[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., ARK., MO., NEB., NEV.
Oct. 1 OHIOexecution date moved Governor delays execution of Lima murderer Convicted Lima murderer Cleveland R. Jackson’s date with Ohio’s lethal injection gurney has again been delayed, this time for more than a year. Gov. Mike DeWine on Monday cited a disciplinary complaint filed against Jackson’s former attorneys as he issued another reprieve for the man who, with half-brother Jeronique Cunningham, opened fire 17 years ago on a crowded apartment kitchen in a robbery. 2 died — Jayla Grant, 3, and Leneshia Williams, 17. He faces execution for Ms. Williams’ death but is serving life in prison without parole for Ms. Grant’s murder. The execution, previously set for Nov. 13, has been postponed until Jan. 13, 2021.The move by the Republican governor follows a disciplinary complaint that was made public on Friday against the attorneys who previously represented Jackson, 41. The attorneys have been accused of all but abandoning him, leading to the appointment of new counsel. A news release from Mr. DeWine’s office also cited the state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s continuing difficulties in obtaining the drugs it wants to use as part of its three-drug protocol. The governor previously had cited a federal court’s ruling in which the magistrate judge expressed his opinion that Ohio’s lethal injection protocol amounts to unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment. But that Dayton magistrate judge never issued an order to postpone an execution, and the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently overturned his decision in which he registered his opinion. Although they’ve each tried to blame the other for firing the gun, Jackson and Cunningham were both convicted of corralling eight people into an apartment kitchen on Jan. 3, 2002, robbing them, and then opening fire at close range. The next person scheduled to be executed at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville is James Galen Hanna, convicted of stabbing his cellmate, Peter Copas, in the eye and bludgeoning him with a sock containing a padlock in 1997. Hanna was serving a life sentence in the Lebanon Correctional Institution at the time for the 1978 murder of a clerk in a West Toledo convenience store. He is scheduled for execution Dec. 11. (source: Toledo Blade) TENNESSEE: Tennessee governor hands-off as AG moves for more executions Tennessee's governor is refraining from weighing in on the attorney general's request to schedule executions for 9 death-row prisoners and restore a 10th inmate's death sentence. Republican Gov. Bill Lee said Thursday that it is Attorney General Herbert Slatery's prerogative to request the execution dates and to challenge a court's decision commuting an inmate's death sentence to life in prison. Lee said he and Slatery haven't discussed the decisions. If Slatery's 2 moves are successful, Lee would have to decide 12 separate times whether to spare the life of a prisoner on death row: 2 other executions have already been scheduled. Tennessee, which performed three executions last year, was second only to Texas, which carried out 13. Most states have been moving away from the death penalty. "The Supreme Court and the attorney general make determinations about executions ... and how that process unfolds," Lee told reporters Thursday. "So I will let that process ... play out. That's their responsibility." As a 2018 gubernatorial candidate, Lee touted his Christian faith and highlighted his participation in inmate-mentoring programs. Last week, Slatery announced he would challenge a Nashville criminal court's decision to commute the death sentence of black inmate Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman's to life in prison after concerns were raised that racism tainted the jury selection pool. Slatery argued in his appeal that the court's order "circumvented established legal procedures." He also asked the state Supreme Court to set execution dates for 9 death row prisoners. Tennessee has executed five people since August 2018, including three by electrocution — an option for inmates convicted of crimes before January 1999. Two of the executions have taken place since Lee took office. In those cases, the governor denied each of the inmates' requests for clemency. In Tennessee, the attorney general can request execution dates once juries have delivered death sentences and inmates have exhausted their three-tier appeals process in state courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. The state Supreme Court then schedules the executions. Lee is expected to reveal a slate of criminal justice reform proposals for the upcoming legislative session in January, but changes to the death penalty are not expected to be among them. Asked Thursday if he thought the death penalty law should be changed, the governor replied, "That's a decision for the people of Tennessee and the Legislature. The death penalty is appropriate for those
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., ARK., OKLA., UTAH, USA
