Dec. 14
TEXAS----impending execution//Mexican national//Vienna Convention issues
Mexican Seeks to Avoid Death Penalty in Texas for Killing Police Officer
Less than 6 weeks - that's how much time Edgar Tamayo has to find a way to
avoid his death sentence for murdering a police officer in Texas.
In January 1994, Tamayo, a native of Mexico, was arrested by agent Guy Gaddis
after committing a robbery outside a bar in Houston, according to the
Associated Press.
In an attempt to escape from the police, Tamayo took a firearm he had kept
hidden and fatally shot the officer. Tamayo already had a criminal record and
was on parole after committing a previous robbery.
Authorities quickly sentenced him to death, but Sandra Babcock and Maurie
Levin, his defense team, claimed that during the arrest Tamayo suffered from
mental problems, and noted that he didn't speak English and had no knowledge of
his consular rights, important factors for his defense.
Tamayo's lawyers said that he wasn't informed of his right to contact the
Mexican government, which might have helped gather more evidence for his
defense, and perhaps modify the jury's result.
Seeking to grant some benefit to his sentence, Tamayo's attorneys said that
consular relation treaties were not considered during his trial, which could
grant him another 150 days to change the date of his execution, according to
EFE.
Tamayo's lawyers handed a 29-page petition to authorities noting that according
to an international treaty, the Mexican could have received counsel from his
country's government before authorities decided his sentence.
The prosecutor for Harris County, Roe Wilson, said that Tamayo received all of
the rights and treatment given to any American citizen, and that the Mexican
never denied killing Gaddis. Tamayo's execution is scheduled for Jan. 22, 2014
by lethal injection.
(source: Lation Post)
CONNECTICUT:
Poles push against death penalty
With pressure mounting from the Polish government, the U.S. State Department
has agreed to investigate the situation involving Trumbull triple murderer
Richard Roszkowski just days before a jury is set to decide whether he should
get the death penalty.
Trumbull Deputy Police Chief Michael Harry confirmed he had been contacted by
an official at the State Department for information about Roszkowski.
"We were the detaining agency, but it's was Bridgeport's case, so I don't know
what we could provide them," said Harry, declining to say what the State
Department official specifically wanted. "But as far as I know, he is an
American."
A spokeswoman for Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday they were aware of
the case, but declined comment on it.
The Polish consular officials in New York recently contacted Gov. Dannel P.
Malloy and Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane, demanding that the 48-year-old
Roszkowski, convicted of fatally shooting a Bridgeport woman, her 9-year-old
daughter and a Milford landscaper in 2006, not receive the death penalty for
the crimes.
"We strongly believe the death penalty should not be imposed against Mr.
Roszkowski," Agniestka Torres, vice consul and head of the legal section for
the Polish consulate general in New York, told Hearst Connecticut Newspapers.
"It doesn't matter what crimes he committed."
Polish officials cited a law recently signed by their president, Bronislaw
Komorowski, banning the death penalty in all circumstances. Although Roszkowski
was born in the U.S., the Polish government considers him to be a Polish
national.
Polish officials initially believed both Roszkowski's parents were born in
Poland, but an investigation by Hearst Media Services determined his father was
born in Rhode Island.
"The Polish citizenship is based on ... blood relations -- it does not depend
on the place where a person was born," added Torres.
Kane referred Polish officials to Bridgeport State's Attorney John Smriga, who
said he has no intention of meeting with them on the Roszkowski case.
In May 2009, a Bridgeport jury found Roszkowski guilty of 2 counts of capital
felony, 3 counts of murder and 1 count of criminal possession of a firearm for
the Sept. 7, 2006, shooting deaths of 39-year-old Holly Flannery, her daughter,
Kylie, and 38-year-old Thomas Gaudet. Although the same jury that convicted
Roszkowski of the crime subsequently found he should get the death penalty, a
judge later overturned the verdict because the jury had been given a faulty
instruction, and a new penalty hearing was ordered.
Last week, jury selection was completed for the new penalty hearing, which is
set to begin Jan. 7.
