April 22
TEXAS:
Man arrested in death of Houston transgender woman, friend
A Galena Park man has been arrested in connection with the deaths of a
transgender woman and a man in Midtown earlier this month.
Tariq Lackings, 23, was arrested Wednesday, charged with capital murder in the
fatal shooting of Shante Isaac, 34, and the stabbing death of Willie Sims, 33.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene after being assaulted at 1100 Dennis
Street about 11:15 p.m. on April 10, according to a release from the Houston
Police Department.
Witnesses told police a half-dozen people approached Isaac and Sims, who was a
recent friend, that night. One of the people apparently pulled a gun and fired
at Isaac, hitting Sims instead as he tried to pull the transgender woman from
harm's way.
Then, according to a witness, the attackers pulled out metal pipes and began to
beat Sims and Isaac, who was born Robert Isaac.
The deadly assault led to concerns about a possible hate crime from LGBT
advocates. Friends and family of Isaac have said the incident stemmed from a
dispute between Isaac and one of her attackers, another transgender woman, over
a man.
Lackings, who remains in the Harris County jail without bail, is scheduled to
appear in court Friday. Intentionally killing 2 people is a capital crime. If
convicted of capital murder, he could face the death penalty or life in prison
without parole. The decision over whether to seek death is typically made
months after an arrest.
Investigators believe there are additional suspects involved. Anyone with
information in this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at
713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
(source: Houston Chronicle)
VIRGINIA:
ecrecy on lethal drugs is perilous
Even the ACLU of Virginia supports the Republican-majority House of Delegates
in refusing to accept Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe's amendments to the
so-called electric chair bill.
There are many reasons to oppose the governor's actions. But those reasons vary
widely.
The General Assembly passed a bill that would make the electric chair the
automatic default method of execution should lethal drugs become
unavailable.Virginia already faces such an issue.
Why can't the state just order more drugs?
With many First World countries currently opposed to the death penalty in any
form, a number of them have passed laws preventing manufacturers from supplying
drugs for lethal purposes. Other companies that still may do so legally do not
want to sell because their names may be associated with executions: bad for
business.
Gov. McAuliffe gutted the legislature's bill, eliminating its very purpose -
default to the electric chair - and instead instituted amendments that would
make lethal drugs and their components secret. Manufacturers then might risk
selling them again. The House of Delegates refused to sustain those changes.
This newspaper finds the proposed secrecy abhorrent because it undermines
accountability.
Accountability regarding execution drugs became acutely important last year
when a botched procedure in Oklahoma put an inmate through agony before
officials finally stopped the execution - although he died 43 minutes later.
Turns out, officials had used the wrong drug.
Other problems occurred in Arizona and Ohio, and the drug midazolam was
implicated.
But none of this might have been known if the contents of lethal injections
were allowed to remain secret.
And, as the ACLU notes, secrecy could allow the use of potentially dangerous
unregulated or even experimental drugs.
A level of openness is important in ensuring accountability in this, literally,
life-and-death issue.
But among the delegates who overturned the governor's veto, lofty ideals about
transparency probably were not everyone's motivation. Many lawmakers just want
to make sure executions can continue, with or without drugs. They weren't going
to let the governor interfere.
The ACLU's motive in supporting the veto override is different still. A move
that makes the electric chair a more likely means of execution may disturb
voters. Those who might be marginally accepting of the "clean" method of lethal
injection now might migrate toward active opposition of the death penalty, due
to electrocution's perceived barbarity.
And increased opposition might eventually eliminate the death penalty
altogether, as groups such as the ACLU hope.
Regardless of the eventual outcome, we maintain that secrecy regarding
executions is the wrong path to take. Officials shouldn't be given yet another
opportunity to hide their actions or decisions.
(source: Editorial, The Daily Progress)
*******************
ACLU comments on Virginia lethal injections compromise
ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Claire Guthrie Gasta???aga commented on the
compromise from legislators to Gov. Terry McAuliffes amendments to the electric
chair bill.
