[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLORIDA
Oct. 5 FLORIDAexecution Florida executes man convicted of 2 killings decades ago Florida executed an inmate Thursday who was convicted of killing two people after a night of drinking decades ago. Michael Lambrix, 57, died by lethal injection at 10:10 p.m. at Florida State Prison in Bradford County. For his final words, Lambrix said, "I wish to say the Lord's Prayer." He recited the words, ending on the line "deliver us from evil," his voice breaking slightly at times. When he finished and the drug cocktail began flowing through his veins, Lambrix's chest heaved and his lips fluttered. This continues for about five minutes, until his lips and eyelids turned silver-blue and he lay motionless. A doctor checked his chest with a stethoscope and shined a light in both of his eyes before pronouncing him dead. Corrections spokeswoman Michelle Glady said Bryant's sister was the only victims' family member to attend and she did not wish to speak with reporters afterward. Lambrix was the 2nd inmate put to death by the state since it restarted executions in August. Before then, the state had stopped all executions for months after a Supreme Court ruling that found Florida's method of sentencing people to death was unconstitutional. In response, the state Legislature passed a new law requiring death sentences to have a unanimous jury vote. Lambrix's attorney, William Hennis, argued in an appeal to the nation's high court that because his client's jury recommendations for death were not unanimous — the juries in his two trials voted 8-4 and 10-2 for death — they should be thrown out. The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that Lambrix's case is too old to qualify for relief from the new sentencing system. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday night denied Lambrix's last-ditch appeal. Lambrix was convicted of killing Clarence Moore and Aleisha Bryant in 1983 after a long night of partying in a small central Florida town, Labelle, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Fort Meyers. Lambrix said he was innocent. He and his roommate, Frances Smith, had met the victims at a bar, and returned to their trailer to eat spaghetti and continue the party, prosecutors said. At some point after returning to the trailer, Lambrix asked Moore to go outside. He returned about 20 minutes later and asked Bryant to come out as well, according to Smith's testimony. Smith testified at trial that Lambrix returned to the trailer alone after the killings, his clothes covered in blood. The two finished the spaghetti, buried the two bodies and then washed up, according to Smith's testimony cited in court documents. Prosecutors said Lambrix choked Bryant, and used a tire iron to kill Moore. Investigators found the bodies, the tire iron and the bloody shirt. Lambrix has claimed in previous appeals that it was Moore who killed Bryant, and that he killed Moore only in self-defense. "It won't be an execution," he told reporters in an interview at the prison Tuesday, according to the Tampa Bay Times. "It's going to be an act of cold-blooded murder." Lambrix's first trial ended in a hung jury. The jury in the second trial found him guilty of both murders, and a majority of jurors recommended death. He was originally scheduled to be executed in 2016, but that was postponed after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in a case called Hurst v. Florida, which found Florida's system for sentencing people to death was unconstitutional because it gave too much power to judges, instead of juries. Florida's Supreme Court has ruled that the new death sentencing system only applies to cases back to 2002. Lalmbrix becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Florida and the 94th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1979. Only Texas (543), Virginia (113), and Oklahoma (112) have executed more inmates sinde the death penalty was re-legalized in the USA on July 2, 1976. Lambrix becomes the 19th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1461st overall since the nation resumed executions on january 17, 1977. There are 10 more scheduled executions in the country throughout the remainded of this year; there were 20 executions in the USA in 2016. (sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin) 0:00 Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article177139201.html#storylink=cpy ___ 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
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALABAMA
