Jan. 19 TEXAS: Sinegal Murder Trial Set for July The defense attorney's for Gary Sinegal have yet to decide if they will request a change of venue. At a pre-trial hearing Wednesday, Jefferson County set a date for the Gary Sinegal murder trial to begin--July 31st. Sinegal is charged with Serial Capital Murder for the killings of 2 elderly Port Arthur women last April. Authorities believe Sinegal brutally beat the women at each of their homes, and then shoved the bodies into their closet. The question now is whether the defense plans to request a change of venue from the Jefferson County Courthouse to another court, in another county, in order to give Sinegal a fair trial. Much of the evidence revolves around DNA. "DNA evidence always tends to be, in every case, very convincing," said Jefferson County Assistant District Attorney Ed Shettle, "whether it's presented by the state or the defense." But Sinegal's attorneys said that they still need to examine the forensic evidence gathered from the crime scenes. "That's something we need to have our experts look at also," said Defense Attorney James Makin. The prosecution has made it very clear that they want the death penalty for Sinegal. "If any capital murder defendants deserved the death penalty in Jefferson County, he's gonna deserve the death penalty," said Shettle. Now, Makin said that his team has one focus for Sinegal: "To save his life." And that is one reason the defense has considered asking that the trial be moved out of the county, so that the defendant can have an unbiased jury. Some Port Arthur residents believe a change of venue would be fairest thing to do since many people were affected by the murders. "I'm pretty sure people out here got their minds made up," said Mary Quibodeaux. Another resident, Christina Wiggins, thinks that keeping the trial in Jefferson County is the right thing. "I think the people in the county should be the ones that try him, so that he can get what he deserves," she said. If the defense decides to ask for a change of venue, Makin said that the request will come very soon. (source: KBTV News) ******************** So you want to be a cop ...---- Real-life drama harsh enough for CSI team, says Glen Tolle CSI: Plano. Wildly popular TV show? Nope, the recent Crime Scene Investigations presentation to the Plano Citizens Police Academy is about the real thing. No dramatics, no suspects lurking in closets, no slinky babes. CSI is the meticulous and exacting analysis of a crime scene. The goals are to identify the guilty party and obtain evidence that will survive the attacks of a no-holds-barred defense lawyer in a court of law. John Naylor, a Plano Police Department forensic expert, has seen the entire spectrum of criminal activities, from arson to zip guns. Each CSI follows a set of basic steps: Initially, don't touch anything. Examine the scene and formulate a game plan for the investigation. Then start collecting evidence and trying to establish a chronology of events. The location and storage of evidence, from collection at the crime scene to analysis in the lab and presentation in the courtroom, must be carefully documented. Otherwise, a defense lawyer can claim the evidence may have been compromised. The CSI team uses notes, sketches, photos and videos to portray the layout of the crime scene. Evidence may include just about anything you can imagine - weapons, blood, fingerprints, tire tracks, DNA, hair, a receipt, textiles, a coffee cup, and on and on. Fake evidence may have been planted to lead the investigation in the wrong direction. The CSI unit investigates all crimes, from murder and suicide to auto theft and criminal mischief. Mr. Naylor lists the intangible "tools of the CSI trade" as patience and common sense. He ties it all together with a case study of a real investigation. Police photos of the crime scene are appalling. On Aug. 22, 2000, Kleber and Lilian Santos were murdered in their apartment on Spring Creek Parkway. The young couple, in their 20s, were natives of Brazil. Mr. Santos was an Ericsson employee who worked in Richardson. Mrs. Santos, a pharmacology student in Brazil, was visiting her husband during a school holiday. Both were murdered by gunshots to the head. The initial investigation disclosed no sign of forced entry. There was no immediate indication that anything had been stolen from the apartment. There were blood spatters in several areas. Blood had been washed off a phone found in one side of a double sink. Bloody socks in the other side had been used as gloves. Mrs. Santos had been forced to take a shower. She was found unclothed on the bed with her hands tied by a telephone cord. A neighbor had discovered the bodies and called the police. No one had heard gunshots or seen any suspicious visitors. The ongoing investigation revealed that at least 3 items were missing from the apartment: a toy Jeep, an electric guitar and a 35mm camera. There was no motive or suspect. Police went door to door asking questions and had a meeting with residents of the complex. Still no leads. A $20,000 reward was offered for information. On Sept. 1, the FBI assigned a profiling specialist to the case to identify personality traits of the suspect. A Dallas DNA recovery specialist was assigned to help gather evidence. The metroplex has a lot of resources that are routinely shared in difficult cases. By Sept. 21, the CSI team had determined that the crime was sexually motivated and not