Nov. 18
GEORGIA----new and impending execution date
State sets date for 9th execution this year
A day after Georgia carried out its 8th execution this year, the state
scheduled its 9th: lethal injection of a man who shot his in-laws in 1990.
William Sallie killed his father-in-law and wounded his mother-in-law. He also
assaulted his estranged wife and her sister in Bacon County in January 1990.
His execution is set for Dec. 6.
The animosities between Sallie and his wife's family started after she filed
for divorce following an argument during which he struck Robin Sallie with a
belt, prompting Robin Sallie and her 2-year-old son, Ryan, to move in with her
parents, her sister and her brother.
Soon after, under the pretense of visiting his son, Sallie picked up the boy at
his in-laws??? house and went to Illinois, where Sallie stayed until a court
there ruled in March 1990 the mother could take the toddler back to Georgia.
Sallie also returned to Georgia.
He rented a mobile home under a fake name in near Hinesville, 3 counties
northeast of Bacon County, and had a friend buy him a handgun.
In the early morning hours of March 28, 1990, Sallie, dressed in green
camouflage clothing and carrying duct tape and 4 pairs of handcuffs, broke into
the home of John and Linda Moore.
He shot John Moore 6 times. and then turned the gun on his mother-in-law,
shooting her in the thumb, the shoulder and both thighs. He handcuffed Linda
Moore and her 9-year-old son, Justin, to each other and a bed rail. He took
Robin and her 17-year-old sister, April, to his mobile home in Liberty County
where he assaulted them.
He released the sisters the next day after asking them not to press charges.
On Wednesday night, Georgia executed Steven Spears for murdering his
ex-girlfriend in 2001 in her Dahlonega home. Spears confessed to the murder and
did not appeal his death sentence.
If Sallie is put to death, he will be 9th person Georgia has executed since
Jan. 1, more than any year since 1957 and more than any other state in 2016.
(source: myajc.com)
FLORIDA:
Florida Supreme Court Spares 2 Double-Murderers From Death
2 double-murderers were spared execution Thursday after years on death row when
the Florida Supreme Court ordered both to be re-sentenced to life without
parole.
In 1 case, the justices decided that death would amount to unequal punishment;
In the other, they said mitigating factors should have ruled out execution.
Robert McCloud, 35, faced capital punishment for the 2009 murders of Tamiqa
Taylor, 26, and Dustin Freeman, 23, who were killed while McCloud and 3 other
men tortured and robbed Wilkins Merlin, a known drug dealer, according to court
documents.
The group ransacked Merlin's house, taking about $5,000 in cash, $10,000 in
marijuana and a handgun. But they were convinced Merlin was hiding more and
tortured him, trying to learn where. They dropped a 40-pound dumbbell on his
head, sliced his arms with a steak knife, doused him with boiling water and
bleach, and shot him several times in the stomach, testicle and thigh.
They also killed Freeman and Taylor, with gunshots to the heads from close
range.
Merlin survived, as did his 3-year-old daughter, who was found physically
unharmed at the crime scene.
Prosecutors could have sought the death penalty for all four. Instead, they
made plea deals and the other 3 received sentences of 10 to 15 years for
2nd-degree murder in exchange for their testimony against McCloud.
The Supreme Court said McCloud's double death sentences were unfair because his
co-defendants were just as culpable and received far less severe sentences. The
court also noted that the jury determined McCloud wasn't the shooter.
Terrance Phillips, 25, had been awaiting execution for the murders of Mateo
Hernandez-Perez, 26, and Reynaldo Antunes-Padilla, 30, whom he shot during a
botched 2009 robbery. After 2 women posing as prostitutes entered the victims'
apartment, Phillips and a friend burst in and a struggle ensued, during which
Phillips fired 3 shots, killing both men.
The Supreme Court agreed Phillips is guilty, but said he shouldn't have been
sentenced to death because he was 18 at the time and is borderline
intellectually disabled.
(source: Associated Press)
*****************
Questions abound on death penalty's future; 30 cases pending in 4th Circuit
Rayne Perrywinkle has seen the death penalty trial for the man accused of
abducting and having his way with her 8-year-old daughter delayed more times
than she can count on one hand.
"It's mind numbing," Perrwinkle said, days after Donald James Smith's trial was
indefinitely delayed again last month in the strangulation of Cherish
Perrywinkle. "I wish it was over and he was sitting on death row."