Oct. 5 ALABAMAstay of impending execution Alabama Death Row inmate execution called off for tonight The Alabama Department of Corrections has announced that tonight's execution is called off after the Alabama Attorney General's Office decided not to appeal a stay that had been issued in the case. That means the state will have to reset the execution for a later time. U.S. District Court Judge Keith Watkins has issued a stay of execution for Borden. Efforts to immediately reach the Alabama Attorney General's to see if they will appeal the decision were unsuccessful. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals' injunction last week that had stayed Borden's execution so Watkins could have time to hold an evidentiary hearing in an inmate lawsuit that claims the lethal injection drug combination used by Alabama is unconstitutional. The court had previously - on Sept. 6 - ordered Watkins to hold the hearing. In his order staying the execution this afternoon Watkins noted the 11th Circuits' Sept. 6 order. "This court is not authorized to ignore the instructions of the Eleventh Circuit. If Mr. Borden is executed as scheduled, this court will be unable to comply with the Eleventh Circuit's mandate. Given the unusual procedural posture of this case, preservation of this court's ability to comply with the clear directives of the Eleventh Court requires issuance of the injunction requested (the stay)," the judge stated. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Borden's attorneys filed a renewed request to the 11th Circuit for a "traditional stay" of the execution. That court quickly denied it. Then, this morning, Borden's attorneys filed a request with Watkins to issue the stay. Borden is entitled to a stay of execution to allow him to continue his challenge to Alabama's method of execution, his attorneys argue in their motion. "Borden can show that he has a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of his claim that Alabama's three-drug protocol violates the Eighth Amendment (against cruel and unusual punishment)," the attorneys with the Alabama federal public defenders' office. "The Eleventh Circuit ruled that if Mr. Borden can prove the facts alleged in his complaint, he meets both prongs of the Baze standard (a previous ruling). He has evidence to show that there is a substantial risk that midazolam will not anesthetize him, and he will be paralyzed, suffocating, and unable to alert anyone before he is burned alive from the inside by potassium chloride. He also has evidence that there are alternative methods of execution available to the state that do not contain that risk." The Alabama Attorney General's Office has stated in court records that the state's lethal injection method had already been litigated in another case and ruled constitutional. In its response this morning to this morning's appeal by Borden's attorneys the Alabama Attorney General's Office writes to the federal judge that: "The Supreme Court's vacation of the Eleventh Circuit's stay strongly weighs against any further request for a stay of execution, and this court should reject Borden's attempt to obtain a second bite at the apple. In any event, Borden has failed to establish that he is entitled to a stay of execution." Alabama also has set an Oct. 19 execution for Torrey Twane McNabb for his conviction in the fatal shooting of Montgomery police officer Anderson Gordon in September 1997. Alabama's number of executions were fewer in the last few years as the state dealt with lawsuits over its new lethal injection drug combination. Alabama and other states had to look for new drugs after manufacturerers began prohibiting the use of them for executions. Inmates in Alabama and other states, including Borden, have argued that Midazolam doesn't sedate them enough to ward off the pain of the other two drugs to stop their heart and lungs. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled two years ago that states could use Midzaolam, despite problems with some inmates struggling on the gurneys. Attorneys for Alabama death row Inmate Ronald Bert Smith believe he suffered during his Dec. 8, 2016 execution - gasping, coughing, and heaving for 13 minutes. The state prisons commissioner denied anything happened outside the state's protocol for that execution. While the number of executions have been down across the nation, so has the number of people being sentenced to death in Alabama and other states, according to one report. Borden, who has been on death row 22 years, was convicted of killing his estranged wife, Cheryl Borden, and her father, Roland Harris at a Christmas Eve family gathering in Gardendale. According to an appeals court summary of the shooting, here is what happened: Jeffrey Borden arrived at the Harris's residence with his and Cheryl's three children. The children had spent the previous week visiting Borden, who was
Re: [Deathpenalty] DeathPenalty Digest, Vol 155, Issue 5
