narch 4
MISSOURI:
Lethal Injection Drugs at Center of Death Penalty Fight----The Latest Chapter
in Missouri's Execution History Involves Drug Sourcing
Historical accounts peg Peter Johnson as the 1st person executed in Missouri -
hanged in 1810 for killing another man in a township southwest of St. Louis.
More than 2 centuries later, Missouri is still meting out the death penalty.
But now, the method is lethal injection, a process that is ensnaring Missouri
and other states in court battles over whether it really is as humane as its
proponents claim it to be.
Lethal injection has typically involved a series of 3 drugs injected
intravenously, with the lethal drug following a sedative and a paralytic.
The problem, argues Sean O'Brien, a death penalty expert who teaches law at the
University of Missouri-Kansas City, is that lethal injection is a "medical
procedure masquerading as an execution, or an execution masquerading as medical
procedure, when it's just not good for either one."
Spokesmen for the Missouri Department of Corrections and the Attorney General's
office declined to comment for this story.
O'Brien's experience with Missouri's death penalty dates back to the 1980s, not
long after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated its constitutionality. He
recounted the state's move to lethal injection.
As Missouri was getting set to resume executions, O'Brien said, the attorney
general ordered the warden at the state penitentiary to ready the gas chamber.
"So he bought a truckload of cyanide - I mean a ridiculous amount of cyanide -
and then he set a smoke bomb off in the gas chamber," O'Brien said. "And as it
turned out, the gas chamber, which was made out of a World War I vintage
submarine, leaked like a sieve, and so an execution ... also would've been
fatal to the witnesses."
That glitch led the warden to Fred Leuchter, a Boston-based engineer, who had
made a name for himself in the execution business. And that, O'Brien said, is
how Missouri followed Texas to become the 2nd state to purchase a lethal
injection machine.
As it turns out, Missouri has become one of the nation's most active
executioners of the 31 states where the death penalty is legal. The Death
Penalty Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, says Missouri
has carried out 88 death sentences in the past 3 decades, the last one being
Mark Christeson, who was put to death Jan. 31.
The seeds of the current litigation were sown in 2011, when the European Union
imposed an export ban on sodium thiopental, a key anesthetic in lethal
injections. That has led states, including Missouri, to test other lethal
injection methods.
Missouri has moved to a single, lethal dose of pentobarbital, an anesthetic.
Yet state officials have refused to identify the source of the drug, fearing a
public backlash against the supplier would cut off its supply of the drug.
That argument has prevailed in court, including a Feb. 14 decision overturning
an order that the state must reveal the name of the supplier under the
open-records act.
That decision, issued by the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western
District, said the Department of Corrections was within its rights to include
the drug supplier as part of the execution team. And, under the state's
so-called "black hood law," the members of the execution team are to remain
confidential.
Attorneys representing Missouri death row clients have, in fact, used
open-records requests for hints about the supplier, such as obtaining
information on the volume of drugs the state has in stock. It is all to ensure
that their clients do not suffer cruel and unusual punishment in the course of
their execution.
Kansas City attorney Bernie Rhodes cheered those efforts as the person
representing the media organizations seeking the identity of the supplier. He
expects to appeal last month's ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court.
In 1 sense, Rhodes said, the case is about dollars and cents - allowing
taxpayers to know how the state is spending their money.
In addition, Rhodes argued, citizens have a right to know whether the state is
using a reputable supplier when carrying out the ultimate criminal sentence in
their names.
Shielding the source from public scrutiny, he argued, is incompatible with the
principle of free speech.
"We are the people of the United States," Rhodes said. "If we want to protest a
supplier, and if we want to convince people not to supply drugs to the
government, that is our right. That is the cost of a free society in our
country."
(source: flatlandkc.org)
COLORADO:
Lawyers for Aurora death row inmate say juror misconduct requires new
trial----Sir Mario Owens was convicted of killing Gregory Vann in July 2004 at
Lowry Park in Aurora and later of gunning down a witness, Javad
Marshall-Fields, and Marshall-Fields' fiancee, Vivian Wolfe, so Marshall-Fields
couldn't testify about the Lowry Park shooting
A death row inmate convicted of 3 murders - including gunning down an Aurora
murder witness in 2005 - is asking for a new trial and accusing a juror of a
rash of misconduct.