"After initially voting to reject Governor McAuliffe's amendments to the
electric chair bill, House Bill 815, on reconsideration the House and then the
Senate failed the public interest today by agreeing to impose a veil of secrecy
on executions in Virginia.
"The governor's amendments will keep secret the manufacturers of drugs used to
kill Virginia's death row inmates by lethal injection, as well as the chemical
nature of those drugs. Virginia's death penalty laws already promote an
outdated and unjust practice that more than 1/3 of states already have
abandoned. Injecting secrecy into the process will authorize Virginia to use
new, untested, unregulated, undisclosed drugs on human beings against their
will.
"This misplaced legislative struggle over the death penalty may now be behind
us with an unfortunate result and likely lengthy litigation, but we must ensure
that this conversation is not over. It is time for the Commonwealth to engage
in long-overdue discussion of whether Virginia should join the 18 states that
have made the ultimate humane choice to discontinue the death penalty
entirely."
(source: augustafreepress.com)
LOUISIANA:
Louisiana nun shares perspective on the death penalty
Sister Helen Prejean was over her head when she was first asked to accompany a
Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola) death row inmate in the days leading up
to his execution.
The 1st inmate was Patrick Sonnier in the 1980s in New Orleans. She never
expected it would lead to a life of speaking against the use of the death
penalty in the U.S. Since then Prejean has been the spiritual adviser of
several death row inmates.
Her advocacy work and personal accounts has led to several books, an
Oscar-nominated movie, a stage play and an opera, "Dead Man Walking."
Murder, execution take center stage in Dead Man Walking
Prejean's mission "to shape the Catholic Church's newly vigorous opposition to
state executions" has continued over the decades and she will bring the
discussion to Caddo Parish - an area that has one of the highest death penalty
rates in the U.S. with approximately 20 % of the people on death row inmates
convicted of crimes in the parish.
On Friday, Prejean will discuss her experiences and address the controversial
topic in a lecture at 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Shreveport. On
Saturday, the Shreveport Opera will perform the modern day opera, "Dead Man
Walking," which tells a story of the nun, a death row inmate and the effects of
the violent crime committed by the inmate on the community.
Prejean talked to The Times about the mission of her work and the opera's
purpose to educate without preaching.
The Times: What is the theme of the "Dead Man Walking" opera?
Helen Prejean: It's a drama told in both the dramatic art form and music.
(It's) about love, death, violence, solutions, hurting victims' families, a
mother with a son who's done an unspeakable thing and a nun who's in over her
head.
READ: Shreveport Opera couple to play in "Dead Man Walking"
The opera tells the story in its art. It's not to wage up a debate about the
death penalty," she said. "It's a deeper story than about an issue of the death
penalty, whether you're for it or not.
TT: What are your current beliefs about the death penalty and have those views
changed since the 1980s, which was the 1st time you were the spiritual adviser
of a death row inmate?
HP: I've learned so much. The 1st man I was with who was executed - Patrick
Sonnier - happened in 1984. And since then I've been with 5 other people who
have been executed. I'm actually accompanying somebody on death row now, Manuel
Ortiz, whom I actually believe is innocent.
One discovery is this system is so broken. Innocent people are going in with
the guilty and there's a structural reason - and that reason is only poor
people are selected and poor people very often get poor defense because they
are underfunded and don't have the resources.
The other side of it, there are 156 wrongful executions where people have
managed to get off of death row and 90 % of the cases are because of what's
called "prosecutorial misconduct" because the prosecutor who's looking to win
and get a victory is in charge of the evidence.
The law may seem very serene and reasoned but then when you put real human
beings in there the only way the death penalty can ever be pursued is in the
description of the prosecutor who gets to decide whether it will be a capital
case of not.
