Aug. 7
TEXAS:
Cameron Todd Willingham's ghost won't stop haunting Rick Perry
Until recently, much of the outrage over the killing of Willingham - the
convicted murderer-arsonist who was very likely innocent but executed by Texas
anyway in 2004 - has been over the state's and Gov. Rick Perry's conduct after
Willingham was sent to death row in 1992 for setting the fire that killed his 3
children. Perry wasn't governor during Willingham's prosecution, which relied
heavily on the testimony of a jailhouse informant and forensic evidence
produced by arson investigators. But he was governor in 2004, when a noted
arson expert and scientist sent him a report concluding there was no evidence
that the fire was set intentionally and that the evidence used to convict
Willingham amounted to "junk science."
Despite the report, Perry refused to grant a stay, and Willingham was put to
death by lethal injection on Feb. 17, 2004. 5 years later, with a Texas
commission working inexorably toward a formal acknowledgment that the state had
executed an innocent man - surely a watershed in the history of American
capital punishment - Perry pulled a bureaucratic maneuver that effectively
stopped the investigation in its tracks.
(The seminal work of journalism on this subject appeared in the New Yorker in
2009. It's a depressing tale of Texas' total indifference to the truth once
Willingham landed on death row.)
When Perry first ran for president in 2011, there were a few grumblings among
pundits (myself included) about the Willingham case and what it said about
Perry's ability to govern. Back then, I wrote that "Texas may let Perry off the
hook" for executing an innocent man but the "rest of the nation may not be so
forgiving." How wrong (or naive) I was: Perry's campaign drew more attention
for his memory slips and bizarre behavior than anything he did as governor of
Texas. It seemed as if Perry - and Texas - had shaken off Willingham's ghost.
Comes now a new report by the Washington Post that thoroughly discredits the
final remaining piece of evidence used to convict Willingham: testimony by
jailhouse informant Johnny Webb, who had said Willingham admitted his guilt
while behind bars. The prosecutor who secured Willingham's conviction had
insisted that he made no deal to persuade the informant to testify. But,
according to a lengthy paper trail and the informant himself, Webb was indeed
coaxed to testify against Willingham.
We already knew the deck was stacked against Willingham after his conviction;
what the Post's chilling report reveals is that the fix was in beforehand. None
of the evidence used to send Willingham to the lethal injection gurney was
credible; the longer Perry and his state continue to deny this, the more the
case against Willingham will continue to unravel without their help.
Perry is not running for reelection as governor of Texas, raising the
likelihood that he's preparing a 2016 campaign for the White House. Judging by
his finger-in-the-ears reaction to the questions over Willingham's guilt so
far, either Perry is amorally unconcerned about sending an innocent man to his
death, or he's so unsettled by the implications of a posthumous exoneration
that he resorts to denial in the face of overwhelming evidence. I hope it's the
latter, which at least leaves open the possibility that some prolonged media
exposure in parts of the country less at ease with capital punishment - and
disgusted by the botched killings of late that have soiled lethal injection's
sterility - might make Perry's candidacy historic in ways he never intended.
(source: Opinion, Paul Thornton; Los Angeles Times)
*********************
No doubt a Texas execution was a miscarriage of justice
If ever a case cried out for abolition of the death penalty, it is the case of
Cameron Todd Willingham ["Fresh doubts over a Texas execution," front page,
Aug. 4]. In 1992, Willingham was convicted of murdering his children by setting
his house on fire. His conviction was based on the testimony of forensic
experts and a jailhouse informant who said Willingham had confessed to him.
Willingham was executed in 2004.
Since the trial, several reports based on opinions of leading arson experts
have concluded that the science used to convict Willingham was invalid. In
2009, the Texas Forensic Science Commission investigating the case concluded
that the experts who had testified should have known better. However, the Texas
attorney general's office refused to allow the commission to test some
evidence.
