Mar. 2 TEXAS: Guilty verdict in Taco Land murders Jurors took just over four hours Thursday to convict Joseph Gamboa of capital murder in the 2005 shooting and robbery at Taco Land- a bar that was an institution for the live music scene in San Antonio. Today, they'll begin hearing testimony on whether they should sentence him to death. Gamboa, 24, was charged, along with co-defendant Jose Najera, of shooting Taco Land owner - viewed by many as more patriarch than proprietor - Ramiro "Ram" Ayala, doorman Douglas "Gypsy Doug" Morgan, and bartender Denise "Sunshine" Koger in an early-morning robbery than netted about $200. Ayala died en route to the hospital, and Morgan died 19 days later. Koger survived to describe the crime, as did 2 people who were playing pool in the bar, Paul Mata and Ashley Casas. Reaction in the courtroom was muted when 379th District Judge Bert Richardson read the jury's verdict, and Gamboa showed no emotion. The calm reception followed a trial that had seen one emotional outburst by a distraught woman and a near-mistrial based on testimony about an unrelated shooting charge Gamboa faces. One longtime Taco Land patron and friend of Ayala, Jerry Clayworth, said outside the courtroom that whether Gamboa gets life in prison or the death penalty doesn't matter so much to him. "The biggest thing is, there's not going to be any other victims," Clayworth said. "I'd like to say I'm happy, but the only thing I'm happy about is, Ram's family and his children get a lot of closure." Ayala's family members closed Taco Land after the slayings, but some of his musical fan club began an annual celebration they call the "Ram Jam" to remember Ayala and raise money for charitable causes, Clayworth said. In closing arguments, defense lawyer Pat Hancock had urged jurors to set emotions aside and focus on the problems some eyewitnesses had picking Gamboa out of police photo lineups shortly after the shooting. "That concerns me, and it ought to concern you," Hancock said. The same witnesses identified Gamboa in the courtroom, but Hancock said that when a defendant is sitting in court on trial, it's not a fair setting. But people don't always look the same in photographs as in person, Assistant District Attorney Julie Wright told the jury. She noted that witness Mata, who had testified to being uncertain when he chose Gamboa from a group of pictures, was very certain Gamboa was the shooter when the two stood face-to-face in the courtroom. He should know, Wright said. According to testimony, he had played pool with the man in the early morning hours of June 24, 2005, shortly before Gamboa walked over to Ayala, placed a revolver against the 72-year-old man's abdomen, and fired. Jurors appeared to take the identification issue seriously. They sent a note asking that testimony on that subject be read back to them, and reached a verdict 20 minutes after hearing it. Assistant District Attorney Loretta Hewitt reminded the jury there was also physical evidence against Gamboa. "This defendant's fingerprints were found on the pool stick," she said. "The defendant's DNA was on this beer can." Koger had testified to picking up most of the beer cans after bar patrons through the evening. Fingerprints are fragile and easily wiped off by the next user, Hewitt noted, so it was unlikely any of that evidence could have survived if Gamboa had just visited the bar earlier and left before the robbery. Gamboa faces either death by injection or life in prison. With a life sentence, he would be eligible for parole in 40 years. Najera, 31, awaits trial. (source: San Antonio Express-News) **************** One week, three kinds of messages of urgency----Soul Winners, Sister Helen Prejean, Suheil Bushrui share their interpretations of repentance, truth, unity. I'm always curious to see how religious convictions mobilize people. When they have found what, for them, is the truth, the answers to the questions most of us struggle with, they want to share it, sometimes traveling the world over to spread the message. And usually driven by a sense of urgency. I recently had the opportunity to talk to a cross-section of believers who traveled to Austin to share their understanding of the truth. These encounters didn't materialize as news stories, so I thought I would share them here. On Feb. 8, I got a tip from the Rev. Tim Tutt, a North Austin pastor, that a trio of street preachers had descended on the corner of University Avenue and 20th Street. A married couple with their baby son and another man had driven from Michigan with an organization called Soul Winners to spread the word. And it wasn't a feel-good "Jesus loves you" message. These preachers had a simple message for sinners: Repent or fry. Tamika Venyah strode up 20th Street, waving a worn Bible and shouting, "God does not tolerate your sin." I observed the scene for a while, wondering how people would respond. I heard there had been some verbal altercations the previous day. While I was there, a University of Texas freshman wandered by to share his testimony. A student from France spent an hour talking to Michael Venyah about accepting Jesus. A few people paused to read the preachers' sign - a list of admonitions such as "homosexuality is evil" and "abortion is murder" - and moved on. One young man with loose brown curls stopped to debate one of the preachers