Feb. 24
TEXAS:
Pope tells Austin bishop not to 'give up fight' against death penalty
During his trip to the U.S.-Mexico border last week, Pope Francis told Austin
bishops to "not lose heart or give up the fight" against the death penalty,
auxiliary Bishop Daniel Garcia said Tuesday.
Garcia was one of several people with the diocese who traveled to the border
city of Ju1rez to see the pope on Feb. 17 at the end of his 6-day tour through
Mexico. The diocese's delegation shared details of its trip in a press
conference Tuesday.
On Sunday, Francis issued a call to all world leaders to put up a moratorium on
the death penalty until November. Garcia said the pope brought up the issue
with him last week when he told Francis he lived in Texas.
"His comment to me was very direct," Garcia said. "He said, 'Do not lose heart
or give up the fight in fighting against the death penalty. Do not lose heart,
do not lose hope. I know it's difficult, it's an uphill challenge, but we have
to continue to bring people hope.'"
"He was very much encouraging. He wasn't angry when he said it, he wasn't
trying to create turmoil," Garcia added. "He was just saying that as pastors,
as shepherds, we have to be the voice of the people - oftentimes for the voices
that are not heard."
Garcia said he didn't say much to the pope.
"I just basically listened," he said, laughing.
Pope Francis visited a prison in Juarez and spent time with the inmates while
he was there.
Another person affiliated with the Diocese of Austin - Gerardo Ramos, the
director of music at St. William Church in Round Rock, who grew up in Juarez -
traveled to border for the papal visit as well. He sang in the choir during the
Mass that Francis celebrated and had the chance to perform a solo.
Performing during the Mass was "a moment of peace," Ramos said.
"When I started singing, it was this moment of joy," he said. "It's something
that's very indescribable."
Jorge Nunez, case manager for the Austin Diocese's Office of Canonical Tribunal
Services, also traveled to Ju???rez to see the pope and said he was touched to
hear Francis address the city's history of drug violence during Mass.
"It really hit home for me because I have family in Mexico who were severely
affected by the violence there," Nunez said.
(source: Austin American-Statesman)
NORTH CAROLINA:
NC Shift from Death Penalty? Life Sentence in Wake County Murder
He was convicted of murdering a Raleigh mother of 2 in her apartment, but
Travion Smith will not face the death penalty. A Wake County jury on Monday
instead opted for the convicted killer to spend life in prison without the
possibility of parole.
It marks the 6th time in a row that the Wake County prosecutor's office pursued
the death penalty in a capital murder case, only to have the jury return a life
sentence, prompting the district attorney to speak publicly on the future of
the death penalty in North Carolina, said Gretchen Engel, executive director of
the Center for Death Penalty Litigation.
"She spoke of the need to maybe reconsider and take another look at what are we
doing? What's the best allocation of resources? How do we keep the public safe
and discharge our obligation to punish crimes? And maybe the death penalty is
not part of that mix," Engel said.
Currently, 152 offenders are on North Carolina's death row, but there hasn't
been an execution in the state since 2006. No new death sentences were handed
down last year in the Tar Heel State.
In addition to a demonstrated statewide shift away from the use of the death
penalty, Pope Francis said on Tuesday that the death penalty is "against God's
plan" and called for an end to the punishment worldwide.
Supporters of the death penalty have said it is needed for the harshest of
crimes. Engel said it's also important to note that a life-in-prison sentence
represents a harsh punishment for Smith.
"There are very strict rules in prison and none of us would trade our liberty
for that punishment," she said. "This is not a holiday camp, this is a very
serious punishment. As is appropriate, what happened to Melissa Huggins Jones
is horrifying."
Engel said the Smith case is another indication that the public is telling law
enforcement and the courts that life in prison without parole is sufficiently
harsh, and justice and public safety don't require the death penalty.
(source: publicnewsservice.org)
GEORGIA:
Co-defendant faces death penalty for 2007 College Park teen stabbings
A 2nd man will face the death penalty if convicted for his role in the 2007
stabbing deaths of 2 College Park teenagers, officials said.
2 cousins, 13-year-old Chrisondra Sierra Kimble and 15-year-old Delarlonva
"Del" Mattox Jr., were brutally stabbed to death after walking to a
neighborhood store to buy snacks, Fulton County District Attorney Paul L.
Howard, Jr. said.
Family members reported the teens missing April 5, 2007, after the pair never
returned home.
After searching, Kimble's mother found the teens' naked bodies the next day in
a wooded area behind Bethune Elementary School in Fulton County, Howard said.
Investigators later arrested Jermy Moody and William Felts in connection with
the murders.
A jury for Felts was selected Feb. 8, Howard said.
