June 11
OHIO:
Death penalty sought for Derrick Brantley, Deshanon Haywood, Ohio quadruple
killers
2 Akron men accused of killing 4 people inside an Ohio townhouse could face a
death sentence as the indictments were announced in Summit County court.
Derrick Anthony Brantley, 21, and Deshanon Jammal Haywood, 21, were both
charged with 13 counts of aggravated murder, 4 counts of aggravated robbery and
kidnapping, aggravated burglary and illegal weapon possession.
Ronald Roberts, 24; Kem Rashad Delaney, 23; Maria Nash, 19; and Kiana Welch,
19, were found dead inside the home shot multiple times.
"Derrick Brantley and Deshanon Haywood are accused of committing one of the
deadliest shootings this city has seen," Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan
Walsh said in a news release. "I can only imagine the pain these families are
going through, knowing that their loved ones died such early and violent
deaths. My office will seek justice for Kem Delaney, Ronald Roberts, Maria Nash
and Kiana Welch."
During the weeks following the April authorities offered very little
information or insight into the case, suspects and leads.
The grand jury indictment includes death-penalty specifications.
(source: The Global Dispatch)
INDIANA:
Man, 37, faces death penalty for 'murdering fiancee's 2 young children by
setting house on fire with them inside'
A 37-year-old man could face the death penalty if convicted on murder and arson
charges accusing him of deliberately setting his fiancee's house on fire with
her 2 children inside.
Jeffrey Weisheit's trial is scheduled for opening arguments today, 2 years
after the death of Alyssa Lynch, 8, and Caleb Lynch, 5.
Their bodies were found in the Vanderburgh County home Weisheit shared with the
children's mother Lisa Lynch.
The trial was moved from Evansville to Jeffersonville because of extensive
media coverage of the deaths. It has also been delayed several times since the
April 10, 2010 incident.
According to an arrest affidavit, Lisa Lynch was working from 5pm to 5am on the
day of the fire and had left her children with Weisheit.
He was due to leave the children at their grandparent's house when he was due
to go to work.
But instead, Weisheit allegedly set fire to the home and fled the scene.
One of the children was found in a bedroom with two burned flares near or under
the body, according to the affidavit.
Duct tape was also found that 'may be evidence the person had been bound in
some fashion with the duct tape', officials said at the time.
The flames were said to be so intense that it took cadaver dogs several hours
to locate the children's bodies, according to local paper the Evansville
Courier and Press.
The 37-year-old led police on a high-speed chase after fleeing the scene of the
fire, during which police say he deliberately tried to kill two police
officers.
The chase ended when Weisheit got out of the vehicle, threatened officers with
a knife and was shocked with a stun gun and taken to the hospital.
Prosecutors have said they'll call as many as 30 witnesses during Weisheit's
trial.
Moving tributes were paid to both children in their obituaries.
Alyssa was described as a 'smart, beautiful, caring and loving girl who could
bring sunshine to any rainy day with just a smile'.
'Alyssa loved playing guitar, drawing, coloring and making homemade cards for
everyone. She adored her little brother since the moment he was born.'
Caleb was described as 'sweet, loving and handsome'.
'He brought out the best in other people and liked helping mommy cook. He was
her love bug.'
(source: Daily Mail)
MISSOURI:
Slain girl's mom upset with death penalty delay
A Kansas City, Kan., woman whose daughter was killed more than a decade ago
said she blames the federal government for holding up death penalty appeals for
the man convicted of the brutal slaying.
Cherri West, whose 10-year-old daughter, Pamela Butler, was killed in 1999 by
Keith D. Nelson, was informed by federal prosecutors last week that a hearing
in federal court in Kansas City, Mo., scheduled for next month had been pushed
back because federally funded lawyers don't have the money to pay for travel
and witness fees.
Chief U.S District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. canceled the hearing, citing
"unanticipated budgetary issues," The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/15QFqDX)
reported.
West, who blames federal lawmakers for the money shortage, said she is
confident prosecutors would have prevailed at the hearing and moved Nelson
several steps closer to the death chamber at the federal prison in Terre Haute,
Ind.
"I'll help the defense out," West said. "If they want me to get a fundraiser
together to help them get their witnesses in, I'll do that."
Only 3 inmates have been executed since the federal death penalty was
reinstated in 1988, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, and
there are 59 others awaiting execution.
Nelson's attorneys did not respond to a newspaper request for comment, and a
spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to speak about the situation,
which he said did not arise in his office.
