April 5
TEXAS:
Condemned killer of 3 near Waco in 1989 loses federal appeal
A 69-year-old prisoner on Texas death row for almost 3 decades for the slayings
near Waco of 3 people - including the parents of his estranged wife - has lost
a federal court appeal, moving him a step closer to execution.
Attorneys for Billie Wayne Coble contended testimony from a prosecution
psychiatrist during his 2008 punishment retrial was unreliable and that a
prison expert called by prosecutors gave fabricated testimony.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled late Tuesday the psychiatrist's
testimony was not unconstitutional and that a fabricated incident within the
prison expert's testimony was harmless because it accounted for "only a small
part" of the state's case against Coble.
Coble would turn 70 in September and is among the oldest of the state's 230
condemned inmates.
His lawyer, A. Richard Ellis, said Wednesday he had not yet decided whether to
seek a rehearing before the appeals court "but either way I will petition for
certiorari in the Supreme Court," meaning a review of the case by the justices.
In 2007, the 5th Circuit threw out Coble's original death sentence and ordered
a new punishment trial. In that ruling, the court said 2 special issues that
jurors had to answer to decide on the death penalty - whether Coble committed
murder deliberately and would be a future danger to society - were
unconstitutional as they were applied in his case.
The ruling then reflected changes in Texas statutes made since Coble's original
trial in 1990, a year after he was charged with the shooting deaths of his
estranged wife's parents, Robert and Zelda Vicha, and his wife's brother, Waco
police Sgt. Bobby Vicha, at their homes in Axtell, northeast of Waco.
Evidence showed Coble was distraught over the breakup of his marriage and
killed his wife's parents and brother Aug. 29, 1989.
Waco attorney J.R. Vicha, a former McLennan County prosecutor, was 11 when
Coble killed Vicha's father and his grandparents.
"In my opinion, it's a great miscarriage of justice that this person has been
able to live to see the age of 70," Vicha said. "But I guess him being 1 step
closer to execution is better than nothing at this point."
Coble tied up J.R. Vicha and his cousins and told the girls to say goodbye to
their mother. He then kidnapped Karen, his estranged wife, assaulting her and
threatening to rape and kill her before they were injured in a wreck after a
high-speed chase with police in neighboring Bosque County.
Crawford Long, who prosecuted Coble with former District Attorney John Segrest
in the 2008 punishment retrial, once referred to Coble as having a "heart full
of scorpions."
"Coble absolutely deserves the death penalty verdict, which I hope will be
carried out in the near future," Long said. "He was able to escape the ultimate
punishment in his 1st trial when the court was led to believe that he had
mental problems, which it turned out he did not actually have. So he was
essentially given what appears to be an unfair 2nd bite at the apple. The 2nd
jury also believed he deserved the death penalty."
Long recalled evidence from the retrial that he said showed Coble's character
and sealed his fate with the jury.
"He had stolen Karen Vicha's car and wrecked it after slaughtering her parents
and Bobby Vicha, and the 1st thing he said was, 'I guess you are going to get a
new car now,'" Long said. "I heard a sound of absolute loathing and disgust
toward Coble from the jury that I have never heard in any trial. I think the
jury felt justifiably from the evidence that he had absolutely no humanity."
(source: Waco Tribune-Herald)
**************
Judge Mysteriously Halts Delacruz Death Penalty Trial
Jurors in the capital murder trial of Isidro Delacruz were only in court for 4
minutes Wednesday before District Judge Ben Woodward sent them home until
Monday.
District Judge Ben Woodward told jurors, "This case has been going smoothly.
The attorneys have been working well together but we hit a bump in the road."
Woodward told jurors and the court that they were dismissed until Monday
morning at 9 a.m.
Woodward admonished jurors again not to talk about the case with anyone and not
to read reports in the media about it either.
Woodward did not give the jurors a reason why testimony in the punishment phase
was suspended until Monday but he did say the delay may go beyond Monday.
The same jurors convicted Delacruz of capital murder last Thursday in the death
of 5-year-old Naiya Villegas on Sept. 2, 2014. Delacruz was convicted of
cutting the little girl's throat causing her death.
