Sept. 17
TEXAS----impending executions
Stephen Dale Barbee's exertion is scheduled to begin at 6 pm CDT, on Wednesday,
October 2, 2019, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in
Huntsville, Texas. 52-year-old Stephen is convicted of the murder of
34-year-old Lisa Underwood, and her 7-year-old son Jayden at their Fort Worth,
Texas home on February 19, 2005. Lisa was also 7-months pregnant at the time of
the murder. Stephen has been on death row in Texas for the last 13 years.
Stephen was a year away from graduating high school, when he dropped out,
however, he eventually obtained his GED. Stephen lost both his siblings when
they were each 20 years of age, resulting in a downward spiral for a time.
However, he eventually got his life back on track, working as a police officer
and operating a tree-trimming and concrete cutting business with his ex-wife,
Theresa, from whom he was divorced. Stephen was also a member of a local
church, where he worked with children.
Lisa Underwood, a bagel shop owner in Fort Worth, Texas, met Stephen Barbee, a
customer, and the 2 eventually started seeing each other. In July 2004, Lisa
became pregnant and believed Barbee was the father (DNA tests would later prove
Barbee was not the father). Barbee married another woman at the end of 2004. On
February 19, 2005, Lisa’s family and friends held a baby shower for her, but
she never arrived. They contacted the police who began investigating her
disappearance.
Police checked our her home, which did not appear to have been broken into.
However, Lisa’s blood was discovered throughout the living room. Police also
visited Theresa (Barbee’s ex-wife), to inquire about Barbee’s whereabouts.
Theresa urged Barbee to turn himself in.
On the day of Lisa’s disappearance, unbeknownst to Fort Worth detectives,
Barbee was stopped by a deputy sheriff along a service road. Barbee was
observed to be wet and covered in mud. He gave a false name to the deputy and
fled on foot. On February 21, 2005, Lisa vehicle was discovered in a creek,
about 300 yards from where the deputy had stopped Barbee. The windows were down
and in the rear of the vehicle, police discovered cleaning solution.
Later that day, police tracked Barbee, his current wife, and another co-worker,
Ronald Dodd, to a job site in Tyler, Texas. All agreed to go to the Tyler
police station for questioning. In his first interview with police, Barbee
stated that he had not seen, nor heard from Lisa in months. After his initial
statement, Barbee asked to use the bathroom, and while in there, confessed to a
detective that he killed Lisa. Barbee said he started a fight with Lisa and
held her face down on the carpet until she stopped breathing. He then held his
hand over Jayden’s mouth and nose until he stopped breathing. Barbee attempted
to defend himself, saying he was just trying to calm them down, however,
evidence showed that both bodies had been severely beaten. He said he committed
the crime because he thought Lisa was going to ruin his family and his
relationship with his wife. This confession was not recorded. Barbee then gave
another, recorded, confession to the police, however this confession was not
allowed to be presented at the trial.
The day after confessing, Barbee took police to the location of the 2 buried
bodies. A few days later, Barbee recanted his confession.
Barbee was convicted and sentenced to death on February 27, 2006.
Please pray for peace and healing for the family of Lisa and Jayden. Please
pray for strength for the family of Stephen Barbee. Please pray that if Stephen
is innocent, lacks the competency to be executed or should not be executed for
any other reason, that evidence will be presented prior to his execution.
Please pray that Stephen may find peace through a personal relationship with
Jesus Christ.
****************************
Randy Ethan Halprin is scheduled to be executed at 6 pm CDT, on Thursday,
October 10, 2019, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in
Huntsville, Texas. 42-year-old Randy is sentenced to death for his part in the
murder of 29-year-old Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins on December 24, 2000, in
Irving, Texas. Randy has spent the last 16 years on death row in Texas.
Randy was born in Texas. He was raised in the Jewish faith, including having a
Bar Mitzvah when he was 13. He dropped out of school after the 11th grade.
Randy would work as a laborer and perform maintenance prior to being arrested.
In 1997, Randy was convicted and given a 30-year sentence for severely beating
an 18-month-old child he was babysitting. The child suffered two broken legs,
two broken arms, and a skull fracture. When he confessed, Randy claimed that he
was upset that the child wouldn’t stop crying.
Randy was serving his time at the John B. Connally Unit, a maximum security
state prison near Kenedy, Texas, when he joined six other inmates - 38-year-old
Donald Newbury, 39-year-old Joseph C. Garcia, 37-year-old Larry James Harper,
39-year-old Patrick Henry Murphy, Jr., 30-year-old George Rivas, and
38-year-old Michael Anthony Rodriguez - in a conspiracy to break out of the
prison. The group, led by George Rivas, became known as the “Texas 7.” All were
serving sentences of 30 years or longer, most with potential life sentences.
On December 13, 2000, around 11:20 am, the 7 inmates used a variety of ploys to
overpower and restrain nine civilian maintenance supervisors, four correctional
officers, and three uninvolved inmates. They had planned the escape during the
slowest part of the day and in areas with low surveillance. They stole a white
prison truck to assist in their escape, eventually dumping it in a Wal-Mart
parking lot.
After their escape, the group of seven fled to San Antonio, Texas. On December
14, they robbed a Radio Shack in Pearland to obtain money. On December 19, four
of the seven checked into an Econo Lodge motel in Farmers Branch. They decided,
once again needing money, to rob Oshman’s Sporting Goods store in Irving, a
nearby town. For several days they observed the store and created their plans.
On December 24, 2000, they held up to store, stealing 44 guns and over $70,000
in cash. A customer outside the store saw the hold up and called police.
Officer Aubrey Hawkins responded to the call and was immediately ambushed. He
suffered 11 gunshot wounds from at least 5 different weapons. His body was
dragged out of his vehicle and run over by the group as they fled the scene.