with the "but how do you know?" questions that I sometimes find myself silently thinking during interviews. Meanwhile, Tutt and Tamika Venyah volleyed biblical interpretations back and forth. "You're pretty big on judgment," Tutt said. "Yeah, because God is," she replied. "Does that give you the right to judge me?" "Yeah, because I'm a Christian." A few days later, I found myself at the same corner, this time to meet another passionate Christian: Sister Helen Prejean, who visited the University Catholic Center to urge the end of the death penalty. Prejean is a pistol. She's compactly built and fires off her message with precision. If her name doesn't ring a bell, you've surely heard of her book, the movie or the opera about capital punishment titled "Dead Man Walking." While the preachers focused on repentance, Prejean's battle cry was truth. The Louisiana nun believes most people who support the death penalty don't realize the devastating discrepancies in the justice system. Educate Americans on the lack of adequate legal representation for poor people, and they'll reconsider their support for executions, she said. Yes, even in Texas, which is why Prejean continues to accept invitations to speak here. "I love the people of Texas," she said. "They're going to be the ones eventually to shut this thing down." Like the Soul Winners, Prejean is driven to save people, too. My 3rd encounter with powerful convictions that week came in a visit with Suheil Bushrui, a professor who holds the Baha'i Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland. Bushrui is a vibrant, 77-year-old man who carries a theatrical air (he once aspired to the stage) and quotes liberally from the great poets. W.B. Yeats was the focus of his dissertation. But he was in Austin to talk about another literary hero: Kahlil Gibran, the Syrian poet and philosopher whose "The Prophet" is among the most widely read books of the 20th century. In his 40 years researching Gibran and his work, Bushrui said he's found "a unity of vision and a unity of purpose." He closed his eyes as he spoke. "The message, really, in the final analysis, is love." His faith teaches him racial and sexual equality, world unity and peace. In his mind, "divine love reaches you even when you don't deserve it." Bushrui doesn't stand on a street corner with a sign to that effect, though. He said he wants to show his convictions by example. But ultimately, he said, "everyone has to find his way by himself." (source: Austin American-Statesman) ********************** DNA testing will begin in '91 Ford death penalty case DNA testing that could help vacate a death penalty sentence given to an El Paso man convicted of capital murder 14 years ago will begin this month. Tony E. Ford, 33, was scheduled to die by lethal injection last March for his role in the Dec. 18, 1991, fatal shooting of Armando Murillo, an 18-year-old University of Texas at El Paso student. But Ford's execution was delayed by Judge William Moody of the 34th District Court to allow for DNA testing. The DNA testing was requested by Ford's lawyer, Richard Burr of Houston, to show his client was not the shooter. "The testing in Mr. Ford's case is set to begin March 7 or 8," Burr said. "Usually it takes several weeks to be concluded with analysis, so my best guess is there will be some results back in late March or early April." District Attorney Jaime Esparza said he doubted the DNA testing would produce results that would "call into question the verdict in this case." Texas Department of Criminal Justice records state Ford was 18 when he and an accomplice, Van Nash Belton, forced their way into the East El Paso home of Murillo's mother and demanded money, jewelry and a vehicle from the Murillo family. The records further state Ford shot Murillo, his mother and his sister. Murillo died from a gunshot wound to the head. Both women survived the shooting, but Murillo's mother, Myra Concepcion Murillo, then 44, was shot in the head and paralyzed from the waist down. Murillo's sister, Lisa Murillo, then 22, was shot in the shoulder. After their arrests, both Ford and Belton maintained the other was the shooter, according to El Paso Times archives. Belton was charged with capital murder, but in 1993 an El Paso jury acquitted him of the charge. The same jury convicted him of aggravated robbery. Belton was sentenced to 75 years in prison. That same year, Ford was convicted of capital murder by another El Paso jury and sentenced to death. Ford's jury also sentenced him to 3 life terms on 3 counts of attempted murder. (source: El Paso Times) ******************* Order to forcibly medicate killer is debated For more than 8 months, officials have been forcibly injecting convicted murderer Steven Kenneth Staley with anti-psychotic drugs that one day may make him sane enough to be executed. Whether Staley deserves to die is not an issue -- that was decided long ago by a Tarrant County jury and upheld by the appellate courts. The controversy surrounding Staley now is a complex issue at the forefront of a legal debate about the death penalty in the United States: Is it constitutional to forcibly medicate a mentally ill Death Row inmate to make him competent enough to be executed? Staley's attorney, Jack Strickland, says forcibly medicating Staley, 44, is cruel and unusual punishment and should be