But Smith, 1 of 30 people now facing a potential death sentence in St. Johns,
Clay, Duval and Nassau counties, won't go on trial in 2016, and 2017 may be a
challenge.
Florida has been in a moratorium for the last year after the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled the state's death penalty sentencing process unconstitutional in January.
The state Legislature passed revised procedures, but the Florida Supreme Court
ruled this month they were also unconstitutional.
"We're in a state of flux right now," said Melissa Nelson, the state attorney
elect for the 4th Judicial Circuit that encompasses the three First Coast
counties. "It make no sense to try cases now that could later be reversed on
appeal."
Even if judges wanted to begin the trials, they likely can't.
A Clearwater judge attempted in October to have a death penalty trial, but days
before jury selection the Florida Supreme Court ordered it indefinitely
delayed. The ruling indicates that the highest court in Florida will not allow
any death penalty trials to occur until new procedures are in place.
Attorney General Pam Bondi last month asked the Supreme Court to clarify its
rulings, maintaining that trials already under way should move forward with
unanimous jury recommendations. But defense lawyers criticized that, saying
judges can't just have trials occur when the Legislature hasn't set procedures
for how they should be conducted.
Nelson, who will take office in January expressed hope the Legislature would
pass another revised set of death penalty procedures in the spring of 2017
during its regular session that would allow cases like Smith's to proceed. But
death penalty opponents argue that the punishment is dying and that these court
rulings are a sign executions are on the way out.
Perceptions changing
Rob Smith, an attorney and research fellow at Harvard University who was
involved in a recent study finding that Duval is among a handful of counties
nationwide that most frequently send convicted criminals to death row, said the
decisions show support for capital punishment is waning.
49 death sentences were imposed throughout the country in 2015. Statistics from
the Death Penalty Information Center show a continuing drop over the last few
decades from 315 in 1996 to 125 in 2006 and 73 in 2014.
The number of death sentences will probably drop below 49 in 2016 because so
many communities choose not to seek death, Smith said. "Our society is moving
on from this," he said.
Public opinion on the death penalty is changing in a way that's similar to how
the public went from being opposed to supporting gay marriage, and Florida's
issues help change public opinion, Smith said.
He also said Florida lawmakers and prosecutors are to blame for the current
situation because it's been an open secret for years that the state's death
penalty procedures were problematic, but they weren't adjusted and prosecutors
fought efforts to change them.
Smith was backed up by University of Miami law professor Mary Anne Franks.
"The prosecutors who relentlessly pursued death sentences despite being
repeatedly placed on notice that the state???s death penalty regime was
constitutionally defective should be held accountable for the emotional and
financial costs they have imposed on victims??? families and on taxpayers,"
Franks said.
Franks said the country as a whole is reaching a turning point with executions,
but the attachment to the death penalty is still strong in certain cases and in
certain places.
"Polls tend to mask the fact that a large percentage of the population is very
attached to the death penalty for certain cases - for example, when they
involve child victims or police officers," Franks said.
Based on Florida's history, she doesn't think it's likely the death penalty
will go away anytime soon unless the U.S. Supreme Court declares it completely
unconstitutional, and it's impossible to predict something like that.
The crux in Florida
The U.S. Supreme Court originally threw out Florida's sentencing procedures
because the final decision on death was made by a judge and not a jury. Those
sentencing procedures said the jury's role was advisory but in practice judges
would sentence someone to death if a majority of the jury, 7 out of 12, favored
death.
That ruling didn't specifically say juries must unanimously favor execution,
and the Legislature responded by amending the procedures so that death was
allowed if 10 of the 12 jurors recommended it.
The Florida Supreme Court threw that out, saying death sentences must be
unanimously affirmed by the jury. Incoming Senate President Joe Negron said the
state would amend the procedures again in 2017 to require a unanimous
recommendation of death before anyone can be put on death row.
Possible legal challenges could still delay future trials and executions.
Of 31 states with a death penalty, Florida is ` of just 3 - joining Alabama and
Delaware - that did not require unanimous jury recommendations. Delaware???s
death penalty also is in moratorium due to the Florida rulings.
Jacksonville State Attorney Senior Managing Director Bernie de la Rionda has
put dozens of people on death row and said he believes the death penalty will
continue to be used by prosecutors.
"It's important to remember that the death penalty wasn't declared
unconstitutional in Florida," de la Rionda said. "It's just the sentencing
procedures that need to be fixed."