He is charged with 2 counts of murder, 2 counts of felony murder, 2 counts of
aggravated assault with intent to rob, 2 counts of kidnapping with bodily
injury and 1 count of rape.
If convicted, the state has announced its intent to request the death penalty,
Howard said.
Co-defendent Jeremy Moody in 2013 pleaded guilty to multiple counts of murder,
aggravated assault, kidnapping with injury and aggravated assault with the
intent to rob and rape in connection with the slayings.
6 charges - 2 each for murder, felony murder and kidnapping - carry maximum
penalties of death by lethal injection and the jury for Moody found for death
in each of the murder charges.
(source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
FLORIDA:
Victim's mother urges State Attorney Angela Corey to take death penalty off the
table
There's a new push from the public defender's office to take the death penalty
off the table in the case of James Xavier Rhodes, 24. It's an idea the victim's
mother, Darlene Farah, supports as well.
"I feel like the public defender's office is more compassionate about the
situation than the state attorney's office. I feel like they care more about
what we're going through," Farah said.
A judge is scheduled to take up several death penalty issues related to the
case at a hearing Wednesday afternoon.
Last week, public defender Matt Shirk sent a letter to State Attorney Angel
Corey asking her office to reconsider seeking the death penalty for Rhodes.
For the past 18 months, Shirk says Rhodes has been willing to plead guilty to
all charges related to Shelby's death. In return, he'd get 2 consecutive life
sentences without parole for first degree murder and armed robbery, plus an
additional 20 years in prison for aggravated assault and possession of a
firearm by a convicted felon.
"The state is not helping. I'm trying to get the family back together, trying
to get control of my life back. I feel like they have control of my life,"
Farah said.
Shirk said Rhodes would also waive his right to appeal his case in the future.
Police say Rhodes shot and killed Shelby Farah, 20, during a robbery at the
Metro PSC store on North Main Street where she worked in 2013. Police say
Rhodes shot the victim after she handed him the cash he asked for.
Shirk lists several reasons why the SAO should consider the deal, including the
fact that this is what Darlene Farah, Shelby's mother, wants out of the case.
Her death has been hard on the entire Farah family, including her younger
sister who is getting ready to graduate from high school.
"She just mentioned to me the other day she wished Shelby was here to help her
pick out her prom dress," Farah said.
Farah says she wants some measure of closure. She's worried about decades worth
of litigation if prosecutors are able to secure a death penalty recommendation.
Shirk writes, "I believe that with every motion, petition or appeal filed on
Mr. Rhodes' behalf, she will relive the pain and loss she has felt since losing
Shelby."
Shirk also points out the uncertainty surrounding Florida's death penalty. The
legislature is currently rewriting the death penalty law after the U.S. Supreme
Court recently ruled that the current method is unconstitutional. Shirk writes,
"Assuming the legislature is able to pass legislation prior to Mr. Rhodes'
trial, Mr. Rhodes' case will be one of the 1st death penalty trials in Florida
under new sentencing procedures. As such, if your office secures a death
verdict, there will be years of litigation centering around whether Florida's
new sentencing scheme passes constitutional muster."
Farah believes the money it would take to send Rhodes to death row could be
better used elsewhere. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, it
takes $18,000 a year to house an inmate in a Florida prison. By the times
Rhodes is 75-years-old, it would cost the state roughly $900,000 to keep him
alive.
According to a 2014 investigation by the Florida-Times Union, it would cost
much more to send him to death row, which costs about $3 million per person.
Shirk isn't against the death penalty, but says he doesn't believe this case
fits the bill.
"Personally, I believe the death penalty is a useful tool. We just don't
administer it properly in this country. We've had 26 people just here in the
state of Florida that have been exonerated from death row as innocent," Shirk
said.
The state attorney's office has aggressively prosecuted death penalty cases
since Angela Corey was sworn into office in January 2009.
Corey represents the Fourth Judicial Circuit covering Duval, Clay and Nassau
Counties. Records show her office has sent more people to death row than
another other prosecutor in the state since the start of 2009.
First Coast News requested an interview with Corey to explain her stance. A
spokesperson sent us the following statement:
"The State is still seeking the death penalty in this case. The State is in the
process of filing a formal response regarding the death penalty motions filed
by the Defendant. Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda will address the
various motions in the appropriate venue, the courtroom. The hearing is set for
Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Due to this being a pending matter, it would be
inappropriate to comment further."
Rhodes is scheduled to go to trial in May.
(source: First Coast News)
***************
Reviving the death penalty ---- Florida needs to keep the death penalty, so the
Legislature is wisely working on a fix in response to a U.S. Supreme Court
ruling that called the state???s system unconstitutional.