Sir Mario Owens was convicted of killing Gregory Vann in July 2004 at Lowry
Park in Aurora and later of gunning down a witness, Javad Marshall-Fields, and
Marshall-Fields' fiancee, Vivian Wolfe, so Marshall-Fields couldn't testify
about the Lowry Park shooting.
Since his 2008 death sentence for the witness slayings, Owens' appeal has been
slowly working its way through the courts.
Last month his appellate lawyers filed several motions asking for a new trial -
and short of that at a minimum evidentiary hearings - because 1 of the jurors
in his Lowry Park trial had ties to several people involved in the case that
she failed to disclose.
The juror in question had ties to both Marshall-Fields' family and several
witnesses who were at Lowry Park the day of the shooting, Owens' lawyers argue
in a 200-plus-page document filed last month. From jury selection through this
year when the juror tried to avoid defense attempts to serve her with court
papers, the lawyers argue she has ducked the truth.
"Juror 75 was determined to keep her seat on that jury, even if it meant
perjuring herself and committing fraud on the parties, the courts, and the
public, and depriving Owens of his basic, fundamental rights to fair trial
before an impartial jury," the motion said.
But prosecutors argue the defense's efforts center on many items that have been
discussed at great length in court already.
"Allegations and argument regarding the previously litigated claims, though
colorfully and enthusiastically presented ... do not raise new issues or
present new evidence that justifies once again treading over the same well-trod
ground," prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors also said that in the case of the juror's connection to
Marshall-Fields' family, Owens' lawyers hadn't shown those connections existed
until after the trial.
Owens was convicted separately of killing Vann at Lowry Park and later of
killing Marshall-Fields and Wolfe. But at his death penalty sentencing in the
witness slayings, prosecutors pointed to his prior murder conviction in the
Lowry Park case as an aggravating factor that made him elgible for the death
penalty.
Prosecutors argued at trial that Owens' friend and co-defendant, Robert Ray,
was the mastermind behind the witness slayings. After Lowry park, Ray was the
only person charged in relation to Vann's slaying and Marshall-Fields, who was
also wounded that day, was slated to testify against Ray.
Ray was also convicted of murder in elation to Marshall-Fields and Wolfe -
though prosecutors argued he didn't pull the trigger and ordered Owens to carry
out the crime - and sentenced to death as well.
The next court date in the case is slated for March 17.
(source: Aurora Sentinel)
WASHINGTON:
Keep capital punishment
State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Governor Jay Inslee, and former Attorney
General Rob McKenna wish to ban capital punishment in Washington. I say, "No!"
Will evil take a vacation if we ban the death penalty? Not likely. An evildoer
may pop up and shoot and kill little grade schoolers and their teachers.
Connecticut banned capital punishment early in 2012. On Dec. 14, 2012, a crazed
teenager (even his father remarked, "He was evil") shot and killed 20
elementary school children and 6 adults in Newtown. Because Connecticut just
banned capital punishment, that mass murderer could have surrendered, been
arrested, and gotten life in prison without parole. Instead, he committed
suicide.
If capital punishment is banned in Washington and a school shooter commits a
horrific act akin to the Connecticut massacre and then surrenders, are we, as
moral people, willing to let this murderer live? I say not.
Joseph McEnroe and Michele Anderson murdered 6 of Anderson's family members,
including a 5-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy, on Christmas Eve in 2007, in
Carnation. The 2 were spared death when a jury couldn't reach a unanimous
decision in the penalty phase of McEnroe's case.
Other well-publicized cases include the Cascade Mall murders committed by Arcan
Cetin, the murder and dismemberment of Swedish nurse Ingrid Lyne by John
Charlton, the murders of Anna Bui, Jordan Ebner, and Jake Long in Mukilteo by
Allen Ivanov, and the murders of Donnie Chin and purse-snatching victim My-Linh
Nguyen, the last 2 still unsolved.
Where do your sympathies lie, with the victims and their families or the
murderers?
I propose the following:
--Require an 8-4 juror majority, rather than unanimity in the death penalty
phase.
--Bring back hanging, firing squad, or the electric chair. Lethal injection is
too easy.
--For juveniles who commit heinous murders, execute them at age 21.
--Cap lawyers' fees at a reasonable level.
--Speed up the trial process and end endless appeals.
--To convict, go "beyond a reasonable doubt"; that is, require a "very little
doubt" standard of guilt, incorporating good science-based forensic techniques.
If capital punishment is banned, vigilantism may arise. Would you convict the
victim's family member for killing a murderer because the state failed to do
so? Untenable laws become unfollowable laws.
