[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA.
June 16 FLORIDA: State seeking death penalty for man accused of killing child Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a man accused of killing his girlfriend's 10-month-old son in May. On June 10, Assistant State Attorney Jack Campbell filed notice that his office is seeking the death penalty for Dajuan Barnes. Barnes, 26, was arrested in connection with the death of Jeffrey "Baby J" Phillips III at the home of his girlfriend on May 6. Leon County grand jurors indicted Barnes on 1st-degree murder charges May 26. He is also charged with aggravated child abuse and has pleaded not guilty. Barnes was watching the infant at the west Tallahassee home when he called 911 to report Jeffrey was not breathing and was unresponsive. Tallahassee police arrived at the Palmetto Apartments on Blountstown Street where Barnes lived with the child's mother. They found paramedics giving Jeffrey CPR before he was transported to the hospital. Medical examiners said the infant died of a broken spinal cord and a severed aorta. The ME said it appeared Jeffrey had been slammed against something "so forcefully that it broke the baby's back and caused the baby to bleed to death" within seconds or minutes. (source: Tallahassee Democrat) ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
June 16 JAPAN: Death penalty to stand for man over 2010 murder as minor A death sentence given to a man convicted of murdering 2 women and seriously injuring another man in 2010 when he was 18 is set to be finalized after the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld lower court rulings. The case of Yutaro Chiba, now 24, marks the 1st time capital punishment has been given to a minor under Japan's lay judge trial system that began in 2009. In handing down the ruling, the top court's first petty bench said the defendant committed the crime based on a "very selfish motive" as he was determined to kill anyone who sabotaged his plan to run away with his former girlfriend. According to rulings by the Sendai district and high courts, Chiba was guilty of stabbing to death his former girlfriend's older sister Misa Nambu, 20, and her 18-year-old friend Mikako Omori, and seriously injuring a man who was with them at the time of the crime on Feb. 10 in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. "Even if his age (as a minor) and having no criminal record is taken into account . . . his criminal responsibility is grave," the Supreme Court said, indicating that the death penalty cannot be avoided in line with the top court standards set in 1983 in the case of Norio Nagayama. Chiba is the 7th person whose death penalty has effectively been finalized for a crime committed by a minor since the so-called Nagayama standard which, in applying capital punishment, took into account factors such as the number of victims, brutality and social impact of the crimes. Nagayama was a death row inmate who was hanged in 1997 for killing 4 people when he was 19. On Thursday, all 5 justices on the bench, presided by Justice Naoto Otani, unanimously rejected the appeal against Chiba's death sentence. In terms of murders of 2 people for a person under 20 at the time of the crimes, Chiba will be the 2nd to be sentenced to death, following a man convicted of murdering a woman and her baby girl in Hikari, Yamaguchi Prefecture, when he was 18. Outside court, Chiba's chief lawyer, Hiroyuki Kusaba, criticized the ruling as being unacceptable. The court 'does not at all take into consideration how the defendant's environment affected his character, and also does not give any explanation about this," Kusaba said, referring to his client's difficult childhood. According to court testimonies by Chiba, his mother, and others, Chiba was raised by his mother after his parents divorced when he was 5. His mother, who repeatedly divorced and remarried, suffered violence from her boyfriend and later became addicted to alcohol. He was then raised by his grandmother's side. As demanded by prosecutors, a panel of three professional and 6 citizen judges gave the death penalty to Chiba at the district court in November 2010. The court said it cannot just take into account his age when he committed the crime, given the brutality of the crime and the impact in terms of number of victims. The Sendai High Court upheld the lower court's decision. Chiba's lawyers had sought leniency for their client to avoid the death penalty, arguing he was "immature" at the time and that his crime was "not premeditated." (source: The Japan Times) ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