The Florida Senate should go along with a reasonable House measure that would
revive the state's death penalty.
Just prior to the opening of the Legislature in January, the U.S. Supreme Court
threw the state's capital punishment system into jeopardy by faulting Florida
for relying too much on judges in deciding death sentences. As Justice Sonia
Sotomayor wrote, "The Sixth Amendment requires a jury, not a judge, to find
each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death."
Although the high court did not mention it, other legal experts criticized the
state for not requiring a unanimous vote for death sentences.
The state also does not require jurors to detail what aggravating factors they
found to justify a recommendation of death. Legislation adopted by the state
House last week won't satisfy death penalty critics who wanted a comprehensive
overhaul, but it does seem to address the concerns the court expressed in its
Hurst v. Florida decision.
It requires juries to unanimously agree on at least 1 aggravating factor before
the death penalty can be imposed. This should eliminate any doubt about the
jury's rationale.
It also requires at least 10 of 12 jurors to agree on a death penalty sentence.
The guilty verdict itself still must be unanimous.
Florida has been 1 of only 2 states that requires a simple majority jury vote
for a death penalty recommendation, which a judge can impose or reject under
current law.
The Florida Supreme Court has urged lawmakers in the past to consider unanimity
for death recommendations. Some critics won't be pleased with only a 10-2
requirement, which Alabama also uses. But Attorney General Pam Bondi reminds us
the death penalty vote for serial killer Ted Bundy - a monstrous example of why
the death penalty is necessary - was only 10-2. The death penalty vote for
Aileen Wuornos, another serial killer, was 10-2.
Death penalty votes for other vicious murderers, including Oscar Ray Bolin,
have not been unanimous. The 10-2 provision ensures the penalty reflects the
overwhelming sentiment of the jury, but guards against a lone holdout
subverting its decision.
The death penalty is a tough issue, and we respect those who oppose it. But we
believe there are vicious individuals whose crimes are so vile that no other
penalty is sufficient. Members of the Senate should see, as House Speaker Steve
Crisafulli says, the House legislation goes beyond what the U.S. Supreme Court
said was needed, and the "reforms will allow us to keep the death penalty in
our toolbox to punish our most violent criminals."
We believe most citizens would agree, even if reluctantly, that Florida needs
to keep the death penalty in its criminal justice toolbox.
(source: Editorial, tbo.com)
*********
No death penalty overturn for man who killed Melbourne couple
A death row prisoner who stabbed and beat a Melbourne couple to death failed to
get his death penalty overturned, despite lawyers trying to use a recent
Supreme Court decision to throw out the sentence.
Kyoko Johnson was killed on her 66th birthday, beaten and stabbed to death
along with her husband Rufus after refusing to give $5,000 to a former
neighbor's kid. That neighbor was Anthony Welch, 22, at the time. Now at age
37, he's still trying to escape the death sentence.
"If we're going to continue this case, it's just to give the state a chance to
kill one of its citizens," said defense attorney Mike Pirolo. "That is
fundamentally wrong; it's unjust; immoral."
Welch is eligible for a new sentence because of a procedural error in the
original case. Defense attorneys told Judge Charles Crawford today a Supreme
Court ruling that says the state's death penalty is not applied properly makes
it unconstitutional. That means, they say, that Welch's sentence must be
changed from death to life.
The judge didn't buy it.
"The death penalty has not been ruled unconstitutional," said judge Charles
Crawford.
Instead, he ruled, the Legislature merely needs to change the way in which
juries recommend death or life to a deciding judge.
So Welch will come back for a new sentencing afterward. And prosecutors plan to
let no one forget that Welch singled out the victims because they had been kind
to him in the past, then stole their TV and went out on a date after the
slaughter.
"The death penalty is the appropriate sentence and that's why we're continuing
to seek it. He deserved it," said prosecutor Tom Brown. "He absolutely deserved
it."
Welch could be back in the courtroom as early as April for what could be
another death sentence, once the legislature revises the law.
Prosecutors said Welch used the victims' telephone after their murders, to call
his girlfriend and arrange where the 2 would go.
(source: WESH news)
OHIO:
Ohio's former prisons chief: 'The death penalty isn't worth fixing'
Terry J. Collins was director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and
Correction from 2006 to 2010 and worked in the prison system for nearly 33
years. He is currently a member of Ohioans to Stop Executions.
It's been 6 years since I retired after more than 3 decades at the Ohio
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. I held various positions including
warden, regional director, assistant director and then director. Included in my
responsibilities was the participation in the execution of 33 men from 2001 to
2010.
With each execution I asked myself: Did the extensive process of appeals ensure
we got it right? I often wondered if we made a mistake. My curiosity arose
because I had walked people out of prison after years of incarceration who
turned out to be innocent.