Now it has become clear that the prosecutor bribed the jailhouse informant for
his testimony and no confession was made. If Willingham were still alive, he'd
almost certainly be afforded a new trial. But dead men cannot be retried.
Plainly, the death penalty has no further justification in our flawed justice
system.
S. Michael Scadron, Silver Spring
The writer is a member of the advisory board of Injustice Anywhere.
(source: Letter to the Editor, Washington Post)
MASSACHUSETTS:
David Hoose has death penalty experience
David P. Hoose, the recipient of this year's Clarence Darrow Award, which he
will receive at the commemoration of the Sacco and Vanzetti executions on Aug.
23, is no stranger to capital cases.
Hoose was 1 of the defense lawyers for Kristen Gilbert, a former nurse at the
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, who was convicted of 1st
degree murder in 2001 for killing patients at the VA hospital. Because the
hospital is a federal facility, the federal death penaly was in play.
Massachusetts abolished the death penalty in 1972.
The federal jury that found Gilbert guilty of murder did not sentence her to
death but to life in prison.
Currently, Hoose is defending Cara Rintala in a murder case. Rintala is charged
with killing her wife, Annamarrie Cochrane Rintala. The case has twice resulted
in a mistrial when the jury could not agree on a verdict. It is due to go to
trial a 3rd time. Rintala, if found guilty, will not be eligible for the death
penalty.
*************************
Sacco and Vanzetti memorial to honor local lawyers and activist
3 Springfield area attorneys and the founder of an organization that oversees
the impact of incarceration will be honored at the 87th commemoration of the
executions of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti on Aug. 23.
Both Italian immigrants, Sacco and Vanzetti were executed by the state on Aug.
23, 1927, for murder. 5 armed men reportedly robbed a Braintree shoe company in
1920 as the country was going through the "Red Scare" of communism. A guard was
shot and killed in the robbery, which netted about $15,000, and the thieves got
away. A month later, police arrested Sacco, a shoemaker, and Vanzetti, a fish
peddler. Both men were carrying pistols at the time and gave false statements
to police. Although they were self-proclaimed anarchists, neither Sacco nor
Vanzetti had a criminal record and there was no hard evidence tying them to the
robbery and murders.
Their subsequent trial became the embodiment of what death penalty opponents
believe is wrong with the judicial system. Eyewitness accounts that put the men
at the scene have been called into question, and statements made by the judge
and prosecutor were rife with prejudice, according to critics. Many believe
that the prosecution did not prove its case against the two and that Sacco and
Vanzetti were targeted because of they were immigrants sympathetic to the
rights of laborers.
The Hampden County Chapter of the Massachusetts Citizens Against the Death
Penalty, The Sisters of Saint Joseph and other groups opposed to the death
penalty have been commemorating the executions locally since 1991.
Massachusetts abolished the death penalty in 1972 and efforts to revive it here
have failed, but it still pertains to federal cases.
The memorial service for Sacco and Vanzetti is scheduled at Temple Sinai in
Springfield from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Featured speaker Lois Ahrens founded
and directs The Real Cost of Prisons Project, a national organization based in
Northampton. It brings together activists, artists, justice policy researchers
and those who directly experience the impact of mass incarceration in an effort
to end mass criminalization.
Lawyers John and Linda Thompson will receive the Ken Childs Award for their
work on behalf of the local chapter and for their work in criminal defense
cases. John Thompson has taught criminal law and run law clinics at Western New
England University Law School. Linda Thompson is considered one of the leading
criminal defense lawyers in Western Massachusetts.
This year, the Clarence Darrow Award will be given to Northampton attorney
David Hoose, who has handled a number of major criminal cases in recent years
and is also considered among the best defense lawyers in the region.
(source for both: masslive.com)
NEW YORK:
First use of electric chair: Aug. 6, 1890
For the 1st time, a man sits in a chair designed to kill him with electricity.
