July 25
TEXAS:
San Antonio man's death penalty trial in 2nd week
A defense attorney for a 41-year-old San Antonio man facing the death penalty
in the killings of 2 neighbors in 2016 attempted to discredit a detective and
his investigation Monday as the trial entered its 2nd week.
Luis Antonio Arroyo was 39 when San Antonio police arrested him and accused him
of capital murder-multiple persons in the deaths of Rodney Spring, 47, and
Quickether Jackson, 36. Spring, who was shot, died at the scene, and Jackson,
who was shot and stabbed, died later at a hospital.
Tandylyn Jackson, 59, Quickether's mother, was the lone survivor of the attack.
When the trial opened last week, she testified that Arroyo, whom she called
"Tony," kicked in the front door of her apartment in the 3800 block of Sherrill
Brook Drive after she accused him of taking her cigarettes.
The woman told jurors after she was stabbed at her front door, she called 911
and identified "Tony" as her assailant. She stayed on the line so that first
responders could find her at her home.
Before recessing Thursday for a long weekend, the jury heard testimony from
crime scene investigators, medical examiners, and SAPD Detective Robert
Bunnell. He explained what jurors were viewing in the 2-hour video interview of
Arroyo after his arrest, in which he denied knowledge of the fatal
stabbing-shooting.
(source: San Antonio Express-News)
CONNECTICUT:
Court Rules Murderer's Death Sentence Not Wiped From Records Despite
'Unconstitutional' Death Penalty
The Connecticut Supreme Court's 5-0 ruling on Monday in the case of convicted
murderer Richard Roszkowski was mixed, with both the defense and prosecution
winning small victories.
The Connecticut Supreme Court issued a mixed ruling Monday in the case of
convicted murderer Richard Roszkowski, when it vacated his 3 murder
convictions, which had been merged with his 2 felony convictions, violating the
double jeopardy clause of the U.S. Constitution. The ruling does not change the
fact that Roszkowski will remain behind bars for the rest of his life.
In addition, the court, by a 5-0 ruling, sided with the state in its ruling
against the defense, who wanted Roszkowski's 2014 death sentence expunged from
the records. Even though the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional the
following year, the defense had argued that convicts sentenced to death have
stricter rules in prison than other inmates.
Writing for the court, Justice Richard Palmer said those sentenced to death, as
opposed to life without the possibility of parole, "are subject to conditions
of confinement that are less favorable than those enjoyed by inmates who were
never sentenced to death in the first place." For example, Palmer noted, before
the death penalty was overturned, the state could have housed inmates sentenced
to death in administrative segregation.
In ruling against Roszkowski's request to have his death sentence effectively
ruled null and void, Palmer wrote the defense's argument was similar to that of
Jesse Campbell III, who also challenged his prior death sentence. Among other
things, Palmer said that, in the Campbell case, "a petition for a writ of
habeas corpus represents a more appropriate vehicle for challenging an inmate's
conditions of confinement. The defendant's [Roszkowski's] situation is not
materially different from that of Campbell."
Roszkowski was represented by Adele Patterson, a senior assistant public
defender. Patterson did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday and it's
not clear why the defense pushed so hard for having the 3 murder convictions
vacated, since the end result is still life in prison without parole.
Roszkowski was convicted of 3 counts of murder, 2 counts of felony murder and 1
count of criminal possession of a firearm.
According to a 2014 article in the Connecticut Law Tribune, Roszkowski was
sentenced to death in 2014 for shooting to death 2 adults and a 9-year-old girl
in Bridgeport in 2006. At the time, a state judge ruled that then-49-year-old
Roszkowski should die by lethal injection. Roszkowski, the Connecticut Law
Tribune said, was convicted in 2009 of murdering his ex girlfriend, Holly
Flannery, her 9-year-old daughter, Kylie, and 38-year-old Thomas Gaudet. Police
said Roszkowski believed the 2 adult victims were romantically involved.
The state was represented by Harry Weller, who is now the retired senior
assistant state's attorney out of Rocky Hill; John Smriga, a state's attorney
in Bridgeport; C. Robert Satti Jr., the supervisory assistant state's attorney
in Bridgeport; and Margaret Kelley, the supervisory assistant state's attorney,
of Bridgeport. Weller told the Connecticut Law Tribune Tuesday that the
"opinion speaks for itself." Smriga and Satti declined to comment, and Kelley
could not be reached for comment.
In addition to Palmer, those voting on the 9-page ruling included Chief Justice
Richard Robinson and Justices Andrew McDonald, Gregory D'Auria and Raheem
Mullins.
