April 21
TEXAS----impending execution
Despite prosecutor's deal with snitch, Cobb loses appeals
Richard Cobb was just 18 when he and a friend, 19-year-old Beunka Adams, robbed
the B-D-J's convenience store in Rusk, taking 2 female clerks and a customer
hostage. The pair drove the 3 hostages to a nearby field known as the "pea
patch," raped 1 of the clerks, and tied up all 3. Cobb shot the customer,
Kenneth Vandever, killing him; either Cobb or Adams - it remains unclear which
- shot each of the clerks. Both were wounded, faked death, and ultimately
survived. The murderous pair was turned in to police by Adams' cousin a day
after the crime; the state sought, and obtained, a death sentence for each
defendant.
On April 25 the state intends to execute Cobb - almost a year to the day after
it carried out the death sentence on his accomplice, Adams. If the schedule
remains on track, Cobb would be the 497th inmate put to death in Texas since
1982.
Cobb has appealed his sentence, arguing in part that prosecutors violated their
duty to turn over to his defense evidence that could have been used during the
punishment phase of his trial to impeach a jailhouse witness. William Thomsen
testified that while in jail awaiting trial Cobb bragged about his crimes, said
he would commit additional crimes if he could, that he likely wouldn't have
been caught if he'd killed the 2 clerks, and that he got "like a rush" from
shooting Vandever. (In a courtroom outburst, Cobb denied saying that.) Thomsen
also testified that he was not given any deal or done any favors by the state
in exchange for his testimony.
As it happened, that wasn't entirely accurate: In January 2003, the prosecutor,
Elmer Beckworth, penned a short letter to Thomsen's parole officer, advising
that he would not seek to prosecute Thomsen on a charge of being a felon in
possession of a firearm. The letter had been put into Adams' file, but not
Cobb's; it was turned over a day before closing arguments, but the defense
chose not to use it, a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in
a May 2012 opinion. 2 months after Cobb was convicted and sentenced to death in
2004, a prosecutor reviewing Adams' file found another letter, this one from
Thomsen, written in 2002, reminding Beckworth that during a meeting a week
earlier the prosecutor had "agreed to completely clear" his pending weapons
charge and to have a parole hold lifted so that Thomsen could be released; in
the letter Thomsen also offers additional details about what Cobb told him
about the robbery and murder. Cobb then appealed, citing the failure of
prosecutors to turn over this 2nd letter. But each of Cobb's appeals has been
denied, and on Feb. 21 the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider the case.
(source: Austin Chronicle)
NEW YORK:
Ball renews call for death penalty for cop killers, terrorists
In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, which killed 3 people last Monday,
and the subsequent assassination of an MIT police officer on Wednesday night,
New York Senator Gregory Ball (R-Patterson) Saturday renewed his call for the
reinstatement of the death penalty for terrorists and in cases involving the
intentional murder of a police officer, peace officer or employee of the
Department of Correctional Services.
Ball, who is chairman of the Senate Veterans, Homeland Security and Military
Affairs Committee, said New York State is "terror target number 1, and we need
our governor to make the death penalty for cop killers and terrorists a top
priority."
The senator said the death penalty is "a fitting deterrent that will act as
protection for those men and women who leave their loving families daily and
put their lives at risk every day to protect the rest of us."
The death penalty was taken off the table after a 2004 State Court of Appeals
ruling.
(source: Mid Hudson News)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Dr. Kermit Gosnell Trial: The Prosecution Rests
After 5 weeks of difficult and gruesome testimony, the prosecution rested in
the murder trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell. Defense attorney Jack McMahon will now
have the chance to lay out his case to the jury. Here's a look back at the
courtroom action from week 5.
Prosecutors accuse the 72-year-old doctor of running a rogue clinic that
ignored the state ban on third-term abortions and 24-hour waiting periods and
maimed desperate, often poor women and teens by letting his untrained staff
perform abortions and give anesthesia. He is accused of using outmoded drugs
and unorthodox methods to force women to endure labor and deliver live babies
who were killed with scissors by staff.
"The standard practice here was to slay babies. That's what they did," said
Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore in her opening statement,
repeating a 2011 grand jury report that called the clinic "a house of horrors."
Prosecutors say Gosnell profited handsomely - police found $250,000 in cash
during a 2010 search of his home.