Defense attorneys Will Boyles and Rob Crowie along with prosecuting attorney
Allison Palmer met with Judge Woodward in chambers Wednesday morning. Boyles
and Cowie had said in open court earlier in the week that they had expert
witnesses from out of town who couldn't be here until Friday. District Attorney
Palmer had told Judge Woodward she had planned to call as witnesses jailers
from the Tom Green County Jail and to recall to the stand Tommy Williams who
supervises all inmate communications at the jail.
(source: sanangelolive.com)
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Supporters, opponents argue over N.H. death penalty repeal bill
Murdered children from Concord and Hopkinton came into play Wednesday as a
House committee heard from supporters and opponents of a bill to repeal New
Hampshire's death penalty.
A House committee considering a proposal to repeal New Hampshire's death
penalty heard about the murders of children from supporters and opponents of
the bill on Wednesday.
The bill before the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee would
change the penalty for capital murder to life in prison without parole. It
passed the Senate this month, but Republican Gov. Chris Sununu has said he'll
veto it.
Franklin police Chief David Goldstein, representing the New Hampshire
Association of Chiefs of Police, described the 1991 murders of a Concord woman
and her 3 young daughters. James Colbert, who initially pleaded insanity but
then blamed himself for strangling his wife and smothering the girls - ages 2
1/2 years, 1 1/2 years and 10 weeks - is serving 4 life sentences.
"I want you to think about that for a second - the terror that 1 1/2-year-old
had for that very short time as she looked in the eyes of her father as he
killed her," Goldstein said.
Goldstein said he opposes repeal even though in a later interview Colbert told
him neither he nor his fellow inmates gave any thought to possible punishments
when they committed their crimes. He argued the death penalty is necessary for
crimes that amount to an assault on the community.
"If we think the death penalty is a deterrent, it really is not," he said.
"However, we do have a responsibility."
Barbara Keshen, head of the Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, described
the wrongful arrest of a man in the 1997 rape and murder of a Hopkinton girl to
argue in favor of repeal. As a public defender, Keshen represented James
Buchanan, who was charged with killing Elizabeth Knapp before DNA evidence led
to another man. She also spent years as a state prosecutor, and while she
praised New Hampshire's legal and law enforcement communities she said mistakes
happened every day.
"If you don't believe we are capable of making mistakes, you are either
hopelessly naive about the criminal justice system or you are dangerously
arrogant," she said.
New Hampshire's death penalty applies to a relatively narrow list of crimes,
including the murders of police officers, judges or prosecutors or killings
during kidnappings, robberies or rape. The state hasn't executed anyone since
1939, though 1 person is on death row.
The repeal bill wouldn't apply to Michael Addison, who was convicted of murder
in the death of Manchester police Officer Michael Briggs in 2006, but opponents
argued it's possible courts could see it differently. Addison, in his appeals,
argued the death sentence was out of line based on similar cases nationwide.
Attorney Chuck Douglas of Bow, a former state representative who helped draft
the law, told the committee that the prospective repeal of death penalty laws
in other states has led to commutation of death sentences during the appeals
process.
Douglas, who said he believes the death penalty should be expanded to include
killings related to hate crimes, also argued that the death penalty does serve
as a deterrent. He noted that Florida authorities plan to seek the death
penalty against Michael Woodbury, who pleaded guilty in the 2007 murders of 3
men in Conway who was recently accused in the beating death of his cellmate in
that state.
"There is no greater deterrent for this man than the ultimate penalty," he
said. "He has not been rehabilitated; he has not apologized; he has not
learned."
But Margaret Hawthorn, whose daughter Molly MacDougall was shot to death in
2010, told the committee that putting the killer to death would not have helped
her heal. She said the best outcome instead would be seeing him do something
positive with his life.
"To see him do something constructive would be to give me back a tiny piece of
the goodness that lived in my daughter," she said. "There is no promise this
will happen, but an execution would guarantee it couldn't."
The last time the House and the Senate voted to repeal the death penalty was
2000, but the bill was vetoed by then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat. More
recently, the House passed a bill in 2014, but it died in the Senate, and the
Senate deadlocked on a bill in 2016.
