July 9
OHIO:
North Linden man could face death penalty in April stabbing death
A North Linden man could get the death penalty if convicted in the stabbing
death of an 89-year-old woman during a break-in at her East Side home.
A Franklin County grand jury returned a death-penalty indictment this week
against Willie L. Dumas, 58, of McGuffey Road.
He is accused in the death of Anna Eblen, who was repeatedly stabbed in her
house at 3095 E. 12th Ave. on April 17. Columbus homicide detectives said they
used DNA evidence to connect Dumas to the killing.
The indictment charges him with aggravated murder, aggravated burglary,
aggravated robbery and tampering with evidence.
In Ohio, the death penalty can be sought for those charged with committing
murder as part of or while fleeing from an aggravated robbery or aggravated
burglary.
It is the 1st death-penalty indictment returned by a Franklin County grand jury
since December 2011, when prosecutors obtained capital charges against Daniel
Teitelbaum for the murder of his business partner, Paul Horn.
Teitelbaum was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of
parole in April after jurors declined to recommend death.
The number of death-penalty indictments in Franklin County has declined
dramatically since 2005, when Prosecutor Ron O'Brien's office began
scrutinizing cases to determine whether there was a realistic chance of getting
a jury to recommend a death sentence.
Neighbors said Eblen lived with her husband, Harold, 92, at their home near
Port Columbus. He had been sick and was being cared for outside the home when
she was killed.
(source: Columbus Dispatch)
**********
Hearing delayed for suspect in Gina Burger death
A Mahoning County grand jury Thursday will hear the case of Ricki D. Williams
IV, 18, who is charged with the death of 16-year-old Gina Burger.
William's scheduled preliminary hearing today was canceled so the case can be
direct presented to the grand jury.
Ken Cardinal, an assistant county prosecutor, said the state will present its
case to the grand jurors "to allow them to indict this individual on crimes
which he may or may not have committed, but we have every intention to seek a
murder conviction and death-penalty specification, if the grand jury sees fit."
Williams appeared in Mahoning County Area Court with lawyer David Taylor, and
his family was with Atty. Thomas Zena, who would be an additional lawyer for
Williams if the death-penalty specification is added.
Williams is charged with aggravated murder, 2 counts of kidnapping,
intimidation, tampering with evidence, 2 counts of abduction, possession of
criminal tools, abuse of a corpse and 1 misdemeanor charge of criminal
trespass.
Police believe Williams used a knife to kill Burger on June 23 and then placed
her body in a trash bin outside a township apartment complex June 24. Her body
was found June 25 in a Tri-County Industries landfill in Grove City, Pa.
(source: Youngstown Vindicator)
TENNESSEE:
Death penalty still on the table for accused Bean Station pharmacy shooter
The man accused of a deadly shooting at a Grainger County pharmacy is still
facing the death penalty despite a request to get it off the table.
Jason Holt is accused of killing 2 people and injuring 2 others in May of last
year while robbing the Down Home Pharmacy in Bean Station.
6 News was in the courtroom Tuesday as the judge denied the defense's request
to strike down the death penalty during a motions hearing that lasted more than
2 hours. The judge also went over dozens of records to decide what could be
allowed in to the trial as evidence.
The victims' families packed the courtroom hugging each other for comfort. When
Jason Holt entered, he avoided eye contact with the victims' side if the
courtroom.
Holt has been charged with 1st degree felony murder in the shooting deaths of
Down Home Pharmacy owner Stephen Lovell and customer Richard Sommerville. Holt
is also charged with two counts attempted 1st degree murder. Investigators say
2 pharmacy workers were also shot during the robbery of prescription pills from
the pharmacy.
The judge again denied the defense's request to strike down the death penalty.
The judge also went over which audio tapes from phone calls made by holt in
jail would be allowed. The judge ruled that surveillance video from the
pharmacy of the incident would be allowed in to trial as evidence. The judge
also determined which crime scene and autopsy photos the jury would be allowed
to see.
The state made a case for why some pictures are relevant to prove their case.
"Items were recovered along the way from the pharmacy to the next road. Items
were recovered in that area and items were recovered in the barn which is in
the middle of the picture there," said Holt.
Holt's attorney has said in court that Holt was suffering from brain damage
after a motorcycle accident 10 years ago.
The next motions hearing is scheduled for September 4 at 9 a.m. to suppress
defendant's statements.
September 30 is the trial date.
(source: WATE news)
INDIANA:
Suspect charged with murder in IMPD officer's death
Major Davis Jr., 25, has been charged with murder in the shooting death of
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Perry Renn, the Marion
County prosecutor's office announced Wednesday.
Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said his office has not yet decided
whether to pursue the death penalty or a life sentence without the possibility
of parole. Curry has filed for an enhancement, which would mean an addition
5-20 years in prison if Davis is convicted. That enhancement was made possible
by new sentencing guidelines that went into effect July 1 - just days before
Renn was shot and killed.
"It justifies consideration," Curry said of the death penalty.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Davis had an AK-47 style weapon and
officers on the scene said Davis refused to show his hands. When he did, they
say he began firing at officers, who returned fire. The autopsy revealed that
Renn was struck by 3 rounds. 1 hit him under the right armpit, striking his
right lung and heart. He was also shot through his vest and his leg.
The court document goes on to say Davis' mother purchased the gun for him.
"There's no reason to believe the purchase was illegal in any way," Curry said.
Davis is accused of killing Officer Renn after a shootout Saturday night at
34th Street and Forest Manor Avenue. At last check Davis was in critical but
stable condition at Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital.
(source: WTHI TV news)
ILLINOIS:
No death penalty, but problems remain in justice system; Someone has to be
willing to stimulate discussion and boldly correct the wrongs that can be found
in an imperfect system of justice.
By most measures, former Illinois Gov. George Ryan is not a sympathetic figure.
The gruff 80-year-old Kankakee politician, whose bold leadership effectively
brought an end to Illinois' flawed death penalty system more than a decade ago,
has become a punch line, a symbol of political corruption and a historical
footnote in a state where 4 of the last 7 governors went to prison.
Governor from 1999 to 2003, Ryan was indicted in 2003 and convicted in 2006 on
multiple counts of corruption, including racketeering and tax fraud. He spent
more than 5 years in federal prison.
He made new headlines last week when he agreed to be interviewed by newspapers
and The Associated Press after being released from a year of federal
supervision, which was the official conclusion of his prison sentence.
Among other things, Ryan talked about his efforts to bring an end capital
punishment in Illinois. In 2000 Ryan placed a moratorium on executions. In 2003
he emptied death row. The moratorium stood until 2011, when Illinois abolished
capital punishment.
At the time, Illinois' death penalty system, which had been in place since
1977, was shown to be hopelessly flawed.
According to the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University, 298
men and women were sentenced to death in Illinois between 1977 and 2000. During
that time, the state put 12 prisoners to death, while 13 death row inmates were
found to have been wrongly convicted. In all, 19 of the 298 have been
exonerated - 2 as recently as 2009 - casting continued serious doubt on the
fairness, integrity and uniformity of a death penalty system in Illinois.
Ryan's responses were bold, aggressive and necessary, but they also were not
without a great deal of agonizing consideration on his part as he weighed input
from advocates for the accused and advocates for crime victims and their
families.
In fact, Ryan - once a supporter of capital punishment - said in his interviews
last week that he still regrets not stopping the 1999 execution of Andrew
Kokoraleis, accused of kidnapping and killing Lorraine Borowski, 21, of
Elmhurst in 1982. Kokoraleis was killed by lethal injection and was the last
prisoner executed in Illinois.
Ryan's actions at the time stirred national debate on the topic of capital
punishment. Unfortunately, that's all been overshadowed by his later corruption
trial and conviction. He said he would like to resume his work nationally to
encourage other states to abolish the death penalty, but admitted his felony
convictions make him persona non grata.
"I'm an ex-convict," he said. "People tend to frown on that."
Indeed. But if there is a lesson to be learned from Ryan and Illinois' sordid
history with the death penalty, it's that elected leaders must be willing to
speak out against injustice and advocate for bold changes to the system - even
when it's unpopular to do so.
No one is suggesting undue sympathy or praise for the former governor, who
brought a different kind of shame to Illinois. Worth considering, though, is
that problems remain in the justice system. Disparities in sentencing
guidelines, racial bias and serious flaws in Illinois' juvenile prisons deserve
the same kind of attention that Ryan brought to the problems with capital
punishment.
Someone has to be willing to stimulate discussion and boldly correct the wrongs
that can be found in an imperfect system of justice.
(source: Editorial, State Journal-Register)
KENTUCKY:
Man Charged In Cold Case Murder Could Face Death Penalty
A man charged in a decade-old cold case murder may face the death penalty.
The Carlisle Mercury says the death penalty will be sought against Shawn
Fryman, who was indicted in the 2003 murder of David Sadler in Nicholas County.
Sadler's wife, Brenda, and his son, found him dead from a single gunshot wound
inside their home. Brenda says Fryman was her husband's best friend.
