May 2
FLORIDA:
Florida Supremes to Hear Pensacola-Related Death Row Appeal
Oral arguments are set for Thursday before the Florida Supreme Court, in the
case that forced a sentencing change in the state's death penalty procedure.
The case involves Timothy Lee Hurst, who was sentenced to death for the 1998
murder of a fast-food restaurant manager in Pensacola. In January, the U-S
Supreme Court ruled that Florida's method of imposing execution was
unconstitutional - because it gave too much power to judges rather than juries.
Among those in the gallery watching the proceeding will be Bill Eddins, the
State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit - and whose office prosecuted the
case.
"The Attorney General's Office argues the death penalty cases that go on
appeal," Eddins said. "However, because of the importance of the Timothy Hurst
case to this office individually, as well as to all the other death penalty
cases pending in the First Circuit, I'm going to be present."
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Hurst prompted the Florida Legislature to
modify the death penalty sentencing law in this year's session, which was
quickly signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott. It requires a unanimous vote by a
jury that there are aggravating circumstances, which make the defendant
eligible for the death penalty.
"The 2nd thing that changed is [the jury] must recommend that by a
super-majority of 10-2 that the person receive the death penalty before the
defendant is eligible to receive the death penalty. Then the judge will review
all the facts and circumstances."
If at that point the death penalty is not applicable, the judge can still
impose life in prison without parole.
Thursday's arguments before the state's high court are expected to focus on
Hurst's contention that he should be given life without instead of facing
execution, because he received his death sentence under what his attorneys call
an "unconstitutional process."
Calls to Public Defender Bruce Miller, whose office is representing Hurst,
seeking an interview were not returned.
When that ruling comes down, how will that affect the other 390 or so inmates
on Florida's death row? Eddins believes all murder cases that have already been
adjudicated should not be affected by that, or by the new law.
"That matter has been argued before the Florida Supreme Court, and they have
not made a written ruling on that at this time," said Eddins. "It appears
that's going to be a close decision."
(source: WUWF news)
ALABAMA:
U.S. Supreme Court tells Alabama appeals court to reconsider death penalty
The U.S. Supreme Court has directed that an Alabama appeals court reconsider a
death penalty case in light of its January 2016 ruling that found Florida's
death penalty system is unconstitutional.
That ruling in Hurst vs. Florida, faulted Florida for letting a judge, not a
jury, determine the punishment. The court found that system unconstitutional.
Today, the high court directed the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to
reconsider the death sentence for Bart Johnson, who was convicted in 2011 of
killing a Pelham Police Department officer in 2009. The court's order said the
appeals court should consider the case, "in light of Hurst vs. Florida."
Alabama's death penalty system is very similar to Florida's. Today's order
could have far-reaching implications for the state's death penalty system.
The Alabama Attorney General's office has argued the Florida ruling doesn't
apply to Alabama since a jury - even if it recommends against a death sentence
- has to find an aggravating factor in order to convict a defendant of capital
murder.
Under Alabama's death penalty system the same jury that convicts someone of
capital murder is then asked to consider aggravating and mitigating factors in
determining if the death penalty or life in prison without parole is the right
sentence.
Alabama law requires 10 out of 12 jurors for a death penalty recommendation.
But either way, the judge gets the final say on sentencing and can overrule the
jury's recommendation.
10 of 12 jurors in the Johnson case recommended the death penalty and the judge
agreed.
(source: WHNT news)
LOUISIANA:
Study urges review of state's death penalty system
A new study published by the Southern University Law Center revealed serious
flaws with the Louisiana death penalty system, with reversals 4 times more
likely than an execution since capital punishment was reinstated in the state
in 1976.
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill political science professor Frank
Baumgartner and New Orleans documentation specialist Tim Lyman conducted the
study, which will appear in volume 7 of The Journal of Race, Gender, and
Poverty.
"The results of this research should prompt an immediate review of Louisiana's
death penalty system given the extremely high error rate and the troubling role
of race in the system," Lyman said.
From 1976 to August 2015, juries handed down death sentences for 241 crimes,
almost all murders. From 1976 to 2011, the FBI reported 20,942 criminal
homicides in Louisiana. The numbers mean the death penalty has been imposed in
approximately 1 % of homicides. But executions have only been carried out in
roughly 10 % of these, for a total of 1/10 of a % of all murders.
Of 241 death penalty cases, 155 (64%) have been resolved.