June 1 OHIO: Death penalty ‘mental illness’ bill heads to Ohio House The Ohio House is considering a bill that would prohibit the executions of defendants if they're found to have had a "serious mental illness" at the time of the offense. The House Criminal Justice Committee approved the measure Thursday after rejecting an amendment offered by Rep. Robert Cupp, a Lima Republican, that would have exempted current death row inmates from the ban. Gongwer News Service reports that Cupp said he was concerned about the cost and the difficulty of finding evidence in old cases. Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, said only a few inmates would be eligible. Offenders deemed by professionals to have had "serious mental illness" must have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, or delusional disorder. The bill goes now to the full House. (source: Associated Press) TENNESSEE: Sumner Co. DA: Waiting on evidence, psych. eval. before seeking death penalty for Cummins Sumner County District Attorney Ray Whitley is still awaiting more evidence processing from the TBI and a mental health examination for Michael Cummins before deciding he will seek the death penalty for Cummins who is accused of killing 8 people. "We have to wait until we determine what his mental state is, determine what the evidence is, fit that into the law and make a decision," Whitley said after Cummins preliminary hearing. Whitley has taken criticism from the family of victims who think Sumner County was too lenient on Cummins after a conviction for aggravated arson and aggravated assault. Steve McGlothlin, brother and uncle to 2 of Cummins' alleged victims, said, "I feel Sumner County dropped the ball. This man shouldn't have been out." Whitley responded, "All the facts represented to the judge, we did not drop the ball. We did what we should have done, and it turned out bad. Sometimes that happens. You cannot predict human behavior 100%." Whitley does not want to make a decision on the death penalty until he is sure that Cummins is fit to stand trial. Prematurely calling for the death penalty only to reverse that decision could create false hope for heartbroken people like Virgil Nuckols. "I just want him to get the penalty where he won't be able to come out of jail," Nuckols said. "He's took the most important thing away from me. My wife, my daughter and granddaughter, and I'm really hurt." Testimony in the Wednesday preliminary hearing was too tough for McGlothlin and Nuckols to take; both left midway through the 2 hour hearing that detailed how the bodies were found and beaten. Cummins is accused of the deadliest killing spree in Tennessee since Paul Dennis Reid in 1997 when he killed 7 fast food workers. (source: WZTV news) * Execution lays bare truth about corrosive hatred, need for mercy It was the 4th vigil at the Riverbend Maximum Security Prison in Nashville since executions have made their dark return to Tennessee. Sadly, it was beginning to feel routine. On the road to the prison, there’s a first checkpoint. “For or against?” the officer asks. “Against,” I replied. They placed a yellow sticker on my windshield and moved me on to the next checkpoint. Seeing the sticker, the officer at checkpoint No. 2 motioned me to the “Against” parking lot, where I parked and walked to the third checkpoint, where the question was asked again by armed officers sitting at tables under a tent. “Against,” I responded again as they took my driver’s license and wrote down my legal name. “Ernest, go that way,” he said as he pointed down a roped-off path that led to a fenced-in field. 15 feet away from me were 4 armed officers on black Clydesdales. They looked both silly and ominous, supposedly a symbol of force to keep these people who don’t want people to kill people because they killed people in line, lest they break out into mayhem and violence. As I walked into the “against” area, I saw familiar faces, a collection of people who had visited men on death row, several priests and a few career activists. They talked quietly in small groups, some people standing alone looking up at the nearby hills and a descending sun. We gathered in a circle as a young priest began a liturgy interspersed with scripture, readings, prayers, testimonies and song. Absent this time were cameras from the local TV stations. Sadly, this had become old news. Unless there was a last-minute phone call, Don Johnson, the condemned, would be dead within an hour, killed by a drug concoction that, contrary to popular belief, has been proven to cause torturous pain. I was on the edge of the circle, unable to concentrate on the words, and looking toward the building where Don was being strapped to a gurney. As I looked around, I saw a particular man. He was in the “For” field, connected to the far corner of
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., ARK., OKLA., NEB., N.NEX., WYO., CALIF, USA
April 28 OHIO: Trial in Parma Heights prison pen-pal killings begins with jury selection Jury selection began Friday in the trial of a man accused of fatally stabbing his former prison pen-pals in their Parma Heights home in May 2017, then leaving their bodies behind as he carried out more crimes. Thomas Knuff, 44, faces the death penalty if a jury convicts him of the most serious charges. He is currently being held on $50 million bond on charges including aggravated murder, conspiracy, offenses against a human corpse, aggravated burglary and robbery in the May 11 slayings of John Mann, 65, and Regina Capobianco, 50, at Mann’s home in the 6200 block of Nelwood Road, near Ackley Road. Prosecutors say Knuff also solicited 2 people to set fire to the bedroom where he left the couple’s bodies, and broke into 2 businesses in the days after the killings. Capobianco met Knuff through a prison pen-pal program while Knuff was serving a 12-year sentence on aggravated robbery and breaking and entering charges. The 2 wrote letters to each other for about 10 years, police said. Police said that Capobianco and Mann picked up Knuff from the Lorain Correctional Institution when Knuff was released from prison on April 11, 2017. They took him back to Mann’s home. Capobianco’s sister reported her missing to Stark County authorities the next month, and investigators found Mann and Capobianco dead from the knife wounds on June 21, 2017. Knuff was also charged with escape after officials said they foiled a plot to escape from his jail cell within months of his arrest. Sheriff’s department employees reported in December that they found fake sheriff’s badges, a printout of a map, spools of thread and a blade fashioned out of a lens from a pair of eyeglasses and a homemade fanny pack inside of Knuff’s cell. One of Knuff’s lawyers, Craig Weintraub, disputed the seriousness of Knuff’s plans, and said the items more resembled a Halloween costume than tools of a legitimate jailbreak. (source: cleveland.com) TENNESSEEimpending execution Donnie Edward Johnson is scheduled to be executed at 7:10 pm EDT, on Thursday, May 16, 2019, at the Riverbed Maximum Security Institute in Nashville, Tennessee. 