His name is William Kemmler and he has been sentenced to death for killing his
wife with an axe. 2 years earlier, the state of New York had become the 1st in
the U.S. to legalize death by electricity because it was thought to be a more
humane form of execution than hanging.
The top advocate for the electric chair, a dentist from Buffalo, New York named
Albert Southwick, is among those in the room where Kemmler will die. Ever since
witnessing an old drunk man killed by touching an electric generator, Southwick
has campaigned for execution by electricity because he believed it would be
painless. He tells the other witnesses there at Auburn Prison that day that
"This is the culmination of 10 years work and study. We live in a higher
civilization today."
Southwick had actually sought the help of Thomas Edison in finding the best way
to electrify a chair. At first, the famous inventor didn't respond to his
letters, but eventually he referred Southwick to the technique used by his
chief competitor in the burgeoning electricity industry, George Westinghouse.
The 2 men had very different theories about the best way to transmit electrical
power. Edison believed that using a direct current (DC) was necessary;
Westinghouse felt an alternating current (AC) was the answer. So Edison thought
if AC current was used in the electric chair, the public would associate it
with danger and death. Edison went so far as to say that executed criminals
would be "Westinghoused."
For his part, Westinghouse did what he could to stop the execution. He
contributed $100,000 to help cover Kemmler's legal fees when his lawyers took
the case all the way to the U.S Supreme Court. They argued that death in the
electric chair would be cruel and unusual punishment. While Edison opposed
capital punishment, he did say that if you were going to kill criminals, using
electricity was a good idea because it would be "so quick the criminal can't
suffer much."
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with Kemmler. After he was strapped into
the chair and had electrodes attached to his head and back, he was jolted with
about 1,000 bolts of electricity. After 17 seconds the power was turned off and
Kemmler was declared dead. But several of the witnesses noticed that he
appeared to still be breathing. Prison officials rushed to shock him again,
this time with almost double the voltage. As a New York Times reporter in the
room wrote, "An awful odor began to permeate the death chamber, and then, as
though to cap the climax of this fearful sight, it was seen that the hair under
and around the electrode on the head and the flesh under and around the
electrode at the base of the spine was singeing. The stench was unbearable."
Several witnesses fainted, others vomited. A little more than 2 minutes later,
Kemmler was declared dead again. The physician who did so, Dr. Edward
Spitzka,would later predict that "there will never be another electrocution."
After Kemmler, another 4,443 people died in the chair.
In Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia, prisoners on Death
Row can still choose between electrocution and lethal injection.
(source: healthcentral.com)
VIRGINIA:
Federal court rejects IQ defense in death case
In a 95-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson has rejected
arguments that a death-row inmate's mental condition spares him from the death
penalty under a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Miriam B. Airington, part of the legal team representing Alfredo R. Prieto,
said Wednesday that Prieto intends to take the case to the 4th U.S. Court of
Appeals.
Hudson on Tuesday denied the petition on all 14 elements raised by the defense.
The case stems from death sentences issued by a jury in the 1988 double murder
of a Fairfax County couple. Prieto was linked to the crimes more than 17 years
later through a cold hit DNA sample.
At the time of his arrest, Prieto, 48, was on death row in California in an
unrelated case.
The matter is the first in Virginia that has addressed the implications of a
U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May that states cannot set a specific IQ benchmark
that establishes intellectual disability. The case also raises the issue of the
court's ability to retroactively rule on an ended matter in light of subsequent
findings by the high court.
Prieto, while not asserting his innocence as part of the petition, argued that
there was sufficient evidence to bar a death sentence based on his level of
disability and his poor life skills.
In a Florida case, the Supreme Court held that states cannot establish a strict
IQ level, 70, at or below which a defendant is considered intellectually
disabled. Some measures of Prieto's IQ placed him below that threshold, which
also exists in Virginia law. Virginia, as well as Florida, bars the execution
of intellectually disabled people.
