June 15
TEXAS---death sentence changed
Death row inmate ruled mentally disabled, gets life sentence
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has reduced death row inmate Jose
Martinez's sentence to life in prison after agreeing with his trial court's
findings that the convicted killer of a Rio Grande Valley woman and her
4-year-old granddaughter is mentally impaired and ineligible for the death
penalty.
The 39-year-old Martinez has been on death row more than 19 years for fatally
stabbing 68-year-old Esperanza Palomo and her granddaughter, Amanda, during a
1995 burglary at her home in Mission in Hidalgo County. Martinez was 18 at the
time. Amanda Palomo was partially blind and staying at her grandmother's house
that night.
His lawyers argued in their appeal resolved Wednesday it would be
unconstitutional to execute Martinez under a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling
that prohibits execution of mentally disabled people.
(source: Associated Press)
OHIO:
Ohio Supreme Court won't reopen death penalty case
The Ohio Supreme Court has rejected a request to reopen legal proceedings in
the 1997 murder of a Youngstown bar owner.
The decision Wednesday came without comment, other than a note among the
court's daily announcements that Scott Group's application for reopening had
been denied.
Group was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of 56-year-old Robert
Lozier, owner of the Downtown Bar in Youngstown.
According to documents, Group, a deliveryman for a wine company, forced Lozier
and his wife into a restroom and shot them both in the head before stealing
more than $1,200. Sandra Lozier survived the attack and testified against Group
at trial; Lozier's blood was found on Group's shoe when he was arrested.
Group filed an application to reopen the case last year, alleging his legal
counsel did not effectively represent his appeals or challenge issues from his
original trial.
"I had no rapport or communication with either of my appellate attorneys,"
Group said in an affidavit filed with the court. "I never spoke with [the
attorney representing him on appeal] ... I never spoke directly with any of
them. They never came to see me, and I could only communicate with them by
mail."
The application for reopening was a standard part of the appeals process for
death penalty cases, though Group was supposed to submit the request more than
a decade ago.
No execution date has been sought or set yet for Group.
(source: The review)
CALIFORNIA:
On death penalty, DA Ramos advocates reform over repeal; County's top
prosecutor co-chairs November ballot measure
San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos immediately knew he would
seek the death penalty against San Bernardino shooters Syed Farook and his wife
Tashfeen Malik.
As the Dec. 2 terrorist attack evolved into a chase for the 2 suspects, Ramos
spoke to Sheriff John McMahon over the radio.
"I said, 'If you catch these 2, if you get them, I want you to secure them in
San Bernardino County jail,'" Ramos recalled Tuesday at a Victorville Rotary
Club meeting, "'because I'm having an emergency chiefs meeting and we're going
to seek the death penalty on these 2."
Ramos also acknowledged the DA's office would have sought jurisdiction over
federal authorities on the incident. But it never got that far; Farook and
Malik were killed in a gun battle with authorities after killing 14 - mostly
county workers - and injuring 22.
Now Ramos, who plans to run for state Attorney General in 2018, is the
co-chairman of the Death Penalty Reform and Savings Act of 2016, which promises
to fix a broken death penalty system in California. The November ballot
initiative would expand the pool of available defense attorneys, appoint
defendants a lawyer quicker and require condemned inmates to work and pay
restitution to victims while also being given fewer special privileges, among
other things.
Ramos said he envisions reform as the better approach to the death penalty,
acknowledging Tuesday he's also fighting the American Civil Liberties Union's
effort to repeal the death penalty altogether.
"We're already getting beat from the bottom," he said about recent public
safety legislation, "now they're coming at us from the top."
It should be no surprise then that he added he opposed Gov. Jerry Brown's
ballot initiative to expand parole for thousands of inmates in an ongoing
effort to reduce an overcrowded prison population and comply with a federal
mandate. It's a plan in the same vein of Assembly Bill 109 and Prop. 47, pieces
of Ramos-opposed legislation that sent more would-be prison-bound criminals to
local jails and reduced penalties for certain crimes.
"It's another factor that we're going to have to deal with," Ramos said.
Speaking hyper-locally, he described property crimes as one of the more
far-flung issues impacting the region and noted that San Bernardino was
currently dealing with gang violence problems. To that end, he said it was
revealed this week that High Desert law enforcement would be assisting gang
authorities down the hill.
(source: Victorville Daily Press)
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