68-year-old Donnie is convicted of the murder of his wife, 30-year-old Connie Johnson, on December 8, 1984, in Memphis, Tennessee. Donnie has spent the last 34 years on Tennessee’s death row. According to Donnie, he grew up in an abusive family and began his criminal career at the age of six or seven, stealing whatever he wanted. By the time he was a teenager, he had resorted to armed robbery. He was also involved in street drag racing. Donnie was married with two children. Donnie continued his criminal life, hiding it from his family, while maintaining a steady job as a salesman at a camping store. On December 8, 1984, Donnie Johnson was working at Force Camping Sales in Memphis, Tennessee, along with Ronnie McCoy, who was signed out of a Penal Farm, where he was serving a four month sentence for false reporting. Johnson’s wife, Connie arrived at the store at the end of the work day. According to McCoy’s testimony, he left Johnson and Connie alone in the sales office. When he returned, Johnson showed him Connie’s body. Johnson had killed Connie by suffocating her. McCoy then helped dispose of her body. The following day, Johnson recruited his boss to help search for his missing wife. Connie’s body was found inside of her vehicle, with a plastic bag stuffed in her mouth. They only set of keys to the vehicle were discovered in Johnson’s truck, along with several other personal belongings of Connie. Johnson has denied killing his wife, saying he left McCoy and Connie alone in the office and McCoy killed her for the $450 in shopping money he had given her. Initially, Johnson denied any involvement in his wife’s murder, nor did he initially implicate McCoy. Johnson was sentenced to death on November 25, 1985. Please pray for peace and healing for the family of Connie Johnson. Please pray for strength for the family of Donnie Johnson. Please pray that if Donnie 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. In past letters written to The Forgiveness Foundation Christian Ministries, Inc., Donnie has expressed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Please pray that his relationship with Christ will continue to grow and give him strength and peace during this time. (source: The Forgiveness Foundation of Christian Ministries) ARKANSAS: A non-fatal error Overturned death penalty case a horrible outcome "The allegations at issue here are condemnable, but the ugliness of a given allegation cannot supersede the most basic due process principles guaranteed to all citizens by our constitution."-- Josephine Linker Hart What’s the point?
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., ARK., MO., CALIF., USA (
April 23 OHIO: Judge in Cleveland sets hearing that will determine whether convicted Mr. Cars killer gets the death penalty A judge set a date for the second phase of the trial of a man who faces the death penalty after jurors convicted him of killing a couple at a Cleveland car lot. The penalty phase of the trial of Joseph McAlpin is set to begin May 13. McAlpin was convicted last week of aggravated murder and other charges in the execution-style deaths of Michael Kuznik and Trina Tomola. Those reports require court staff and mental-health doctors to interview McAlpin to determine, among other things, if he has any mental-health conditions or a troubled past that could be used during the penalty phase to convince jurors to spare his life. McAlpin, who is representing himself during the trial, refused to sit down for those interviews before the trial began. Prosecutors relied on DNA evidence, cellphone records, search history and testimony from a man who admitted to helping McAlpin carryout what was supposed to be a simple burglary to steal cars and titles to tie McAlpin to the March 11, 2017 slayings. (source: cleveland.com) TENNESSEEimpending execution Death Row inmate's plea for mercy remains before Gov. Lee Governor Bill Lee faces a life-or-death decision in the next few weeks as the execution of a condemned Tennessee man who asked for his mercy looms. Don Johnson received the death penalty in 1984 after he was convicted of suffocating his wife in Memphis. His execution is currently scheduled for May 16. Its the first clemency plea before Gov. Lee since he took office in January. "We certainly know its a very serious subject that will require a lot of information, a lot of input, [and] a lot of counsel," Gov. Lee said last week. Johnson, along with the now-adult daughter of the woman he killed, asked Gov. Lee to stop the execution and allow him to serve a sentence of life in prison. The 21-page plea sent to Lee's desk says Johnson's only daughter has forgiven him for killing her mother. In 2006, Johnson spoke of what he called "a personal relationship with Jesus Christ" that he developed while on death row. "I have a peace now because that relationship transcends anything that allows me to deal with whatever I have to deal with here," he wrote to the governor. Lee, a professed Christian, also brings a distinct perspective from his predecessors after years serving on the board of a prison ministry called Men of Valor. However, he has not announced if he will meet with