just..just no. i just dont give a shit On 5 October 2017 at 12:11, wrote: > Send DeathPenalty mailing list submissions to > deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > deathpenalty-requ...@lists.washlaw.edu > > You can reach the person managing the list at > deathpenalty-ow...@lists.washlaw.edu > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of DeathPenalty digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > >1. death penalty newsALABAMAStop Execution Of Jeffrey > Borden (USA: 500.17) (Rick Halperin) >2. death penalty newsTEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., OHIO > (Rick Halperin) > > > -- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2017 16:04:14 -0500 > From: Rick Halperin > To: Death Penalty > Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty newsALABAMAStop > Execution Of Jeffrey Borden (USA: 500.17) > Message-ID: > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"; format=flowed > > > > > Urgent Action > > > > STATE MOVES TO HAVE STAY OF EXECUTION LIFTED > > The State of Alabama has asked the US Supreme Court to lift a stay of > execution > granted to Jeffrey Borden, and to be allowed to execute him before > midnight on 5 October. While the stay relates to a challenge to the state?s > lethal injection protocol, Jeffrey Borden is said by his lawyers to have a > severe mental disability and to be ?actively psychotic?. > > Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet: > > * Call on the governor to stop this execution of Jeffrey Borden and to > commute his death sentence; > > * Note with deep concern the evidence of Jeffrey Borden?s serious mental > disability; > > * Explain that you are not seeking to downplay the seriousness of the > crime > or the suffering caused > > Friendly reminder: If you send an email, please create your own instead of > forwarding this one! > Contact below official by 5 October, 2017: > > > > Governor Kay Ivey Alabama State Capitol > 600 Dexter Avenue > Montgomery, Alabama 36130, USA > > Fax: +1 334 353 0004 > > Email: http://216.226.177.218/forms/contact.aspx > > (If you are not based in the US, please use Amnesty?s New York office as > your > address: 5 Penn Plaza, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10001) > Salutation: Dear Governor > > > > -- > > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2017 06:11:42 -0500 > From: Rick Halperin > To: Death Penalty > Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty newsTEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., > OHIO > Message-ID: > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="US-ASCII" > > > > > > > Oct. 5 > > > > TEXAS: > > Irving killer who shot his baby girl, 3-year-old son wins death row > reprieve > > > > An Irving father sentenced to death for the revenge killing of his children > after their mother left him has been granted a new punishment trial. > > Hector Rolando Medina, 38, shot 3-year-old Javier and 8-month-old Diana in > the > head and the neck after his girlfriend left him in March 2007. He then shot > himself in the neck outside his Irving home. > > Medina was convicted of capital murder in 2008 and sent to death row, after > defense attorney Donna Winfield didn't call a single witness or present > closing > arguments during the punishment phase of the trial. > > The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling that > Medina > should be granted a new punishment trial because of his defense attorney's > "deficient performance." > > The Dallas County district attorney's office will decide whether to again > seek > the death penalty against Medina. The automatic sentence for capital > murder in > Texas is life without the possibility of parole. > > "These cases are very expensive and very time-consuming," said First > Assistant > District Attorney Michael Snipes. "Those two factors have to be taken into > consideration, not only in this case but in every case where a defendant is > death penalty-eligible." > > The district attorney's office is seeking the death penalty against Antonio > Cochran, who is accused of kidnapping and killing 18-year-old Zoe Hastings > in > 2015. > > Justice Michael Keasler wrote in a concurring opinion that granting Medina > a > new punishment trial gives the convicted child killer "a 2nd bite at the > apple." > > Keasler expressed "profound disgust" at Winfield's handling of the > punishment > phase of the trial, saying that the attorney "intentionally torpedoed" the > case. > > There was a six-week break after Medina was convicted before the punishment > phase began. Winfield asked for more time to bring expert witnesses to the > courthouse, but the judge denied the request. > > In response, Winfield refused to call any witnesses or rest her case during > punishm
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ARK., KAN., S. DAK., CALIF., WASH., USA