At least 1 of the jurors selected for the new hearing appears to be of Polish
heritage.
Roszkowski, a former lover of Flannery, shot her and Gaudet each once in the
head on Seaview Avenue. Witnesses said Flannery begged, "Don't do it in front
of my daughter," as Roszkowski held her in a headlock and put the gun to the
back of her head.
He then chased the girl down the street, shooting her in the back of the thigh,
in the face and finally the side of the head at close range as she begged for
her life.
Roszkowski's lawyers did not deny he killed the victims, but presented
nationally recognized medical experts and death penalty opponents who testified
Roszkowski has brain damage caused by car crashes, hepatitis and long-term drug
use.
The families of the victims declined comment because they are expected to
testify in the hearing. Roszkowski's lawyer, Public Defender Michael Courtney,
was unavailable for comment.
(source: Connecticut Post)
PENNSYLVANIA:
More money allocated for death penalty cases
Over the past 3 years, Franklin County has spent nearly $500,000 to prosecute
four murder cases, and an additional $200,000 is expected to be spent in 2014.
On Thursday, Franklin County Commissioners voted to approve $140,000 in
supplemental funds to help cover costs incurred for death penalty cases in
2013. Court administration had budgeted $150,000 for 3 active death penalty
cases, but needed to request the additional funds. The expenses equal 11.5 % of
the court's yearly budget.
As a general rule, court administration budgets $100,000 for every active death
penalty case. The money is used to cover an array of pre-trial processes like
psychological evaluations and expert witnesses meant to protect the defendant
from a wrongful conviction.
"Death penalty cases are significantly more expensive than any other case
adjudicated in the county, but I feel the district attorney has been prudent in
the way he carries out the laws of the commonwealth," said David Keller,
chairman of the commissioners. Keller described the expenses related to death
penalty cases as "a necessary evil."
The cases
Of the 4 cases prosecuted in the past 4 years, 2 have ended in plea bargains
and two remain active.
The 2 that ended in plea bargains are:
Kevin Cleeves of Waynesboro, who pleaded guilty to murdering his estranged
wife, 25-year-old Brandi (Killingsworth) Cleeves, her 29-year-old boyfriend,
Vincent "Luke" Santucci Jr. and Santucci's mother, Rosemary "Linda" Holma, 55,
outside of Holma's Quincy Township home in July 2012.
Jeffrey Miles Sr. of State Line, who pleaded guilty to murdering Kristy Dawn
Hoke. The Hagerstown woman's body was found in a wooded area off Ninth Street
in Waynesboro in April 2010. Miles was convicted of 1st-degree murder last
month in the case, and given a life sentence without parole.
The 2 cases that still remain active are Carl Varner, who is charged with the
2012 shooting death of Victor Hugo Campos-Olguin, and Marcus Wallace, who is
charged with 1st-degree murder for the 2010 death of his mother, Consuella
Wallace, in her home. Both of those deaths were in the Chambersburg area.
About the death penalty
Pennsylvania is 1 of 32 states where the death penalty is an option as a
possible punishment.
"Not every murder is a death penalty case," said Matthew Fogal, Franklin County
district attorney. "Only those with statutory 'aggravating circumstances'
qualify. Some of these factors include killing a witness, multiple victims at
once, killing a police officer, committing another felony at the time of the
murder, torture, etc."
Fogal went on to explain that he has leeway in which cases he feels warrant the
death penalty, but he has to indicate it is a possibility early in the process.
"It's a 'Catch-22' because that filing triggers all of the expense ... even if
a plea to life would ultimately be acceptable," he said.
While Pennsylvania has the 4th highest death row population, according to the
Death Penalty Information Center, it rarely carries out executions. The state
currently houses 189 inmates on death row.
Since 1962, when the last execution by use of the electric chair was carried
out, only 3 individuals have been executed by the state. All 3 executions
occurred in the 1990s and all 3 people waived their rights to appeal execution.
Whether an execution moves forward is decided at the state level, expenses are
incurred on the local level.
