Oct. 24
NORTH CAROLINA:
Alamance DA seeks death penalty against 2 of 4 Gone Fishing suspects
Shamar Ramel Holloway, 35, and Jimal Edward Jenkins, 28, could face the death
penalty if they go to trial in the murder of a security guard at a North Church
Street sweepstakes parlor in April.
The Alamance County District Attorney's Office announced its intention to seek
the death penalty against those 2 defendants in the Gone Fishing robbery murder
in so-called "Rule 24" hearings Monday, Oct. 22.
Prosecutors said they would not seek capital punishment against 2 other
defendants in that case, Anthony Lamar Cason, 23, and Tanesha Annette Jeffries,
24.
Michael Thomas Le, 25, was shot dead in the robbery of Gone Fishing
Sweepstakes, 1365 N. Church St., Burlington, where he was a security guard.
Police responding to Gone Fishing Sweepstakes after 9 p.m. Sunday, April 8,
found an employee and a patron suffering from head wounds, and Le suffering
from a single gunshot wound. Le was pronounced dead upon arrival at Alamance
Regional Medical Center, and the employee and patron were left with bruising
and swelling to their heads.
On April 17, police caught up with Cason and Jenkins. Jeffries was arrested
Friday, April 20. Burlington police arrested Holloway in High Point on April 25
with the help of the State Bureau of Investigation, High Point and Greensboro
police.
There are 141 people now on death row, according to the state Department of
Public Safety. No one has been executed since 2006 partly because of
cruel-and-unusual punishment arguments against the lethal-injection cocktail,
and the state Medical Board objects to doctors participating in executions. It
is widely considered a de facto moratorium.
This makes 5 pending death-penalty trials in Alamance County.
Sean Damion Castorina, 43, and Penny Michelle Dawson, 41, are accused of
killing Harold D. Simpson, 84, in rural Caswell County in August 2017, then
fleeing to Virginia where, according to the District Attorney's Office, they
shot a woman and left her for dead. Ultimately they were arrested in Fergus
Falls, Minn.
The oldest pending capital case is that of Cesar "Chilango" Torres Acevedo, 37,
accused of setting Juan Mario Martinez Trujillo, 56, of Hillsborough on fire
the evening of June 13, 2015, in an alleged drug dispute. Trujillo died the
following Aug. 24 as a result of his injuries.
State law requires evidence of at least one of 11 aggravating factors in a
murder case before prosecutors can pursue capital punishment, like committing
the crime while incarcerated, or against a law-enforcement officer, or in the
furtherance of a violent crime like rape, or for financial gain, or for an
crime that was "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel."
(source: The Times-News)
GEORGIA:
Hearings in 1987 death penalty case re-trial set for this week
More than 200 motions have been filed in the lead-up to a hearing this week for
Timothy Tyrone Foster, who is being re-tried on a murder charge in Floyd County
Superior Court.
At a preliminary hearing in February, the 50-year-old entered a not guilty plea
to charges of murder and burglary. At the same hearing, the state expressed its
intent to seek the death penalty.
Foster was sentenced to death for the murder of retired school teacher Queen
Madge White during a 1986 burglary at her home at Highland Circle - he was 18
at the time. The 79-year-old woman had been hit in the head and face, breaking
her jaw, and was molested before being strangled to death.
The re-trial was prompted by his 1987 murder conviction being overturned by the
U.S. Supreme Court 2 years ago, on the grounds of black jurors being excluded
from his original trial.
Then-district attorney Steve Lanier, who died this year, struck off all 4 black
potential jurors before the trial. By filing an open records request for the
prosecutors' trial notes, Foster's lawyers discovered notes from an
investigator in the DA's office which the Supreme Court ruled pointed toward
the specific exclusion of those jurors based on race.
On June 13, attorneys from the Georgia Public Defender Council representing
Foster filed more than 100 motions. Earlier this month, the District Attorney's
Office filed responses to counter each of the motions.
Included in the motions from the defense are calls for the indictment to be
dismissed on the grounds of the makeup of the grand jury being
unconstitutional; for the state to choose either malice murder or felony murder
in charging Foster; and for the imposition of the death penalty and the use of
lethal injection for the execution to be deemed unconstitutional. Another
motion also seeks the barring of the death penalty as a possible sentencing
outcome, on the basis it is "cruel and unjust."