The Texas 7 were eventually arrested on January 22, 2001, with the help of the
television show America’s Most Wanted, which featured their story on January
20, 2001. 6 of 7 were captured. The 7th, Larry Harper, killed himself before he
could be arrested. All 6 surviving members were charged, convicted, and
sentenced to death for the murder of Officer Hawkins. As it was unclear who
actually shot Officer Hawkins, they were convicted under the Law of Parties,
which allows for a person to be criminally held responsible for another’s
actions if that person acts with “the intent to promote or assist the
commission of the offense and solicits, encourages, directs aids, or attempts
to aid the other person to commit the offense… If, in the attempt to carry out
a conspiracy to commit one felony, another felony is committed by one of the
conspirators, all conspirator are guilty of the felony actually committed.”
Michael Anthony Rodriguez was executed on August 14, 2008, after asking that
his appeals be stopped. The ringleader, George Rivas, was executed on February
29, 2012. Donald Newbury was executed on February 4, 2015. Joseph Garcia was
executed on December 4, 2018. Earlier this year, Patrick Murphy had his
execution stayed by the Supreme Court of the United States.
During his trial, Randy and his lawyers argued that Randy should not be
sentenced to death because he did not “want to take a gun in or participate in
the robbery.” Randy has also insisted that he did not fire a weapon during the
robbery.
Recent appeals for Randy have also focused on his Jewish heritage. Randy and
his lawyers claims that the Dallas judge who ultimately sentenced him to death
regularly expressed racist and anti-semitic remarks, which violated Randy’s
right to due process and a fair trial.
Please pray for peace for the family of Aubrey Hawkins. Please pray for
strength for the family of Randy. Please pray that if Randy is innocent, lacks
the competency to be executed, or should not be executed for any other reason,
that evidence will be presented prior to his execution. Please pray that Randy
may come to find peace through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, if he
has not already.
***********************
Randall Wayne Mays is scheduled to be executed at 6 pm CST, on Wednesday,
October 16, 2019, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in
Huntsville, Texas. Sixty-year-old Randall was convicted of the murder of
61-year-old Henderson County Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Price Ogburn and 63-year-old
Henderson County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Paul Steven Habelt on May
17, 2007, in Payne Springs, Texas. Randall has spent the last 11 years on
Texas’ death row.
Randall was described by his family as good with children and a man who took
care of his family. One of his brothers was executed for murder in 1995. A 2nd
brother was shot and killed, an event Randall witnessed, and a third brother
died of a drug overdose. Randall did not graduate from high school, leaving
school after the 10th grade. Randall used drugs for a time but stopped in 1991.
Prior to his arrest he worked as a welder, an oil field worker, an
architectural designer, and a construction worker.
On May 17, 2007, Fran Nicholson called the police saying that her neighbor,
Randall Mays was shooting at his wife, Candis. Fran was concerned because he
was close to the road and her grandchildren were going to be dropped off by the
school bus soon. Fran also observed Mays and his wife screaming at each other.
Deputies Billy Jack Valentine, Duane Sanders, and Eric Ward responded to the
call. All 3 were in uniforms and arrived in marked patrol vehicles. Candis
claimed that she and her husband were simply arguing. Mays claimed that he was
target practicing with his gun, which was in the house.
Deputy Sanders left the other officers and went over to talk Fran. Around the
same time, Deputy Tony Ogburn arrived. Deputy Sanders radioed back that she
wanted to press charges. When the police determined that Mays had previous
felony convictions, Deputy Valentine attempted to arrest him. As he began
reading him his rights, Mays began running towards the house. Deputy Valentine
attempted to stop him but failed.
Mays emerged from the house with a deer hunting rifle telling the police to
“Back off, back off!” Mays then returned inside the house. Deputy Valentine,
along with others, continued to try and talk Mays into peacefully surrendering.
Approximately 20 minutes after the standoff began, Mays climbed out of window
without his rifle. Deputy Valentine attempted to maneuver between the Mays and
house so that he could not return, however Mays saw him and ran back towards
the house. Deputy Valentine tripped over a hose and failed to stop Mays. Mays
fired a short time later, hitting Deputy Ogburn in the head. Mays then shot and
killed Inspector Paul Habelt, who had arrived earlier. Officers began returning
fire. Deputy Kevin Harris was shot by Mays in the leg, but Deputy Harris also
managed to hit Mays, who then surrendered.
Randall Mays was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death on May
18, 2008.
This is not Randall's 1st execution date. He was perviously scheduled to be
executed in March 2015, however his execution was stayed by the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals in order to determine if Randall was mentally competent to be
executed. A new execution date was set once competency was determined.
Please pray for peace and healing for the families of Tony Ogburn and Paul
Habelt. Please pray for strength for the family of Randall. Please pray that if
Randall is innocent, lacks the competency to be executed, or should not be
executed for any other reason, that evidence will be presented prior to the
execution. Please pray that Randall may come to find peace through a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ, if he has not already found one. (source for
all: theforgivenessfoundation.org)
*********************
'Yes that's fine. I did it,': Mohammad Sahi makes first court appearance since
chilling double homicide----When police arrived at Mohammad Sahi's home in the
6200 block of Denain Drive last Thursday morning, he told them he killed his
family.
With the help of an interpreter Monday, an elderly man accused of brutally
beating his daughter and grandson to death and severely injuring another
grandson made his 1st appearance in court.
72-year-old Mohammad Sahi was arrested last Thursday at his home in the 6200
block of Denain Drive. When police arrived at the home, he told them he killed
his family.
Inside, police found the bodies of Sahi's daughter, 47-year-old Nargis Zaman,
and his grandson, 18-year-old Hamed Zaman. They also found his other grandson,
21-year-old Hamzah Zaman, severely beaten, but still breathing. Hamzah was
rushed to Bay Area Hospital. Sahi was arrested.