Don Johnson's daughter as she requested. "We are going to start talking about what that process looks like -- who we meet with, who we bring together -- to make this very important decision," Lee said last week. Previous governors have typically made clemency decisions just days for scheduled executions. (source: WKRN news) * Evidence sought to exonerate man convicted in 1986 slaying The headline was deceivingly simple: “Fisherman finds body.” The few paragraphs beneath that summed up the gruesome murder of 25-year-old Donna Perry could tell nothing of the decades of grief, hundreds of pages of court documents and seemingly endless questions that would follow. After 32 years behind bars, the man convicted of kidnapping Perry and bludgeoning her to death was released on parole on March 22. While members of Perry’s family regard Jimmy Edward Campbell’s re-entry into society with dread, lawyers at the Innocence Project, tasked with exonerating the wrongfully convicted with DNA testing, ardently pursue proof of his innocence. “It’s very complicated, because I support what the Innocence Project does, and I do know that there are people that are wrongfully convicted all the time,” Perry’s daughter Kay Arnold said. “In this particular circumstance, it’s so conflicting because we have confessions … I’ve spent my entire life saying, ‘This is the man that did it.’” Donna Perry spent most of her life in Brownsville, a small town with a population of just under 10,500 in the 1980s. She was last seen leaving her mother’s home in the Hillville community around 10:30 p.m. on July 10, 1986. Someone saw her walking near the intersection of Hillville Road and Tennessee Route 179 late that night. An unnamed fisherman found Perry’s body, severely beaten and stabbed at least 20 times, early the next morning on a gravel road in the Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge. An autopsy would later identify blunt trauma to her head and neck as the cause of death. She had multiple stab wounds and bruises and fractures in her hands. Her pants were pulled down — the autopsy notes the presence of semen. In the coming days, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation would set up a road block near where she was found and go door to door in the Hillville community looking for answers, to no avail. But 15 days later, 26-year-old Jimmy Edward
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., ARK., MO., S.DAK., CALIF., USA
April 20 OHIO: Judge delays ‘death penalty phase’ in trial of man convicted of double slaying at Cleveland car dealership The 2nd phase of the trial where a man faces the death penalty for killing a couple at a Cleveland car lot in March 2017 has been delayed. Joseph McAlpin was convicted Tuesday of all counts he faced, including aggravated murder, in the execution-style deaths of Michael Kuznik and Trina Tomola in the Mr. Cars dealership. The trial was set to reconvene Monday to begin the penalty phase, where jurors would hear additional evidence and recommend whether McAlpin should receive the death penalty or a life in prison. The final decision on the sentence rests with Common Pleas Court Judge Brian Corrigan. But McAlpin on Friday asked for a mitigation report and a pre-sentence investigation. Those reports require court staff and mental-health doctors to interview McAlpin to determine, among other things, if he has any mental-health conditions or a troubled past that could be used during the penalty phase to convince jurors to spare his life. McAlpin, who is representing himself during the trial, refused to sit down for those interviews before the trial began. Court officials on Friday had not set a new date for the second phase of the trial to begin. Prosecutors relied on DNA evidence, cellphone records, search history and testimony from a man who admitted to helping McAlpin carryout what was supposed to be a simple burglary to steal cars and titles to tie McAlpin to the March 11, 2017 slayings. McAlpin entered Mr. Cars and shot Kuznik, 47, in the showroom. The bullet grazed Kuznik’s face before he tried to escape toward a backroom, where McAlpin stood over him and shot him in the top of his head, prosecutors said at trial. Tomola, 46, tried to run from the building during the robbery. McAlpin shot her in the back of her head, near an exit, prosecutors said. McAlpin also shot and killed the couple’s Doberman Pinscher, Axel, who accompanied the couple to work every day for protection, prosecutors said. He also disabled the car lot’s security video systems before stealing the cars. Investigators found McAlpin’s DNA in Kuznik’s back pocket, where prosecutors said he had put cash from two car sales earlier in the day. The cash was not found on Kuznik’s body. His DNA was also found on a computer modem that was inches from Tomola’s body, and inside a BMW sedan that was stolen during the killings, prosecutors said. (source: cleveland.com) *** Victims could have voice in death-penalty trial of accused killer of Westerville officers The death-penalty case of a man accused of murdering 2 Westerville police officers could be the 1st in Ohio to allow jurors to hear victim-impact statements if they reach the point of recommending a sentence of life or death. Attorneys for Quentin L. Smith, 32, had filed a motion asking that such statements be prohibited. But a Franklin County judge on Friday agreed with prosecutors who argued that victims have a right to address the jury during the sentencing phase under Marsy’s Law, a constitutional amendment approved by Ohio voters in November 2017. Common Pleas Judge Richard A. Frye said he thinks such statements must be allowed under provisions of the victim’s-rights law. Prosecutor Ron O’Brien called the ruling “a sea change” in what the state can present to