[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., FLA., ALA.

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 7


OHIO:

Petro requests 5th reprieve for Spirko


Attorney General Jim Petro on Friday asked Gov. Bob Taft for a 5th
reprieve for a condemned killer to allow more time for DNA testing in the
24-year-old murder of an Ohio postmistress.

If Taft agrees to the delay for death row inmate John Spirko it means
Spirko's fate would likely be decided by whoever is elected governor next
month.

Spirko, 60, has already received far more reprieves than any other inmate
since Ohio resumed executions in 1999.

Taft spokesman Mark Rickel said the governor would decide shortly after
returning from his weeklong trade mission to Mexico, which begins
Saturday.

Petro asked for the delay at the request of Spirko's attorneys, who say
they can't finish the testing before the scheduled execution date.

Additional testing is being done on a tarp that held the body of slain
postmistress Betty Jane Mottinger and 2 rags found in a field nearby.

Spirko, who says he is innocent, was convicted based on witness statements
and his own comments to investigators. No physical evidence ties him to
the killing and charges against a co-defendant who linked him to the
murder have been dropped.

Courts at all levels have previously upheld his conviction and death
sentence.

Spirko's execution is scheduled for Nov. 29.

Taft last delayed the execution in June to allow additional time for DNA
testing. He had previously allowed a delay of 6 months and 2 delays of 60
days each.

Petro's request said another 6 months should be enough time for testing,
according to the letter sent Friday by Heather Gosselin, senior deputy
attorney general. But the letter also adds, "Should more time be needed,
we will request an additional extension."

A message was left with Spirko's attorney seeking comment.

Previously, Spirko has asked Petro for DNA testing on hair found on duct
tape wrapped around the tarp in which Mottinger's body was found. In
March, he also requested testing on additional evidence, including 30 to
100 cigarette butts recovered from the Elgin post office, where Mottinger
was kidnapped.

On the Net: Attorney General: http://www.ag.state.oh.us/

(source: Associated Press)






TENNESSEE:

Brothers to be evaluated ---- Psychological tests ordered for two accused
of slaying Roane County lawman and his friend


In Kingston, a special judge on Friday ordered psychological evaluations
of 2 brothers accused of fatally ambushing a Roane County lawman and his
ride-along pal.

The move to put Rocky Joe Houston, 45, and Clifford Leon Houston, 47,
under a psychological microscope came after a closed-door meeting prompted
by the brothers' bid to fire their attorneys.

Special Judge James "Buddy" Scott offered little explanation for the
abrupt order.

"Based upon that (closed-door) hearing and upon evidence available to the
court, this court feels and so orders an evaluation of the two individuals
by psychiatric and other professionals," Scott said.

The evaluation process will bring to a screeching halt any progress in the
case and likely will delay the pair's trial, set for March. Scott said he
would not hear any of the pending motions in the case until he receives a
report back on the brothers' mental states.

The brothers have long been at odds with law enforcement and others in the
judicial system of Roane County, filing dozens of lawsuits and complaints.
The feud appeared to have escalated in the past few years, with the
Houston brothers increasingly contending that their lives were at risk.

It was against this mental backdrop, in which the Houstons had even taken
to patrolling their own property armed with guns, that the May 11 fatal
shooting of Roane County Sheriff's Office Deputy William Birl Jones, 53,
and ride-along Gerald Michael Brown, 44, occurred.

Jones apparently drove onto the Houstons' property in his patrol car,
although it's still not clear why. There was a pending warrant against one
of the Houston brothers at the time, but theirs was not an address Roane
law enforcement officers would have been expected to go to without backup.

Authorities allege the Houston brothers immediately opened fire on the
deputy and Brown, a former lawman. Prosecutors are seeking the death
penalty against the pair for what they contend was cold-blooded,
premeditated murder.

The Houston brothers have signaled in court hearings and records the
possibility of a defense of self-defense, raising the specter that Jones
had repeatedly ridden past the family compound that day to menace the
brothers and stopped to harass or harm them.

Friday's hearing was set for Scott to announce whether he was going to
order the 9th District Attorney General's office off the case, a request
made by the Houstons' attorneys, Jim Logan and Randy Rogers, in July. The
brothers contended Scott McCluen, then the county's top prosecutor, had
represented Leon Houston in an unrelated case years ago.

However, McCluen lost a re-election bid to Russel Johnson, who was at
Friday's hearing. "I believe since the election that major issue may have
been resolved," Scott said at the hearing's start.

Rocky Houston cut the judge short.

"We fire our attorneys," he said. "We want to fire our attorneys."

Scott ordered a meeting in a nearby jury room with the Houston brothers,
their attorneys, local attorney Charles Currier, prosecutor Johnson and
two Houston family members. He closed it to the public because, Scott
said, private "attorney-client" information might be discussed.