stopped immediately. Tarrant County prosecutor Chuck Mallin says forcibly medicating Staley is necessary to control his psychosis and to carry out a sentence imposed by a jury more than 15 years ago. On Thursday, both sides argued the issue before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which is expected to issue an opinion in the near future. The nine-judge panel heard the arguments before a standing-room-only crowd in an auditorium at Texas Wesleyan School of Law in downtown Fort Worth. The state's highest criminal court occasionally travels from Austin to law schools around the state to give students a chance to hear arguments and see the criminal justice system at work. Crime and punishment On Oct. 14, 1989, Staley and 2 friends went to a Steak and Ale restaurant in west Fort Worth and sat down to eat. After finishing their meal, they pulled out semiautomatic weapons and demanded access to the cash register and the safe. As customers and employees huddled at the rear of the restaurant, an assistant manager slipped out and called police. A short time later, police surrounded the restaurant, and 35-year-old Robert Read, the manager, offered himself as a hostage to spare the others. The three took him up on his offer and held him at gunpoint as they tried to escape. When Read resisted after they tried to force him into a hijacked car, he was fatally shot. In April 1991, a Tarrant County jury sentenced Staley to death. 4 months later, he found himself on death row. Confined to a tiny cell, Staley -- a Charles Manson look-alike who suffers from a severe form of paranoid schizophrenia -- was prone to lying in his urine-soaked cell and blackening his eyes by repeatedly beating himself in the face. Over the years, he has refused to take his medication because he thinks he is being poisoned. He has been hospitalized up to 19 times. Three times, Staley has managed to avoid execution after experts determined that he is incompetent and doesn't understand why he is being put to death. Federal and state law prohibits the execution of an insane or incompetent person. Last year, Mallin and fellow prosecutor Jim Gibson filed a motion asking state District Judge Wayne Salvant to forcibly medicate Staley to restore his competence and carry out the jury's verdict. Staley was moved to the Tarrant County Jail and continued to refuse to take his medication. In April, after a long hearing in which Staley picked at his hair and mumbled nonsensical phrases, Salvant granted the motion -- marking what is believed to be the 1st time a Texas judge has ordered an incompetent Death Row inmate to be forcibly medicated. Strickland responded by filing a flurry of legal paperwork, seeking an emergency stay of Salvant's order. But his requests were denied. During the week of June 5, according to court documents, Salvant's order was carried out and officials began forcibly medicating Staley in the Tarrant County Jail, where he remains today. The appeal During the hearing Thursday, Strickland asked the Court of Criminal Appeals to stop Salvant's order until he has time to explore all his legal options. "If allowed to stand, it would be the first time such an order has been found to be valid," Strickland said. Strickland maintains that, in addition to being cruel and unusual, forcibly medicating Staley is indecent; violates medical ethics as well as Staley's rights to privacy and liberty; and produces artificial competence with psychotropic drugs that have painful and debilitating side effects. Mallin, meanwhile, urged the court not to intervene, saying he believes that it lacks jurisdiction to stop Salvant's order. Mallin said that Staley suffers when he is unmedicated and that the drugs' side effects do not outweigh their benefits. Treating Staley, Mallin contended, is necessary and medically appropriate. "When he takes it, he is competent," Mallin said. "It is by his own volition that he has decided that he is going to be incompetent." Strickland and Mallin each received about 20 minutes to state their cases but, most of the time, the judges peppered them with questions. When one of the judges questioned whether they had authority to weigh in on the issue at this stage, Mallin's reply drew laughs: "The mountain came to Muhammad," he said, referring to the panel's trip from Austin to Fort Worth. "But I don't want to be rude and say you need to go home." Strickland acknowledged that the case has entered uncharted waters. He told the panel that if Salvant's order is stayed, it would let him explore options that might include trying to commute Staley's sentence to life in prison. In his final words to the court, Strickland urged the judges not to let Texas become the first state to forcibly medicate someone so he is competent enough to be executed. Staley believes that he works for the CIA, that judges and prosecutors were conspiring to steal his car, and that the Prince of Wales has a summer home in Huntsville and communicates with him telepathically, Strickland said. "We have an opportunity to do what is right, what is fair, what is decent and what is humane, and that is not to execute a crazy person," he said. It could be months before the Court of Criminal Appeals issues its opinion. Officials said the panel could decide that it doesn't have jurisdiction and decline to get involved; could agree with