Gosnell is charged with killing 7 babies born alive, and also with the death of
Karnamaya Mongar, a 41-year-old refugee from Bhutan. According to the
prosecution, Gosnell's staff gave the 90-pound woman a lethal dose of
anesthesia and painkillers during a 2009 abortion.
Dave Weigel of Slate theorized that political journalists "are, generally,
pro-choice...There is a bubble. Horror stories of abortionists are less likely
to permeate that bubble than, say, a story about a right-wing pundit attacking
an abortionist who then claims to have gotten death threats...a reporter in the
bubble is less likely to be compelled by the news of an arrested abortionist."
So far, several patients and about a half dozen former employees have testified
about the conditions at the clinic as prosecutors continue to call witnesses
this week in their campaign to seek the death penalty against Gosnell.
In Gosnell's defense, his lawyers say he is the target of a "prosecutorial
lynching" in a case that is "elitist and racist."
"This is a targeted, elitist and racist prosecution of a doctor who's done
nothing but give (back) to the poor and the people of West Philadelphia," the
fiery lawyer Jack McMahon said to the predominantly black jury in his opening
arguments. "It's a prosecutorial lynching of Dr. Kermit Gosnell."
McMahon claimed that the prosecution was applying "Mayo Clinic" standards to
Gosnell's inner-city office in West Philadelphia. He said Gosnell performed as
many as 1,000 abortions a year, and at least 16,000 over his long career, and
had a lower-than-average complication rate.
Meanwhile, a report by the Guttmacher Institute finds that lawmakers around the
country are now intent on banning abortions rather than simply regulating them.
During the 1st quarter of 2013, according to the report, 694 provisions on
reproductive health and rights were introduced, and 93 of these had been
approved by 1 or more legislative bodies. Guttmacher is a pro-abortion rights
nonprofit organization that tracks abortion legislation and conducts quarterly
analyses.
(source: Atlanta Black Star)
DELAWARE:
Death penalty not off the table in murder of Hollywood Diner owner
The state has not decided whether to seek the death penalty during the
1st-degree murder trials this fall of 2 suspects accused of strangling a city
diner owner to death late last year, authorities said this week.
Pennsylvania residents Angeline M. Terek and Joshua A. Lemonick will face
charges related to the Sept. 17, 2012 homicide of 59-year-old Dover resident
Michael Gklotsos, who owned the Hollywood Diner on U.S. 13 at the time of his
death.
A 3rd person - juvenile Tiffany Ferraro of Fairless Hills, Pa. - was indicted
by a Kent County Superior Court Grand Jury as an adult on a 1st-degree murder
charge, according to the Attorney General's Office. The state said it will not
seek the death penalty for Ms. Ferraro, who was 16 at the time of the alleged
homicide.
Ms. Ferraro's trial is scheduled to begin May 20, which follows a May 1 Final
Case Review. Mr. Lemonick's trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 7 and Ms. Terek
will be in court beginning Nov. 11.
Kent County President Judge James T. Vaughn Jr. will officiate over all 3
cases.
A defendant's motion by Ms. Ferraro to move the case to Family Court was heard
before Judge Vaughn earlier this spring, and he has not yet announced his
decision on the reverse amenability hearing, AG spokesman Jason P. Miller said.
The trio was charged with 1st-degree murder and other offenses related to a
break-in at Mr. Gklotsos's residence in the 100 block of Acorn Lane. Ms. Terek
of Bristol Township was 23 at the time of the homicide, and her boyfriend
Lemonick of Newtown was 23.
The suspects were incarcerated upon apprehension in Pennsylvania shortly after
the murder, Ms. Terek at Delores J. Baylor Women's Correctional Institution in
New Castle, Mr. Lemonick at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the suspects entered a sleeping
Mr. Gklotsos's bedroom between 10:37 and 10:42 p.m. seeking money and pills. A
struggle ensued, and the victim was strangled by Mr. Lemonick, charging
documents said.
Ms. Terek was identified as the ex-girlfriend of Mr. Gklotsos in court papers.
(source: Delaware Newszap)
SOUTH CAROLINA:
SC man accused of killing 2 claims self-defense
An Irmo man accused of killing his wife and a man owed $20,000 by his sports
betting ring is invoking South Carolina's "stand your ground" self-defense law.