Oct. 5 ARKANSAS: Hearing to dismiss murder case urged for former Arkansas death row inmate The attorney for former death row inmate Rickey Dale Newman has asked a judge for an Oct. 11 hearing to dismiss the 16-year-old murder case against her client. Julie Brain of Philadelphia made the request Monday to Crawford County Circuit Judge Gary Cottrell after special prosecutor Ron Fields wrote Cottrell that he would be prepared to file statements and motions in Newman's case by the end of next week. Brain's letter to Cottrell said she expected the Arkansas Supreme Court to issue a mandate Oct. 10 on its ruling Sept. 21 rejecting Fields' appeal of Cottrell's order that barred Fields from using at Newman's first-degree murder trial confessions he made after his arrest in 2001. Cottrell ruled the confessions were inadmissible because the state Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that Newman was mentally incompetent at the time and could not knowingly waive his Miranda rights. Also on Sept. 21 Cottrell wrote a letter to Fields instructing him to advise him within 10 days whether he planned to continue prosecuting the murder charge against Newman, given the state Supreme Court's ruling. Fields responded Monday that he was preparing "written statements and motions" to file by Oct. 13 barring revisions to the opinion before the mandate is issued or other actions by the Arkansas attorney general's office, which handled the appeal. Brain wrote to Cottrell that Fields' response ignored Cottrell's instructions and "is the latest in a long line of attempts by the state to delay the resolution of the case by any means necessary." Newman, 60, was convicted of capital murder and condemned to death in a 1-day trial in June 2002 in the mutilation slaying of 46-year-old fellow transient Marie Cholette at a transient camp on the west end of Van Buren. Brain told Cottrell in her letter Monday that the confessions were "the only meaningful evidence" against Newman. Brain had argued in earlier motions there was no other evidence linking Newman to Cholette's death. The only evidence that put Newman and Cholette together was a surveillance video of the two at a Fort Smith liquor store on the last day Cholette was seen alive. "It would be grossly unjust to require Mr. Newman to remain incarcerated for even one single day beyond the issuance of the mandate so that the state can file unspecified 'written statements and motions,'" she wrote. In the state Supreme Court's 2014 opinion, the court threw out Newman's conviction and death sentence and ordered him back to circuit court in Crawford County to be restored to competence and retried. Acting as his own attorney, Newman told jurors he killed Cholette and wanted the death penalty. He successfully waived his appeals and was scheduled to be executed July 26, 2005. Brain and another attorney persuaded Newman to seek a stay, which Newman agreed to four days before his execution date. A federal judge granted the stay after evidence was presented questioning Newman's mental competence and he, through Brain, took up his appeals. (source: arkansasonline.com) KANSAS: High Court upholds Gleason death penalty The United States Supreme Court Monday rejected convicted killer Sidney Gleason's appeal of his death penalty sentence, Barton County Attorney Amy Mellor announced Tuesday afternoon. Gleason, 38, was convicted in 2006 of capital murder in the 2004 deaths of Mikiala "Miki" Martinez and Darren Wornkey in Barton County. Mellor said was charged with capital murder for killing Martinez and Wornkey, the aggravating kidnapping of Martinez, attempted 1st-degree murder and aggravated robbery of a 3rd person, and criminal possession of a firearm. Gleason was convicted in Barton County District Court on all counts except the attempted 1st-degree murder charge, Mellor said. The jury also determined that a sentence of death should be imposed. However, 2014, the Kansas Supreme Court approved the convictions but reversed Gleason's death sentence, finding error in the jury instructions. The Kansas Attorney General appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and in February of 2016 that court reversed the decision of the Kansas Supreme Court regarding the death sentence. When the case was returned to the Kansas Supreme Court, the justices affirmed the death penalty and Gleason appealed that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a brief, 1-line sentence, the United States Supreme Court denied Gleason's appeal of the death sentence. As is traditional, the 9 justices did not give a reason for their decision. Mellor said Gleason's direct appeals are over but he will probably attempt to exhaust other avenues in the courts before an execution date is set. According to the Kansas Department of Corrections, Gleason remains incarcerated at Eldorado Correctional Facility. An accomplice in the killings, Damien Thompson,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., OHIO
