September 21
TENNESSEE:
State will seek death penalty against Chad Benfield
A man charged with the murder of an 89-year-old woman who was his neighbor will
be facing the death penalty when he goes on trial.
First Judicial District Attorney General Ken Baldwin filed a motion in Carter
County Criminal Court on Sept. 6, which gave notice of the state's intention to
seek the death penalty for Chad Benfield, 44.
The state gave 4 reasons for the decision to seek the death penalty in the
murder of Mary Nolen.
The state said the 1st reason was because "the murder was especially heinous,
atrocious, or cruel, in that it inolved torture or serious physical abuse
beyond that necessary to produce death."
The state's 2nd reason was that the woman's death was "knowingly committed."
The 3rd reason was the victim's age of 89.
The 4th reason was that the slaying was committed "at random and the reasons
for the killing are not obvious or easily understood."
Nolan was found badly injured at her Stoney Creek home by her daughter and
granddaughter on July 14, 2017. Nolen was transported to Johnson City Medical
Center, where she died on July 26.
According to the autopsy report, injuries were discovered to her skull and
brain that indicated blunt force trauma, consistent with injuries received
during a physical assault. Additionally, bruising was still evident and present
on the tops of both of Nolen's forearms, along with contusions to her face,
scalp, chin and neck.
In response to the state's motion, Wesley Taylor, the assistant public defender
for Benfield, has filed a motion seeking to have the schedule for the trial
continued to prepare for the more complex nature of a capital murder trial.
Taylor also filed to have additional counsel appointed.
The next motion hearing for Benfield is scheduled for Oct. 17.
(source: Johnson City Press)
KENTUCKY:
Attorneys for three charged in Logan slaying want separate trials
The prosecutor in a case in which 3 men are accused of murder and other
offenses in the death of a Logan County woman has requested that the men be
tried together.
Justin Crocker, acting commonwealth's attorney for Logan and Todd counties,
filed a motion to have the cases of Demetrius Roberson, Tayveon Bibb and Deon
Young joined at 1 trial.
Roberson, Bibb and Young are each charged with murder and 1st-degree robbery.
The charges stem from the Aug. 21, 2016, death of Lexus Bell, 21, who was shot
at her Russellville apartment.
Crocker is seeking the death penalty for Roberson, who is accused of firing the
fatal shots and has also been charged with attempted murder and nine counts of
1st-degree wanton endangerment.
Young is also charged with 10 counts of 1st-degree wanton endangerment.
The men's cases came up for review Wednesday in Logan Circuit Court. During the
hearing, Crocker argued that trying the 3 men before the same jury would not be
unfair to the defendants.
"The commonwealth does contend that each of the defendants participated in the
same series of acts that led to the charges they each have," Crocker said.
Attorneys for the 3 defendants filed objections to Crocker's motion and
elaborated on their arguments Wednesday.
Public defender Robin Irwin, who represents Bibb, said a separate jury should
weigh the evidence in his client's case than one that would be qualified to
consider the death penalty should Roberson be convicted.
"There's a big distinction between the allegations against Mr. Roberson and Mr.
Bibb," Irwin said, adding that evidence suggests Bibb did not have a weapon at
the time of the incident and was not at the scene of the crime.
Young's attorney, Alan Simpson, also sought a separate trial for his client,
arguing in a response to Crocker's motion filed Tuesday that statements Bibb
made to police implicating Young would not be admissible at Young's trial.
Bibb reportedly claimed during a police interview that he was told by Roberson
that Young participated in the incident.
"With this being Mr. Bibb's proposed testimony, there is absolutely no reason
why these cases should be tried together, as Mr. Bibb's statements toward Mr.
Young are nothing but hearsay," Simpson said in his response.
Logan Circuit Judge Tyler Gill said he would rule on the matter within a month.
The cases against each man are currently set for a July 8 trial.
Also Wednesday, Gill scheduled a Nov. 13 bond hearing for Roberson, who is
serving a prison sentence for an unrelated offense.
Roberson's attorney, Michael Bufkin, said his client will meet with the parole
board in December, and he wants to have a hearing to modify the $1 million bond
set by Gill in the murder case before going up for parole.
Gill also granted a motion by Bufkin requiring the state to provide evidence in
the criminal case against Crocker's predecessor, Gail Guiling, who is under
indictment on charges of official misconduct, tampering with physical evidence
and engaging in organized crime.
Bufkin's motion noted that Guiling was the commonwealth's attorney at the time
police were investigating Bell's death and that the investigation overlapped in
time with the events that led to Guiling's indictment.
Bufkin sought the evidence supporting charges against Guiling in an effort to
investigate whether Guiling, who still holds the commonwealth's attorney
position but is not running for re-election, committed official misconduct
while Roberson's case has been pending.
