[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., FLA., OHIO, TENN., USA
October 15 TEXASnew death sentence Ronald Haskell Jr. sentenced to death in fatal shooting of 6 members of ex-wife's family Ronald Lee Haskell Jr. has been sentenced to death in the fatal shooting of 6 members of his ex-wife's family in 2014 — which included the execution-style killing of the 4 of the family's children, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors say Haskell, of Utah, traveled from California to Texas on a mission to kill anybody who helped his ex-wife, Melannie Lyon. The couple had recently divorced after more than a decades-long abusive relationship. Haskell spent months planning the murders and 2 days in the Spring, Texas, area stalking the Lyon and Stay family, according to prosecutors. On July 9, 2014, he disguised himself as a FedEx delivery driver and made his way into the Stay residence in Spring, Texas. There, prosecutors say he held 5 of the Stay children hostage at gunpoint until the parents, Katie and Stephen Stay, arrived, forced them all to the ground, and shot them 1-by-1. Katie, who was Lyon's sister, Stephen, and 4 of their 5 children; 4-year-old Zach, 7-year-old Rebecca, 9-year-old Emily, and 13-year-old Bryan, were killed. The 5th child, then-14-year-old Cassidy Stay, survived the shooting despite being shot in the head by playing dead. Now 20, she testified in the case against Haskell. "I hope that when you die, you will get the punishment you deserve from God," she told Haskell at sentencing. After the fatal shooting at the Stay residence, Haskell had reloaded his gun at started for Lyon's parents and brother's residences — but was stopped and arrested before arriving. Law enforcement commended Cassidy in preventing further killings, despite her injuries. "After the murderer left, Cassidy’s quick actions prevented Haskell from carrying out the remainder of his plan to kill 22 members of his ex-wife’s family," read a statement from the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Haskell's defense attorney's argued he should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. At sentencing they shifted to life behind bars without a death sentence arguing Haskell suffered from several mental illnesses. Prosecutors rebutted, stating Haskell was a vengeful, manipulative liar who, upon expert witness testimony, faked his mental illnesses. A jury rejected Haskell’s insanity defense Sept. 26 and found him guilty of capital murder. He was sentenced on Friday, October 11, 2019. “The death penalty is only for the worst of the worst,” stated Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg. “Haskell meticulously planned and carried out the slaughter of the Stay family and the death sentence handed down by a jury of his peers is appropriate.” (source: mytexasdaily.com) *** Sheriff: Abilene man used pocket knife to kill common-law wife, infant daughter The Abilene man charged with capital murder in the deaths of his common-law wife and infant daughter used a pocket knife to stab them to death, according to the Callahan County Sheriff's Office. Cody Edmund Dixon, 34, was transferred from the Callahan County Jail in Baird to the Taylor County Jail in Abilene on Monday afternoon for security reasons. He will be kept in a jail cell by himself and is on suicide watch. Dixon is accused of killing Alia Rae Hutchison, 22, and their 9-month-old daughter, Aria Ellen Dixon, on Saturday. The Sheriff's Office says Dixon stabbed them with a pocket knife after the couple had a fight. Deputies believe Dixon and Hutchison -- who were living with his sister in Abilene -- were possibly moving back to Wisconsin. Hutchison's body was found on CR 324 between Baird and Putnam. The baby's body had been thrown over a fence. Deputies said Dixon confessed to the murders and said God told him do it. His bond was set at $1.8 million. Investigators say the couple had moved to Abilene a few months ago from Wisconsin, but things weren't going well. "He moved to his mother's house and then to his sister's house and it wasn't going well," said Chief Deputy Rick Jowers of the Callahan County Sheriff's Office. Investigator say Dixon used a pocket knife to kill his wife and baby. Dixon, according to investigators, admitted to the murders. He faces 2 counts of capital murder and he could face the death penalty. (source: KTXS news) NORTH CAROLINA: 2 people may face death penalty for allegedly running over woman at Greensboro Exxon Why? That's what a family is asking after their daughter was run over twice outside an Exxon gas station over the weekend — a bizarre incident that involved five other people who were hit for reasons that are still not clear. Meranda Chantel Watlington, 28, and Fana Anquette Felton, 27, could face the death penalty after allegedly striking the 6 people — critically injuring 3 — and killing 30-year-old Zanelle Tucker. On Monday night, family and friends of Tucker gathered at
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., OHIO
Oct. 13 TEXAS: Gov. Abbott, delay this execution Gov. Greg Abbott, A man’s life now lies in your hands. Spare him. On Nov. 20, Rodney Reed is to be executed by the state of Texas for a crime we can no longer be confident he committed. Twenty one years ago, he was convicted in the 1996 rape and murder of 19-year old Giddings resident Stacey Stites. Ever since, evidence has mounted that Reed neither raped nor killed her. Now, his defense claims it has new witnesses pointing to the man who did. Reed, 51, is scheduled to die. Of this, there is no doubt. Nor of this: Stites was strangled and killed on April 23, 1996, her body found on a country road in neighboring Bastrop County. Reed became a suspect a year later when another woman accused him of sexual assault; the prosecution showed semen found on both women belonged to Reed. Reed maintained that was because he and Stites, engaged to Giddings police officer Jimmy Fennell, Jr., had been having an affair, but the jury convicted him anyway. Over time, facts have emerged that were never part of Reed’s trial and as a result, the prosecution’s case has fallen apart. The medical examiner who claimed that Reed raped Stites has recanted. DNA evidence that pointed to Stites’ fiance was never shared with Reed’s defense. Other physical evidence, including the murder weapon — her belt — was never subjected to genetic testing. Now, Reed’s defense at the Innocence Project claims it has new evidence, including two signed affadavits from individuals who knew Fennell. One says he threatened to kill Stites if he ever caught her with another man, and another says he heard Fennell tell her corpse at the viewing that she had deserved to die. On Oct. 4, lawyers for the Innocence Project filed a motion in state court to have the execution date withdrawn, citing the new evidence that they say was not available at trial. All along, the state courts have denied Reed’s one repeated request: that evidence collected where Stites’ body was found be genetically tested. Just 2 years ago, Fennell’s old boss, Giddings’ former chief of police, told CNN that Fennell had confessed to being out later than he’d said at trial and that he’d been drinking the night before his fiance’s body was discovered, too. The Criminal Court of Appeals has twice rejected Reed’s appeal, saying the untested evidence probably would not have acquitted Reed nor would the testimony of Fennell’s old boss have been enough to convict Fennell, who has never been charged in connection to Stites’ death. Fennell just finished 10 years in prison for raping a woman in his custody. Of course, Fennell’s guilt is not the urgent question right now. It’s Reed’s life that hangs in the balance. His guilt is not remotely beyond a reasonable doubt. A man should not die as long as a believable question of innocence hangs over him. Which brings us to you, governor. The case of Rodney Reed is not a case against the death penalty, which still has the support of many in this law-and-order state. It is a case against a potentially wrongful execution. Your predecessor, Rick Perry, stood by during the frequent executions of his tenure. On Perry’s watch, 279 inmates were put to death — nearly 1/2 of the state’s total since Texas resumed executions in 1982. While on your watch, Governor Abbott, 46 people have been executed, you have also already done something Perry rarely did: You’ve exercised discretion to stop an execution. Minutes before Thomas Whitaker was set to die, at 6 p.m. on Feb. 22, 2018, you granted him clemency. He will spend life in prison for the murder of his mother and brother in Fort Bend County over an inheritance. There was no question of Whitaker’s guilt, just whether it was fair to put him to death when the triggerman got a lighter sentence. How much more compelling, then, is Reed’s case: Whitaker, who is white, was unquestionably guilty; Reed, who is black, may well be innocent. Study after study, including work by University of Michigan researchers, has found that black and Latino convicts are far more likely to wind up on death row, wrongfully, than white convicts. Now the case rests before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and it may soon send you a recommendation in Reed’s case. But you can signal your own preference now. You aren’t bound by arcane rules of the appellate courts. Both you and the board have the documented flaws in the case. You have the Bastrop County prosecutor steadfastly refusing DNA testing on an old murder. You have the fact that Reed has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court. And even if the board doesn’t recommend you commute his sentence, you have the authority to spare his life for 30 days as he pursues his remedy at the Supreme Court. You should use that authority and give the courts time to fully evaluate the new evidence. As you mull your options, remember our history: Texas has a tarnished
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., FLA., OHIO, TENN., USA
October 12 TEXAS: Dr. Phil On The Upcoming Execution Of Rodney Reed: ‘I Want A Stay Of Execution, So This Man Can Present The Truth’ Dr. Phil is tackling one of his most important topics yet this week as he fights on behalf of a man named Rodney Reed who has been on death row for 22 years while proclaiming his own unwavering innocence. Reed has served time for the murder of a 19-year-old bride-to-be named Stacey Stites since 1996 and is scheduled to be executed on November 20th, 2019. New evidence in the case, which wasn’t available at the time of Reed’s sentencing, seems to corroborate with his innocence plea and Dr. Phil is determined to get that evidence seen before it’s too late. CBS Local’s Matt Weiss spoke Dr. Phil about the case and what his viewers can do to help. MW: Dr. Phil, good morning! Dr. P: Good Morning Matt. MW: So, quite a serious topic we have to discuss today. We’re going to be talking about Rodney Reed, a man who has been on death row for over 20 years and you actually went to visit him prison and spoke with him. What was it like going there and talking to someone in his situation? Dr. P: Well Matt, I was asked to get involved in this by Bryce Benjet, who is a lawyer with the Innocence Project and we’re talking about Rodney Reed, he’s been on death row for 22 ½ years. He was convicted of the rape and murder of 19-year-old Stacy Stites in south Texas. Mr. Reed has been sitting there for 22 ½ years waiting to die, he’s been scheduled for execution before, he’s exhausted appeals and now he is set for an execution unless we do something, we, all of us that watch Dr. Phil, unless we do something about this I have no doubt in my mind he will be executed. I interviewed him on death row, he has not given any other interviews until now. I interviewed him with an eye towards whether he was telling the truth or not. I asked him some questions that he just didn’t know the socially desirable answer to, to see whether he was telling the truth or not and I came away with a very troubled heart. This man is telling the truth when he says he didn’t commit this crime. I then did a really deep dive into the pile, there are four medical scientific experts, that were not available at the time of trial or even during the appeals, DNA experts, forensic experts, that say it is not even possible, in fact it is scientifically impossible that he committed this crime. They have wrong the man, they are getting ready to execute an innocent man. Matt, I’ve talked to people that have different views about the death penalty, some in favor of it, some not, but I never met anyone that favors killing a man that you’re not 100% sure is guilty of the crime which he has been convicted. We all know that there have been people on death row that have been executed and later exonerated and that’s exactly what’s getting ready to happen here if we don’t do something about it. MW: You also spoke to his attorney. What information were they able to add to the story and to his assertion that he’s innocent? Dr. P: Well I talked to attorneys on both sides, in fact I have an attorney on the show today that is 100% convinced that Rodney Reed is guilty. Now he has a reason for that, he has an agenda. Look, the law is that the burden of proof is on the prosecution that you’re innocent until proven guilty. I understand that’s what the law is, that’s not how it really works. How it really works is the jury says, “OK if we’re not down here for the reasons that the prosecutors say we are, then you need to give me an alternative explanation. If Rodney Reed didn’t do this crime, then you need to tell me who did. You need to tell me why we’re down here. Why it’s wrong.” That’s what I intend to do on Friday. I’m going to give them an alternative explanation, if Rodney Reed didn’t do this crime, I’m going to give them a really good candidate for who did. MW: It sounds like from talking to you, you truly believe that he is innocent. In order to at east get a stay of execution, what do you feel needs to happen to hold off the execution scheduled for next month? Dr. P: Well I don’t want a stay of execution, I want a new trial. I want this man to have a fair and full trial, which has never yet happened. And in fact Matt, that’s what he wants. He’s not asking to be turned loose, all he wants is a fair trial, he’s been there for 22 ½ years. I said to him, “Do you want them to open this door and let you out?” He said, ‘No, I don’t. What I want is a fair trial. I want my name cleared. I don’t want them to just turn me loose and say never mind and everybody speculate whether I did it or not. I want a fair trial. I want all of this evidence to come forward. I want people to say not only to say he’s not guilty, I want people to say he’s innocent.” That’s what he wants. Do I want a stay of execution, yes. I want a stay of execution, so a trial can be scheduled and so
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, TENN.
Oct. 11 TEXAS: The fight to save Rodney Reed from execution in Texas In 1998, Rodney Reed, who is African-American, was sentenced to death by an all-white jury in Bastrop, Texas, for the rape and murder of Stacey Stites, a 19-year-old white woman. He's scheduled to be executed on Nov. 20. Reed, now 53, maintains his innocence. The only evidence used to convict him was DNA that Reed says was present because he and Stites were having a secret affair — a claim Stites's cousin corroborates. Reed's defense attorneys believe that further DNA tests of the crime scene could prove his innocence, but their requests have been denied, leading them to file a lawsuit in federal court. They also recently petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution, citing "new and comprehensive evidence for innocence." Among the new pieces of evidence Reed's lawyers cite are statements from two witnesses who claim they have information that links Stites's then-fiancé, Jimmy Fennell, to the crime. Fennell, a former police officer in Giddings, Texas, was recently released from prison after serving 10 years for the kidnapping and assault of a woman. There were critical inconsistencies in Fennell's accounts of where he was and what he was doing the night of the murder. One of the new witnesses who's come forward is a life insurance salesperson who said that while Fennell was applying for a policy he threatened to kill Stites if she ever cheated on him. The other witness, a sheriff's deputy in Texas's Lee County, said he overheard Fennell say to Stites' body at her funeral, "You got what you deserved." In addition, forensic experts who implicated Reed at trial have recanted, while forensic pathologists have said the prosecution's theory of Reed's guilt is medically and scientifically impossible. That Reed is still on death row despite all the evidence casting doubt on his guilt is indicative of the larger issues around the death penalty — particularly as it pertains to race. In the U.S., race is the single greatest predictor of who gets the death penalty, not the severity of the crime. Even though whites account for just 55 % of murder victims nationwide, they account for 80 percent of murder victims in cases resulting in an execution. Those convicted of killing white victims are three times more likely to be sentenced to death than those convicted of killing non-white victims. The disparities in who is executed are especially stark in Texas, which has the nation's third-largest death row population and accounted for more than 1/2 of all the executions in the U.S. last year. Of the states with more than 10 people currently facing execution, Texas has the highest number of minorities on death row. While African Americans make up only 12.6 % of Texas's population, 43.9 % of its death row inmates are Black. These statistics are particularly alarming when one considers that 166 people have been exonerated from death row. Of these, nearly 1/2 are Black, and nearly 50 are Black men from the South. Reed's family has organized a grassroots effort called the Reed Justice Initiative that is working to save Reed's life while also supporting families who are dealing with similar situations. Reed's cause also has help from the nationally recognized anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean and the Innocence Project, which has launched a petition seeking to halt his execution. "The evidence supporting Reed's innocence is uncontradicted and undeniable, and without the Supreme Court's intervention, I fear the State of Texas may execute an innocent man," said Bryce Benjet, Reed's lawyer and senior staff attorney at the Innocence Project. (source: Facing South) ** New Podcast: Texas Lawyer James Rytting on Junk Science and the Execution of Larry Swearingen In the latest episode of Discussions with DPIC, Texas capital defense lawyer James Rytting discusses the case of his client, Larry Swearingen, and the junk science that led to the execution of a man legitimate science strongly suggests was innocent. Rytting describes the false forensic analysis presented under the guise of science in Swearingen’s case, the appellate process that makes it “almost impossible” to obtain review of new evidence, and the persistent problem of wrongful convictions. Larry Swearingen was executed on August 21, 2019 after multiple courts declined to review evidence supporting his innocence claim. In the interview, Rytting explains the problems with the prosecution’s “smoking gun,” a piece of pantyhose used to strangle the victim, Melissa Trotter. The prosecution told the jury that a matching piece of pantyhose had been found in Swearingen’s home. In reality, that supposedly matching piece of the pantyhose had not been discovered in 2 initial searches of Swearingen’s house. It was only “found” in a 3rd search of the residence after Trotter’s body was
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., OHIO
Oct. 10 TEXAS: With a wide variety of headlines dominating both global and domestic news, it is easy to overlook that today is World Day to Abolish the Death Penalty. It is clear that since the early 1980s, the majority of the world's nations have become better educated about the inherent flaws of every death penalty system in the world, and have committed themselves to the defense, protection and advocacy of human rights and human dignity. Sadly, the US is not one of these nations. We continue to embrace an archaic, barbaric, racist and mistake-prone system in which we justify hanging, gassing, electrocuting, shooting and chemically poisoning some convicted felons in the perverted notion of "justice". Texas itself leads the entire free world in executions since we resumed the practice in 1982. As we go to the polls next year, we would do well to hold our politicians accountable to all human rights issues, and ideally support someone who at the very least is willing to help make America a death penalty-free nation. Rick Halperin, Amnesty International (source: Dallas Morning News) *** Journalist talks about reconciling faith and career of covering executions Michael Graczyk, a parishioner at a Catholic church in Montgomery County, Texas, has personally witnessed more than 400 executions of Texas inmates in death penalty cases in his career as a journalist. An Associated Press reporter since 1983, Graczyk retired last year and still freelances for AP, continuing to witness executions, including 9 scheduled through the end of this year. "When you walk into the death chamber, you check your emotions at the door. I usually check my emotions at the prison gate," he said. "I've gotten to know many of the inmates through interviews. I also have sentiments for the families of the victims, who have to wait 10 or 20 years for the punishment to be carried out." Since Catholic teaching is pro-life, from conception to natural death, Graczyk reconciles the two parts of himself with a Scripture passage. "I look to the biblical passage 'render unto Caesar what is Caesar's.' Since this is the government doing these, I can remain faithful to the teachings of the church," Graczyk told the Texas Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. "The Catholic Church many times has been alone in its protection of life from conception to natural death. Liberals opposed to capital punishment are often times in favor of abortion. Conservatives are against abortion, but then favor the death penalty," he said. Executions used to be front-page news and network TV news regularly covered them, but now they are relegated to inside pages or a few seconds of a sound bite. "Back in the 1980s, it used to be a really big deal and significant media event. Executions should never be considered routine, but there does seem to be a public acceptance of it," he said. Hundreds of protesters would show up, many times for midnight candlelight vigils that included both pro-death penalty and anti-penalty protesters. "Some of those were Sam Houston University students who came from down the road in Huntsville. Now maybe there is a core group of protesters ranging from 1 to 2 dozen who show up in the heat, rain or cold," he said. But studies have not been able to conclude whether capital punishment is a deterrent for others not to commit crime. "I've interviewed hundreds of inmates and none of them said that capital punishment would have prevented them from crime," he said. 2 of the 9 scheduled for execution by the end of the year are part of the group of prisoners who escaped in 2000 and were convicted of fatally shooting a 31-year-old police officer on Christmas Eve in Irving. One of the toughest cases Graczyk remembers covering is the dragging death of an African American man, James Byrd Jr., killed 21 years ago in a hate crime on a secluded road outside Jasper. 2 white men were executed in the case, John William King, executed this past spring, and Lawrence Russell Brewer was put to death in 2011. A 3rd participant, Shawn Allen Berry, was sentenced to life in prison. "Emotionally, the Jasper cases were real tough. We went to Jasper, saw the 3 guys arrested, went to the asphalt road where it happened and there was still blood," he said. He also recalled covering the execution of the 1st woman on death row since the Civil War. Karla Faye Tucker was given a lethal injection in 1998 for killing 2 people with a pickax during a burglary. But Graczyk said he doesn't see any strong enough movement to stop executions in Texas. "It remains a hot topic, but there is no appetite in the Texas Legislature to stop it. The U.S. Supreme Court may shut it down again like they did in the 1960s until executions were resumed a decade later," he said. In 1964, judicial challenges to capital punishment resulted in a de facto
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., DEL., N.C., FLA., ALA.