While polling has shown more opposition to the death penalty, he said the
majority of people still support it. De la Rionda suspects support in Northeast
Florida is even stronger for the death penalty than it is nationally.
In the 8 years Angela Corey has been state attorney, the Jacksonville area has
sent significantly more people to death row than any other prosecutor in the
state.
De la Rionda said Jacksonville also had a high rate of sending people to death
row under former chief prosecutors Harry Shorstein and Ed Austin.
"Jurors here are much more conservative and willing to embrace the death
penalty," de la Rionda said.
The new sentencing procedures should not change when a prosecutor seeks death,
but it will make it more challenging to pick a jury, he said.
"You'll be required to question the jurors more extensively," de la Rionda
said, adding that before a single juror who's reluctant to impose death was not
a big deal, but now it will be important to make sure that every juror is
willing to consider the death penalty.
He also expects the penalty phase to become longer and more detailed.
Lysa Telzer had to wait 14 months between when her mother-in-law, Renie
Telzer-Bain, 82, was murdered to when the man accused of her murder, Cecil
King, went to trial, was convicted and sentenced to death.
"In hindsight, waiting 14 months was a breeze," said Telzer, who now works as a
victims advocate for the Justice Coalition. "I'm not living through what some
of these victims' families now are going through."
Telzer now counsels victims' families, including many who are waiting for death
penalty trials to begin. Part of her job is explaining how the court system
works and why the death penalty is in moratorium.
"You can't really blame anybody but the Supreme Court for this," Telzer said.
"You can't blame the judge and you can't blame the prosecutors."
The uncertainty can be very difficult for some who want the experience over
with, but there's not much anyone can do right now, Telzer said.
2 parents, 2 views
Darlene Farah has generated attention as the mother of a victim who doesn't
want her daughter's killer to go to death row. James Xavier Rhodes is charged
with killing Farah while robbing the Metro PCS store on North Main Street in
Jacksonville on July 20, 2013.
Farah said the delays demonstrate why she doesn't want Rhodes to go to death
row and prefers prosecutors take a deal that puts him in prison for life. She
doesn't want to spend the rest of her life dealing with endless appeals that
have become part of the death penalty system.
"For the good of me and my children I would like some closure on this," Farah
said, referring to her 2 surviving children. "It takes so much out of me every
time I have to come into this courthouse."
Perrywinkle doesn't agree. She wants Donald Smith dead and expressed surprise
when told many people are trending against the death penalty. "That's
terrifying, that's staggering," she said.
Life has not been easy for Perrywinkle since her daughter's death. The state
took away her other children and she was criticized by many for allowing her
daughter to be snatched away after Smith offered to buy the family food and
clothing.
Perrywinkle said she's trying to get better, and she will feel a sense of peace
if Smith lands on death row.
"I've seen him so many times now, and I'm used to seeing him from across the
room [in court]," Perrywinkle said. "But when I take the stand and look at him,
it's going to be very different."
(source: jacksonville.com)
UTAH:
Former death row inmate in Utah pushing for abolishment
Opposing bills on the death penalty are expected to clash when the legislative
session gets started in January, 2017.
Leading up to that, one man who knows first hand the impact a wrongful
conviction can have is in our state sharing his story.
Ray Krone is 1 of more than 150 former death row inmates exonerated since the
death penalty was reinstituted in 1976.
In 1992, Krone was working as a postal carrier in Phoenix, Arizona.
He had served 6 years in the Air Force and had no criminal history.
All of a sudden his life was turned upside down.
"No matter how much life experience you had there's no preparation for this and
what I was going through at that time. Being accused of murder, and then being
arrested and then never seeing freedom again for 10 years," said Krone.
At the age of 35 he was sentenced to death for the murder of a bartender.
He says the conviction hinged on questionable evidence.
"They believed it had to be somebody that knew her. I was questioned in the
context of supposedly being a boyfriend. They noticed I had crooked teeth, they
remembered a bite mark on the body and just two days after Kim's body was found
I was arrested based on the bite mark."
He says while the real murderer was still on the streets perpetrating more
vicious crimes, he was behind bars.
He found strength through God, a supportive family and education.
After 10, long years he got the break he was hoping for through DNA testing.
"Not only did that DNA exclude me, but it was actually put in the national data
bank, DNA to identify the real person that had done it," said Krone.