jurors in advocating for a death sentence. Smith’s attorneys, Frederick Benton and Diane Menashe, declined to comment. Both sides agreed that it’s the 1st time the issue has been raised in a death penalty case since Marsy’s Law went into effect in Feb. 5 2018, 5 days before the Westerville shooting. Jury selection in Smith’s trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 11. Smith is charged with killing Westerville police Officers Eric Joering and Anthony Morelli on Feb. 10, 2018, in an exchange of gunfire as they entered his townhouse in the 300 block of Cross Wind Drive to investigate a 911 hangup call from his wife over a domestic dispute. If jurors convict Smith of aggravated murder and find that he purposely killed 1 or both officers, he would become eligible for the death penalty. Jurors then would enter a 2nd phase during which the defense would present what is known as mitigating evidence in an effort to persuade them to spare Smith’s life. Under Frye’s ruling, the jury also would hear testimony from the victims’ family members about how the crime has affected them. “Right now, juries only hear ‘woe-is-me’ about the defendant and his bad childhood and his drug or alcohol problems and never hear about the terrible impact of the crime on the victim’s family,” O’Brien said. (source: The Columbus Dispatch) TENNESSEE: Gov. Bill Lee talks about considering mercy as first execution of his term approaches Gov. Bill Lee said his review of a death row inmate's plea for mercy is "well underway,"
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., ARK., IOWA
March 20 OHIO: Ohio attorney general chastises judge over death penalty A federal judge improperly praised Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's decision to delay an execution based on the judge's scathing critique of the state's lethal injection method, the state attorney general said. In a court filing earlier this week, Attorney General David Yost said Magistrate Judge Michael Merz' remarks were an improper use of the judge's position. At issue is a series of execution delays ordered by DeWine, a Republican, after Merz raised concerns about Ohio's lethal injection method. After the governor issued his first delay - of the February execution of death row inmate Warren Henness - Merz said that decision "embodies excellent public policy." The judge also said he was "deeply gratified" by DeWine's expression of trust in Merz' lethal injection ruling. "The Court fully expects that the Governor will do whatever is needed legally to keep the public commitment he has made, the important first step being the reprieve of Warren Henness," Merz wrote last month. The attorney general said judges "are not supposed to use the federal bench as a bully pulpit to influence state policy." The judge's "statements needlessly (and perhaps unintentionally) entangle the federal judiciary in a policy dispute on a hot-button issue," Yost said. A message was left with Merz about Yost's remarks. DeWine has ordered the prisons department to come up with a new lethal injection method, a process that could take months or years. Yost says that wouldn't prevent the state from carrying out executions earlier with its current system. The governor "has announced his intention to develop a new protocol, but he has never suggested that he would deny death-row inmates the choice to use the current protocol," Yost said. Ohio could still use the current method if a federal appeals court rejects Merz' criticism of Ohio's method or if the state can't come up with a new method, Yost said. Merz said on Jan. 14 that Ohio's system could cause inmates severe pain because the 1st drug, the sedative midazolam, doesn't render them deeply enough unconscious. He suggested inmates could experience a sensation similar to waterboarding. But Merz stopped short of halting executions, saying attorneys for Henness hadn't shown that viable execution alternatives exist in Ohio. Afterward, the governor postponed Henness' execution until September and then 3 more executions into the fall and then 2020. "Ohio's not going to execute someone under my watch when a federal judge has found it to be cruel and unusual punishment," DeWine said in January. A DeWine spokesman confirmed that executions could resume if Merz' order was overturned by a higher court, or if the state created a new lethal injection method that was found constitutional. "If the court decision was overturned on the basis of fact, the governor would certainly look if situation has changed," press secretary Dan Tierney said Tuesday. Henness was sentenced to death for killing 51-year-old Richard Myers in Columbus in 1992. Myers had been helping Henness find a drug treatment for his wife, authorities said. (source: Associated Press) TENNESSEE: TENNESSEE LAWMAKERS 1 STEP CLOSER TO SPEEDING UP DEATH-ROW EXECUTIONS As U.S. executions hover near historically low levels, a bill passed by the Tennessee House aims to remove 1 state court’s review before putting inmates to death which ultimately would speed up the process of getting a death row inmate – to execution The House voted 73-22 Monday for legislation to skip Tennessee’s Court of Criminal Appeals and provide automatic state Supreme Court death penalty reviews. The Senate could follow this week. Court of Criminal Appeals Judge John Everett Williams has said his court’s last four death penalty reviews took 3 to 6 months. Federal courts account for most of the sometimes-3-decades of death penalty court reviews. Tennessee executed 3 inmates last year. (source: 1057news.com) ARKANSAS: Plan on execution competency favored Legislation to create a new method for determining the competency of death-row prisoners -- after the old method was found unconstitutional -- was endorsed Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee. In a pair of 4-3 decisions handed down in November, the Arkansas Supreme Court said a state law granting the director of the Department of Correction the authority to determine whether a condemned prisoner is competent for execution violates the inmate's due-process rights. House Bill 1792, by Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould, would change the law to require that the prison director conduct an evidentiary hearing "that comports with the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment" before determining competency. The bill is 1 of 2 proposals being pushed by the state attorney general's office that seek to change state death-penalty