Oct. 8 TEXAS: Jury deliberates penalty for man convicted of killing 3 people at car wash in 2013 The crime On Sept. 29, 2013, 3 men were murdered at the Royal Wash Mobile Detailing and Car Wash Service at 393 Ave E in Stafford. The manager, Harvey Simmons, 34; his uncle, Johnny Simmons, 59; and another employee, Donntay Borom, 18 were all killed. LaMelvin Dewayne Johnson, 41, was charged with capital murder in the killings. Evidence at his trial showed that Harvey Simmons fired Johnson and that Johnson became angry, went to his car and came back with a pistol that he used to kill the 3 men. Witnesses said that, after shooting all 3, Johnson went back to where Harvey Simmons was lying on the ground, stood over him and fired several more shots into his body. The trial Johnson's trial began on Sept. 18, 2019. After about two weeks of testimony and two hours of deliberation, jurors found Johnson guilty of capital murder, and the trial moved into the punishment phase. Jurors had 2 choices: sentence Johnson to death by injection or life in prison with no possibility of parole. The punishment phase During the punishment phase of the trial, prosecutors argued that Johnson would continue to be a threat to society if allowed to live, even if he were confined in prison, and deserved the death penalty. They introduced his past criminal record, which included arrests for assault, evading arrest and illegal possession of a gun. They also presented Johnson's record during his detention awaiting trial. Johnson was written up for various violations, including fighting with other inmates seven times. The jury was shown a security video of Johnson knocking another inmate to the floor in one of those incidents. The defense argued that mitigating circumstances called for giving Johnson life without parole. Those circumstances, it said, included a childhood spent in poverty and chaos during which he often saw his father beat his mother and was beaten himself when he tried to protect his mother. Johnson also had a history of suffering from depression that went untreated until he was jailed awaiting trial, the defense said. The sentence After about a week of hearing testimony in the punishment phase, juror retired for about six hours and returned a sentence of life without parole. They found that Johnson would be a continuing threat to society but that the mitigating circumstances called for the more lenient sentence. (source: click2houston.com) ** Suspect in Trooper Sanchez’s shooting pleads not guilty Victor Alejandro Godinez pleaded not guilty to 3 charges during a formal arraignment hearing Monday. Before the hearing got underway Monday, 389th state District Court Judge Letty Lopez appointed Edinburg-based criminal defense attorney O. Rene Flores to represent Godinez. The appointment was made to avoid having to delay the hearing once again after Godinez appeared without an attorney for a 2nd straight week. During the Sept. 30 arraignment hearing, the court questioned Godinez’s ability to retain an attorney, after Godinez told the court he would speak with his mother about retaining one, and the case was reset for Monday morning. Godinez, after briefly conferring with Flores, pleaded not guilty to 1 count of capital murder and 2 counts of attempted capital murder. A Hidalgo County grand jury handed down a capital murder indictment last month shortly after Sanchez died Aug. 24 as a result of complications during surgery to treat injuries he suffered during the April shooting. As is common with capital murder cases, the death penalty remains on the table up to the time of the trial, at which time the state would have to announce to the court how they would proceed. Godinez is accused of shooting Sanchez, 48, on April 6 after the suspect fled a car crash the trooper responded to on North 10th Street and Freddy Gonzalez Drive in McAllen. The 24-year-old man is accused of running away after shooting Sanchez once in the head and once in the shoulder. Sanchez went through intense rehabilitation and multiple surgeries after the shooting. However, he succumbed to his injuries on Aug. 24, following a surgery in Houston. 2 Edinburg police officers caught up with Godinez in the 1500 block of South Maltese in Edinburg. He’s also accused of shooting at those officers, who eventually apprehended him east of Mon Mack Road and State Highway 107. The officers were not hit and police say they recovered a .357 revolver authorities say Godinez used in the shooting. Godinez was indicted earlier this year on separate attempted capital murder charges related to shooting at the officers, and was represented by Sergio Muñoz. However, after the hearing Monday, the state is expected to ask the court to consolidate those charges into the capital murder case. Godinez remains jailed on $3 million in bonds and is expected back
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., N.C., USA
Oct. 7 TEXAS: Murderer must die, Texas appeals court rules, despite victim’s family’s opposition An appeals court has rejected a lower court’s recommendation that urged judges to spare the life of a death row inmate or give him another sentencing hearing because prosecutors lied during his trial. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a ruling Wednesday saying that Paul David Storey has to die, despite an impassioned plea from the parents of the man he murdered that asked the court to let him live. Storey’s attorneys, Mike Ware and Keith Hampton, said they are considering options, and are now planing to ask the appeals court to reconsider its ruling. Three of the nine judges on the appeals court dissented from the court’s majority opinion. “The opinion says two things,” Ware said. “It’s OK for a lawyer to lie and say untrue things to the jury and to the judge, and it’s OK for the prosecutor to cover up that lie and the courts will allow that lie to go forward. I refuse to accept that is the law.” The court postponed Storey’s execution days before he was scheduled to die. Glenn and Judy Cherry, the parents of Jonas Cherry, the murder victim, said they never wanted to see their son’s killer put to death and that they told prosecutors early on about their feelings concerning the death penalty. Attorneys for Storey argued that the Cherrys told prosecutors about their opposition to the death penalty, yet during the sentencing phase of the trial, the state argued that everyone in the family was in agreement with the use of the death penalty. Christy Jack, then a Tarrant County prosecutor who is now a partner at Varghese Summersett, told the jury: “And it should go without saying that all of the Jonas’ [the victim’s] family and everyone who loved him believe the death penalty is appropriate.” Appellate judges sent the case back to a lower court to figure out the truth. Visiting State District Judge Everett Young ruled that Storey’s sentence is entitled to further review on multiple constitutional grounds, which include a violation of his right to due process, the suppression of mitigating evidence by prosecutors, the introduction of false evidence to a jury, and his right to a fair punishment hearing. Jack and another prosecutor, Robert Foran, have always maintained that Storey’s defense attorneys were told how the Cherrys felt about the death penalty prior to the trial. The appeals attorneys representing Storey now say the defense attorneys were never told about the Cherrys’ opposition to the death penalty. The appellate court said in its opinion that it does not often go against trial judges. But in this case, it did. “In an unprecedented move, the highest criminal court in Texas reversed Judge Young’s decision and reinstated the death sentence,’ Jack said. “The Attorney General’s Office will be seeking a new execution date. There really is nothing more to say at this point.” Opinion cites an absence of evidence The appeal judges ruled that there is no evidence that shows that one of Storey’s appellate lawyers, Robert Ford, did not know about the Cherrys’ death penalty stance and argues that Ford could have discovered how the father felt through the exercise of reasonable diligence. Young found that Ford, who is dead, did not know that the victim’s family members opposed the death sentence for Storey. But the appeals court said that finding is not supported by the record. The appeals court also said that while Ford had a good reputation as a diligent attorney, there was no evidence in the record that he was diligent in this case. If this ruling is allowed to stand, attorneys will be placed in the difficult position of assuming that all statements from prosecutors are lies, Hampton said. Those attorneys will also be forced to contact the family members of victims to determine their positions on laws like the death penalty. “The last thing that people want is to hear from the lawyers of the person who has been convicted of murdering their family members,” Hampton said. Storey’s legal team is exploring all possibilities including asking for intervention from elected officials, Hampton said. With a recommendation from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, the governor has the power to commute Storey’s death penalty sentence. “We just had the Amber Guyger trial,” where the victim’s brother forgave a convicted killer, “and that’s what the Cherrys want to do,” Hampton said. “And instead of letting something beautiful happen, we are getting interference from the state’s highest court.” An appellate judge who wrote in support of the majority opinion pointed out that what a prosecutor says during closing arguments is not evidence. That judge also says in his opinion that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient enough to withstand any objections about the death penalty from the victim’s relatives. The
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., NEV., USA
Oct. 5 TEXASstay of 2 impending executions Texas Courts Halt 2 Imminent Executions Texas state courts have halted the executions of 2 condemned prisoners who had been facing imminent execution dates. On October 4, 2019, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed the October 10 execution of Randy Halprin and directed a Dallas trial court to consider his claim that the religious bigotry of the judge who presided over his case denied him a fair trial before an impartial tribunal. The previous day, a Henderson County District Court judge withdrew the death warrant that had scheduled Randall Mays to die on October 16, amid concerns that Mays may be mentally incompetent. The twin rulings were a dramatic development in the continuing saga involving the Lone Star State’s efforts to execute 13 prisoners in the last 5 months of 2019. A DPIC analysis of those cases found that they raised troubling questions of innocence, significantly flawed legal proceedings, junk science, and diminished culpability arising from one or more of mental illness, intellectual disability, youthfulness, and chronic exposure to trauma. Supported by a coalition of national and local Jewish organizations, Halprin, who is Jewish, filed petitions in the state and federal courts seeking a stay of execution and a new trial based upon recently discovered evidence of his trial judge’s virulently anti-Semitic statements and beliefs. He supported his claim with affidavits from court personnel who said that his trial judge, Vickers Cunningham, disparaged Halprin as “a f***in’ Jew” and “g**damn k**e,” and made racist comments about his Latino co-defendants. One court employee said Cunningham had bragged that, during their trial, “[f]rom the w**back to the Jew, they knew they were going to die.” Halprin’s defense team began investigating Cunningham’s possible anti-Semitic bias after learning from a report in The Dallas Morning News in 2018 that Cunningham had put provisions in his will that conditioned his children’s inheritance upon marrying a straight, white Christian. Halprin’s current counsel, assistant federal defender Tivon Schardl, praised the state court’s decision, as “a signal that bigotry and bias are unacceptable in the criminal justice system.” “A fair trial requires an impartial judge, and Mr. Halprin did not have a fair and neutral judge when his life was at stake,” Schardl said. Mays’ death warrant was withdrawn by Henderson County District Judge Joe Clayton after defense lawyers moved to have May declared incompetent to be executed. The defense motion said that prison mental health personnel had recently diagnosed Mays with schizophrenia and prescribed him anti-psychotic medication. A forensic psychiatrist reported that Mays’ mental health condition has deteriorated, that he is increasingly delusional and incoherent, and that he claims the prison guards are poisoning the air vents in his cell. Mays was convicted and sentenced to death for killing 2 county sheriff’s deputies. The competency pleading says he believes he is to be executed because he has designed a process for creating renewable energy that threatens the interests of the oil companies. Judge Clayton wrote that he withdrew the execution date so the court could have time to “properly review all medical records submitted.” (source: Death Penalty Information Center) *** "Texas 7" member Randy Halprin wins stay of execution amid claim of anti-Semitic judgeHalprin's lawyers had requested the stay amid allegations that the judge who handled his case made racist and anti-Semitic comments during his time on the bench. Editor's note: This story contains explicit language and has been updated throughout. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted the execution of Randy Halprin on Friday, less than a week before he was to be put to death. Halprin, one of the infamous "Texas Seven" — who were convicted in the 2000 murder of a police officer during a more than month-long prison escape — had recently argued that his trial was biased because his judge was "a racist and anti-Semitic bigot." Halprin, who is Jewish, said in his latest appeal that former Judge Vickers Cunningham had described Halprin as “a fuckin’ Jew” and “goddamn kike” shortly after the trial. Cunningham also admitted to putting stipulations in his will that his children could only receive inheritance by marrying a straight, white Christian, as was first reported by The Dallas Morning News in 2018. The Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas’ highest criminal court, stopped Halprin’s execution, set for next Thursday, and sent the case back to the Dallas County trial court for further review of the claims. "A fair trial requires an impartial judge – and Mr. Halprin did not have a fair and neutral judge when his life was at stake," one of Halprin's attorneys, Tivon Schardl, said in a statement
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, MASS., FLA., MISS., OHIO
Oct. 4 TEXASimpending execution Next Thursday, 10 October 2019, World Day against the Death Penalty, Randy Halprin is scheduled to be executed in Texas. The Community of Sant’Egidio has published an urgent appeal on her website to stop this execution. It can be sent online to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles – and to Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Because this execution is scheduled on such a particular day I invite you to all sign this petition and ask others to do the same. Just click on the following link: http://nodeathpenalty.santegidio.org/ [nodeathpenalty.santegidio.org] Thank you ! (source: Annemarie Pieters, Community of Sant’Egidio) * Judge won’t reduce bond for Border Agent accused of killings A judge in Texas has declined to reduce the bond for a U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of killing 4 women last year who prosecutors say were sex workers. KGNS-TV says the judge in the border city of Laredo on Thursday denied the bond reduction request for Juan David Ortiz. Ortiz, who is charged with capital murder , remains in Webb County jail on $2.5 million bond. Those testifying at the hearing included Erika Pena , who told investigators she escaped from Ortiz’s truck after he pointed a gun at her. She ran to a state trooper who was refueling his vehicle and, with her help, authorities were able to find Ortiz and arrest him in September 2018. The district attorney has said he’ll seek the death penalty in the case. (source: Associated Press) * False witness: why is the US still using hypnosis to convict criminals? For decades, US law enforcement has used ‘forensic hypnosis’ to help solve crimes – yet despite growing evidence that it is junk science, this method is still being used to send people to death row. In January 2016, Charles Flores, a Texas prisoner, was moved to death watch, where inmates awaiting execution spend their final months. Seventeen years earlier, Flores had been convicted of murdering a woman in a Dallas suburb in the course of a robbery, a crime he says he did not commit. All of his appeals had been denied and his lethal injection was scheduled for 2 June. Flores’s new neighbour on death watch, who was due to die in two weeks, gave him the name of his attorney, Gregory Gardner. Gardner specialised in fighting capital punishment convictions and had helped this man take his case to the US supreme court. Flores wrote to Gardner, telling him about the troubling course his trial had taken. No physical evidence had been presented to tie him to the murder, his defence had failed him in multiple ways and, perhaps most troublingly, the only eye witness who claimed to have seen him at the scene of the crime had been hypnotised by police during questioning. Hypnosis has been used as a forensic tool by US law enforcement and intelligence agencies since the 2nd world war. Proponents argue that it allows victims and witnesses to recall traumatic events with greater clarity by detaching them from emotions that muddy the memory. In the case that led police departments across the country to begin using forensic hypnosis, a school bus driver in California, who had been abducted and buried alive with 26 students in an underground trailer, later accurately recalled most of the licence plate of his abductors while under hypnosis. (All 27 captives survived the ordeal, after they dug themselves out of the trailer with a piece of wood.) That was in 1976. In recent decades, the scientific validity of forensic hypnosis has been called into question by experts who study how memory operates, especially in police interviews and courtrooms. It is one example of a growing number of forensic practices – including the analysis of blood spatter patterns and the study of what distinguishes arson from accidental fires – that prosecutors once relied on to secure convictions, but which are now considered to be unreliable. “The breadth of scientific error in forensic disciplines is breathtaking,” Ben Wolff, an attorney for Flores, told me. After reading about Flores’s case, Gardner got in touch with a hypnosis expert named Dr Steven Lynn. As a young psychologist in the 1970s, Lynn was a “true believer” in the power of hypnosis to retrieve memories, he later testified in a hearing in Flores’s case. But when Lynn began to test this assumption, he found that in study after study, hypnosis actually harmed subjects’ recall. It led them to “recover” at least as many false memories as accurate ones, while increasing their confidence in the memories’ accuracy. “Maybe they’re having a very vivid experience during hypnosis, but that experience is not necessarily a truthful experience,” Lynn told the court. After contacting Lynn, Gardner filed an appeal before the highest criminal court in Texas. He based the appeal on a law passed in Texas three years earlier, in May 2013, known as the junk
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., FLA., MISS., LA.
Oct. 3 TEXAS: Death Watch: Judge's "Horrible Bigotry" Not Enough to Force New TrialThe 5CA has denied Randy Halprin's plea as his death date nears The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals doesn't dispute that the judge in Randy Halprin's trial was a racist. But in its Sept. 23 ruling, the 5CA says there's nothing it can do about it now that will help Halprin, a member of the notorious Texas 7, scheduled to be executed Oct. 10. Halprin's attorneys allege that his trial was biased beyond repair and a new one is in order. The 1st sentence of their appeal to the 5CA reads: "The Honorable Vickers Cunningham, the presiding judge at Randy Halprin's capital trial, is a racist and anti-Semitic bigot who described Halprin – a Jewish man – as 'that fuckin' Jew' and a 'goddamn kike.'" Cunningham presided over most of the trials of the Texas 7, a group of inmates who broke out of prison in 2000 and robbed a sporting goods store, then shot down Irving police officer Aubrey Hawkins when he responded to the alarm. They hid out for months before a tip to the television show America's Most Wanted led authorities to Colorado, where they apprehended 6 of the 7 men in 2001 (one killed himself to avoid capture). One after another, the defendants received death sentences from Cunningham; 4 have already been executed. Patrick Murphy, whose execution was stayed in March after he'd asked for a Buddhist priest to attend to him in the death chamber, is now scheduled to die in November. Cunningham's bigotry came to light 15 years after the trials, when he was running in the 2018 Republican primary for a seat on the Dallas County Commissioners Court. Cunningham's brother told The Dallas Morning News about the living trust Cunningham had set up for his children – allowing them to receive shares of their inheritance only upon marrying straight white Christians. In a video interview with the News, Cunningham said, "I'm supporting what my beliefs are." When asked if he had ever used the "N-word," he gazed pensively into the air and waited 9 seconds before answering no. This news broke on the last day of early voting in the run-off, in which Cunningham had been heavily favored; he ended up losing by 25 votes. He and other family members deny he is a racist; he still practices law in Dallas today. McKinney said Cunningham took pride in the death sentences he handed out, and remembers him saying, “from the wetback to the Jew, they knew they were going to die.” Halprin's appeal to 5CA is replete with other examples of Cunningham's bigotry. Tammy McKinney, who grew up with Cunningham and knew him well, is quoted as saying he regularly used language "such as 'nigger,' 'wetback,' 'spic,' 'kike,' 'the fuckin' Jews.'" She said Cunningham took pride in the death sentences he handed out to the Texas 7 and remembers him saying, "From the wetback to the Jew, they knew they were going to die." Amanda Tackett, who worked on Cunningham's earlier failed run for Dallas County district attorney in 2006, also remembers his demeaning language. She says Cunningham often used the N-word and would place it in front of a black person's name, as he did with former Dallas D.A. Craig Watkins, whom he referred to as N-word Watkins. Halprin's request for a new trial attracted widespread support; over 100 Jewish attorneys and community leaders filed a brief in his favor, and The Washington Post backed his appeal. Current Dallas County D.A. John Creuzot did not oppose a retrial. But there were technicalities to consider, rules of procedure. The 5CA said that for the appeal to be considered, it had to have something new in it; while Halprin's defense attorneys argued that they didn't know about Cunningham's racism until the 2018 election – and thus it was new evidence – the judges ruled that since Cunningham had been racist all along, it did not constitute new grounds for appeal, and in any event wouldn't matter. For the 5CA to order a new trial, the evidence of bias would have to be so compelling that it would make a normal jury change its verdict; the judges ruled that Halprin's jury would still have found him guilty even if they'd known of Cunningham's bigoted views. Now, time is growing short. Halprin's lawyers will surely ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case and order a new trial, but SCOTUS hasn't replied to questions about their plans. If they don't hear the case, the appeal has nonetheless offered a picture of the judiciary rarely seen, though often suspected. In that regard, the 5CA felt compelled to draw a distinction between Cunningham's views and its own. The statement of principle came in a footnote: "Cunningham's racism and bigotry are horrible and completely inappropriate for a judge." (source: Austin Chronicle) * Man accused of killing trooper appears in court The 24-year-old man accused of killing Texas Department of Public Safety
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., MISS., KY., MO.
