Sept. 12
GEORGIA:
Serial killer Rivera still awaiting final judgment
Updates come in the mail every few months on letterhead from the Georgia
attorney general’s office. But, they rarely say anything new the family of a
slain army sargeant cares to hear about death row inmate Reinaldo Rivera.
The last update explained holdups with the death penalty related to concerns
that a drug used in executions might cause the inmate pain.
“His pain that he suffers is far less than the pain caused Marni and
Chrisilee,” said Wendy Knopp, older sister of Rivera’s first victim,
21-year-old Army Sgt. Marni Glista.
Sgt. Glista’s family waits on the death sentence to be carried out as the
lengthy judicial process continues.
“We’re going on 11 years since Marni’s death,” said Knopp, of Puyallup, Wash.
“It would be nice to have that final closure, but it’s not up to us either.”
A Richmond County Superior Court jury sentenced Rivera to death in January 2004
for Glista’s murder. Glista was found unconscious and barely breathing inside
her home on Sept. 5, 2000, after being attacked the day before. She died Sept.
9 at Doctors Hospital. Glista was strangled, according to the indictment.
Rivera confessed that he raped and killed three other women. A fourth,
Chrisilee Barton, survived a brutal stabbing and gave investigators clues that
led to his capture.
Especially near the anniversary of Glista’s death and her July birthday, the
family wonders what her life would be like today if not for Rivera.
“She was married. Would she have kids; what would her career path look like?”
Knopp said.
The death sentence appeal of the serial rapist and killer moved to the Georgia
Supreme Court where a decision to review his request for habeas corpus should
be issued by the end of March.
Most recently, Rivera’s lawyer for the habeas petition was granted a 10-day
extension by the courts on Sept. 6 to file a brief regarding the inmate’s
mental competency. His lawyer, Brian Kammer from the Georgia Resource Center in
Atlanta, stated that he needed more time to write a well-researched brief given
the court’s demands and his workload for other death penatly cases, Hansen
said.
Kammer denied a request for interview.
The state has 6 months to rule on the case after the court term to which it has
been assigned this month, according to Jane Hansen, public information officer
for the Georgia Supreme Court. The case will be argued through written briefs
after the court denied a request to hear oral arguments in June, she said.
As Glista’s family waits on this chapter in their lives to close, they cling to
their faith in God and the courts.
“For me and my family, we have a tremendous amount of faith in Christ. He is
the final judge and jury,” Knopp said. “I hope the sentence is carried out. I
do believe in the justice system.”
At this point in the appeals process, Rivera, who sits on death row in Jackson,
Ga., is asking the Georgia Supreme Court to challenge the most recent ruling
against him.
On March 31, Superior Court Judge William Fears ordered a final ruling denying
Rivera’s petition for habeas. According to the judge’s final order, Rivera
“consistently, both at trial and during these habeas proceedings, indicated
that he has no desire to appeal his convictions and sentences.” “If they deny
it, then he is dead in the water,” Johnson said.
According to Johnson, the only other option for Rivera would be taking the case
to the U.S. Supreme Court where he would need to raise a constitutional
question with the trial. Johnson said he did not know enough about Rivera’s
habeas petition to determine if that’s possible.
Richard Dieter, executive director for the Death Penalty Information Center,
said the U.S. Supreme Court does not accept many death penalty appeal cases.
If Rivera chooses to take his appeal to federal courts, the process could take
even more time moving through district and circuit courts and the U.S. Supreme
Court, Dieter said.
“Each one of those steps could take 6 months or longer,” he said. “Any time an
inmate can say I don’t want to appeal.”
(source: Augusta Chronicle)
FLORIDA:
Killer of Denise Lee wants death sentence overturned
The man on Florida's death row for abducting and killing North Port mother
Denise Lee in 2008 says his trial was unfair and he wants his death sentence
overturned.
As part of a mandatory appeal, attorneys for Michael King, 40, told the Florida
Supreme Court on Friday that the judge and prosecuting attorney improperly
undermined King's main theory of defense — that evidence could not exclude
King's friend and shooting-range partner Robert Salvador as the killer.
The attorneys also argued that the jury should not have been told that bullet
casings found at the scene of the crime matched casings found at the shooting
range where King had been earlier that day because it was not based on good
science.