Our judicial and corrections system is among the finest in the world and the
envy of nations. We provide the best attorneys, judges, and corrections
personnel anywhere. I know, and have worked closely with many of them. Yet we
continue to be one of the few industrialized nations to carry out the death
penalty even when we know mistakes happen.
Innocent People on death row
Every year, more innocent prisoners walk off death rows in the U.S. -- 156
since 1972. These troubling trends tell us this is no anomaly. Ohio has
executed 53 and exonerated nine men. I think about these statistics and am
troubled by Ohio's track record. Why? Because I'll always remember Gary Beeman,
Ohio's 1st death row exoneree, who walked out of prison to a new trial and
freedom. Turns out Gary didn't commit the crime that sent him to death row.
My concerns are not limited to the possibility of killing an innocent person.
The death penalty is expensive, inefficient and takes far too long. I believe
it only prolongs the pain and healing process for victims' families.
As one who values fairness and equality as the bedrock of our legal system, I
do not accept the argument that we only execute the worst of the worst. The
offenders in our prisons I encountered who committed unimaginable crimes were
usually not on death row. The vast majority of those on death row were
convicted under Ohio's felony murder rule, for killing someone in process of
another crime such as robbery or kidnapping.
Failed Public Policy
A recently released study examined Ohio's 53 executions. This study found that
the race of the victim and the county where the crime took place matter more
than the severity of the crime. I think these disparities are important points
of discussion regarding the use of the death penalty in Ohio.
I am not alone among corrections professionals who consider the death penalty a
failed public policy. My predecessor, former ODRC Director Dr. Reginald
Wilkinson, also opposes executions. We've joined with other former corrections
officials across our great nation asking legislators to end the death penalty.
After being quoted in my local paper in Chillicothe about my concerns with
capital punishment, I received calls from former colleagues thanking me for
saying out loud what they could not.
My concerns about the death penalty led me to join Public Safety Officials on
the Death Penalty. Public Safety Officials on the Death Penalty is an
independent group of law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and corrections
officials. We're ready to discuss concerns we share about the death penalty in
this country so that policymakers may explore alternatives. Some of us oppose
the death penalty while others support it under certain circumstances. We all
recognize problems with the current death penalty, particularly that it diverts
needed resources from policing and community safety.
A Better Alternative
I am pleased to stand with former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, another
member of Public Safety Officials on the Death Penalty. He helped write Ohio's
death penalty law as a legislator and saw 18 executions as Ohio's chief
prosecutor. Jim and I join a majority of Ohioans who believe the current
sentencing alternative of life without parole keeps Ohio communities safe. The
sentence of life without parole is effectively severe and holds offenders
accountable. Over 540 inmates are currently in custody of the Department of
Correction with sentences of life without parole.
It is time for state officials to have serious and thoughtful conversations
about whether Ohio's death penalty remains necessary. A recent task force
appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court made 56 recommendations to fix problems
with the fairness and accuracy of Ohio's system.
My experience tells me the death penalty isn't worth fixing. Our justice system
will be more fair and effective without the death penalty.
(source: WCPO news)
************
Man accused in slayings says no serial-killer comparison
A judge has granted a motion by defense attorneys that prevents prosecutors
from comparing an Ohio man who faces a capital murder trial for killing three
women with notorious Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell.
Michael Madison's trial is scheduled to begin April 4 in Cuyahoga County Common
Pleas Court. Defense attorney David Grant said last week that he made the
request, which a judge granted last week, anticipating that prosecutors might
make the comparison, which he called "irrelevant and prejudicial."
"We don't want that language used in front of a jury," Grant said.
A spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office did not respond to a
request for comment about the judge's ruling.
Sowell was sentenced to death in August 2011 for killing 11 women in a case
that captured the world's attention. An appeal of his conviction is pending.
Madison, 38, faces the death penalty if convicted. He was arrested and charged
with aggravated murder in July 2013 after the bodies of three women were found
wrapped in garbage bags in East Cleveland. Madison also is charged with
aggravated rape, kidnapping and abuse of a corpse.
Madison's defense team is awaiting a ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court about
whether prosecutors can use information gleaned from a recent psychiatric
evaluation of Madison at trial. The court in December denied defense attorneys'
efforts to stop the evaluation that prosecutors sought.
The Cuyahoga County medical examiner concluded that 2 of the women Madison is
accused of killing - Shirellda Terry, 18, and Angela Deskins, 38 - were
strangled and Shetisha Sheeley, 28, died of "homicidal violence by unspecified
means."
Madison was classified a sex offender in 2002 after being sentenced to 4 years
in prison for attempted rape.
(source: Associated Press)
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