(source: Associated Press)
**********************
Abolish the death penalty in NH
To the Editor:
New Hampshire is close to abolishing the death penalty. I ask all readers to
support this wonderful effort. It makes no sense to kill people on behalf of
the state.
The death penalty is not a deterrent to crime. Worldwide, the death penalty is
being abolished because it just costs incredible amounts of money and does
nothing to prevent crime. There are many better ways of creating a safer and
saner world. Thank you.
Ilse Andrews
Exeter
(source: Letter to the Editor, seacoastonline.com)
****************************
Keep the death penalty
Abolish the death penalty? No!
I read with wonder how anyone would even consider this. Evidently, and
thankfully, the murder of a loved one has never touched them. Maybe if it ever
did they would change their mind.
Years ago, I found out my 13-year-old granddaughter had been abducted, had
terrible things done to her, then was stabbed to death and left in the
wilderness, where animals fed on her body!
It took many years to catch the killer. Now, even with a death "penalty," he is
still alive and will be for a number of years. Death penalty cases usually take
about 18 years to appeal.
I guess some find this acceptable. I don't!
Keep an eye on your children; my wish is that you never go through what I have.
RAYMOND CANTUA
710 Main St.
Keene
(source: Letter to the Editor, Keene Sentinel)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Lawyers: Spare mother death penalty in daughter's starvation death
A judge is considering a defense request to lift the death penalty from a woman
convicted in the starvation death of her 7-year-old daughter 2 decades ago and
resentence her to life in prison without possibility of parole.
49-year-old Michelle Sue Tharp was convicted of the 1998 death of daughter
Tausha Lee Lanham. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the conviction but
ordered a new sentencing hearing, saying her public defender was ineffective.
The (Washington) Observer-Reporter reports that Tharp's attorneys argued Monday
that relatives and medical professionals with direct knowledge of the case have
died in the intervening years.
Washington County prosecutors argue that the testimony can still be presented
to jurors. But defense attorneys want the judge not to empanel jurors but
instead to sentence Tharp to life.
(source: Associated Press)
*****************
My brother's killer was sentenced to death, but I hope he is allowed to live
Many years ago, my brother was senselessly ripped from this world. I was
furious at the man who took his life and I wanted him to suffer the same fate
my brother had. I wanted him to be put to death and was relieved when he
received the death penalty at trial.
But over time, my perspective has changed. I now believe the death penalty is
morally wrong and that we must support sentencing that allows those who
perpetrate harm to learn and change.
The media often talks about those who are sentenced to die in prison and the
families of victims as though they are 2 distinct and opposing groups. But the
reality is that many families have lost loved ones both to gun violence and to
death by incarceration.
A few years after my brother was killed, my son was arrested. His co-defendant
killed someone during a burglary of a drug house - a burglary that went
terribly wrong when the people who owned the house came home. My son is
incarcerated under the felony murder rule. He didn't kill anyone, but he is
sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for committing a
crime alongside someone who took another's life.
Though I had already begun to question my stance on the death penalty before my
son was convicted, now that I have a loved one in prison, I fully realize that
people can and do change - and that we need to leave room for that possibility
at the time of sentencing.
Today I fight for a 2nd chance not only for my son, but also for the people who
killed my brother.
If the courts had honored my wishes initially, the person who murdered my
brother would be dead. But I'm glad he isn't. Today, I'd like to have a
dialogue with the person who took my brother's life. I want justice that
recognizes the possibility of transformation and healing, not just for those
who have committed harm, but for those of us who have been harmed, who have
survived violence or lost our loved ones to violence.
I believe that society should set a limit on the kind of punishment it can dish
out. Once upon a time we tortured people to punish them, but then we decided
that was wrong. Today, if someone said at trial, ' I'd like you to torture the
person who killed my brother' we would say: 'We are sorry for your loss, and
you are right to be furious, but we cannot do that.'
The death penalty is an extremely costly practice that takes money from the
things that truly make us safe, like public schools and anti-violence programs.
In Pennsylvania, capital punishment remains indefinitely on hold, while
government officials await a report, now years in the making, analyzing capital
punishment's history, effectiveness and cost in our state. I hope that
Pennsylvania, like 19 other states in America, will make the death penalty
illegal - and soon.