Resolved means the appeals are over and the inmate has either been executed or
released from death row.
Of those 155, 82 % have been reversed.
Just 28 cases (18 % ) resulted in an execution.
50 reversals took place between 2001 and August 2015, with another 3 occurring
after that time period.
According to the study, 6 % of the resolved cases, about one in 15, resulted in
an exoneration, where the accused has been freed from death row because of a
wrongful conviction.
It concludes that one exoneration occurs for every 3 executions and in the 21st
century, there have been more exonerations than executions.
"If a plane were to fall out of the sky 1 out of every 15 trips, that would be
considered a completely unacceptable failure rate," Baumgartner said.
"Louisiana's death penalty is plagued by inaccuracies, costly mistakes, and
racial and geographic unfairness. The error-rate is much higher than the
national average."
Several statistics point to racial unfairness in the administration of the
death sentence. No white person has been executed in Louisiana for a crime
against an African-American since 1752. Killers of whites are more than 6 times
likely to receive a death sentence than murderers of African Americans, and 14
times more likely to be executed. In cases where the offender is an
African-American male and the victim is a white female, the death sentence rate
is 30 times higher than cases where both the offender and victim are
African-American males.
But there is no one-size-fits-all reason why the sentences are often reversed.
38 reversals were due to judicial error (e.g. a judge giving improper
instructions to a jury or failing to sustain a justifiable objection). 25 were
due to prosecutorial misconduct (e.g. a prosecutor withholding evidence from
the defense team). 20 were deemed to be constitutionally excessive (e.g. a
defendant was later found to be mentally incompetent). 20 were due to
ineffective assistance of counsel, 14 were due to a settlement with the court
to reduce the sentence, and 10 were due to a general review (e.g. the court
discovered problems with evidence or records).
Baumgartner acknowledges that the crimes committed in these cases are typically
horrifying and the suffering of the victims is painful to contemplate. But it's
the terrible nature of the murders that often makes prosecutors, judges, or
police officers commit errors that eventually result in reversal.
"The emotions are so high that people cut corners," Baumgartner said. "Once
we've demonized them (the accused) enough, it's hard to be concerned about
their constitutional rights."
Of the 28 executions in Louisiana, 25 occurred between 1977 and 1988 for crimes
committed between 1977 and 1984. Only 2 executions have been carried out in
Louisiana since 2001 and 1 was voluntary (the most recent execution, in 2010).
The busiest period for executions was June 1987-June 1988 when 11 people were
sent to the electric chair, with 8 in the summer of 1987 alone.
In an era where politicians scramble to curb government spending and reduce the
state's deficit, Baumgartner and Lyman believe the death penalty is exceedingly
costly to maintain.
"Can we afford this? What are we getting out of this?" Lyman asked.
Baumgartner believes that regardless of whether or not a person is morally
opposed to capital punishment, the current system is flawed, unwieldy and
expensive considering the amount of reversals that occur.
"We really have to confront the death penalty as how it exists, not how we wish
it would exist," Baumgartner said.
Both Baumgartner and Lyman believe Louisiana's death penalty cases are unfair
to everyone involved.
"Nobody wins with this system - the taxpayers don't win, the victims' families
don't win, and the inmates don't win," Baumgartner said.
(source: The Louisiana Weekly)
TENNESSEE:
Jury selection starts this week in 1st-degree murder, death penalty case
A jury will be selected this week in the trial of a man facing 1st-degree
murder charges in the death of his 79-year-old uncle, whose body was found
hidden underneath an apartment staircase in Claxton in 2012, authorities said.
Jury selection in the trial of Norman Lee Follis Jr., 52, is scheduled for
Wednesday through Friday this week, and the trial is scheduled to continue on
Monday, May 9, in Anderson County Criminal and Circuit Court in Clinton. 3 days
have been scheduled for the trial next week, although court officials said it's
possible that more time could be needed.
The state is seeking the death penalty against Follis and Tammy Sue Chapman,
47, who has also been charged with 1st-degree murder. The pair is accused of
killing Sammie J. Adams, 79, who was Follis' uncle, sometime between December
5, 2011, and January 24, 2012. Adams' body was found under a stairwell in his
home after friends and neighbors reported that they hadn't seen him in a while,
Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said in an August 2014
press release.
Adams' age - he was over 70 - was an aggravating factor leading to the death
penalty request, Clark said.
