Nov. 1
TEXAS----new death sentence
Man gets death penalty in 1980 Texas slaying
A man who once did pesticide work at a Central Texas woman's home has been
sentenced to death for her 1980 slaying in a cold case solved with DNA
evidence.
Steven Thomas was sentenced Friday in Georgetown. A Williamson County jury on
Monday convicted him of capital murder in the killing of 73-year-old Mildred
McKinney.
Thomas was charged in 2012 after investigators say his DNA that was obtained in
a drug-related federal case matched evidence from the unsolved attack on
McKinney. Investigators say the woman was sexually assaulted, beaten and
strangled.
(source: Associated Press)
*******************************
Inmate asks court to review his legal defense; Black convict says he had a
relationship with white murder victim
A black inmate on Texas' death row who claims he had a clandestine relationship
with a white woman but did not rape or kill her is asking the Supreme Court to
take his case.
Rodney Reed tells the court that his trial lawyers did a poor job defending him
and he suggests that the victim's finance, a police officer now imprisoned for
a sex crime, could have been the killer.
The secret affair that Reed claims he had with Stacey Stites, after first
denying he knew her, is one among many unusual and sometimes conflicting
aspects of a case that has aroused passionate support from those who believe he
is innocent and equally fervent cries that he sould be put to death.
A judge has set Reed's execution date for Jan. 14.
The Innocence Project is working the case. At this stage, Reed's lawyers want
the Supreme court to order a federal judge to evaluate Reed's argument that his
constitutional right to a competent defense was violated. The court could say
as early as Monday what it will do.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said in court papers that Reed's appeal
"amply supports a pattern of delay" but raises no issues worth the justice's
time. Abbott noted that 11 state and 5 federal judges have rejected Reed's
claim of innocence, "and this rejection is not for lack of effort or
resources."
Stites was 19 years old in April 1996 when her body was found along a rural
road outside Bastrop, about 30 miles southeast of Austin. She had been
strangled; the medical examiner said there was evidence of a sexual assault.
Reed was arrested almost a year after the slaying when his DNA surfaced in the
investigation of an unrelated sexual assault case and it matched genetic
evidence from Stites' body.
He first said he didn't know the victim, then asserted he kept the relationship
a secret from police because he did not want to be considered a suspect. Reed's
lawyers also have described the racial aspects of the case as explosive.
Reed said he and Stites had been involved in a romantic relationship for
several months. The sperm found on the body was his, but he said the sex was
consensual.
It was not the 1st time Reed tried to deflelct a charge of sexual assault by
saing the woman consented. Using that argument, he had been acquitted of a 1987
rape.
But the jury in the Stites case didn't buy his story, especially after the
medical examiner's testimony buttressed the prosecutinon's case that the sexual
assault ccurred just before the killing.
The defense team has suggested the killer could have been Stites' finance,
Jimmy Fennell Jr. The former polcie officer is serving a 10-year prison term
for kidnapping and improper sexual activity with a women in his custody.
Fennell initially was 1 of several suspects in Stites' death, but investigators
could not match the DNA they found at the scene. Authorities never sought to
search Fennell's apartment, even though he and Stites lived there together and
it's the last place she was seen alive.
(source: Dallas Morning News)
***********************
Prosecutor calls Steven Thomas 'the face of evil' as jurors weigh fate
After 8 hours of deliberation, the jury has sentenced Steven Thomas to death.
Thomas, 56, was convicted Monday of capital murder. McKinney, 73, was beaten,
sexually assaulted and strangled at her Williamson County home. Thomas was
arrested in 2012 because DNA he was required to provide for a federal drug
charge matched DNA found at the crime scene.
If he receives life in prison, he would be eligible for parole in 20 years
under the law that was in effect in 1980. Prosecutor Josh Reno said there were
no mitigating factors in Thomas' life. Beginning in his 20s when Thomas worked
for a pesticide company, he stole pills from customers, threatened to burn down
the apartment of a friend, abused his wife, threatened his brother with a gun
and dealt drugs, Reno said.
In his 30s Thomas shot a gun at his neighbor's truck, got so high on drugs that
his son couldn't wake him up, threatened his ex-wife so much that she got a
protective order against him and was arrested for possession of drugs and
weapons, Reno said. "He's in group therapy the whole time this stuff is going
on," Reno said.
When Thomas was in his 40s and talking to police about the death of a friend,
he mentioned how much cocaine he could do, and in his 50s, Thomas moved to
Garland where he choked his girlfriend's son, Reno said.