(source: Bowling Green Daily News)
NEBRASKA:
Ex-Doctor Sentenced to Death for Revenge Killing of 4 People in Nebraska
A former Creighton University medical resident linked to 2 separate attacks
that killed 4 people in Nebraska has been sentenced to death.
Judges had the option to send Garcia to prison for life but ultimately decided
on the death penalty after he murdered 4 people.
A former doctor was sentenced to death on Friday by a three-judge panel in
Nebraska after being convicted of murdering 4 people in 2 separate incidents.
Anthony Garcia, 45, was found guilty in the attacks that took place 5 years
apart from each other, reports AP.
The murders were Garcia's revenge on 2 doctors - William Hunter and Roger
Brumback - for firing Garcia from his residency program at Creighton University
of Medicine in Omaha, Neb., in 2001. Prosecutors say Garcia blamed the doctors
for his firing, as well as for him being unable to get accepted into other
programs or get his medical license approved in other states.
In 2008, Garcia entered the Hunter home in Omaha where he fatally stabbed their
11-year-old son, Thomas. He also killed the family's housekeeper Shirlee
Sherman by stabbing her to death.
Police were unable to find any suspects for the murders and the case went
unsolved for years.
That changed after the 2013 murders of Brunmback and his wife Mary, at their
home in Omaha. The doctor was shot in the doorway of his home and then stabbed.
His wife was stabbed to death, much like the stabbings in 2008, according to
investigators.
Police recognized the similarities of the 2 attacks, and once the connections
with Creighton University were made, Garcia was flagged.
Substantial amounts of evidence were presented by prosecutors to tie Garcia to
the murders, including cellphone and credit card records that placed Garcia in
Omaha the day the Brumbacks were murdered.
The Garcia family, as well as family members of the victims, were in court when
the ruling was made. Fernando Garcia, Anthony's brother, said he could not
imagine his brother committing the crimes.
"We just want the victims' families to know we do pray for them. We feel their
pain," he said.
Jeff Sherman, son of Shirlee who was stabbed in 2008 said, "I'm left with
constant images from courtroom pictures of what happened to my mom. I can't get
those images out of my head."
The panel had the option to sentence Garcia to life in prison but ultimately
decided on the death penalty.
There has not been an execution of an inmate in Nebraska in more than 20 years
until last month. The state's mode of execution remains unknown due to legal
challenges that have made it difficult to obtain the drugs needed for lethal
injection.
Under Nebraska law, Garcia's sentence will automatically be appealed.
(source: campussafetymagazine.com)
*****************
Boswell's attorney: death penalty is 'unconstitutional'
Bailey Boswell appeared in Saline County Court Sept. 17 in connection with
1st-degree murder charges in the death of Sydney Loofe, a Lincoln woman who was
killed in November.
The state is seeking the death penalty for Boswell and Aubrey Trail. Both were
charged June 11 with Loofe's murder, as well as improper disposal of skeletal
remains - also a felony.
Boswell's attorney, Todd Lancaster, argued Sept. 17 that Nebraska's state laws
regarding capital punishment are unconstitutional, citing "cruel and unusual
punishment for the state."
After a short hearing, judge Vicky Johnson took the matter under review for
further advisement. She gave the prosecutors in the case until Oct. 1 to give a
written response.
Boswell has not yet entered a plea in court.
(source: The Seward Independent)
OKLAHOMA:
Prosecutors seek death penalty in Oklahoma case involving dead baby
We have updated information regarding a 31-year-old Oklahoma City man accused
of killing his 7-month-old son and leaving the body in a trash can.
Court records show prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in their case
against Victor Minjarez.
Newsok.com reports Minjarez maintains his son died from being laid too close to
a heater. However, investigators state the baby suffered blunt force trauma to
the head, brain bleeding and a skull fracture.
Minjarez has admitted to bagging up his baby after watching his son take his
last breath.
(source: KRMG news)
CALIFORNIA:
Reward increased to $100,000 to find Newport Beach fugitive
The reward to find a Newport Beach man accused of killing his wife and leaving
her body in San Diego County was increased Wednesday to $100,000.
U.S. Marshals put Peter Chadwick on their 15 Most Wanted List in 2012 after the
death of his wife.
Quee Chadwick was reported missing on October 10, 2012, after she failed to
pick up her 3 children from school. Investigators found blood and signs of a
struggle in the couple's home. They believe the couple fought and Chadwick
strangled his wife to death.
Chadwick called San Diego Police the next day as he was driving on I-905,
claiming another man killed his wife and forced him to drive south with her
body. Officers arrested him near the U.S.-Mexico border.