Brett Parker's attorney, Dave Fedor, argued in a court motion Friday that
Parker can't be prosecuted because of the state law allowing a person who fears
for his life to use deadly force. A similar law in Florida gained notoriety
during the coverage of the killing of teenager Trayvon Martin. Parker has said
that Bryan Capnerhurst, 46, came to his $760,000 home and shot his 44-year-old
wife, Tammy, in an upstairs room. Brett Parker said after hearing the shots he
ran upstairs and was confronted by Capnerhurst, who pointed a gun at him and
ordered him to get money from a safe in the room. Parker said he knelt down,
grabbed a gun hidden on top of the safe, and fatally shot Capnerhurst.
But authorities say forensic testing, cellphone records, surveillance video and
other evidence don't back up Parker's story.
Prosecutors say Parker killed his wife to try to collect more than $1 million
in insurance money and retirement accounts. Investigators say Parker ran a
gambling operation from his home and Capnerhurst came to the house to collect
about $20,000 from bets.
3 men have been sentenced to federal prison after pleading guilty last year to
running a gambling operation that collected thousands of dollars a day. Eleven
other men have been arrested as Richland County sheriff's deputies investigate
the sports betting operation that was revealed after the double homicide last
April.
Brett Parker faces a federal charge of operating an illegal gambling business.
He could face the death penalty if convicted of double murder.
The "stand your ground" motion will delay the trial scheduled to start May 6.
The motion will have to be heard by a judge, Fedor said, and the subsequent
ruling could then be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
(source: Associated Press)
TENNESSEE:
Henretta appeal set for August
John Patrick Henrietta is Tennessee's oldest death row inmate. He appeared in
Bradley County Court recently following up on his appeals process in the case
where he was convicted of killing Frances Rose Crabtree in 1988.
Tennessee's oldest death row inmate continues to work through his appeals
process and an August hearing is set for his case in the pursuit.
John Patrick Henretta is now 70 years old.
He was convicted in April 2002, by a Bradley County Criminal Court jury in the
death of Frances Rose Crabtree, a Salvation Army Thrift Store worker.
The case went cold in the November 1988 murder which happened across the street
from the Cleveland Police Department.
Henretta and Michael Goodhart traveled into Cleveland on Nov. 30, 1988, and
committed one of the city's most heinous crimes, sexually assaulting and
stabbing Crabtree in the neck 3 times.
They had been down the street at Five Points drinking beer in a bar, waiting
for the Salvation Army Thrift Store to close.
The pair entered through the rear as Crabtree was closing for the day, and
attacked her, robbing and eventually taking her life.
Goodhart died in a Balstrop, Texas, prison, but not before revealing that he
and Henretta had traveled through Cleveland and killed Crabtree.
Henretta was in federal custody at Leavenworth, Kan.
Lt. Danny Chastain of the Cleveland Police Department traveled to Kansas in
January 1994, and interviewed Henretta about the murder.
TBI's Brook Wilkens also went to Kansas for the interview.
The Goodhart and Henretta had begun their criminal journey through the south
after leaving Pennsylvania.
Multiple homicides, assaults, robberies, thefts and arsons were reportedly
committed by the 2 men along their murderous journey, according to officials.
Former Bradley County Sheriff Dan Gilley said after the trial and conviction,
"Henretta is 1 of the most dangerous serial murderers to have ever been housed
in the Bradley County Justice Center. Henretta had 2 prior convictions for
murder along with a very extensive criminal background."
In late 2005, requests for a retrial beganb but were eventually denied by the
court.
He was set to die on Oct. 4, 2011.
In 2010, state Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee upheld the death penalty,
citing, "In summary, upon our consideration of the entire record in this case,
we conclude the issues raised in this appeal do not warrant relief and
accordingly, Mr. Henretta's conviction and sentences are affirmed.
"The sentence of death shall be carried out as provided by law on the 4th day
of Oct., 2011, unless otherwise ordered by this Court or other proper
authority. It appearing that defendant John Patrick Henretta is indigent, the
costs of this appeal are taxed to the State of Tennessee,"
A stay of execution has delayed the process.
Joe Vaughn of Franklin is the prosecution attorney in the appeals process. The
Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction Defender is providing indigent defense
for the capital murder appeals.
"The TOPCD's job is to make sure everybody gets a fair trial. They are
generally concerned with doing away with capital punishment in the state of
Tennessee," Vaughn said.