June 16 PHILIPPINES: 'Alcatraz' for drug lords pushed Of the country's 7,107 islands, 1 can have a special purpose. Sen. Vicente Sotto III said he would start his stint in the 17th Congress by reviving his proposal to have an "Alcatraz-style" prison island for convicted drug traffickers, who could allegedly still run their lucrative business from the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City. Sotto on Wednesday said he would refile his Senate Bill No. 3326 on July 1. The bill calls for the segregation of so-called VIP prisoners, who would otherwise be sent to the lethal injection chamber if the country is still imposing capital punishment. If passed, he said, the bill would do away with the need to reimpose the death penalty on high-level drug lords, as being espoused by incoming President Rodrigo Duterte. Speaking at the Kapihan sa Senado forum, Sotto said the proposal to reimpose the death penalty would not be retroactive and thus not applicable to convicted drug lords who continue to find ways to operate behind bars. Even if there was optimism that the Senate measure might be passed in 3 to 5 months, Sotto said there was no assurance that the death penalty would be implemented because some groups would likely challenge it in the Supreme Court. Still, he said, he intended to refile his bill in order to stop the continued operations of the drug convicts. "Segregation is allowed by the Constitution," Sotto said. "If you segregate (high-level drug convicts) and establish a national penitentiary for high-level drug crimes, this will be more restrictive as they will be confined in 1 place and they can be watched closely." "If they are confined in a rocky island in Palawan ... Alcatraz-style, they cannot operate anymore. There will be no phones, no cell sites." This would be a big change from their current condition at New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, which is also coping with overcrowding and "where a lot of things are happening," he said. (source: Philippine Inquirer) *** Gabriela to join 'super majority' despite opposition to death penalty Although it is joining the "super majority" coalition in the incoming Congress, Gabriela Women's party-list will still oppose President-elect Rodrigo Duterte's plan to reinstate the death penalty. Gabriela party-list Rep. Emmi de Jesus said the group is against bringing back capital punishment since the state of the country's justice system leaves much to be desired. The revival of death penalty is 1 of the 3 priority measures of the Duterte administration, the other 2 being the shift to federalism and the lowering the age of criminal responsibility for minors. Despite disagreeing with Duterte's stand on the death penalty, De Jesus said Gabriela and other progressive party-list organizations under the Makabayan bloc will be part of the super majority coalition led by the emerging dominant party, the PDP-Laban. She said their decision was borne out of optimism to give Duterte's administration a chance to make good on his promises. However, the lawmaker maintained that their membership in the majority bloc is not tantamount to keeping silent on pressing issues. Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, Duterte's choice as the next Speaker, said at least 200 lawmakers from various political parties have joined the super majority bloc in the House. Its size is expected to help fast-track the passage of the incoming administration???s priority bills. For his part, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat said he is hopeful that the minority bloc in the incoming Congress will actively do its role in holding the Duterte administration accountable no matter how small its composition will be. "I hope the minority will become the fearless few," said the Liberal Party stalwart, who has expressed his desire to become part of the minority. Alvarez earlier said he plans to reduce the membership of the House minority coalition to a "bitesize" of around 20 lawmakers. Among the parties that have expressed interest in joining the minority is the United Nationalist Alliance of Vice President Jejomar Binay. LP, meanwhile, is in talks with PDP-Laban to join the super majority coalition. (source: gmanetwork.com) * Legal & int'l complications over the death penalty IN 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a "moratorium on the use of the death penalty" in member countries around the world. The resolution proposed a moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty in the future. It was passed by a vote of 104 in favor - the Philippines among them, with 54 against, and 29 abstentions. A subsequent resolution in 2008 was adopted with increased support from 106 states, with 46 against, and 34 abstaining. In 2010, the General Assembly approved a new resolution drafted by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, by a broader margin of support -
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----LA., ARK., MO., UTAH, NEV., CALIF., USA