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., ARK., MO.
Oct. 18 OHIO: Accused killer of Beavercreek man to be sentenced in Carolina case The man accused of killing a Beavercreek man in front of his children is scheduled to be sentenced for an unrelated case in South Carolina federal court before his potential death penalty case moves ahead in Dayton's U.S. District Court. Sterling H. Roberts, 35, is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 28 in U.S. District Court in Greenville, S.C. Roberts pleaded guilty in November 2017 to being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to federal court records. Roberts, Tawnney Caldwell and 4 others have been indicted for the Aug. 15, 2017, death of Robert "Bobby" Caldwell, who was shot in Riverside in front of his 3 sons - 1 of whom (Jacob) was missing for a year before being located by law enforcement in August. Roberts and Tawnney Caldwell could face the death penalty if they are convicted as charged. Also charged are Chance Deakin, Christopher Roberts, James Harmon and Chandra Harmon. A hearing Thursday in Dayton's U.S. District Court for Chandra Harmon, Deakin, and Christopher Roberts was continued after an in-chambers conference involving defense attorneys and one assistant U.S. attorney. Multiple defendants have requested and received permission to file motions under seal because of sensitive information. (source: mydaytondailynews.com) TENNESSEE: A Tennessee inmate who won a last-minute reprieve sparing him from execution last week may be running out of options, and a new date with the death chamber could be set as early as the end of the month, court records show. Edmund Zagorksi, who was sentenced to die in 1984 for killing 2 men he robbed during a drug deal, has no new execution date scheduled after the state's plans for a lethal injection last Thursday were cancelled amid a flurry of legal maneuvers. They included a court order that he die in the electric chair, at his request. Those moves may have set back possible execution a few weeks at best. Court filings indicate Zagorski, who has spent 34 years on Tennessee's death row, could get an execution date as early as Oct. 28. Just a day before his previously scheduled execution, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay that could have delayed it for many months. But the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the stay the next day and also declined to hear a separate appeal challenging Tennessee's 3-drug lethal injection cocktail. Meanwhile, a 3rd federal court ordered Tennessee to honor Zagorski's request to die in the electric chair, rather than by lethal injection. Zagorski's attorney said the inmate believes electrocution would be quicker and less painful. That last decision, by a U.S. District Court judge in Nashville, apparently prompted Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam to put a temporary halt to the execution. Although inmates whose offenses occurred before 1999 have the option to choose electrocution, under Tennessee law, Zagorski gave the state only 3 days' notice of his choice. But when the Department of Correction said it would go forward with lethal injection, Zagorski's attorneys asked the court to intervene. Correction officials never said whether they would be able to carry out an electrocution on such short notice, but Haslam said in a statement his reprieve would "give all involved the time necessary to carry out the sentence in an orderly and careful manner." Once the 10-day reprieve expires, the Tennessee Supreme Court can set a new execution date. It must be at least 7 days later. Meanwhile, with its stay lifted, the 6th Circuit is fast-tracking Zagorski's case before that venue - a claim of poor legal representation at trial. But it is unclear whether that case could be heard and decided before another execution date. Jurors sentenced Zagorski to death in 1984 after finding him guilty of shooting John Dotson and Jimmy Porter and slitting their throats. The victims had planned to buy marijuana from Zagorski. Prosecutors said Zagorski never had any marijuana but set the men up to rob them and then killed them to cover it up. Zagorski's attorney Kelley Henry has said the legal team is reviewing its options. (source: Associated Press) ARKANSAS: Arkansas justices challenge ethics charges over judge's case Arkansas Supreme Court justices on Wednesday challenged efforts to sanction them over the court's decision to prohibit a judge who participated in an anti-death penalty demonstration from hearing any execution-related cases. The justices filed a lawsuit with their court challenging the charges related to the decision to disqualify Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen from handling any death penalty cases. Justices disqualified Griffen last year, days after he was photographed on a cot outside the governor's mansion last year wearing an anti-death penalty button and surrounded by people holding signs opposing executions.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., ARK., MINN., OKLA.
