Sept. 20
GEORGIAimpending execution
Urgent Action: Juror Racism Claim As Execution Draws Near (USA: UA 216.17)
Keith Tharpe is scheduled to be executed in Georgia at 7pm on 26 September. He
was sentenced to death for the murder of his sister-in-law in 1990. His appeal
lawyers are trying to get back into court to argue that juror racism infected
his 1991 trial.
TAKE ACTION
Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:
Calling for Keith Tharpe's death sentence to be commuted;
Expressing deep concern at evidence of a juror's racist views uncovered on
appeal, and at the fact that the courts did not consider it because of
procedural issues;
Explaining that you are not seeking to downplay the seriousness of violent
crime or its consequences.
Contact below official by 26 September, 2017:
State Board of Pardons and Paroles
2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive SE, Suite 458,
Balcony Level, East Tower,
Atlanta, Georgia 30334-4909
USA
Fax: +1 404 651-6670
Email: webmas...@pap.ga.gov
Salutation: Dear Board Members
(source: Amnesty International USA)
**
Trial set for man facing death in slayings of girlfriend, 6-month-old son
The Columbus man facing the death penalty in the 2014 homicides of his
girlfriend and infant son could go to trial this coming January, a judge
decided Tuesday.
In discussions with the defense and prosecution, Judge William Rumer suggested
Brandon David Conner???s trial be scheduled for Jan. 22 or Jan. 29, 2018.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Don Kelly said the trial could take 4 weeks
- 1 week to pick a jury and three to try the case, including a sentencing phase
for jurors to decide whether the death penalty would be justified, were Conner
found guilty.
The fire and arrest
After a house fire on Aug. 21, 2014, firefighters searching Rosella "Mandy"
Mitchell's gutted 1324 Winifred Lane home found the bodies of the 32-year-old
woman and her 6-month-old son Dylan Ethan Conner.
Arson investigators later searched the ruins with a dog that alerted to
flammable liquids poured in three places. They also found a gas can stored in a
closet. An autopsy revealed Mitchell was stabbed multiple times in the throat
and torso. Authorities have not said how the infant died.
The fire was reported at 12:35 a.m.
25 minutes later, a Columbus police officer saw Conner's blue 2001 BMW turn
from Wynnton Road onto Cedar Avenue and park near Davis Broadcasting, where
Conner worked. Conner then sat in the car for 10 minutes, the officer said.
Because business burglaries had been reported in that area, Officer Jason
Swails decided to question Conner, and saw the suspect apparently had blood on
him, and was shaking and sweating as he handed Swails his driver's license.
Conner told the officer he had just left work, but Swails didn't believe that
because he'd seen Conner turn off Wynnton Road and park. Swails said Conner
then altered his story, claiming he'd left work to get some food, but changed
his mind and returned.
The officer charged him with breaking a city law against lying to police.
Because police routinely search suspects being detained, officers checked
Conner's pockets, and found a bloody, yellow dishwashing glove, a bloody baby
wipe, a cigarette lighter and an extended grill lighter.
Learning of the house fire where Conner's girlfriend and infant son were found
dead, investigators took him to police headquarters for questioning. They had
his BMW impounded, and got a warrant to search it. Inside they found a bag of
bloody clothes, a bottle of bleach and a bent steak knife with blood on the
handle, authorities said.
On April 14, 2015, a grand jury indicted Conner for murder, aggravated battery,
1st-degree arson and using a knife to commit a crime. 6 days later, District
Attorney Julia Slater filed notice she would seek the death penalty.
The evidence issue
Conner's defense attorneys argue all the evidence officers seized in his
initial arrest is inadmissible because prosecutors missed a deadline to prove
the existence of the city ordinance Conner allegedly violated by lying to
police.
The prosecution should have provided a certified copy of the law last year
during arguments over suppressing the evidence, and they did not, say Kendrick
and his colleague Mark Shelnutt.
They said the window to introduce such evidence closed April 29, 2016. The
following May 4, they filed a motion noting the omission.
Kelly in a letter this past Jan. 30 and a follow-up court motion on Feb. 28
told Rumer prosecutors included a certified copy of the law in a brief filed
June 10, 2016.
Rumer on Sept. 20, 2016, denied defense motions challenging the search and
seizure of evidence, and this past June 14 ruled the prosecution properly filed
a certified copy of the law with its brief last year.
On Tuesday, Rumer told Kendrick he would not allow an appeal to the Georgia
Supreme Court to review his ruling.