(source: Connecticut Law Tribune)
SOUTH CAROLINA:
Prosecutor quits case as effort fails to get 3rd death penalty for Lexington
killer
15 years after his 1st death-penalty conviction and 9 years after his 2nd, a
3rd effort to secure the death penalty for Lexington County killer Clinton
Robert Northcutt failed Tuesday.
Settling Northcutt's sentence - for the brutal, fatal beating of his infant
daughter - could take another 15 years, a defense attorney said Tuesday.
The long-delayed proceeding to reconsider Northcutt's 2nd death penalty
unexpectedly was halted Tuesday morning at the Lexington County Courthouse when
11th Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard, who was prosecuting the case, said he
would recuse his office from the case.
Hubbard's decision to quit the case brought to abrupt halt the proceeding
before S.C. Circuit Judge Frank Addy of Greenwood.
That sent Northcutt, 38, back to death row, where he has spent the past 15
years.
"The man's been found guilty and given the death penalty twice," said Laura
Hudson, executive director of the S.C. Victims Council. "And we're having to do
this again. Justice moves real slowly in South Carolina. But if anybody
deserves the death penalty, this man does." Hudson said her comments were
directed at the court system - not at Hubbard.
'Open season' on babies in Lexington?
The latest chapter in one of the state's longer-running death penalty cases
leaves Northcutt's future yet to be determined.
Hudson, who was in the courtroom, said, "I'm very disappointed. The crime
victims have been waiting a long time."
Northcutt first was sentenced to death in 2003, after a jury found him guilty
of the murder of his 4-month-old infant daughter, Breanna. Northcutt beat the
infant to death because she was crying, according to evidence at that trial. A
jury found Northcutt guilty and then, in the trial's penalty phase, gave him
the death penalty.
The S.C. Supreme Court upheld Northcutt's guilty verdict in 2007.
But it found unconstitutional arguments to the jury that then-prosecutor Donnie
Myers had made during the 2003 trial's penalty phase and ordered a new
sentencing.
Myers had produced a black shroud, draped it over a baby's crib and then staged
a funeral procession around the courtroom. Myers also improperly told jurors if
they didn't vote to give Northcutt the death penalty, it would be "open season"
on babies in Lexington County.
In 2009, S.C. Circuit Judge James Williams sentenced Northcutt to death again
after a 2nd sentencing trial, this one a nonjury proceeding.
However, Northcutt's lawyers immediately filed a motion to reconsider the
death-penalty sentence. That motion asks a judge to review the record of a case
and, if appropriate, change the original ruling.
But Judge Williams retired before acting on the defense motion to reconsider
Northcutt???s death penalty. That motion remains pending - and stops all
appeals - until it is ruled on.
In 2013, the still-pending motion to reconsider Northcutt's death penalty was
given to Judge Addy. But it was not until this week - 5 years later - that the
motion was heard in court. No one contacted by The State could explain that
delay.
'An abundance of caution'
In preparing for the case, Hubbard's office reached out to former Judge
Williams to see if he could testify during this week's proceedings. However,
Northcutt's defense team Tuesday objected to Hubbard's office's contacting
Williams, saying contacting the former judge as a potential witness was
improper.
Addy ruled the contact was not disqualifying for the prosecutor.
However, once the defense team raised the issue of impropriety, Hubbard told
Addy that he would recuse his office from the case, "out of an abundance of
caution."
The case now will be turned over to the S.C. attorney general's office for
prosecution or for assignment to another solicitor's office.
Hubbard, who was going to try the case with assistant prosecutor Suzanne Mayes,
declined to comment Tuesday.
Defense attorney Bill McGuire of the S.C. Commission on Indigent Defense, would
only say, "This case, like many other capital cases, has a number of
complicated legal issues in it. Because of this history, it could be litigated
another 15 or 17 years."
(source: thestate.com)
LOUISIANA:
Edwards vs Landry on death penalty
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is offering ways he said the corrections
department could carry out death sentences in the state, continuing his clash
with Gov. John Bel Edwards over capital punishment.
Landry sent a letter Tuesday to Edwards suggesting a switch in the drug used
for lethal injection or using the Louisiana State Penitentiary's pharmacy to
make the drug, a process known as compounding.
The Democratic Edwards' administration said the Republican attorney general's
suggestions for "policy changes" are unworkable.
Natalie LaBorde, corrections deputy assistant secretary, said drug companies
refuse to sell their products for executions. She says private pharmacists
don't want to sell ingredients to make into a lethal injection drug through a
compounding pharmacy because their identities could be publicly disclosed.