a burglary. The usual targets of a thief - jewelry, cash, credit cards, electronics - hadn't been taken. The CSI team had just about run out of ideas when someone thought of a new device that might help. It was a special light that detects certain body fluids, including semen. Using the special light, the CSI unit located a semen stain and obtained a DNA sample. Analysis of the sample gave courtroom quality evidence. On Oct. 21, 2000, police recovered the stolen camera from a store in Arlington and traced it to Michael Adam Sigala, a Plano resident. He was arrested and charged with capital murder. A year later, a Collin County jury convicted Mr. Sigala of capital murder. Appeal of the verdict was automatic under Texas law. In the appeal, Mr. Sigala's defense alleged 21 points of error during his arrest, trial and punishment. On Jan. 14, 2004, the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas affirmed the judgment of the trial court. For a detailed account of this case, Google "Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas No. 74212." The narrative is a gruesome chronicle of an unbelievably brutal crime and should not be read by the faint of heart. Grind-it-out hard work and dedication by the Plano CSI team cracked a seemingly unsolvable crime. The evidence prevailed in court, and a murderer was removed from society. That's what the real-world CSI is all about. [Glen Tolle has lived in Plano since 1979 and is writing a series of columns about the Plano Citizens Police Academy] (source: Dallas Morning News) ************ Travis may halt autopsies done for other counties -- Choice is part of re-examination of medical examiner's office. As part of a broad look at the medical examiner's office, Travis County is deciding whether it should continue performing autopsies for more than 40 nearby counties. A change, if made, would leave counties to take their business elsewhere in the state. Most are too small to operate their own offices, so they pay large counties such as Travis or Bexar for the service. "We're looking at whether to continue all, none or just some of the out-of-county autopsies," said Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe, who sets the agenda for the Commissioners Court. The commissioners have already set a goal of earning national accreditation for the medical examiner's office, which would probably mean each of its pathologists would perform fewer autopsies. Lightening the workload for each pathologist, commissioners said, leaves them with the following choice: Hire more pathologists and provide the space for them to work or turn down business from other counties, whose autopsies now make up about 1/3 of the workload. The commissioners have already decreed that Travis will not take on more out-of-county autopsy contracts. But cutting those already in place is a tricky proposition, Biscoe said, and should not be done without advance warning to the other counties. "This is not something you can change overnight if you send bodies to us," Biscoe said. "If we do make a change, we would have to give them 3 to 6 months' notice." Burnet County Judge David Kithil said he talked with Biscoe "and I told him he should do what's best for his county. I just asked that we be given enough time to explore our options" should a switch occur. Travis County is in the middle of a major look at the medical examiner's office. Issues being considered are adding staff members, establishing new pay scales and determining how best to measure the office's medical proficiency. After years of relative quiet surrounding the office, County Commissioner Karen Sonleitner said, issues are arising that have the commissioners' attention. They include concerns about the pathologists' workload and criticism from community activists, such as the Rev. Sterling Lands, and the Austin Police Department. But now, Sonleitner said, there are more questions than answers. For instance, the county has set a goal of national accreditation for the medical examiner's office, which Chief Medical Examiner Roberto Bayardo has embraced. The goal was set partly to show constituents that the office is performing at the highest level, commissioners say, but also because they expect the Legislature to soon require accreditation for all medical examiner offices. If Travis County decides it should pursue accreditation from the National Association of Medical Examiners, the medical examiner's office will probably have to cut the number of autopsies performed by each pathologist. The national association - which Sonleitner noted is the industry standard only because it has proclaimed itself so - limits pathologists to about 350 autopsies or fewer a year. The pathologists at the Travis office have been performing more than 500 per year. Other counties pay a fee, now $1,800, for each autopsy. Those fees bring in about 80 % of the office's revenue, according to a consultant's report released in July. Bayardo has said the out-of-county autopsies subsidize his operation, allowing the county to offer its services at a lower cost to taxpayers. Each out-of-county autopsy also puts $300 of the fees directly into the pocket of the pathologist performing it. Bayardo has said he takes on additional out-of-county work to make his income competitive with others with his experience. But Commissioners Sonleitner and Gerald Daugherty said the county's pathologists should not be taking on additional work to earn a market-level