I have learned a lot about it and the main thing I've learned about the
American people is, give people a chance to look closely at the death penalty
and reflect on it and see it for what it is and they get it.
But the great thing about this opera is that whether you have the death penalty
or not, it's that human story of "What do you do if someone hurts you badly or
hurt someone you love or takes their life?" Do you get even? Or do you try to
heal? What's the path? And that's what the opera brings out.
TT: What does the Bible say about the death penalty?
HP: The Bible says many things about the death penalty. In the Old Testament
there were 37 different crimes for which you could get the death penalty. You
can find all that in the Bible, but you also find you get the death penalty for
adultery, for not keeping the Sabbath, for not respecting your elders, but
people never quote that. They only quote the ones on murder because it was
written at a time where you didn't have modern forms of criminal control. You
didn't have prisons, so punishments were harsh and swift.
But when you come to Jesus and the thrust of what Jesus was about: His message
is one of mercy more than strict justice and compassion more than an eye for an
eye or pain for pain or life for life.
TT: What happens in those final moments with the death row inmates?
HP: Every person is an individual, but I can give you the pattern of the 6
people I've accompanied - 2 of whom were innocent. The innocent ones did not
ask forgiveness of the families, they used their last words to say to the
governor or whoever was carrying out the execution, "You're killing an innocent
man." The others all asked forgiveness for what they had done.
I believe that when people are being brought to their death, they want to end
their life with love. I've never seen anyone about to be killed curse a
victim's family. And actually they direct their love to me because I'm there
for them. I tell them, "Look at my face when they do this, and I'll be the face
of Christ for you. I'll be the face of love for you." It's not about me being a
hero because many of them were guilty of terrible crimes, but they are human
beings and to render a person defenseless and strap them down and kill them is
an act that is not worthy of us as a people, as a society.
TT: Are you ever personally affected by being death row inmates' spiritual
adviser?
HP: Seeing the executions either paralyzes or galvanizes you, and it galvanized
me. Coming out from the first execution, (I knew other) people are never going
to get close to this. It's like a secret ritual and people are kept away. I
knew then, I'd been called in as a witness to this, so my job is to tell the
story. I lead down both sides of the spectrum so people can go to a deeper
level, then I urge them to read (my) books because people have very little
actual information about the death penalty. What they mainly have is emotion,
so you have to bring people deeper into it. Part of that is just coming to get
information about how it actually works and doesn't work and why the guidelines
that the Supreme Court set up are not meant to be applied and lead to the death
of innocent people, as well as the guilty.
If you go
What: Dead Man Walking: The Journey Continues - A lecture by Sister Helen
Prejean
Where: First Presbyterian Church, 900 Jordan St., Shreveport
When: 7 p.m. April 22
Cost: Free
Info: fpcshreveport.org
What: Dead Man Walking presented by Shreveport Opera
Where: RiverView Theater, 600 Clyde Fant Pkwy, Shreveport
When: 7:30 p.m. April 23
Cost: $15 students, $25 - $90 adults, plus service fees
Info: shreveportopera.org or (318) 227-9503
(source: Shreveport Times)
USA:
Pharmacy That Mixed Execution Drugs Is Being Sold After Discipline And Loan
Default
A small compounding pharmacy in Oklahoma sold execution drugs for at least 3
Missouri executions. When investigators later inspected the pharmacy, they
found "significant" problems, and it later defaulted on its bank loans.
After admitting to more than a thousand pharmaceutical violations, a pharmacy
that sold execution drugs to Missouri auctioned off its assets last week after
it defaulted on its loans. The sale is expected to be finalized in the coming
weeks.
The Apothecary Shoppe, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, mixed execution drugs for at
least 3 executions held in Missouri in 2013 and 2014. A year after its identity
became public, the pharmacy faced investigations by state and federal
regulators that revealed "significant" violations of pharmacy regulations,
BuzzFeed News has learned.