"As a former county commissioner, I can empathize with those in Franklin County
who are seeing an incursion of costs, but I think certainly the people of
Franklin County and the people of the commonwealth, they have spoken with a
clear voice in poll after poll that the death penalty needs to be in the
prosecutorial arsenal for any of our district attorneys out in our 67
counties," said Jim Cawley, lieutenant governor and chairman of the board of
pardons.
Franklin County currently has 2 inmates on death row; Albert Reid, 65,
sentenced in 1998; and Michael Singley, 37, sentenced in 2001.
(source: The Record Herald)
FLORIDA:
Florida Supreme Court cancels hearing on execution drug
The Florida Supreme Court on Friday canceled oral arguments in a case
challenging the state's use of a new 3-drug cocktail in executions.
The court issued a terse, one-sentence order calling off a hearing scheduled
for Wednesday on the issue. It wasn't immediately clear what the ruling meant,
though it did signal the court was likely to issue a decision based on written
briefs.
Convicted murderer Askari Abdullah Muhammad, who was set to die Dec. 3, won a
temporary reprieve from the justices last month. Muhammad's attorneys have
argued that William Frederick Happ, who was executed in October using the new
drug mix, was conscious for an unusually long time while being put to death and
moved his head -- showing that Muhammad might experience pain while being
executed if the new combination is used.
Happ was executed using a combination of chemicals including midazolam
hydrochloride -- instead of the previously used pentobarbital sodium -- as part
of the cocktail. The drug, the first of three injections, renders the inmate
unconscious. But Bradford County Circuit Judge Phyllis Rosier, tasked with
holding a hearing on the drugs, ruled that there was no evidence that the use
of midazolam hydrochloride would violate the constitutional ban on cruel and
unusual punishment.
Muhammad, 62, was slated to be executed for stabbing corrections Officer
Richard James Burke to death with a sharpened spoon in October 1980, while
Muhammad was already on death row.
Muhammad, who was known at the time as Thomas Knight, was initially convicted
of kidnapping and killing Sydney and Lillian Gans in 1974. He also escaped from
the Dade County Jail while awaiting trial and was involved in a liquor store
robbery in Cordele, Ga., where 2 clerks were shot, with 1 killed.
(source: News-Press)
************
Bargo sentenced to death
Michael Bargo Jr. will pay for the life he took with his own.
"The death penalty is not only justified, it is the only appropriate sentence
based on the evidence and the law of the state of Florida," Circuit Judge David
Eddy said Friday during the sentencing hearing. He called this the most cold,
calculated and premeditated case of murder he has seen in his 32 years as a
member of the Florida Bar.
In August a 12-member jury recommended death by a vote of 10-2 and the judge
legally must give their decision great weight, but ultimately has the final
word.
Friday's death sentence solidifies the 21-year-old's new place as the youngest
of 404 inmates currently on Florida's death row.
The verdict also wraps up the most grisly murder case Marion County has seen in
recent years. It claimed the life of 15-year-old Seath Jackson and sent 4 young
people - Amber Wright, 17; Kyle Hooper, 19; Charlie Kay Ely, 21; and Justin
Soto, 22 - to prison for the rest of their lives, leaving many families,
including the victim's, permanently torn apart.
The state sought the death penalty for Bargo, the triggerman and mastermind
behind the horrific murder plot.
On April 17, 2011, 5 teenagers lured Seath, 15, to a Summerfield residence
where they beat, shot and tortured him, before burning his body in a backyard
fire pit. The group then placed the remains in 3 5-gallon paint buckets and
dumped them at the bottom of a limerock pit.
During the trial the state presented evidence that a feud between Bargo and
Seath erupted over Wright, while the defense contended that a lack of parental
supervision caused neighborhood bullying to continue unaddressed.
Bargo remained composed during the hearing, but one of his family members broke
out in sobs upon hearing the judge's decision. Seath's family, who has had to
endure the repeated retelling of their son's death, did not attend the highly
publicized hearing.