Oct. 2 TEXAS: UT Amnesty International chaper holds rally for death row inmate Rodney Reed The UT Amnesty International chapter held a protest Tuesday at West Mall in support of Rodney Reed, who was convicted of murder in 1998 and has been on death row in Texas for 23 years. Amnesty International is the largest human rights organization in the world, and UT’s chapter works to spread awareness about human rights abuses, according to the organization’s websites. A couple dozen protestors encouraged bystanders and nearby students to take flyers and sign clemency letters on Reed’s behalf. Zoe Marshall, a UT Amnesty International officer, said chapter members have been closely following Reed’s case, and they believe the evidence shows he is innocent. She said the chapter’s top priority is engaging with and lobbying for this issue in state government. “This case really matters, not just because it involves the death penalty but because Rodney Reed is an innocent man, and he was not given a fair trial,” history senior Marshall said. “Amnesty International stands for fairness and justice for everyone, especially in an instance where this man could be facing death. It’s a case that has lots of urgency for us right now.” Members of Rodney Reed’s family were also present at the protest, including his brother Rodrick and stepsister Wana. “I have been in support of my brother from day one, and I will continue to support him as long a I have a breath in my body,” Rodrick said. “It’s very important that my family and these students get involved because it affects everybody. It is injustice, and when you do it to one person, you’ve done it to us all.” Public relations sophomore Tavia Zepeda said she believes it was “pretty clear” that Reed’s race and socioeconomic status has to do with him being convicted. “It’s almost a never ending story of white police officers taking advantage of black lives,” Zepeda said. Government senior Jenny Matthews said the fight for justice ultimately rests in the hands of the current generation of college students. “The prelaw students here are going to be the ones trying cases like this in the future,” Matthews said. “We’re the future leaders of America … The people in power seem to have no interest in this. Their only interest is in holding up the status quo. They’re not interested in getting people like Rodney Reed out, and we need to change that.” (source: The (Univ. of Texas) Daily Texan) FLORIDA: Jury questioning begins for Michael Jones' death penalty trial in murder of Diana Duve Michael Jones sat passively in court Tuesday as a few people called for jury duty described in detail what they knew about how he’s accused of killing Diana Duve in 2014 after the couple met for drinks at a local bar. Most of the pool of 33 potential jurors called to court for Jones' death penalty trial said they didn’t know anything about the former wealth management advisor, or Duve’s homicide, which police said happened in the early hours of June 20, 2014. Jones, 36, who arrived in court wearing a suit jacket, white dress shirt and blue tie, is charged with 1st-degree murder and faces the death penalty if convicted. He's pleaded not guilty and is being held at the Indian River County Jail. By midday, 6 prospective jurors had been released from serving on his jury. Michael Jones murder trial: “Could you vote for death?” Some recited facts they’d read in recent media reports and during the past 5 years. A few recalled that Jones and Duve had dated and that he’s accused of strangling her then putting her body in the trunk of her car and driving it to another county. Duve was discovered in the trunk of her Nissan Altima in a Melbourne parking lot. Jones was charged with murder days later. One woman who was cut from the jury said she worked as a medical biller and knew Duve, who was a nurse at Sebastian Medical Center. The woman said one of her nurse friends was close to Duve. Duve's parents, Lena and Bill Andrews and other family members silently watched the proceedings in court. One man dismissed from the jury pool said it didn’t matter if state prosecutors proved Jones was guilty, he’d still find him innocent out of fear of retribution if there was a conviction. A couple of people said they’d already decided he was guilty and it would be difficult to set aside their strong opinions about the case. As 15 jurors were quizzed one at a time, Jones sat at the defense table with his public defender legal team, taking notes on a legal pad. He showed no emotion but seemed to be listening to each person as they spoke. After a lunch break, prosecutors and Jones’ lawyers continued speaking to a group of 25 people covering a range of questions about their beliefs related to the death penalty and their experience with or exposure to domestic violence. "I'm interested in your personal feelings about the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., FLA., ALA., MISS., LA.
Oct. 1 TEXAS: Jurors to decide if Haskell a future danger to society Aurielle Lyon sobbed as she identified 4 of her nieces and nephews from their autopsy photos. She will never see Bryan Stay, 13, graduate from high school. She won’t watch Emily, 9, go through childhood with her cousin and closest pal, or witness Rebecca, 7, develop her wacky fashion sense into her teenage years. Her own son can’t become best friends with Zachary, 4. “My mind just goes to the experiences I should have had with these children,” Lyon said Monday during the 1st day of testimony in the punishment phase of convicted murderer Ronald Haskell, who admitted to killing the children and their parents. The aunt painted a portrait of the lively children, fatally shot at their Spring home in 2014 along with their mother and father. Earlier in the day, Haskell’s lawyers told jurors that the man, found guilty of capital murder last week, is no longer a future danger to society and should be given life without parole. Harris County prosecutors are urging the jury panel to choose the death penalty. “He is who he is,” prosecutor Samantha Knecht said during the punishment phase’s opening arguments. “He’s a manipulator, he’s a con artist, and he’s a future danger.” (source: Houston Chronicle) Convict accused of killing Sikh Texas deputy will likely face death penalty, judge saysThe deputy had gained national attention in 2015 when he was permitted to grow a beard and wear a turban on the job to observe his Sikh faith. The man accused of gunning down a Texas deputy who was celebrated when he was permitted to grow a beard and wear a turban on the job to observe his Sikh faith will likely face the death penalty, a judge said Monday. Robert Solis, 47, was arrested on suspicion of capital murder in connection with the shooting of Harris County Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal during an afternoon traffic stop on Friday. Evidence does not suggest the "ambush-style" attack was a hate crime, police said. Solis, who was convicted of kidnapping in 2002 and was wanted for violating parole at the time of the shooting, will be held without bond, Harris County Judge Chris Morton said during a court hearing Monday morning. "It's a likely outcome that death be the sentence here," Morton added, according to NBC affiliate KPRC. Dhaliwal, 41, attracted national attention in 2015 when the Harris County department became the nation's largest sheriff's office to allow a Sikh to police while wearing his articles of faith, including turban and beard. The 10-year veteran of the department was known locally as a public servant with a big heart, who volunteered his time assisting with hurricane relief not just at home, but also in Puerto Rico and Louisiana. "He was an exemplary person, exemplary deputy. He was just loved by so many people, his teammates, community and everybody," said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. "He just had this positive energy about him and this light that unfortunately was dimmed much too soon." A candlelight vigil will be held for Dhaliwal on Monday night and his funeral is scheduled for Wednesday, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. He is survived by 3 children, a wife and a brother. Gonzalez said the department was receiving calls from people from all over the country who want to come to the services to honor Dhaliwal. (source: NBC News) NORTH CAROLINA: Warrant: Cary man told landscapers he shot his wife, asked them to call 911 A Cary man told lawn workers that he killed his wife and asked them to call the police on Sept. 19, according to newly released search warrants. According to the documents, 59-year-old Michael Sauls admitted to shooting his ex-wife in the backyard of their home at 2201 Piney Plains Road, near the Crossroads Plaza shopping center. Police were called around 11:45 a.m. to the couple's home. When officers arrived, they found Patsy Sauls suffering from a gunshot wound and a black revolver in the grass nearby. Patsy Sauls was rushed to WakeMed in Cary where she died from her injuries just after 12:30 p.m. Michael Sauls was still at the scene and was taken into custody without incident. In an interview room, immediately following his arrest, Michael Sauls kept asking if his wife was OK and if she was alive, according to the search warrant. Sauls also asked for a lawyer and refused to answer any questions. A landscaping crew was working nearby when they heard the shots, and workers told police that Michael Sauls met them on the front lawn and asked them to call the police because he had shot his wife. One of the lawn workers told police that Michael Sauls said, "Call the police, I just shot my wife. It was a domestic, I just shot her." The worker remained on the phone with the 911 dispatcher until police were at the scene. The couple's son told police that the couple was still
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, S.C., FLA., TENN., OHIO
Sept. 29 TEXAS: Texas officer who made headlines for his turban and beard killed in traffic stop Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal was one of the first to wear the traditional Sikh articles of faith as part of his uniform A Texas police officer who made headlines for being one of the first to wear traditional articles of faith as part of his uniform was killed during a routine traffic stop on Friday Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal, a sheriff’s deputy in Harris county, which includes Houston, died after a suspect appeared to ambush him and shoot him in the back of the head. The alleged shooter, Robert Solis, 47, was arrested and charged with capital murder. Although it was not immediately clear what punishment prosecutors would seek, Texas is a death penalty state. “I’m sad to share with you that we’ve lost one of our own,” Harris county sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on Twitter. Dhaliwal “was unable to recover from his injuries”, he said. “There are no words to convey our sadness. Please keep his family and our agency in your prayers.” Dhaliwal was shot about 12:45pm on Friday. Footage from a dashboard camera showed him having a conversation with the driver, then walking back toward his squad car. The driver’s door swung open and he ran up behind Dhaliwal and shot him, the Houston Chronicle reported. Dhaliwal, 42, had worked at the sheriff’s office for 10 years, starting as a detention officer in his late 20s. He was promoted to a deputy in 2015. He had 3 young children and was a practicing Sikh. Dhaliwal made national headlines when he was granted permission to wear a turban and beard as part of his uniform in one of America’s largest sheriff’s offices. “Sandeep was a trailblazer for the Sikh-American community,” Bobby Singh, south-east regional director for the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said on Twitter. “He served not just the Sikh community here in Houston with honor and dignity, but all of his community.” Houston mayor Sylvester Turner called Dhaliwal “a bold and groundbreaking law enforcement officer in the eyes of our county, our state, our nation”. Texas senator Ted Cruz said the state was “mourning a hero”. The turban is a traditional sign of faith for Sikh men, which typically covers uncut hair and is worn with a long beard. According to the Sikh Coalition, a civil rights group, a turban is “a public commitment to maintaining the values and ethics of the tradition, including service, compassion, and honesty”. In 2012, Washington DC became the 1st major US police force to make explicit accommodations for Sikhs to preserve their appearance on duty. An estimated 500,000 Sikhs live in the US as a whole. Dhaliwal tried to fit into American culture when he was young by shaving his beard and removing his turban, he told India Abroad, an Indian-American news weekly. He was once told he could only mop floors because of his poor English, the outlet reported. “I found it very insulting, and decided I will work overtime on my education and my English,” Dhaliwal said. He later started a trucking business, according to CBS. Dhaliwal changed careers in his late 20s and took a “huge pay cut” to join the sheriff’s department, Gonzalez told India Abroad. Permission to wear his articles of faith took time to wind through the department but was eventually made possible by a formal police department policy. Dhaliwal said the permission to wear his turban and beard “was a very American thing to do. You can be a good American and you can practice freely your religion.” According to India Abroad, the same day it was announced Dhaliwal could wear his articles of faith, he was given the day off. Instead, Dhaliwal went to work, to show his new uniform to his colleagues. (source: The Guardian) SOUTH CAROLINA: After sentencing Tim Jones to death, jurors still shaken, haunted by child murders 3 months after one of South Carolina’s most bone-chilling trials — the death penalty case of a Lexington County father who killed his 5, young children — jurors remain haunted by what they saw and heard. “I think about it every day,” said a 52-year-old woman with the initials, L.A., who served as an alternate juror until being excused near the trial’s end. “Many times during the trial, I went in the jurors’ bathroom and just wailed – cried my eyes out.” Jurors have stayed silent since June 13, when they unanimously voted to put Tim Jones Jr. to death for the 2014 murders of his children in the family’s Red Bank home. They endured some of the most harrowing testimony ever uttered in a S.C. courtroom — testimony that left veteran police officers and news reporters, seated in the court room, blinking back tears and recoiling in horror at the parade of gruesome evidence. Since then, nine of the 18-member jury panel have spoken to The State Media Co. about their life-changing experience. The trial left some traumatized,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, MASS., PENN., FLA., TENN., MO., OKLA., CALIF.
Sept. 28 TEXAS: Utah man convicted in murder of ex-wife's family, faces death penalty A Utah man, who claimed to hear voices in his head when he killed 6 members of his former wife’s family in Texas, faces the death penalty after a Houston jury rejected his insanity defence and found him guilty of murder on Thursday, officials said. District Attorney Kim Ogg in Harris County, Texas announced the verdict against Ronald Lee Haskell, 39, and said in a statement that prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the July 2014 slayings, which included 4 children. Police said Haskell posed as a FedEx delivery man when he entered the Stay family’s suburban Houston home, looking for his former wife, but instead only found his ex-wife’s sister and family. He tied up the family and shot and killed his former sister-in-law Katie Stay, 34 and her husband, Stephen Stay, 39 and their children Bryan, 13, Emily, 9, Rebecca, 7 and Zach, 4, Ogg said in a statement. A 5th child, Cassidy Stay, then 15, was left for dead but survived. Media accounts of the trial say that Cassidy Stay described family members begging for their lives, and she prayed her uncle would not shoot. She survived the head-shot by playing dead, media including NBC News reported. A forensic psychiatrist testified at the trial that Haskell suffered from a severe mental illness that prevented him from knowing right from wrong, media reported. Prosecutors said that Haskell was motivated by vengeance against the family and not mental illness. “There was never a reasonable doubt that Haskell meticulously planned and carried out the slaughter of the Stay family,” Ogg said in a statement. Prosecutors tried him only on 2 counts of murder, as part of a strategy to hold other potential charges in abeyance in case there are unforseen legal issues, media reported. Haskell’s attorneys were not available for comment early on Friday. The sentencing phase of the trial is scheduled to begin Monday. (source: ottawacitizen.com) MASSACHUSETTS: Death penalty bill for cop killers before lawmakers As police, elected officials and loved ones honored the line-of-duty loss of police officers in a ceremony outside the State House Friday, lawmakers inside have before them a bill that would allow the death penalty for anyone convicted of killing a cop. “Men and women in law enforcement put their lives on the line every day for us. They are under attack, they never know if something as simple as a traffic stop could result in their death,” state Rep. Shaunna O’Connell told the Herald. “I think we have to send a strong message that we will not tolerate the murder of law enforcement officers and if you murder a police officer, you could face that same fate.” O’Connell (R-Taunton) filed a bill with Rep. David DeCoste (R-Norwell) to allow death sentences for anyone over the age of 18 who is convicted of murdering a police officer. DeCoste and O’Connell said they look forward to a hearing on the bill before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, which has yet to be scheduled. The state representatives were prompted to act by the deaths of Weymouth Sgt. Michael Chesna, Yarmouth Sgt. Sean Gannon and Auburn police officer Ronald Tarentino, who were all shot dead in the line of duty in recent years. The Chesna family are constituents of DeCoste, who has long been a proponent of instituting the death penalty in Massachusetts. “It is important for us as a society to be able to say that some behavior is absolutely unacceptable and that in some cases, we have the option of taking a person’s life,” DeCoste said, “of executing a person for egregious activity, egregious crimes.” DeCoste noted that Gov. Charlie Baker indicated support for the concept after Chesna died last summer, when Baker stated, “I certainly do support the death penalty for people who kill a police officer, for a lot of reasons.” The bill also has the support among law enforcement professionals, including Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes, president of the Major City Chiefs Association, who said the level of concern has “heightened significantly” after the recent deaths of Massachusetts police officers. “People understand that police officers that are out there are sworn to protect and serve members of public. To take the life of an officer, the consequences should be the highest, the death penalty,” Kyes said. “We hope that it would never have to be used. We hope no one would take the life of a law enforcement officer, but we should put it on the books, lay it out there to act as a deterrent.” (source: Boston Herald) PENNSYLVANIA: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rejects Petition to Rule Death Penalty Unconstitutional The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a petition on behalf of 2 death row inmates to declare capital punishment unconstitutional in the commonwealth. The 1-page ruling, which came down Thursday but
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., TENN., KY., ILL.
Sept. 27 TEXAS: Texas Recently Murdered a Man for a Crime Experts Say He Did Not CommitLarry Swearingen was put to death for a murder and a rape that the science says he did not do. His last words were those of Jesus Christ. Pious Catholic barbarians say things like, “Oh well! La di dah! If he’s innocent then he’ll to heaven! No harm done! Let’s kill some more because of something something retributive justice! Ignore the teaching of Holy Church calling for the abolition of the death penalty. I have a book here by Ed Feser that says killing prisoners is fine so that makes it okay to fight the Church. And besides, abortion is worse and so it’s okay if I wink at the murder of an innocent man. It’s just one guy. God won’t notice if I cheer for just one murder.” What they don’t seem to grasp is that pious barbarians could have said the same thing when they murdered Jesus. The thing is, the fact he went to heaven did not do his murderers any good. That’s the thing: the death penalty doesn’t just kill the victim. It kills the soul of the person who cheers for the death of innocents in the lust for the blood of the guilty. The problem with the death penalty is, then, basically tripartite: 1.It kills people who do not need to be killed. 2.It kills completely innocent people in order to kill people who do not need to be killed. 3.It makes the people who kill them into people who are eager to kill completely innocent people in order to kill people who do not need to be killed. In addition to this, it makes Catholic death penalty defenders into people willing to make war on the Church in order to become people who are eager to kill completely innocent people in order to kill people who do not need to be killed. (source: patheos.com) DNA Testing Could Save This Texas Man’s Life. But Prosecutors Are Opposing It.Rodney Reed, set to be executed on Nov. 20, is innocent of a rape and murder, his lawyers say, and untested evidence will prove it. But prosecutors have pushed back, arguing the evidence is contaminated. For the last 2 decades, Rodney Reed has said he can prove he is innocent of the crimes that landed him on Texas’s death row. The key to his freedom, he has argued, lies in a box in the Bastrop County clerk’s office. The box contains items—including a belt, name tag, shirt, and two beer cans—found in 1996 near the dead body of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. On these items, Reed has maintained, is biological material from Stites’s killer, and testing will show that material does not belong to him. Prosecutors, however, have said that Reed, who in 1998 was convicted of raping and murdering Stites, could not be innocent. They have opposed testing the evidence, which includes the murder weapon, as the case has wound its way through state and federal courts. In August, Reed’s attorneys filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, arguing that executing him without first conducting DNA testing is a violation of his constitutional rights. And on Tuesday, they asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider his innocence claims. In that filing, Reed’s attorneys asked whether convicting or executing a person who is innocent violates the U.S. constitution. Reed is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Nov. 20. As DNA testing has become more advanced, so has its ability to provide crucial information that can reconstruct who was present at a crime scene. Test results, as part of a larger case, can carry enormous weight: They can help prove that someone is innocent and in some cases, identify the person who committed the crime. Or they can do the opposite and confirm a person’s guilt. In death penalty cases, testing has saved lives. Of the 166 people exonerated from death row since 1973, 21 of those were freed using DNA testing. Still, some prosecutors continue to oppose this testing to re-examine convictions in capital cases. Vanessa Potkin, director of post-conviction litigation at the Innocence Project, told The Appeal that during her time there, at least 6 people have been executed, despite the availability of DNA testing that could prove their innocence. Prosecutors fought against the testing in all of those cases. “We have a human system we know it doesn’t always get it right,” she said. “It’s pretty shocking when you get to a capital case, where the stakes couldn’t be higher, to encounter prosecutorial resistance to simple tests that could get to the truth.” There were no eyewitnesses to support the state’s theory that Reed abducted Stites on her way to work; raped and murdered her; and abandoned her body. Instead, the state’s case hinged on three sperm cells found inside Stites. Prosecutors argued at trial that the cells, which a 1996 DNA test confirmed were Reed’s, proved that he had raped Stites just before killing her. Reed’s attorneys have not disputed that the sperm belongs to their client.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, PENN., FLA., OHIO, TENN.