In Judge Jack Pulcher's 105th District Court Monday, Sahi received 2 court
appointed attorneys.
At one point in court, Sahi became emotional as his interpreter spoke for him,
saying to the judge, "Yes, that's fine. I did it. I mean, whatever you are
charging me is correct."
There will be a status hearing in 3 months to see if prosecutors will seek the
death penalty in Sahi's case.
(source: KYTX news)
******************
Psychiatrist: Man accused of killing 6 in Houston controlled by voices
A forensic psychiatrist told jurors Monday that a man accused of fatally
shooting 6 members of his ex-wife's family near Houston in 2014 wasn't
responsible for his actions because of severe mental illness that made him
believe voices in his head telling him to carry out the killings.
Prosecutors allege Ronald Lee Haskell, 39, created a meticulous plot in which
he traveled from California to suburban Houston in 2014 and stalked his
ex-wife's family for two days before killing six of them, including four
children. One family member, a then 15-year-old girl, was also shot but
survived by playing dead.
But Stephen Raffle, a forensic psychiatrist who examined Haskell and reviewed
his medical records, testified at his capital murder trial that Haskell didn't
know what he was did was wrong.
Raffle said that at the time of the killings, Haskell was suffering from a form
of bipolar disorder, a brain condition that causes unusual shifts in mood, and
from schizoaffective disorder, a condition characterized by hallucinations or
delusions.
The voices in Haskell's head "had basically taken control" of him, Raffle said.
One voice named Joseph "was telling Ron that he has to kill members of his
ex-wife's Melannie's family in order to get reunited with her," Raffle said.
Haskell's marriage had ended after years of domestic violence, according to
court records. His ex-wife and his children had moved from Utah to Texas to be
with her family.
Prosecutors allege Haskell became so enraged his ex-wife had left him that he
planned to harm anyone who had helped her.
During her questioning of Raffle, prosecutor Lauren Bard portrayed Haskell as
someone who was faking being mentally ill and who killed the 6 family members
out of rage and narcissism.
Bard suggested to Raffle that Haskell had manipulated him and that Haskell
minimized the killings.
Killed in the shooting were 39-year-old Stephen Stay and his 34-year-old wife
Katie, along with their children: 4-year-old Zach; 7-year-old Rebecca;
9-year-old Emily; and 13-year-old Bryan. Katie Stay was the sister of Haskell's
ex-wife.
During her cross examination of Raffle, Bard also said Haskell had told other
medical experts who had interviewed him that he wanted to shoot his ex-wife in
the back of the head because he had "so much hate and anger."
"He said he felt good about killing Katie," Bard said.
At the start of the trial, Cassidy Stay, the only person to survive the
shooting testified she begged Haskell to not hurt her, her parents or four
siblings. She told jurors Haskell had her and her family lie face down on her
living room floor before shooting each person 1 by 1.
After the shooting at the Stays' home, Haskell tried going to the houses of his
ex-wife's parents and brother before officers took him into custody after a
long standoff.
Raffle was set to resume testifying on Tuesday. He was expected to be the final
witness for the defense in Haskell's trial, which began Aug. 26.
Prosecutors were expected to present about 10 rebuttal witnesses before the
trial's closing arguments, which could take place by the end of the week.
Haskell faces a possible death sentence if convicted of capital murder.
(source: Associated Press)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Jury selection begins in Solebury murder trial
Up to 18 jurors are expected to be assigned to the trial of Sean Kratz, 22, for
his alleged role in the murder of 4 men in Solebury 2 years ago. His cousin,
Cosmo DiNardo, is already serving four life sentences in the case. Kratz faces
the death penalty if convicted.
Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a Philadelphia man who authorities
allege killed a man and helped his cousin in the murder of 2 others on a
Solebury farm 2 years ago.
Sean Kratz, 22, of Philadelphia, if convicted faces the death penalty in the
brutal killings, while his cousin, who took a plea deal last year, is serving
multiple life sentences for the slayings.
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and defense attorneys can’t comment
on the trial due to a long-existing gag order in the case that garnered
international headlines, but court documents show up to 18 jurors are expected
to be selected over the next 2 weeks.
Opening arguments, however, are not expected to begin until Nov. 6. Officials
expect it to take a week, according to court documents.
Kratz faces multiple homicide, robbery and other charges related to the alleged
murders that rocked the rural community and saw a days-long search for the men
in July 2017.
Prosecutors say Kratz fatally shot Dean Finocchiaro, 19, of Middletown, and
helped DiNardo murder Tom Meo, 21, of Plumstead, and Mark Sturgis, 22, of
Pennsburg, at a farm owned by DiNardo’s parents.
The bodies of the four men, including Jimi Taro Patrick, 19, of Newtown, were
burned and buried in a shared grave dug with construction equipment at the
farm, authorities said. Kratz is not charged in the murder of Patrick. DiNardo
confessed to killing Patrick on his own during his plea hearing.
DiNardo, 22, of Bensalem, was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences in a
plea deal on May 16, 2018.
That same day Kratz, who was expected to plead guilty, rejected a plea deal
that would have sent him to jail for 59 to 118 years on one count of
third-degree murder. After he declined the plea offer, the DA’s office said it
was prepared to take the case against him to trial and the death penalty was
back on the table.
A motion to suppress an April 2018 confession by Kratz was denied by Bucks
County Judge Jeffrey L. Finley in May, ruling the defendant was told multiple
times the confession could be used against him if he ultimately refused the
deal.
Finley also denied a motion to use a jury outside of Bucks County for the
trial, and quashed a motion from prosecutors to subpoena Kratz’s former
attorney, Craig Penglase, for the trial. Plengase was removed from the case
last year after admitting to leaking recordings of Kratz and DiNardo speaking
to investigators to a television station. Those tapes were widely played in the
media.