Hudson, however, found that the Virginia threshold is offset in part by other
criteria used to assess a person's ability to function and reason in society.
The jury in Prieto's case clearly and fully assessed those additional measures,
the judge ruled.
Hudson found that the very nature of the killings suggested "it is unlikely
(Prieto) would have been able to carry out these crimes by himself" had he been
intellectually disabled.
"The evidence of adaptive functioning overwhelmingly supports the conclusion
that Prieto has not met his burden here," Hudson wrote. The jury "made a
reasonable conclusion that he was not intellectually disabled."
(source: Richmond Times-Dispatch)
FLORIDA:
Trial delayed for suspect in 20-year-old woman's killing----Victim's mother
speaks about anguish waiting for trial
James Rhodes was in court Tuesday for a pretrial hearing on a murder charge,
where his lawyers raised questions about his intellectual ability to stand
trial in the death of Shelby Farah.
Shelby Farah, 20, was shot and killed during a robbery at a Brentwood Metro PCS
store last year.
A motion hearing set for Tuesday afternoon was moved to Aug. 26, and now the
judge has postponed the trial indefinitely until court records can determine if
Rhodes is mentally able to stand trial.
Waiting for justice is beginning to take a toll on Shelby Farah's mother,
Darlene Farah.
"We just want it to be over with so we can try to move on with our lives, and
school's about to start and just the suspense of knowing what's going to happen
- it's about to drive me crazy," said Darlene Farah.
Darlene Farah told News4Jax that she wants to be at every hearing and every
court date of the man accused of killing her daughter. The defense in the case
is trying to block the state from seeking the death penalty against Rhodes.
Darlene Farah said in her eyes it can only be a death penalty case and that she
won't lose faith in the system.
"You're talking about a death penalty case," she said. "I know it's going to
take time, but every time a court date is scheduled for the motion, I think
once I get past the court hearing of knowing whether or not the state can seek
the death penalty or not, I think it's going to be a little easier."
It's been over a year since prosecutors said Rhodes killed Shelby Farah.
Darlene Farah said that she is still in pain and her daughter's death takes a
lot out of her most days.
"(I have) faith - my 2 children and a lot of people in the community that I
don't even know. I mean, they come up to me and the emotional support from the
community is just, I can't even describe it - compassionate families. Don't get
me wrong, I mean, I cry every day, but I know I have to keep fighting, but it's
hard," said Darlene Farah.
(source: News4jax.com)
**********************
Grand jury indicts Miami man in murder of 11-year-old girl
A grand jury Wednesday indicted a Miami man for 1st-degree murder in the
vicious stabbing death of an 11-year-old girl in Little Havana.
That means prosecutors can now seek the death penalty for Miguel Ruiz Lobo, 42,
for the June 25 slaying of Martha Guzman.
Authorities say Lobo, upset that his girlfriend had broken up with him, broke
into the woman's home. Martha was home and he stabbed her to death, then tried
to make it look like a suicide, according to Miami police.
Martha's mother came home to find a knife sticking out of the girl's throat.
Detectives say Lobo, in trying to make the death look like a suicide, sliced
through tendons in the girl's wrists, making it impossible for her to be able
to stab herself in the throat. Lobo's DNA was also found in skin cells under
her fingernails, suggesting she tried to fight the large man off when he
attacked.
A neighbor's surveillance video also shows Lobo entering and leaving the home
at the time the girl was believed to have been murdered, police said.
Lobo is scheduled to make an appearance Thursday in court. He is also charged
with armed burglary with assault.
(source: Miami Herald)
*************************
10 years later: XBox murders in Deltona----Mother of victim wants people to
remember her daughter
10 years ago today, 6 people were found beaten to death inside a Deltona home,
in one of the worst mass murders in Central Florida history.
On August 6, 2004, 4 men burst into a home on Telford Lane and beat the victims
and a dog to death with baseball bats.