Sept. 26 TEXASexecution Texas executes Robert Sparks after brutal deaths of his stepsons, wifeSparks was convicted in the 2007 stabbing deaths of his family members in his Dallas home. His lawyers sought to stop his execution with arguments of intellectual disability and a jury tainted by a bailiff wearing a syringe tie. 12 years ago, Robert Sparks told police he killed his wife and 2 stepsons, ages 10 and 9, by repeatedly stabbing them in their Dallas home in the middle of the night. He then confessed to raping his 12- and 14-year-old stepdaughters. He told investigators his family had been poisoning him; he wanted to be tested for poison and for the girls to undergo polygraph tests, according to court records. He said a voice told him to kill his family. On Wednesday, Sparks, 45, was executed for the deaths of his stepsons, Raekwon Agnew and Harold Sublet Jr. His siblings and nephew watched through a viewing glass in one room, according to a prison witness list. 7 of the victims' family members — including the 2 women he raped as girls and Harold's father — had indicated they would watch from a room next door. But only six actually did so, according to a spokesperson, who did not know which relative was absent. “I am sorry for the hard times and what hurts me is that I hurt y’all," he told his family in his final statement. "... I love y’all. I am ready.” At 6:39 p.m., he was pronounced dead on a prison gurney, 23 minutes after being injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital. Starks' lawyers fought until the end for more time and resources to fully prepare a filing arguing that Sparks was intellectually disabled, which would have legally barred him from execution. And they had long contended his trial was tainted by false testimony and a bailiff who wore a tie with a syringe on it during jury deliberations. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeal about an hour before his execution was scheduled to begin, but Justice Sonia Sotomayor took note of the bailiff's attire, calling it "disturbing." "That an officer of the court conducted himself in such a manner is deeply troubling," she wrote in the order, though she didn't disagree with the court's denial since legal issues with the tie had already been argued in lower courts. "I nevertheless hope that presiding judges aware of this kind of behavior would see fit to intervene in future cases by completely removing the offending item or court officer from the jury’s presence." Sparks was diagnosed as psychotic with delusions and with schizoaffective disorder, according to court records. At his trial, Dallas County prosecutors detailed how Sparks called police after the murders and later confessed on tape to killing the boys, as well as his wife, Chare Agnew. According to WFAA-TV, Sparks said he had been recording his family because he thought they were poisoning him, and he threatened to kill Agnew if he found out she had been. When everyone was asleep in September 2007, he stabbed his wife 18 times in their bed, court records state. He then woke the boys and stabbed them repeatedly — Harold at least 45 times. At the trial, emotions ran high. The court was disrupted several times by Harold’s father, who jumped up and ran toward Sparks when attorneys detailed how his son died, according to court records. A large blade found in the gallery disrupted court proceedings one day. And closing arguments were delayed in the guilt phase of the trial after Sparks apparently tried to kill himself, The Dallas Morning News reported. Ultimately, he was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in December 2008. In recent court filings, Sparks’ attorneys asked for funds to hire a neuropsychologist to determine if Sparks was intellectually disabled. They said things like an IQ score of 75 (a borderline number for the disability), his struggle in special education classes, and poor learning and memory indicate a strong possibility Sparks would be ineligible for the death penalty under U.S. Supreme Court precedent that forbids execution of the intellectually disabled. “Without a stay of execution, it is likely that Texas will execute an intellectually disabled man,” Sparks’ attorney, Jonathan Landers, wrote in a federal district court filing. Intellectual disability is often discussed in Texas death penalty cases since the U.S. Supreme Court slammed Texas for a second time in February and invalidated its method of determining whether a death penalty inmate is disabled. Sparks’ lawyers said the appeal wasn’t brought forward earlier because Texas’ old method of determining intellectual disability was more restrictive than current medical standards. They argued that now Sparks’ low functioning, in addition to his borderline IQ of 75, “necessitates a full intellectual disability analysis.” A federal district court judge denied the request for funds and a stop to his
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
September 25 TEXASexecution Texas inmate executed for stabbing 2 stepsons to death Robert Sparks was executed via lethal injection for the September 2007 killings of 9-year-old Harold Sublet and 10-year-old Raekwon Agnew in their Dallas home. A Texas inmate who said he's intellectually disabled was executed for fatally stabbing his 2 stepsons during an attack more than 12 years ago in their north Texas home that also killed his wife. Robert Sparks, 45, was executed by lethal injection Wednesday night for the September 2007 slayings of 9-year-old Harold Sublet and 10-year-old Raekwon Agnew in their Dallas home. In his final moments, Sparks uttered these words: "Umm, Pamela, can you hear me? Stephanie, Hardy, Marcus, tell all the family I love them. I am sorry for the hard times and what hurts me is that I hurt y'all, and um, even for y'all too, and Patricia, she wrote me, tell Patricia I wrote her back and to tell y'all what I said. I love y'all. I am ready." Prosecutors say Sparks' attack began when he stabbed his wife, 30-year-old Chare Agnew, 18 times as she lay in her bed. Sparks then went into the boys' bedroom and separately took them into the kitchen, where he stabbed them. Raekwon was stabbed at least 45 times. Authorities say Sparks then raped his 12- and 14-year-old stepdaughters. His attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene, alleging his trial jury was improperly influenced because a bailiff wore a necktie with an image of a syringe that showed his support for the death penalty. Sparks also alleges a prosecution witness at his trial provided false testimony regarding his prison classification if a jury chose life without parole rather than a death sentence. Lower courts and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles turned down requests by Sparks' attorneys to stop his execution. seventh in Texas. Seven more executions are scheduled in Texas this year. On Tuesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stop his execution on claims he was intellectually disabled, saying his attorneys had not presented sufficient evidence to show Sparks was mentally disabled and had failed to raise such a claim in a timely manner. In August, the 5th Circuit did grant a stay for Dexter Johnson, another Texas death row inmate who also claims he is intellectually disabled. In that case, the appeals court ruled Johnson had made a sufficient showing of possible intellectual disability that needed further review. After his arrest, Sparks told police he fatally stabbed his wife and stepsons because he believed they were trying to poison him. Sparks told a psychologist that a voice told him "to kill them because they were trying to kill me." Sparks' lawyers argued he suffered from severe mental illness and had been diagnosed as a delusion psychotic and with schizoaffective disorder, a condition characterized by hallucinations. A psychologist hired by Sparks' attorneys said in an affidavit this month that Sparks "meets full criteria for a diagnosis of" intellectual disability. "Without a stay of execution, it is likely that Texas will execute an intellectually disabled man," Seth Kretzer and Jonathan Landers, Sparks' appellate attorneys, wrote last month in court documents. The Supreme Court in 2002 barred execution of mentally disabled people but has given states some discretion to decide how to determine intellectual disability. However, justices have wrestled with how much discretion to allow. The Texas Attorney General's Office, which called the killings "monstrous crimes," said in court documents that Sparks' "own trial expert testified that he was not intellectually disabled." His attorneys said that at the time of his trial, Sparks was not deemed intellectually disabled, but changes since then in how Texas makes such determinations and updates to the handbook used by medical professionals to diagnose mental disorders would change that. On whether Sparks' jury was improperly influenced by the bailiff's necktie with an image of a syringe, the attorney general's office said the jury foreperson indicated she never saw the tie and had no knowledge of it affecting the jurors. The attorney general's office said the testimony from the prosecution witness on prison classification was corrected on cross-examination. "Sparks committed a heinous crime which resulted in the murders of two young children. He is unable to overcome the overwhelming testimony" in his case, the attorney general's office said in its court filing with the Supreme Court. Sparks becomes the 7th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 565th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. Sparks becomes the 47th condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas since Greg Abbott became governor in 2015. There are currently 7 more executions scheduled in Texas this year. Sparks becomes the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., S.C., OHIO
Sept. 25 TEXASimpending execution Texas set to execute Robert Sparks after brutal deaths of his stepsons, wifeSparks was convicted in the 2007 stabbing deaths of his family members in his Dallas home. His lawyers have sought to stop his execution with arguments of intellectual disability and a jury tainted by a bailiff wearing a syringe tie. 12 years ago, Robert Sparks told police he killed his wife and 2 stepsons, ages 10 and 9, by repeatedly stabbing them in their Dallas home in the middle of the night. He then confessed to raping his 12- and 14-year-old stepdaughters. He told investigators his family had been poisoning him; he wanted to be tested for poison and for the girls to undergo polygraph tests, according to court records. He said a voice told him to kill his family. On Wednesday, Sparks, now 45, is set to be executed in the deaths of his stepsons, Raekwon Agnew and Harold Sublet Jr. Texas officials say his execution for the heinous crime should not be delayed, but Sparks’ attorneys filed multiple appeals within the last month. They fought for more time and resources to fully prepare a filing arguing that Sparks is intellectually disabled, which would legally bar him from execution. And they have continued to contend his trial was tainted by false testimony and a bailiff who wore a tie with a syringe on it during jury deliberations. “Without a stay of execution, it is likely that Texas will execute an intellectually disabled man,” Sparks’ attorney, Jonathan Landers, wrote in a recent federal district court filing. That appeal, along with those filed in state court and the federal appellate court, has been rejected. Final requests to stop his execution reside within the U.S. Supreme Court chambers. Sparks has been diagnosed as psychotic with delusions and with schizoaffective disorder, according to court records. At his trial, Dallas County prosecutors detailed how Sparks called police after the murders and later confessed on tape to killing the boys, as well as his wife, Chare Agnew. According to WFAA-TV, Sparks said he had been recording his family because he thought they were poisoning him, and he threatened to kill Agnew if he found out she had been. When everyone was asleep in September 2007, he stabbed his wife 18 times in their bed, court records state. He then woke the boys and stabbed them repeatedly — Harold at least 45 times. At the trial, emotions ran high. The court was disrupted several times by Harold’s father, who jumped up and ran toward Sparks when attorneys detailed how his son died, according to court records. A large blade found in the gallery disrupted court proceedings one day. And closing arguments were delayed in the guilt phase of the trial after Sparks apparently tried to kill himself, The Dallas Morning News reported. Ultimately, he was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in December 2008. In recent court filings, Sparks’ attorneys asked for funds to hire a neuropsychologist to determine if Sparks was intellectually disabled. They said things like an IQ score of 75 (a borderline number for the disability), his struggle in special education classes, and poor learning and memory indicate a strong possibility Sparks would be ineligible for the death penalty under U.S. Supreme Court precedent that forbids execution of the intellectually disabled. Intellectual disability is often discussed in Texas death penalty cases since the U.S. Supreme Court slammed Texas for a 2nd time in February and invalidated its method of determining whether a death penalty inmate is disabled. Sparks’ lawyers said the appeal wasn’t brought forward earlier because Texas’ old method of determining intellectual disability was more restrictive than current medical standards. They argued that now Sparks’ low functioning, in addition to his borderline IQ of 75, “necessitates a full intellectual disability analysis.” A federal district court judge denied the request for funds and a stop to his execution last month. U.S. District Judge David Godbey said Sparks already had a full analysis before trial, when his IQ score was given, and he was not deemed intellectually disabled. An appellate court also rebuked Sparks for first raising the claim of intellectual disability months before his execution. In final filings before the U.S. Supreme Court, Sparks’ argument hinges on behavior at his trial. His lawyers say false testimony from a witness and a bailiff’s wardrobe affected the jury. Sparks’ lawyers said a state witness falsely claimed at trial that if sentenced to life in prison instead of death, Sparks would automatically be inserted into lower-security housing, providing the chance to eat and socialize with other inmates. Sparks’ attorneys said this influenced the jury to lean toward a death sentence and that it was likely he would have been in more restrictive custody based on his
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., S.C., GA., FLA., LA.
Sept. 24 TEXASimpending execution North Texas man set to be executed for killing family A 45-year-old North Texas man who was convicted of murdering his wife and 2 stepsons before raping his stepdaughter is set to be put to death. Robert Sparks, 45, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Wednesday at the Huntsville “Walls” Unit. That is if the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t step in. Sparks, who has been on Texas death row since his conviction in 2008, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his execution, arguing that the jury specifically relied upon “the false testimony of prosecution expert A.P. Merillat when sentencing him to death. The appeal also claims that the courtroom bailiff wore a syringe tie on the date of jury deliberations, “creating an unacceptable risk of impermissible factors coming into play at trial.” Court records show that just after midnight on Sept. 15, 2007, Sparks put his hand over the mouth of his wife, Chare Agnew, and stabbed her 18 times in her bed. Then, one at a time, he woke up his stepsons — 9-year-old Harold and 10-year-old Raekwon — and stabbed them 45 times each, dragging their bodies into the living and stashing them under a comforter. Next, he went after the girls, raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter on the couch while her younger sister watched. Afterward, he apologized to them for the rapes and murders — but said their mother had been trying to poison him. Sparks was arrested a few days later and tried the following year. If carried out, Sparks will be the 16th person executed in the United States this year and the 7th in the state of Texas. (source: Huntsville Item) *stay of impending execution Texas court halts the execution of Stephen Barbee to consider U.S. Supreme Court precedentThe Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay in Barbee's case. He was set for execution on Oct. 2. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday temporarily stopped the execution of Stephen Barbee. He had been set to die Oct. 2. Barbee, 52, was sentenced to death in Tarrant County in the 2005 murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Lisa Underwood, and her 7-year-old son, Jayden. According to court records, Barbee initially confessed during police interrogation to killing them because he feared Lisa would tell his wife that he was likely the father of her unborn child and that he would have to pay child support. He later recanted the confession, which his lawyer argues was “the product of fear and coercion,” and has since maintained his innocence. The Texas court stopped next week’s execution because Barbee’s attorneys at his short, two-and-a-half day trial, admitted to his guilt, likely in an attempt to secure the more favorable sentence of life in prison without the opportunity for parole. Barbee has said this concession of guilt was against his wishes, that he repeatedly told his lawyers he wanted to maintain his innocence and that his lawyers’ statement was “a complete surprise.” The concession, Barbee argues, is a violation of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. The argument was rejected earlier, but after a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision out of Louisiana, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered further review of the case. In McCoy v. Louisiana, the high court ruled that “a defendant has the right to insist that counsel refrain from admitting guilt, even when counsel’s experienced-based view is that confessing guilt offers the defendant the best chance to avoid the death penalty.” Though the ruling has been raised unsuccessfully in other Texas death penalty appeals, the state appellate court decided Barbee’s case requires an opinion the case's reach. The judges gave the state and Barbee 30 days to file briefs on issues involving the Supreme Court decision. (source: The Texas Tribune) Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present46 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-564 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 47-Sept. 25---Robert Sparks---565 48-Oct. 10Randy Halprin---566 49-Oct. 16Randall Mays567 50-Oct. 30Ruben Gutierrez-568 51-Nov. 6-Justen Hall-569 52-Nov. 13Patrick Murphy--570 53-Nov. 20Rodney Reed-571 54-Dec. 11Travis Runnels--572 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) *impending execution Texas plans to execute a man who says DNA evidence could exonerate himRodney Reed’s lawyers have filed a lawsuit claiming Texas is violating his constitutional rights TEXAS'S DEATH-PENALTY machinery is humming. Last year, the state carried out more than half of America's executions.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, FLA.