"You have seen the face of evil and he's sitting in the courtroom today," said
Reno.
Defense attorney Steve Brittain said witnesses had testified that the best way
to determine whether a defendant would be a threat in prison to other inmates
or guards was to look at how the defendant had behaved when previously
incarcerated.
Thomas was in jail for 2 years before the trial and "was written up once for
something that's not even in the rulebook," said Brittain.
Witnesses during the trial talked about violent acts Thomas committed, but the
jury never got to hear the other side of the story, Brittain said. He said a
grand jury decided there wasn't enough evidence to press charges in the case
that involved Thomas choking his girlfriend's son.
Defense lawyer Allan Williams said if jurors chose to give Thomas the death
sentence, they would have to live with that decision for the rest of their
lives. "I'm pleading for life, for understanding, for charity, for kindness,
for infinite mercy," he said.
"The life of a sinner has value; all life has value," he said. Friends and
relatives testified that they saw value in Thomas' life and Thomas' son "loves
his father and always will," Williams said.
Prosecutor Lytza Rojas stood up after Williams finished his closing argument.
Rojas said McKinney's family had suffered in the 34 years since her death while
Thomas had been "hiding in plain sight."
She also said that Thomas had been able to traffic "$10,000 worth of dope into
our community" 2 years ago even though he had an enlarged heart and an enlarged
prostate, according to testimony about his health from a doctor.
"Did those physical ailments slow him down in any way?" she said. "TDC (Texas
Department of Corrections) isn't ready for him; they don't even have an
accurate prediction of what he is going to do."
She said Thomas had chosen to be a drug dealer, a pimp, a recruiter for a drug
cartel, a thief and a killer. "The death penalty is reserved for the worst of
the worst," she said. "How could this possibly not be in this category?"
(source: Austin American-Statesman)
NEW YORK:
Federal judge gives death penalty opinion at Cornell
A U.S. Appeals Court Judge will give his opinion of the death penalty during a
lecture at Cornell University.
Judge William A. Fletcher of the 9th Circuit Court will discuss the state of
the death penalty at the lecture from 4-5 p.m. Tuesday in room G90 of Myron
Taylor Hall. Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP to Ernestine Da Silva
at en...@cornell.edu.
Fletcher has been on the circuit court since 1998, when he was nominated by
President Bill Clinton, his former Rhodes Scholar classmate at Oxford
University.
(source: Ithaca Journal)
VIRGINIA:
U.Va. kidnap suspect's lawyer seeks test for sanity; The man accused of
kidnapping and murdering University of Virginia student Hannah Graham made his
1st appearance Friday in another case. Jesse Matthew faces charges related to a
2005 sexual assault in Fairfax County. He appeared in court by video.
An attorney for the man accused of kidnapping University of Virginia student
Hannah Graham is asking that his client undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Attorney James Camblos made the request Friday at an arraignment for Jesse
Matthew in Fairfax County Circuit Court, where Matthew is facing charges in an
unrelated 2005 sexual assault.
That incident, for which Matthew was indicted earlier this month on charges
including attempted capital murder, involved a sexual assault on a 26-year-old
woman who was walking home from the supermarket in Fairfax.
Authorities have said the assault was linked by DNA to the disappearance of
Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington. Fairfax authorities charged Matthew
shortly after authorities linked the Harrington case to Graham's abduction.
Matthew, 32, wore a black and white jumpsuit and sat with his attorney next to
him in Friday's appearance from the Albemarle County Regional Jail where he is
being held.
Judge Dennis J. Smith took no action on Camblos' request for a psychiatric
evaluation, deferring it until a later date.
Smith ruled Matthew would be represented by a public defender, and appointed
Camblos as co-counsel. Camblos and public defender Todd Petit were fighting for
the right to represent Matthew. Smith said he wanted two attorneys to help
accommodate a speedy trial.
Matthew requested that Camblos, who is representing Matthew in the Graham case,
be appointed to handle the Fairfax case as well.
"I would prefer Mr. Camblos to be my attorney, if possible. I've built a
relationship with him," Matthew said.
Camblos objected to the idea of serving as co-counsel with the Fairfax public
defenders, saying it would amount to "2 chiefs, not enough Indians." Morrogh
objected on the basis that it would be a waste of taxpayers' money to have both
appointed.
But the judge, Dennis Smith, said the two ought to be able to work together,
and bringing both onto the case should ensure that the trial is not delayed. He
said the law requires the public defender be appointed except in unusual
circumstances.
Smith set the next court hearing for Nov. 14 to set a trial date.
Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Morrogh said the fact this case is moving forward
doesn't necessarily mean it will be tried first and that he and the
Commonwealth's attorneys in Charlottesville and Albemarle County will have to
decide that.
Legal experts say there is one good reason to try Matthew in Fairfax first. If
it's a strong case which secures a conviction, it will "enhance the punishment
in Charlottesville," says longtime criminal defense attorney Robert Whitestone.
An attempted murder conviction in Fairfax would increase the likelihood that
Matthew might get the death penalty in Charlottesville, if he's charged with a
capital offense.
Matthew has not yet appeared in court in Charlottesville on the charges
connected to the Hannah Graham case. He is charged with abduction with intent
to defile in that case, but further charges are pending after the 18-year-old's
remains were found on an abandoned farm in Albemarle County. A hearing is
scheduled for Dec. 4, 2014, in Charlottesville.
Commonwealth Attorney Ray Morrogh says having Matthew appear by video instead
of transporting him to Fairfax County is a cost savings for taxpayers.
(source: USA Today)
SOUTH CAROLINA:
Judge keeps death penalty on table for accused Aiken cop-killer
A judge on Friday rejected defense motions to take the death penalty off the
table for a man accused of killing an Aiken Public Safety officer during a 2011
traffic stop.
Several police officers and sheriff's deputies from Aiken attended a pre-trial
hearing in Charleston Friday for Stephon Morrell Carter, who is awaiting trial
in the killing. The hearing was held in Charleston because the presiding judge
in the case was serving a rotation in the Holy City.
The defense made more than 50 motions during the proceeding, which lasted more
than 3 hours. Carter, outfitted in an orange jumpsuit and shackled, sat
silently during the arguments, surrounded by several defense attorneys.
The 21-year-old Aiken man is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting
death of Master Public Safety Officer Scotty Richardson on Dec. 20, 2011. He is
also charged with the attempted murder of Public Safety Officer Travis Griffin.
Casey Secor, one of Carter's attorneys, argued that the death penalty was
unconstitutional and prosecutors were seeking it arbitrarily in this case.
Secor said to his knowledge, only one other person in Aiken County had been
charged with a crime like Carter's in recent history and did not receive the
death penalty.
Solicitor J. Strom Thurmond Jr. said the decision to seek Carter's execution
was "thoughtful and thorough." He added that the other case Secor was referring
to did not involve the death penalty because of a mental health issue. Neither
Thurmond nor Secor identified the case they were referencing.
Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman sided with prosecutors and allowed them to
proceed with seeking the death penalty.
Among the other motions, Secor sought to block officers who attend the trial
from wearing uniforms or anything that showed their connection with a law
enforcement agency. He also sought to bar officers from having any weapons in
plain sight. He argued that such symbols of law enforcement and officers'
support in the courtroom could prejudice jury members.
Deputy Solicitor Bill Weeks objected to the motion and said officers' uniforms
are "part of who they are."
"I think it's just as intimidating when (jurors) pull into the parking lot and
see it full of Crown Vics with blue lights on," he said. "The state is not
going to try and choreograph some kind of parade of police officers to try and
influence jurors."
Newman said he wanted more time to think about the uniform issue, but he
immediately struck down the request to block officers from displaying weapons
in plain sight.
"There's no way that I would ban the obvious carrying of weapons in the
courtroom, especially in a capital case," he said, adding that a display of
weapons demonstrates that the courtroom is secure and can dissuade violence.
The trial is currently set for Jan. 26
(source: Post and Courier)
LOUISIANA:
Judge's decision creates new hope for death penalty defense group
Unfunded since July 1, death penalty defense attorney Richard Goorley says
Capital Assistance Project of Louisiana, or CAPOLA, has made drastic cutbacks
with smaller office space and a bare-bones staff.
"We're here attempting to defend those people who are facing the ultimate
punishment, and we're not getting the support from the people we need to get
support from which is the the state public defender board," Goorley, CAPOLA's
executive director, said.
The Louisiana Public Defender Board gets roughly $33 million a year from the
legislature and is supposed to hand that out to regional offices appropriately.
Yet, they declined to renew CAPOLA's annual contract 5 months ago, leaving
Goorley few options.
During a Wednesday hearing on Kenneth Willis' 1st degree murder case, First
Judicial District Judge Brady O'Callaghan offered a plan and expressed
disappointment with the state board saying.
"The fact that Mr. Willis sits here, and the people who sign his checks have
not done so is deeply concerning," O'Callaghan said.
O'Callaghan intends to make the state board pay CAPOLA on the Willis case. With
this precedent, Goorley can ask judges on CAPOLA's other cases to do the same.