Jan. 26 OHIO: Prosecutors to ask for death penalty against adult murder suspects The Licking County Prosecutor's Office will be pursuing the death penalty for the 1st time in more than a decade against 2 men charged with the aggravated murder of another Newark man. Licking County Prosecutor Bill Hayes said prosecutors will likely present the case to a grand jury next week for indictment. If the grand jury approves the death penalty specifications, the cases against 21-year-old Dustin Lehoe and 20-year-old Tyler Ocasio would be the 1st capital indictments in Licking County since 2007. Licking County last sentenced someone to death row in 2005, when Roland Davis was convicted of the aggravated murder of 86-year-old Elizabeth Sheeler. Iradell Crumpton was indicted on a death penalty specification in 2007, but he was later sentenced to 45 years to life in prison. Hayes said the cases against Lehoe and Ocasio would qualify under Ohio law for the death penalty. "These are a couple of bad actors," he said. The pair are accused, along with 15-year-old Jaden Osborn and 16-year-old Dylan Warren, of going to 70 Cherry Street around 2:45 a.m. Saturday and kicking open a door. Court records show Lehoe and Ocasio are suspected of going into a basement of the home where 48-year-old David Barcus was staying and attempting to rob him, fatally shooting him in the process. Under Ohio law, if a homicide occurs while another felony is being committed, such as an armed robbery, the death penalty can be imposed. Osborn and Warren would not be eligible for the death penalty because they are juveniles. Prosecutors are seeking to try the 2 as adults and a probable cause hearing to determine if the cases could be moved to Common Pleas Court will be held in March. Osborn and Warren are both being held at the Multi-County Juvenile Detention Facility in Lancaster, pending future hearings. Ocasio and Lehoe are being held in the Licking County Justice Center in lieu of $1 million bond each. Their cases are expected to be presented to the grand jury next week. (source: newarkadvocate.com) TENNESSEEfemale may face death penalty Sherra Wright Could Face Death Penalty If Convicted Of Murdering Lorenzen Wright The ex-wife of former Memphis Tiger and Grizzlies basketball star Lorenzen Wright could face the death penalty if convicted of her ex-husband's murder. Sherra Wright is accused of killing Lorenzen Wright in 2010 with suspected co-conspirator Billy Ray Turner. Authorities indicted and arrested Sherra Wright last month in Riverside County, California, and after she waived extradition, authorities brought her to Shelby County Saturday. The prosecutor leading this case said pursuing the death penalty for Sherra Wright is under consideration. This as she finalizes her legal team in the coming weeks. "I could have never fathomed that in a million years, I would have never thought she would have been a suspect," says Montae Nevels, a friend of Lorenzen Wright's. In an orange jumpsuit, Sherra Wright's presence Thursday seemed surreal to friends and family of the ex-husband she's accused of killing. "It is a shock to everybody in the community, it's a shock to the family," says Nevels. "Sherra is a suspect, we are not saying Sherra is guilty, that's the court's decision, but we are just here wanting justice for the family." Wright is accused of plotting and attempting to kill Lorenzen beginning in April 2010, and then having a role in his actual murder in July 2010 in Shelby County. "Of course, people fuss and fight, but I never thought it would have gotten to this particular point," says Nevels. For prosecutors, Wright's appearance Thursday begins a new chapter, weeks after the more 7-year cold case of Lorenzen's murder ended with her arrest. "This is the case that's obviously been in the media and been in the forefront of a lot of people's minds," says Paul Hagerman with the Shelby County District Attorney's Office. And as for the death penalty? "It's still under consideration, I'll say that." For Wright's defense team, she's expected to be represented by 2 high-profile Memphis attorney families: Ballin and Farese. "There a number of legal hurdles that have to be met before a death penalty can be sought," says Blake Ballin. "Anytime you have a case where the victim is a well-known celebrity or a well-known person in the community, you know, the main thing, main challenge is making sure the truth is out there," says Steve Farese, Jr. "She's concerned about her children, most of her concern is about the children," says Ballin. "She's doing as well as you could expect someone to be doing given the situation that she's been in," says Farese, Sr. "She's been accused of something she didn't do." Billy Ray Turner is also accused in the murder of Lorenzen Wright, and once attended the same church with Sherra Wright. He
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., ARK.
