[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., N.C., FLA., IND., ARIZ., USA
Sept. 19 PENNSYLVANIA: Retrial ordered for Pennsylvania death row inmate An eastern Pennsylvania judge has granted a new trial to a man sentenced to death in the murder of a friend 8 1/2 years ago. 49-year-old Bryan Galvin was convicted of 1st-degree murder in Berks County in the January 2006 shooting death of 32-year-old Kristofer Kolesnik. Witnesses testified that Galvin shot the victim in the head and was driving to a remote area to dump the body when police stopped him for driving without headlights. The Reading Eagle (http://bit.ly/1o5xbMz ) reports that Galvin's attorney appealed, saying several jurors had discovered information about Galvin's prior criminal history. President Judge Paul Yatron ruled Monday that at least one juror researched the case and found that Galvin had been acquitted of murder in an unrelated case. The state attorney general's office declined immediate comment. (source: Associated Press) NORTH CAROLINA: DNA, exonerations and the death penalty After 30 years behind bars, Henry McCollum and Leon Brown have been exonerated because of DNA evidence. This is a good example of why our state should abolish the death penalty. It bothers me that so many Christians support executions. Jesus said that whatever you do to the least among men, you also do to him. Prisoners on death row can certainly be called the least among men. Christians and others should stand against all executions. The best way to prevent the execution of an innocent person is to abolish the death penalty. Chuck MannGreensboro (source: Letter to the Editor, Fayetteville Observer) FLORIDA: Teen guilty of 1st-degree murder in 2012 St. Petersburg robbery, beating death On what would have been Jeremy Mayers 23rd birthday, his family got the justice they had been seeking. In July 2012, Mayers was robbed and killed, and on Thursday, the 3rd person implicated in his death, Franco Thomas, was found guilty of 1st-degree murder. Christine Mayers, Jeremy's mother, was all smiles when the verdict was announced after less than 2 hours of jury deliberation. It's been like a nightmare, but the nightmare is over, and I know he's watching, she said. I'm just so grateful to God and my family and the justice system. Thomas was 14 when he participated in a robbery that resulted in Mayers' death. 3 teens were charged with crimes related to the death, but Thomas' was the only case that went to trial. Brittany Detwiler and Scionti Hill both pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder after agreeing to testify in Thomas' trial. Detwiler, facing a maximum 30 years, testified Wednesday. Hill changed his mind before the trial, a move that likely will add time to his 35-year sentence. In July 2012, Detwiler was 16 and had been talking with Mayers on Facebook for about a year. On July 8, the two planned to meet for sex at Coquina Key Park in St. Petersburg. Instead, they met where she was hanging out with some other teens, including Scionti Hill, 16, who asked whether he could rob the man. Detwiler said OK. During the robbery Mayers was beaten to death with a shotgun, witnesses said. Thomas was charged with participating in the robbery, though there was no physical evidence linking him to it. Hill, despite attempts to wipe clean the vehicle stolen from Mayers, left a fingerprint. Christine Mayers testified that her son left her house about 1 a.m. to meet friends. When he didn't return home, she filed a missing person report. She later saw news reports of a body found in Coquina Key Park and called police. The body was thought to be related to a car crash police were responding to in the area. However, when the medical examiner looked, the wounds told a different story. Injuries often associated with car accident victims were absent. Instead, hemorrhages were found in the eyes, defensive wounds on the hands and a swollen brain, indicating asphyxiation and blunt trauma. The examiner couldn't tell how many people were involved, the defense pointed out Wednesday. Detwiler later admitted to her involvement and implicated Hill and Thomas. Though Detwiler said she didn't participate in Mayers' beating, she faced the same charges. Defense attorney Frank Louderback said that because Detwiler initially lied to police about her involvement, and because she has a chance to receive a lighter sentence for her cooperation in the case, her testimony should be treated with caution. She is getting paid - for a shorter sentence - in return for her testimony, he said. While on the stand, Detwiler said she hoped to get less than 20 years, Louderback recounted. Assistant State Attorney Susan St. John said in her closing arguments Thursday that Detwiler wasn't promised anything. Even if Detwiler didn't lay a hand on Mayers or physically contribute to his death, she was still a principal actor and faced the same 1st-degree murder charge. Because Thomas
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., MO., ARIZ., CALIF.