During this years legislative session a bill to abolish the death penalty in
Utah passed the Senate, but didn't come up for a vote in the full House.
The ACLU of Utah expects the bill to return in 2017.
"It feels like there are real prospects to bring the debate back again this
year, and have a robust discussion and we are very optimistic," said Marina
Lowe, with the ACLU.
Krone was the 100th death row inmate to be exonerated since 1976.
He says that's why there are hundreds of reasons to abolish it.
"I don't think any of us wants to have blood on our hands, say, you know we
executed an innocent person."
Representative Paul Ray is working on some opposing ideas.
He's drafting a bill that will make the death penalty mandatory for anyone who
murders a police officer.
He's also looking into speeding up the time it takes to carry out the sentence.
The movement to abolish it has a strong ally in the House, in Speaker, Greg
Hughes. He opposes the death penalty.
(source: good4utah.com)
CALIFORNIA:
Jury recommends death penalty for Adelanto man convicted in 2009 double-murder
A jury on Wednesday recommended James Ellis, of Adelanto, be executed for his
role in a 2009 double murder, according to a San Bernardino County District
Attorney news release. His sentencing is slated for Jan. 27.
Ellis, 28, was convicted Oct. 3 of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder for the Nov.
23, 2009 killing of Ealy Davis, Jr., 28, and Shameka Reliford, 26, the news
release states.
Jurors also found Ellis guilty of 1 count of active participation in a criminal
street gang, and "found true the special circumstance allegations of lying in
wait, murder during the commission of a robbery, murder while an active
participant in a criminal street gang and multiple murder which made Ellis
eligible for the death penalty," the news release states.
The news release states that Ellis planned to rob Davis with 3 other men and a
woman: Forrest Taylor, 29, of Los Angeles, sentenced May 14, 2013 to life
without the possibility of parole; Sandra Smith, 36, of Adelanto, sentenced
Feb. 6, 2012 to 18 years in state prison; William Jacobs, 29, of Adelanto,
sentenced Feb. 19, 2016 to 13 years, 8 months; and Joseph Bowen, 21, of
Victorville, sentenced Jan. 6, 2012 to probation for being an accessory after
the fact.
On Nov. 23, 2009, Taylor, Jacobs, Bowen and Smith discussed at Smith's Adelanto
home "a desire to acquire drugs and money," the news release states. Smith
suggested they rob Davis, a drug dealer she knew because he was dating her
half-sister Reliford.
The prosecution alleged that after Smith gave Taylor Davis' cell phone number,
they arranged to meet Davis at a secluded area near Westside Park Elementary
School, the news release states.
When they met at the planned location, Ellis approached Davis' car, where Davis
sat in the driver's seat and Reliford sat in the front passenger seat, the news
release states. 2 other people were seated in the back.
After a brief exchange, Ellis fired a handgun 4 to 5 times into the vehicle,
killing Davis immediately and wounding Reliford, the news release states.
Reliford died later at Victor Valley Community Hospital.
(source: San Bernardino Sun)
OREGON:
Oregon death penalty on hold; jury to decide Lara's fate----Governor continues
moratorium on executions
The death penalty is a complicated law, as many states have moved away from
enforcing it, including here in Oregon.
The law is back in the spotlight as Deschutes County District Attorney John
Hummel announced Wednesday is seeking the death penalty for Edwin Lara.
A moratorium on executions was put in place by former Gov. John Kitzhaber back
in 2011, calling the death penalty morally wrong.
Gov. Kate Brown has said she'll uphold the moratorium on carrying out the death
penalty.
The state has 34 inmates awaiting execution at the Oregon State Penitentiary in
Salem.
Shawn Kollie, an attorney with DeKalb and Associates, told NewsChannel 21 on
Thursday the death penalty has outlived its time.
Studies have show that the death penalty law doesn't deter crime, and it's
still in on the law books in Oregon, Kollie said.
He said some studies show it costs the state more money to execute a person
than having the inmate serve out a life sentence.
Kollie said if Edwin Lara is convicted for the murder of Kaylee Sawyer, it
would be up to the jury to determine if he would serve a life sentence of be
put to death.
Here is a statement provided to NewsChannel 21 by Gov. Brown's office.
Governor Kate Brown will continue Oregon's death penalty moratorium, because
after thoroughly researching the issues, serious concerns remain about the
constitutionality and workability of Oregon's lethal injection law.