While bailiffs led Bargo out of the courtroom in handcuffs, Michael Bargo Sr.
called out "I love you, son."
The judge's decision also continues a startling trend: Of the now 8 individuals
from Marion County currently on death row, 7 were sentenced in their 20s - and
more than half, including Bargo, were in the 21-23 age range. The average age
for executed inmates at the time of offense is about 30, according to the
Department of Corrections, making Marion County's convicted murderers younger
than the average death row inmate.
"I think that is a scary trend," said defense attorney Candace Hawthorne, who
represented Bargo and 2 other defendants in their 20s currently on death row.
Hawthorne pointed to evidence presented during Bargo's trial regarding
adolescent brain development. While society uses 18 as the cutoff age for
adulthood, she calls the number arbitrary and says science proves the brain is
not fully developed until age 25.
Evidence presented during Bargo's trial suggests adolescent brains operate on a
more immature level than a fully developed brain, and therefore younger
individuals are susceptible to higher emotional levels and have less ability to
control impulses and handle stressors.
However, at trial no expert testimony supported the notion that Bargo
couldn???t help but kill Seath.
"It's a Machiavellian tragedy,' said Hawthorne of the case. "The system failed
and the parents failed."
Bargo will now be allowed to start the appeals process - 1st to the Florida
Supreme Court - where Hawthorne believes he might find some relief.
During the trial's penalty phase, Assistant State Attorneys Robin Arnold and
Amy Berndt argued the crime was especially cold, calculated and premeditated as
well as heinous, atrocious and cruel.
Hawthorne said all murders are heinous, atrocious and cruel, and this case had
no more premeditation than other murder cases.
In his 21-page sentencing order, Eddy agreed with the state. He pointed to
testimony that Bargo planned the murder, directed his co-defendants' actions,
and ordered the victim to be placed in a bathtub while still alive, where Bargo
shot him in the face, ultimately causing his death.
"The actions of the defendant were conscienceless and exemplified an extreme
desire to inflict a high degree of pain, fear and terror in the victim," Eddy
wrote.
He also gave great weight to the second aggravating factor. Eddy referenced
Bargo's careful planning of when to light the backyard fire where Seath's body
would eventually be burned. His actions were not only calm and careful but
exhibited a degree of deliberate ruthlessness and failure to provide a legal
defense for the murder, the judge found.
"I'm not crazy, I'm not a psycho, I'm not a bad person," Bargo told the Ocala
Star-Banner during a recent jailhouse interview. He described himself as
non-confrontational and unaggressive and still maintains his innocence in the
ordeal, calling co-defendant Hooper the real shooter.
"I am not surprised by the judge's decision," Hawthorne said after the hearing
Friday. "I think he (Eddy) has a lot of pressure locally to give the sentence
that he did."
As for the 3 statutory mitigating circumstances offered by the defense - Bargo
was under extreme mental or emotional disturbance at the time of the crime, his
inability to appreciate the criminality of his conduct and lastly, his age -
Eddy was only reasonably convinced by 2 and awarded them slight weight,
discounting Bargo's inability to appreciate the criminality of the conduct.
Eddy found evidence Bargo suffers from a biological mental illness,
schizoaffective disorder, and might have a partial complex seizure spectrum
disorder. But that did not rise to the level of legal justification.
According to Eddy, despite conflicting diagnosis results from both state and
defense experts, all agreed Bargo's ability to appreciate the criminality of
his conduct or to conform his conduct to the law was not impaired.
In addition to providing the judge with the statutory mitigators, the defense
also submitted 55 non-statutory mitigators.
The judge gave 6 of them moderate weight, including the role of his
co-defendants, and diagnoses of bipolar and schizoaffective disorder.
Eddy awarded slight weight to the partial complex seizure disorder, Bargo's
loving relationship with his father, and evidence he has had hallucinations and
paranoid delusional thinking.
31 of those non-statutory mitigating factors were given little weight. They
included parental abandonment, a diagnosis of attention deficient hyperactivity
disorder at age 7, evidence Bargo had been a victim of childhood bullying, and
his engagement in self-mutilation.