The hearing is expected to last 2 days.
Foster is currently being held without bond in Floyd County Jail, which he was
moved to from the state's death row in Jackson in March 2017.
(source: northwestgeorgianews.com)
OHIO:
Warren County man could face death penalty in sister's killing
The trial of a South Lebanon man who could face the death penalty if convicted
of murdering his sister began Monday in Warren County Common Pleas Court.
Judges Joe Kirby, Donald Oda II and Robert Peeler, rather than a jury, will
decide if Christopher Kirby, 38, should be sentenced to death for allegedly
murdering his adoptive sister, Deborah Power, and badly beating her husband,
Ronnie Power, at the home they shared with Kirby, his wife and children in
South Lebanon.
"This is really a story about drugs," defense lawyer John Kaspar said during
opening statements.
Kirby is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, murder, felonious
assault, grand theft and tampering with evidence.
He is alleged to have committed these crimes in September 2017 to fund his and
his wife's heroin habit after Deborah Power changed the password on her bank
card.
In April, Jacqueline "Jackie" Kirby, 31, was sentenced to 3 years on probation
for her part in the case and ordered her to enter the Women's Recovery Center,
an outpatient substance abuse program in Xenia.
The trial, which is expected to last into next week, is scheduled to resume at
9 a.m. today.
On Monday morning, Assistant County Prosecutor John Arnold said the extended
family, all living in the South Lebanon home where the alleged crime occurred,
relied on Social Security payments.
"The only source of income for the household was Social Security," Arnold said
in his opening statement.
Arnold said prosecutors would show the 3-judge panel that Kirby should be
sentenced to death for his crimes.
"While he presented part of the story, it's not the whole story," Kaspar told
the judges in his opening statement.
Kaspar said the case would also demonstrate the poverty of their conditions and
"the vital importance of a $290 check."
Prosecutors called the 911 operator who took the initial call from Kirby's
8-year-old son after his parents had left in the Powers' truck, allegedly
leaving Ronnie Power with a bad head wound and Deborah Power's body under
blankets in a locked room.
A number of deputies were also called to begin to develop the chain of evidence
designed to prove Kirby was guilty of the capital crime.
Testimony indicated that at the house, before being taken to the University of
Cincinnati Hospital in West Chester, a bleeding Ronnie Power said he had fallen
and hit his head.
The Kirbys were found later at the hospital in West Chester.
Testimony indicated they drove there after buying and using heroin in
Cincinnati. Ronnie Power was initially treated at this hospital before being
taken to another hospital.
The prosecutors also called a video expert to map the Kirbys' movements after
leaving the house, and LCNB bank officials testified to show the bank card
number had been changed after Deborah Power visited the bank about her
overdrawn account.
Still, Deborah Power had not mounted a formal complaint or filed a police
report against her adoptive brother or his wife.
"She was going to address it and I guess get back to me," Christina Harris,
manager of the bank's South Lebanon branch, said.
The trial is to resume this morning and continue into next week.
(source: Dayton Daily News)
******************
Ohio Supreme Court hears case of inmate who killed girlfriend's parents
The Ohio Supreme Court has set oral arguments in the case of a man convicted of
killing his ex-girlfriend's parents with a sledgehammer 10 days after stabbing
their daughter.
Shawn Ford Jr. was convicted by a Summit County jury in 2015 of aggravated
murder and other charges in the slayings of Margaret and Jeffrey Schobert 2
years earlier.
That same jury recommended the 24-year-old Ford receive the death penalty for
killing Margaret Schobert, and the judge agreed.
Death penalty cases in Ohio are automatically appealed to the state Supreme
Court, which has set arguments for Jan. 8.
Defense attorneys unsuccessfully argued that Ford's low IQ should have
prevented the judge from sentencing their client to death.
(source: Associated Press)
ARKANSAS----jury rejects death penalty
Jury picks life sentence for Arkansas man convicted in death
An Arkansas man convicted in the torture, sexual assault and killing of a
24-year-old woman has been spared the death penalty and sentenced instead to
life in prison.