June 16 LOUISIANA: 'Dangerously hot': Death row inmates still face health problems from heat years after order to cool it down The state has done "little if anything" to keep the sweltering heat on Louisiana's death row below 88 degrees, a Baton Rouge federal judge said Wednesday while warning he won't shy away from making a "tough and unpopular" decision to protect the health and safety of 3 ailing condemned killers. It's been 2 1/2 years since Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson ruled the state is violating the 3 Louisiana State Penitentiary inmates' constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment and ordered state corrections officials to maintain heat indexes on death row at or below 88 degrees. At a hearing he called Wednesday to determine whether the state's 2nd heat remediation plan adequately protects the prisoners from Louisiana's searing summer heat and humidity, Jackson said the plan's measures - once-daily cold showers, chests filled with ice, an extra ice machine and additional fans - have failed to halt heat indexes from topping the 88-degree mark. Jackson said he won't "sit idly by" while Elzie Ball, Nathaniel Code and James Magee continue to suffer, noting that 14 inmates have died in neighboring Texas from the heat since 2007. "Nobody wants that here in Louisiana. That's what this case is about," the judge said. Jackson will rule sometime after both sides file post-hearing briefs, which are due July 11. The state's initial court-ordered heat remediation plan included air conditioning, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled last summer that while the 3 inmates deserve some relief, they aren't entitled to air-conditioned quarters. James Hilburn, an attorney for state corrections officials, argued at Wednesday's hearing that the appellate court did not order the 88-degree threshold, but an agitated Jackson added the appeals court didn???t undo it either. "It's been proven with scientific certainty that (88-plus degrees) is a hazard to their health," the judge said. "I've already ruled. 88 degrees is the standard." Jackson added that just because a remedy is "costly or inconvenient" doesn't trump the Constitution. Nilay Vora, 1 of the inmates' attorneys, asked Jackson to order implementation of the state's 1st heat remediation plan. Vora said death row without air conditioning exposes Ball, Code and Magee to "serious risk of substantial harm." Hilburn defended the state's latest plan, saying, "This was not a flippant plan." Jackson, who did not rule out ordering "mechanical air" for the inmates, warned he could sanction the state if it doesn't remedy the constitutional violations that he and the 5th Circuit found - that the high heat indexes violate the 3 inmates' Eighth Amendment guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment. "A court can't simply sit on its hands and allow a constitutional violation to persist," he said. Ball, Code and Magee - shackled and dressed in bright orange prison garb - testified in the cool confines of Jackson's courtroom and said they continue to suffer from dizziness, nausea, headaches and profuse sweating due to the unrelenting heat in their cells. "It ain't got as hot as it's going to get," Ball noted. Summer doesn't officially begin until Monday. "It's too hot" on Louisiana's death row, testified Dr. Susi Vassallo, of Texas. "It's dangerously hot." Vassallo, a medical doctor who specializes in heat-related illnesses, said the components of the state's 2nd heat remediation plan, either considered individually or collectively, do not reduce the substantial risk of serious harm to the 3 inmates. She described the plan's components as comfort rather than safety when dealing with heat indexes exceeding 88 degrees. "If we set the bar at death, that is too high," she said. Colin Clark, an assistant state attorney general, said in court that the Louisiana Department of Corrections has not had a single heatstroke incident in the last 9 years. The 5th Circuit last year suggested the state could open the doors to the air-conditioned guard pods and divert cool air into the death-row tiers, but Jimmy Cruze, the death row warden, testified Wednesday the appeals court's suggestion was rejected by the state because it poses a security risk. "It's a bad security move," he said. "We don't leave doors open." Mechanical engineer Frank Thompson, who designed death row, testified the death-row core is air-conditioned but the death-row tiers are equipped only with cross ventilation and a central heating system. Death row, he said, meets commercial building standards. Air conditioning is the only plausible way to stop heat indexes from surpassing 88 degrees, Thompson added. Ball is on death row for fatally shooting a beer delivery man during the 1996 armed robbery of a Gretna lounge. Magee was condemned to die for the 2007 shotgun murder
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, CONN., PENN., DEL., OHIO