Sept. 22 TEXAS: Rodney Reed's family holds rally, asks for re-trialTexas convicted prisoner Rodney Reed's execution date is two months away, but his family continues to protest, hoping to stop the execution scheduled for November. Rodney Reed's family held a rally in Bastrop on Saturday afternoon with supporters, protesting his execution set for Nov. 20. "It's about truth and justice, not just for Rodney, but for all," said Roderick Reed, Rodney Reed's brother. Reed was found guilty of the rape and murder of Stacey Stites in 1996, after DNA tests linked him to her death. Supporters of Reed claim Stites' killer was actually her fiance at the time; they believe Reed is innocent. "It's been hard," said Roderick Reed. "It's been really hard. It's been trying, but at the end of the day we put our faith in God. We trust in God. Sometimes bad things have to happen to bring in the greater good." Reed's family said they won't stop until Reed is out free. It's been decades of supporting him, with a lot of controversy surrounding the case, but they're sure it'll be worth it. "I just thought it was crazy that Texas was trying to execute someone who had a strong claim of innocence, and there wasn't DNA testing and they weren't willing to exhaust that option before," said Wana Akpan, Reed's sister-in-law. (source: KVUE news) FLORIDA: One last court appearance for suspects charged with FSU professor's murder before trial A man and woman charged in the murder for hire of an FSU professor appeared in a Tallahassee court Friday for the last time in jail blues. On Monday, Katherine Magbanua and Sigfredo Garcia faced jurors in their street clothes. The state is seeking the Death Penalty against the alleged triggerman, Garcia. Professor Dan Markel and Wendi Adelson divorced a year before the murder. Prosecutors consider her family un-indicted co-conspirators and believe they paid Garcia through Magbanua for the hit. On Friday, lawyers squared off over whether pages of divorce filings could be admitted. Prosecutor Georgia Cappleman calling them 500 pages of “bad blood”. “He said there may be some limited exceptions to that if they make a more specific objection, but in general they can come in. Not for particular truth of each pleading, but in general to prove the motive for the crime,” said Cappleman. The trial, which begins Monday, could last as long as 3 weeks. It is a case that is being covered by several major news magazines including 20/20 and Dateline NBC. (source: WJHG TV news) ___ 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----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., S.C., GA., ALA., OHIO
Sept. 21 TEXAS: Once his defense, Greco’s sexuality used against him as prosecutors push for death penalty When Daniel Greco was first questioned 3 years ago for the murder of Anjanette Harris and her unborn child, Greco told investigators that he accidentally killed Harris during bondage sex when he bound her and pulled a rubber strap around her neck. His defense attorneys, hoping to get a conviction less severe than capital murder, incorporated this defense in their closing arguments to jurors on Wednesday. That argument ultimately failed, and the jury convicted Greco for capital murder. On Friday, as the trial entered the punishment phase, prosecutors hit hard on Greco’s sexuality as they steered their case toward their goal: seeing Greco get the death penalty rather than a life sentence without a chance for parole.<\P> Prosecutors welcomed 2 women who once had sex with Greco to the witness stand. They both said they believed or were told by friends “it could have been me” who Greco murdered if it were not Harris. Assistant District Attorney Lindsey Sheugit, as she questioned one of the women, presented jurors with letters between Greco and six women while he’s been locked up in the Denton County jail. In the letters, Greco wrote sexually explicit notes to each of them. “I like bad girls, like to talk dirty and be funny, so hit me up,” he wrote one, saying to another, “Thank you for the pics, they really got my juices flowing.” All of this will matter in the context of whether Greco gets to live for the rest of his life among the general populations inside the Texas prison system or live isolated on death row until he is executed. After failing to see Greco acquitted of capital murder, his defense attorneys are now locked in a struggle to prove that Greco was and remains a good person despite making a bad decision to kill Harris. Responding to the rounds of letters the state showed the jury, defense attorney Derek Adame showed the jury through his cross examination of one of the women that inmates, regardless of their convictions, write sexually in letters to former sex partners, something Adame argued is routine and in no way an indication that Greco has no remorse for what he did to Harris. Adame and fellow defense attorney Caroline Simone cross examined witnesses with questions related to how encouraging and supportive Greco is of them. Adame called in one man who lived in the cell next to Greco in the county jail. He, too, talked about how supportive Greco was of him. The waning days of this trial become personal, at times painfully, on Friday for Greco. The state not only plunged into Greco’s sexuality but called his mother, Mary Greco, to the witness stand. Prosecutors asked her questions about her son’s decades-long struggle with drug addiction and about his childhood. In his letters to his mother, Greco, who on previous convictions spent time in state prison, acknowledges how much better the Texas Department of Criminal Justice food is than at the Denton County jail, and how much easier it is to sneak contraband into prison than the county jail. In one letter, Greco wrote his mother that he was remorseful but that he didn’t want to spend life in prison. “I feel like I deserve 20 years,” he wrote, the length of the maximum sentence one can receive after a manslaughter conviction. The punishment phase of the trial will continue at 8:30 a.m. Monday in Denton County 431st District Court. (source: Denton Record-Chronicle) * Valley death row inmate granted stay of execution A Court granted a death row inmate’s request for a stay of execution, court records show. In a Sept. 17 order filed in the Southern District of Texas, U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez granted Juan Raul Navarro-Ramirez’s motion for a stay — adopting, in its entirety, the “Report and Recommendation,” order from Magistrate Judge Peter E. Ormsby filed in July, the record states. Navarro-Ramirez, 35, who has been sitting on death row in Livingston, Texas, for nearly 15 years, was convicted of 2 counts of murder in December 2004 and given a sentence of death in connection with a failed drug rip against rival gangmembers that left 6 men dead in January of 2003. Navarro-Ramirez, and several fellow members of the Tri-City Bombers, wearing law enforcement gear, participated in the robbery of drugs from a rival gang at a stash house in Edinburg. Ultimately, 6 men were killed, and at least 10 co-defendants arrested in connection with the incident, including Juan Arturo Villarreal Cordova, Robert Garza, Jeffrey Juarez, Reymundo Sauceda, Robert Cantu, Salvador Solis, Juan Miguel Nunez, Juan Ramirez and Jorge Espinosa Martinez. Originating from the Pharr, San Juan, and Alamo area as a breakdancing crew called the “Tri-City Poppers,” the crew began their criminal enterprise first with petty crimes, and then
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, ALA., KY., TENN., MO., CALIF., ORE., USA
Sept. 20 TEXAS: 1 Year Later: The trial of alleged BP serial killer Juan David Ortiz Editors Note: 1 year later, the Laredo Morning Times is taking a look at the fallout from the serial killings that shook the Gateway City to its core last September. LMT reporters talked to the families affected the most after the series of murders and a resulting investigation ended with the arrest of Border Patrol agent Juan David Ortiz. One year later, the aftershock from the crimes can still be felt in Laredo. Ortiz appeared in court for a bond hearing on April 28, but his first attorney, Joey Tellez, asked for more time to amend the application seeking bond reduction. The hearing was reset for Aug. 8, but it was delayed and will be held Oct. 3 in 406th District Court Judge Hale's court. Webb County District Attorney Isidro "Chilo" Alaniz said the state is seeking the death penalty. Unlike other murder cases, capital murder is a murder case that factors in other elements, such as the circumstances of the case and how serious it was. Capital murder includes killing someone under the age of 10, killing police officers or firefighters while carrying out their duties, or killing multiple people in the same episode. 1 Year Later This story is 1 section of a 6-part series that details the fallout of the serial murders that affected the Gateway City last September. "The decision to seek death is always a sensitive decision, because there's a lot that goes into that decision," Alaniz said. "It's punishment reserved for the most egregious, the most heinous and horrific murders that take place." When it comes to motive, Alaniz said Ortiz made statements about the victims' work, but that more aspects of the motive will appear as the trial goes on. "There were statements made by him, and I know people always want to know the reason why someone did something," he said. "That's something that we will eventually develop in the trial. It's complicated." Alaniz said anything can happen between now and 2021. With capital murder, he said the jury must answer two questions to determine either the death sentence or life without parole: if there are any mitigating factors or if the suspect is a future danger. "Is there a probability this person will commit crimes in the future?" he asked. "Mitigating factors go to circumstances surrounding the case: medical history, mental history, diseases, defects, other types of issues that the jury can consider." Ortiz is held at a $2.5 million bond, and it is up to the judge to decide when or if there will be a bond reduction hearing. "We will continue to argue that the bond be maintained at that amount," Alaniz said. "We consider him a danger to society, and we consider him a flight risk, just by the nature of the offense and the punishment." (source: Laredo Morning Times) ALABAMAfemale may face death penalty Lauderdale County capital murder suspect appears in court ? -- The suspect could be facing more charges. A capital murder suspect in Lauderdale County, Peggy Hall, went before a judge Thursday morning. The district attorney's office says she killed her ex-husband, Randall Bobo, at his home on County Road 130. Hall is being held at the Lauderdale County Detention Center. She is being held without bond right now, and she could face additional charges. It's unclear what those could be yet. The district attorney said they charged her with capital murder, because she came into Bobo's home with the intent to burglarize the place, and then ended up shooting him. The district attorney says grandchildren saw it all happen. Bobo and Hall have 2 adult children together, and the prosecutor says all of that will factor into how they proceed. "This is death penalty eligible, so we've got to make that decision in the next coming days and weeks if we will ask for the death penalty. It's certainly early in the investigation. We know what happened with the actual murder, but there are still some other items that need to be checked out," Chris Connolly, the Lauderdale County District Attorney, said. He also said once the investigation is complete, Hall could be facing more charges. In court Thursday morning, the judge read Hall's charges to make sure she understands them. She has a court-appointed attorney. We're waiting to hear when her next court appearance will be. (source: WAAY news) KENTUCKY: Should people under 21 be eligible for the death penalty?The Kentucky Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether the death penalty should be an option for those ages 18-21. The Kentucky Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Thursday over whether the death penalty should be an option for those younger than 21 in the state (it is already banned for those under 18 nationwide). The death penalty is a contentious issue across the United States; some argue we shouldn’t have it at all,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA., FLA., ARK.
Sept. 19 TEXASimpending execution Death Watch: Failures at Trial Anchor Last-Chance Appeal for SparksIf SCOTUS does not act, Sparks will be the 3rd man executed in Texas this month Robert Sparks was deep in the throes of a psychotic break at the time of his crimes – that is not disputed. He was hearing voices; he thought his wife was trying to poison him. He stabbed her and his 2 stepsons to death and raped his 2 stepdaughters, but he felt he'd be exonerated. Instead he was sentenced to death in 2008 in one of the most emotionally charged trials in the history of Dallas County. Now, his execution date approaches on Wednesday, Sept. 25. Claiming insanity isn't a good strategy to overturn a death sentence; by law, defendants have to be not merely mentally ill, but uncomprehending of what is happening to them. Thus Sparks' lawyers, in what could be his final appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court, are looking elsewhere: to the flawed testimony of expert witness A.P. Merillat and inappropriate conduct of bailiff Bobby Moorehead. Merillat was for many years a go-to witness for prosecutors in Texas in capital murder cases. His specialty was convincing juries that a defendant would be a future danger, a requirement to sentence a person to death. His testimony, according to the appeal, helped send at least 15 men to death row, including Sparks. But Merillat's star was tarnished in 2012 when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals condemned his testimony as false in the trials of Adrian Estrada and Manuel Velez. In both cases, Merillat assured jurors that without a death sentence the defendants would land in general population, able to attack fellow prisoners in the mess hall, the library, the visitation area. But Merillat was mistaken; because of the viciousness of their crimes, both prisoners would have been segregated. The CCA knocked their death sentences down to life without parole, and Merillat was out of a job as an expert witness. As a witness for the prosecution in Sparks' trial, Merillat again insisted Sparks would land in general population. Only upon cross-examination did he admit, reluctantly, that Sparks might be segregated from other prisoners. But at the end of cross-examination, he bizarrely doubled down on his original message. In Sparks' prior appeals, the CCA and 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, in the words of the current filing, that "Merillat's false testimony was corrected when he briefly flirted with the truth on cross examination." Sparks' lawyers say Merillat's testimony, taken as a whole, left the jury with a false impression, thus violating due process. The other major claim in Sparks' appeal concerns the conduct of bailiff Moorehead, who wore a black tie with a white needle emblazoned on it the last day of the trial. His attorneys argue the display violated Sparks' right to an impartial jury, a claim the CCA and 5CA have previously rejected, ruling the defense failed to prove that the jury saw the tie. But the appeal notes that Moorehead sat directly behind Sparks, 10 yards from the jury – "the media present at trial saw the tie, defense counsel saw the tie ... and portions of the jury box provided an unobstructed view of the tie." If SCOTUS does not act, Sparks will be the 3rd man executed at Huntsville this month – Mark Soliz was put to death on Sept. 10 and Billy Crutsinger on Sept. 4 – and the 7th since the start of the year. Another 8 are scheduled to die between now and December 11. To date, 564 Texans have died at the hands of the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. (source: Austin Chronicle) Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present46 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-564 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 47-Sept. 25---Robert Sparks---565 48-Oct. 2-Stephen Barbee--566 49-Oct. 10Randy Halprin---567 50-Oct. 16Randall Mays568 51-Oct. 30Ruben Gutierrez-569 52-Nov. 6-Justen Hall-570 53-Nov. 13Patrick Murphy--571 54-Nov. 20Rodney Reed-572 55-Dec. 11Travis Runnels--573 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) * After Ranger testifies, end in sight for Little Elm capital murder trial Jurors in the capital murder trial against Daniel Greco are expected to begin their deliberations Wednesday after both prosecutors and defense attorneys stopped calling witnesses and admitting evidence Tuesday afternoon. The day ended with Judge Jonathan Bailey storming out of the 431st District Court, saying he was “ticked” after Greco’s defense attorneys submitted several requests
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, CONN., PENN., FLA., OHIO
Sept. 18 TEXAS: Supporters Rally for New Trial for Rodney Reed, Sentenced to Death by All-White Jury in ?‘Jim Crow Trial’ in Texas Supporters of Rodney Reed are calling for a new trial for the Texas death-row prisoner sentenced to death in 1998 by an all-white jury in a racially charged trial. On September 10, 2019, Reed’s family and supporters protested Texas’ death penalty outside the governor’s mansion in Austin. Their plea for a new trial based on evidence of his innocence has been joined by a growing chorus of supporters, which include the Innocence Project, the victim’s cousin, Texas state representative Vikki Goodwin, and Sister Helen Prejean. Reed, who is black, faces a November 20, 2019 execution date for the 1996 murder of a 19-year-old white woman, Stacey Stites, with whom he was having a secret affair. He has consistently maintained his innocence. Reed has argued that Stites was murdered and that he was framed by her fiancé, Jimmy Fennell, an Austin-area police officer who was later fired and jailed based on allegations that he had kidnapped and raped a woman while on duty. In August, the Innocence Project filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court seeking DNA testing of evidence from the crime, including the belt that was used to strangle Stites. Sandra Reed, Rodney’s mother, has been advocating on his behalf for years. “He never had a chance,” she told the supporters at the rally. In an interview with The Guardian, she said “[r]ace was a big factor in this case. A ‘Jim Crow trial’, an all-white jury, none of his peers.” Rodney Reed has said he and Stites had kept their affair secret because it would have caused a scandal in their small Texas town and because Stites feared Fennell’s reaction if he found out. According to the Innocence Project court filing, witnesses said they had heard Fennell on several occasions threaten to kill Stites if she cheated on him, including saying “he would strangle her with a belt.” The lawsuit says that, in addition to the sexual abuse charges that led to his conviction, Fennell had been the subject of several complaints about “racial bias and use of excessive force at the Giddings police department where he worked.” The Innocence Project pleading says Fennell gave “inconsistent statements” about his activities on the night of the murder. According to the pleading, “prominent forensic pathologists” have concluded Fennell’s testimony that Stites was abducted and killed on her way to work is “medically and scientifically impossible.” As Reed’s scheduled execution date approaches, he has received support from some prominent and unusual sources. Heather Campbell Stobbs, a cousin of Stacey Stites, has publicly expressed doubts about Reed’s guilt. “Too many things point to the ineptitude of law enforcement when they first started working the case,” she said. Texas state representative Vikki Goodwin is calling for a retrial, or for Reed to be removed from death row. “I don’t think anyone can say he is guilty without a shadow of a doubt,” Goodwin said. “I don’t believe we should carry out the death penalty when there’s doubt about the truth of the case.” She pointed to other cases of innocence, saying, “I believe history has shown that in too many cases what seems to be true and just has turned out not to be so when new information or new scientific advances occur.” Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking and the recently released River of Fire, has also spoken out on Reed’s behalf. “Racial discrimination infects the death penalty system as a whole and we see it in this case,” her spokesperson, Griffin Hardy, said. “It’s disturbing to see these kind of biases and prejudices that can ultimately cost someone their life.” (source: Death Penalty Information Center) *** Goliad County grand jury returns murder indictments for 2 accused of fatal shooting A Goliad County grand jury has returned murder indictments for 2 people arrested in connection with the shooting of a vehicle carrying a mother, a father and their infant child. Arrested on capital murder charges, Goliad residents Daniel Mendoza, 18, and Jade Ayana Culpepper, 26, are now charged with murder among other charges returned during a Sept. 6 grand jury, said Assistant District Attorney Tim Poynter. In Texas, capital murder can carry the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. It is defined, among other criteria, as the murder of a person during the commission of a kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated sexual assault or arson. Grand jury proceedings and testimony are confidential, and Poynter declined to specify why jurors may have decided against capital murder indictments. “It just wasn’t supported by the evidence,” he said. Goliad County sheriff’s deputies and investigators arrested Culpepper and Mendoza, initially charging them with the June 13 capital
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., S.C., LA., OHIO, MO., USA
Sept. 17 TEXASimpending executions Stephen Dale Barbee's exertion is scheduled to begin at 6 pm CDT, on Wednesday, October 2, 2019, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. 52-year-old Stephen is convicted of the murder of 34-year-old Lisa Underwood, and her 7-year-old son Jayden at their Fort Worth, Texas home on February 19, 2005. Lisa was also 7-months pregnant at the time of the murder. Stephen has been on death row in Texas for the last 13 years. Stephen was a year away from graduating high school, when he dropped out, however, he eventually obtained his GED. Stephen lost both his siblings when they were each 20 years of age, resulting in a downward spiral for a time. However, he eventually got his life back on track, working as a police officer and operating a tree-trimming and concrete cutting business with his ex-wife, Theresa, from whom he was divorced. Stephen was also a member of a local church, where he worked with children. Lisa Underwood, a bagel shop owner in Fort Worth, Texas, met Stephen Barbee, a customer, and the 2 eventually started seeing each other. In July 2004, Lisa became pregnant and believed Barbee was the father (DNA tests would later prove Barbee was not the father). Barbee married another woman at the end of 2004. On February 19, 2005, Lisa’s family and friends held a baby shower for her, but she never arrived. They contacted the police who began investigating her disappearance. Police checked our her home, which did not appear to have been broken into. However, Lisa’s blood was discovered throughout the living room. Police also visited Theresa (Barbee’s ex-wife), to inquire about Barbee’s whereabouts. Theresa urged Barbee to turn himself in. On the day of Lisa’s disappearance, unbeknownst to Fort Worth detectives, Barbee was stopped by a deputy sheriff along a service road. Barbee was observed to be wet and covered in mud. He gave a false name to the deputy and fled on foot. On February 21, 2005, Lisa vehicle was discovered in a creek, about 300 yards from where the deputy had stopped Barbee. The windows were down and in the rear of the vehicle, police discovered cleaning solution. Later that day, police tracked Barbee, his current wife, and another co-worker, Ronald Dodd, to a job site in Tyler, Texas. All agreed to go to the Tyler police station for questioning. In his first interview with police, Barbee stated that he had not seen, nor heard from Lisa in months. After his initial statement, Barbee asked to use the bathroom, and while in there, confessed to a detective that he killed Lisa. Barbee said he started a fight with Lisa and held her face down on the carpet until she stopped breathing. He then held his hand over Jayden’s mouth and nose until he stopped breathing. Barbee attempted to defend himself, saying he was just trying to calm them down, however, evidence showed that both bodies had been severely beaten. He said he committed the crime because he thought Lisa was going to ruin his family and his relationship with his wife. This confession was not recorded. Barbee then gave another, recorded, confession to the police, however this confession was not allowed to be presented at the trial. The day after confessing, Barbee took police to the location of the 2 buried bodies. A few days later, Barbee recanted his confession. Barbee was convicted and sentenced to death on February 27, 2006. Please pray for peace and healing for the family of Lisa and Jayden. Please pray for strength for the family of Stephen Barbee. Please pray that if Stephen is innocent, lacks the competency to be executed or should not be executed for any other reason, that evidence will be presented prior to his execution. Please pray that Stephen may find peace through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Randy Ethan Halprin is scheduled to be executed at 6 pm CDT, on Thursday, October 10, 2019, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. 42-year-old Randy is sentenced to death for his part in the murder of 29-year-old Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins on December 24, 2000, in Irving, Texas. Randy has spent the last 16 years on death row in Texas. Randy was born in Texas. He was raised in the Jewish faith, including having a Bar Mitzvah when he was 13. He dropped out of school after the 11th grade. Randy would work as a laborer and perform maintenance prior to being arrested. In 1997, Randy was convicted and given a 30-year sentence for severely beating an 18-month-old child he was babysitting. The child suffered two broken legs, two broken arms, and a skull fracture. When he confessed, Randy claimed that he was upset that the child wouldn’t stop crying. Randy was serving his time at the John B. Connally Unit, a maximum security state prison near Kenedy, Texas, when he joined six other inmates - 38-year-old
