[Deathpenalty] death penalty news---S.C., OHIO, PENN., UTAH

[Rick Halperin]

April 5


SOUTH CAROLINA:

Bixby Denied New Trial; Death Penalty Stands


Attorneys say a man sentenced to die for gunning down 2 South Carolina law
officers during a 2003 dispute about his family's land has been denied a
new trial.

Prosecutor Jerry Peace said today that Judge Alexander Macaulay denied
Steven Bixby's request.

Bixby was sentenced to death in February after a jury took less than an
hour of deliberations to find him guilty in the shooting deaths of
Constable Donnie Ouzts and Sgt. Danny Wilson.

(source: WYFF News)






OHIO:

Suspect in 2 Bowling Green murders is indicted; prosecutor will seek death
penalty


The Wood County prosecutor will seek the death penalty against Craig
Daniels Jr., who is accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend and her new
boyfriend last week in Bowling Green.

Wood County Prosecutor Ray Fischer said today that a county grand jury has
returned an indictment for 2 counts of aggravated murder, 1 count of
aggravated burglary, and 1 count of burglary, plus specifications that
carry the death penalty against Daniels in the deaths of Alicia Castillon,
30, and John C. Mitchell, 22, inside Castillons home on the morning of
March 29.

Mr. Fischer said the grand jury made its decision yesterday and filed the
indictment with the Wood County Common Pleas Court this morning.

Daniels was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on April 11, but that
hearing has been canceled, Mr. Fischer said. The prosecutor said Daniels
next court appearance will be for an arraignment hearing in front of Judge
Reeve Kelsey, but the date of that hearing has not been determined.

Authorities arrested Daniels Monday afternoon after finding him in a hole
underneath a pine tree on his mothers property in Nimishillen Township,
Ohio, near Louisville, Ohio, in Stark County.

Daniels, who is being held without bond in the Wood County jail, could
face the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted of
aggravated murder, Mr. Fischer said.

(source: Toledo Blade)






PENNSYLVANIA:

DA to seek death penalty for Laudenslager

The Perry County District Attorney will seek the death penalty against
Rochelle Laudenslager.

DA Chad Chenot has officially filed 1st-degree murder charges against
Laudenslager, who is accused of killing her ex-lover, Elaine Pierson.

At her formal arraignment this morning in Perry County Court, he said he
would seek the death penalty because of 2 "aggravated circumstances" of
Pierson's December death -- that Laudenslager committed the murder while
committing felony kidnapping, and that she killed Pierson by torture.

Laudenslager pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Authorities say Laudenslager, 45, of Lower Paxton Township, shot Pierson 4
times Dec. 27 after taking Pierson from her Rye Township home.

(source: Carlisle Sentinel)






UTAH:

Print Friendly View Email Article ---- Judge rejects courthouse killer's
bid to overturn conviction, death sentence


A federal judge has denied Ronnie Lee Gardner's appeal of his murder
conviction and death sentence for killing an attorney during an escape
attempt at a Salt Lake City courthouse in 1985.

U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell on Thursday ruled against the two-time
killer on numerous claims, including his assertion that his trial and
appeal lawyers were ineffective because they failed to show that he never
meant to kill his victim. The judge said there is "overwhelming evidence"
that Gardner intended to shoot attorney Michael Burdell.

"For instance, Mr. Gardner admitted at trial that he asked his accomplice
to provide him with a loaded gun to use to escape because an unloaded gun
was useless," Campbell wrote in her ruling. "A witness at trial testified
that he saw Mr. Gardner aim the gun at Mr. Burdell's head and pause before
firing."

Gardner's attorney, Andrew Parnes, said the ruling is disappointing and he
will appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

After a ruling is issued there, either side could ask the U.S. Supreme
Court to take the case but the justices are not required to do so. That
process could take a few years.

Campbell's ruling was a technical victory for Gardner in one way. At issue
for the past three years has been whether the inmate's appeal attorneys
erred by failing to challenge an erroneous definition of the term
"knowingly" in a jury insruction.

The Utah Supreme Court, at Campbell's request, recently issued an opinion
noting that state law in effect at the time Gardner began his appeals
barred him from bringing up the ineffective assistance claim.

Thomas Brunker, an assistant Utah attorney general, agreed with that
decision and also claimed Garnder would have been convicted at trial even
if the instruction had been correct. Parnes, however, contended that
Campbell was not bound by the Utah court decision.

The judge did decide that Gardner could bring up the claim and then ruled
against him on every point.

Gardner's escape attempt occurred at the now-demolished courthouse at 250
E. 400 South, where he had been brought for a hearing on charges in the
1984 robbery and fatal shooting of Melvyn John Otterstrom at a Salt Lake
City bar.

After Gardner's girlfriend slipped him the gun, he wounded bailiff Nick
Kirk and killed Burdell by shooting him twice before being captured on the
courthouse lawn.

Gardner, now 46, was sentenced to death for killing Burdell and 5 years to
life for killing Otterstrom, a husband and father who was a controller for
the Utah Paper Box Co. by day and a part-time bartender in the evening.

During a hearing before Campbell last month, Gardner told the judge
through a speaker phone that he is so racked with physical pain because of
his rheumatoid arthritis that he wants to drop his appeals. Campbell said
she would have a civil attorney contact him about getting the medical
treatment he needs in prison and encouraged him not to abandon the appeal
until she made a ruling. Parnes said Thursday that "at this point, we're
ready to proceed."

(source: Salt Lake Tribune)