July 6 OHIO: Ohio's prison population increase could mean more beds at MANCI Ohio's prison population increased 6 percent in the past year, adding to concerns among some public officials about overcrowded conditions and tensions between inmates and guards. In June, there were 46,356 inmates in 32 prisons that were built to house 35,730, according to state records. The Lorain Correctional Institution in northeast Ohio was the most overcrowded prison with 1,983 inmates. It was designed to hold 756. The extra prisoners at the Lorain facility are forced to sleep in bunk beds placed in commons areas. The Mansfield Correctional Institution, despite losing death row last year, has 2,232 inmates. It is designed to hold 1,418, meaning it is operating at 157.4 % of capacity. This is a recipe for disaster, said state Sen. Robert Hagan, a Youngstown Democrat and member of the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee, which issued a new report on the Lorain facility. When you have more and more people crowded into an area, you have more fights and more discussions on how to hurt other people and less talk about rehabilitation. It's unclear if the prison population increase is a random spike or a long-term trend. A team of researchers is studying the issue, and a report could be ready within a week, said Andrea Dean, spokeswoman with the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Ohio prisons Director Terry Collins said the increase may be linked to a 4 % increase in felony cases -- 77,042 -- filed in courts across the state in 2005. He said sentencing alternatives, such as community-based corrections programs that judges have used for years are filled, leaving prison as the sole option in many cases. To alleviate crowding, Collins said he is looking to add nearly 1,300 more beds in 6 prisons -- Pickaway, Ross, Warren, Toledo, Mansfield and Marion -- by reopening cellblocks that were closed several years ago. MANCI will have 118 beds added. Cost of reopening the units hasn't been determined, Collins said. The state may be able to bring in staff from other prisons, which would help save money, he said. But any time you shuffle staff like that, we have to make sure we're not hurting one prison to help another, said Collins, who oversees an annual budget of about $1.6 billion. (source: Mansfield News Journal) TENNESSEE: Former Corrections Officer To Be Sentenced Middle Tennessee knows him as Walter Kuntz, but his family called him Steve. In January 2003, Kuntz was booked into Wilson County Jail, charged with drunk driving. 8 hours later he was dead, beaten to death by guards. Patrick Marlowe was supervisor at the jail when Kuntz was killed. Thursday morning, the former corrections officer will find out how long his own prison sentence will be. For the Kuntz family, Marlowe's sentencing will be the final chapter after 3 1/2 years of pain and tears. Marlowe does not face the death penalty, but the former guard could spend the rest of his life in jail. Marlowe's sentencing hearing is set for 9 a.m. Thursday, July 6. A judge already sentenced 2 other former jailers to substantial prison terms. Former jailer Gary Hale will spend 9 years behind bars. A judge slapped Tommy Conatser with a 5 year and 10 month sentence. (source: WKRN News) ARKANSAS: 'Dear Governor Huckabee' -- Letters from around the world support convicted killers. In mid-April, I helped cook up a scheme with a convicted killer. My co-conspirator was Jason Baldwin, one of the 3 young men who became known as the West Memphis Three after their convictions in 1994 for murdering three 8-year-old boys in that city. In 2002 I wrote a book, Devil's Knot, about the case. It ended, as had the trials, with Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr., at ages 16 and 17, being sentenced to life in prison, and Damien Echols, 18, being sentenced to death. 12 years later, appeals for all 3 continue. I wrote my book as a journalist. But researching it convinced me that the trials were unfair. Many others share that view and have worked for years to see justice in this case. It represents a mounting disgrace to this state. In the 12 years since the trials, thousands of letters have been sent to Arkansas public officials, only to disappear into the black hole of bureaucracy. So here was the conspiracy: I rented a post office box, and Jason Baldwin wrote a letter, which I forwarded to the Worldwide Web. In his letter, Baldwin appealed to supporters to write letters to Gov. Mike Huckabee explaining their concerns. This time, though, Baldwin asked that the letters be sent to Huckabee in care of the post office box I'd rented. In just over 2 months, more than 450 people, from as near as Little Rock and far away as Paddington, Australia, took the time to write to Arkansas's governor. And, per Baldwin's request, many of them noted on the outside of their envelopes some of the key points they raised within, to publicize what disturbs