income. (source: Austin American-Statesman) ************* 5th Circuit 'Miranda' Case Muddies the Waters For nearly 40 years appellate courts have disagreed about whether police must tell defendants they have a right to counsel during interrogation, as well as before questioning, as part of the Miranda warning. Four circuits require explicit advice to defendants that they are entitled to counsel during interrogation, while four other circuits do not. In a recent Texas death penalty case, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has required since 1968 that the defendant be "clearly informed" of a right to a lawyer during interrogation, decided it wants it both ways. The circuit court rejected the Miranda challenge in the habeas corpus appeal of Allen Bridgers, saying that detectives' advice that Bridgers had the right to consult an attorney "prior to" questioning was adequate to convey that he was entitled to have an attorney before questioning, "and that this attorney could remain during questioning," according to Judge Fortunado Benavides. Bridgers v. Dretke, No. 05-70020. But in a footnote, Benavides said that the circuit would continue to apply its 37-year-old precedent to direct appeals that "a suspect must be explicitly warned that he has the right to counsel during interrogation." U.S. v. Atwell, 398 F.2d 507 (1968). Atwell applied to a direct appeal, while Bridgers' case, by contrast, is a habeas review under the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. "We have determined that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' decision was not an objectively unreasonable application of Supreme Court precedent," said Benavides. The Atwell court stated that telling the accused that he or she is entitled to consult an attorney "at any time" does not comply with Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). TESTING THE WATERS? Bridgers was convicted of killing his niece in 1997 in Tyler, Texas, taking her purse, jewelry and car, then fleeing by bus to Florida. He was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and an officer there said, "You have the right to the presence of an attorney/lawyer prior to any questioning. Do you understand?" Bridgers indicated he did. He gave a tape-recorded confession that the defense sought to suppress based on the failed claim of an inadequate Miranda warning. "This decision is about as clear as mud," said Karyl Krug, a federal habeas practitioner in Austin and former Texas deputy attorney general specializing in habeas relief. Krug pointed out that 3 U.S. Supreme Court justices expressed concern about the Miranda implications when Bridgers' direct appeal was denied review. She suggested that the 5th Circuit may have been "emboldened to test the waters" on Miranda by the high court's refusal to take the direct appeal. "Talk about a [certiorari] question," said Roy Greenwood, a Texas death penalty appellate specialist. "Jesus, either it is a constitutional violation or it isn't," he said. Jerry Strickland, spokesman for the Texas attorney general's office, declined to comment on the appeal. Bridgers' attorney, Kenneth Nash, did not return calls for comment. Benavides pointed out the sharp division in the circuits on the issue of access to a lawyer during interrogation. The 9th Circuit noted in its 1984 ruling on the topic that the Supreme Court has said Miranda language need not be read verbatim, but "it has repeatedly emphasized the critical importance of the right to know that counsel may be present during questioning," in U.S. v. Noti, 731 F.2d 610. The 6th Circuit said that the officers in their case failed to convey the substance of the defendant's rights because he was never told that his statements could be used against him or that he had a right to an attorney "both before, during and after questioning." U.S. v. Tillman, 963 F.2d 137. The 10th Circuit said that the Miranda rule "is clear" that states must warn the accused that he or she has a right to have counsel present during questioning, U.S. v. Anthon, 648 F.2d 669 (1981). But it appears less clear to the 2nd, 4th, 7th and 8th circuits. In the oldest case, the 2d Circuit in 1968 held that although an Assistant U.S. Attorney did not use the exact words of Miranda to warn the defendant, he did say there was a right to the "presence of an attorney, either retained or appointed," U.S. v. Vanderpool, 394 F.2d 697. (source: Pamela MacLean, National Law Journal) CONNECTICUT: Soldier faces capital felony, murder charges A Connecticut soldier training in North Carolina before deploying to Afghanistan faces capital felony and murder charges in a double slaying at a Hartford grocery store earlier this month, a prosecutor said Thursday. The National Guard member faces several charges, said Hartford State's Attorney James Thomas. If convicted, a capital felony charge could make him eligible for the death penalty. Thomas did not identify the soldier, but Lt. Col. John Whitford, spokesman for the Connecticut National Guard, said he is Steven Debow, 20, of Hartford. The soldier, a private, is expected to be extradited back to Connecticut next week from North Carolina, Thomas said. Maj. Rich Patterson, a spokesman at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, said a National Guard soldier from Connecticut was arrested on a fugitive from justice warrant in his barracks. Patterson would not release the name of the guardsman, a private in the