Nelson kidnapped Pamela as she roller-skated near her home in Kansas City,
Kan., on Oct. 12, 1999, stuffed her into the cab of a pickup truck, drove east
into Missouri and stopped in the parking lot of a Grain Valley church. He then
dragged her into a densely wooded area, beat her and strangled her with speaker
wire.
He was arrested 2 days later on the bank of the Kansas River.
Gaitan sentenced Nelson to death in March 2002. The U.S. Supreme Court declined
to overturn his sentence in November 2004, opening a second round of appeals
that permitted Nelson and a new set of lawyers to argue that he had received
ineffective representation in his 1st appeal.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals returned the case to Kansas City in
October 2008, asking the judge to rule on whether Nelson's lawyers had
investigated the case properly, raised the necessary objections and done
everything possible to explore mental health issues.
Nelson's lawyers filed a 16-person witness list that included one medical
doctor and 5 other experts with doctoral degrees.
Mandatory federal budget cuts forced deep reductions in funds to pay for the
defense of poor people charged with federal crimes.
West said financial issues are no excuse for delaying Nelson's execution.
"This has gone on long enough," she said.
Gaitan has scheduled a status conference for Oct. 3, just after the start of
the federal government's new fiscal year.
(source: Associated Press)
COLORADO:
Prosecutors want state to be ready to execute convicted killer despite reprieve
Prosecutors asked a judge Monday to keep the case against convicted killer
Nathan Dunlap active, in case a future governor decides to reinstate his death
sentence.
Even though Gov. John Hickenlooper granted Dunlap a temporary reprieve last
month, prosecutors want Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester to at
least start considering any issues the defense planned to raise before the
execution was halted.
"The issues that can be addressed should be addressed," prosecutor Matt
Maillaro told Sylvester during a hearing Monday with lawyers in the case.
Dunlap, convicted of killing 4 people in 1993 at a Chuck E. Cheese, didn't
attend the proceeding.
Prosecutors want Sylvester to tell defense lawyers to file any motions they
have in mind so they can be argued. The defense said that would be speculative
and outside the court's power.
Defense attorney Phil Cherner said public standards are evolving and the death
penalty might someday be considered cruel and unusual punishment. It's "equally
plausible" that whoever succeeds Hickenlooper will decide to keep the reprieve
in place, he said.
Sylvester said he would issue a ruling soon.
Dunlap was scheduled to be executed in August for the ambush slayings of three
teens and a 50-year-old mother working at the restaurant in the Denver suburb
of Aurora.
The victims, all employees, were closing up the restaurant when Dunlap emerged
from hiding in a restroom and shot them. Dunlap, then 19, had recently been
fired from a job there.
Killed were Sylvia Crowell, 19; Ben Grant and Colleen O'Connor, both 17; and
Margaret Kohlberg, 50, who was on her 2st day on the job. Each was shot in the
head. A co-worker Bobby Stephens, then 20, was also shot in the head, but he
survived and testified against Dunlap.
In granting the reprieve, Hickenlooper cited doubts about the fairness of
Colorado's death penalty system and about whether the state could even get the
drugs required for lethal injection, the execution method mandated by state
law.
Hickenlooper said he is unlikely to lift the reprieve as long as he is
governor. His 1st term has 18 months left, and if re-elected, he could remain
governor until January 2019.
District Attorney George Brauchler has been openly disdainful about the
decision. After the hearing, he said Hickenlooper could have allowed the
execution to go on, or granted clemency and converted Dunlap's sentence to like
without parole. Brauchler said the lack of a final decision on Dunlap could end
up giving the defense a reason to eventually argue that a long wait on death
row is cruel and unusual punishment.
"He's a cold-blooded killer and I don't shed a single tear for whatever angst
he feels sitting in prison," he said.
In a motion filed last week, prosecutors argued Dunlap is still under the death
penalty and that his execution has been delayed but not ruled out. The motion
said it is possible Colorado will elect a new governor in 2014 "whose first act
will be to rescind the executive order (granting the reprieve) and permit the
death week to be set."
In their own motion, Dunlap's lawyers argued that the reprieve took the case
out of Sylvester's jurisdiction. They also said they no longer planned to file
any motions in his court because they were no longer.
(source: Associated Press)
ARIZONA:
Arias sex-tape: Did it make any difference to jurors?
It was argued at one point during an in-chambers hearing that the now infamous
phone sex recording between Jodi Arias and the ex-boyfriend that she killed,
Travis Alexander, should have never made its way into evidence.
But after a transcript release that the court recently made public of that
discussion and other private hearings, many of the steamy details will now be
made known, including some of the juror questions that were ever asked.