DiNardo first admitted to the killings of the men at the height of the
investigation in July 2017, with his statements helping investigators piece
together what happened and where they could find the bodies on the sprawling
Solebury farm. In his formal plea, he admitted shooting Patrick, Meo and
Sturgis, running over Meo with a backhoe and burying them, and Finocchiaro, on
the farm.
Prosecutors accused him of luring the men to the farm with the promise of
selling them marijuana.
According to prosecutors at the time of the plea hearing, Kratz confessed to
shooting Finocchiaro in an audio-recorded interview he gave to investigators in
April 2018. He also allegedly agreed to admit to acting as a lookout while
DiNardo burned and buried the bodies of the 3 men killed July 7, 2017.
(source: The Intelligencer)
SOUTH CAROLINA:
2 years after CresCom double murder, Brandon Council’s death penalty trial set
to begin
A jury will soon hear arguments on whether Brandon Council committed a double
murder at a Conway bank and if he should be executed for his alleged crime.
A 16-member jury panel was selected in Florence federal court on Monday. The
selection ended months of whittling down a pool of thousands of potential
jurors. About 70 prospective jurors filled the courtroom as members of the
media, family of the victims and others watched from an overflow courtroom.
Judge R. Bryan Harwell reminded the panel to avoid talking about the case or
reading news reports as he dismissed them for the day.
“You have been selected because you can be fair and impartial,” Harwell said,
“and I want you to remain that way.”
Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Police accused Council of
killing 2 employees at the Conway CresCom bank in August 2017. Council was
present for the final day of jury selection and wore a blue sports coat and had
his dreadlocks tied up behind his head.
About a half-dozen lawyers and experts were with Council at his defense table,
while a similar number sat on the prosecution side of the room.
Council, of Wilson, North Carolina, was indicted in September 2017 for armed
robbery resulting in death, using a firearm in a violent crime that resulted in
murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is accused of shooting
Kathryn “Katie” Davis Skeen and Donna Major while robbing the CresCom Bank in
Conway on Aug. 21.
The 2 worked at the bank at the time of the robbery.
A death penalty trial has 2 parts. The 1st is to determine if a defendant is
guilty. If the defendant is found guilty, the trial moves into the penalty
phase, which is heard by the same jury. The prosecution presents evidence that
shows a murder is worse than others, while defense teams argue why a person
should not receive the death penalty.
If the jury decides against the death penalty, the only other option is to
sentence a convicted person to life in prison.
(source: myrtlebeachonline.com)
LOUISIANA:
Trial delayed for accused cop killer Ian Howard----Court date now set for early
2020
Howard’s attorneys considering insanity plea in attempted murder case
The trial date for the man accused of gunning down a Lafayette Police
Department officer and wounding three others, Ian Paul Howard, has been pushed
back to early next year.
Howard was in court Monday before 15th Judicial District Judge Jules Edwards as
his defense attorneys sparred with state prosecutors over several motions in
his attempted murder case.
The defense is seeking access to physical evidence including the chance to
inspect Howard’s vehicle that was at the crime scene, which is currently in the
possession of the Louisiana State Police.
Howard’s attorneys were also asking the judge to exclude certain pieces of
evidence, including all statements made by Howard and all video footage taken
at the crime scene.
Edwards had previously set an Aug. 30 deadline for the state to list which of
Howard's statements and videos and photographs will be used at trial.
The defense stated that it could not begin its work on the litigation until it
received notice of exactly what evidence the state intends to use. However, the
prosecutor countered that the state will use all evidence they have, and that
they've already told that to defense attorneys.
“They have had everything in discovery for over a year,” said Assistant
District Attorney Kenny Hebert. “We don’t even know what the plea is: not
guilty, not guilty by reason of insanity. We don’t know what their defense is
going to be.”
Assistant District Attorney Alan Haney then explained to the court that he had
an informal conversation with defense attorney Elliott Brown while the two were
in court for a separate case. Haney said he had discussed with Brown what
evidence the state was planning to use.
However, Haney admitted that he had not entered his account into the official
court record.
“We have an order that was not complied with,” said Edwards.
“I disagree with the ruling that I didn’t comply with the order,” said Haney.
“I told him in person, but I should have put it in writing.”
“I’m giving you a choice in either excluding any and all statements or stay
(delay) the trial,” said Edwards.
The state agreed to have the trial pushed back, which the judge moved from Nov.
18 to Jan. 21, 2020.
Howard, 29, has 2 pending cases: a 1st-degree murder case in the Oct. 1, 2017
shooting death of Lafayette Cpl. Michael Middlebrook - for which prosecutors
intend to pursue the death penalty - and in a separate case, 3 charges of
attempted 1st-degree murder that involve the other alleged victims.
No date has yet been set for his first degree murder charge trial; the state
has said they plan to seek the death penalty in that trial.
Defense counsel will now have until Oct. 31 to make a decision on presenting an
insanity defense.
(source: KATC news)
**********************
Momentum to abolish the death penalty picks up among conservatives
A gathering of anti-death penalty activists this month in New Orleans was to
kick-start a movement to abolish the death penalty at the state level. But
those attending are not capital punishment’s typical foes.
“I’m a lifetime Republican, a cradle conservative,” E. King Alexander told
Facing South. “From a small government perspective, I think the government
needs to stay in its lane vis-à-vis the liberties of the people.”
A public defender in Louisiana’s Calcasieu Parish and a member of his state
Republican Party’s Central Committee, Alexander is a part of Conservatives
Concerned About the Death Penalty. The national group was launched at the 2013
Conservative Political Action Conference as a project of Equal Justice USA, a
Brooklyn, New York-based nonprofit that works to break cycles of trauma through
justice system reforms.