The pharmacy issued a recall on some of the drugs it made, and was forced to
shut down its mixing practice for a time. Its license is currently on
probation.
In March 2015, a year after its role in selling lethal drugs had been revealed,
the Food and Drug Administration inspected the pharmacy. 2 investigators found
questionable potency, disinfecting and sterilization practices. In response to
a Freedom of Information Act request, an FDA official told BuzzFeed News in
late February that the investigation is ongoing.
A month after the FDA inspection, however, investigators with the Oklahoma
Board of Pharmacy arrived at the facility as part of a routine inspection. Over
the next few months, the three investigators would find hundreds of violations
of pharmacy guidelines at the facility.
While inspectors were there, they observed pharmacy techs wearing no masks or
goggles while compounding drugs. Pharmacists were storing drugs in a blue Igloo
cooler so they wouldn???t have to walk to the proper refrigeration unit in
another room; regulators seized the blue cooler and the drugs it was storing.
The pharmacy was extending the expiration date on its drugs without proper
testing or documentation, and used questionable sterilization practices.
Compounding pharmacies, unlike drug manufacturers, mix drugs based on specific
prescriptions. They are lightly regulated by the FDA, and the products they
make have a significantly higher failure rate than manufactured drugs.
State regulators caught the Apothecary Shoppe making a testosterone injection
without a legitimate medical need - and said the drug should have instead been
made by manufacturers. The head pharmacist, David Kent Johnson, told the board
regulators that he would stop making that drug immediately.
The investigators also discovered unexplained irregularities in a lab
certification. In a complaint, the board noted that in the 1st certification
report they received indicated the pharmacy was operating without its lab being
certified for a time.
"Another copy of the report was given to [investigators] on June 9, 2015; this
report appeared to have been altered," the board wrote in a complaint against
the pharmacy.
Investigators "were not able to ascertain if the documents were changed by the
inspection company or by the pharmacy," said Cindy Fain, Chief Compliance
Officer for the board. "That's why the statement is so vague in the Complaint."
The regulators gave Johnson a letter on May 28, 2015, noting all of the
violations, and asking the pharmacy to recall its drugs and stop making new
drugs until it complied with regulations. They also asked for more
documentation about the pharmacy's practices.
Johnson responded with a letter the next day that regulators wrote was
"inadequate, and the required documentation was not produced." They returned to
the pharmacy weeks later and found the pharmacy "in significant violation of
[pharmacy] guidelines."
The board of pharmacy subpoenaed the Apothecary Shoppe's records and again
asked for a recall and for it to stop its compounding. This time, the pharmacy
acquiesced.
In total, the pharmacy admitted guilt to an astounding 1,892 violations of
state pharmacy guidelines. Johnson agreed to guilt on 1,887 violations, and
neither admitted nor denied violating the other 5 requirements.
The pharmacy declined to comment on the violations.
The licenses of the Apothecary Shoppe and Johnson were both placed on probation
for 5 years. They also had to pay $50,000 in fines altogether, and Johnson will
undergo additional training. The Oklahoma Board of Pharmacy said the fine has
been paid and the pharmacy can continue to compound drugs while the licenses
are on probation.
The pharmacy's receiver, put in place by a court, said the potential buyers
were all aware of the pharmacy's regulation problems.
"The issues have all been cleared," David Rhoades said. "It did not have
anything to do with the financial troubles. It was disclosed to all potential
purchasers."
Many of these violations were similar to concerns raised years ago by death row
inmates in Missouri, who questioned the qualifications of the drug maker that
the state had tried to keep secret.
"Compounding-pharmacy products do not meet the requirements for identity,
purity, potency, efficacy, and safety that pharmaceuticals produced under FDA
regulation must meet," the inmates argued in court. Among the possibilities
they listed, were that the drug may not be sterile, may be less potent than it
needs to be, or may be contaminated.
The state responded that their concerns were speculation.