5 were give no weight at all, including the fact that Bargo did not act alone
in murdering Seath and the fact that he is immature.
"It is ordered that the defendant be taken by the proper authorities to the
Florida State Prison, and there be kept under close confinement until the date
his execution is set," said Eddy before adjourning court.
Soon Bargo will be relocated from the Marion County Jail to where all male
death row inmates are housed: either Florida State Prison in Starke or Union
Correctional Institution in Raiford.
The 5 women in the state awaiting execution - including Marion County's Emilia
Carr - are housed at Lowell Correctional Institutional Annex.
A typical cell on death row is 6 feet by 9 feet and 9.5 feet high. Inmates are
allowed to shower every other day, and while tobacco products are prohibited,
inmates are allowed to have snacks, radios and 13-inch televisions in their
cells, according to the Department of Corrections. Cable and air conditioning
are not provided.
The average inmate stays on death row 13 years before execution, according to
DOC. Prior to that time, an inmate can request a last meal, but the food to
prepare that meal must cost no more than $40 and be available to purchase
locally.
Bargo remains convinced he won't be eating his last meal on death row. He has
said he believes he will win his case on appeal and be released from prison in
2 to 3 years once he is allowed to tell the full story.
If that happens, his 1st act of business will be to leave Ocala.
"That's what eats me up the most, I got all these people out there hating me,"
he told the Star-Banner.
He has already started consulting with new counsel after visible courtroom
disagreements with his current attorneys.
During trial, lead defense attorney Charles Holloman admitted to the jury his
client did play some role in the murder but that some elements still remained
murky and urged the panel to show clemency for his client.
"My lawyer sat there and called me a killer. It kind of threw me off guard,"
said Bargo, who had not given his permission for his attorney to use such a
tactic.
He wanted his defense to revolve around his version of events, where he was not
even at the home during the commission of the murder. This is the same story he
told the jury himself while testifying for an excess of 2 1/2 hours.
However, his testimony took a narrative format without any assistance from
counsel. According to one expert, there is a legal reason for that.
"If the attorney refuses to examine the defendant on the stand, which is
assisting him, then the attorney signals to the judge and the jury that the
defendant is lying," wrote attorney Jack Marshall in his blog Ethicsalarms.com.
Marshall is president of ProEthics Ltd., an ethics training and consulting firm
in Alexandria, Va.
If Bargo is never released from prison, Eddy's final words to the young
defendant might be what he needs most in the end:
"May God have mercy on your soul."
(source: Ocala Star Banner)
TENNESSEE:
Private attorney weighed in death penalty case
A Nashville judge is weighing a public defender's request to allow a private
attorney to handle the death penalty case against Lorenzo Jenkins.
The request comes as the state is pushing to begin executing condemned inmates
again.
Assistant Public Defender Mike Engle told Criminal Court Judge Randall Wyatt
Jr. last week that the Nashville public defender's office isn't prepared to
take on such a case, which on average takes 2,000 hours of preparation.
"Because of the state's filing of a death motion in this case, our office,
quite frankly, lacks the resources to defend a death penalty case," Engle said.
Elected Public Defender Dawn Deaner told The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/IHYzSH)
that her office is underfunded and understaffed and is already involved in 2
death penalty cases.
Jenkins is charged with murder in the 2012 stabbing deaths of Patrick Sullivan;
his wife, Deborah Sullivan; and their daughter, Wendy Sullivan.
Deputy District Attorney General Tom Thurman, who is prosecuting the case,
argued against having the case assigned to a private attorney, saying the
public defender's office could simply reassign lesser cases to free up an
attorney qualified to handle a death penalty case. He said he's handling more
than one such case.
"I am involved in three cases," Thurman told the court. "So, I guess according
to the ABA, I should be in the psych ward."
Deaner said Thurman's comments surprised her.
"I don't understand why the state takes the position that they take. I don't
know why they're concerned about it, quite frankly," Deaner said. "You can't
compare their workload to our workload. It's 2 different measurements."