"The agency's mission is to ensure, through high quality representation, that
Tennessee's death penalty is imposed in accordance with the United States and
Tennessee Constitutions and to provide the other services to the courts and
members of the defense bar that are enumerated in Tenn. Code Annotated,
40-30-206," according to the office's website.
"Our office is the presumptive counsel appointed by the State to represent
death row inmates in post-conviction proceedings. We investigate the case and
present the court with evidence of potential constitutional violations.
Following an evidentiary hearing and briefing of such claims, the trial court
determines whether the petitioner's constitutional rights were, in fact,
violated during either the guilt/innocence or the sentencing phase of trial. If
the court finds such violations, it will grant a new trial or a new sentencing
hearing, depending on the type of the error committed. This is exactly the
process through which we are going in Mr. Henretta's case," according to
Justyna Scalpone, of TOPCD.
According to Vaughn, elements of the evidentiary trial and conviction phase are
both in play during the current appeal.
"What this case is about is consideration about childhood trauma Mr. Henretta
was supposed to have experienced and other things such as his being 'mentally
disabled,'" Vaughn said.
Vaughn said the TOPCD presented evidence of childhood trauma had been
"inappropriately put to the jury" in the 2002 criminal case. Henretta's mental
status also came into question.
"In the state of Tennessee, you can't put to death someone who is 'mentally
disabled,'" Vaughn said.
"What we (the prosecution) are doing now is working to prove Mr. Henretta had a
fair trial and he really deserved the death penalty," Vaughn said.
On Aug. 5, special judge John Kerry Blackwood, Vaughn and the TOPCD team will
present elements of the case regarding chain of DNA custody and other
evidentiary items from the 2002 trial and conviction.
(source: Cleveland Daily Banner)
ARIZONA:
Voyles seeks death penalty in San Tan murder case; Pinal's last death sentence
handed down in 1990
Pinal County Attorney Lando Voyles is seeking the death penalty for Cory Allen,
a Phoenix man arrested for the murder of a San Tan Valley woman.
Last week, Voyles filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty for Allen,
according to a press release. Voyles cited four alleged aggravating factors
justifying a death sentence.
Those include:
-- a serious offense that was previously committed or serious offenses
committed on the same occasion as the homicide.
-- a homicide where money served as the impetus for the crime.
-- an especially heinous, cruel or depraved offense.
-- a homicide that occurred to prevent a person's cooperation or testimony in
an investigation or court proceeding.
Allen was indicted by a Pinal County grand jury on 1 count of 1st-degree
murder, one count of kidnapping and one count of burglary in the first degree
for the Nov. 25, 2012, slaying of Linda Perelli-Brown.
"An innocent woman was murdered," Voyles said in a statement. "Due to the
successful coordination and hard work of the Pinal County sheriff and the U.S.
Marshals Office and in order to seek justice on behalf of Mrs. Brown and her
family, I filed the notice to seek the death penalty."
Allen evaded capture for months before he was apprehended in March by the U.S.
Marshals Service in Leadville, Colo.
The most recent notice to seek capital punishment in Pinal County prior to
Voyles' request was filed by former County Attorney James Walsh against Richard
Tray Wilson on Nov. 5, 2012, said Jim Knupp, public information officer for the
County Attorney's Office. Wilson also was charged with 1st-degree murder.
In February 2012, Walsh sought the death penalty against Miti Maugaotea Jr. and
Micah Kanahele for the February 2010 prison murder of fellow inmate Bronson
Nunuha at Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy.
Nunuha was stabbed about 140 times and had the initials of the alleged
assailants' prison gang carved into his chest, according to The Hawaii
Reporter.
Wilson was serving a life sentence in the Arizona State Prison Complex-Eyman in
Florence when he allegedly killed a fellow inmate in March 2012.
The last person to receive a death sentence in the county was Michael Apelt in
1990. Apelt remains on death row, having appealed his sentence most recently by
claiming mental retardation.
(source: TriValleyCentral)
USA (MASSACHUSETTS):
Boston bombing suspect could face death penalty
The Boston Marathon bombing suspect could face the death penalty, former
prosecutors, defense attorneys and a capital punishment expert said Saturday.
Federal prosecutors and state law enforcement counterparts in Boston are
starting the process of filing criminal charges against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19,
the naturalized American citizen from Cambridge arrested Friday night in the
bombing that killed 3, wounded dozens and chilled the nation with the worst
terrorism case on U.S. soil since the 9/11 attacks nearly 12 years ago.