Otherwise, Goorley says they will close their doors for good and the state
board will be forced to reassign the cases and further slow an already lengthy
process.
"Basically, what they've done is they've gutted the organization, attempted to
kill it, and now they want to feed on the carcass," Goorley said.
The state board previously said they ordered a review of CAPOLA work after
jurors returned the death penalty against Marcus Reed in October 2013 and
Rodricus Crawford just 1 month later, but area prosecutors argue there's an
ulterior motive.
Assistant District Attorney Dale Cox thinks the state board is trying to get
rid of the death penalty. If there are no defense lawyers available, Cox
argues, cases can't go to trial.
(source: KTBS news)
OHIO:
Jury recommends death penalty for Ohio man convicted of couple's sledgehammer
slayings
A man who was convicted of beating his girlfriend's parents to death with a
sledgehammer should be executed, a jury said Friday.
After hearing arguments from prosecutors and defense lawyers, the Summit County
jury that convicted Shawn Ford Jr. of aggravated murder last week recommended
he be given the death sentence for killing 59-year-old Margaret Schobert. The
jury split its decision, recommending that Ford be given life in prison without
parole for the slaying of 56-year-old Jeffrey Schobert.
Judge Tom Parker will have the final decision when he sentences the 20-year-old
Ford later.
Ford, of Akron, put his head down and showed no emotion when the decision was
announced. Attorneys and families declined to comment afterward, citing a gag
order.
Prosecutors said Ford and a 14-year-old boy killed the Schoberts in their home
near Akron in April 2013 because they kept Ford from seeing their daughter
after he severely beat her. They said the Schoberts' killings came 10 days
after Ford stabbed and critically injured their daughter for refusing him sex.
They said Ford and the teenage boy fatally beat Jeffrey Schobert in his bed
with a sledgehammer, then lured Margaret Schobert home to her death by sending
her text messages from her dead husband's cellphone.
Ford's attorneys argued that he can't legally face the death penalty because of
his low IQ. The judge is expected to conduct a hearing on that issue before the
sentencing.
The teenage boy charged in the case is awaiting trial.
(source: Associated Press)
ILLINOIS:
Landmark decision casts doubt on case that helped end death penalty
A prisoner whose confession helped free a death row inmate in a case that was
instrumental to ending capital punishment in Illinois was released Thursday
after he recanted, and a prosecutor said there was powerful evidence that the
other man was responsible.
Alstory Simon's confession gained international attention in 1999, largely
because of an investigation by a journalism professor and a team of students
from Northwestern University that helped secure Anthony Porter's release just
days before he was to be executed. He had spent 16 years on death row for
slayings he and his supporters maintained he did not commit.
Because of constitutional protections against double jeopardy, there is no
legal way to retry Porter.
Simon told reporters outside Jacksonville Correctional Center that he was
angry.
"I'm not angry at the system. I'm angry at the people who did what they did to
me," he said, crying as he said his mother had died while he was behind bars.
Simon was convicted and sentenced to 37 years in prison. But the Cook County
State's Attorney's Office began re-examining his conviction last year after his
attorney presented evidence that he had been threatened with the death penalty
and coerced into confessing with promises that he would get an early release
and share in the profits from book and movie deals.
And, said Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, he was tricked by a
private investigator who stormed into his home and showed him a videotape of a
man who said he had seen Simon pull the trigger. The man turned out to be an
actor.
"In the best interest of justice, we could reach no other conclusion but that
the investigation of this case has been so deeply corroded and corrupted that
we can no longer maintain the legitimacy of this conviction," Alvarez said.
The Porter case helped lead former Gov. George Ryan to declare a moratorium on
executions in 2003, and he cleared death row by commuting the death sentences
of more than 150 inmates to life in prison. Gov. Pat Quinn abolished the death
penalty in 2011.
Ryan, of Kankakee, pardoned Porter within weeks of his release from prison, and
the 2 men met briefly in 2002.
Alvarez did not say whether she believed Simon is, in fact, innocent, but she
said there were so many problems with the case - including what she called a
coerced confession and the deaths of a number of key figures - that it is
impossible to determine exactly what happened on the morning of Aug. 15, 1982,
when two people were shot to death as they sat in a park on Chicago's South
Side.
She also said there remains powerful evidence that Porter was the gunman,
including several witnesses who still maintain their original statements.
"As I stand here today, I can't definitely tell you it was Porter who did this
or Simon who did this," she said.
Porter does not have a listed telephone number and could not be reached for
comment.