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.J., PENN., USA
Sept. 16 TEXAS: Federal defender files claims on behalf of Rubio An attorney representing convicted child killer John Allen Rubio wants the conviction tossed, claiming Rubio’s appointed defense did not represent him properly and that his case was handled by a district attorney that was steeped in scandal and misconduct. Jeremy Schepers, supervisor of the Capital Habeas Unit and federal public defender, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus this month in the U.S. federal court in the Southern District of Texas, “declaring unconstitutional and invalid his (Rubio’s) conviction for capital murder as well as the resulting death sentence.” A jury in 2010 found Rubio guilty in the beheading of Julissa Quesada, 3; John E. Rubio, 14 months; and Mary Jane Rubio, 2 months. The 3 children were those of his common-law wife Angela Camacho. The children were smothered, stabbed and mutilated, according to Brownsville police investigators. Their decapitated bodies were stuffed inside trash bags and found near a bedroom door. According to a confession Rubio made to police, he admitted to killing the children in 2003 because he believed there was an evil presence in them. He even asked one of the officers who first arrived at the crime scene to place him under arrest, according to the officer’s statement. Rubio, 39, a Brownsville native, remains on death row at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas. Camacho, 39, pleaded guilty to murder in 2005 and was sentenced to life in prison and remains in custody at the Christina Melton Crain Unit in Gatesville. She is eligible for parole March 3, 2043. Schepers lists 9 claims for relief in why Rubio’s conviction should be tossed out and he be given a new trial. Mental Health According to the writ, Rubio’s attorneys failed to include the appropriate mental health expert on his defense team. Rubio was being represented by attorneys Ed Stapleton and Nat C. Perez Jr. “Trial counsel’s failure to assemble the minimum required defense team prejudiced Rubio at the competency trial, and at both the guilt/innocence and punishment phases of the trial on the merits,” the writ alleges. Had Rubio’s defense team retained a consulting mental health expert, “they would have recognized the need to present testifying experts regarding, among other things, Rubio’s exposure to extreme trauma beginning in utero and continuing into adulthood,” the writ states. According to that document, Rubio suffered from neuropsychological deficits, significant brain damage and various psychiatric conditions. “All such testimony would have been highly relevant to Rubio’s competency at the time of trial, his sanity at the time of the offense, and punishment,” the writ further states. During Rubio’s February 2010 competency trial, his mother, Hilda Barrientes, testified that she drank a 6 pack of beer on a daily basis while she was pregnant with her son. She also admitted to at one time doing cocaine, but couldn’t recall if she did the drug while pregnant with Rubio. Barrientes testified that Rubio would make comments to her that “God would tell him he was the chosen one.” She testified that she did not try to get any help for him “because I didn’t think he had a problem.” Ineffective Counsel The writ claims that defense attorney Stapleton was in over his head. This was his 1st death penalty case. Instead of hiring a qualified mental health expert, Stapleton decided that he would be the team’s mental health “expert,” the writ says. “He failed to recognize the need to pursue red flags that Rubio suffers from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE), brain damage, severe trauma, and other psychiatric issues,” the writ stated. According to the writ, Stapleton’s failures prejudiced Rubio’s competency trial, as well as the guilt/innocence and punishment phase of the trial. The writ also states that during a state habeas hearing both Stapleton and Perez acknowledged that they “provided ineffective assistance to Rubio.” At an Aug. 8, 2010 state post-conviction hearing, Stapleton and Perez both said they provided ineffective assistance to Rubio, the writ claims. “Stapleton testified that he was ineffective under oath, and Perez yelled, from the jury box: We provided ineffective assistance of counsel,” the writ states. The jury deliberated for 3 hours and found Rubio guilty on 3 counts of capital murder. State Misconduct Armando R. Villalobos was the sitting Cameron County district attorney at the time of Rubio’s capital murder trial. It’s alleged in the writ that Villalobos didn’t give Rubio’s defense attorneys favorable pleas or dismissals because there were no hefty payoffs to be given to Villalobos. “While Villalobos was abusing his position for personal enrichment, and that of his office, he was also personally prosecuting Rubio, an indigent defendant who could not afford to buy
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ARIZ., CALIF., USA
Sept. 14 TEXAS: Death penalty waived in Royse City capital murder caseThe office of Hunt County District Attorney Noble D. Walker Jr. has waived the death penalty in connection with a capital murder case out of Royse City. 2 men will not be sentenced to death by lethal injection if they are convicted of capital murder in connection with the February homicides of 2 people in Royse City. Hunt County District Attorney Noble D. Walker Jr. said his office filed the motion Friday with the 354th District Court in the cases against Dearis Rayvone Davis, 19, of Arlington and Calvin Earl Rayford, 18, of Rowlett. “We have waived the death penalty as a punishment based on the evidence in the case,” Walker said, declining further comment. Davis and Rayford are each being held in lieu of $1 million bond on charges of capital murder of multiple persons, filed by the Royse City Police Department. Both were taken into custody May 29 and were indicted in August on the capital murder charges by the Hunt County grand jury involving the deaths of Courtland Trowell-Wilmore and a juvenile male whose family is asking for his name to be withheld from publication. The Royse City Police Department reported it had found 2 people dead in the Woodland Creek subdivision during the early hours of Feb. 3, with a 3rd individual believed to have left the scene. One of the two victims was a high school student at the time of his death, and the other was a former student. Capital murder carries a sentence upon conviction of lethal injection or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Davis will now need a new attorney, as he had been represented by the West Texas Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases program, which only handles death penalty cases, while Rayford has hired a defense attorney. Arraignment hearings in their cases are scheduled later this month in the 354th District Court. (source: Greenville Herald-Banner) PENNSYLVANIA: Commentators Criticize Pennsylvania Death Penalty, Call for Reform or Abolition As the September 11, 2019 Pennsylvania Supreme Court argument date approached in 2 cases challenging the constitutionality of the state’s death penalty, commentators and stakeholders weighed in on the case in op-eds across the state. These opinion articles highlighted the work of a June 2018 report by the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Committee on Capital Punishment that found deep flaws in the administration of the Commonwealth’s death penalty, as well as the experiences of exonerees and victims’ family members. Daniel Filler, a law professor and member of the Task Force’s advisory committee, wrote in The Philadelphia Inquirer, “Our legislators have not stepped up to ensure a fair and effective process for deciding [death penalty] cases. Pennsylvania is the only state in the country that does not fund a statewide capital defender program or contribute to the costs of representing indigent capital defendants. Each county must fund the defense individually, and most simply cannot afford the price tag. Without adequate representation, Pennsylvania has sentenced numerous defendants to death only to later find that they were severely mentally ill or innocent or intellectually disabled and thus ineligible for a death sentence.” Filler urged the court to step in to act where the legislature had failed, saying, “Our society has rules and norms and at some point a court can no longer ignore a death penalty system that does not conform to them.” The (Allentown) Morning Call published an op-ed by former federal prosecutor Thomas Farrell, who wrote, “As a former prosecutor, I am deeply troubled by this fact: Pennsylvania does not choose fairly those it condemns to death.” He noted the racial and geographic disparities that plague Pennsylvania’s death penalty, saying, “If Pennsylvania wants a death penalty system worthy of its ultimate power, then it needs to start by reforming its process for capital prosecutions. Life or death for a murder defendant depends more than anything on in which of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties he is prosecuted. … The pernicious effects of race, whether the defendant’s or the victim’s, continue to distort prosecutorial and sentencing decisions.” Farrell concluded, “when it comes to the death penalty, an imperfection can mean a wrongful execution. Almost as momentous, it means we the people — through our legislature, courts, prosecutors, and juries — have acted unjustly. That risk has persisted for over 40 years despite our best efforts to get it right. It’s time to stop.” In a separate op-ed for The Legal Intelligencer, law professor Jules Epstein—who authored one of the amicus briefs filed in support of the prisoners’ challenge—echoed those sentiments, presenting specific data on racial bias in Pennsylvania. “At its simplest, the data conclusively show the following—white victim cases result
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., FLA., OHIO, TENN., OKLA., USA
Sept. 13 TEXAS: El Paso shooting: Prosecutor plans to pursue death penalty after capital murder indictment The man accused of opening fire in an El Paso, Texas, Walmart, killing 22 people and wounding several others, has been indicted on a capital murder charge, the El Paso County District Attorney's Office said following the grand jury's Thursday decision. District Attorney Jaime Esparza intends to seek the death penalty in the August 3 massacre, according to a statement. "The District Attorney's Office will continue to work hard to ensure that justice is done and is committed to assisting the victims through the judicial process," the statement said. Capital murder is the highest charge in Texas, Esparza's office said, and is punishable by death or life in prison without parole. In the days after the deadly rampage, suspected gunman Patrick Crusius of Allen, Texas, was placed on suicide watch based on the recommendation of medical staff, El Paso County Sheriff's spokeswoman Leslie Antunez told CNN on Tuesday. The 21-year-old is being held at the El Paso County Detention Facility without bond. He is accused of opening fire on unsuspecting shoppers at the Cielo Vista Walmart in the west Texas city near the Mexican border. He surrendered and identified himself as the shooter following the massacre, police said. He told police that he was targeting Mexicans, according to an arrest affidavit. While in custody, the suspect has been "cold" in his interactions with police, authorities told CNN last month. Days after his arrest, Police Chief Greg Allen told reporters that the suspect had been cooperative, though he's shown no remorse and "appears to be in a state of shock and confusion." The suspected shooter is believed by investigators to have authored a racist, anti-immigrant document that stated his disdain for Hispanic immigrants whom he said were overtaking America. The 4-page document, titled "The Inconvenient Truth," was published on the online message board 8chan about 20 minutes before the shooting, authorities said. The writing is filled with white supremacist language and racist hatred aimed at immigrants and Latinos, and the author says he opposes "race mixing" and encourages immigrants to return to their home countries. (source: CNN) PENNSYLVANIA: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Hears Argument on Constitutionality of Death Penalty The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard oral argument on September 11, 2019 on whether to exercise its extraordinary “King’s Bench” powers to determine whether the death penalty, as currently applied in the Commonwealth, violates the Pennsylvania constitution. If the court agrees to reach the constitutional issue, it has the power to strike down the death penalty, uphold its constitutionality, or issue directives or standards regarding its future use. Assistant federal defender Timothy Kane of the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania argued on behalf of death-row prisoners Jermont Cox and Kevin Marinelli, who challenged the state’s death penalty after a June 2018 report by the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Committee on Capital Punishment raised numerous concerns about the way the death penalty is administered in Pennsylvania. Before a packed courtroom in Philadelphia, with an overflow audience listening in an adjacent room, Kane described what he called a broken and arbitrary death-penalty system skewed by an overly broad statute and plagued with racial and geographic disparities. Kane asked the court to declare the Commonwealth’s death penalty unconstitutional and to reduce the sentences of the state’s 137 death-row prisoners to life in prison without parole. Kane’s argument emphasized the unreliability of Pennsylvania death-penalty verdicts, noting that courts have overturned more than half of the 441 death sentences imposed since the Commonwealth reinstated the death penalty in 1974. “The reliability of the system as a whole is cruel and the systemic problems affect every case,” Kane argued. “If the system is cruel, it’s incumbent for this court to say so.” The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office joined with the defenders in calling for the end of the Commonwealth’s death penalty. Supervisory Assistant District Attorney Paul George, of the D.A.’s appeals division, told the court that the systemic provision of deficient representation to indigent capital defendants has produced a constitutionally indefensible death penalty. Paul cited a study by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office of 155 death sentences imposed in Philadelphia from 1978-2017. In that forty-year period, he said, 72% of the death verdicts had been overturned, most as a result of ineffective defense representation. “When you’re talking about having a 72% error rate, you’re not talking about a reliable system,” George said. Ronald Eisenberg, a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., FLA., ALA., OHIO
Sept. 12 TEXAS: Family and nun fight for retrial as man convicted by all-white jury faces death Supporters of Rodney Reed, scheduled for execution in November, point to racial bias and questionable evidence “He never had a chance.” That’s what Sandra Reed said at the start of a rally in front of the Texas governor’s mansion calling for a retrial for her son, Rodney Reed. Reed, 51, has been on death row in Texas since 1998 and is scheduled to be executed on 20 November for murder. But an array of supporters even beyond his own family, ranging from some relatives of the woman he was convicted of killing to a world-famous nun, argue that Reed is innocent and is a casualty of a criminal justice system beset by errors and racial bias. In 1998, Reed, who is African American, was convicted – by an all-white jury – of the 1996 murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. His family has spent years trying to get his case overturned and he is represented by the Innocence Project, the not-for-profit group that focuses on DNA testing to exonerate wrongly convicted people and campaigns to reform the system. Reed’s lawyers filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Texas last month, after repeatedly being thwarted in their demands for DNA testing of the murder weapon, a leather belt used to strangle Stites. His lead attorney, Bryce Benjet of the Innocence Project, said continued refusal to perform the test violates Reed’s constitutional rights. And Reed’s case has caught the attention of the Texas state representative Vikki Goodwin. “I don’t think anyone can say he is guilty without a shadow of a doubt,” Goodwin said. “I don’t believe we should carry out the death penalty when there’s doubt about the truth of the case.” During the original trial, DNA from the Stites case matched Reed, but he said he was having a secret affair with her to avoid scandal in a small Texas town, especially because Reed is black and Stites white. Reed’s legal team believes new evidence presented at a retrial would prove that Jimmy Fennell, Stites’s fiancé at the time of her death, was the murderer. Fennell was a police officer for Georgetown, near Austin, at the time, and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for a different crime stemming from allegations that he kidnapped and raped a woman while on duty. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of actions to get Reed a retrial. Three weeks before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection, on 5 March 2015 in the Texas state penitentiary, his lawyers filed an appeal to the criminal appeals court, citing multiple problems with his conviction and urging a stay of execution and a retrial. That same month, the US supreme court declined to review Reed’s case. In the August 2019 lawsuit, the Innocence Project lawyers claim there are “multiple additional items of evidence” collected during the murder investigation in a “condition suitable for DNA testing”. The suit also argues that that Fennell couldn’t keep his testimony straight and failed his polygraph tests and that he acted “suspiciously” following Stites’ death, including closing his bank account and disposing of his truck. Fennell’s “inconsistent statements” about his whereabouts on the night of 22 April 1996 are significant because the condition in which Stites’s body was found on 23 April indicates she was “murdered several hours before” her body was found, the suit claims. “Prominent forensic pathologists have reached the un-rebutted conclusion that Fennell’s testimony that Ms. Stites was abducted and murdered while on her way to work around 3:30AM is medically and scientifically impossible,” the lawsuit claims. Several complaints were filed against Fennell alleging “racial bias and use of excessive force at the Giddings Police Department where he worked”, and he was overheard several times saying that if Stites cheated on him, “he would kill her” and “he specifically stated he would strangle her with a belt”, the suit said. Fennell was initially a suspect but investigators focused on Reed after his DNA was discovered inside Stites’s body, and a jury concluded that Reed raped and strangled Stites after intercepting her on the way to work, a timeline his lawyers argue has been discredited. Supporters think there are other issues at play. “Race was a big factor in this case. A ‘Jim Crow trial’, an all-white jury, none of his peers,” Sandra Reed told the Guardian. Benjet said there was data showing racial disparity in “most if not every” aspect of the US criminal justice system. Sister Helen Prejean, an anti-death penalty activist and author of the book Dead Man Walking, visited with Reed’s family in 2015 as his previous execution date neared. Her book about the death penalty and the subsequent film changed many people’s perspectives in the US on capital punishment. She tweeted about Reed’s case in 2015. She has followed the case
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., S.C., OHIO, WYO., CALIF., USA
Sept. 11 TEXASexecution Texas Inmate Mark Soliz Executed for 2010 Killing“I want to apologize for the grief and the pain that I caused y’all,” he said before receiving a lethal injection. A Texas death-row inmate convicted of murdering a 61-year-old woman during a robbery in 2010 was executed on Tuesday night, becoming the state’s 6th execution this year. Mark Soliz, 37, died by lethal injection despite claims by his lawyers that he suffered from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and therefore should be spared from execution. Soliz was the 15th prisoner put to death this year. Despite his hopes for a reprieve from the death penalty, Soliz reportedly did not file a last-minute appeal with the Supreme Court. According to The Huntsville Item, Soliz was apologetic to the family of his victim—Nancy Weatherly—in his final statement. “I want to apologize for the grief and the pain that I caused y’all,” Soliz reportedly said to the 2 members of the Weatherly family who attended the execution. “I’ve been considering changing my life, it took me 27 years to do so. I don’t know if me passing will bring y’all comfort for the pain and suffering I caused y’all. I’m at peace.” Soliz and his lawyers went through the appeals process for years, with the most recent denial reportedly coming last week. His lawyers had cited a decision two weeks ago by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which stayed the execution of Dexter Johnson based on new standards for evaluating mental disability. “They’re almost identical,” Soliz’s lawyer, Seth Kretzer, said of the 2 cases. “It’s simply not right to execute the mentally disabled,” Kretzer said, adding that he knows they may not prevail. “Hope is a very dangerous thing to have in prison. We’ve used every legal tool we can to fight this and now we just have to wait.” Under the old medical standards, Soliz’s IQ of more than 70 meant he did not qualify as mentally disabled. But under new criteria, Soliz’s lawyers say his diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome should qualify him as mentally disabled and ultimately save him from a lethal dose of pentobarbital. “Because Mr. Soliz suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, he should be categorically exempted from the death penalty under the 8th amendment to the United States constitution,” his lawyers argued in court documents. “[Fetal alcohol syndrome] is the functional equivalent of the conditions already recognized as disqualifying exemptions to the death penalty such as intellectual disability.” Soliz’s mother was a prostitute who drank and huffed glue during her pregnancy. He scored 75 on his last IQ test, which falls within the 70-84 range considered borderline intellectual functioning, according to an evaluation paid for by his lawyers and reported in the Austin Chronicle. Greg Westfall, who represented Soliz during his 2012 trial, said that in a different jurisdiction, his client would have received a life sentence. “Johnson County has a huge evangelical presence and a large amount of people who believe in the death penalty,” he said, adding, “and there’s racial overtones to the case. He’s a Hispanic who killed a white grandmother.” Soliz’s deadly crime spree began in June 22, 2010, when he and co-defendant Jose Ramos stole several guns. The pair went on to steal from several stores and killed a man in one of the robberies, making a widow of his eight-months pregnant wife. (Ramos pleaded guilty and was given a life sentence for the slaying.) On June 29, 2010, Weatherly, a grandmother and engineer at an aerospace company in Godley, Texas, heard her doorbell ring around 10:30 a.m. and opened her front door to find Soliz pointing a Hi-Point 9 mm semiautomatic handgun in her face. Soliz brought her inside and began to search the house for valuables. When she asked him not to take her deceased mother’s jewelry box, he told her she would join her mother shortly and shot her in the back of the head. (source: thedaiylbeast.com) Texas executes man who killed woman during spate of crimes A Texas death row inmate was executed Tuesday for fatally shooting a 61-year-old grandmother at her North Texas home nearly a decade ago during an 8-day spate of crimes that included thefts and another killing. Mark Anthony Soliz, 37, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the June 2010 slaying of Nancy Weatherly during a robbery at her rural home near Godley, located 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Fort Worth. Soliz was the 15th inmate put to death this year in the U.S. It was the 6th execution in Texas and the 2nd in as many weeks in the state. 9 more executions are scheduled this year in Texas, the nation's busiest capital punishment state. During a 5-minute final statement, Soliz apologized profusely from the death chamber gurney. "I don't know if me passing will bring y'all comfort for
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
