Oct. 22
TEXAS:
Death sentence marks 1st in Bexar County in years
For the 1st time in 6 years, a convicted killer from Bexar County has been
sentenced to death.
That sentence from a jury Tuesday was just the 2nd death sentence handed down
in the entire state of Texas this year.
The 1st earlier this month in Brazos county marked the longest the state has
gone without convicting someone to death, 10 months.
"In my opinion the jury came back with the proper verdict," said Bexar County
District Attorney Nico LaHood.
Jurors deliberated Mark Anthony Gonzalez's fate for more than a day and one of
those 12 reached out to Fox San Antonio Wednesday to provide insight into how
they reached their decision.
They said, "The natural response is to continually question yourself, pray that
you are doing the right thing and that you can live with the answers that you
gave. Not one person in that room took the decision lightly or decided in
haste."
A law passed in 2009 greatly reduced the amount of death penalty cases. We
spoke to a law professor about that law and what makes a crime eligible for
death.
"It's an extra heavy decision when you decide to have someone executed."
St. Mary's Law Professor Geary Reamey closely followed the trial and said life
sentences are more attractive to jurors now that inmates serving them are not
eligible for parole.
That was the law Reamey said passed in 2009.
The only other death sentence given this year in Texas was earlier this month
out of Brazos County Gabriel Hall, 22, convicted of murdering a retired
professor and trying to kill his disabled wife.
It's these kind of unique cases that both men said the jury will determine
require the ultimate punishment.
"This was one of those cases that was so egregious and the facts were such that
it was appropriate," said LaHood.
(source: foxsanantonio.com)
**************
Anti-death penalty argument fails
It has been awhile since commentary on capital punishment has come across our
desk, but a letter to the editor submitted to this page this week is worth a
response.
The letter referenced why the state of Nebraska (or the Legislature) was
correct in recently abolishing the death penalty.
Far be it from us to tell the good folks of the Cornhusker State how to
administer justice, but permit us to respond to the arguments in the letter
supporting this decision.
According to the letter, capital punishment "wastes millions" because it costs
more than life without parole. And why is this? If the cost of the lengthy
appeals process (which is often picked up by taxpayers) is a factor in this
determination, then this statement is correct. In the Lone Star State, the
average time on death row for an inmate before execution is almost 11 years.
Those who are so concerned about the financial impact on states when it comes
to the death penalty need to be specific. Are the legal costs associated with
the capital punishment process being included?
Another part of the argument centered around the death penalty being "applied
unfair with regard to race and economic status."
This statement paints all capital punishment cases with the same brush - and
does not represent truth or justice. For example, the state of Texas has one
execution scheduled for the rest of 2015 - Nov. 18. While the offender is a
black male, the specifics of his case should not be overlooked. This offender
was convicted of killing 3 children by burning a home in 2000. The victims were
a 7-year-old female, a 5-year-old female and a 1-year-old female. All were
black. Should race automatically be a factor in this case? We think not.
Predictably, the argument is also made that capital punishment "risks executing
innocent people." Science can help alleviate this concern. What about capital
punishment cases that include DNA evidence? In these cases, should the guilty
not face the ultimate form of punishment?
Then there is the irony of throwing abortion into the mix - "pro-life advocates
should not be about killing people." We fail to see the logic in comparing
abortion to the death penalty. One involves an innocent life, and whether that
life should be respected. The other involves justice and punishment. We worry
about those who cannot comprehend the difference between the 2.
Hopefully, Texas will not follow in Nebraska's footsteps.
(source: Editorial, Amarillo Globe-News)
*********************
Texas Poised to See New Low in Death Sentences
Gabriel Hall and James Calvert were the 1st inmates received on Texas' death
row in 2015.
Texas is on track to see fewer death sentences handed down in 2015 than in any
other year since the state's death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
In the last 2 weeks, 2 new inmates arrived on Texas' death row - the state's
1st 2 death sentences of 2015. A jury sentenced a man to death in a 3rd case.
But he is awaiting a competency trial, so that sentence is unofficial.
Kathryn Kase, executive director of Texas Defender Service, a nonprofit
organization of death penalty attorneys, said that there is one new death
penalty trial underway and another case "threatening to go" for a death
penalty.