King's attorneys argued the former plumber's death sentence should be reduced
to a life sentence in prison because of a sledding accident at age 6 that
damaged King's brain, among other mitigating factors.
The jury that convicted King heard this and other evidence and unanimously
voted for the death penalty, and the judge agreed. But King's attorneys say
King's case has more reasons to go for a life sentence rather than death.
"The evidence in the penalty phase shows that despite a lifetime of
difficulties largely caused by his brain damage and learning deficiencies,
Michael King managed to live a useful life — gainfully employed as a plumber,
never abusing alcohol or drugs, raising his son as a single father — until this
inexplicable violent explosion on January 17, 2008," attorneys wrote in a
motion.
The judge who sentenced King focused on the one piece of evidence that helped
catch King and ultimately defined the case as one of Sarasota County's most
heinous: Lee's desperate plea for help in a taped 911 call during the
abduction.
The story of Lee's abduction and murder captivated the community and nation,
from the frantic search for her that night to the missed chances to save her,
including a mishandled 911 call.
Lee was cutting her son's hair on the lanai of her home on Jan. 17, 2008, when
King abducted her. Her two children were left alone at the home.
King, a stranger to Lee, bound her with duct tape and repeatedly raped her at
his home. He eventually shot Lee to death at point-blank range and buried her
in a shallow grave in an undeveloped section of North Port.
During the ordeal, Lee helped build a case against King. She pulled off one of
her rings and dropped it in King's car so detectives would know she had been
there. She grabbed his cell phone and dialed 911 and tried to give a dispatcher
clues to find her.
While pleading for her life, Lee never said a four-letter word, and never
expressed anger. She said "please" 17 times.
The same jury that convicted King of abducting, raping and killing Lee also
recommended 12-0 that King die for the crimes.
The appeal process is mandatory because King was sentenced to death, and this
is the 1st chance King has had to challenge his conviction. The Florida Supreme
Court will mull the arguments before issuing a ruling at a later date.
(source: Sarasota Herald Tribune)
*************************
Indian River jury won't hear of mental toll of death row in killer's
resentencing trial, judge rules
Before potential jurors could be questioned Monday in the resentencing trial of
convicted murderer Rodney Lowe, defense lawyers asked the court for permission
to describe to them what it's like for a death row inmate to watch other
prisoners face their own execution.
Attorneys for Lowe, 40, a former Wabasso man who was convicted and sentenced to
death in 1991 for the 1st-degree murder of Donna Burnell, argued that jurors
should hear what Lowe has endured fo 21 years as a prisoner on Florida's death
row.
"We talk about what life in prison is like. The jury should also know what
execution is like so they can make an informed decision as to what their
recommendation is going to be," defense attorney Jeffrey Smith argued to
Circuit Judge Robert Pegg.
"Not a botched execution," added Smith, "I don't mean talking about when it
goes wrong, but when that sentence is carried out, what happens."
Authorities say on July 3, 1990, Lowe gunned down Burnell, 30, during an
attempted robbery at the Nu-Pack Market in Sebastian where she worked as a
clerk. Court records show the execution-style murder was witnessed by Burnell's
3-year-old nephew — her brother's son, whom she was raising along with 2
daughters.
A new jury being seated this week will determine only whether Lowe should be
returned to death row or be sentenced to life behind bars.
In 1991, an Indian River County jury convicted him of 1st-degree murder and
voted 9-3 in recommending he be sentenced to death. Jurors also found Lowe
guilty of attempted armed robbery, for which he received a 15-year prison term.
Lowe pursued appeals for years and in 2008 the Florida Supreme Court affirmed a
2005 court order voiding his death sentence. That 2005 order cited evidence
presented since Lowe's conviction that indicated he might not have acted alone.
The state Supreme Court refused to grant Lowe a new trial, but ruled that a new
jury should determine whether he returns to death row or be sentenced to life
in prison with the eligibility of release after 25 years — the same penalty
options available to jurors in 1991.
Assistant State Attorney Nikki Robinson told Pegg the state objected to jurors
hearing specific details about a prison execution, and argued the information
isn't relevant to determining Lowe's sentence.
