjacent to central Denver apartments and a major supermarket.
Tom was shot dead as he bravely tried to prevent the abduction of his beloved
wife. Hours later, several miles away in an alley in northeast Denver, alert
Denver police officers found Christina naked and near death in the Hollars'
car. She survived. She recovered. She testified. The criminals were convicted
and sentenced to prison for the rest of their lives.
The Hollar murder was one of many atrocities that took place in Denver's 1993
Summer of Violence. Court TV and one of its young reporters, Dan Abrams,
provided the nation with live coverage of the trial. Dozens of stories were in
The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News. Most Summer of Violence crimes were
black against black, but the Hollar murder was different: The assailants were
black and the victims were white.
Murders of white people usually receive more media attention, and that was true
in this case, too. In many big cities, murders of minorities by other
minorities are considered commonplace and not big news. Media outlets seek
revenue and cater to the interests of the majority of its consumers. Members of
minority groups may understandably feel that their lives are regarded as less
valuable.
As the prosecutor of the Hollar killers, I was reminded of the case's racial
angle by the reaction to the verdict in the death of Trayvon Martin. Of course,
the tragic gunshot death of Martin did not suffer in the end from a lack of
public attention. President Barack Obama told us he identifies with Martin, who
might have been him 35 years ago. Fair enough.
But President Obama wanted to do more than just tell us his feelings. The
president appeared to telegraph that the Justice Department will not be
prosecuting George Zimmerman. But also there, deep in the president's extended
remarks, was his condemnation of capital punishment as racist.
I support the death penalty but, for a variety of reasons, we never sought it
for the killers of Tom Hollar.
Opponents of capital punishment have long argued the death penalty is dispensed
disproportionally for the killing of white people. This argument has been well
received by Gov. John Hickenlooper. This summer, Colorado's governor stopped
the execution of Nathan Dunlap, a black man who murdered 4 white people in yet
another crime from 1993.
President Obama just told us that the African-American community is
knowledgeable of a history of racial disparities in the application of criminal
laws, and specifically referenced the death penalty. This presidential
perspective may well influence capital punishment decisions in the federal
prosecutions of Fort Hood shooting suspect Nidal Hasan, accused Boston bomber
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and others.
Most of the victims in those two cases were white. On the same Saturday as the
nationwide "Justice for Trayvon" protests, Coloradans solemnly observed the
one-year anniversary of the Aurora theater massacre. A white man, James Holmes,
shot scores of bullets into a multi-ethnic crowd of midnight movie-goers. Is it
now wrong and somehow racist to seek the execution of Holmes even though most
of his murder victims were white?
There is more than enough real racism in this world without making it up where
it does not exist. According to his zealous state prosecutors, Zimmerman was
not motivated by racism. The Colorado death penalty prosecutions of Holmes and
Dunlap don't seem to be racist. But the governor and president may disagree.
And in the end, their opinions matter most.
(source: Opinion; Craig Silverman is a founding partner at Silverman and
Olivas, PC. He worked previously as chief district attorney in Denver----Denver
Post)
UTAH:
Attorneys to argue death penalty eligibility for Nathan Sloop
Attorneys will argue Thursday whether Nathan Sloop should be eligible for the
death penalty for allegedly killing his 4-year-old stepson Ethan Stacy in 2010.
Prosecutors have framed Sloop's charges based on "Shelby's Law," a 2007
amendment to Utah's homicide statute which allows prosecutors to seek the death
penalty without having to prove a killing was intentional when a child dies
during an act of abuse, sexual assault or kidnapping.
Sloop's attorneys have challenged the law, saying it is unconstitutional for a
person to be condemned to death if they didn't intend to kill another.
After a 4-day preliminary hearing that concluded in April, 2nd District Judge
Glen Dawson was expected to decide whether there was enough evidence for Sloop,
34, to stand trial on charges of aggravated murder, intentionally inflicting
serious physical injury on a child, obstructing justice and abuse or
desecration of a human body.
Instead, defense attorneys asked the judge to consider argumentsregarding
Shelby's Law.In its motion, the defense askedDawson to bind over Sloop on a
non-capital 1st-degree felony, claiming Sloop did not intentionally kill Ethan.
But prosecutors responded in their motion by asking Dawson to bind over Sloop
on the capitalcharges, saying that while a death-penalty challenge to Shelby's
Law should be given a "full and fair" hearing, it is premature to argue the law
at the preliminary hearing stage.
Attorneys on both sides are expected to elaborate during oral arguments
Thursday.
The Sloop case is the 1st time defense attorneys have challenged the 2007
amendment to Utah's homicide statute.
Victor Gardea was the 1st person to be charged under the new amendment when, in
2008, he killed his 4-month-old daughter after punching her twice because she
would not stop crying. He was originally charged in 4th District Court with
aggravated murder, but pleaded guilty to the lesser crime of 1st-degree felony
murder. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
Shelby's Law was named after 10-year-old Shelby Andrews who died in 2006 in
Syracuse after a year of abuse at the hands of her parents.
In an effort to control and discipline the girl, her father and stepmother beat
her, forced her to eat her own feces and shut her inside a cramped linen
closet.