"That's a very low number [of cases] for Texas," Kase said. "We see fewer cases
overall going to the death penalty across the country, and that's no different
in Texas."
In 2011, 8 people were sentenced to death in Texas, currently the lowest number
for any full calendar year, according to TDCJ.
(source: Texas Tribune)
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Michael Addison Asks U.S. Supreme Court To Review Capital Murder Conviction
New Hampshire's only death row inmate Michael Addison is asking the United
States Supreme Court to review the state court's decision to uphold his
conviction of capital murder.
In a petition filed by his attorney, Addison argues that in allowing and
refusing certain pieces of evidence during trial, the New Hampshire Supreme
Court violated the eighth amendment of the US Constitution, which protects
citizens from cruel and unusual punishment.
Although the likelihood of a review by the nation's highest court is slim, New
Hampshire Public Defender David Rothstein says he will pursue all avenues,
particularly when a defendant faces the death penalty.
"This is a step that is available to us," Rothstein says, "and we're hopeful
that the Supreme Court will see fit to review Michael Addison's case."
In a recent dissent, Justices Breyer and Ginsberg expressed an interest in
reconsidering the constitutionality of the death penalty, generally. In
Addison's petition, Rothstein argues this New Hampshire case could be an
opportunity for the highest court to do just that.
(source: nhpr.org)
MASSACHUSETTS:
Bill seeks to reinstate death penalty in Massachusetts
Although capital punishment has been outlawed in Massachusetts, lawmakers are
considering a bill that would bring the death penalty back to the Commonwealth.
The legislation, sponsored by Massachusetts Rep. James Miceli, would allow
judges to sentence criminals convicted of aggravated crimes, such as 1st-degree
murder, to death by lethal injection. It would also provide those convicted
with the qualified legal counsel needed for the appeal process.
"Where a person is convicted or pleads guilty to a crime which is punishable by
death, a sentence of death shall not be imposed unless ... the jury finds that
there is conclusive scientific evidence, including physical or other
associative evidence, enabling it to reach a high level of scientific certainty
connecting the defendant to the crime," the bill states.
The bill was heard by the Joint Committee of the Judiciary of the Massachusetts
State Legislature on Oct. 14.
The last executions in Massachusetts took place in 1947 after 2 men were
convicted of murdering a former U.S. Marine. In 1982, the death penalty was
reinstated before being ruled unconstitutional in 1984. A previous attempt to
reinstate the death penalty arose in 1997 after the rape and murder of a
10-year-old boy in Cambridge.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was sentenced to death in May for his role in the 2013
Boston Marathon bombings, was only able to receive capital punishment because
his was involved in a federal case. Tsarnaev is currently serving time at the
U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado.
Once an individual is found guilty "of murder committed with deliberately
premeditated malice aforethought or murder with extreme atrocity," a
pre-sentence hearing will be held to determine punishment, according to the
bill.
Following the pre-sentence hearing, the judge will instruct the jury about
whether or not to impose the death penalty, the bill states. If the death
penalty is chosen, the decision must be unanimous or the defendant will receive
a life sentence.
Daniel Medwed, a professor from the Northeastern University School of Law,
expressed doubts about the law's viability. He said capital punishment lacks
national support because people are worried about fairness in how it is
administered.
"Support for capital punishment is waning nationwide largely due to concerns
about racially discriminatory application and the risk of executing an innocent
inmate," Medwed said.
Medwed added that Massachusetts lacks its usual liberal stance on the policy of
capital punishment.
"Massachusetts, while renowned for its liberalism, is not always a font of
progressivism when it comes to criminal justice," Medwed said.
Lisa Arrowood, president of the Boston Bar Association, said the association
does not support capital punishment because it is "fundamentally inconsistent
with the fair administration of justice."
"We are proud that Massachusetts has for decades resisted any effort to
reinstate the death penalty, and that the national trend is clearly away from
capital punishment, as more and more states have come to recognize these
fundamental flaws," Arrowood said in a statement.
Approximately 55 % of Massachusetts residents said they oppose the death
penalty, while 30 % support it, according to an April poll conducted by the
Boston Globe and Sage Systems, LLC.