But former prosecutors predicted the biggest legal decision facing prosecutors
was already clear.
"I would be shocked if it's not a death penalty case," said Michael Sullivan, a
former Massachusetts U.S. attorney. "You look at the statute that gives you the
highest level of potential punishment."
Tsarnaev is likely to be charged under federal law, because the federal
government has more legal and investigative resources and Massachusetts does
not have a state death penalty statute, the former prosecutors said. Saying
there's "no way that this is going to be a state case," Sullivan added that
"the federal interest would not be satisfied by a state prosecution."
The federal prosecution process typically starts with the filing of a legal
complaint with an affidavit outlining probable cause for criminal charges.
Next, Tsarnaev would have to be presented before a federal magistrate judge.
Because he's in a Massachusetts hospital, the judge could be brought there.
Barring extraordinary circumstances, his appearance should occur by Monday.
After that appearance, prosecutors would have 14 days to obtain an indictment
from a federal grand jury.
Given the now-notorious circumstances of the bombing, Tsarnaev could
theoretically be charged with use of weapons of mass destruction resulting in
death, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information
Center, a non-profit organization that researches capital punishment.
That statute and other federal charges can be punishable by execution, said
Dieter, who also predicted "there's a good likelihood" the government would
seek the death penalty.
Current Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz and her staff are expected to
decide the specific federal charges filed against Tsarnaev. If the charges are
death penalty-eligible, she would make a recommendation to Attorney General
Eric Holder.
He would review the recommendation, as would a panel at the main Department of
Justice office in Washington - and defense lawyers would have an opportunity to
submit arguments at both reviews. Holder would then issue the final decision,
the final step in a process that Dieter said would likely entail "some months
of consideration."
"A case like this, I would think there would be no problem" to get Department
of Justice approval to seek the death penalty, said Alexander Bunin, the former
top federal public defender in New York's northern district. "There certainly
isn't any reason I could think of that it wouldn't be authorized."
Nancy Hollander, a past president of the National Association of Criminal
Defense Lawyers, similarly theorized that prosecutors would seek execution "if
the death penalty applies under federal charges that are brought."
Even if Tsarnaev pleaded guilty, a federal jury would have to decide on the
death penalty.
However, Dieter stressed that the Washington decision-making process would
weigh potential mitigating factors, such as Tsarnaev's relatively young age and
his mental state.
Although Timothy McVeigh was executed for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing,
Dieter noted that federal prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty
against Unabomber Ted Kaczynski or for Eric Rudolph, the so-called Olympic Park
bomber captured in 2003 who confessed to a string of attacks across the
southern U.S. during the 1990s. Instead, prosecutors agreed to guilty pleas and
life sentences for both.
More recently, Jared Loughner, the Arizona gunman who shot then-U.S.
representative Gabrielle Giffords and others in a 2011 attack, was sentenced to
seven consecutive terms of life in prison after he pleaded guilty in federal
court.
"These cases were federal cases, and all of them resulted in life sentences ...
after initial thoughts about the death penalty," Dieter said.
(source: USA Today)
*********************
Tom Menino open to death penalty
Mayor Thomas M. Menino wants accused terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to face the
harshest punishment - including possibly the death penalty - and said he's been
told by investigators that the ethnic Chechen brothers did not have any help in
their deadly terror spree.
"These are the only 2 that have been involved in this," Menino told the Herald
yesterday. "That's what everyone is saying to me - the Boston police, the state
police, the FBI. Everyone. These are the only 2."
Tsarnaev remained hospitalized at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center last
night under close watch by police, while federal, state and local investigators
continued to interview witnesses and pore over several crime scenes and
thousands of tips, pictures and videos. No charges had been filed as of last
night, but when they are, the mayor - who has been in charge of Boston for 20
years - hopes they throw the book at the 19-year-old accused terrorist, even if
the feds make it a capital case.
"I think he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Menino
said.
The mayor, recovering from a broken leg, was heartened by yesterday's emotional
Fenway opening ceremony, which he watched on television.
"People were cheering and happy," Menino, 70, said. "I'm so proud of Boston. We
all came together and we said, 'Boston is better than this.' We're not going to
let terrorists take us down."