HLN's Dr. Drew asked alternate Juror No. 17 Tara Kelley Monday night whether
withholding the sex tape from evidence would have made the trial any different.
"I don't think so," she replied. "I just think the whole sex thing was a
distraction. To me, it didn't show any type of abuse as far as that aspect of
it."
Kelley is the same juror that asked the unsealed question, "Does PTSD or
amnesia have anything to do with why Jodi killed Travis?" That inquiry for Dr.
Samuels wasn't permitted into the trial.
Although jurors were unable to come to a unanimous decision in the penalty
phase, Arias' 1st-degree murder conviction still stands, as does the jurors
decision that Travis Alexander's murder was "especially cruel," which was an
aggravating factor that made Arias eligible for the death penalty. The new
penalty phase with a new jury is scheduled for July 18.
(source: HLNTV)
CALIFORNIA:
Death Penalty Recommended For Gang Member Convicted In 49th Street Massacre
Jurors recommended execution Monday for a gang member found guilty of killing a
total of 4 people on 2 separate occasions in 2006.
Authorities said Charles Ray Smith, 44, and Ryan Moore, who had already been
sentenced to death, were armed with AK-47s when they opened fire on 49th Street
in south Los Angeles street 9 years ago.
KNX 1070's Claudia Peschuitta reports that the attack, which came to be known
as the "49th Street Massacre", killed 10-year-old David Marcial, his
22-year-old uncle Larry Marcial, and Luis Cervantes, a 17-year-old neighbor.
David Marcial's 12-year-old brother, Sergio Jr., suffered nerve damage to his
leg from the shooting. The 2 boys were riding their bicycles at the time of the
attack.
Prosecutors said the men were out to avenge the deaths of fellow gang members,
though the victims had no gang ties.
"We're happy that we have this verdict," said Maribel Marcial, whose brother
Larry was killed in the shooting. "We've been through a lot."
Smith and co-defendant Moore reportedly fired a total of 36 shots in the
attack.
He was also convicted of killing Bani Hinojosa, a 27-year-old father, also with
no gang ties, by shooting him in the back while sitting in his car.
Smith showed little visible emotion as the verdict was read. He is scheduled to
be sentenced in September.
A call for comment from one of Smith's attorneys was not returned.
(source: CBS News)
*****************
Doctors: Oikos shooting suspect still mentally incompetent
Doctors believe a man accused of murdering seven people in a shooting rampage
at Oakland's Oikos University in April 2012 is still mentally incompetent to
stand trial, his lawyer told a judge Monday.
One Goh, 44, didn't attend his brief hearing in Alameda County Superior Court
in Oakland because he's still being treated at Napa State Hospital, where he
was sent earlier this year after a judge ruled on Jan. 7 that he's not
competent to stand trial and suspended the legal proceedings against him.
Judge Jon Rolefson ordered that Goh return to court on Dec. 9 for another
update on his mental competency.
Goh, a Korean national who lived in Oakland, is charged with seven counts of
murder, three counts of attempted murder for allegedly shooting 3 victims who
survived, and 10 special-circumstance allegations including committing murder
during a carjacking.
Oakland police said that Goh fled the campus after the April 2, 2012, shootings
in a car belonging to one of the victims.
He was arrested in Alameda a short time later after he confessed to a Safeway
security guard that he had just shot several people, according to police.
The goal for Goh's treatment at the Napa State Hospital is for him to progress
toward recovering his mental competence so he eventually can stand trial.
After the hearing for Goh Monday, his attorney, David Klaus, said psychiatrists
who have examined Goh recently still believe he's mentally incompetent and is
"not close" to being ready to stand trial.
Klaus said Goh is taking the antipsychotic drug perphenazine and is
participating in group therapy sessions.
Klaus said Goh lost about 60 pounds while he was in the Alameda County jail
because he was depressed and "was paranoid about his food" but is now eating
three times a day at the Napa State Hospital and "looked healthy" when he
visited him recently.
Killed in the shooting at Oikos last year were students Lydia Sim, 21, Sonam
Choedon, 33, Grace Kim, 23, Doris Chibuko, 40, Judith Seymour, 53, and Tshering
Bhutia, 38, as well as Katleen Ping, 24, who worked at the school.
Klaus' comments about Goh's health during an interview with reporters in a
courthouse hallway upset Chibuko's husband, Efanye Chibuko, 43, who said, "I
lost my wife that day and my kids lost their mom."
Chibuko said he believes that Goh "is taking advantage of the system" because
he doesn't think Goh is mentally incompetent.