It's not clear why the prosecutor, who by law would also be barred from
hearing certain chats between defendants and their attorneys, was allowed
to be present.

It's also not clear if the Houston brothers agreed to undergo mental
evaluations. Neither spoke when he returned to the courtroom, and Scott
announced the evaluations.

Brown's mother, Pat Brown, was incensed at the move.

"They're not insane," she said. "They're idiots."

(source: Knoxville News Sentinel)

**************

State high court denies death-row request


In Nashville, the Tennessee Supreme Court denied a death-row inmate's
request to reset an Oct. 25 execution date.

In an order filed Friday, the court ruled against Donnie E. Johnson's
argument that he needed a new counsel to represent him in clemency
proceedings and that a new execution date should be set.

Johnson, 55, was convicted in Shelby County of killing his wife in
December 1984 at the camping equipment center where he worked.

Earlier this month, Johnson filed a motion requesting new counsel because
former Attorney General Paul Summers joined the Nashville law firm that
represents Johnson on a pro bono basis.

During Summers' 8-year tenure as attorney general, he argued death penalty
cases for the state and 2 prisoners were executed for the 1st time since
1960.

Johnson wanted the court to appoint the Office of the Post-Conviction
Defender to represent him in clemency hearings with the governor and give
the new counsel time to take on his case.

But the court ruled it cannot appoint the office to represent Johnson at
clemency proceedings and that if he needed more time to pursue clemency,
he should request a reprieve from the governor.

(source: Associated Press)






FLORIDA:

Wells decries lack of justice


The Manatee County Sheriff's Office can't fight crime alone, not in
today's society.

That was the message Sheriff Charlie Wells emphasized Friday afternoon
during the Women of Manatee County Republican Club luncheon at the
Bradenton Country Club.

"I never want Manatee County to become the Wild, Wild West," Wells said.
"This is a beautiful community, truthfully, a great place to live and
raise a family. I want it to stay that way, but there's many obstacles."

With the constant increase in crime, a large percentage of which is tied
to a rise in gang activity in the county's north and south sides, now is
the time for assistance from the judicial system, Wells said.

"We're working hard with the state attorney's office to prosecute repeat
offenders and not allow them to plea out with probation time, because in a
lot of cases, these people are rearrested," Wells said. "That needs to
change with enhanced penalties. They need to go to prison and get out of
our hair."

Wells gave examples of habitual offenders, using August's "Operation
Street Sweep," in which 42 street-level drug dealers were targeted.

"This guy has been arrested 24 times," Wells said, as he went through the
list of various arrests. "This list goes on and on and on, and this guy's
no exception to the rule."

Wells said he believes "the system has failed us," in many cases.

"It's frustrating," he said. "The criminal justice system is almost
becoming the criminal non-justice system. There's a lot in the system that
needs fixing, not just tweaking - repaired."

Wells pointed to an insufficient amount of judges, prosectors and public
defenders.

"Let's get them," he said. "The court docket is so crowded that they're
willing to take a lesser plea to unplug the docket."

When touching upon the corrections system, Wells said it's time to either
be proactive with the death penalty or get rid of it.

"Do we really have a death penalty in Florida? If we're going to be
serious, let's do it. If not, why waste money?" Wells said.

He said the state has 378 death row inmates incarcerated for first-degree
premeditated homicide. Some have been incarcerated since Gerald Ford was
president, he said.

Wells also suggested the addition of drug treatment at jails and prisons.

"Most of the inmates are addicts," he said. "They commit crime after crime
to fuel their addiction."

Wells also touched on recent revelations about connections between some of
his deputies and the Cleopatra strip club north of Palmetto.

"We had to arrest some of our cops who were hanging in the wrong place,"
Wells said. "We didn't run from the problem, we deal with it. (Col. Brad
Steube) and I work hard to bring the sheriff's office up to the status it
is, and we're not going to let people misbehave and take it down."

Two deputies, Charles Elsenheimer and Gary P. Harrison, resigned July 25,
when they were arrested on charges of dealing in stolen property.

Two other deputies were fired, another resigned and another received a
30-day suspension for their involvement at the club while off-duty.

"It's not a pleasing situation, but we can't let our guards down," Wells
said.

(source: Bradenton Herald)






ALABAMA:

Sentencing delayed in Dothan murder case


Convicted killer Ray Grace refused an offer of life in prison without
parole as punishment for the killing of Prakash Shah during his sentencing
hearing on Friday.

District Attorney Doug Valeska had offered to agree to the lesser sentence
during Grace's trial last month, but he refused then as well.

Instead of sentencing Grace to either life in prison or the death penalty,
the sentencing was delayed until Nov. 3.

Grace was convicted of capital murder for his role in the death of Shah,
though his attorneys say he was not the one who pulled the trigger.

(source: Dothan Eagle)