He said he's confident in the city's security plan moving forward and won't
cancel any more major events.
"You can't stop the world," he said. "That's what the terrorists want."
Menino, despite a laundry list of health woes, hasn't been stopped either. He
broke his leg 2 weeks ago but displayed his trademark grit at Thursday's prayer
vigil at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, rising from his wheelchair in 1 of
the event's most enduring moments.
"I'm feeling good," he said. "But really, my heart, my thoughts and my prayers
just go out to the victims."
He said he remained fully engaged throughout the attack and its aftermath,
despite being hospitalized. He turned his room at Brigham and Women's Hospital
into a de facto bunker, staying in close contact with top law enforcement and
public safety officials by phone, having regular briefings with Gov. Deval
Patrick, and speaking with victims and their families.
"I wasn't up and around, but I was on the phone, in meetings and making
decisions," he said.
It was the most intense, tragic, dangerous and emotional week of his 20-year
career. He officially announced just weeks ago that he won't seek another term
and a race to succeed him will unfold over the coming months.
But for the Hyde Park pol, politics were far from his mind as he said he
enjoyed yesterday's citywide euphoria and looked forward to Boston resuming
normalcy.
"Thank God, we got him," he said. "Enough is enough. Let's move on with our
lives."
(source: Boston Herald)
***************************
Schumer says death penalty 'appropriate'
Sen. Chuck Schumer says the death penalty would be "appropriate" in the case of
the Boston Marathon suspect.
CNN host Candy Crowley asked Schumer Sunday on "State of the Union" whether he
supported use of the death penalty given the fact that Massachusetts is a
non-death penalty state.
"The federal law allows the death penalty," the Democratic senator from New
York said. "I wrote the law in 1994 when I was head of the crime subcommittee
in the House. This is just the kind of case that it should be applied to".
"Given the facts that I've seen, it would be appropriate to use the death
penalty in this case," he said.
(source: Politico.com)
COLORADO:
Prosecutors Make Case For Death Penalty In Holmes Case
Prosecutors in the deadly Colorado theater shootings say that if suspect James
Holmes is convicted, they will argue he should be executed because one of the
victims was a child and because the attack was an ambush.
Prosecutors filed a court document on Friday listing aggravating factors they
plan to raise in a possible death penalty phase of the trial if the jury
convicts Holmes of murder and attempted murder.
Holmes is charged with killing 12 people and injuring 70 in the July 20
shootings. Prosecutors announced 3 weeks ago they would seek the death penalty.
Also Friday, Holmes' lawyers again suggested they might challenge the
constitutionality of state laws on the death penalty and insanity pleas. They
say overlapping elements of the laws could violate the Constitution.
(source: Associated Press)
OREGON:
Retired chief justice to keynote death penalty repeal event
Frank Thompson and Paul De Muniz were, not long ago, among the few Oregonians
who wore the mantle of justice most heavily on their shoulders. As State
Penitentiary Superintendent and Oregon Supreme Court justice respectively, both
upheld Oregon law, even though they struggled mightily with one of those laws -
capital punishment.
Thompson, who presided over the last 2 inmate executions (1996 and '97), is on
the board of Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and has testified
before the Maryland Legislature about that state's repeal process. De Muniz,
now on the faculty of Willamette University, will be the keynote speaker at the
upcoming annual meeting of OADP, set to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 2, at
Willamette University's Putnam Center.
De Muniz, a longtime member of Queen of Peace Parish in Salem, worked first as
a state public defender and in private practice doing criminal defense work.
Thompson, along with other former correctional professionals, will join the
Justice at the head table for the May 2 event.
The push to repeal Oregon's death penalty comes a year and a half after Gov.
John Kitzhaber prohibited executions during his term.
Maryland soon will be the 18th state to repeal the death penalty and the 6th
state in 6 years. Oregon's repeal must come by popular vote, rather than in the
Legislature.
"This annual meeting will be part of our effort to educate voters," said Ron
Steiner, board chair for OADP and also a member of Queen of Peace.
Since boosting its statewide effort in 2010, OADP has increased its membership
tenfold. The number of organizations supporting the Oregon repeal has grown
from a half-dozen to more than 600. Influential groups signing on as supporters
include the ACLU, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Physicians for Social
Responsibility, Amnesty International and Oregon Peaceworks.
(source: Catholic Sentinel)
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