June 16 TEXASimpending execution Death Watch: Shaken ScienceAppeal rests on new research into Shaken Baby Syndrome To have his federal habeas attorneys tell it, Robert Roberson is "dim-witted" and "mentally ill." The 49-year-old, sentenced to death in 2003 for the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis, was a "drug abusing petty criminal with a long family history of serious mental health issues," attorneys James Volberding and John Wright have said. But did that make him a ruthless killer? No, Volberding and Wright argued in a Sept. 2010 application for habeas relief made to the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Texas. Their client "probably did contribute" to the death of his daughter: "Just not knowingly or intentionally. Roberson is not the worst of the worst. Not even close." The 2 attorneys suggested a modified conviction of manslaughter, and a sentence of 20 years. Much of the old argument hinged on the manner in which Nikki is believed to have died, and the way Anderson County District Attorney Doug Lowe manipulated the trial process to elevate the jury's belief in the ruthlessness of the crime. According to Roberson, Nikki died during a night when he was left alone with her and was high on drugs. Prosecutors said he shook her, hard, when he was angry with her - hard enough that she slipped into a coma. When that happened, they said, he put her in bed, and left her there for hours. Nikki was only taken to a hospital after being checked on 5 hours later, at which point it was discovered she was not breathing. Roberson has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested, saying that Nikki died after landing on her head during a fall from her bed. Medical professionals who testified at his trial quickly dismissed his claims as unlikely. An examination of Nikki's body by a nurse upon her arrival at the Palestine Regional Medical Center revealed a "superficial tear to Nikki's anal cavity" and a rate of dilation to the anal canal that was considered faster than usual, suggesting what Roberson's attorneys described as "theoretical sexual penetration." Dallas pediatrician Dr. Janet Squires found no evidence of any sexual abuse, however - no deformities to her anal cavity, bruises, or markings on her vagina. Squires testified at trial that she found no semen or traces of sexually transmitted bacteria. She noted that the anal cavity usually dilates in the comatose state due to the nervous system shutting down. The notion that Roberson sexually abused his daughter that night ultimately became irrelevant during trial. Lowe ultimately even attempted to have that charge dismissed. (Capital murder indictments can be secured in cases in which a murder occurs during a felony, is premeditated, or involves a victim who is younger than 6, making Roberson a candidate under 2 circumstances.) In appeals, Volberding and Wright argued that the notion of sexual abuse was only important to Lowe at the beginning of the trial: By securing an indictment of sexual assault from the grand jury, Lowe would have an easier time turning the jury against Roberson, thus making a death sentence - a more appropriate penalty, he considered, for the high-profile death of a small girl in a small town - a more likely outcome. Roberson's trial attorneys John Vanmeter and Steve Evans used a strategy that pointed to Roberson's longstanding mental illness, though they never actually argued that their client was insane, which would have raised questions of cruel and unusual punishment. Since a final judgment was rendered in federal court in Sept. 2014, Roberson's effort has shifted away from the mental illness angle and instead toward the argument that "Shaken Baby Syndrome" (aka "Abusive Head Trauma") is a phenomenon rooted in junk science. Much of that shift has been Roberson's doing. In 2014, after learning of a Houston case involving a newfound understanding of SBS, Roberson wrote a letter to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals asking that he be granted new counsel. That request eventually led to the Texas Defender Service taking his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it ultimately failed. On June 8, 2 weeks before his pending execution, Gretchen Sween, an attorney with the Office of Capital Writs, filed 2 applications for relief (1 in Roberson's trial court and another with the Court of Criminal Appeals) as well as a motion with the trial court for a stay of execution. In each application, Sween argues that new forensic science could rebuke previous theorems of SBS, and corroborate Roberson's claims that Nikki - who had a temperature of 104.5 degrees only 2 days before her death - did fall from her bed. Among the claims, Sween has argued that Nikki's lack of any serious neck injuries indicates that she was not in fact shaken, and that the science surrounding SBS has evolved enough to change the course of Roberson's case
