[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., DEL., N.C., S.C., GA., FLA., ALA., MISS.
June 25 TEXASnew execution date Licho Escamilla has been given an execution date for Oct. 14; it should be considered serious. * Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present9 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-527 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 10--July 16--Clifton Williams-528 11-August 12Daniel Lopez--529 12-August 26Bernardo Tercero--530 13-September 2--Joe Garza-531 14-October 6Juan Garcia---532 15-October 14---Licho Escamilla---533 (sources: TDCJ Rick Halperin) PENNSYLVANIA: Northampton DA pushes to set execution date for death row inmate Michael Ballard Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli on Wednesday set the wheels in motion to have Michael Ballard executed now that the window has closed for further appeals on his quadruple murder conviction. Morganelli asked county Judge Emil Giordano to vacate the stay of execution ordered last November after Ballard had joined a lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania's execution procedures. If Giordano vacates the stay, Morganelli would ask Pennsylvania's secretary of corrections to set a date for Ballard to be put to death. This is the 1st move in that chess game, the district attorney said during a news conference announcing his filing before Giordano. The judge said Wednesday his office had not immediately received the filing. But my office will schedule it promptly, Giordano said. 'We're talking about an inmate who has said more than once that he's not contesting his execution.' Morganelli's effort comes amid a moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania announced by Gov. Tom Wolf. Morganelli does not see that as a guarantee Ballard would be spared, however, because Wolf has been implementing his decision by issuing individual reprieves to inmates. Can a governor use a reprieve to circumvent the law of Pennsylvania? Morganelli said Wednesday. I believe the answer to that would be no, that a reprieve is only a temporary stay that is offered to an individual defendant for them to exhaust their remedies... But it does not give a governor a right to have a reprieve endlessly when the case is done in the court system. Ballard pleaded guilty in April 2011 to four counts of first-degree murder in the June 2010 stabbing deaths in Northampton of Denise Merhi, his ex-girlfriend; Dennis Marsh, her father; Alvin Marsh, her grandfather; and Steven Zernhelt, a neighbor. Ballard had recently been released from state prison for an Allentown murder. A Northampton County jury sentenced Ballard to death May 17, 2011. Wednesday marked 1 year since the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a move by the Philadelphia-based Atlantic Center for Capital Representation to challenge Ballard's conviction and penalty, despite opposition from Ballard to any further appeals. After 1 year, Ballard's window is closed to further pursue post-conviction relief or the filing of a habeas corpus petition demanding an appearance in court, Morganelli said. He's waived all his appellate rights, Morganelli said. He is now time-barred from filing those rights, his case was already decided by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, so barring a change of his heart, which he could do - it'll be more difficult for him to do that, now that the time has passed. But at this point we're talking about an inmate who has said more than once that he's not contesting his execution. Ballard, who is being held at State Correctional Institution-Greene in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, remains resigned to accepting his death penalty, one of his attorneys said Wednesday. I know he's had no change of heart challenging the conviction or the penalty imposed by the court, Bethlehem-based attorney James M. Connell said. Ballard remains a party to a state lawsuit challenging execution procedures, Morganelli acknowledged. He was only joining the lawsuit because it dealt with the protocol, the drugs, etc., Morganelli said. But based on my research, I do not find ... any law that I'm aware of that says that's a valid reason to hold up the execution. Pennsylvania has executed three people since the death penalty was legalized in the 1970s, the most recent in 1999, The Associated Press reports. All 3 of them had voluntarily relinquished their appeals. The state Supreme Court has agreed to review a challenge to Wolf's death penalty moratorium by Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, a fellow Democrat, according to the AP. Morganelli said he may join that suit or file his own challenge if the governor issues a reprieve for Ballard. (source: lehighvalleylive.com) *** Death penalty being sought for Jeffrey KnobleHe's
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ILL., NEB., COLO., WYO., CALIF., USA