Sept. 10 TEXASexecution Texas executes Mark Soliz for a 2010 Johnson County slaying. He said fetal alcohol disorder should have excluded him from death. Soliz and another man were convicted in the shooting death of a Johnson County woman during a robbery in her home. His lawyers pushed to stop his execution, saying fetal alcohol spectrum disorder should be treated like an intellectual disability. On Tuesday, Texas executed Mark Soliz for the 2010 home robbery and shooting death of a North Texas woman. Soliz, 37, was convicted and sentenced to death in 2012 for the murder of Nancy Weatherly, 61, and the robbery of her Johnson County home, according to court records. Prosecutors said the murder was part of an 8-day crime spree during which Soliz and another man, Jose Ramos, robbed random people at gunpoint, and Soliz killed another man. Soliz and his lawyers had long argued that his life should be spared because he had fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which they claimed is the “functional equivalent” of an intellectual disability, a condition the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled disqualifies individuals from execution. Both state and federal courts rejected the claim during Soliz’s relatively short seven years on death row. Shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday, Soliz was taken into the execution chamber in Huntsville and placed on a gurney. Soliz was apologetic in his final words, addressing Weatherly's family members. "I wanted to apologize for the grief and the pain that I caused y’all," Soliz said. "I’ve been considering changing my life. It took me 27 years to do so. Man, I want to apologize, I don’t know if me passing will bring y’all comfort for the pain and suffering I caused y’all. I am at peace." He was then injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital, the only drug used in Texas executions. He was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m. In June 2010, prosecutors said, Soliz and Ramos terrorized residents in the Fort Worth area for eight days before they were arrested on suspicion of one of several crimes, including multiple robberies, carjackings and shootings, another of which was fatal. When police interrogated Ramos about one stolen car, he began talking about another crime — in which he said the two men forced their way into Weatherly’s house in Godley at gunpoint, and Soliz shot her in the back of the head as they robbed her home. Soliz initially denied killing Weatherly, telling police he was outside by the car when he heard a gunshot and then saw Ramos exit the house. Later during the interrogation, he said he would confess “just to get this over with,” according to a 2014 ruling from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. A friend of Soliz’s later said he bragged to her about killing an “old lady.” Ramos received life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder. At his trial and in his appeals to state and federal courts, Soliz repeatedly raised the claim that he should not have been executed because of his disorder. Several defense experts testified before the jury that he was diagnosed with partial fetal alcohol syndrome, which his lawyers claim caused mental impairments like lack of impulse control, serious adaptive learning deficits and hyper-suggestibility. But the testimony did not keep the jury from handing down a death sentence, and appellate courts did not interfere, partially because the claim was raised at trial and failed. But Soliz argued his execution would go against his constitutional rights and recently noted changes in what is clinically considered an intellectual disability. Legal precedent prohibits states from executing people with intellectual disabilities, but Soliz sought to expand that, saying there are so many similarities between intellectual disability and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder that the conditions should be treated the same way in capital cases. “There are striking parallels between the diagnostic criteria for intellectual disability and FASD,” Soliz’s lawyers wrote in a court filing last month. “Those afflicted with FASD should be categorically ineligible for the death penalty just as the intellectually disabled are, and Soliz’s death sentence violates his Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment.” The Texas Attorney General’s Office, which won the backing of the courts, countered that Soliz’s request to change legal precedent is “overbroad.” “The Supreme Court has not held that individuals with FASD are exempt from capital punishment. Consequently, Soliz seeks to create — not rely on — a new rule of constitutional law,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Jefferson Clendenin last week in response to Soliz’s last appeals. Clendenin also argued that Soliz was the leader in the crimes and was “sophisticated, calculated and dangerous.” Soliz becomes the 6th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 564th overall since the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS
Sept. 10 TEXASimpending execution Federal Court Denies Stay for Texas Prisoner with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Mark Soliz, who is scheduled for execution in Texas on September 10, 2019, was denied a stay and an opportunity to present a new argument related to mental impairments that his attorney says should exempt him from execution. He had sought a stay because he has fetal alcohol syndrome, a condition his attorney says is the “‘functional equivalent’ of conditions already recognized as disqualifying exemptions to the death penalty,” because his mother’s alcohol consumption during her pregnancy impaired his intellectual development. Under the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Atkins v. Virginia, people with intellectual disabilities cannot be executed. “Expansion of the Supreme Court’s holding in Atkins to protect offenders suffering from FASD [fetal alcohol spectrum disorder] is a constantly evolving doctrine that merits further consideration,” his appeal stated. He also argued that recent changes to the DSM-5, the most recent diagnostic manual used by psychiatrists and psychologists to diagnose mental illness and developmental disorders, such as intellectual disability, mean that “higher IQ scores no longer bar a diagnosis of an intellectual disability.” An earlier claim of intellectual disability was rejected because Soliz’s IQ score of 75 was slightly above the threshold for a diagnosis of intellectual disability. Soliz’s attorney, Seth Kretzer, said the execution “should certainly be stayed. … Mr. Soliz is a victim of his mother’s ingestion of harmful substances in the womb. Supreme Court doctrine will not permit the execution of people who are functionally developmentally impaired.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected his appeal and request for a stay on September 9, 2019. Texas prisoner Dexter Johnson successfully obtained a stay of execution in August, arguing that his intellectual disability claim should be reconsidered in light of the changes to the DSM. Like many death-row prisoners, Soliz experienced chronic trauma throughout his childhood. He witnessed his aunt’s murder and was surrounded by prostitution and drugs. Defense attorney Greg Westfall said of Soliz, “That case was overwhelmingly sad for everyone involved. The effects of neglect and trauma on a developing brain are becoming better known. Basically, Soliz had a monstrous childhood and should not be executed. The death penalty is stupid. It fulfills none of the promise of closure and is incredibly expensive.” Soliz’s case also highlights the excessive costs of death-penalty trials. According to Johnson County District Attorney Dale Hanna, “It was our most expensive and longest trial in the county’s history. The expense of these type trials is just staggering.” County Auditor Kirk Kirkpatrick said the trial, which ended in 2012, cost $903,544.13, not including the cost of Soliz’s incarceration or appeals. (source: Death Penalty Information Center) ___ 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----TEXAS
Sept. 10 TEXASimpending execution Mark Soliz is set to be executed for a 2010 North Texas slaying. He's said fetal alcohol disorder should exclude him from death.Soliz and another man were convicted in the shooting death of a Johnson County woman during a robbery in her home. His lawyers pushed to stop his execution, saying fetal alcohol spectrum disorder should be treated like an intellectual disability. On Tuesday, Texas is set to execute Mark Soliz for the 2010 home robbery and shooting death of a North Texas woman. If it proceeds, the execution will be the 6th in Texas this year and the 3rd in the last month. 9 more are scheduled through December. Soliz, now 37, was convicted and sentenced to death in 2012 for the murder of Nancy Weatherly, 61, and robbery of her Johnson County home, according to court records. Prosecutors said the murder was part of an eight-day crime spree during which Soliz and another man, Jose Ramos, robbed random people at gunpoint, and Soliz killed another man. Soliz and his lawyers have long argued that his life should be spared because he has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which they claim is the “functional equivalent” of an intellectual disability, a condition the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled disqualifies individuals from execution. Both state and federal courts have rejected the claim during Soliz’s relatively short 7 years on death row. After a federal appellate court denied his most recent appeal Monday, his lawyer said no other court proceedings had been filed to stop the execution. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott could delay the execution for 30 days, though he has never done so. In June 2010, prosecutors said, Soliz and Ramos terrorized residents in the Fort Worth area for 8 days before they were arrested on suspicion of one of several crimes, including multiple robberies, carjackings and shootings, another of which was fatal. When police interrogated Ramos about one stolen car, he began talking about another crime — in which he said the 2 men forced their way into Weatherly’s house in Godley at gunpoint, and Soliz shot her in the back of the head as they robbed her home. Soliz initially denied killing Weatherly, telling police he was outside by the car when he heard a gunshot and then saw Ramos exit the house. Later during the interrogation, he said he would confess “just to get this over with,” according to a 2014 ruling from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. A friend of Soliz’s later said he bragged to her about killing an “old lady.” Ramos received life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder. At his trial and in his appeals to state and federal courts, Soliz has repeatedly raised the claim that he should not be executed because of his disorder. Several defense experts testified before the jury that he was diagnosed with partial fetal alcohol syndrome, which his lawyers claim caused mental impairments like lack of impulse control, serious adaptive learning deficits and hyper-suggestibility. But the testimony did not keep the jury from handing down a death sentence, and appellate courts have not interfered, partially because the claim was raised at trial and failed. But Soliz has argued his execution will go against his constitutional rights and recently noted changes in what is clinically considered an intellectual disability. Legal precedent prohibits states from executing people with intellectual disabilities, but Soliz has sought to expand that, saying there are so many similarities between intellectual disability and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder that the conditions should be treated the same way in capital cases. “There are striking parallels between the diagnostic criteria for intellectual disability and FASD,” Soliz’s lawyers wrote in a court filing last month. “Those afflicted with FASD should be categorically ineligible for the death penalty just as the intellectually disabled are, and Soliz’s death sentence violates his Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment.” The Texas Attorney General’s Office, which won the backing of the courts, countered that Soliz’s request to change legal precedent is “overbroad.” “The Supreme Court has not held that individuals with FASD are exempt from capital punishment. Consequently, Soliz seeks to create — not rely on — a new rule of constitutional law,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Jefferson Clendenin last week in response to Soliz’s last appeals. Clendenin also argued that Soliz was the leader in the crimes and was “sophisticated, calculated and dangerous.” Soliz’s execution would be the 3rd carried out by Johnson County, which sits just south of Fort Worth, since the death penalty was reinstated nationwide in the 1970s. The last one was in 2004. Texas’ 5 other executions so far this year make up more than 1/3 of the 14 that have taken place in the country. Of the 17
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., FLA., OHIO, ARIZ., USA
Sept. 9 TEXAS: Forensic testing backlog at issue in RGV courts Gabriel Keith Escalante has been incarcerated in Hidalgo County for 18 months. His chances of making the $1.25 million bond on charges of capital murder of multiple persons are slim to none. And as he sits behind bars, a serious question remains unanswered. Will the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office seek the death penalty against the 40-year-old Edinburg man on accusations that he, along with his girlfriend, 41-year-old Irene Navejar, beat 53-year-old Alejandro Salinas Sr. to death and suffocated the man’s mother, 73-year-old Oliva Salinas, on April 23, 2018. The answer depends on what the analysts at the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Weslaco Crime Lab find when those officials test forensic evidence in the case. As of Aug. 21, the crime lab hadn’t even started. At a court hearing in Escalante’s case last Thursday, Hidalgo County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Almaguer could only tell Judge Linda Reyna Yáñez that the DPS crime lab told him that officials there would begin analysis on several items. That’s a problem for Escalante’s defense attorney, O. Rene Flores. “There currently exists an epidemic of delay with forensic analyses of evidence at the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Lab — the crime lab of choice for prosecutions in Hidalgo County, Texas,” he said in a motion filed on Aug. 21, the day DPS notified the state testing would begin on several pieces of evidence in the case. “Several announcements have been made by the State in the instant case, effectively placing the accused and this Court on notice that there is a chronic delay in the forensic analysis of evidence across the board in criminal cases in Hidalgo County.” The state, through Almaguer, didn’t disagree. Neither did the judge, Yáñez. “This is an issue for many cases,” she said, while listening to Flores’ argument. But Flores suggested a solution: send the samples to a private lab since forensic testing is “backlogged” at the DPS crime lab in Weslaco. Yáñez is considering the motion, but agreed to give Almaguer until Sept. 16 to provide her with a status of where DPS is at with the forensic analysis. Escalante wasn’t the only defendant at the Hidalgo County Courthouse this week where delays in evidence testing at the crime lab impacted their cases. Take 23-year-old Alamo resident Alex Arevalo, who has admitted to shooting and killing 41-year-old McAllen resident Nicolas Anthony Bazan on June 19, 2017. Court records indicate he agreed to a plea agreement on March 27 to a charge of murder, escaping a capital murder charge. The state in this case said it would recommend a 45-year prison sentence, court records indicate. He was scheduled to receive his sentence Wednesday morning. But he didn’t. Flores also represents Arevalo and said that case has fallen victim to the “crime lab epidemic.” Arevalo’s sentencing was rescheduled until Nov. 6. The spector of the DPS crime lab backup also raised its head on Thursday afternoon during a hearing for 25-year-old Mission resident Guadalupe Garcia Vela, who is accused of gunning down Yvette Garza and Natalie Hernandez on Dec. 20, 2015 during a botched drug deal. Vela has been in jail since January 2016. Nereyda Morales-Martinez and Regina “Regi” Richardson, Vela’s attorneys, said during a pre-trial hearing that DPS began testing cannisters found at the crime scene in early August. The crime happened more than three years ago. Vela’s jury trial, which was scheduled for late September, was canceled in part to wait for the forensic analysis of the cannisters. There was also a delay due to additional ballistic testing that may be conducted in the case due to a request made by the defense on Thursday to test the service weapon of a police officer who may have had a relationship with one of the victims. PROCEDURAL DISMISSAL In the early morning hours of April 11, 2018, after 38-year-old Brownsville resident Robert Galvan finished cutting hair at the Mr. Flawless barbershop and having some beers at a friend’s house, he took a ride that sent him right back to state prison. The Brownsville Police Department arrested Galvan, who was on probation for a violent assault against his former girlfriend, and charged him with murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for killing 54-year-old Horacio Eguia and seriously injuring 43-year-old Brian Scott during an argument over gas money in the 200 block of East 10th Street. From the moment police began interrogating Galvan, the man maintained that he acted in self defense when he used a pair of scissors from his barber kit to slash Eguia and Scott, who he claimed were the agressors. Galvan told police that the men offered to give him a ride to a residence and once at the location, demanded gas money. Galvan claims they jumped him, but Scott, who survived, told investigators
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., OHIO, CALIF.
Sept. 8 TEXAS: County may renew membership in death penalty defender program The Hunt County Commissioners Court is scheduled this week to renew the county’s membership in a program which helps pay for defense attorneys in death penalty capital murder cases. A vote to approve the renewal of the interlocal agreement with Lubbock County through the Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases program is included under the consent calendar for the regular session, starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday inside the Auxiliary Courtroom, 2700 Johnson Street, in Greenville. Hunt County has been a part of the program since first enrolling in August 2012. The West Texas Regional Public Defender Office was established in 2007 through interlocal agreements between the counties in the 7th and 9th judicial regions, with Lubbock County serving as the administrative county. Each participating county agrees to pay a yearly fee, based on its population and the number of capital murder cases it has filed within the last 10 years. The cost of the program to Hunt County is on a sliding scale, with the costs rising each year. There are some limitations to the program. In the event 2 people are charged with capital murder and are facing the death penalty in the same case, the office could only defend 1 of them. The office also doesn’t handle the appeals of any convictions, nor does it pay for “second chair” defense attorneys, both of which would be still be paid for through the county. The office also does not handle capital murder cases where the death penalty is not being sought. Hunt County currently has 4 potential death penalty capital murder cases pending trial, two of which at last report are being represented by the West Texas Regional Public Defender Office. (source: Greenville Herald-Banner) ** Lawyers say the Texas judge who presided over this Jewish death row inmate’s trial later called him anti-Semitic slursLawyers for Randy Halprin, a member of the "Texas Seven," are requesting a stay of his execution amid allegations that the judge who handled his case made racist and anti-Semitic comments during his time on the bench. “Lawyers say the Texas judge who presided over this Jewish death row inmate’s trial later called him anti-Semitic slurs” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Lawyers for “Texas Seven” gang member Randy Halprin, who is Jewish, requested a stay of his execution set for Oct. 10 amid allegations that the judge who handled his case in 2003 made racist and anti-Semitic comments during his time on the bench. In a filing Thursday, Halprin’s lawyers accused former criminal court Judge Vickers Cunningham of describing Halprin using expletive-laden anti-Semitic comments after the trial ended. The Dallas Morning News also reported during Cunningham’s 2018 Republican primary race for Dallas County commissioner that each of his children could only receive an inheritance by marrying a straight, white Christian. During the election, Cunningham acknowledged putting such stipulations in his will. He lost the race by 25 votes. Halprin is on death row for capital murder in connection to a high-profile 2000 prison escape during which seven inmates went on the run. The group robbed a North Texas sporting goods store on Christmas Eve, and Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins was shot and killed as he responded to that crime. The escaped inmates fled to Colorado, where most of them were arrested in January 2001. Four of the gang members have already been executed, and a fifth shot himself before police could arrest him. The seventh member is also scheduled to be executed this fall. Halprin’s attorneys wrote in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals filing that Cunningham could have biased the case in areas ranging from jury selection to evidence submission. Cunningham also prevented the jury from knowing that state officials labeled Halprin as the “weakest” of defendants, according to court documents, which his attorneys said might have caused jurors to consider alternative sentences to the death penalty. Cunningham has denied the allegations of bias in Halprin’s case, and of being racist and anti-Semitic, according to various news reports. The 69-page filing calls Cunningham a “racist and anti-Semitic bigot” in the first sentence and accuses him of believing Jews “needed to be shut down because they controlled all the money and all the power.” Halprin’s lawyers also wrote that minorities who walked into his courtroom knew they were “going to go down” regardless of the evidence or what happened at the trial. Halprin’s federal public defender, Tivon Schardl, said they began looking into Cunningham following the Morning News’ investigation last year. Prior to that,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA.
Sept. 7 TEXASimpending executions Convicted killer of 2 set for execution Fort Worth attorney Greg Westfall labeled Mark Anthony Soliz the “poster child for how stupid the death penalty is.” Former Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford called Soliz one of the most dangerous men he ever dealt with. Barring an unlikely reprieve, Soliz will almost certainly draw his last breath sometime between 6 p.m. and midnight on Tuesday. Soliz, 37, who has spent the last 7 years on death row at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, will be transported to Huntsville about 30 miles away where he will be put to death by lethal injection. Johnson County jurors in the 413th District Court sentenced Soliz to death on March 23, 2012, for the June 29, 2010, shooting death of Nancy Hatch Weatherly, 61, in her home near Godley. Soliz earlier that same day shot Ruben Martinez, a delivery man, in the parking lot of a Fort Worth convenience store. Rushed to John Peter Smith Hospital, Martinez died 13 days later. Soliz, at the conclusion of his trial, displayed no emotion as Judge Bill Bosworth read the jury’s verdict. Soliz’ accomplice, Jose Clemente Ramos, pleaded guilty to capital murder on Aug. 10, 2012, and received life in prison without parole. Should his date hold firm, Soliz will become the 6th person executed in Texas this year. Life on death row Robert Hurst, communications officer for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, points left toward 3 gray buildings. “That’s death row,” Hurst said. “There’s about 210 men there now. The women, they’re kept at Gatesville.” The inmates get about six hours per week outside recreation time should they choose to take advantage of it, but always alone. Otherwise they remain in their single cells even during meals. “No TV,” Hurst said. “Some have a radio but most don’t. They can get newspapers or magazines as long as they’re approved.” TDCJ did away with the last meal request about a decade ago. “One guy requested a huge smorgasbord of food then didn’t eat any of it,” Hurst said. “After that they decided to stop doing that. So that one guy screwed it up for everyone else. Now they get a variety to choose from, usually a choice of a meat, chicken or fish dish.” 2 death row inmates are already in the small booths in the visitor’s section. One looks around occasionally but otherwise stares into space. The second ignores his chair choosing instead to poise himself in a crouched position on a small shelf beneath the phone in his booth. He alternates between looking around and reaching up to touch the ceiling. Both, Hurst explains, are either waiting for their visitors or have already had their visit and are sitting tight until someone comes to take them back to their cells. Soliz, scheduled to arrive any moment, never shows. Although he agreed several days earlier to an interview he pulls a last minute change of mind. Subsequent requests from jailers fall on deaf ears and he refuses to budge. Unfortunately, Hurst says, such is his choice. The jailers can’t force him to talk if he doesn’t want to. Hurst and his fellow workers come off surprisingly courteous and upbeat given the nature of their jobs. Attempts to contact family members of Weatherly and Martinez were also unsuccessful. The cost of justice “It was our most expensive and longest trial in the county’s history,” Johnson County District Attorney Dale Hanna said. “The expense of these type trials is just staggering.” Soliz’ trial cost the county $903,544.13, County Auditor Kirk Kirkpatrick said. Of that total, defense costs ate up $782,517.17 and prosecution expenses $120,891.13. That amount covers only Soliz’ original trial in the 413th District Court. The state footed the bill for the many appeals that followed pushing the total cost to well above $1 million. The trial involved costs that can’t be measured in dollars as well. “It took a year just to prepare for that trial,” Johnson County Assistant District Attorney Martin Strahan said. “I’ve worked on seven capital murder cases since I’ve been here but Soliz was the only death penalty case I’ve had. Fortunately, they’re pretty rare. It takes a lot out of you working a case like that, but in those situations you want to make sure you’re 100 % right. We thought, based on his record, he was a very dangerous person who would hurt other people if there was ever any chance he might be let loose, which is why we decided to go with the death penalty option.” Former Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Christy Jack assisted the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office in the case against Soliz. This because the chain of events constituting Soliz’ crimes stretched from Tarrant to Johnson County. Jack said she’s worked several capital murder cases both as prosecuting and defense attorney. “Every one you try changes and takes a little bit out of you,” Jack said. “Because you’re
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., FLA., MO., ARK., UTAH, CALIF.