Louisiana's last execution was in 2010.
Below is the response from Richard Carbo, spokesman for Gov. Edwards:
"We have received the latest letter from the Attorney General. We are pleased
that he has conceded that current law, not the governor, is standing in the way
of the state resuming executions, which have been on hold since 2010. Quitting
the very lawsuit that was meant to bring justice for these families was never
the answer, so his commitment to re-engage is welcome news. In the 211 days the
legislature has been in regular session since 2016, the attorney general has
not offered a single bill. We will review his suggestions and hope to re-start
a constructive dialogue. In the future, it is our hope that we can handle
process disagreements person-to-person rather than through the media."
(source: KALB news)
***************
Defendants facing death penalty go months without representation
"Mark Hambrick was indicted this past February for the 1st-degree murder
killing of his child," says District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro.
Hambrick, who is accused of stabbing and suffocating his 18-month-old daughter,
remains locked up. His capital murder case is, essentially, at a standstill.
"The matter has been seen for arraignment in the Criminal District Court on
four separate occasions," says Cannizzaro.
Each time he has been in court, a member of the Capital Appeals Project is
there to ask the judge for a continuance. The Capital Appeals Project tells FOX
8 that the Louisiana Public Defender's Board appoints an attorney with the
project to protect Hambrick's rights, not to represent him. The State Board
says a budget shortage is causing big problems for defendants facing capital
murder charges around the state.
"We've had to cut 30% in the last couple of years, and so we've been struggling
with capital representation because we are required to provide that statewide,"
says State Public Defender, James Dixon.
Dixon says about 10 defendants, like Hambrick, have been on a waiting list for
the past 6 or 7 months without representation. That means, those individuals
are locked up and have not been able to even enter a plea in their case.
"They don't have an active defense team, so their case cannot go forward. They
don't have the presentation required by law," says Dixon.
"The more the case is dragged out, the more difficult it is for us to bring all
the witnesses and keep the evident together in order to have a successful
prosecution," says Cannizzaro.
Orleans DA Leon Cannizzaro says the situation isn't fair to his office or the
victims in these cases. Meanwhile, Dixon admits those accused of committing the
crimes aren't given the help they need to defend themselves.
"It really is just a disaster from every angle. The person who the state is
trying to kill doesn't have a lawyer. That is a real problem, and the fact that
we don't have enough money to get that done is a tragedy," says Dixon.
The state board tells FOX 8, it was able to identify and hire a team of
investigators and attorneys to represent Hambrick. His next court date is
August 27th.
(source: WVUE)
**********************
Electrocution, firing squads should be options for death penalty in Louisiana,
AG Jeff Landry tells Gov. Edwards
In their ongoing bickering over the death penalty, Louisiana's Republican
attorney general Tuesday asked the Democratic governor to support bringing back
hanging, firing squads and the electric chair.
After the back and forth over capital punishment last week between the 2
possible rivals in next year's gubernatorial race, Attorney General Jeff Landry
issued a letter Tuesday saying Gov. John Bel Edwards' statements on why
Louisiana hasn't moved forward on executing convicted murderers are "both
intentionally misleading and cold comfort to victims' families."
The spat between Gov. John Bel Edwards and Attorney General Jeff Landry over
Louisiana's long-stalled use of capital punishment continued.
Landry again demanded Edwards say where he personally stood on the death
penalty. Then Landry proposed legislation that would change the state's capital
punishment law to allow for different forms of execution other than just lethal
injection. He recommended the Legislature pass a law that would allow the state
Department of Corrections to choose between hanging, firing squads, and
electrocution to put condemned criminals to death if other methods are
unavailable.
He asked for Edwards' support.
"Mr. Landry is accurate in that new legislation must be proposed to solve the
death penalty issue. However, in the past three legislative sessions Mr.
Landry's office has not presented any legislation to help alleviate this
roadblock, until now," Department of Corrections Secretary James M. LeBlanc
said.
Only a legislator can submit a bill for consideration of becoming law. The next
legislative session is scheduled to begin April 8.
Edwards has consistently ducked stating his personal view on capital
punishment, saying instead that he has sworn to uphold state and federal laws.
"But I am not going to pretend that we have the ability to do something we
don't have. It's not about scoring political points. It's about being realistic
in the way we govern," Edwards told reporters Monday, the day before Landry's
letter was released publicly.
In answering questions during a highway project groundbreaking ceremony on
Monday, Edwards said he specifically did not favor hangings or firing squads.