June 25 ILLINOIS: 'Murder in the Park' doc re-examines Chicago death row case MOVIE REVIEW A Murder in the Park Running time: 91 minutes. Rated PG-13 (disturbing content). It was the stunning case that resulted in Illinois abolishing the death penalty: In 1999, four Northwestern University investigative journalism students and their professor, David Protess, exonerated a Chicago man on death row who, they concluded, was innocent. Anthony Porter was freed, and another man eventually confessed. That is not the end of the story, as it turns out, and A Murder in the Park explores the aftermath - and the question of whether Porter was actually the guilty party all along. True-crime TV vets Christopher Rech and Brandon Kimber interviewed cops, lawyers, witnesses who recanted and the 2 central men themselves - Porter (minimally) and Alstory Simon, who has since also been freed, claiming his confession was coerced by Protess' legal henchmen. Cheesy reenactments and ham-fisted musical cues make this feel more like a TV episode than a film, and a 1-sided one at that. But the facts (including Protess' eventual resignation) still make this a worthwhile examination of a narrative that actually may have been too good to be true. (source: New York Post) NEBRASKA: The Police Officers' Association of Nebraska Shows Support for Death Penalty In late May, Nebraska legislature abolished the death penalty. But many Nebraskans were not happy about it and decided to voice their opinions in a petition drive. And now the police officers association of Nebraska is publicly showing support for the petition drive by the Nebraskans for the death penalty. The Police Officers' Association of Nebraska represents law enforcement around the entire state, and now the association publicly supports the petition drive to bring an appeal vote on the abolishment of the death penalty to a ballot for next year's general election. It is law enforcement's job to protect the people, and uphold all of the laws whether it is their personal beliefs or not. But President of the Police Officers Association of Nebraska, Lt. Rich Hoaglund, said he believes the death penalty in Nebraska would make the state a safer place. We feel that there is a potential that the death penalty is not only beneficial to our prosecution, but also to the well being of correctional employees and the inmates, and also the general public of the state of Nebraska, Lt. Hoaglund said. Hoaglund said he has personally been part of law enforcement for nearly 40 years and he has seen some of the heinous offenses that do take place, and he believes there is probably a need for an ultimate sentence. The next step for the appeal of the abolishment is to just keep getting signatures. (source: KNOP news) COLORADO: Colorado judicial agencies take different tact on death penalty cost records The Colorado public defender's office declined to provide defense costs of the death penalty trial for Aurora theater shooting defendant James Holmes, citing client confidentiality, but a different Colorado Judicial Branch agency provided some information for another high-profile death penalty case. State Rep. Polly Lawrence, R-Littleton, said the legislature should step in to require the judicial branch to abide by state records laws. Lawrence wasn't surprised when Watchdog.org told her that 2 offices in the same agency provided very different responses to records requests. I think it just shows a difference of interpretation of how far the attorney-client privilege goes, Lawrence said, noting the Colorado Attorney General's office provides the costs of its cases. Departments using tax money should be transparent on how they use the money. OADC, which takes criminal cases when the public defender's attorneys determine they have a conflict of interest, provided the costs of the Nathan Dunlap defense at $1,077,868. The response to a Watchdog.org records request did not break down the specific spending. Dunlap was convicted of killing 4 people at a pizza restaurant in 1993 and would have been executed except Gov. John Hickenlooper decided to stay the sentence as long he is in office. In April, Watchdog.org reported how private attorneys hired for Dunlap's federal appeal are still charging taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars despite the stay. OADC said the office spent no money defending Holmes. The public defender's office is handling that case, which is currently being heard by an Arapahoe County jury. In contrast to the OADC response, the public defender's office in May declined to provide any information on the costs of the Holmes case. In denying Watchdog.org's request for records, general counsel Frances Smylie Brown cited Colorado Court rules that protect client privacy and parts of a judicial directive that allows the denial of administrative records. The costs and expenses
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA
June 25 USA: The Death Penalty is Revenge, Not Healing: Father of OKC Victim on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Sentencing Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been formally sentenced to death for his role in the attack that killed 3 and injured hundreds in 2013. Addressing survivors inside the courtroom, Tsarnaev apologized for the first time, saying in part: I am sorry for the lives that I've taken, for the suffering that I've caused you, for the damage that I've done. Some of the bombing's survivors have echoed a recent Boston Globe poll that found fewer than 20 % of Massachusetts residents support sentencing Tsarnaev to death. We are joined by Bud Welch, who has become a leading anti-death penalty advocate after losing his daughter Julie in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Welch is the founding president of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights. NERMEEN SHAIKH: 21-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev apologized for the first time Wednesday before he was formally sentenced to death for his role in the Boston Marathon bombing that killed 3 and injured hundreds. He said, quote, I am sorry for the lives that I've taken, for the suffering that I've caused you, for the damage that I've done. Irreparable damage. He added, quote, I pray for your relief, for your healing. This was the 1st time Tsarnaev had spoken in the courtroom since his arraignment 2 years ago. During the sentencing, U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr. quoted Shakespeare, saying, The evil that men do lives after them. The good is often interred with their bones. So it will be for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Outside the courtroom, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz addressed the media. CARMEN ORTIZ: He didn't renounce terrorism. He didn't renounce violent extremism. And he couched his comments in line with Allah and Allah's views, which give it a religious tone. And there was nothing - as you heard Judge O'Toole say in the courtroom, there was nothing about this crime that was Islam-associated. And so, that's what I was struck by more. NERMEEN SHAIKH: Meanwhile, some of the bombing's survivors echoed a recent Boston Globe poll that found fewer than 20 % of Massachusetts residents support sentencing Tsarnaev to death. Henry Borgard said he opposed the death penalty, and responded to Tsarnaev's statement. HENRY BORGARD: I was actually really happy that he made the statement. I - as I said in my personal impact statement, I have forgiven him. I have come to a place of peace, and I genuinely hope that he does, as well. And for me to hear him say that he's sorry, that is enough for me. And I hope, because I still do have faith in humanity, including in him, I hope that his words were genuine. I hope that they were heartfelt. I hope that they were as honest as the statements that you heard today in court from the victims and the survivors. I obviously have no way of knowing that, but I'm going to take it on faith that what he said was genuine. There was a little bit of rhetoric in there; I agree with what you said, absolutely. Some of it was hard to hear, you know? But I really - I was really profoundly affected, really deeply moved that he did do that, because, whether we like to acknowledge it or not, his statement, like ours, takes courage, because the entire world is watching us right now. And the fact that he made a statement, which he didn't have to do, gives him a little bit of credit in my book. AMY GOODMAN: That's Henry Borgard. He was, at the time of the bombing, a 21-year-old Suffolk University student in Boston. He was hit by the 2nd blast. The judge rejected a request to move Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's execution to New Hampshire, the only New England state with the death penalty, so survivors could more easily be on hand. Prosecutors say Tsarnaev will eventually be taken to federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana. Since 1963, the federal government has executed 3 people, including Timothy McVeigh, who was put to death in June 2001 for the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing that killed 168 people. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the attack on April 19th, 1995. Our next guest joins us from Oklahoma City. Bill Welch lost his 23-year-old daughter Julie in the attack there. After initially supporting capital punishment for his daughter's killing, he has become a vocal opponent of the death penalty. He opposed the execution of McVeigh and is the founding president of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights. Bud Welch, welcome back to Democracy Now! Your thoughts today? In Boston, we see the death sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. I think the poll said something like 80 to 85 % of the people of Boston and all of Massachusetts were opposed to the death penalty, even in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's case. Can you reflect, as you dealt with this issue 20 years ago? BUD WELCH: Hi, Amy. I can. You know, I'm reminded, every time something like this happens, that the punishment of the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
June 25 BELARUS: 5th argument against death penalty The film from the series 6 Arguments against Death Penalty tells about inhuman treatment of relatives of executed in Belarus. The UN Human Rights Committee repeatedly stated that the procedure of death penalty in Belarus comes within the definition of torture, and notably, not of the executed only, but his relatives as well. The date of execution is not revealed, and a stay in a condemned cell lasts for several months. It is agonizing for a human mind, as a convicted person cannot realize in fact, when the sentence is to be put into effect, when the last day of his life is to come, he cannot prepare for this act, Viasna human rights centre informs. A human rights watchdog Harry Pahanyajla said: A Soviet time law is still in force in Belarus, according to which after an execution by firing the body of the executed is not given to the family, and they are not informed about the place of burial. In this way, the date and the place of the execution, and the burial place are made secret. (source: charter97.org) ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