The death penalty is morally wrong.
Just as we should not torture people, we should not kill them, and we should
not lock them away forever. We should give people the tools and the opportunity
to change for the better, and have them try to make up for the harm they
caused. We call it the Department of Corrections rather than the Department of
Revenge for a reason.
I extend my deepest sympathies to the families who have lost loved ones to
violence. I know your pain because I have felt it.
But the death penalty is not the solution.
(source: Lorraine Haw is a member of the Coalition for a Just DA and the
Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration----philly.com)
NORTH CAROLINA:
DA to seek death penalty in case against adoptive father of Erica Parsons
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty in the case against Sandy Parsons, the
man who led investigators to the remains of the adopted daughter he is now
accused of killing.
Sandy Parsons was charged with murder in the death of Erica Parsons. He made
his 1st court appearance last month.
He had been serving time in federal prison on fraud charges.
In August of 2016, Parsons led investigators to a shallow grave on his family's
property in South Carolina. It was there that the remains of Erica Parsons were
found.
The girl had been missing since November 2011, but only reported missing in
July 2013.
Sandy Parsons and his wife Casey Parsons were indicted by a grand jury on
charges of first-degree murder, felony child abuse inflicting serious injury,
felony concealment of death, and felony obstruction of justice.
Sandy was previously serving time in a federal prison in Michigan.
"I was abused as a child, Erica's abuse was mine times 10," Carolyn Parsons,
Erica's biological mother, said. "I hope that this haunts them for the rest of
their lives. I hope they never have a minute's peace. I hope it destroys them."
Erica Parsons came to the attention of the public at the end of July in 2013
when her adoptive brother reported that she was missing from the family's home
on Miller Chapel Road in Salisbury.
Jamie Parsons also told investigators that Erica had not been seen since
November 2011.
A nationwide search involving several law enforcement agencies turned up no
trace of the young girl.
Rewards were offered, billboards posted, and Erica's adoptive parents even
appeared on the Dr. Phil Show to say that they believed Erica was still alive.
Sandy and Casey Parsons said that they had delivered Erica to live with her
grandmother in Asheville.
From the beginning, investigators said that they did not believe the claims
made by Erica's adoptive parents.
In 2014 Sandy and Casey Parsons were convicted on federal fraud charges for
continuing to accept federal adoption assistance money long after Erica had
disappeared.
Jamie Parsons testified that Erica was forced to live in a closet, was given
dog food to eat, had her fingers bent backward by her adoptive mother, and was
beaten.
Investigators say Casey and Sandy Parsons murdered Erica Parsons in November
2011 and hid her body in a shallow grave on family property in South Carolina.
(source: WBTV news)
GEORGIA:
Federal court rejects death-penalty appeal in Jones County murder case----The
federal appeals court says Keith Tharpe could seek a new appeal in Butts County
Superior Court based on racial bias.
A federal appeals court has rejected the arguments of a Georgia death row
inmate whose scheduled execution was temporarily halted last year by the U.S.
Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court stopped Keith Leroy Tharpe's planned execution in September
and in January ordered the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to
take up his case, giving him another chance to raise claims of racial bias on
his jury.
A juror used a racial slur to describe Tharpe when talking to Tharpe's legal
team long after Tharpe was convicted of killing his sister-in-law 27 years ago.
The juror's statements don't change the facts of Tharpe's guilt, his lawyers
argued, but they show that he did not get a "fair and impartial" jury to
consider his sentence.
The Supreme Court said the 11th Circuit was wrong to conclude reasonable
jurists would agree the juror's presence on the jury didn't prejudice the
outcome.
The 11th Circuit on Tuesday rejected Tharpe's appeal again, writing that Tharpe
has not exhausted his appeals on the issue in Georgia courts before taking the
case to the federal level. They said Tharpe could seek a new appeal of his
sentence in Butts County Superior Court, based on the racial-bias issue.
Tharpe was sentenced to death in 1991 for the malice murder of Jacquelin
Freeman and the kidnapping of his estranged wife.
(source: Associated Press)
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