Oct. 5 TEXAS: Irving killer who shot his baby girl, 3-year-old son wins death row reprieve An Irving father sentenced to death for the revenge killing of his children after their mother left him has been granted a new punishment trial. Hector Rolando Medina, 38, shot 3-year-old Javier and 8-month-old Diana in the head and the neck after his girlfriend left him in March 2007. He then shot himself in the neck outside his Irving home. Medina was convicted of capital murder in 2008 and sent to death row, after defense attorney Donna Winfield didn't call a single witness or present closing arguments during the punishment phase of the trial. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling that Medina should be granted a new punishment trial because of his defense attorney's "deficient performance." The Dallas County district attorney's office will decide whether to again seek the death penalty against Medina. The automatic sentence for capital murder in Texas is life without the possibility of parole. "These cases are very expensive and very time-consuming," said First Assistant District Attorney Michael Snipes. "Those two factors have to be taken into consideration, not only in this case but in every case where a defendant is death penalty-eligible." The district attorney's office is seeking the death penalty against Antonio Cochran, who is accused of kidnapping and killing 18-year-old Zoe Hastings in 2015. Justice Michael Keasler wrote in a concurring opinion that granting Medina a new punishment trial gives the convicted child killer "a 2nd bite at the apple." Keasler expressed "profound disgust" at Winfield's handling of the punishment phase of the trial, saying that the attorney "intentionally torpedoed" the case. There was a six-week break after Medina was convicted before the punishment phase began. Winfield asked for more time to bring expert witnesses to the courthouse, but the judge denied the request. In response, Winfield refused to call any witnesses or rest her case during punishment. She was thrown in jail for being in contempt of court. During a hearing requesting a new trial after Medina was sentenced, Winfield said, "I wasn't going to put on a disjointed defense of Mr. Medina. ... That wasn't fair to him or to the jury." Justice Sharon Keller wrote in a dissenting opinion that Medina's defense attorney had "fully participated in the state's punishment case, including cross-examining witnesses." Prosecutors say Medina killed his children as revenge after his longtime girlfriend left him. Elia Martinez-Bermudez testified that Medina would hold her down and force her to have sex with him. He begged her to come back after she left him in January 2007. When she did, he threatened to kill her, the children and himself if she ever left him again. In March 2007, Medina borrowed a friend's gun and a box of bullets and then refused to let Martinez-Bermudez see her children when she asked. Later that day, he shot Javier and Diana and then himself. Diana "had a tombstone before she could talk," prosecutor Felicia Oliphant said during the trial. "Is there anything sadder than that?" (source: Dallas Morning News) *** Convicted murderer Randall Mays found competent to be executed A Henderson County man found guilty of capital murder in the shooting death of two East Texas sheriff deputies, has been found competent to be executed. Randall Mays was convicted of killing Henderson County Sheriff Deputy Tony Ogburn and Paul Habelt and seriously injuring Deputy Kevin Harris in May of 2007. The ruling of competency was made by visiting Judge Joe Clayton, of Tyler and a date has not been set for Mays' execution. Prior to the imminent execution scheduled for March 18, 2015, Mays filed a motion regarding competency to be executed. According to court documents, Mays was examined by several doctors. What the court ultimately determined was that Mays' mental illness does not deprive him of his understanding. The court's findings were detailed in documents filed in Henderson County: After consideration of all the credible evidence, the Court has concluded that Randall Mays has failed to meet his burden by a preponderance of the evidence, and the Court rules as follows: While Randall Mays does have some form of mental illness, it does not deprive him of the rational understanding of the connection between his crime and the punishment received. "Since Mr. Mays has been sitting on death row, he has not been diagnosed, treated or received prescribed medications for any mental illness or obsession that has any bearing on this inquiry," the court found. During Mays' trial, jurors heard more than a week of testimony. It took jurors just under three hours to hand down Randall Mays' death sentence for the murder of Ogburn and Habelt. Mays was sentenced by Judge Carter Terrance to the deat