She said taking on another death penalty case would require significant
reshuffling of personnel and criminal cases.
"There are maximum caseload standards that are recommended for public defenders
in Tennessee," she said. "If you apply those standards to the number of cases
we handled in fiscal year '13, we were 22 lawyers short in our office to be
able to handle the workload that we have."
There are high stakes involved because accusations that a defense attorney
didn't properly defend a case can lead to appeals or retrials.
Wyatt said that he would consider the matter before making a ruling, but he
asked Jenkins how he felt about the matter before concluding the hearing.
"I would want the best counsel possible," he said. "I respect his (Engle's)
concerns."
(source: Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA:
Serial Killer Joseph Naso Ordered to Reimburse Marin County for Expenses
Marin County Superior Court Judge James T. Chou ordered convicted serial killer
Joseph Naso to pay the county nearly $171,000 for expenses incurred during his
murder trial this year.
The figure includes $116,000 for using the services of the county's public
defender's office, $40,000 for defense investigators' costs and $13,266 to copy
documents provided to Naso by the district attorney's office, Assistant County
Counsel Jack Govi said.
Naso represented himself during the guilt and death penalty phases of his
trial, but Deputy Public Defender Pedro Oliveros provided advisory counsel.
Naso, 79, was convicted in August of the strangulation murders of 4 women who
worked as prostitutes. Their bodies were found along rural roads in Marin, Yuba
and Contra Costa counties between 1977 and 1994.
The jury recommended the death penalty in September, and in November Judge
Andrew Sweet sentenced him to life in prison without parole for the 1977 murder
and to death for each of the other 3 killings.
The victims were Roxene Roggasch, 18, whose body was found in Marin County;
Carmen Colon, 22, whose body was found in Contra Costa County; Tracy Tafoya,
31, and Pamela Parsons, 38, whose bodies were found in Yuba County.
The prosecution also introduced evidence that Naso likely killed 3 other women.
After an hour-long hearing, Judge Chou found Naso has the ability to pay the
$170,949.70 to the county, Govi said.
The Marin County District Attorney's Office once estimated Naso had $1 million
in assets.
Naso, however, transferred $295,000 to his disabled son between July 2011 and
July 2012, according to a court-ordered inquiry of Naso's finances, Govi said.
That amount included between $30,000 and $40,000 in gold coins.
"The liquid assets are gone," Govi said.
The judge found Naso also has two properties in Reno, Nev. that are valued
between $560,000 and $944,000, Govi said.
Naso, who was brought from San Quentin State Prison to attend the hearing,
strenuously objected to the court's order and to using his real estate
properties to satisfy the order, Govi said.
The county counsel's office will seek a lien on the properties and eventually
their sale, Govi said.
(source: Bay City News)
******************
District attorney's in California want to streamline appeals process in death
penalty cases
A coalition of California district attorneys want to streamline the appeals
process in death penalty cases.
Right now, death penalty verdicts are automatically appealed to the state
supreme court.
The DAs want those appeals to go to go to the state court of appeals.
Kern County district attorney Lisa Green said its not unheard of for an inmate
to sit on death row for 25 years while appeals are being heard.
Green said, "The average case takes 5 years for an attorney to be appointed."
Local criminal defense attorney Richard Terry said, "The plan doesn???t even
address the real problem which they say is the lack of defense attorneys
qualified to handle death penalty cases."
The ballot initiative has been submitted to the state attorney general and if
approved would appear on the 2014 ballot.
(source: ABC news)
**************
Gang member ordered to stand trial in 6-year-old's death
A documented gang member was ordered Friday to stand trial in the fatal
shooting of a 6-year-old girl in Moreno Valley, prosecutors said.
Keandre Narkie Johnson, 21, has been charged with 1 count each of murder,
attempted murder and participation in a criminal street gang, along with
special circumstance allegations. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Judge Larrie Brainard ruled Friday there was enough evidence for Johnson to
stand trial and ordered him back in court Dec. 27.