Referring to the shooting, Chibuko said Goh "did it and planned it and
eventually it will catch up to him."
Goh is a former student who had left Oikos University voluntarily. Prosecutors
have said he appears to have wanted a refund of his tuition, and may have been
targeting an administrator who was not present the day of the shooting.
In addition to the murder and attempted murder charges, Goh faces 10
special-circumstance allegations that could result in the death penalty if he's
convicted.
Seven of those allegations are for committing multiple murders and one each are
for committing a murder during a robbery, murder during a carjacking and murder
during a kidnapping.
(source: KTVU News)
***************
Goh still unfit to stand trial for 7 killings
His lawyer says a man charged with killing 7 people at an East Oakland private
college is still delusional and unfit to face trial.
The Oakland Tribune ( http://bit.ly/12CY3hB) says the attorney for One Goh told
a court Monday that Goh cannot comprehend the charges filed against him but
he's taking an antipsychotic drug at Napa State Hospital. Doctors say he has
paranoid schizophrenia.
Goh, who's 44, is charged with killing 6 students and a receptionist at Oikos
University in April 2012. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
Goh will remain at Napa until he's declared mentally fit to stand trial. A new
progress report will be presented to the court in December.
(source: Sacramento Bee)
**********************
Mother tells of murdered son in former Marines' sentencing trial
Jan Pietrzak was 10 years old when he and his family came to the United States
from Poland.
He loved America - especially the city parks and the movies - and eventually
had the desire to join the military.
"After September 11 he was very moved and wanted to go immediately," said
Henryka Varga, Jan's mother. "At 19 he signed up for the Marines."
Varga was the 1st witness to speak Monday during the 2nd phase of the trial for
the 3 former Marines who killed Jan and his wife nearly 5 years ago inside the
couple's Riverside County home. Emrys John, 23, Tyrone Miller, 25, and Kevin
Cox, 25, were convicted of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder last week in Riverside
Superior Court.
The 3 defendants now face a penalty phase of their trial, where jurors will
decide if the men should be sentenced to death or life in prison without the
possibility of parole.
On Oct. 15, 2008, Sgt. Jan Pietrzak, 24, and his 26-year-old wife, Quiana
Jenkins-Pietrzak, were found murdered inside their home in the unincorporated
community of Winchester. They were bound with tape and had been shot in the
head. Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak was raised in Ontario, went to Ayala High School
and was a graduate student at Cal State San Bernardino when she was killed.
Deputy District Attorney Daniel DeLimon said the defendants went to the home to
rob Jan and Quiana. They forced their way inside, physically assaulted the man,
sexually assaulted the woman and then murdered both. Varga said the last time
she saw her son was on his wedding day Aug. 8, 2008. 68 days later, he and
Quiana were found dead inside their home.
"There was 68 days between celebrating the wedding of their (children) to
putting their bodies in the ground," DeLimon said about the victim's parents
during his opening statements.
Witness testimony will continue Tuesday
DeLimon expects to close the trial for Cox by Wednesday. A 2nd jury panel for
Miller and John will return to court next week to hear testimony from family
members of both the victims and the defendants.
In their opening statements, defense attorneys asked the jurors to consider who
the defendants were and where they came from, based on testimony during this
phase of the trial.
"We're not giving excuses, we're giving explanations," said Darryl L. Exum,
Cox's attorney.
(source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)
******************************
Death Penalty Being Considered For Trio Of Killers; The defendants robbed and
killed 24-year-old Janek Pietrzak and his 26-year-old wife, Quiana Faye
Jenkins-Pietrzak, on Oct. 15, 2008.
Opening statements are slated to begin today in the penalty trial of 2 Marines
who murdered a young sergeant and his wife of 2 months during a home invasion
robbery at the couple's French Valley residence.
Last week, an 8-man, 4-woman jury convicted Emrys Justin Justin John, 23, and
Tyrone Miller, 25, of 1st-degree murder and found true special circumstance
allegations that multiple lives were taken in the same crime and that the
killings occurred in the course of a robbery and in the course of a burglary.
Jurors also convicted Miller of sexual assault.
A separate jury convicted Kevin Darnell Cox, 25, of everything but the sexual
assault charge. Cox's penalty trial was also scheduled to get underway today.
Jurors must now decide whether to recommend life in prison without parole or
the death penalty for the trio. A 4th defendant, 25-year-old Kesaun Kedron
Sykes, is slated to be tried in August.