"What the [inmates] allege, is that if the pharmacist makes a serious mistake
in compounding the pentobarbital, or uses the wrong ingredients, and if the
laboratory, which tests the chemical for purity, potency, and sterility, fails
to catch the error through accident or incompetence, then something could go
wrong with an execution," the state wrote, arguing the lawsuit should be
dismissed.
"[This] allegation does not make a plausible claim that Missouri's execution
procedure is sure or very likely to cause serious illness or needless suffering
and give rise to sufficiently imminent dangers."
Attorney General Chris Koster's office did not respond to a request for comment
about the Apothecary Shoppe's inspections.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In November 2015, months after the Board of Pharmacy and the FDA investigated
the facility, the pharmacy defaulted on its loans. The bank took the Apothecary
Shoppe to court, placing a court-approved receiver in charge to run the
business. Last week, an Oklahoma company called Marcain Properties bid the
highest on the Apothecary Shoppe's assets. The company is affiliated with other
pharmacy businesses in the area.
According to the Apothecary Shoppe's receiver, the plan is currently to keep on
the pharmacy's employees. The new owners may change the name, he said.
That a pharmacy with such questionable policies could be selected by the state
to provide drugs for lethal injections happened, in part, because of the shroud
of secrecy put in place just before the state decided to use the Apothecary
Shoppe for its execution drugs.
In October 2013, Gov. Jay Nixon announced the Department of Corrections would
be expanding secrecy around executions. For the 1st time in the state, the
execution drug supplier would be confidential. Behind the scenes, a select few
individuals in the Department of Corrections selected the Apothecary Shoppe
which, at the time, was not licensed to sell in the state.
Although Missouri attempted to keep the pharmacy's identity hidden, going so
far as to pay the pharmacy more than $30,000 in cash, an un-redacted document
from 2013 pointed to the Apothecary Shoppe. An email also indicates that the
pharmacy offered to supply execution drugs to Louisiana.
The Apothecary Shoppe stopped selling execution drugs in February 2014, after
death row inmates sued the pharmacy. In turn, the state found a new execution
drug supplier and has withheld all information about the pharmacy. Earlier this
year, a state judge ruled that the expanded secrecy violates state law.
Gov. Jay Nixon's office, as well as the Missouri Department of Corrections,
which he oversees, did not respond to requests for comment.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recently, other states have begun to employ the expanded execution secrecy like
Missouri has. States that carry a lot of executions out like Texas, Oklahoma
and Florida all attempt to keep their drug suppliers hidden.
Georgia also has a secret compounding pharmacy mix its lethal injection drugs.
Last year, the state had to call off an execution after the syringe had
particles floating in it.
Arkansas executions are currently on hold after a state judge found the state's
secrecy law violated the state constitution. The issue is now before the
Arkansas Supreme Court.
Texas and Arizona purchased illegal execution drugs from a supplier in India,
and attempted to keep the purchase hidden. The FDA is currently detaining the
shipment.
Virginia could be the next state to expand its secrecy. Last week, Gov. Terry
McAuliffe called for more secrecy for its potential execution drug suppliers.
His office did not respond when asked about the situation in Missouri.
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said in a legal opinion this week that
McAuliffe's proposal would be legal. When approached with the problems Missouri
has faced, his office said it is a policy decision for lawmakers and the
governor to decide.
The "Attorney General's recent opinion just laid out his best evaluation of
what the law allows and requires in this area, and it will be for the General
Assembly to set the state's policy within those limits," a spokesperson said.
After Gov. McAuliffe called for the measure, the Virginia legislature approved
on Wednesday a bill that would grant anonymity to its executioners. McAuliffe
is expected to sign it.