Alvarez said the "tactics and antics" of the investigator, Paul Ciolino, and
former Northwestern journalism professor David Protess could have added up to
criminal charges of obstruction of justice and intimidation of a witness at the
time, but that it is now impossible to file charges because the statute of
limitations has run out.
Protess, who retired from Northwestern in 2011 amid questions about his
investigative methods, did not respond to phone calls for comment.
Ciolino, who like Protess has denied acting improperly, released a statement
that emphasized that Simon confessed multiple times, including to a TV reporter
and his own lawyer.
"You explain that," Ciolino said. Nonetheless, he added, no one should be in
prison if the state did not meet its burden of proof.
(source: The Daily Journal)
CALIFORNIA----new death sentence
Local gang member gets death penalty
In Bakersfield, local man convicted for the death of Ruben Tafoya after
shooting him in the head was given the death penalty, according to Kern County
District Attorney Lisa Green.
The jury reached the verdict in a special circumstance murder case.
On January 24, 2010, Beltran shot Tafoya after the 2 got into a fight on
Columbus Street in East Bakersfield because Beltran said Tafoya had
disrespected him. He also attempted to kill another person just 1 month before.
In that incident, he shot and severely wounded a man in a robbery during a
concert.
Beltran was an active member of a Bakersfield criminal street gang called the
Varrio Baker Sureno Gang. He was also convicted of dissuading a witness,
attempted murder, and robbery.
(source: KERO news)
USA:
Supreme Court denies appeal of death sentence in Newport News murder-for-hire
case
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied an appeal from a man on death row in the
murder-for-hire killing of a young naval officer in Newport News 7 years ago.
Lawyers for David A. Runyon, found guilty in the 2007 slaying of Cory Allen
Voss at a bank in Oyster Point, had asked the high court to grant a hearing
into whether his conviction and death sentence should be reversed.
"PETITION DENIED," the Supreme Court's clerk wrote on the docket after a recent
conference between the justices on what cases they should hear next year.
In 2009, a federal jury in Norfolk sentenced Runyon to death in the contract
killing of Voss, 30, a Midwest native and well-liked father of 2 who was living
in Newport News while stationed on a Norfolk-based frigate.
Late one night in April 2007, Runyon entered Voss' pickup truck at a Langley
Federal Credit Union in the Oyster Point section of Newport News, and pumped 5
bullets into him at close range.
It turned out that the murder plot - designed to look like a robbery gone bad -
was organized by Voss' wife, Catherina Rose Voss, and her boyfriend, Michael
Draven. She sent her unwitting husband to the deserted ATM, where the armed
Runyon was lurking nearby.
The motive: To get Cory Voss out of the way and gain $500,000 in insurance
proceeds.
Catherina Voss and Draven are each serving life terms, while the death sentence
against Runyon, formerly of Morgantown, W.Va., was the 1st federal death
sentence handed down in Hampton Roads in 11 years.
Runyon, 43, is imprisoned in Terre Haute, Ind., and is one of 62 prisoners on
federal death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center in
Washington.
No date has been set for Runyon's execution, with the most recent 3 federal
executions taking place more than a decade ago. Though his direct appeal
process is now complete, Runyon is now proceeding with a petition in U.S.
District Court for a new trial.
The Supreme Court's recent denial came after the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of
Appeals refused Runyon's appeal last year.
Though the 3-judge appellate panel found some errors by the trial judge and
prosecution in the case, it wasn't enough to overturn the conviction.
The errors included statements by the prosecution during closing arguments
asking the jury to "do their duty" and "send a message to the community" by
imposing death, and the seating of a substitute juror after deliberations
began.
The appeals court was also bothered by how Newport News police detectives
interrogating Runyon referenced his Asian race and Christian religion in trying
to get him to "man up" and "repent his sins."
A veteran investigator told him: "If you're an honorable Asian man and your
integrity is intact and if you have respect for anybody at all, then you'll do
the right thing today, OK?"
The appeals court said the jury shouldn't have seen that taped interrogation:
Comments about Runyon's race contained "stereotyping and insulting notions
about how 'an honorable Asian man' is supposed to act," while the statement
that Runyon should "repent his sins" wasn't germane to the jury's task.
But those issues were "harmless error," the appeals court ruled. "What
ultimately drove the jury's decision was ... the overpowering evidence of
Runyon's guilt ... and the exceptionally callous nature of his conduct -
robbing an innocent man of his life and 2 small children of [their] father,"
the appeals court decision said. "And for what? Money."
(source: The Daily Press)
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