Sept. 19 OHIO: Suspect in Jim Brennan murder may face death penalty 1 of the 4 defendants charged in connection with the murder of a Cleveland Heights restaurant owner may face the death penalty. The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's office capital review committee has not yet met to decide if Darien Jones will face the death penalty. Darien Jones is the alleged shooter in the case and is the only defendant eligible for the death penalty at this time, defense and prosecutors said during a pretrial held Friday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. The prosecutor's office says it is still reviewing the matter. Brandon Jones, Darien's brother, is also facing an aggravated murder charge. Brandon Jones worked for the victim, Jim Brennan, and was working the day the murder happened. Devonne Turner is also facing an aggravated murder charge. His brother, Paul Turner, is facing an obstruction of justice charge. The Turner brothers were also arraigned Friday morning on an aggravated robbery charge. That robbery happened the same day as the murder. Prosecutors also said they are waiting on federal agents' reports before they can turn them over to defense attorneys. (source: Fox News) ** Toledo man confessed to killing Cuyahoga Falls mother, detective testified in court A forensic pathologist said a Cuyahoga Falls mother was stabbed more than 55 times during a preliminary court hearing for the Toledo man charged in her murder, and a police detective said he confessed he killed her. During the preliminary hearing Sept. 11 at Stow Municipal Court, bond for Jeffery J. Conrad of Toledo was continued at $1 million cash by Judge Kim R. Hoover. Conrad, 43, is charged with aggravated murder, a 1st-degree felony, in connection with the death of his ex-girlfriend, Amanda Russell, 40. Conrad did not enter a plea to the charge. Ms. Russell's body was found by her 14-year-old daughter behind their home on Eighth Street Aug. 28. Conrad is in Summit County Jail. Amanda Russell had many, many stabs wounds, primarily to the back side of her body, said Dr. Lisa Kohler, a forensic pathologist and chief medical examiner for Summit County, during the hearing Sept. 11. There are greater than 55 stab wounds identified. She said the cause of death was stab wounds to the neck and torso and there was no other cause of death. Kohler and a Cuyahoga Falls police detective were called to testify during the hearing by Cuyahoga Falls prosecutor Gregory Ward. Conrad's attorney, Noah Munyer, did not question them during the hearing. The court provided the Falls News-Press with an audio recording of the hearing. A preliminary hearing is a probable cause hearing where a municipal judge decides if there's sufficient evidence to bind the matter over to the Summit County Grand Jury for its consideration, Judge Hoover told the Falls News-Press. ... neither the prosecutor for the city of Cuyahoga Falls nor the Summit County prosecutor went to the lengths to have an indictment handed up before the preliminary hearing ... Hoover said the defendant in a felony case is entitled to a preliminary hearing but typically the defense waives it. Munyer said he chose not to waive it because he was missing a key piece of information from the state. We still don't know if the state intends to charge Mr. Conrad with the death penalty, Munyer said by phone Sept. 17. They haven't made that decision, at least as far as they have related to us. As such, if it does become a death penalty case, we can't concede any point no matter how minor. At the Sept. 11 hearing, Det. Chad Lengel said when he arrived at the scene of the crime Ms. Russell was lying on the ground face down in a pool of blood. She had a lot of wounds which ... looked to be stab wounds, he said. Lengel said Conrad and Ms. Russell had a boyfriend-girlfriend status that was on again-off again for approximately three years. There were a lot of reports of violence involving them, he said. Conrad was arrested Aug. 28, the day of the murder, by the Cleveland Metroparks Ranger Department on unrelated charges. Conrad appeared on a trail in the park and threatened two rangers with a hunting knife, telling them to do what you have to do, according to the rangers' report. Sept. 2, Lengel said, he spoke to Conrad in the Cleveland City Jail where he wished to tell me what had happened and he confessed to the murder of Amanda Russell by using the knife that he had in his possession in the Cuyahoga Metro Parks' jurisdiction. He confessed to the crime after being read his Miranda Rights with two other officers present, Lengel said. There was blood on the knife recovered by the rangers, Lengel said in court, and the blood tested positive for Ms. Russell's blood. (source: Twinsburg Bulletin) Ohio shouldn't risk executing innocent Former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro and wife
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Sept. 19 PAKISTAN: Qadri demands death penalty for corrupt, foreign-funded people Chief of Pakistan Awami Tehrek (PAT), Dr Tahirul Qadri has said that a peaceful protest by the oppressed people of the country has shaken all the power corridors, ARY News reported. Addressing his workers and followers at the D-Chowk, Dr Tahirul Qadri said, Your peaceful protest has shaken the power corridors and the rulers are afraid of this awareness among the oppressed people. He said that the announcement of death penalty to opium-addicts revolutionized the Chinese nation and demanded the same penalty for 2 sorts of people here in Pakistan. Explaining his demand, the PAT chief said a person who is ever funded by a foreign country, internal or external secret agency in order to spread unrest in Pakistan should be hanged to death, while he demanded the same for the one who is involved in any kind of corruption. He said that when China can execute its masses over the use of drugs and the United States (US) can impose a death sentence over those involved in terrorism, then why can't Pakistan do so. Qadri said that widespread corruption in Pakistan has weakened the basis of the country and it is the biggest terrorism here. Drawing comparison between China and Pakistan, he said that people are addicted to corruption in Pakistan like the way Chinese were addicted to opium, before a revolution there. He said, Whoever was funded in the name of religion or politics, whether by an Arab or Persian state, or by any foreign state from East to West, he should be executed. Dr Tahirul Qadri said, We present ourselves first of all and challenge the rulers to prove any foreign funding as they allege, even about the Minhaj ul Quran International and this sit-in. He said that an unbiased commission should be formed to hold the trial of all the people involved in corruption or who acquired funding for any campaign to spread chaos in the country, since 1980 to the date. (source: arynews) ___ DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/ ~~~ A free service of WashLaw http://washlaw.edu (785)670.1088 ~~~