Several residents expressed their distaste for the reinstatement of capital
punishment, while some expressed the need for such measures in cases of extreme
violence or terrorism.
Peter Bent, 21, of Allston, said he does not believe a judge should have the
power to end someone's life.
"I don't think a judge should have the power to say who lives and who dies, and
the cost of an inmate on death row with all the appeals and everything is very
high," he said.
Brittany McLaughlin, 26, of Brighton, expressed mixed feelings about capital
punishment, but noted how significant the reinstatement of the death penalty
would be.
"Our prison system doesn't really do justice at punishing people. Capital
punishment can have its benefits, but at the same time it's a cruelty to an
injustice," she said. "It would bring about a whole bunch of different
religious and cultural differences and opinions regarding whether we should be
killing people for their injustices. It would be something to talk about."
(source: Daily Free Press)
FLORIDA:
Gary Hilton Claims Mental Illness Should Bar His Execution
Convicted serial killer Gary Michael Hilton will have a chance to argue he's
exempt from execution due to mental illness.
Hilton is on death row for kidnapping and killing Crawfordville Sunday School
teacher and FSU nurse Cheryl Dunlap in 2007.
His latest appeal is set to be heard in January.
Today a judge threw out Hilton's claims that Florida's death penalty is cruel
and unusual punishment because it only requires a majority vote. Prosecutors
pointed out the jury in Hilton's case unanimously recommended a death sentence.
The judge did say he will hold another hearing to consider Hilton's mental
illness claims and whether they should bar the state from executing him.
(source: WCTV news)
ARKANSAS:
Examining the death penalty
On Oct. 9th, an Arkansas judge made the decision to halt 2 executions scheduled
for Oct. 21st. On Oct. 20th, the Supreme Court of Arkansas threw out the
judge's decision but granted their own stay to the 8 inmates scheduled for
execution.
I actually sat in on an Arkansas Supreme Court hearing earlier this year when I
took a trip with my Judicial Process class, and the case they heard that day
was an appealed case of 1 of the men who was scheduled to be executed on
Wednesday.
The executions were halted over controversy created by Arkansas' new law that
says the source of lethal injection drugs are not required to be disclosed to
the public. The 31 states that allow the death penalty have been scrambling to
find these drugs ever since European pharmaceutical companies stopped selling
their products to the U.S. 4 years ago. This has caused many prison systems to
turn to companies lightly regulated to obtain their lethal injection drugs. My
major is public administration, and I'm highly interested in working for the
government as a career. One of the areas that I'm particularly interested in is
the criminal justice system, and secrecy about executions and lethal injection
drugs are just the tip of the iceberg for me.
I strongly oppose the use of the death penalty, but I think that if your state
has chosen to use it, then they need to do so responsibly. The public needs to
know exactly where the government is getting their lethal injection drugs and
exactly what's in them. It's likely that executions around the country are
being botched without our knowledge. I can't assume that the drugs being used
are "humane." I'm very skeptical of the fact that these pieces of information
are being hidden.
Not only does capital punishment fail at deterring heinous crimes, states that
do not impose the death penalty have lower rates of murders. If you want to
disregard the morality (or lack there of) of the death penalty and you're
purely concerned about your tax dollars, consider this: In Washington state, it
costs $1.7 million dollars total, including court and detention costs, to
execute a person. Keeping a person in prison for life would cost $1.3 million.
I believe that the death penalty, no matter how a person is executed, violates
our 8th Amendment right that protects us against cruel and unusual punishment.
Batman was not the real hero of "The Dark Knight;" The Joker was. This may
sound crazy, but just hear me out. At the beginning of the movie, the Joker had
three goals: to get rid of the corrupt police system, to get rid of the
high-level crime, and to get rid of Batman. Fast-forward to the end of the
movie. The police chief is replaced, all of the gangsters are gone, and Batman
goes into hiding. I'm not defending the steps the Joker took to complete his
goals; I'm just saying that the man knows how to stick to a plan.
The Romantic period of time introduced a type of literature that made the
simple, every-day, normal man the hero of his own little story. From a very
young age, we are taught there are such things as "good guys" and "bad guys."