"The whole purpose of this is to put in evidence of the defendant's character
or of the commission of the crime, something that is relevant as far as the
jury making a determination as to a recommendation," Robinson said. "His
character, and how the crime was committed, all of that is relevant, but ...
how the execution is to be conducted is not relevant."
Defense attorney Tom Garland disagreed.
He said since Lowe's incarceration, he's witnessed several inmates be put to
death, and it's had a lasting impression.
"He's well aware of what the effects are on each of these inmates," Garland
argued, "when they hear on the day or the night when the execution is to occur,
what is the process, what is the procedure? What is their last meal? How do
they get ready for that?
"We're not talking about going into the room and getting a needle stuck in his
arm," he added. "But it does have an effect on him. And it does have an effect
on each and every one of those inmates who is sitting there waiting for someone
else to take that walk down the green mile and die."
Garland insisted the experiences have affected how Lowe has handled
incarceration.
"If in fact he were to say 'you know what, screw it, these guys are getting
killed, I'm going to go nuts, I don't want to follow the rules,' he could have
done that. He didn't do that," Garland said.
"And it has an extreme effect on each, on Rodney Lowe especially. It shows his
character, and his ability to live within these types of conditions while
incarcerated for over 20 years."
Pegg though, ruled that in front of jurors, defense attorneys could not
describe in detail the execution process "under any circumstances."
"It's just not relevant for them to make a decision as to what the actual
process is," Pegg said, "and when they go through the lethal injection."
Potential jurors are expected to be questioned Monday afternoon. Another panel
of 75 are scheduled to arrive Tuesday morning.
(source: TCPalm)
OHIO:
Review can serve justice in Ohio
Our view: Chief justice is wise to face troubling issues head-on
Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor has ordered a review of how the state
implements the death penalty. It can’t come a moment too soon.
O’Connor said Thursday that the 20-member committee will be made up of judges,
attorneys, legislators and law professors. They will look at state laws and
assess how capital punishment cases are handled in Ohio and in other states,
among other things.
The chief justice stressed that the committee won’t pass judgment on capital
punishment itself. Rightly so. That is the job of state legislators and the
Ohioans they represent.
But there are more than enough troubling signs of problems to warrant the
review that O’Connor, who is in her first year of leading the Ohio Supreme
Court, has ordered.
Since 2005, separate reviews by the American Bar Association and The Associated
Press have found geographic and racial disparities in the frequency of death
sentences being handed down and disparities in the quality of representation of
defendants in death penalty cases.
And at the moment, three executions are on hold, and defense attorneys for a
fourth death row prisoner filed a motion for a delay Thursday, while a federal
judge looks at the constitutionality of the state’s capital punishment
procedures, which he has called haphazard.
Execution is the most serious action that the state can take on its residents’
behalf. We have for years urged a moratorium on executions until Ohioans can be
assured that this irreversible process is proper from beginning to end.
O’Connor is taking the right step to ensure that justice is served.
(source: Canton Repository)
USA:
Death penalty nothing to applaud
During the GOP debate last Wednesday, Gov. Rick Perry went from “always erring
on the side of saving lives” with the HPV vaccine to not losing any sleep over
exercising the death penalty.
Though these positions confuse me, I wasn’t nearly as troubled by them as I was
by the audience’s reaction to moderator Brian William’s comment that Texas has
executed 234 prisoners.
The audience applauded.
Is human life really so cheap that the loss of it can be celebrated? Though
I’ll agree many people on death row committed heinous crimes, I believe each
life has value, regardless of the choices a person makes.
Death should not be celebrated. It should not be celebrated when a person dies
of disease, and it should not be celebrated when the state injects poison into
a person.
The death penalty violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and denies
basic human rights to prisoners.
Furthermore, the death penalty does not deter violence. In Canada, the homicide
rate has fallen by 44 percent since 1975, according to Amnesty International.
The death penalty was abolished in that country in 1976, according to Amnesty
International.
Americans get indignant when we see other countries use the death penalty, even
though we ourselves are just as guilty. We condemn China and North Korea for
secret executions; we gasp in horror when women in the Middle East are hanged
for crimes like adultery, but at the same time, we executed the mentally
challenged until 2002 and children through the age of 15 until 1988, and
through the age of 18 in 2005.
In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court case, Thompson vs. Oklahoma, that outlawed
child execution ruled specifically that a child in Oklahoma couldn’t be
executed. Our state government wanted to kill William Thompson, a 15-year-old.