"I am not inclined to go back to methods that have been discarded (when)
popular sentiment turned against methods that were deemed to be barbaric and so
forth. We have a law in place we will continue to try to search for solutions
around that law," which allows execution by lethal injection, the governor
said.
After Landry's letter was released to a television station Tuesday, the
governor's spokesman, Richard Carbo, said in a prepared statement: "We are
pleased that he has conceded that current law, not the governor, is standing in
the way of the state resuming executions, which have been on hold since 2010.
Quitting the very lawsuit that was meant to bring justice for these families
was never the answer, so his commitment to re-engage is welcome news."
Carbo said the governor's office had not received Landry's letter by midday
Tuesday.
Carbo continued, "In the 211 days the legislature has been in regular session
since 2016, the attorney general has not offered a single bill. We will review
his suggestions and hope to re-start a constructive dialogue. In the future, it
is our hope that we can handle process disagreements person-to-person rather
than through the media."
Louisiana law allows executions only by lethal injection. But pharmaceutical
companies have refused to sell the necessary drugs to the state. The Edwards
administration obtained a year-long extension of a court order that prohibits
the state from carrying out executions because of hurdles to legally obtaining
the drugs.
Louisiana last executed an inmate, who volunteered to be put to death, in 2010.
Before that the last person executed was in 2002 during Gov. Mike Foster's
administration.
72 inmates are on death row at the Angola penitentiary awaiting execution.
"You make the unremarkable observation that other methods of execution 'are not
allowed by Louisiana law.' While this is true you avoid the simple truth that
the law can be changed," Landry wrote Edwards. "I would be heartened - as would
crime victims' families - by working together to support legislation that finds
a means to end this impasse."
Landry would change the law to say that if lethal injection is unavailable then
the method would be nitrogen hypoxia. That mode basically fills an air tight
mask on the condemned with nitrogen gas, thereby causing death by a lack of
oxygen. Oklahoma legislators have looked at that method of execution as a way
around the inability to purchase the drugs needed for lethal injections.
If nitrogen hypoxia is found unconstitutional or becomes otherwise unavailable,
then Corrections Department secretary could choose between hanging, firing
squad or electrocution, under Landry's proposal.
"But again, I ask: where do you stand? If you truly stand with crime victims
and their families, then you will affirm your support with action," Landry
wrote Edwards.
Edwards has repeatedly said his Roman Catholic faith has guided him to oppose
abortion. He won't say how he personally views capital punishment.
The church also opposes the death penalty. Landry is Catholic and opposes
abortion.
Pope John Paul II in 1999 called "for a consensus to end the death penalty,
which is both cruel and unnecessary." Pope Francis reaffirmed church opposition
to capital punishment in 2015 saying, "Human justice is imperfect, and the
failure to recognize its fallibility can transform it into a source of
injustice."
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Louisiana Conference of
Catholic Bishops also have called for an end to the death penalty.
"The church views it as a pro-life issue," Robert Tasman, director of the
Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishop, said Tuesday afternoon.
The Louisiana Bishops supported an effort in 2017 to abolish capital punishment
for future crimes. The legislation was presented as a way to save money because
Louisiana, for reasons that go beyond the lack of appropriate pharmaceuticals,
has been unable to execute an inmate against his will in 16 years. The measure
passed a state Senate committee but was withdrawn when a similar House bill was
rejected by a single vote in the House Administration of Criminal Justice
Committee.
The last time legislators attempted to change the mode of execution was in 2014
in legislation proposed by Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto when the
Metairie Republican was a House representative. Initially, Lopinto's bill would
have reinstated the electric chair. But that was amended out in committee and
measure was changed to keeping secret the identity of pharmaceutical companies
that supplied the drugs used in lethal injections. Lopinto shelved it.
"We are grateful that the conversation has been brought to the level of
legislation," Tasman said, adding that the Bishops would like to see renewed
legislative efforts to ban the death penalty.
(source: The Advocate)
OHIO:
Ohio bishops commend governor's reprieve, commutation of executions
The Ohio Catholic Conference on Friday welcomed the state governor's decision
to grant reprieve and commutation to 2 men who were to have been executed.
"The Catholic Conference of Ohio commends Governor Kasich for his leadership,
courage, and pursuit of justice in commuting the death sentence of Raymond
Tibbetts, as well as granting a reprieve for Cleveland Jackson," the
organization stated July 20.
"Each case presented strong evidence that corrective actions were needed by the
Governor. Thank you, Governor Kasich."