The crime became known as the XBox murders, because the accused mastermind,
Troy Victorino, had gone to the house to get his XBox and other items after he
was caught squatting in the home.
"It's unbelievable that it's already been 10 years because she's still gone,"
said Kay Shukwit, the mother of one of the victims, Michelle Nathan.
Shukwit couldn't stop smiling when she talked about her daughter. She still
remembered her love for animals, her dream job of becoming a veterinarian and
her vibrant personality.
"She was always happy, smiling, having fun," Shukwit said.
Shukwit said being close to her children and grandkids makes the healing
process easier but knowing her killers are still alive, doesn't take away the
pain completely.
"They're still breathing, they're still eating, they're still watching TV. If
their family comes to visit, they can still see their child, their brother,"
she said. "I get to go visit mine in Orange City, sitting on a bench and my
child is in the grave."
Victorino, along with Jerone Hunter, were found guilty and sentenced to death.
The 2 others involved are serving life sentences. Victorino appealed his death
sentence but lost.
(source: clickorlando.com)
ALABAMA:
Sentencing phase continues in Harrison capital murder retrial
James Harrison Jr. was back in court on Wednesday morning, Aug. 6, for the
sentencing phase of the retrial.
On Aug. 5, 2014 Harrison was charged once again with Capital Murder and 1st
Degree Robbery. Now, the State and the Defense are meeting in the Russell
County Courtroom to find an appropriate punishment.
The 2 possible outcomes are life in prison without parole, or the death
penalty.
Harrison already escaped a death penalty back in 2001. He was convicted of
murder and sentenced to death, but was granted a retrial based on juror
misconduct.
Harrison brutally murdered and slashed the throat of Fred Day Jr., a disabled
Phenix City man, in Jan. 13, 1998. During the court session, Harrison was found
guilty of murdering Day, and robbing him of his CD's and other items in order
to pawn and purchase cocaine and other drugs.
Ken Davis with the State asked the Jury to uphold Harrison's death penalty
sentence. Davis explained That the State is not in the business of revenge, but
entitled to justice in any given case. He reminded the jury the murder took
place during the course of a robbery and this is a qualifying crime in Alabama
for death penalty.
On the other hand, Jeremy Armstrong with the Defense called Joanne Terrell, a
University of Alabama professor and social worker, to the witness stand.
Although Terrell cannot diagnose anyone with mental illness, she provided 35
death penalty mitigation cases across the state of Alabama.
She explained the risk factors of what might have led Harrison to become the
man he is today.
Terrell interviewed Harrison and his siblings in 2005, and again in 2014. She
says Harrison and his brother and sisters moved from foster home to foster home
while growing up. His 3 sisters were sexually abused by their step father, and
all the children were verbally and physically abused by their step father and
their biological parents.
Terrell explained Harrison grew up in a threatening and dangerous environment.
She explained by the time Harrison was in 10th grade, he had already gone to 20
different schools, because he had to move often.
Terrell said Harrison and his siblings didn't have the support they needed from
their parents, they didn't have mentors or friends.
Terrell also said Harrison had no prior records of violence and crime before
the murder. He was charged for receiving stolen property when Harrison worked
in Louisiana for stealing about 8 cans of vegetables.
However, Ken Davis explained during his cross examination that one of
Harrison's ex-wives filed a report against Harrison for holding a knife to her
throat and threatening her life.
Harrison was married 3 times, and had 4 kids he has not seen or heard from in
years.
Terrell told Davis she did not know about this fact, but it does not surprise
her since victims of domestic violence often end up showing violent behavior to
their family members.
Harrison's 2 sisters and his brother were called to the stand to share their
testimonies of their traumatizing childhood as well. The siblings recalled
running away from home to avoid sexual and physical abuse. They spoke about
some scary incidents they faced when they were placed in different foster
homes.
Armstrong told the jury the defense is not trying to excuse Harrison of his
murder. However, he wants to save the down trodden and the outcast. Armstrong
told the jury Harrison has value, and people should not play God.