The defendants robbed and killed 24-year-old Janek Pietrzak and his 26-year-old
wife, Quiana Faye Jenkins-Pietrzak, in the predawn hours of Oct. 15, 2008.
Deputy District Attorney Daniel DeLimon called the defendants "Marines by day
and criminals by night." According to DeLimon, the four Marines wanted to get
inside the Pietrzaks' two-story house at 31319 Bermuda Ave. to steal their
belongings -- but also to indulge in a power trip.
"This was about ... taking pleasure in the sexual humiliation of a woman and
tormenting her husband by making him watch," the prosecutor said.
DeLimon said all of the men pummeled Pietrzak, while Cox was delegated with the
responsibility of binding the couple to immobilize and silence them. Cox also
planted false evidence in an attempt to throw off authorities, directing his
associates where to paint epithets such as the "n" word to make it appear as
though the crime was racially motivated, according to DeLimon.
Quiana was black, and her Poland-born husband, white.
Miller testified that he was displeased with Pietrzak because the sergeant had
told the lance corporal only a day or two earlier that his chances of being
promoted to corporal were nil.
Cox rang the doorbell twice shortly after 1 a.m., and Pietrzak came downstairs,
deactivated his house alarm and opened the front door. The defendants, armed
with shotguns, beat the young sergeant into submission, DeLimon alleged.
According to the prosecutor, Miller and Sykes stripped Quiana and used a
vibrator they found in the couple's bathroom to violate her sexually. John shot
the victims execution-style with a 9mm handgun.
All of the men served in a helicopter maintenance squadron at Camp Pendleton.
(source: City News Service)
(source: Murrieta Patch)
*********************
S.J. judge overturns jury's death sentence; Childhood abuse cited; prosecutor
expresses shock
A San Joaquin County Superior Court judge on Monday unexpectedly overturned a
jury's decision to send a man to death row for killing a prison cellmate, the
2nd time he'd killed a cellmate.
John Joseph Lydon, 40, was serving a 69-years-to-life term at Deuel Vocational
Institution for having previously murdered a cellmate when he strangled to
death another man at the Tracy prison in 2010.
A jury's decision would have made Lydon the 1st person to be sentenced to death
in 4 years in San Joaquin County.
Judge Terrence Van Oss instead commuted his sentence Monday to life in prison
without the possibility of parole, taking into account the effects Lydon's
abusive childhood has had on his development.
Deputy District Attorney Robert Himelblau expressed his disappointment with the
ruling outside the courtroom saying, "The jury's verdict was disregarded."
There is no consequence for Lydon, said a shocked Himelblau, as the prisoner
was already destined to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
"If this person doesn't deserve (the death penalty), then who does?" Himelblau
said.
Defense attorneys said they were "pleasantly surprised" Van Oss sided with
their motion seeking mercy for Lydon, who was the victim of child molestation
by various men, including a Catholic priest.
"It's lovely to see when justice is served," said Deborah Fialkowski, a private
defense attorney who, along with Deputy Public Defender Michael Bullard,
represented Lydon.
Fialkowski, a seasoned area attorney, said she can't remember a time when a
Superior Court judge in the county has overturned a death penalty conviction.
Lydon's victim at Deuel, Jonathan Guy Alexander, was serving a sentence for a
child molestation conviction just as was Lydon's first murder victim.
The defense presented evidence Lydon has a mental illness, although the
diagnosis was a source of dispute and included post-traumatic stress disorder
and borderline personality disorder.
Doctors found a combination of factors - the rejection of his mother, the
physical abuse of his alcoholic father and the betrayal of a Catholic priest -
led to Lydon's self-destructive behavior, lack of self worth and lack of value
for life in general, Van Oss said in recapping doctor reports.
During the sentencing Monday, Van Oss said Lydon swallowed spoons, coaxial
cable bits and razor blades and underwent five stomach surgeries at San Joaquin
General Hospital.
Lydon, who grew up attending Catholic school, was taught about sexual sins, and
yet a priest violated those same principles, Van Oss said.
According to Lydon, he was molested by Boston defrocked Catholic Priest John
Geoghan, who also was murdered in a prison after being found guilty of child
sex abuse charges.
"This set up a severe conflict in the defendant's mind," Van Oss said,
summarizing doctor reports. Then, as an adolescent, Van Oss said, Lydon was
sexually exploited by men who would give him money in exchange for sexual
favors.
"The defendant was at war with himself," Van Oss said.
One theory suggests Lydon was motivated to kill by his feelings toward child
molesters. Another theory supported by testimony from prison staff suggests
Lydon was simply rebelling because he wanted a cell to himself.