Ryan and Angela Andrews did not face a potential death sentence because
existing law didn't allow prosecutors to file aggravated murder charges unless
they could prove the girl's death was intentional. The Andrewses each pleaded
guilty to 1st-degree felony murder and were sentenced to spend 15 years to life
in prison.
Outrage over Shelby's death spurred Utah lawmakers to toughen the penalties for
murdering a child, and in 2007 Shelby's Law was signed by Gov. Jon Huntsman.
In March, Davis County prosecutors invoked Shelby's Law by filing amended
charges against Sloop, alleging he was "a major participant" in Ethan???s
death, and that he acted with "reckless indifference to human life." The
initial murder charge, filed in 2010, alleged Sloop "intentionally or
knowingly" caused the boy's death.
Sloop's wife and Ethan's mother, Stephanie Sloop, 30, faces essentially the
same counts, but she has not been charged under Shelby's Law, nor have
prosecutors said they intend to seek the death penalty for her. Stephanie
Sloop's case is on hold until her husband's preliminary hearing is resolved.
Charging documents state the Layton couple engaged in multiple acts of "severe
abuse" between April 29 and May 8 in 2010 that led to Ethan's death, including
"beatings, burning, drugging, isolating, malnourishing, leaving the child alone
and unattended while suffering, and refusing to seek vital life-sustaining
medical attention."
Nathan Sloop, who led officers to the body on May 11, told police he used a
hammer to disfigure the boy's face and teeth in an effort to hinder
identification.But after a 12-hour search, police say the couple confessed to
burying the boy near Powder Mountain Ski Resort in Weber County. The couple -
who said they left the injured boy in a locked bedroom while they got married
on May 6 - reported Ethan missing to police on Mother's Day, May 10, after
discovering the boy was dead.
(source: Salt Lake Tribune)
USA:
Death Penalty Representation Project Seeks Volunteers, Funds to Continue Fight
for Justice
Steven Schneebaum was quoted in American Bar Association Now article "Death
Penalty Representation Project Seeks Volunteers, Funds to Continue Fight for
Justice." While the full text can be found in the July 11, 2013, issue of
American Bar Association Now, a synopsis is noted below.
While the U.S. Constitution gives criminal defendants the right to counsel at
trial, there is no guarantee that a lawyer will be appointed in state
post-conviction proceedings. That is where the Death Penalty Representation
Project (DPRP) steps in. Established in 1986, the DPRP addresses the lack of
representation available to death-row inmates by recruiting law firms and
attorneys to represent them.
Steven Schneebaum, chair of the DPRP, said firms that are educated about the
process can overcome fears about taking on death penalty cases.
"There can be a great deal of initial resistance," Schneebaum said. However, he
noted, that the experience can serve as a learning opportunity for the whole
firm.
Schneebaum said that most lawyers feel they ought to give back to the community
by doing pro bono work and that this is the area where the need is greatest.
"It's a tremendously rewarding area... It keeps the system more honest," he
said.
"You are literally employing your skills to save someone's life," Schneebaum
said.
(source: mondaq.com)
***********************
'An eye for an eye': Staten Islanders react to Ronell Wilson's sentence of
death
Ronell Wilson is reaping what he sowed.
That was the sentiment of lots of Staten Islanders Wednesday in reaction to the
news that a federal jury had sentenced the killer of 2 NYPD detectives to death
by lethal injection.
Borough President James Molinaro undoubtedly spoke for many: "Obviously, he
deserved it. He killed them with no hesitation at all. He took their lives for
no reason."
As regards the defense's arguments, Molinaro noted that mercy was shown "for
the 2 more years of life he got since the 1st time he was on trial for murder.
He should get the same amount of mercy he showed for the 2 officers he killed."
There was scant sympathy for Wilson, the former Stapleton gang member, near the
corner of Hannah Street and St. Paul's Avenue in Tompkinsville, where he dumped
the bodies of Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin after shooting them
execution-style.
"The Bible says an eye for an eye," said Van Heyningen, 80, who lives steps
away from where the slayings occurred. "It's hard to go by, but you can't kill
people and expect to go and live happy. When it comes to death, you have to pay
a penalty. If you take someone's life, you can't pay it back."
Alma Wilson, 43, lives a block from the site. "It's really clean-cut, because
he deserved it," said the death-penalty proponent. "The person should suffer
the way the family members and the victims had to suffer."
Life in prison, she said, would be too good for the 31-year-old Wilson.
At the Black Swan Salon in Tompkinsville, Johnny Harris of St. George agreed.
"The punishment should fit the crime," he said. "There are 2 mothers who lost
their sons, 2 wives who lost their husbands, 5 children who lost their fathers.
It can't be undone."
Dolores Mitchell of Todt Hill had a different slant. "Just because you kill
someone doesn't mean they should kill you. Two wrongs don't make a right. He
could be punished with life in prison."
Outside a strip mall in New Springville, Zoraida Jackson, 49, of Sunnyside,
said admitted to ambivalence. "It's a difficult call because it's when you have
to make a judgment and that's God's call. ... But you want people to take this
seriously so they don't go and do it. Also because if someone else is in this
position, you want them to think twice about doing something like this."
And Kim A. of New Springville said, "What's the difference if he dies or goes
to jail? Do you really have a life when you are in jail?"
(source: Staten Island Advance)
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