Salvant and allow the forcible medication to continue; could stop Salvant's order; or could come up with another solution. Regardless of the decision, one thing is certain: The issue is far from over. (source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram) ***************** Guidry again sentenced to death in 1994 slaying After seeing her mother's killer condemned to death for a 2nd time, a 16-year-old girl hugged her grandmother Thursday in a Houston courtroom. "I feel better," said Amber Baquer. "It's just a relief. It's over." Howard Paul Guidry, 30, showed no emotion as visiting Judge Doug Shaver read the sentence. Jurors had convicted him Feb. 22 of capital murder in the 1994 shooting of Farah Fratta. The jury of 10 men and two women deliberated about two hours Thursday before deciding on the sentence. Guidry was convicted and sentenced to death in 1997, but a federal judge tossed out the conviction, saying Guidry had been tricked into confessing and that hearsay evidence in his 1st trial may have contributed to his conviction. As is automatic in death-penalty cases, the verdict will be appealed. "It got reversed once," said defense attorney Loretta Muldrow. "It'll be reversed again." Prosecutor Kelly Siegler said Guidry belongs on death row. He nearly escaped from prison in 1998, she said, and he and another condemned killer held a guard hostage for 13 hours in 2000 before surrendering. "If he didn't go back to death row and belong there, who does?" Siegler asked after the sentence was read. Guidry's attorneys said he had seemed to be a well-loved child who excelled at swimming and Navy training but that his life took a bad turn after he failed a physical at age 16 in preparation for joining the Navy. Defense attorney Tyrone Moncriffe pleaded for a life sentence, saying Guidry would suffer plenty because of the guilt he would feel over the years. "I'm going to ask that you not be a killer," Moncriffe told jurors. "You don't have to kill anyone, folks." Investigators said the victim's husband, Robert Fratta, a public safety officer in Missouri City, arranged his 33-year-old wife's murder. The couple was going through a bitter divorce and custody battle for their 3 children, who were 3, 6 and 8 at the time. Fratta hired Joseph Prystash, who hired Guidry. Prosecutors say Guidry attacked Farah Fratta in the garage of her northeast Harris County home and shot her with a .38-caliber pistol. He and Prystash expected to be paid about $1,000, a Jeep and the murder weapon, prosecutors said. "What type of a man would take a gun and put two holes in the head of a woman he had never met, for a man he had never met?" prosecutor Luci Davidson asked in closing arguments. Robert Fratta and Prystash are on death row for their roles in the killing. After their mother's death, the Frattas' children were raised by their maternal grandparents, Lex and Betty Baquer. The family sat together in the courtroom during Guidry's retrial. Although it was emotionally draining to again hear details of the killing, they said, they were happy with the trial's outcome. "It's the end, as far we're concerned," Lex Baquer said. (source: Houston Chronicle) WASHINGTON: Death penalty possibility stands in Kirkland family killing case----Conner Schierman is seen during a hearing at King County Superior court on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2007. A judge in Seattle has declined a defense request to dismiss the possibility of a death penalty against the man accused of killing 4 members of a Kirkland family. Lawyers for Conner Schierman said he should not face the possibility of execution because of some information disclosed by prosecutors. The judge said today it didn't warrant dismissing the possible death penalty. Schierman is accused of stabbing 2 women and 2 children to death last July and setting the house on fire. Trial set for September 5th. (source: Associated Press) ****************** Death penalty upheld in Kirkland multiple slayings case----Judge denies defense motion A judge rejected defense attorneys' request Friday to dismiss the death penalty against a man accused of stabbing 4 people last summer and setting their Kirkland house on fire. Conner Schierman's attorneys said he should not face the possibility of execution because of prosecutor misconduct, arguing that King County prosecutors breached an agreement to keep certain information about him confidential. The information -- which a deputy prosecutor briefly mentioned in a public court hearing -- had been provided by Schierman's attorneys in an unsuccessful effort to persuade Prosecutor Norm Maleng not to seek the death penalty. Superior Court Judge Greg Canova said it wasn't enough of an issue to warrant dismissing the death penalty. Schierman, 25, is accused of stabbing to death 2 women and 2 young children who lived across the street from him last July. His trial is set for Sept. 5. If convicted of aggravated murder, the jury would decide whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison. (source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer) ILLINOIS: Prosecutors seek death penalty in girl's slaying Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a Waterloo man accused of hiring someone to kill a 13-year-old girl and dump her body in northwest Illinois. David Damm, 59, is charged with