Mark Edward Chumley is 1 of 5 people accused in the 2015 killing of Victoria
Annabeth Davis. Prosecutors say the group, which includes Davis' husband,
sexually assaulted the woman and connected her body to a battery charger before
beating her to death with baseball bats.
Witnesses testified that Chumley thought Davis was trying to implicate him on
criminal charges.
The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that a jury convicted Chumley
last week of capital murder and sentenced him Monday to life in prison.
Chumley's attorneys had pleaded with jurors to spare his life, saying Chumley's
choices were affected by long-term methamphetamine abuse.
(source: Associated Press)
MISSOURI:
Supreme Court Update- Bucklew vs. Precythe
On November 6th, the Supreme Court will take up the case of Russell Bucklew,
whom the state of Missouri seeks to execute for the 1996 murder of Michael
Sanders. In the current case, Bucklew doesn't contest his guilt, nor does he
claim that Missouri's lethal-injection protocol is in itself "cruel and
unusual." His is what lawyers call an "as applied" challenge. What that means
is this: Though lethal injection may pass muster for most executions, he
argues, in his individual case, because of his unusual physical condition, the
injection will cause him intense and intolerable pain. He suffers from a rare
medical condition call cavernous hemangioma. Since his blood vessels are
affected, he says, those administering the drugs will probably have to use a
lengthy and painful procedure called a "cutdown" before the drugs can be
administered, prolonging the agony.
The Nov. 6 oral argument comes as executions across the country have gone awry,
leading to potentially painful episodes for inmates. It’s more than the
Constitution can tolerate, they've argued with little success. On October 17th
a group of former executioners filed an amicus - or "friend of the court" -
brief with the justices to share firsthand reflections on administering the
ultimate punishment. You can read the brief from this unlikely group of allies
here: http://src.bna.com/CwQ
They want the court "to consider not only the immorality of executing a man
using cruel and unusual means, but also the harm to public servants who
participate in such an act." They emphasize "the heavy burden that executions
place on the people who must carry them out - a burden that becomes intolerable
when, as here, there is a grave risk that a botched execution will result in
excessive pain and suffering."
It leads some employees to substance abuse and to experience "symptoms of
post-traumatic stress including depression, flashbacks, nightmares, pain with
no known physical origin, and dissociative disorders." But the burden will be
especially heavy if the state has its way here, they contend. There’s a
"substantial probability that the process will be lengthy and will end only
when Mr. Bucklew either suffocates or drowns in his own blood," the former
officials warn. When an execution results "in unnecessary pain and suffering,
the burden of participation becomes unbearable."
For more information on Russell Bucklew and other Missouri Death Row inmates
visit: www.madpmo.org
(source: change.org)
OREGON:
Lawyer for MAX attack suspect will argue against death penalty----2 of the
victims, 53-year-old Ricky John Best and 23-year-old Taliesin Myrddin
Namkai-Meche, were killed.
A pre-trial hearing for self-proclaimed white supremacist Jeremy Christian
began Monday in which his attorney will argue against a potential death
penalty.
On Monday, the closest Christian's defense lawyers got to arguing against the
death penalty was a motion to disallow victim impact evidence and aggravating
evidence in the penalty phase of the trial, should it come to that.
In the following days, the defense will argue that capital punishment is
unconstitutional in Oregon, based on several principles, including that lethal
injection can cause severe pain. The lawyer will also argue that Christian has
mental health issues.
The hearing is expected to last 3 days. There are 51 items on the pretrial
agenda, a majority brought by Christian's defense attorneys. The murder trial
for Christian is set for June 2019.
Unlike past appearances, during Monday's hearing, Christian remained calm.
On May 26, 2017, Christian spewed hate speech at 2 black teenage girls on a MAX
train in Portland, and then allegedly stabbed 3 men who stepped in to
intervene.
2 of the victims, 53-year-old Ricky John Best and 23-year-old Taliesin Myrddin
Namkai-Meche, were killed. The 3rd victim, 21-year-old Micah Fletcher, was
wounded but survived.
Police say Christian confessed to the killings.
Before the fatal attack, Christian was arrested multiple times over a decade
and a half. The day before the stabbings he was accused of throwing a bottle of
Gatorade at a black woman on a MAX train.
Christian was also thrown out of an alt-right event in Portland in April 2017
for making racist comments.
(source: KEZI news)
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