But Lydon told doctors voices in his head urged him to murder Alexander and
taunted him for being a coward. Doctors on both sides noted Lydon's
irresistible impulse to kill the victim.
A jury convicted Lydon of 1st-degree murder and then voted to give him the
death penalty in February.
Lydon would have joined about 725 other death row inmates in California
awaiting their punishment. Executions are blocked by ongoing legal battles in
federal court over the state's injection method that a judge has deemed cruel
and unusual punishment.
Lydon's psychological problems did not persuade a jury, but in Van Oss' view, a
"deplorable" childhood is a mitigating factor in sentencing Lydon.
The abuse Lydon endured, he said, impaired his self-value and his ability to
feel empathy, and it played a role in his judgment.
Himelblau said Van Oss' ruling is a decision that cannot be appealed.
(source: The Stockton Record)
****************
Man To Be Tried In Killing Of 17-Year-Old Moreno Valley Girl
A man charged with murdering a 17-year-old Moreno Valley girl on her way back
from summer school has been ordered to stand trial.
The Riverside County District Attorney's office said Monday that 37-year-old
Jesse Perez Torres of Long Beach has been charged with 1 count of murder with a
special circumstance allegation of kidnapping.
The special circumstance allegation makes Torres eligible for the death
penalty.
Norma Lopez was abducted after leaving Valley View High School in July 2010.
Her body was found in a remote field several days later.
Prosecutors say Torres owned an SUV which matched the description of a vehicle
witnesses described seeing in the area of the abduction.
He is due back in court June 24.
(source: Associated Press)
USA:
Support for death penalty stable in US as Texas approaches 500th execution
Texas is moving closer to an unflattering jubilee: the 500th execution since
the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 - barring any last-minute stays or
reprieves. This Wednesday, June 12, Texas will execute its 499th person, and
execution no. 500 is scheduled for June 26. Texas uses the death penalty more
than any other state, and the competition does not even come close.
No. 2 on the execution list is Virginia, which has killed 110 people - and only
5 since 2010. Texas has executed more people than the next 6 states (Virginia,
Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri, Alabama and Georgia) combined. It wasn't always
so. Texas executed fewer than 10 people a year until 1992, when executions
spiked under then-Governor Ann Richards. They peaked under George W. Bush, who
sent 37 people to the death chamber in 1997 and 40 in 2000.
Recent research suggests that Texans put to death are disproportionately
African-American. The Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty campaign
group claims that "the race of both the offender and victim, as well as social
and economic status, play a large part in deciding who lives and who dies."
Waiting to be executed on June 12 is Ellroy Chester. A jury condemned him after
he pleaded guilty to the 1998 fatal shooting of a Port Arthur firefighter who
was slain after arriving at his sister???s home during a robbery.
On February 6, 1998, in Port Arthur, Chester broke into the residence of Kim
Ryman Deleon. Chester raped her 14-year-old and 16-year-old daughters. Willie
Ryman III (uncle to the girls) entered the home. Chester shot him dead. He then
helped himself to jewellery before fleeing the scene.
While in police custody, Chester confessed to this crime, 2 other murders, and
3 attempts to commit capital murder. Chester stated that he committed these
offences because he was out his mind "with hate for white people." There'd been
a disagreement with a white staff member over a disciplinary report during a
previous incarceration.
Chester's lawyers argued on appeal that he is ineligible for execution because
he is mentally impaired, but a divided federal appeals court upheld the
sentence. Chester???s previous execution date of April 24, 2013, was delayed by
the trial court in response to a motion he filed.
Americans' support for the death penalty as punishment for murder has levelled
off in recent years after several years in which support appeared to be
falling. 63% now favour the death penalty as the punishment for murder, similar
to 61% in 2011 and 64% in 2010, according to polls conducted by Gallup.
Gallup first asked Americans for their views on the death penalty using this
question in 1936, and has asked it at least once a year since 1999.
Although views on the death penalty have been fairly static since 2010, support
had been on the wane since the high point in 1994, when approval was 80%. By
2001, roughly 2/3 were in favour, and since then it has edged closer to 60%.
Since the Boston bombings, the numbers have nudged up a bit. The majority or at
least plurality of most demographic and political groups is in broad agreement
about supporting the death penalty as punishment for murder.
One exception to that is adults who describe their political views as
"liberal." Just under half of liberals, 47%, favour the death penalty, while
50% oppose it. However, most conservatives and moderates support it, as do
majorities of all party groups, including 51% of Democrats. Additionally,
non-whites are closely divided on the issue, with 49% in favour and 45%
opposed. That contrasts with whites, among whom 68% are in favour.