Quee Chadwick's body was found about 1 week later in a trash bin along Wildcat
Canyon Road in Lakeside.
Chadwick was charged with murder, including a special circumstance allegation
of killing for financial gain, which makes him eligible for the death penalty
or life in prison without parole.
Investigators said the couple was discussing a divorce.
Initially, Chadwick, a real estate investor, moved to his father's home in
Santa Barbara as he awaited trial, according to OC Weekly. He fled in 2015,
investigators said.
A court document indicated Chadwick studied manuals on how to live off the
grid, withdrew millions of dollars from his accounts, and told one of his sons
he planned to escape to Canada or Mexico, according to the OC Weekly.
(source: KGTV news)
USA:
Does Risk of Racial Bias Make a Death Sentence Unconstitutional?----'Jones v.
Oklahoma' presents a key chance for the U.S. Supreme Court to address racism in
the criminal justice system and in application of Oklahoma's death penalty.
The U.S. Supreme Court, this term, will conference an extraordinary case, Jones
v. Oklahoma, that asks a "big question" on racial bias and death sentencing in
Oklahoma. If the risk of racial bias in Oklahoma can be statistically proven,
does that make a death sentence unconstitutional? The high court previously
found that racial bias is a "constitutionally impermissible" factor in death
sentencing.
Julius Jones was an honors student and a college athlete when he says he was
wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death because of unreliable informant
witnesses and inherent racial bias in the Oklahoma criminal justice system.
Jones has 2 important sources of evidence that racism impacted his case. First,
there are multiple, direct examples of racial bias in his case, including a
juror who used the "n-word" about him. His attorneys also cite a 22-year,
1st-of-its kind statistical analysis of all capital sentences in Oklahoma. The
results are conclusive.
The researchers who authored "Race and Death Sentencing for Oklahoma Homicides
1990-2012" studied sentencing for every homicide that occurred in Oklahoma from
Jan. 1, 1990 through Dec. 31, 2012. Correcting for multiple factors, the study
found that a black defendant like Jones, accused of killing a white male victim
in Oklahoma, is nearly three times more likely to receive a death sentence than
if his victim were a nonwhite male. (Study at 747.)
Looking at every homicide and resulting penalty across more than 2 decades in
Oklahoma, the researchers found that only 1.88 % of homicides involving
nonwhite victims result in a capital sentence. When the victim is white, that
number more than doubles to 3.92 of all homicides leading to a death penalty
decision. It's extremely troubling to think that a crime with a white victim is
twice as likely to end in a death sentence than a crime with a black victim,
and casts serious doubt on the fairness, reliability and objectivity of capital
punishment, argue attorneys for Mr. Jones.
Apart from larger sentencing trends, Jones' case contains multiple specific
examples of racism. One of the most disturbing instances has never been
considered by any court. A juror stated that another juror said, during court
proceedings, that the trial was a waste of time and "they should just take the
(n-word) out and shoot him behind the jail." Another juror was concerned and
told the trial judge. The Judge took no action.
Decision makers in Jones' case also repeatedly used racially charged and coded
language to present Jones as embodying "black dangerousness," using
dehumanizing words like "thug," "prowl," and "drugs," despite the fact that
there was no evidence of the case being drug-related. Jones and his family have
always maintained his innocence and that he was at home eating spaghetti with
the family when the tragic crime occurred. The state's star witnesses against
Jones were an informant and the co-defendant, who admitted they were involved
in the crime. One wasn't charged with the murder and the other got out after 15
years. Jones awaits his execution. The jury never heard the full extent of the
deals that these witnesses and another informant received for testifying
against Jones.
The only eyewitness to the crime saw a half-inch to an inch of hair sticking
out of a hat on the shooter's head, but photos prove Jones had short-cropped
hair at the time of the crime. Jones's appearance was documented in an official
government photograph taken a week before the crime. However, one of the
state's star witnesses, who admitted to being in the shooter's car at the time
of the shooting, matched that description.
In his petition to the Supreme Court, attorneys for Jones argue that racial
prejudice played an unconstitutional role in Jones' case. They argue that there
is reasonable doubt about Jones' guilt, but that the inherent racial bias in
Oklahoma's capital sentencing scheme, as proven by the study, prevented that
reasonable doubt from determining the outcome of the case.
Jones v. Oklahoma presents an important opportunity for the court to address
racism in the criminal justice system and in application of Oklahoma's death
penalty head-on. The court should insist, at the very least, that Jones
receives a hearing where all the evidence, including that of racial bias, can
be heard. Fairness requires it.
(source: Commentary; Gerald Kogan was the assistant state attorney and chief
prosecutor in the Dade County, Florida State Attorney's Office and served as
the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court from 1996 until his retirement
in 1998----The National Law Journal)
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