Conservatives Concerned held its first annual national meeting from Sept. 6- 8,
giving like-minded anti-death penalty advocates from across the U.S. a chance
to meet, network, and begin organizing campaigns in their respective states.
People affiliated with the group hold various views on why the death penalty
should be abolished. For some, like Alexander, the taking of a life represents
government overreach. For others, it’s a cost issue, as carrying out a capital
sentence is often more expensive than life imprisonment. And for those like
Donald Triplett, the treasurer of North Carolina’s Swain County Republican
Party, it’s an extension of their fundamental values.
“I was raised to be pro-life,” Triplett told Facing South. “Around my teenage
years, I started questioning — how far does that go?”
Support for capital punishment, once seen as a necessary credential for
politicians running on a tough-on-crime platform, has eroded in recent years as
evidence has mounted that the death penalty is ineffective at driving down
crime rates, unevenly and often arbitrarily applied, and that many innocent
people have been sent to death row. According to Gallup, which has asked about
the death penalty in its polls since the 1930s, 45 % of Americans believe the
death penalty is imposed unfairly, the highest level since Gallup began asking
that question in 2000. In all, 41 % of Americans now oppose the death penalty
for a person convicted of murder — the highest level since 1972, when the U.S.
Supreme Court in Furman v. Georgia briefly struck down capital punishment.
But there’s a deep partisan divide over the death penalty, one that makes its
abolition an uphill battle in red states. In 2018, the Pew Research Center
found that while just 35 % of Democrats and 52 % of independents support the
death penalty for people convicted of murder, 77 % of Republicans favor the
policy. While that number might seem high, it represents a 10-point dip from
1996, when 87 % of Republicans favored capital punishment. Support for the
death penalty among self-identified independents, who make up 38 % of the
voting population, is down more than 27 % points over the same time period.
The movement to abolish the death penalty continues to gain steam. New
Hampshire became the latest state to abolish capital punishment earlier this
year, with significant Republican support. 6 other states — Connecticut,
Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, and Washington — have gotten rid of
the death penalty since 2009, 2 through court rulings declaring state capital
punishment laws unconstitutional. Today, 21 states have rejected the death
penalty by law, and 4 more have done so through governor-imposed moratoriums.
But every state in the South except West Virginia still has the death penalty.
The region includes two of the three states with the highest death row
populations: 349 people in Florida, and 218 in Texas. In Florida, 29 death row
prisoners have had their charges dismissed since the 1970s, the most in the
country.
Among the factors driving opposition to the death penalty are the dramatic
racial disparities in its administration. According to a Facing South analysis
of data compiled by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the U.S. Census Bureau’s
American Community Survey, 46 percent of the South’s death row population is
Black, although Black people make up less than 20 % of the region’s total
population. Several studies, including one by the federal Government
Accountability Office, have shown that murder cases with white victims are more
likely to result in capital murder charges and the imposition of the death
penalty than those with victims of another race. And all too often, capital
trials occur without a true jury of one’s peers: Recent high-profile cases in
Mississippi and North Carolina have accused prosecutors of excluding black
people from death penalty juries based on their race.
“The death penalty continues to exist in the parts of America it exists in
because of racism and revenge,” said Kenneth Reams, the founder of Who Decides,
a nonprofit that educates people about the history of the death penalty. He is
also a current resident of Arkansas’ death row; though the state’s Supreme
Court reversed his death sentence last year, he remains there pending further
proceedings. “It’s not just racism, but poverty. The death penalty affects
people in our society who are uneducated and poor.”
Preaching outside the choir
It’s no accident that Conserva-tives Concerned’s 1st national meeting was set
for Louisiana. A coalition of groups from across that state’s political
spectrum recently came together to pass Amendment 2 overturning a Jim Crow-era
law that allowed people to be convicted of felonies by non-unanimous juries.
Alexander was part of that coalition, as was tea party Republican Rob Maness, a
former U.S. Senate candidate in Louisiana and a retired Air Force colonel who
sits on his parish’s GOP executive committee.
“We had to build a team of not just conservatives, but also independent and
moderate-type folks, and then the very liberal side of the Democrats, and
independents too, so across the spectrum of ideology,” Maness told Facing
South. “We were able to build that team, because [reversing the amendment] was
the right thing to do.”
The measure had support from the state Republican and Democratic parties, from
a slew of criminal justice reform organizations, and from the Louisiana branch
of the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group that has
pushed for criminal justice reform in other states as well. Advocates hope they
can keep this coalition together to push for the abolition of the death
penalty, either by way of another constitutional amendment or with a state
statute.
The meeting in New Orleans was to connect Louisiana anti-death penalty
conservatives with each other and with others like them around the country. It
will also serve as a training ground to get other state-based movements up and
running with sessions teaching advocates how to talk to legislators and how to
carry out grassroots organizing targeted at conservatives.
The attendees know their views are out of step with most Republicans; Maness
said that if he decides to run for office again he’s certain GOP voters will
“hold me accountable” for not being sufficiently “law-and-order.” But they hope
to reach people around the South who might be predisposed to discount the
arguments of liberals.
“If you’re a Democrat you’re preaching to the choir,” said Alexander. “Where we
need to make progress is with Republicans.”
That’s been the focus in Tennessee, said Amy Lawrence, who leads the state’s
chapter of Conservatives Concerned. People who have been in conservative
circles their entire life may not have thought about the death penalty from a
pro-life lens, or may not be aware of the expense of sentencing someone to
death, she said.
“We still have some work to do,” Lawrence said. “We have lawmakers who say, ‘I
get it, I understand that there are flaws with the death penalty, that it’s an
exorbitant cost, that it’s an arbitrary system.’” There’s still a stigma
associated with being anti-death penalty in Republican circles, however, and
some lawmakers fear that vocalizing their opposition to capital punishment
could mean losing their seat, said Lawrence and other advocates.