New Haven-based 102nd Infantry Battalion. Patterson said the soldier checked in at Fort Bragg last weekend because his unit had been mobilized and was to train there before heading to Afghanistan. Officials found the soldier's name had been entered into a computerized national criminal database by Connecticut authorities. The soldier was turned over to the Cumberland County sheriff's department, where he was being held Wednesday night. Patterson said the suspect appeared before a Cumberland County judge Wednesday on the fugitive from justice warrant. The charges stem from a shooting Jan. 6 at Elizabeth Grocery in Hartford's North End. Authorities found the bodies of Elizabeth Morel, 26, of Hartford, and Enrique Perez, 39. The suspect wore a mask, police said. Neighbors said the store was robbed last summer. They said the owners installed cameras, and the store had a buzzer system to let customers in at night. Hartford police did not return several telephone messages Thursday morning. The Elizabeth grocery slayings occurred the same night that more than 500 members of the 102nd were being honored at a send-off ceremony in New Haven. Whitford said Debow did not attend. (source: Herald Sun) CALIFORNIA: End the death penalty The execution of Clarence Ray Allen may be one of the last if a moratorium on capital punishment sponsored by the American Bar Association gets adopted state by state (http://www.abanet.org/ moratorium/). Public opinion and political leadership are shifting back to rethinking the death penalty. The arguments against it are well-known. Innocent people have been and will continue to be executed. It is not a deterrent. It is unfairly applied. It draws the state into taking a life for someone else taking a life -- one act called "murder," the other "execution," but both resulting in the same thing: death and violation of the "Thou shalt not kill" commandment. And revenge, cool and calculated years later, if that is the justification, can provide little satisfaction for overwhelming loss and is hardly something the state should sponsor. There was another factor this time, hard to look at. For those of us already against the death penalty, it was an example of a punishment as "cruel and unusual" as any other. Allen was old, sick, feeble, nearly blind and deaf, and using a wheelchair. Surely, more than a few of us find this execution -- there's no other way to put it -- unseemly. It was grotesque, weird and crude -- just like the acts of most murderers. We've come to that through this death penalty policy. We're brutalized by it. -- Robert Louis Chianese, Ventura (source: Opinion, Ventura County Star) ************** Death of 'Sausage King' caused by an embolism Stuart Alexander, the self-proclaimed "Sausage King" who gunned down 3 meat inspectors at his San Leandro linguisa factory, died of a pulmonary embolism in his cell at San Quentin State Prison, an autopsy has concluded. "It was a natural death," Pam Carter, an investigator with the Marin County Coroner's Office, said Wednesday. "Case closed." A pulmonary embolism is a sudden blockage in a lung artery, usually caused by a blood clot that originates in the leg. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, more than 60,000 people in the United States die of the condition each year, most of them within 30 to 60 minutes of the symptoms starting. Prison officials documented no health problems with Alexander that might have offered clues to the condition. "Sometimes this just happens," Carter said. Alexander, 44, was found unconscious in his bed Dec. 27, 3 days after prison officials moved him from San Quentin's death row to a "suicide watch" cell due to fears that he might harm himself. Prison officers, who were assigned to look into Alexander's cell every 15 minutes, were unable to revive him. Sgt. Eric Messick, a prison spokesman, said Alexander struggled with mental health problems in prison, and he spent 3 months in a crisis unit in Vacaville earlier this year. Alexander's family and attorneys had also been concerned about his health because he gained nearly 100 pounds since his arrest in June 2000. Being overweight is a risk factor associated with pulmonary embolism. However, Messick said, Alexander actually lost a significant amount of weight before his death because, for the most part, he stopped eating. "He would take food if it was fed to him," Messick said. "But if you left the tray down in front of him he wouldn't eat." He also was not taking the psychotropic medication he was prescribed while in prison. This problem prompted prison officials last year to obtain a court order to forcibly administer the medication through injections, Messick said. "The last time I saw him he said, 'Mom, I hate it here, I want to die,'" Alexander's mother, Shirley Eckhart, said Wednesday. "He suffered so much in there, I guess God finally decided to lay him to rest. For that I can feel some peace." Alexander was convicted in October 2004 of 3 counts of capital murder for gunning down the three inspectors at the Santos Linguisa Factory on June 21, 2000. In February, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Vernon Nakahara affirmed the jury's death sentence for Alexander, a former San Leandro mayoral candidate. At the trial, Alexander's attorneys said he believed the inspectors were harassing him and intended to close down the factory, which Alexander's family had operated for 79 years. In the months before the