murder, robbery and kidnapping in the death of Donnisha Hill. The Waterloo girl was reported missing after school on Oct. 27, and her body was found the next day in rural Jo Daviess County in Illinois. Terry Kurt, Jo Daviess County's state attorney, said he will seek the death penalty against Damm because he allegedly killed her to prevent her from testifying. According to court documents filed this week by Kurt, Hill could have been a witness and helped in a criminal investigation. The documents did not specify what police were investigating or who was being targeted, though Hill's family told Waterloo police shortly before her death that they suspected Damm was abusing her. The family said they saw Hill getting out of Damm's van Oct. 12. Damm was never charged. Hill was abducted 2 weeks later and killed. Bruce Burt, 57, is also charged in the slaying. Prosecutors said Damm hired Burt a longtime acquaintance to kill the girl and leave her body in Illinois. Damm is accused of kidnapping Hill after school and bringing her to see Burt, who was armed with a hammer and a knife, records state. Hill got into a car with Burt, and he drove her to Illinois and allegedly killed her, records state. Damm and Burt have pleaded not guilty. Authorities haven't said if they will pursue the death penalty for Burt. (source: Associated Press) ********************************* Prosecutors seek death penalty ---- 1 of 2 accused of murder wants his trial to start as soon as possible, but his attorney says he needs more time to prepare Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty against 1 of the 2 men accused of the October murder of a 13-year-old Waterloo, Iowa girl. At David Damm's status hearing in Jo Daviess County court Tuesday, Jo Daviess County State's Attorney Terry Kurt said he submitted a certificate of intent to seek the death penalty. Damm, 59, of Waterloo, is charged with 4 counts of 1st-degree murder, solicitation of murder for hire, solicitation of murder, aggravated kidnapping, conspiracy and robbery. His appointed attorney, Gerald Schick, told the judge that Damm wanted it on the record that he has no intention to waive his right to a speedy trial. But Schick said he still has not received all of the discovery - which includes evidence like interviews, phone records and DNA lab reports - from the prosecution, so he is not prepared to begin a trial. "The defendant sees it from inside the jail cell," Schick said. "He sees 120 days as his right and I sympathize with that, but I can't in good conscience support him without saying I need to look at all this stuff." Assisting prosecutor Vince Chimera said the prosecution has tendered and turned over to the defense nearly 500 pages of discovery, which accounts for about 95 % of the evidence. He added that the defense will have to reciprocate that effort. "Both sides need to be turning over documents," Chimera said. Judge William Kelly said the 120-day running tally has stopped at this point because the defense has not answered the motion for discovery. "So it's arbitrary?" Damm said. "No it's not. Your counsel needs to properly prepare to represent you at the trial, and that takes precedence over the 120 days," Kelly said. The judge appointed Chicago attorney Allan Sincox as the co-counsel for the defendant at the hearing. Schick said he already has contacted Sincox regarding the case. Court documents allege that Damm hired 57-year-old Bruce Burt, of Waterloo, to murder Donnisha Hill. On Oct. 27, the documents say, Burt obtained a hammer and knife with intent to murder the girl. Jo Daviess County authorities discovered Hill's body in rural Hanover, Ill., on Saturday, Oct. 28, a day after her family reported her missing. A preliminary autopsy showed that she died of blunt force trauma to the head. Damm's next status hearing is set for Friday, April 13. The judge said a trial date could be set at that hearing. Burt is charged with 4 counts of 1st-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, conspiracy and robbery in connection with Hill's death. Damm and Burt both pleaded not guilty to all charges in December. If convicted of the murder charges, Burt could face the death penalty. His next status hearing is set for Thursday, March 15. (source: Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph Herald) TENNESSEE: Death Penalty Reversed In Memphis Claw Hammer Killings The Tennessee Supreme Court has reversed the death penalty of a man who pleaded guilty to fatally beating 2 Memphis women with a claw hammer. James Christopher Riels received the sentence in the 2003 killings of 59-year-old Mary Jane Crutchon and her 89-year-old neighbor, Fanchion Pollack. Riels had been released from prison on parole just 2 weeks before the killings. Police said Riels was high on crack cocaine and alcohol and got angry when the victims wouldn't give him money to buy more drugs. The Supreme Court ruled Judge Chris Craft erred in letting prosecutors question Riels about details of the crime after he told jurors he was sorry and didn't want to hurt anyone. Riels will get a new sentencing hearing and could get life, life without parole or another death sentence. (source: Associated Press)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, WASH., ILL., TENN.
Rick Halperin Sat, 3 Mar 2007 12:45:03 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
