[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., OHIO, IND.
June 3 TEXASfemales to face death penalty Concert pianist's wife faces death penalty trial after 'smothering' their 1-year-old and 5 year-old daughter with a pillow in TexasSofya Tsygankova is accused of killing daughters Nika, 5, and Michaela, 1 A Forth Worth mother is facing a death penalty trial after she was indicted on 2 counts of capital murder over the deaths of her 2 daughters. Ukrainian-born Sofya Tsygankova is accused of smothering her 2 daughters Nika, 5, and Michaela Koholodenko, 1, with a pillow at her home in Benbrook, Forth Worth in March 2016. Tsygankova pleaded not guilty to both charges and is currently in Tarrant County jail with a bond set of $2 million. The 32-year-old suspect is the estrange wife of internationally renowned pianist Vadym Kholodenko, who discovered his wife covered in blood and the bodies of his daughters when he arrived a their house on March 17 to take the girls to school. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Tsygankova 'was going crazy and she had blood on her'. Responding officers who arrived at the scene said: 'Tsygankova was rocking back and forth, and making noises'. 'Officer Wallace was unable to understand what she was saying. Tsyganokova was wearing a mid-length night gown that was covered in blood. 'Officer Wallace observed blood on both of her arms as well. Officer Wallace noticed a cut on the inside of her left wrist. Officer Wallace noticed a puncture wound on Tsygoankova's chest, near the inside of her left breast.' Officer Wallace reported he discovered the body of 1-year-old Michela Kholodenco lying on her back with 'a light colored fluid running out of her mouth'. He described her as 'ashen colored' and cold to the touch. The body of 5-year-old Nika showed signs of rigor mortis. Officers found a pillow 'partially resting' on Michela's head in the master bedroom. According to court documents, 'the pillow had a slight indentation on top consistent with the size of a small head'. The documents claimed there was 'a small spot of biological fluid' on the pillow. A search team recovered large butcher knife with blood on the blade and the handle hidden outside on the patio. A 2nd, cleaver style knife was inside the bath tub, beside 3 bottles of prescription medicine. Officers also found an empty bottle of prescription medicine in the kitchen. In an affidavit, Detective R James met with Tsygankova in the intensive care unit of John Peter Smith Hospital. He claims Tsygankova told him: 'I think I committed suicide.' She admitted injuring herself with a knife and taking a lot of pills. He said: 'She didn't want to live.' James said Tsygankova waived her Miranda Rights and allegedly told the officers she 'didn't see any future for me and kids'. She later asked: 'Did I do anything bad to my kids?' Vadym Kholodenko was born in 1986 in the Ukrainian capital Kiev and is best known as being the winner of the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He is the 1st musician in his family and began performing publicly aged 13 with concerts in the U.S. China, Hungary, and Croatia. In 2005, he began studying in Moscow at the Moscow P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory. His big break came in 2013 when he won the Van Cliburn competition and was praised for his 'mesmerizing and exhilarating performances'. It led him to play with the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and at the Portland Piano International. He also released a live CD of his performances at the Van Cliburn competition and followed it up with a studio recording. Kholodenko eventually settled in Fort Worth, Texas, with his wife and 2 daughters. (source: dailymail.co.uk) * Hearings set Friday for 4 suspects in capital murder case Pretrial hearings are scheduled Friday for 4 people indicted on charges of capital murder in the shooting death of a 69-year-old San Angelo man. Prosecutors with the Tom Green County 51st District Attorney's Office are seeking the death penalty for 3 of the 4 accused. Eric John Martinez, 26; Jonathan Jesse Marin, 27; Eliza Victoria Losoya, 29; and Fernando Lavaris Jr., 30, are in the Tom Green County Jail in lieu of more than $500,000 bail each. Lavaris has been in jail since Aug. 31, and the other 3 were taken into custody in September. A special sitting of a grand jury was held in November because of the magnitude of the charge. Capital murder is punishable by death or life in prison without parole. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for Marin, Losoyo and Lavaris in the event of a conviction, according to court documents. All 4 were indicted in paragraph one of the indictment with burglary of a habitation and robbery in paragraph 2. 4 different attorneys were listed to represent each of the 4 suspects. The pretrial hearings are scheduled in 51st District Judge Barbara Walther's courtroom at
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., OHIO, IND.