Specifically, Oregon's ability to get the necessary execution drugs required by
statute is uncertain, and it is unclear whether or not, in its current form,
Oregon's 3-drug protocol is constitutional given recent court cases in other
states.
(source: KTVZ news)
USA:
Former Inmate, Advocates and Attorneys Honored for Work to Reform Sentencing
Wine and tears poured and tissues were borrowed as several juvenile justice
reform advocates were honored for their work to end life without parole for
juvenile offenders.
The 1st award winners at the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth's highly
emotional Hope & Healing awards ceremony Tuesday were Steve Drizin and Laura
Nirider, the advocates working to earn "Making a Murderer" star Brendan Dassey
his freedom.
Gary Tyler, sentenced to death at age 16 in 1974 by an all-white Louisiana
jury, was honored for his work while incarcerated and his anti-death penalty
advocacy. His legal team - made up of George Kendall, Mary Howell, Majeeda
Snead, Corrine Irish and Emily Ratner - was also honored for the decadeslong
and eventually successful struggle to free Tyler.
Sharletta Evans received an award for her work in bringing victims and
offenders together to promote restorative justice after her 3-year-old son,
Casson, was killed in a driveby shooting.
"[Selecting the award recipients] is always a difficult decision, because there
are so many extraordinary people doing this work," said Jody Lavy, the
campaign's executive director. "We try to demonstrate the different facets of
the work in Healing & Hope, because we are a convener of people who are working
to end life without parole for children."
There is still much to do to end life without parole for juveniles, she said.
Age-appropriate punishments should be developed to recognize juveniles' ongoing
mental development and ability to grow and become rehabilitated, she said.
In the past 3 years, the number of states that have barred such sentencing has
tripled, due in part to the efforts of advocates like those honored at the
event, Lavy said. The event raised $135,000, $17,700 from live donations,
$2,300 from the silent auction and $115,000 from ticket sales and sponsorships.
The money will go to continuing the campaign's work, such as working to
decrease the number of states that allow juvenile offenders to be sentenced to
life without parole.
Lavy opened the ceremony, saying that after the presidential election, there
has never been a time when healing and hope are more necessary in America.
Drizin and Nirider's award was painted by Ken Sanford, a Pennsylvania inmate
serving a life without parole sentence. After years of work, a federal judge
has overturned Dassey's conviction, but the Wisconsin attorney general has
filed a motion to temporarily block his release. Drizin said there is more work
to be done to get Dassey home for Thanksgiving.
"I think all of us are feeling that we need to be healed, and we need hope
today," he said. "I know that we can get through these dark times. I know that
this community will continue on a path of justice for these kids."
Throughout his career in juvenile justice law, Drizin successfully worked to
end the death penalty for juveniles. He also represented Derrick Hardaway, who
was termed a 14-year-old "superpredator" in 1996 and sentenced to 45 years. "We
continued to work on Derrick's case after he went away," Drizin said. "I kept
in touch with Derrick over the years and he has become an amazing young man.
Someone who wants to get out and talk to kids in the juvenile detention
center."
Evans spoke of the need for healing and forgiveness in her acceptance speech.
She was joined by her friend Joanne Williams, the mother of one of the
teenagers involved in the death of her son, Casson. Evans has been a leader in
Colorado to promote legislation like the restorative justice law passed in
2013. She credited God for inspiring her to forgive her son's murderers and
become a juvenile justice reform advocate.
"In amazement, I sit back and look at myself at a distance and watch the work
that's being done by the power of God's spirit," she said. "Being a victim
family member, you have to heal before you have hope, and I embrace every
opportunity ... to heal properly and that's what gave me the hope that these
teenagers, now adults, would see the light of day. I am so grateful to be an
advocate."
Tyler was joined on stage by his legal team and more than a dozen formerly
incarcerated juveniles. He was sentenced to death in 1974 after he was wrongly
convicted of murder. After setbacks and years of work, he was freed April 29.
"Gary was in solitary confinement for 8 years," Kendall said. "Most people who
do that kind of time never recover, and somehow Gary did. I don't know of
another prisoner, at least that I've had the honor to work with, that built the
kind of purposeful life that Gary built."
Tyler thanked his legal team and the older inmates who helped him survive adult
prison as a juvenile. He had volunteered to take care of elderly inmates and
eventually cared for the same men who helped him as a youth. He also began the
Angola Drama Club, a prison theater troupe that performed throughout Louisiana.
(source: jjie.org)
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