Davis then reminded the jury that Fred Day Jr. had nothing to do with causing
his death. Davis explained Harrison is charged with capital murder for
something he deliberately did, and the death penalty would help bring justice
for Day and his family.
The jury could not decide on Harrison's sentence on Wednesday evening, and
requested to be back in session Thursday morning, Aug. 7, to decide on
Harrison's appropriate punishment.
(source: WTVM news)
LOUISIANA:
In rush to find lethal injection drug, prison officials turned to a hospital
In January, as the date of Christopher Sepulvado's execution approached, the
Louisiana Department of Corrections did not have the drugs it needed to carry
out his death sentence.
So the state turned to a supplier that uses hydromorphone to relieve patients'
suffering, not to kill them: Lake Charles Memorial Hospital.
"We assumed the drug was for one of their patients, so we sent it. We did not
realize what the focus was," said Ulysses Gene Thibodeaux, a board member for
the private, nonprofit hospital and chief judge of the Third Circuit Court of
Appeal.
"Had we known of the real use," he said, "we never would have done it."
The Department of Corrections bought 20 vials of the drug on Jan. 28, a week
before Sepulvado's scheduled execution, according to a document provided by the
state in a lawsuit challenging its lethal-injection practice.
Until now, the source of those vials has not been publicly known.
Thibodeaux said it's routine for hospital pharmacies to supply drugs to other
pharmacies, including those run by the state, for their patients.
"We never inquire into the purpose for it. We assume it's for legitimate and
noble purposes," Thibodeaux said. "We have assurances from our CEO, who is a
very forthright guy, that this will not happen again."
State officials with the Louisiana Department of Corrections did not respond to
repeated requests to comment for this story. Sepulvado's lawyers declined to
comment.
Sepulvado wasn't executed on Feb. 5. After a botched execution in Oklahoma, the
state agreed to delay his execution for 6 months as it considered alternative
methods. A status conference on his lawsuit has been set for November.
Drugs expired as execution was delayed
Sepulvado was convicted in 1993 for killing his 6-year-old stepson by beating
him with a screwdriver and submerging his body in scalding water. Over the
years, his attorneys have delayed his execution by arguing that the state's
death penalty practices could violate his constitutional protection against
cruel and unusual punishment.
After several delays, his execution was rescheduled for early February. 3 weeks
before the state was supposed to carry out his death sentence, it didn't have
the drug it needed. Its supply of pentobarbital had expired in September.
Throughout the fall, the state had scrambled to procure lethal injection drugs.
Other states were having trouble finding them, too, after drug manufacturers
refused to sell to prisons and current supplies started to expire.
At one point, the Louisiana Department of Corrections considered ordering
pentobarbital from an Oklahoma compounding pharmacy - which would have been
illegal because the pharmacy wasn't licensed in Louisiana.
Then, 9 days before Sepulvado's Feb. 5 execution date, the state announced it
had approved another method to put him to death. The new combination was
hydromorphone and midazolam, the same drugs that had just been used in the
prolonged execution of Ohio inmate Dennis McGuire.
Drug obtained days before scheduled execution
There was one problem with the alternate method: The state Department of
Corrections apparently didn't have hydromorphone, either. However, it did have
midazolam, a sedative commonly in stock at pharmacies.
A few days later - 5 days before the execution - Department of Corrections
spokeswoman Pam Laborde said the agency had the 2 drugs it needed to kill
Sepulvado.
The department wouldn't say where they came from. A federal judge ordered it to
reveal the supplier to Sepulvado's lawyers, but the department requested the
information remain under seal.
Now, 2 people - Thibodeaux and a source that refused to be identified - say the
state got its hydromorphone from Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. The Lens also
reviewed a document that confirmed the source of the drug.