But that’s beginning to shift. In 10 states this year, three of them in the
South, Republican legislators sponsored bills to repeal the death penalty. In
Georgia, a bipartisan group of three Republican and 3 Democratic legislators
introduced a bill in April that would abolish capital punishment and change the
sentences of the state’s 55 death row inmates to life without parole. Though it
was introduced too late to advance this session, its timing was aimed to spark
debate next year. In Louisiana, Republican state Sen. Dan Claitor put forward a
constitutional amendment to get rid of the death penalty, but it was rejected
by the legislative body. And in Kentucky, Republican House Majority Whip Chad
McCoy introduced a bill to repeal the state’s death penalty. Though it gained
several co-sponsors, including other Republican state legislators, it died in
committee.
“If we can get lucky enough to get one of the states in the South to seriously
look at capital punishment, to simply put a moratorium on it, that would be a
start,” said Reams. “If we could get one state in the South to abolish it, I
think it would open the door.”
(source: This article originally appeared in the online magazine of the
Institute for Southern Studies, www.southernstudies.org. The Institute for
Southern Studies is a nonprofit research and media center that exposes
injustice, strengthens democracy and builds a community for change in the
South----louisianaweekly.com)
OHIO:
Judge allows destruction of expired Ohio lethal drug supply
A federal judge is allowing an Ohio prison pharmacist to destroy the state’s
supply of expired lethal injection drugs.
The decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Merz in Dayton on Friday follows
the state’s request to eliminate the 3-drug supply. The state’s request was
unopposed by lawyers representing death row inmates.
Executions have been on hold in Ohio while the prisons system looks for new
supplies of lethal drugs.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who opposed using expired drugs for executions,
has ordered a new lethal injection protocol.
The governor says finding new drugs is complicated by concerns that drug
companies who supply the state with pharmaceuticals for various purposes will
cut off supplies if some drugs are used for executions.
(source: Associated Press)
***********************
Man accused of intentionally crashing into hospital, killing man, held on $5
million bond----Raymond Leiendecker was held on $5 million bond Monday Sept.
16, 2019 for his role in a Sept. 13, 2019 crash that killed a man and injured a
woman.
A man accused of driving into Diley Ridge Medical Center, killing a man and
injuring a woman, has been held on a $5 million bond.
Raymond Leiendecker has been charged with aggravated murder following the death
of Scott Davis, 61.
The judge says Leiendecker faces the maximum penalty of life in prison or the
death penalty.
He is next expected to appear in court Sept. 25, but that depends on the status
of an indictment.
(source: WTTE news)
*****************
Jury selection begins in potential death penalty trial of man accused of
killing of Garfield Heights teens
Jury selection began Monday in the trial of private security guard accused of
fatally shooting 2 of his girlfriend’s children and then engaging in an
hours-long SWAT standoff in Garfield Heights.
Matthew Nicholson, 29, of Garfield Heights, has pleaded not guilty to charges
including aggravated murder, murder, attempted murder and felonious assault
that make him eligible for the death penalty in the Sept. 5, 2018 killings of
Giselle Lopez, 19, and Manuel Lopez Jr., 17.
Nicholson argued with his girlfriend before he shot Giselle Lopez and Manuel
Lopez outside the home on East 86th Street, police said. The fight began after
Nicholson became angry over text messages his girlfriend received from an
ex-boyfriend, police said.
Neighbors called 911 to report a host of gunshots about 9:40 p.m. Officers
responded within about 4 minutes and found both children lying in the driveway,
police said. Police learned Nicholson was inside the home and called in a SWAT
unit to surround it.
Nicholson surrendered to police about 4 hours later, police said.
Nicholson worked as a private security officer contracted by the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security at the time of his arrest.
Manuel Lopez Jr. was a Garfield Heights High School senior and Giselle Lopez
was an aspiring nurse, their father, Manuel Lopez Sr., told cleveland.com. The
father said his children were kind, loving and generous.
(source: cleveland.com)
MISSOURI----impending execution
Russell Earl Bucklew is scheduled to be executed at 6 pm CDT, on Tuesday,
October 1, 2019, at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Corrections Center in
Bonne Terre, Missouri. He has been granted a stay of execution. 51-year-old
Russell is convicted of killing 27-year-old Michael Sanders on March 21, 1996,
at Hickory Hollow trailer park in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. Russell also
kidnapped, beat, and raped 21-year-old Stephanie Pruitt. Russell has spent the
past 16 years on Missouri's death row.
Russell Bucklew, a former electrician, met Stephanie Pruitt in the summer 1995,
while she was married to another man, with whom she had two children. By fall
of 1995, Stephanie was divorced and dating Bucklew, whom she knew as Rusty.
Around Christmas, Stephanie discovered she was pregnant, however, she lost the
baby on Valentine's Day and the relationship between Stephanie and Bucklew was
over. Stephanie claims they broke up and Bucklew moved back into his parent's
house. Bucklew said they just needed a few days apart to cool off.
When Bucklew returned, he discovered that Michael “Mike” Sanders was now living
with Stephanie in Bucklew’s trailer. Bucklew was furious and put a knife to
Mike's throat, telling him to get out or he would kill him. Stephanie moved in
with Mike a few days later.
Stephanie and Bucklew had another confrontation when she retrieved some of her
clothes from Bucklew's trailer. Stephanie, chained to a bed, agreed to meet
Bucklew on March 21, 1996, and leave with him. Bucklew let her go. On March 21,
1996, Bucklew, after stealing guns, handcuffs, duct tape, and a car from his
cousin, secretly followed and watched Stephanie all day. His goal was to catch
her with Mike. When he saw return to Mike's trailer, he decided that she was
not going to meet him and decided to kill Mike and kidnap her.