In middle school, we were trained to pick out the protagonist and the
antagonist from our chapter-books. I hate to break it to you, but there's no
such thing as a bad guy, just a character that the author decides not to focus
on.
People make choices in life, and sometimes those choices wind them up in jail.
Jean Valjean was not solely a criminal; he stole the loaf of bread to feed his
family. Yes, he committed a crime, but that does not inherently make him a bad
person. Murder is wrong unless the person in question is a "bad guy," right?
Wrong. Murder is always wrong. You do not have claim over that person's life
even if they have unlawfully taken someone else's.
(source: Hannah Moore, The (Harding Univ.) Link)
******************
Former Officer Talks Stayed Death Penalty Case
Reading off a police report from August 11th, 1989 a former officer recounts a
murder that shook the community.
It started with call for help from a fellow officer.
"He got on the radio and said that he was at the Jackpot, and he couldn't find
the clerk," said retired Little Rock Police Officer Scott Stubenrauch.
It was 2:30 in the morning and Stubenrauch headed to the gas station off Rodney
Parham Rd.
The 1st officer at the scene found Bruce Ward coming out of the bathroom and
asked Stubenrauch to watch Ward while the officer investigated.
"He came out pistol drawn and said 'put your hands up,'" Stubenrauch said of
the officer. "He had found her and she looked dead in the bathroom."
"The victim was 18-year-old Rebecca Doss who Stubenrauch described as a "very
sweet girl."
Stubenrauch is retired now but was called to court multiple times to testify
about what he saw.
Ward was convicted of Capital Murder and sentenced to death.
He was scheduled to receive the lethal injection Wednesday evening, but an
Arkansas Supreme Court stay put a hold on executions pending a lawsuit filed by
inmates.
12 years before Ward was arrested in this case, he was convicted of Voluntary
Manslaughter for the murder of a Pennsylvania woman.
Still, Stubenrauch is among those who want to see the sentence carried out.
"There's evil in this world," he said. Some people just don't deserve to
breathe our air and Bruce Ward is one of them."
(source: arkansasmatters.com)
UTAH:
Lawmakers consider eliminating the death penalty in Utah
A legislative committee has launched a discussion about whether the death
penalty should be eliminated in Utah, less than a year since lawmakers passed a
bill bringing back the firing squad.
At a hearing Wednesday, the Utah State Legislature's Interim Judiciary
Committee broached the subject of ending capital punishment in the state. Sen.
Mark Madsen, R-Saratoga Springs, said lawmakers' positions on the death penalty
"are evolving."
"There's some new aspects of reality that I've become aware of that have led me
to take a different look at this issue," Sen. Madsen said.
The hearing comes about nine months after the legislature passed a bill
bringing the firing squad back as a secondary method of execution in the state.
Lethal injection remains the primary method. However, the Utah Department of
Corrections has said it currently does not have the drugs required to carry out
a lethal injection execution.
Lawmakers on Wednesday discussed botched executions in other states, wrongful
convictions, years of appeals and the cost to taxpayers. Rep. Stephen Handy,
R-Layton, said appeals cost a lot more than incarcerating an inmate for life.
"The incremental costs of taking these endless appeals, publicly financed
appeals for the most part, is $1.66 million in the state of Utah, per
individual," he told the committee, adding that taxpayers spent $1.7 million
each year to fight those appeals.
The Rocky Mountain Innocence Center, which advocates for inmates wrongfully
convicted, called on lawmakers to end the death penalty in Utah.
"A repeal of the death penalty or at the very least a moratorium will allow
policy makers like yourselves to engage experts from all areas of the criminal
justice system," said RMIC's Jensie Anderson.
Lawmakers were divided.
"There's a long list of reasons why I find the death penalty objectionable,"
said House Minority Leader Brian King, D-Salt Lake City.
Rep. Dixon Pitcher, R-Ogden, said he was glad to see a discussion started, but:
"I would be opposed to taking it off the table."
The Utah Attorney General's Office said it would weigh in on capital punishment
and whether it should be repealed during future hearings. While Sen. Madsen
pushed for the discussion and said he supported the idea of a repeal of capital
punishment, he told FOX 13 he was not planning to run a bill.
Neither was Rep. Handy.