The blood is on our hands, and that’s nothing to applaud about.
(source: Commentary; Katherine McPherson is a journalism sophomore--The
Oklahoma (University) Daily)
NEW MEXICO:
Judge moves, delays Astorga death penalty case
The sentencing phase for an Albuquerque man convicted of murdering a Bernalillo
County sheriff's deputy will be moved out of Bernalillo County and delayed for
at least 6 months, a state district judge ruled Monday.
Judge Neil Candelaria granted a request from Michael Astorga's attorney to
change venues for a jury selection hearing over fears that Astorga may not get
a fair trial. Astorga, who was convicted in the 2006 killing of Deputy James
McGrane Jr., faces a possible death sentence.
Jurors have to decide whether to impose the death penalty or life in prison for
Astorga. His attorney, Gary Mitchell, argued that too any potential jurors in
Bernalillo County knew about the case and had strong feelings. He wanted the
trial moved to Santa Fe.
Mitchell and prosecutors also said there were wording problems with
questionnaires sent to potential jurors and a low rate of return of the
questionnaires.
The state's death penalty repeal took effect on July 1, 2009, and applied to
crimes committed after that date. Astorga was convicted in the slaying nearly a
year after the repeal took effect.
The Supreme Court ruled Mitchell could not call in experts or legislators to
testify about the repeal during sentencing. But the high court said it would
allow the trial judge to give the jury instructions and to be notified that
lawmakers voted on the repeal.
District Attorney Kari Brandenburg and the McGrane family said they were
disappointed in the judge's decision to delay and move the sentencing phase of
the trial.
"Everybody in the state knows about the trial. They know what's going on," said
James McGrane Sr. "We're very unhappy."
McGrane told reporters outside the courtroom that Mitchell was trying come up
with anything he could to delay the trial. Candelaria, the trial's judge, was
scheduled to retire at the end of the year.
Prosecutors were expected to ask the New Mexico Supreme Court to allow
Candelaria to stay on the trial.
******************
Astorga death penalty case jury selection slated
Jury selection is slated to begin in the sentencing phase for an Albuquerque
man convicted of murdering a Bernalillo County sheriff's deputy.
Michael Astorga is scheduled Monday to appear in court as lawyers argue over
whether Astorga should receive the death penalty.
Jurors will have to decide whether to impose the death penalty or life in
prison for Astorga, who was convicted in the 2006 killing of Deputy James
McGrane Jr.
The state's highest court ruled last week that Astorga could still face the
death penalty even though state lawmakers voted to repeal the law. The state's
death penalty repeal took effect on July 1, 2009, and applied to crimes
committed after that date.
Astorga was convicted in the slaying nearly a year after the repeal took
effect.
(source for both: Associated Press)
US MILITARY:
Slain Connecticut soldier's family angry Army won't seek death penalty
The father of a slain Watertown, Conn., soldier is angered by the Army's
decison not to seek the death penalty in the trial of a Georgia-based soldier
charged with killing 2 members of his unit in Iraq last year.
Spc. Neftaly Platero of Kingwood, Texas, made his 1st court appearance Monday
at Fort Stewart. He faces charges of premeditated murder in the slayings last
fall of 26-year-old Pfc. Gebrah Noonan of Watertown and 20-year-old Spc. John
Carrillo Jr. of Stockton, Calif. A third soldier was wounded.
Noonan's father, William Noonan, said after the hearing his family doesn't
understand why Fort Stewart's commanding general chose not to seek the death
penalty against Platero.
Spokesman Kevin Larson says Maj. Gen. Robert Abrams made that decision last
week after weighing all the evidence and talking with the victims' families.
Platero's attorney said Monday his client is innocent and should be cleared by
forensic evidence.
Attorney Guy Womack spoke after Platero was arraigned before a military judge
at Fort Stewart. Prosecutors say 33-year-old Platero, of Kingwood, Texas,
opened fire after an argument with the three soldiers in the room they shared
in Iraq nearly a year ago.
Womack says forensic tests showed no blood or gunshot residue on Platero. But
he says there was gunpowder residue on the hands of both the slain soldiers,
Noonan and Carillo.
(source: Connecticut Post)
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