Prosecutors allege Johnson opened fire Sept. 7 on a group of people gathered
near a garage at a Moreno Valley home, striking 6-year-old Tiana Ricks and her
26-year-old father.
Both were taken to a hospital, where the girl was pronounced dead.
Investigators received "numerous tips" that ultimately led them to identify
Johnson as their suspect, Riverside County prosecutors said in a statement
Thursday.
Johnson was arrested 10 days after the shooting.
Authorities said Johnson is a documented member of the Moreno Valley-based
Edgemont Criminals. He was also considered a parolee-at-large for not reporting
to his parole officer in connection with a 2011 Riverside County burglary
conviction.
Johnson is being held without bail at a Riverside County detention center.
Tiana's death drew attention from rappers The Game and Snoop Lion, who both
contributed funds toward the girl's funeral. The Game, who is from Compton,
pledged $10,000, his representative confirmed.
Long Beach rapper-turned-reggae artist Snoop Lion (formerly known as Snoop
Dogg) donated an undisclosed amount.
A special circumstance allegation that the child's slaying was committed to
further a criminal street gang makes Johnson eligible for the death penalty if
convicted, the Riverside County district attorney's office said. Dist. Atty.
Paul Zellerbach has not decided whether to seek the death penalty.
(source: Los Angeles Times)
************
Prosecutors Charge Man in Death of Wife, Sister
A California man was charged with murder on Friday after authorities said he
shot and killed his dementia-stricken wife at their home and his sister in a
convalescent home.
Lance Anderson, 60, faces 2 counts of murder, with special circumstance
allegations of multiple murders and intentional discharge of a firearm with
great bodily injury. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Anderson was being held without bail and could be arraigned later in the day.
It wasn't immediately known if he had retained a lawyer and no public defender
had yet been assigned.
Coroner's Lt. Larry Dietz identified Anderson's wife as 68-year-old Bertha
Maxine Anderson. She died of a gunshot wound to the head after the shooting
earlier this week in the couple's suburban Santa Clarita home.
Authorities said Lance Anderson took a taxi on Wednesday from the home to the
Country Villa Sheraton nursing facility in the North Hills area, where his
58-year-old sister, Lisa Nave, was shot in the head while she was in bed.
Anderson then put the small-caliber revolver on a night stand and stepped into
a courtyard, where he surrendered after police arrived, Los Angeles police Lt.
Paul Vernon said.
Police initially said Nave was in a vegetative state or coma at the nursing
home for the past 5 years, but Vernon said she was actually responsive and had
been improving since a heart attack 5 years earlier left her in a yearlong
coma.
After learning of Nave's death, family members called Los Angeles County
deputies and asked them to check on the welfare of Anderson's wife.
Deputies found Bertha Anderson's body at the couple's 3-bedroom town house on a
curved, tree-lined street in Canyon Country. Sheriff's Lt. Holly Francisco said
no weapon was found.
Family members told authorities that Bertha Anderson was suffering from
dementia, said Vernon, who characterized the shootings as apparent mercy
killings.
"He unilaterally decided to kill 2 people for whatever seemed like a rational
reason to him," Vernon said. "But it isn't right for those who want those
people to live. He can't make that decision."
Neighbors described Lance Anderson as a chatty, friendly man who doted on his
frail wife. He had indicated that he had moved from Arizona five or 6 months
earlier because of his wife's health.
"He treated her like she was a jewel ... because she was so fragile," neighbor
Gale Madrigal said.
Sometimes Lance Anderson was seen on their porch caressing his wife's hand,
Madrigal said.
2 weeks ago, Anderson offered Madrigal his artificial Christmas tree, telling
her the couple wouldn't be doing anything for Christmas this year.
(source: Associated Press)
USA:
What Is an Intellectual Disability in the Eyes of the Law?
Freddie Lee Hall and Warren Hill are both on death row in Florida and Georgia.
Had they been convicted of their crimes in other states, they might not have
received the death penalty. Both have been arguing against execution on the
grounds that they are intellectually disabled.