Despite the moral nature of the death penalty as a political issue, with
teachings on it differing among the various faiths, Gallup finds virtually no
difference in support on the basis of respondents' religious background. 2/3 of
Protestants and Catholics, alike, are in favour of the death penalty as a
punishment for murder, as are at least 6 in 10 adults regardless of whether
they attend church weekly, monthly, or less often. Only among those who say
they have no religious preference, which would include atheists and agnostics,
is there a difference, with a slightly smaller 56% in favour of the death
penalty.
There are, however, sharp differences in views about capital punishment with
regards to gun ownership. Those who report personally owning a gun are much
more likely than those who do not have a gun to favour the death penalty: 80%
vs. 55%.
(source: EuroNews)
************************
Alleged Cole Bombing Mastermind Scheduled to Appear in Court -- 13 Years Later
Back in 2000, nearly a year before al Qaeda became a declared U.S. enemy and
household word, a Navy guided-missile destroyer called the U.S.S. Cole was
bombed while refueling in the Yemen port of Aden. Seventeen U.S. sailors were
killed and 39 injured. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility.
13 years later, the alleged mastermind of that attack, a 48-year-old Saudi
Arabian named Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, still has not been brought to justice.
Yet the U.S. government has held him in custody for over a decade.
This week al-Nashiri is scheduled to appear in a military commission at
Guantanamo Bay where the creaky wheels of justice are supposed to start
turning. But if the previous commission proceedings are any guide, the process
may not get very far. The last time al-Nashiri was scheduled to come to court,
the hearing had to be delayed because defense lawyers learned their
communications had been intercepted by federal authorities, compromising what's
supposed to be a confidential attorney-client relationship. Before that,
hearings were put off because al-Nashiri's lawyers claimed he was suffering
from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from having been tortured for years by U.S.
officials while held in CIA "black sites."
Al-Nashiri is 1 of only 3 Guantanamo detainees who the United States has
publicly admitted were waterboarded as part of officially-approved "enhanced
interrogation techniques." Al-Nashiri was also stripped naked, hooded and
threatened with a power drill by interrogators trying to terrify him into
providing information. These tactics are presumably why al-Nashiri was never
brought to trial in a civilian U.S. federal court, where evidence obtained by
torture is considered inherently unreliable and inadmissible. Although such
evidence is supposed to be inadmissible in the Guantanamo military commissions
as well, the Military Commissions Act provides some exceptions to that rule.
Al-Nashiri denies responsibility for the attacks and says his initial
confessions were induced by torture and false.
It's not clear if prosecutors will attempt to introduce tortured evidence in
the military commission proceedings. And it's not clear whether defense lawyers
will be allowed to publicly produce evidence of their client's torture in this
death penalty case. Judge James Pohl, who's also presiding over the military
commission case of the alleged perpetrators of the September 11 terrorist
attacks, has so far forbidden the five defendants or their lawyers from
mentioning their mistreatment in court, agreeing with the government that the
men's experiences are all classified. That problem hasn't yet been addressed in
al-Nashiri's case.
So far the al-Nashiri hearings have been consumed by matters such as whether
the CIA is eavesdropping on confidential attorney-client communications at the
Guantanamo prison camp, the security of the computer system used by defense
counsel there, and the mental health of the defendant.
In January, Judge Pohl ruled that al-Nashiri's case was properly brought in a
U.S. military commission as a war crime even though the USS Cole bombing
occurred almost a year before the United States went to war against al Qaeda
and long before the Guantanamo military commissions had even been created.
(That ruling is now being appealed in the civilian court system.)
This week, the judge is expected to hear more arguments over determining
Nashiri's mental health; whether the charges of "conspiracy" and "terrorism"
even belong in a military commission (the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has so
far said "conspiracy" does not); whether defense lawyers can be sure the
government isn't monitoring their confidential communications; and whether
those same lawyers are allowed to bring pens, notebooks and eyeglasses into
meetings with their clients without those items being confiscated as
"contraband."
Stay tuned.
(source: Daphne Eviatar.Senior Counsel, Law and Security Program, Human Rights
First----Huffington Post)
******************
Death penalty is expensive, prevents possibility of redemption
For the past few nights, I have been up late with a sick puppy. The good thing
about this is that I have been able to watch the moon and the stars over the
past few nights. It reminds me of my childhood and all of the camping trips
with friends. This past Sunday, I met a man that went 17 years, 8 months and 1
day without seeing the dark of night and the light of the moon.