shootings, inspectors had cited the factory for several violations, asserting Santos' wood-fired cooking methods were not heating its specialty pork linguisa adequately, raising concerns about harmful bacteria. Killed were 2 U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors, Jean Hillery, 56, of Alameda; Tom Quadros, 52, of Hayward; and state Department of Agriculture investigator Bill Shaline, 57, of American Canyon. A 4th inspector, Earl Willis, escaped after running from the factory and ducking bullets Alexander fired in his direction in a chase that lasted several blocks. A surveillance camera inside the factory captured the killings. Footage of the shootings was played several times at Alexander's trial. (source: Contra Costa Times) *************** Allen's attorney to keep up fight Hours after Clarence Ray Allen's death sentence was carried out at San Quentin early Tuesday, his attorney continued to work on a defense - to halt future executions."It took so long; he wasn't pronounced dead for about a half an hour," said Allen's attorney, Michael Satris. "We thought it was cruel and unusual punishment before he was put through that process, and now that he has gone through it, we know it was cruel and unusual." Satris, who represents a handful of other death row inmates, said he plans to begin a preliminary review into why executioners had to administer a 2nd dose of potassium chloride - the final chemical injected to still the heart - at 12:35 a.m., about 15 minutes after the execution began. He also wants to understand why it took a while for the elderly inmate to succumb.Allen, who turned 76 on Monday, became the oldest inmate executed in California since voters restored capital punishment in 1978 and the 2nd-oldest put to death in the nation in more than 3 decades. Prison officials declared Allen dead at 12:38 a.m. - about 19 minutes after they began administering the lethal cocktail into his veins. After the execution, Warden Steven Ornoski explained that a 2nd dose of the chemical was not uncommon. "It's not unusual," he told reporters. "This guy's heart had been going for 76 years." A claim that lethal injection amounts to cruel and unusual punishment is not a novel argument in a state that has practiced this method of execution since 1996, after use of the gas chamber was barred, authorities point out. Condemned inmate Donald Beardslee questioned the constitutionality of the punishment before his execution last year, and a 2004 civil lawsuit on behalf of inmate Kevin Cooper caused one U.S. District judge to call the issue "about as important and serious a matter as a federal court will ever consider." Cooper's claim, however, was rejected. "Every reliable study done on the lethal injection process has concluded that it is a safe, painless and effective way of carrying out the punishment," said Nathan Barankin, spokesman for the state attorney general's office. "As a result, every court that has heard these challenges ... in California has dismissed these claims." Barankin said every inmate responds differently to the chemicals, which is why it's hard to devise an average duration for an execution. Last month, prison officials struggled to find a vein in Stanley Tookie Williams's left arm, and the inmate grew visibly frustrated at their efforts. After about 11 minutes, the catheter was secured into his arm, the execution resumed and Williams was declared dead about 15 minutes later. In Allen's case, his defense attorneys had argued that the execution would amount to cruel and unusual punishment because of his advanced age and ailments. He had suffered a heart attack in September, was diabetic and was legally blind. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately disagreed. Allen was sentenced to death for the 1980 shotgun murders of Josephine Rocha, 17; Douglas White, 18; and Bryon Schletewitz, 27. Allen commissioned the murder of witnesses from his Folsom prison cell while serving a life sentence for an earlier murder conviction. He sought to have Schletewitz and his father killed in retaliation for their testimony during his trial. Allen entered the execution chamber in a wheelchair shortly after midnight. Guards then assisted him to his feet and held his elbows and shoulders to keep him upright. Allen, wearing a beaded red, green and yellow American Indian headband and necklace with a blue prison uniform, shuffled to the gurney, a converted dentist's chair. He held a feather to his chest. Once strapped to the chair, he lifted his head and looked for the witnesses he had invited. He was seen mouthing the words, "Where are you?" and "I love you." Allen appeared calm as he placed the feather, white with dark tips, across his chest. Medical officials managed to secure the intravenous catheters into Allen's arms within minutes - a catheter was in his right arm within 5 minutes; his left arm was prepared in about 2 minutes. The execution began about 12:19 a.m. Within 3 minutes, Allen turned his head to the left. About 12:22 p.m., the feather on his chest raised with Allen's final breaths. He was described as turning ashen white, and then blue. Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, who co-sponsored a pending bill to suspend the death penalty, said the experience was unsettling. "He appeared elderly, feeble," she said. "I think that brings a host of ethical questions." Family members of Allen's victims expressed gratitude that justice was served after nearly a quarter of a century. (source: Sacramento Bee) ************** Reflections on Tookie's execution Last month's execution of Stanley Tookie Williams is part of a grotesque revenge ritual that likely will deepen the cycle of violence it purports to diminish. Williams, a co-founder of the Crips street gang, had transformed himself into a passionate anti-gang activist during his near quarter century in prison. When he talked of personal redemption and racial pride, it had a ring of authenticity---and it rang a bell with other inmates. Record numbers of black ex-inmates now are flooding into communities that are woefully ill-equipped to absorb them. These returning community members are angrier than when they left. Cooped in fetid warehouses that long ago abandoned the goal of rehabilitation, they usually lack marketable skills and often scorn old-school black leadership. The resulting community friction is heating up and likely will worsen. Williams embodied a style of leadership that is needed now more than ever, and America had much more to gain from his presence than his absence. He helped to bridge the widening gap between a growing class of criminalized "have nots" and an increasingly hostile black and white mainstream. Commuting his death sentence to life imprisonment would have allowed his message and his example to reach a larger audience. But the state of California concluded that Williams' death would serve a greater purpose. In the name of the people, the state committed premeditated murder to foster the notion that committing murder warrents the punishment of death. This circular logic is more than just dizzying; it corrupts the very logic of criminal justice. A preponderance of studies have shown that capital punishment does not deter crime, ensure equal justice or promote domestic tranquility. But the practice persists because it resonates with a human impulse that demands vengeance. State-sponsored executions provide public sanction for that impulse, applying a Babylonian calculus to provide justification for this outmoded public ritual, positing a metaphysical scorekeeper with an "eye-for-an-eye" balance sheet. Our embrace of capital punishment is an atavistic romance. This U.S. tolerance for official killing perplexes much of the Western world, which largely views it as barbaric. Entreaties from the Vatican and the European Union to spare Williams' life failed, providing once again a vivid example of American exceptionalism on issues of social justice. Is our fondness for the death penalty a legacy of America's "frontier spirit," which fueled the massive massacre of indigenous inhabitants? Could it be a cultural remnant of a slave society's need for brutal enforcement of racial hierarchy? (After all, most executions occur in the former "slave states.") But even eye-for-an-eye advocates should abhor the possibility of executing the wrong person. Williams was convicted on circumstantial evidence largely on the testimony of dubious witnesses; some of the questions surrounding the case were murky enough to warrant reasonable doubt. But his notoriety as a co-founder of the infamous Crips street gang mooted that doubt. The issue of his possible innocence has fueled a renewed focus on wrongful convictions. Public awareness of wrongful convictions is the primary reason support for the death penalty is down to 64 percent from a high of 80 % in 1994. Former Illinois governor George Ryan imposed a moratorium on executing death row inmates in 2000 after the state released 13 death row inmates who were wrongfully convicted. His executive order began a slow roll of concern among other states. New Jersey is the most recent: On January 10 the state legislature signed an order suspending executions while a panel examines their fairness. Death penalty abolitionists will gain new support if campaigns to determine whether the state executed the wrong people bear fruit. The 1993 execution of Ruben Cantu in Texas and the 1995 execution of Larry Griffin in Missouri are being reexamined in the face of new evidence that casts doubt on their guilt. No account of William's state-sanctioned slaying would be complete without a discussion of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's weird logic in refusing to grant him clemency. "Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings, there can be no redemption," Schwarzenegger argued. Williams consistently insisted he was innocent of the four murders for which he was charged in 1981. (Albert Owens, Yen-I Yang, Tsai-Shai Chen Yang and Yu-Chin Yang Lin were the victims.) Thus, the governor demanded the former gang leader admit to murders he denied committing in order to gain clemency. The logical inconsistency of Schwarzenegger's ruling is par for the course when dealing with issues surrounding capital punishment. Paradox is inherent to a punishment that prescribes killing for killing. But even if the death penalty made sense, it was senseless to kill a man whose life could have prevented many more killings. Unfortunately, we're going to need all the Tookies we can get. (source: In These Times - Salim Muwakkil is a senior editor of In These Times, where he has worked since 1983, and an op-ed columnist for the Chicago Tribune. He is currently a Crime and Communities Media Fellow of the Open Society Institute, examining the impact of ex-inmates and gang leaders in leadership positions in the black community.) ********************** Attempt to impose death penalty moratorium fails in Assembly An attempt to impose a 2-year moratorium on carrying out California's death penalty failed to pass a key Assembly committee Thursday, ending its chances for the year. Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, vowed to revive his bill later and blamed election-year politics for its demise. "There are enough Democrats that are worried that this would be misinterpreted - as it intentionally has been - that we made an agreement not to bring it up unless we were sure it would pass," he said after the bill, AB1121, was placed on hold by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Koretz sought the moratorium while the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice completes its review of the state's death penalty and whether any condemned inmates have been wrongly convicted. The commission was created last year after revelations about innocent people being wrongly convicted in other states. It is scheduled to complete its work in January 2007. Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, opposed the Koretz bill and said politics had nothing to do with its failure. "Neither he nor any of his experts can point to one case in California where a person was put to death and later found to be innocent," Spitzer said. "He was asking his Democratic colleagues to fall on their sword on an issue where there is no issue." California has the nation's largest death row, with about 650 condemned inmates. ON THE NET -- California Assembly: http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/defaulttext.asp (source: Associated Press) WEST VIRGINIA/TEXAS: New trial sought in double murder A Logan man is hoping to go free after spending 14 years in prison for a double murder he says he did not commit. Lawyers for Dana December Smith, 42, are in Kanawha Circuit Court this week before Judge Jennifer Bailey Walker and say new evidence demands a new trial or even exoneration. Smith has been testifying by video conference from Mt. Olive Correctional Complex -- his unruly conduct having been addressed by the judge on several occasions. On Wednesday, the court heard testimony from Dr. Daniel Spitz of Detroit, who supported the attorney's claims that the time of death of Margaret McClain, 63, and her daughter, Pamela Castoneda, 36, in Cabin Creek in September 1991, was questionable. Smith contends he was not there at the time the women were stabbed to death. During his 1992 trial, the time of death was estimated by then state Medical Examiner Irvin Sopher to be late Sept. 8 or early Sept. 9. Also on Wednesday, Bailey heard testimony from author Diane Fanning, who wrote a book about a Texas serial killer who Smith says told him he killed the 2 West Virginia women. Fanning said she has had numerous interviews and correspondences with Tommy Lynn Sells, who is on death row in a Texas prison, and wrote her book, "Through the Window," about the man who said he killed more than 50 people. Fanning said Sells once told her that "the right man is behind bars" for the Cabin Creek murders, but more recently told her he did kill the women. Defense attorney Tim Koontz referred to Fanning's book at length, hoping to show similarities between many of Sells' other murders and those of the Cabin Creek mother and daughter. Sells and Smith were incarcerated together for about 4 months in a maximum-security section at Mt. Olive. Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Don Morris has said the men had ample chance to discuss the murder and concoct a story that could free Smith. Smith was a football player for Logan High School in 1984 who joined the Marine Reserves after graduation and took some college classes. But he dropped out and was dismissed from the reserves after stealing a car. By 1991, he had a long arrest record and was well-known to law-enforcement agencies. But he also was a drug informant for them. He has proclaimed his innocence in the murders all along, but admitted to being in the area around the time of their death. At one point, Smith gave testimony that he stole the women's car, but in 2004 said he did not. Pearl Shanklin, Smith's mother, said he has hope that her son will be released from prison. "I have to have hope," she said. "That's what I've survived on for all these years. I'm just sorry his father passed away before he could see this. "When he went to jail we thought he would only be in there a year or so before he could prove he didn't do this," said his mother. "But it has dragged on for all these years." Maxine Biller, 81, of Cabin Creek attended the hearings this week, but would not make a comment. She admitted that the ordeal of re-living the murders of her mother and sister was difficult, and a new trial would be emotionally hard on everyone. Biller said she has always believed Smith committed the murders, and still does. Smith's lawyer, George Castelle, said he believes that if Bailey grants a new trial that the convicted murderer will be found innocent of the crimes. "The DNA evidence was mishandled all along," Castelle said. "And now there is new evidence about the time of death, and this confession. "There are witnesses who said they saw the victims alive after the time of death," Castelle said. "We're asking for a new trial where a jury can consider all the new evidence." Testimony concluded Wednesday and Bailey is to give her decision on Feb. 17. (source: Charleston Daily Mail)