Investigators said Fryman had always been a person of interest in the case and
that it was talking that lead to new interviews, more information and new
evidence until they finally had enough for an arrest.
Fryman was arrested in February of this year in the case. Josh Abnee has also
been charged in connection with Sadler's death.
(source: lex18.com)
ARKANSAS:
Resentencing trial begins in death row case
Jury selection is underway for an Arkansas man whose death sentence was
overturned by the Arkansas Supreme Court.
Frank Williams was sentenced to die for the 1992 death of farmer Clyde Smith in
Lafayette County. But the high court ordered a new sentencing in 2011, citing
problems in the original sentencing in 1993.
This week's sentencing trial was moved to Miller County from Lafayette County
because of pretrial publicity.
According to the Texarkana Gazette (http://bit.ly/1oxkz1g ), jury selection
began Monday and could last several days. The jurors will be tasked only with
determining a sentence for Williams - not whether he is guilty of the crime.
Prosecutors say they're again seeking the death penalty.
(source: Associated Press)
MISSOURI:
State NAACP chapter pushes to abolish death penalty in Missouri----Several
other organizations are also pushing to remove the death penalty.
National attention has been drawn to the constitutionality of the death penalty
due to the botched execution of Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett that took place
in April.
After a period of 7 weeks free of executions in the United States, 3 executions
were scheduled in 24 hours last Tuesday, 1 of which took place in Missouri.
John Winfield, executed in Missouri on June 18, was the 75th person to be
executed in the state of Missouri since 1976.
The Missouri chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People has vowed to enact the largest-ever push for abolishment of the death
penalty after Lockett's execution and the recent acceleration in the rate of
executions taking place in Missouri.
NAACP has historically opposed the death penalty and its core values lie in its
mission that states "the mission of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social
and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based
discrimination."
Thus, the Missouri NAACP plans on using more time and resources than ever
before to rally in opposition of executions.
"There's no way we can really decide what life has more value," said Carmen
Vajgrt, an MU freshman.
African-American defendants receive the death penalty 3 times more than white
defendants, according to a 2007 study conducted by the Yale University School
of Law.
NAACP has previously succeeded in advocating against the death penalty,
especially in the case of Troy Davis, an inmate on death row in 2011 that the
NAACP believed to be innocent.
Though Davis was executed, the NAACP brought attention to the issue of the
constitutionality of the death penalty, and has additionally succeeded in
abolishing the death penalty in several states.
Though the Missouri chapter of the NAACP has vowed to spend more time and
resources than ever to rally against the death penalty, other organizations in
the state of Missouri are working to fight against the death penalty as well.
Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (MADP) continually works
against execution. In the seven weeks following Lockett's execution, there have
been 2 executions in Missouri. One was halted; the other, Winfield's, was
carried out.
"Our goal is to always oppose the death penalty," said Allison Grammer, the
administrative coordinator for the MADP. "Clayton Lockett's botched execution
invigorated (our movement), but didn't change the way we approach the death
penalty."
To fight against executions such as the last 2, the MADP's goal is to spread
the word. They have written Gov. Jay Nixon, asking to hold all executions,
particularly because of the secrecy concerning the drugs used in executions.
They additionally send out alerts and press releases, as well as encouraging
the public to write the governor.
Rita Linhardt, senior staff associate for the Missouri Catholic Conference and
chair of the MADP board, helps both organizations with lobbying, spreading the
word and urging the public to contact the governor.
"There are many people who oppose the death penalty in the state of Missouri,"
Linhardt said. "For some, it's a moral perspective. They believe all life is
sacred, even for those that have committed a great evil. Some see it as a human
rights issue: people are entitled to their dignity. Some view it from a justice
perspective: the death penalty is arbitrary and unfair. And some look at it
financially, seeing that the death penalty costs more."
(source: themaneater.com)
**********************
Another execution means more violence
To the editor:
A man, John Middleton, is scheduled to be executed on July 16 because of a
terrible crime he committed in 1995. While I do not justify his actions, I do
not believe that his actions require him to pay for them with his own life.
Violence only begets more violence, and the death penalty is a deterrent for no
person in the United States.
I do not know this man and could never understand a reason "good enough" to
commit murder. However, I don't feel that his death will solve anything or
extinguish the anguish his victims families feel. It will only cause more hurt
and pain in world that is already filled with too much of both.
Please help in stopping the violence in our state by helping to stop the
execution of this man, John Middleton.
Regina Spayd, Kansas City
(source: Letter to the Editor, The Examiner)
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