What it means to be intellectually disabled is not entirely clear in a legal
sense. When the Supreme Court ruled twelve years ago that criminals with mental
disabilities could not be given the death penalty, it left it up to individual
states to determine the criteria for what an intellectual disability is. This
coming march, the Supreme Court will revisit its 2002 ruling.
The Death Penalty and Intellectual Disability
In its 6-3 decision in Atkins v. Virginia in 2002, Justice John Paul Stevens
wrote that the court prohibited states from executing anyone with "mental
retardation." Clinicians define "mental retardation" (which is more often
referred to now under the term "intellectual disability") as meaning that a
person has "substantial limitations" in intellectual functions such as
reasoning or problem-solving; limitations in their adaptive behavior or "street
smarts" and evidence of having such a disability before the age of 18.
Being intellectually disabled can also mean having difficulties in
communication, social skills and daily living skills (whether in handling money
or taking care of one's hygiene) and otherwise being unable to take care of
oneself. Those with such disabilities like my severely autistic son may commit
acts without a full understanding of the consequences.
Since 2002, at least 98 people have had their death sentence changed after
proving that they had an intellectual disability. Prior to the Atkins decision,
at least 44 people who had intellectual disabilities were executed, according
to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Should States Determine What Constitutes an Intellectual Disability?
As Brian Kammer, executive director of the Georgia Resource Center, which
provides free legal services for death row inmates, says, when the Supreme
Court left the determination of mental disability to the states, it gave them
"a lot of leeway to do mischief with the definition of intellectual
disability."
For instance, Texas' criterion for being intellectually disabled is based on an
"anecdotal seven-part test" that is drawn not from clinical and other research
but from the depiction of the fictional character, Lennie, in John Steinbeck's
novel "Of Mice and Men." Under these standards, a number of prisoners (more
than a few of whom scored significantly below 70 on IQ tests) have been
executed. One of these men, Marvin Wilson, was convicted of murder in 1994 and
executed last year in Texas, even though tests found that his IQ ranged from 61
to 79. Texas did not dispute Wilson's claim of mental retardation but "simply
refused to accept him as retarded enough to be exempted from execution," as a
New York Times editorial said.
In Florida, Freddie Lee Hall has been on death row for more than 30 years for
the 1978 murder of Karol Hurst. In 1999, the Florida Supreme Court stated that
"there is no doubt that the defendant has serious mental difficulties, is
probably somewhat retarded, and certainly has learning difficulties and a
speech impediment." Hall scored in the mid-70s on IQ tests but was not seen as
"retarded enough"; in Florida, having an IQ over 70 means that a person is
"eligible for execution regardless of intellectual function or adaptive
behavior." After the 2002 Atkins decision, Hall challenged his death sentence,
arguing that Florida's criteria for an intellectual disability "amounts to
unconstitutional punishment."
In Georgia, death row inmate Warren Hill has been fighting execution based on
substantial evidence that he has an intellectual disability. But in Georgia
alone of the 50 states, defendants must prove that they have an intellectual
disability "beyond a reasonable doubt," the highest standard of proof in the
criminal justice system. Hill was found to be mentally retarded in 2002
according to a lesser standard, based on a "preponderance of the evidence" or
"more likely than not." Nonetheless, the Georgia Attorney General's Office says
Hill has failed to prove that he has intellectual disabilities.
Georgia's state legislature is considering lowering its standard for what an
intellectual disability is when it next meets. Its criteria, and those used in
Florida and Texas, show why it is time for the Supreme Court to revisit cases
like Wilson's and even establish a definition for intellectual disability.
"It's our hope that the court will clarify that states must use the clinical
definition for intellectual disability...not only for current cases but for
future cases, too," as Margaret Nygren, executive director and CEO of the
American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, comments.
Rather than relying on arbitrary and, in some cases, outdated criteria, and
execute those with intellectual disabilities, states must follow a definition
determined by clinicians and advocates. The execution of individuals like
Wilson is more than grounds to end the use of the death penalty, period.
(source: www.care2.com)
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