Nov. 25
TEXAS:
Texas court gags news coverage of mass murders
The district court in this East Texas town (Palestine) has approved a defense
attorney's gag order to restrict news coverage of the recent campsite murders
of six victims, including evidence and testimony presented in pretrial
proceedings.
The prior-restraint order forbids the news media from reporting "in detail"
evidence presented to the court by police, prosecutors or witnesses "other than
reporting that certain persons testified" at pretrial hearings.
It also prohibits participants in the case - the parties, lawyers, law
enforcement officials, and witnesses - from talking to the news media on the
grounds such a restriction is necessary to protect defendant William Hudson's
right to a fair trial.
The gag order was approved Friday without comment by a judge, the same day it
was submitted by Hudson's court-appointed attorney, Stephen Evans of Palestine.
Surprisingly, news outlets received no advance notice of the motion or the
court's quickie decision to approve it.
Normally, before a court restricts the news media from publishing information,
a hearing is conducted before a judge to allow objection to whether a gag order
is necessary or even constitutional under the First Amendment right to publish
news.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark 1976 decision in a widely-publicized
Nebraska murder case, overturned a judge's gag order, declaring the government
has a heavy burden to prove it is necessary to gag the news media from
reporting lawfully obtained news no matter what. That ruling characterized a
gag order as a last resort, not a first option.
The 6 victims of the campsite carnage at Tennessee Colony just northwest of
Palestine were murdered only 10 days ago. Capital murder charges were filed
promptly against Hudson, 33, who lived adjacent to the murder scene, and was
identified by the lone survivor.
Hudson is being held without bail in the Anderson County Jail, awaiting the
outcome of a grand jury hearing on the case. He faces the death penalty or life
in prison without chance of parole if convicted.
The court gag order strictly bans the media from taking photographs or video of
defendant William Mitchell Hudson while he is being transported to court, and
rules out any photography, televising or radio broadcasting from inside the
courthouse.
The motion further directs the case judge to hold all pretrial hearings in the
judge's private chambers, "outside the presence and hearing of the public and
the press."
Defense attorney Evans said in the gag order motion his client "intends to
produce evidence during pretrial hearings which might impair the possibility of
a fair and unprejudiced jury."
(source: Dalton Daily Citizen)
VIRGINIA:
Harvey family killer to remain on death row after judges deny latest appeal
The man who killed the Harvey family in their South Richmond home nearly 10
years ago will remain on Virginia???s death row. The Federal 4th Circuit Court
of Appeals has denied killer Ricky Gray???s most recent appeal of his
conviction and death sentence. Gray filed the appeal before a a 3-judge panel
in September.
In explaining the appeal's denial, Judge Diaz wrote:
Ricky Jovan Gray appeals the district court's denial of his petition for a writ
of habeas corpus. His appeal presents 2 questions. First, whether the Supreme
Court of Virginia, in resolving factual disputes regarding an
ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim without an evidentiary hearing, made an
"unreasonable determination of the facts" under the Antiterrorism and Effective
Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), 28 U.S.C. # 2254(d)(2).
Because we find that the state court did not ignore Gray???s evidence or
otherwise reversibly err in resolving factual disputes on the record, we reject
this 1st challenge.
The 2nd question is whether Gray may belatedly raise in the district court a
claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel under the Supreme Court's
decision in Martinez v. Ryan, 132 S. Ct. 1309 (2012).
We find that the claim Gray seeks to raise was presented to, and decided by,
the state court. Therefore, it is not subject to de novo review in the district
court under Martinez.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
Senior Circuit Judge Davis disagreed, in part, with the decision to deny Gray's
appeal:
I agree with my friends in the majority that Ricky Jovan Gray exhausted his
claim that trial counsel were constitutionally ineffective in failing to
present evidence during the penalty phase of his trial that he was voluntarily
intoxicated during the commission of the crimes.
Furthermore, because a "reasonable fact-finder . . . could have found the facts
necessary to support [Gray's] claim from the evidence presented to the state
court[]," Winston v. Kelly, 592 F.3d 535, 551 (4th Cir. 2010), I agree with the
majority that the district court