Bucklew knocked on the door of Mike's trailer. Six-year-old John Michael and
4-year-old Zach were playing Super Nintendo when they heard the knock. John
Michael unlocked the door, at which time, Bucklew kicked the door in. He was
armed with a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun, a .22 caliber revolver, extra
ammunition, and holsters for the guns which were strapped to his body, 2
knives, 2 sets of handcuffs, a pair of rubber gloves, and a roll of silver duct
tape.
Michael exited the bedroom where he had been talking with Stephanie about
Bucklew. Stephanie's father had loaned them a shotgun, but Michael barely knew
how to use it. Nonetheless, he took it with him to confront Bucklew. Michael
ordered his kids to the bedroom. Bucklew, furious that Michael had a weapon,
shot Michael 4 times. All 4 bullets passed through the body.
Bucklew handcuffed Stephanie and took her with him. While handcuffing
Stephanie, John Michael ensured that he and his brother were hiding. After
hearing Bucklew drive away, the kids remained hiding for a time before
emerging. John Michael and Zach were with their father as he died. John Michael
later testified and identified Bucklew as the man who killed his father.
Bucklew forced Stephanie to perform several sexual acts, before raping her.
Bucklew, with Stephanie in the vehicle, later got into a high speed chase with
the police, which ended with him being shot and captured.
3 months later, before Bucklew went to trial, he escaped from prison by hiding
in a garbage bag. A manhunt for Bucklew began as soon as correctional officers
realized he was missing. Once again, it ended after a high speed chase. This
time, though, he did not shoot back: he raised his arms and surrendered.
Russell Bucklew was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for his crime.
Russell has 2 previously scheduled executions, on in 2014, and another in 2018.
The 2014 execution was stayed by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and then by
the Supreme Court of the United States, when the 8th Circuit lifted their stay.
The stay was granted over concerns about the possibility of Russell’s 8th
Amendment rights being violated due to his rare medical condition. According to
Russell, he has a congenital condition that causes blood vessels to weaken and
be malformed, and tumors to form in his nose and throat. He argued that this
could lead to the lethal injection drugs not being circulated properly, leading
to pain and suffering. The condition also causes his airway to shrink, which
could cause Russell to suffocate. He also claims to have constant pain in his
face, which requires pain medication every six hours. Russell fears he will
have a prolonged and painful death. Missouri argued against a stay of
execution, noting that Russell has previously had surgery with the use of
anesthesia without any problems. His 2018 execution was also stayed by the
Supreme Court of the United States, in order to allow time for them to consider
his appeal.
Please pray for peace and healing for the children, now adults, who witnessed
this horrific event. Please pray for peace and healing for the family of Mike
Sanders. Please pray for peace and healing for the family of Stephanie, who was
murdered on June 8, 2009, by her husband. Please pray for strength for the
family of Russell. Please pray that if Russell is innocent, lacks the
competency to be executed, or should not be executed for any other reason that
evidence will be presented prior to his execution. Please pray that Russell
will come to find peace through personal relationship with Jesus Christ, if he
has not already.
(source: theforgivenessfoundation.org)
USA:
The Navajo Nation Opposed His Execution.----The U.S. Plans to Do It Anyway.
In 2003, Lezmond Mitchell was found guilty of carjacking and murder for
stabbing a woman and her 9-year-old granddaughter on Navajo land in Arizona.
Despite the gruesome nature of the crimes, the Navajo Nation, a federal
prosecutor and even members of the victims’ family said they did not want the
U.S. government to pursue the death penalty. But the Justice Department had
other plans.
A mostly-white jury sentenced Mitchell—a Navajo man—to death, while his
co-defendant, who was 16 when the crimes were committed, received life in
prison. Mitchell’s life was then in limbo as the federal government ceased
executions for nearly 2 decades.
In “Case in Point,” The Marshall Project examines a single case or character
that sheds light on the criminal justice system.
That changed in July, when the Justice Department announced it would put
Mitchell and four other men to death in December and January. “We owe it to the
victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice
system,” Attorney General William Barr said in a statement.
While the Justice Department’s press release included the gory details of
Mitchell’s crime, it left out the tangled story of how he ended up as the only
Native American on federal death row—and the ongoing legal fight to spare him.
Although Justice officials claimed that all five men scheduled for execution
have already exhausted their appeals, Mitchell has ongoing litigation. Last
week, Mitchell’s attorneys asked a federal appellate court to stay his
execution, saying that “allowing [it] to go forward with so many questions
unresolved would be a grave injustice, as well as an affront to the values and
sovereignty of the Navajo Nation.”
The Justice Department’s response is due Sept. 27.
Most criminal cases out of Indian Country involve thorny jurisdictional issues,
but they are thrown into stark relief when the ultimate punishment is on the
line.
In 2001, Mitchell and his co-defendant, Johnny Orsinger, hijacked the car of
Alyce Slim, a Navajo woman, as she and her granddaughter were returning from a
visit to a medicine woman in New Mexico. The men stabbed Slim dozens of times,
put her body in the backseat next to her granddaughter, then drove to the
mountains and killed the little girl. They dismembered and buried the bodies,
and Mitchell used Slim’s truck to rob a reservation general store a few days
later. A former attorney for Orsinger declined to comment.
After his fingerprints were found within the truck’s burned remains, Mitchell
was arrested on a tribal warrant and detained at the Navajo jail. Court records
show that Mitchell remained in tribal custody for 25 days before being
appointed an attorney or appearing in front of a federal judge, even though
federal law enforcement were involved and would ultimately take over the case.
While at the tribal jail, Mitchell was questioned multiple times by FBI agents
and ultimately confessed to the crime. According to records, Mitchell was read
his rights and waived them when he agreed to speak.