"Bottom line in my mind is I just don???t see, unfortunately too much of an
appetite to ban the death penalty," Handy said.
(source: Fox news)
******************
Utah latest red state grappling with death penalty
For the 1st time in years, Utah lawmakers are debating the merits of the death
penalty, with some conservative Republican legislators questioning whether the
cost and risk of executing innocent people argued for doing away with
executions in the state.
''I'd pull the switch if I knew the person was guilty, and I have no problem
with an eye for an eye,'' said Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Saratoga Springs. ''But it
is not a conservative value to have blind, slavish faith in government and to
assume that they'll always get it right just because they have a badge or work
in the prosecutor's office and we've invested them with a lot of authority.''
Members of the Legislature's Judiciary Interim Committee heard from a pair of
legislators in Nebraska about why that state recently abolished capital
punishment, and critics of the death penalty who said the cost is exorbitant
and the risk of executing innocent people is very real.
Madsen, the committee chairman, described his own evolution on the issue, to
the point where he would support following the lead of legislatures in other
states and do away with the death penalty.
Other states are already moving in that direction.
Last week, Ohio Gov. John Kasich granted a reprieve to inmates scheduled for
execution in 2016, since the state has been unable to obtain the drugs used in
lethal injections.
The attorney general in Oklahoma announced a one-year moratorium on executions
after it was found the state used the wrong drug in its most recent case.
Earlier this month, a judge in Montana blocked executions in that state for the
same reason.
And the Nebraska Legislature repealed the death penalty earlier this year, but
a petition drive seeking to reverse the move has blocked the repeal from taking
effect until after the 2016 election.
Nebraska Republican Sen. Brett Lindstrom told the committee by phone that he
supported the death penalty a year ago, but botched executions in other states
and concerns about the cost and false convictions led him to a change of heart.
"It just wasn't something that was working all that well in the state of
Nebraska," he said.
Earlier this year, a divided U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of particular
drugs in lethal injections. The court has already heard one death-penalty
challenge in Kansas earlier this month and is scheduled to hear a Florida
challenge later this term.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said the court has made it "practically
impossible to impose [the death penalty], but we have not formally held it to
be unconstitutional," and that "it wouldn't surprise me" if the death penalty
was done away with by the court.
The prospects for such a major shift among Utah's conservative Legislature are
unclear, and neither Madsen nor any other Utah lawmaker is currently sponsoring
a bill to end the death penalty.
"I don't think Utahns think that much about the death penalty because it hardly
ever happens in our state, but when it does, it's a horrific thing," said Rep.
Steve Handy, R-Layton. But he acknowledged polls continue to show public
support for the practice. "I don't see - and I'm going to say, unfortunately -
too much of an appetite to ban the death penalty."
Handy cited figures he had prepared by legislative analysts in 2012 that showed
executing a hypothetical 25-year-old convict would cost the state $1.6 million
more than it would cost to incarcerate the same inmate for the rest of his or
her life. And the state, at that time, spent $1.75 million a year handling
death-row appeals.
More compelling to several lawmakers, was the risk of wrongly executing an
inmate.
Jensie Anderson from the Rocky Mountain Innocence Project said there are
estimates that 4 % of those on death row in the United States are innocent.
Since 1973, there have been 156 death-row convicts who have been exonerated - 1
exoneration for every 9 inmates put to death.
(source: Salt Lake Tribune)
NEVADA:
Prosecution rests, defense next in Las Vegas Strip shooting-fireball death
penalty trial
The prosecution rested Wednesday in the death-penalty trial of a self-described
pimp accused of killing 3 people in a shooting and fiery crash on the Las Vegas
Strip.
The defense begins Thursday, with a judge telling Ammar Harris he has to decide
whether to testify or not.
The Clark County District Court jury has heard testimony and seen video
evidence blaming Harris for a vehicle-to-vehicle shooting, a high-speed crash
and a fireball that left 3 people dead.
Harris has claimed self-defense in the February 2013 incident.
He's accused of fatally shooting the driver of a Maserati that slammed into a
taxi that burst into flames, killing 2 other people.
Harris maintains that someone in the Maserati shot at him.
But police didn't find a weapon in the wrecked sports car.
(source: Associated Press)
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