Death is not cruel and unusual punishment. The manner of execution of William
Wallace (think of the movie Braveheart) was.
3-year-old Nathan Anderson climbed into his wounded mother's arms for
protection on Christmas Eve, 2007. That shining light of innocence looked into
McEnroe's eyes and McEnroe put a bullet in his little head.
Banning the death penalty abrogates family members' - and a righteous society's
- say on the murderer's fate.
Forward this to your legislators and the governor. Tell them, "Keep capital
punishment!"
(source: Commentary, Frederick Su----NW Asian Weekly)
USA:
The Death Penalty on Trial
On January 17, I was arrested, along with 17 other people, as we held a banner
on the steps of the Supreme Court that said: "STOP EXECUTIONS."
We were not blocking doors or disturbing the peace. We were not unruly or
disruptive. We were respectful, prayerful, nonviolent. We sang freedom songs.
We carried roses in remembrance of those who have been murdered and those who
have been executed. It was a solemn, holy procession. We tolled a bell 40 times
signifying the 40 years of executions in this modern era, and we held 40
posters with the names of the 1443 people killed by our government.
"Parading and Assemblage" - that's the official charge, an obscure one that
until now I didn't even know existed. I remember hearing someone joke: "I guess
The First Amendment ends on the steps of the Supreme Court."
So that's our crime: we held a banner outside the Supreme Court ... at the very
moment the state of Virginia was preparing to kill yet another person, Ricky
Gray, execution #1444 since 1977.
We were shackled with chains on our hands, waist, and feet, and held in jail
for over 30 hours. While we were in the DC jail, the same government that
imprisoned us for holding a banner executed Ricky Gray. It does raise the
question of what is right and what is wrong, doesn't it?
When I got home from jail, I told some of our kids back in Philadelphia: "You
can go to jail for doing something wrong. You can also go to jail for doing
something right. We went to jail for doing something right. And lots of folks
throughout history have gone to jail for doing something right."
Dr. King once said that initially he was troubled about going to jail, but then
he looked at history and found that he was in good company.
This past week the 18 of us had our 1st appearance in court.
I am proud to stand next to the people I went to jail with, these holy
troublemakers who are now my co-defendants. The group includes clergy and faith
leaders, an exoneree who was wrongfully-convicted and sentenced to death, and
families of both the murdered and of the executed.
12 of the 18 of us made a decision to take our case to trial, rather than
accepting a plea bargain offered by the government. If found guilty, we could
face jail time, fines, and community service ... all of which pale in
comparison to the 20 years my co-defendant Derrick Jamison spent on death row,
staring down 6 execution dates, watching over 50 of his peers killed by the
state ... before he proved his innocence, and was released with no apology or
compensation.
That's why we went to jail - to expose the system of death. Our prayer is for
an end to all killing, both legal and illegal. Our message is that violence is
the disease, not the cure. It is time to stop trying to kill those who kill to
show that killing is wrong.
We know that we are on the right side of history, and that our grandchildren
will look back at the death penalty 50 years from now the same way we look back
at slavery - with shame, bewilderment, and remorse.
Someone asked if I had any regrets. I said: "Only 1 ... that I didn't do this
sooner." I am proud of what we did. Not only would I do it again, but I will do
it again. We will not stop protesting until the government stops killing.
We have a great attorney - one of the best - and we have every intention of
defending the legality of what we did. But our hope is to take the focus off of
us and put the death penalty on the stand. While I believe we are innocent of
any crime ... I am convinced that our country's criminal justice system, and
our Supreme Court's validation of the death penalty is a crime, and a moral
failure.
As fate would have it, or as some of us might contend "by Divine appointment" -
our trial is the week of June 28. That means our trial will coincide with one
of the most important weeks in history when it comes to the death penalty. June
29 is the anniversary of the 1972 Furman v. Georgia decision in which the U.S.
Supreme Court struck down the death penalty, finding its application to be
arbitrary and capricious, halting all executions. 4 days later, July 2, is the
anniversary of the 1976 Gregg v. Georgia decision, which allowed executions to
resume. These 4 days between these 2 historic anniversaries invite us all to
question whether or not the death penalty has a future in America. During the
week of our trial, the annual Fast and Vigil to end the death penalty will
happen in front of the Supreme Court. I hope you will join us in DC - June
28-July 2, 2017 ... as we put the death penalty on trial.
(source: Shane Claiborne, Author and Activist----Huffington Post)
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