Navajo Nation officials wrote a letter to the federal prosecutor assigned to
the case in 2002 expressing their opposition to the death penalty for those
involved in the murders, saying their culture and religion “instruct against
the taking of human life for vengeance.” According to court filings, Slim’s
daughter and the girl’s mother, Marlene Slim, also asked the prosecutor not to
seek capital punishment. The prosecutor then told the Justice Department that
he didn’t recommend the death penalty in this case.
Despite the tribe’s opposition, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft instead
found a legal work-around. He pursued a death sentence for Mitchell on the
grounds that he committed a carjacking resulting in death, a crime that falls
under federal authority as it relates to interstate commerce.
After holding several public hearings, the tribe ultimately decided to opt out
of the Federal Death Penalty Act entirely. That meant that any crime that was
determined to be a federal offense only because it took place on their
reservation could not be punishable by death. Marlene Slim testified to the
tribal Public Safety Committee in favor of the decision. (Only 1 U.S. tribe,
the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, has opted in.)
Ashcroft’s insistence on seeking the death penalty for Mitchell was unusual, as
federal death sentences are often reserved for crimes of significant national
interest. But Ashcroft had been a steadfast proponent of capital punishment.
During his first year and a half in office, he went against federal
prosecutors’ recommendations in a dozen cases to pursue a death sentence.
The Record
The best criminal justice reporting from around the web, organized by subject
“It's clear that America is so concerned about the safety and security of its
citizens that certain crimes against the people of this country have been
designated as death-eligible by Congress,” Ashcroft said in a 2002 speech. He
previously told lawmakers he was confident there was an “absence of any
evidence of bias or racial discrimination in the federal death penalty.”
Ashcroft did not respond to a request for comment.
Mitchell’s attorneys appealed his death sentence to the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals, claiming that his initial lawyer had failed to show Mitchell may have
been intoxicated at the time of the crime or to stress his history of mental
illness, abuse and addiction to the jury. The court ruled against Mitchell in
2015, deciding that his defense had been adequate. But in a forceful dissent,
Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt noted how “anomalous” Mitchell’s case was.
“The arbitrariness of the death penalty in this case is apparent … Mitchell,
who was 20 years old at the time and had no prior criminal record, does not fit
the usual profile of those deemed deserving of execution by the federal
government—a penalty typically enforced only in the case of mass murderers and
drug overlords who order numerous killings,” Reinhardt wrote.
Mitchell’s ongoing appeal, filed in March 2018 in federal district court, stems
from the makeup of the jury that sentenced him to death. Only one of the 12
jurors was Native American. For security reasons, the government moved the
trial to a court 100 miles away, making it more difficult for Navajo jurors to
participate, his lawyers claim. According to court filings, many of the
prospective Native jurors were struck because Navajo was their 1st language or
because the death penalty was against their beliefs. Prosecutors tried to
dismiss the remaining Native American from the jury but were blocked by the
court.
Under-representation of Native Americans on federal juries is a common problem,
due to factors such as geography, language and religious beliefs, said Jordan
Gross, a law professor at the University of Montana who has studied the issue.
“There are no federal district courts in Indian Country,” she said. “If I live
hundreds of miles away from the federal court, and I don’t have a lot of money
or resources, how am I going to get there for jury duty?”
Mitchell’s attorneys are now asking to interview former jurors to see if there
were any signs of racial bias in their decision-making. Such interviews would
be allowed if the case was being heard in Arizona state court, but they are
often blocked in the federal jurisdiction where his case is being heard.
“All 116 inmates on death row in Arizona are free to conduct a reasonable
investigation by informally interviewing their jurors,” the petition states.
“But Mitchell, solely by virtue of the fact that he was prosecuted federally,
is barred from conducting that same reasonable investigation.”
Slim’s grandson, Michael Slim, only found out that the execution had been
scheduled when a reporter called for his reaction. He supported the death
penalty when Mitchell was first sentenced, but has since changed his position.
In August, he wrote to Mitchell to tell him he forgives him, and signed it:
“Your friend. Your Navajo brother.”
“I don’t think he should die. It’s not my place or humanity’s place, it’s only
God’s place,” Slim said in an interview. “There’s no reason another person
needs to die because 2 people were hurt. That’s not justice, it’s revenge.”
Mitchell is scheduled to be put to death on Dec. 11, 2019.
(source: themarshallproject.org)
**************
Tom Cotton Praises Return of Federal Death Penalty
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said Monday that the Trump administration's
reinstatement of the federal death penalty in July "will reassure law-abiding
citizens that our government has the will to protect them from violence."
"It will remind criminals that justice may be delayed, even for years, but it
cannot be avoided," Cotton said in an opinion piece, co-authored with Arkansas
Attorney General and Republican Leslie Rutledge in the Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette.
The Justice Department reinstated a 2-decades-long dormant policy allowing the
federal government's use of capital punishment and scheduled the executions for
five death-row federal inmates.
According to Cotton and Rutledge, the administration's decision would "end this
misguided moratorium and align the federal capital-crimes process more closely
with the policy of our state and many others."
They acknowledged that "some Arkansans have principled objections to the death
penalty," but argued that "the ultimate punishment is warranted for the most
heinous murderers.
"Capital punishment can help bring closure for victims' families, deter other
would-be murderers, and express the moral outrage of our society for the most
atrocious crimes," the authors said.
Of the 5 capital cases scheduled for execution by U.S. Attorney General William
Barr, 2 occurred in Arkansas: Daniel Lewis Lee, a white supremacist was
convicted in 1999 of murdering a family of 3; and Karl Roberts, who was found
guilty the same year of killing his 12-year-old niece — who was also the
daughter of a state legislator.
Lee is scheduled to be executed in December.
"A decent society must respond decisively to crime in order to preserve law and
order," Cotton and Rutledge said. "For the most severe crimes, where innocent
life has been stolen, even life in prison can be an inadequate punishment."
(source: newsmax.com)
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