It's the 1st death penalty case in Anderson County in decades. Deputy District
Attorney General Tony Craighead and Assistant DA Emily Abbott will prosecute
the case.
Follis is represented by defense attorneys Mart S. Cizek and Wesley D. Stone.
Follis and Chapman were indicted by a grand jury on the 1st-degree murder
charge in February 2014. They had both been previously charged with 1st-degree
murder.
There could be 3 death penalty trials this year: the 2 for Follis and Chapman
and one for Valerie Stenson, who has been charged in the death of her toddler
granddaughter, Manhattan Inman.
Besides 1st-degree murder, Follis and Chapman are facing additional charges.
Their February 2014 indictments alleged the couple obtained a 1997 Mercury
Marquis owned by Adams, as well as the keys to his home, without his
permission. Follis will also be facing charges of property theft over $1,000
and forgery in his trial this week and next.
A trial for Chapman has been scheduled starting August 9. Besides 1st-degree
murder, her charges include property theft over $1,000 and being an accessory
after the fact.
Adams' body was allegedly found underneath an apartment staircase on Patt Lane,
which is off Raccoon Valley Road across Clinton Highway from Edgemoor Road.
Clark said the state has requested the death penalty only 1 other time in
Anderson County (the Seventh District) in recent memory. A trial in that case,
the Valerie Stenson case, is scheduled to start September 21.
Authorities have alleged that Manhattan Inman, who was 18 months old and
Stenson's granddaughter, was found dead in a home on Teller Village Lane in Oak
Ridge on April 17, 2011.
The Anderson County Grand Jury indicted Stenson for 1st-degree murder and 4
counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect in 2012. Later, she was indicted
on 9 more counts of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, and
aggravated child endangerment in cases involving 3 other children.
Clark earlier said that aggravating circumstances in that murder case included:
--It was committed against someone younger than 12 by someone older than 18.
--It was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel "in that it involved torture
or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to produce death."
Follis, Chapman, and Stenson all remain jailed in the Anderson County Detention
Facility in Clinton.
(source: Oak Ridge Today)
USA:
Breyer Renews Attack, Alone, on Capital Punishment
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer resumed his critique of the death
penalty in America on Monday, but without the help of any other justice.
Breyer alone dissented from the court's denial of review in Boyer v. Davis, a
California case in which inmate Richard Boyer claims that his extended stay on
death row - he was sentenced to death 32 years ago - violates the Eighth
Amendment.
Referring specifically to California's death row, Breyer wrote that the state
has executed "only a small, apparently random set of death row inmates" in
recent years. "A vast and growing majority remained incarcerated, like Boyer,
on death row under a threat of execution for ever longer periods of time."
Breyer quoted from his own dissent in the 2015 decision Glossip v. Gross, where
he declared that "the death penalty, in and of itself, now likely constitutes a
legally prohibited 'cruel and unusual punishmen[t]'" under the Eighth
Amendment.
In that dissent, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Breyer listed the
defects he saw in the administration of the death penalty. In his dissent from
denial on Monday, he invoked three of those "defects."
"Put simply," Breyer wrote, "California's costly administration of the death
penalty likely embodies 3 fundamental defects about which I have previously
written: "(1) serious unreliability, (2) arbitrariness in application, and (3)
unconscionably long delays that undermine the death penalty's penological
purpose."
Boyer was convicted on charges he murdered an elderly couple in Fullerton,
California in 1982. His 1st trial ended in a mistrial, and his conviction and
death sentence were reversed by the California Supreme Court. He had a 3rd
trial in1992, and his appeal was denied by the high court in 2006.
"These delays are the result of a system that the California Commission on the
Fair Administration of Justice, an arm of the State of California, has labeled
dysfunctional," Breyer wrote. "The commission added that California's death
penalty system was expensive, with its system for capital cases costing more
than 10 times what the commission estimated the cost would be for a system that
substituted the death penalty with life imprisonment without the possibility of
parole."
In an interview with The National Law Journal last year, Breyer said he had
been working on his Glossip dissent "for a while" and waited for a case to come
along in which he could use it. "This case was there and it seemed an
appropriate place to say what I thought on the issue. I thought we should use
that case, as I said in the opinion, to go into the basic problem here, which I
thought was whether the death penalty itself is constitutional."
Asked then if he thought the dissent would result in an end to capital
punishment soon, Breyer said, "I am going to be Yogi Berra. I never make
predictions, especially about the future."
(source: nationallawjournal.com)
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