Juan Melendez was sentenced to death in Florida for 1st degree murder. The
evidence against him consisted of witness testimony that was loosely connected
to each other. Needless to say, Juan protested his innocence without success
and spent close to 18 years on death row. DNA testing proved his innocence and
now Juan travels the world speaking against the death penalty.
Juan spoke to me about the relationships he formed there with serial rapists,
murderers, and people that would make the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
But for Juan, they were neighbors. These men lived together, worked out
together, cried together, and prayed together. I was overwhelmed by the
emotion, passion, and love that was in Juan's voice when he spoke of his
incarcerated family.
This was really the 1st time I ever thought about the death penalty. I live in
Huntsville, death capitol of Texas. Honestly, we should think about it every
day but most of us are sheltered in our life of campus activities, class
projects, and the ignorance that just miles away people are killed with a
simple injection of chemicals.
There are 2 reasons I oppose the death penalty.
I believe that the murder of a person separates that person from the promise of
redemption and grace given to us by God. I believe that every person is capable
of change and progress. I understand that some people are mentally unstable and
prohibited from working towards that progress on their own but for the most
part we are capable of becoming better people. Even though a person committed a
terrible act, killing them does not allow them the option to reform and make
progress. It tells people that we are unworthy of a second chance.
Secondly, the cost of killing people is expensive! Did you know that the
average cost of a death row case is about 2.3 million dollars? That includes
the appeals process. That doesn't even begin to count the money we spend on
housing, security, and other accommodations. There are currently 221 people on
death row; that is a combined estimated legal cost of $508,300,000. If Texas
abolished the death penalty and used that money to pay for college education,
the state could have paid the way for 8,411 Bearkats to complete their
undergrad degree (based on the average semester cost with degree completed in 4
years.) Keep in mind that this is all the legal fees spent on death row
inmates. We still haven't touched housing, medical and other cost but I am a
sociology major not an economics major so we will not go there today.
I am not writing this because I want you to think the way I do. But I do want
you to think! Do your own research, have conversations, question everything.
Our age does not exempt us from becoming involved in the way our state conducts
business, especially when that business is killing people on our behalf!
(source: This article is part of Anthony Ormsbee's ongoing column called
'Generation Y don't you care?'----The Houstonian)
**************************
Fox News' Ralph Peters: 'Bring Back The Death Penalty' For Edward Snowden
Fox News analyst Ralph Peters said Monday that Edward Snowden's leaks
constituted "treason" punishable by execution.
Peters was speaking to Brian Kilmeade on "Fox and Friends," and argued that no
Americans have been hurt by the secret government surveillance programs that
Snowden exposed.
"Now you've got this 29-year-old high school dropout whistleblower making
foreign policy for our country, our security policy," he lamented. "It's sad,
Brian. We've made treason cool. Betraying your country is kind of a fashion
statement. He wants to be the national security Kim Kardashian. He cites
Bradley Manning as a hero."
Peters continued, "I mean, we need to get very, very serious about treason. And
oh by the way, for treason - as in the case of Bradley Manning or Edwards
Snowden - you bring back the death penalty."
Glenn Beck, who hailed Snowden as a "hero," said he was "shocked" by the
comments on Monday.
Peters has made similar incendiary remarks in the past, once famously declaring
that Julian Assange should be assassinated.
Snowden revealed himself to be the whistleblower who leaked the National
Security Agency's surveillance of Verizon phone records and personal data from
Internet firms. He told the Guardian that he left the United States for Hong
Kong and stayed in a hotel for 3 weeks. One hotel revealed that a guest by the
name of Edward Snowden had been staying there, but checked out on Monday. It is
unclear whether Snowden is still in Hong Kong.
(source: Huffington Post)
US MILITARY:
Military judge to discuss Fort Hood shooting suspect's defense strategy, trial
delay request
A judge is expected to decide whether an Army psychiatrist can tell jurors he
shot U.S. troops at Fort Hood to protect Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.
Maj. Nidal Hasan has said he wants to use a "defense of others" strategy at his
upcoming military trial. He'd have to prove the shootings were necessary to
prevent the immediate harm or death of others.
The judge, Col. Tara Osborn, last week told Hasan to file a motion showing the
legal basis for that defense and any evidence.
Osborn on Tuesday also was expected to rule on Hasan's request to delay the
trial for 3 months. Last week's jury selection was delayed.
Hasan faces the death penalty if convicted in the 2009 rampage that left 13
dead on the Texas Army post.
(source: Star Tribune)
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