(source: buzzfeed.com)
*****************
Capital punishment's profound risk
30 years ago, Keith Allen Harward narrowly avoided a death sentence. Thanks to
DNA evidence, he recently walked out of the Virginia prison where he has spent
half of his life for a brutal rape and murder he didn't commit. Stories of
possible judicial failure are in vogue; the viral "Serial" podcast and
Netflix's "Making a Murderer" have triggered passionate debate. While the
twists are intoxicating, the sobering reality is that our criminal justice
system is, and always will be, imperfect.
The National Registry of Exonerations has catalogued more than 1,700 cases of
people wrongly convicted and later cleared of all charges based on new evidence
of innocence. Most don't even make the news. While every wrongful conviction
has consequences, with capital punishment an error can be fatal. Since 1976,
more than 150 people, including 6 in Pennsylvania, have been sentenced to death
despite their innocence. Given these judicial failures, it is reckless to
continue to cling to the death penalty. It is not only possible that we will
execute an innocent person, it is likely. We cannot consume judicial injustices
as entertainment while choosing to ignore their real-life implications.
Elizabeth Curtis
Bellevue
(source: Letter to the Editor, triblive.com)
US MILITARY:
Airman facing possible death penalty will have 3 courts-martial
Senior Airman Charles Wilson III, who police say killed 2 people and an unborn
child, and assaulted another person will be tried in 3 separate courts-martial,
with the 1st trial beginning next month in Perry, Georgia, a military judge has
ruled.
Wilson, assigned to Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is charged with the death
of Demetrius Hardy, which occurred during the arson of the accused's rental
property in 2011; an assault and subsequent threats against a retired female
technical sergeant in 2012; and the premeditated murder of his fiancee, Tameda
Ferguson, and her unborn child in 2013, for which he could face the death
penalty if convicted, according to a release from the base.
The judge opted to sever the proceedings against Wilson in what are anticipated
to be high profile cases.
Wilson, a support team member with the 461st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron,
could face the death penalty if convicted of the capital murder charge related
to the death of his fiancee and her unborn child.
The 1st proceeding will begin May 23 for felony murder, arson and related
charges that stemmed from the October 2011 incident. Authorities allege Wilson
conspired with Demetrius Hardy, a civilian employee at Robins, to set fire to
Wilson's trailer to collect insurance money. Hardy died several days later from
injuries sustained in the blaze.
In the second court-martial, Wilson will be tried for an alleged assault on a
female technical sergeant in July 2012. Wilson allegedly held a gun to her head
in a threatening manner, discharged it in her presence by shooting out of the
window into a vacant field behind his home and, later, driving his pickup truck
toward her in a threatening manner.
During motion hearings March 9 and 10, 2015, presiding military judge Col.
Vance Spath, chief trial judge of the Air Force, dismissed 3 charges - 2
specifications of communicating a threat and a charge of wrongfully discharging
a firearm against the tech. sergeant.
The 2nd court-martial will begin June 6.
Both cases, which could result in felony convictions, were being handled by
civilian authorities until the time Ferguson was killed, while Wilson was in a
pretrial diversion program.
Wilson was arrested in August 2013 and charged with killing Ferguson, who was 8
1/2 months pregnant at the time. She was found shot to death at her home in
Dawson, Georgia, about 100 miles south of Robins.
Fewer charges for airman in capital murder case
The Air Force took custody of Wilson on Nov. 12, 2013.
The final court-martial date for the capital murder charge has not been
determined, the release said.
The case was referred to court-martial as a capital case in October 2014,
although it is highly unlikely that Wilson would be put to death if convicted.
In order for Wilson to be convicted of a capital offense, the jury must
unanimously agree that there were 1 or more aggravating factors, defense
attorney Lt. Col. David Frakt previously told Air Force Times.
Moreover, the Air Force has not carried out a death sentence since 1954, when 2
airmen were executed for the rape and murder of a Guam citizen. Only 1 airman
sits on death row: former Senior Airman Andrew Witt, who was also stationed at
Robins when he stabbed to death a fellow airmen and his wife and nearly killed
a 3rd person in 2004.
(source: Air Force Times)
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