According to documents shared with Sepulvado's lawyers, the drugs were sent to
Elayn Hunt Correctional Center's Medical Unit, which the state describes the
site as a "medical facility for seriously or chronically ill offenders."
Properly permitted hospital pharmacies like the one at Lake Charles Memorial
can legally supply medications to other pharmacies, as long as the drugs are
for a hospital patient, according to Malcolm Broussard, executive director of
the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy.
The supplying pharmacy wouldn't need a prescription for that particular
patient. Those rules apply even to highly regulated drugs such as
hydromorphone, he said.
Broussard said he didn't know enough about this particular transaction to
comment on it.
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center,
said he wasn't aware of a hospital supplying a lethal-injection drug. But it
isn't surprising, he said, because hydromorphone is "more commonly used and
would be available ... unlike some lethal injection drugs."
Nationwide, drug suppliers concealed as drugs become hard to find
Around the country, states have moved to conceal the sources of their execution
drugs.
Deborah Denno, a professor at the Fordham University School of Law and an
expert on the death penalty, said states are becoming more secretive because
the death penalty is becoming more controversial.
"The stakes are higher because the drug supplier is ... more vulnerable," Denno
said, pointing to several lengthy executions this year in Ohio, Oklahoma and
Arizona.
"They're being secretive because they know they couldn't carry out executions
otherwise," she said. "Look at the botches in 2014 alone."
Louisiana's tactics have changed in the past year and a half.
In 2013, the state identified the source of its execution drug, but refused to
say when it expired.
State officials told The Lens repeatedly that there were no records showing the
expiration date of its pentobarbital. Documents later made public showed that
wasn't true; the state apparently violated open records law by withholding the
information.
Since then, the state has disclosed expiration dates but has argued that the
source of the drugs is confidential. A state law says that the identities of
people involved in executions cannot be publicized; the state Department of
Corrections has argued that the law extends to drug manufacturers and
suppliers.
That's why the state redacted the supplier of the hydromorphone in documents
shared with Sepulvado's lawyers.
Oddly, however, the state didn't redact the name of the pharmacist at Lake
Charles Memorial who handled the order.
Should the hospital have known what the drug was for?
Denno said some states have resorted to unorthodox tactics as lethal injection
drugs become harder to obtain. But she's never heard of a state getting its
drug from a hospital.
"There's so much secrecy involved in all of this that it's really hard to tell
where the drugs are coming from," Denno said.
She said Lake Charles Memorial Hospital should have known the state prison was
looking for hydromorphone to carry out an execution.
If suppliers like the hospital don't want to be involved in executions, she
said, they could require a contract when selling drugs that could be used in
the death penalty. That contract would specifically prohibit the drug's use in
executions.
That's what drug manufacturers such as Hospira and Lundbeck have done, which
sparked the shortage of lethal-injection drugs.
"It's a slippery slope for a hospital to be the supplier," Denno said. "They
are enabling execution, no matter which way you slice it."
(source: thelensnola.org)
OHIO:
Akron death penalty case to get a new jury as well as a new
judge----Prosecutors accused the original judge of prejudice against the death
penalty
A new jury is going to be seated in a capital murder case in Akron that already
has a new judge. WKSU's M.L. Schultze has more in the latest twist in a case
that began with the murders of 4 people.
Summit County prosecutors had said the original judge in the trial of Deshanon
Haywood showed bias against using the death penalty in this case in part by
seating a juror who indicated he opposed capital punishment.
Common Pleas Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands denied any prejudice but removed
herself from the case. And that left her replacement, Paul Gallagher, to
determine if a new jury should be seated altogether. In what Gallagher himself
called an unprecedented move, he has now opted for a new jury.
Haywood and his co-defendant, Derrick Brantley, are accused of killing a rival
drug dealer and three other people in a town house in North Akron. Brantley,
who is believed to be the gunman, was tried separately and a jury recommended
he get life in prison with no chance for parole.
(source: WKSU news)
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