"The Catholic Church believes that the death penalty is an unnecessary and
systemically flawed form of punishment," wrote the Ohio Catholic Conference.
"We seek mercy for those on death row because we believe that spiritual
conversion is possible and that all life - even that of the worst offender -
has value and dignity."
Earlier on Friday, Kasich had commuted the death sentence of Raymond Tibbetts
to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Tibbetts would have been
executed Oct. 17.
Tibbetts was convicted for the 1997 murders of Judith Crawford, his wife, and
Fred Hicks, their landlord.
The commutation was granted "as a result of fundamental flaws in sentencing
phase of his trial,' the governor's office announced, noting that "the
defense's failure to present sufficient mitigating evidence, coupled with an
inaccurate description of Tibbetts's childhood by the prosecution, essentially
prevented the jury from making an informed decision about whether Tibbetts
deserved the death penalty."
Jurors were not told that Tibbetts had suffered abuse as a child in the foster
care system, and one of the jurors has said he would have voted for life
without parole instead of the death penalty had this been disclosed.
"The system failed to provide me with the information I needed to make an
accurate and fair determination," Ross Geiger wrote in an opinion piece earlier
this year.
Kasich also chose to grant a reprieve to delay until May 29, 2019 the execution
of Cleveland Jackson, which had been scheduled to take place Sept. 13. The
delay will "allow his newly appointed legal counsel sufficient time to review
the case and properly prepare for his clemency hearing before the Parole
Board."
"Jackson's previous court-appointed counsel withdrew their representation just
4 months prior to his initially scheduled execution after admitting that they
failed to do any work to prepare his clemency application over the course of
the previous 4 years," according to Kasich's office.
Jackson was convicted for the 2002 murders of Leneshia Williams, 17, and Jayla
Grant, 3.
Kasich, a Republican, rejected calls for clemency in 2016 in the case of Ronald
Phillips. Phillips was executed in July 2017, having been convicted of the 1993
rape and murder of 3-year-old Sheila Marie Evans, his girlfriend's daughter.
(source: Catholic News Agency)
TENNESSEE:
Trial challenging Tennessee lethal injection method wraps up
Attorneys for 33 death row inmates and the state have finished a nearly 2-week
trial challenging Tennessee's new lethal injection procedure. A decision is
expected by the week's end.
During closing arguments Tuesday in Davidson County Chancery Court, federal
public defender Kelley Henry said the 3-drug method amounts to torture. She
said the state hasn't acted in good faith to try to find its previous lethal
injection drug, pentobarbital
Deputy state Attorney General Scott Sutherland said the U.S. Supreme Court has
upheld midazolam in a 3-drug series. He said inmates' attorneys must identify
an alternative and haven't. He said if pentobarbital were available, the state
would use it, but death penalty opponents have persuaded companies not to sell
pentobarbital for executions.
Tennessee's 1st execution since 2009 is scheduled Aug. 9.
(source: Associated Press)
********************
Too Ill to Execute: A Conversation About Severe Mental Illness and the Death
Penalty----TASMIE's discussion series revolves around Billy Ray Irick's
scheduled execution
The Tennessee Alliance for the Severe Mental Illness Exclusion is hosting Too
Ill to Execute: A Conversation about Severe Mental Illness and the Death
Penalty tonight at Otter Creek Church.
The reception and panel discussion is part of a series of events planned before
the scheduled execution of Knoxville's Billy Ray Irick, a lifelong sufferer of
documented mental illness who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of
a 7-year-old girl in 1985.
Concerned residents are invited to come and participate in the Q & A style
event. The reception starts at 6 p.m. and the panel discussion starts at 7 p.m.
Panelists includes Dr. Jeff Stovall, a psychiatrist from Vanderbilt University,
Christopher Slobogin, a law professor from Vanderbilt Law School and Tom
Starling, CEO of the Mental Health America of Middle Tennessee. Dr. Lee Camp of
Lipscomb University will serve as moderator.
Sarah Mcgee, coordinator for TASMIE, will be available to answer questions
about Irick's scheduled execution.
Irick is set to be put to death by lethal injection on Aug. 9. It will be
Tennessee's 7th execution since the death penalty was reinstated 44 years ago,
and the 1st execution in 9 years.
The TASMIE Coalition consists of mental health advocacy groups, criminal
justice reform organizations, and others who are concerned about this issue,
including: Tennessee Mental Health Consumers' Association, Mental Health
America of Middle Tennessee, NAMI Tennessee, Tennessee Psychiatric Association,
and Tennessee Disability Coalition.
(source: Nashville Scene)
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