Sept. 6 TEXASimpending execution Jews call to halt death row inmate's execution, citing antisemitism Mr. Halprin was referred to as a “fn’ Jew” and a “G*n k**e,” Halprin’s attorney, Tivon Schardl, said in a statement. A number of Jewish groups and lawyers are urging the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to stay the scheduled execution of a Jewish inmate who said his judge was antisemitic. In July, Dallas County Judge Lela Mays approved an Oct. 10 execution date for Randy Halprin, who was part of the “Texas 7” group of prisoners who escaped from a prison in the state in 2000. They were convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer who responded to a robbery they committed. 4 of them already have been executed. But Halprin, 41, said in an appeal in May that the judge who sentenced him in 2003, Vickers Cunningham, referred to him using antisemitic language. He wants a new trial. “Mr. Halprin’s trial judge, who presided over the death-penalty trial, made critical decisions about what evidence the jury would hear, and sentenced Mr. Halprin to die, was biased against Mr. Halprin, referring to him as a “fn’ Jew” and a “G*n k**e,” Halprin’s attorney, Tivon Schardl, said in a statement. Last year, The Dallas Morning News reported that Cunningham set up a trust in 2010 to give his children money if they marry a white Christian of the opposite sex. On Thursday, the American Jewish Committee, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Men of Reform Judaism and Union for Reform Judaism filed an amicus brief in support of his appeal. More than 100 Jewish Texas lawyers signed on to the brief. The brief said the issue at stake was not whether Halprin was guilty or not. “[T]hose issues are irrelevant, because questions of guilt and punishment follow a fair trial; they do not precede it,” it reads. “And if Judge Cunningham is the bigot described in the application, a fair trial has not yet happened.” The groups call for the court to “stay the applicant’s scheduled execution, and remand this case to the trial court for findings of fact and conclusions of law.” In June, the Anti-Defamation League filed an amicus brief in support of Halprin’s petition. (source: The Jerusalem Post) * If Harris County is death penalty capital, how do Houston’s surrounding counties stack up? Fort Bend County: Spencer Goodman, 31, was executed on Jan. 18, 2000. Goodman was convicted of the 1991 kidnapping and killing 38-year-old Cecile Ham. He was later tracked down in central Texas after using Ham’s stolen credit cards. There's no doubt that Harris County is the capital of capital punishment in Texas. But how do the counties surrounding Harris fare? Of the seven contiguous counties (Montgomery, Galveston, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Liberty, Chambers and Waller), Montgomery County takes the cake with 16 executions since 1982. That's compared to the 130 inmates out of Harris County who have been executed since that same year. Galveston has 6 inmates who have been executed, while Fort Bend has 5 inmates, Brazoria has 4 and Liberty has executed 3. Chambers has 1 inmate who has been executed, while Waller has never sent anyone to death row. (source: Houston Chronicle) * Webb County District Attorney in pursuit of justiceAn alleged killing spree that shook the Laredo community is still being felt a year later. The Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz says he has decided to seek the death penalty against former Border Patrol agent Juan David Ortiz who is accused of killing 4 people. Alaniz says the death penalty is reserved for the most heinous crimes; the type of crimes that are hard to fathom. It’s also a case that garnered national attention and like all cases, his goal is to seek the truth and justice for the victims of these horrific crimes. The journey to seek the truth can take longer from case to case which takes a lot of resources from the DA’s office to carry out a capital murder trial. Alaniz says a case like this will have a team of 5 attorneys that are designated to the trial who are in charge of organizing the evidence and everything that is needed to present the case in court. Because things can always change, Alaniz is in constant communication with the victim’s families and other law enforcement agencies on how the case will be developed. The district attorney feels the decision to seek the death penalty falls heavily on his shoulders. Alaniz says he takes the family members feelings, and opinions into consideration, but ultimately his responsibility is to the community at large. This is not the first time that Alaniz has decided to seek the death penalty but he says it never gets easier. The District Attorney’s Office is hoping to begin the jury selection process by the end of 2020 or early 2021. In the meantime, Ortiz’s next hearing is set for
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
September 4 TEXASexecution Texas executes Billy Crutsinger in Fort Worth slayings of two elderly women Crutsinger had pushed to stop his execution based on claims of bad lawyering during his trial and in the appellate process. In 2003, an 89-year-old woman and her 71-year-old daughter were stabbed to death in their Fort Worth home. On Wednesday, Texas executed Billy Crutsinger for the crime. Crutsinger was sentenced to death for the home robbery and slayings of Pearl Magouirk and her daughter, Patricia Syren. The 2 women were found 2 days after their murders, and police tracked Crutsinger to a Galveston bar using Syren’s credit card, according to court records. In Tarrant County, Assistant Criminal District Attorney and lead prosecutor Michele Hartmann said Tuesday the loss of the mother and daughter “is still felt deeply by their family and the Fort Worth community.” After his last appeals were denied by the U.S. Supreme Court just minutes before his execution was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., Crutsinger, 64, was strapped to a gurney in the death chamber in Huntsville. No relatives of the women were present to witness the execution, according to a prison spokesman. Crutsinger had three friends in the viewing room, who, in his final words, he thanked for coming and supporting other death row inmates. Into the microphone hanging above his head, he said the system "is not completely right," but he was at peace and was going to be with Jesus and his family. "I am going to miss those pancakes and those old time black and white shows," he said. "Where I am going everything will be in color." Crutsinger was then injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital at 6:27 p.m., and pronounced dead 13 minutes later, according to the prison department. He was the fifth person executed in Texas this year and the 14th in the country. After the murders, Crutsinger was arrested — albeit illegally — after he didn’t identify himself to police in Galveston. He consented to a DNA swab that linked him to the crime scene and confessed to the murders while in custody, the records state. A judge ruled that police were not justified in arresting Crutsinger on the spot for credit card abuse because they didn’t have a warrant, and he didn’t commit the crime of failure to identify himself before his arrest. Still, despite the illegal arrest, the judge found his confession and DNA sample were admissible evidence in court because the police conduct was not “purposeful or flagrant,” and there was probable cause for his arrest, just not a warrant. During his nearly 16 years on death row, Crutsinger appealed his sentence arguing against the legal validity of his confession and DNA sample. But more recently, he pointed to his lawyers’ failings. Crutsinger argued that his trial lawyer failed to adequately investigate mitigating factors that could have swayed the jury to hand down a sentence of life in prison instead of execution. Specifically, he claimed the attorney overlooked evidence of mental impairment caused by alcohol addiction, head trauma, depression and low intelligence, according to a recent federal district court ruling. His most recent lawyer, Lydia Brandt, had also knocked his state appellate lawyer — claiming his incompetence and the courts’ refusal to grant investigatory funding kept Crutsinger from any meaningful appeals process. She noted that a judge in another capital case found Crutsinger’s state appellate lawyer “sloppy” and lacking professionalism, and that his filings were “poorly done and of minimal assistance to the court,” according to Crutsinger’s petition. “The State of Texas denied Mr. Crutsinger his initial right to one full and fair opportunity to present his claims concerning violations of his fundamental constitutional rights,” Brandt wrote in a final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court last week. Brandt did not respond to The Texas Tribune on Tuesday. The federal courts, as well as the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals, rejected his arguments. U.S. District Court Judge Terry Means ruled last month that despite a lack of funding for Crutsinger to investigate it, Means fully addressed the merits of the ineffective counsel claim and found it was without merit. He referred to trial records that revealed the lawyer presenting multiple witnesses at the phase of trial where jurors weigh questions that lead to life in prison or death, including prison officers who testified to his good behavior and family members who described his grief and issues with drinking. According to the testimony of his ex-wife and wife at the time of trial, Crutsinger had lost a newborn daughter; his toddler son to drowning; his teenage son to lymphoma; his brother from illness; his father, who was hit by a car; and his sister, who was killed in a car crash in which he was driving. “The assertions that the denial of funding precluded a true merits
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., OHIO, TENN., ARK., CALIF.
Sept. 4 TEXASimpending execution Texas set to execute Billy Crutsinger in Fort Worth slayings of 2 elderly womenCrutsinger has pushed to stop his execution based on claims of bad lawyering during his trial and in the appellate process. In 2003, an 89-year-old woman and her 71-year-old daughter were stabbed to death in their Fort Worth home. On Wednesday, Texas plans to execute Billy Crutsinger for the crime. Crutsinger, now 64, was sentenced to death for the home robbery and slayings of Pearl Magouirk and her daughter, Patricia Syren. The two women were found two days after their murders, and police tracked Crutsinger to a Galveston bar using Syren’s credit card, according to court records. In Tarrant County, Assistant Criminal District Attorney and lead prosecutor Michele Hartmann said Tuesday the loss of the mother and daughter “is still felt deeply by their family and the Fort Worth community.” Unless his execution is stopped by the U.S. Supreme Court or delayed by Gov. Greg Abbott, Crutsinger will be put to death after 6 p.m. in Huntsville. After the murders, Crutsinger was arrested — albeit illegally — after he didn’t identify himself to police in Galveston. He consented to a DNA swab that linked him to the crime scene and confessed to the murders while in custody, the records state. A judge ruled that police were not justified in arresting Crutsinger on the spot for credit card abuse because they didn’t have a warrant, and he didn’t commit the crime of failure to identify himself before his arrest. Still, despite the illegal arrest, the judge found his confession and DNA sample were admissible evidence in court because the police conduct was not “purposeful or flagrant,” and there was probable cause for his arrest, just not a warrant. During his nearly 16 years on death row, Crutsinger has appealed his sentence arguing against the legal validity of his confession and DNA sample. But more recently, he has pointed to his lawyers’ failings. Crutsinger has argued that his trial lawyer failed to adequately investigate mitigating factors that could have swayed the jury to hand down a sentence of life in prison instead of execution. Specifically, he claims the attorney overlooked evidence of mental impairment caused by alcohol addiction, head trauma, depression and low intelligence, according to a recent federal district court ruling. His current lawyer, Lydia Brandt, has also knocked his state appellate lawyer — claiming his incompetence and the courts’ refusal to grant investigatory funding has kept Crutsinger from any meaningful appeals process. She noted that a judge in another capital case found Crutsinger’s state appellate lawyer “sloppy” and lacking professionalism, and that his filings were “poorly done and of minimal assistance to the court,” according to Crutsinger’s petition. “The State of Texas denied Mr. Crutsinger his initial right to one full and fair opportunity to present his claims concerning violations of his fundamental constitutional rights,” Brandt wrote in a final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court last week. Brandt did not respond to The Texas Tribune on Tuesday. The federal courts, as well as the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals, have so far rejected his arguments. U.S. District Court Judge Terry Means ruled last month that despite a lack of funding for Crutsinger to investigate it, Means fully addressed the merits of the ineffective counsel claim and found it was without merit. He referred to trial records that revealed the lawyer presenting multiple witnesses at the phase of trial where jurors weigh questions that lead to life in prison or death, including prison officers who testified to his good behavior and family members who described his grief and issues with drinking. According to the testimony of his ex-wife and wife at the time of trial, Crutsinger had lost a newborn daughter; his toddler son to drowning; his teenage son to lymphoma; his brother from illness; his father, who was hit by a car; and his sister, who was killed in a car crash in which he was driving. “The assertions that the denial of funding precluded a true merits review and that trial counsel's representation was egregious, border on frivolous,” Means wrote in a ruling last month. “... His conclusion that trial counsel failed to explore his alcoholism, his ‘personality change’ after a single drink, his history of domestic violence and abuse, and his repeated losses of significant friends and relatives, is completely false.” Earlier rulings in Crutsinger’s case from the federal district court and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have been highlighted by the U.S. Supreme Court, though, when pointing out that the appellate court overly limited investigatory funding. Although the courts reexamined the case and still denied funding and declined to reopen the case for further review, one appellate judge split
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, TENN., ORE., USA
Sept. 3 TEXASimpending execcution Fort Worth man who stabbed 2 elderly women set to be executed A 64-year-old Fort Worth man could be days from facing death. Billy Jack Crutsinger, who stabbed an elderly mother and daughter after he entered their home on the pretense of doing repairs is scheduled to be executed Wednesday at the Huntsville “Walls” Unit. That is if the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t step in. Crutsinger, who has been on Texas’ death row since his conviction in 2003, is asking the Supreme Court to halt his execution, arguing that his 14th Amendment rights were violated. He alleges that his former legal counsel “failed to adequately represent him” and had a “substantial history in the state and federal courts of a lack of professionalism, unethical behavior, and an inability to competently represent" death row clients. Crutsinger was convicted of killing Patricia Syren and her mother Pearl “RD” Magouirka. After entering the house, Crutsinger stabbed both women to death and stole several items from the home, including credit cards and Patricia’s Cadillac. The decomposing bodies of Pearl "R.D." Magouirk, 89, and her 71-year-old daughter, Patricia "Pat" Syren, were found inside their home April 8, 2 days later. The blood-stained Cadillac was found outside a Fort Worth bar. The bloody clothes that Crutsinger wore during the killings were later recovered in trash bin near another bar. Crutsinger was arrested at a Galveston bar the day after the car and bodies were discovered, when authorities began tracking purchases made on Syren's credit card. During the trial, defense attorneys argued that Crutsinger was illegally arrested in Galveston and that a search warrant issued in Fort Worth to obtain another DNA sample from Crutsinger also was illegal. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Crutsinger’s request for a stay last week. “The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals failed to expressly and unambiguously state that it had based its denial on an adequate and independent state law ground, and instead answered the federal question in the negative,” Crutsinger’s attorney Lydia M.V. Brandt said. (source: itemonline.com) DPIC Analysis: 13 Texas Death Warrants Raise Troubling Questions About U.S. Execution Practices In a year in which few states have carried out any executions, the aggressive execution practices of a single state — Texas — stand in sharp contrast. The Lone Star State has scheduled thirteen executions for the last five months of 2019, more than the rest of the country combined. And a DPIC review of the circumstances in which the warrants were issued raises troubling questions as to whether the state is executing the most morally culpable individuals for the worst of the worst crimes or the most vulnerable prisoners and prisoners who were provided the worst legal process. The cases of the 13 men scheduled for execution include 2 with strong claims of innocence, 2 whom authorities admit did not kill anyone but were sentenced to death under Texas’ controversial “law of parties,” and 7 who exhibited significant mental or emotional vulnerabilities as a result of intellectual impairments/brain damage, serious mental illness, or chronic trauma. 3 prisoners were age 21 or younger at the time of their crime. 4 prisoners scheduled for execution had raised claims that their attorneys did not provide them with constitutionally adequate representation, and six received other forms of deficient legal process — including false testimony at their trials, trial before a racially or religiously biased judge, or execution dates that interfered with ongoing judicial review. Texas’ aggressive execution schedule also illustrates its status as an outlier in its use of the death penalty and the stark differences in approach between the decisionmakers empowered to end prisoners’ lives and those evaluating whether new defendants should be sent to death row. Nationally, executions have remained near historic lows for the past 5 years, but Texas has carried out more than any other state. In 2018, Texas executed more prisoners than the rest of the United States combined and, if most of the scheduled executions go through, could do so again in 2019. Prisoners sentenced to death in Texas are executed at a rate triple the national average. The process of rubberstamping — in which state court judges adopt as fact the pleadings submitted by prosecutors — is commonplace, and the Texas federal courts routinely defer to this state court “factfinding.” The Texas state and federal courts are also outliers in denying resources to defense counsel and in resisting enforcement of constitutional rights, even in the face of clear directives from the U.S. Supreme Court. The state’s disproportionate pace of executions continues even as prosecutors are seeking and capital juries are imposing significantly fewer new
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, CONN., N.C., TENN.
August 29 TEXASimpending execution Death Watch: Crutsinger Seeks Last-Ditch SCOTUS AppealFollowing the Aug. 21 execution of Larry Swearingen, Crutsinger could be the fifth Texan killed this year By all prior accounts, Billy Crutsinger confessed to the double homicide of Pearl Magouirk and her daughter Pat Syren shortly after he was arrested in Galveston. Though he consented to the DNA testing used to convict him at his 2003 trial, Crutsinger has continued to fight his death sentence, even as his options dwindle and his Sept. 4 execution date nears. On Aug. 26, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Crutsinger's requests for both an appeal and a stay of execution, with Circuit Judge James E. Graves dissenting in each case. Days earlier, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals also denied Crutsinger a stay as well as his request to "adequately address what it means for a lawyer to be competent when representing a death row inmate," according to his attorney Lydia Brandt, who told the Chronicle that her client "never had a competent lawyer" throughout his initial state appeals. Brandt, who first took Crutsinger's case in 2008, said his prior appellate counsel Richard Alley, who died in 2017, was "great as a word processor, who cut-and-pasted claims from one client's pleading into the next client's pleading and into the next, and the next, and the next." The question now before the U.S. Supreme Court, in a petition filed Aug. 27 (in response to the CCA ruling), is whether his appointment by the trial court violated Crutsinger's 14th Amendment rights. Brandt asserts that Alley had a "substantial history in the state and federal courts of a lack of professionalism, unethical behavior, and an inability to competently represent" death row clients, based on her review of numerous cases of Alley's from 1999 to 2007. (The SCOTUS filing features several pages of charts outlining issues that had been "reproduced by Alley verbatim ... or were substantially similar" to the arguments made in Crutsinger's appeals.) Under Texas law, those seeking relief from the death penalty are entitled to representation by "competent counsel," which Brandt now argues Crutsinger was denied in 2003, when Alley was appointed to his case; his rights are now further infringed because he has "no avenue to present documented evidence" of Alley's incompetence. Graves agreed in his dissent: "Crutsinger must prove his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel to ... establish that 'investigative, expert, or other services are reasonably necessary' to then be able to prove his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Such a circular application is illogical." On Aug. 27, Brandt confirmed that she's working on an additional request for relief from SCOTUS to be filed in response to the 5CA's "adverse decision" Monday night. Without such relief, Crutsinger will be the 5th man executed by the state this year, following the Aug. 21 death of Larry Swearingen, whose final motion, filed with SCOTUS that morning, claimed the Texas Department of Public Safety had "recanted and revised" "critical evidence" used to convict him. According to his co-counsel at the Innocence Project, DPS "provided inaccurate testimony" and has "conceded that its trace analyst should not have testified that the 2 pieces of pantyhose entered into evidence" – one the murder weapon used to strangle 19-year-old Melissa Trotter in December 1998; the other allegedly found in Swearingen's residence – were a "'unique' match or a match 'to the exclusion of all other pantyhose.'" SCOTUS denied the motion that evening. Earlier this month, however, the 5CA granted Dexter Johnson a last-minute stay based on new arguments that he is mentally unfit to be executed. It's the second stay Johnson's received this year; in April, a federal judge barred his execution to give his new counsel more time to review the case. Johnson was found guilty of capital murder in 2007 for the robbery, rape, and double homicide of Maria Aparece and Huy Ngo. But Huntsville isn't seeing a lull any time soon; Mark Soliz is scheduled to die Sept. 10, with another 9 men set for lethal injection before the year ends. A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for almost 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands. (source: Austin Chronicle) *** Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present44 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-562 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. #
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., ORE., USA
August 27 TEXAS: Capital murder indictments issued in Royse City shooting deaths 2 men have been indicted on charges of capital murder in connection with the February homicides of 2 people in Royse City. The current edition of the Hunt County grand jury returned the indictments Friday against Dearis Rayvone Davis, 19, of Arlington and Calvin Earl Rayford, 18, of Rowlett involving the shooting deaths of Nicholas Young and Courtland Trowell-Wilmore. Davis and Rayford are each being held in lieu of $1 million bond each on charges of capital murder of multiple persons filed by the Royse City Police Department. Both were taken into custody May 29. The Royse City Police Department reported it had found 2 people dead in the Woodland Creek subdivision during the early hours of Feb. 3, with a 3rd individual believed to have left the scene. One of the two victims was a high school student at the time of his death, and the other was a former student. Capital murder carries a sentence upon conviction of lethal injection or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Davis has had an attorney specializing in death penalty cases appointed to represent him, while Rayford has hired a defense attorney. Davis was appointed an attorney through the West Texas Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases program. Hunt County has been a part of the program since first enrolling in August 2012. The West Texas Regional Public Defender Office was established in 2007 through interlocal agreements between the counties in the 7th and 9th judicial regions, with Lubbock County serving as the administrative county. Each participating county agrees to pay a yearly fee, based on its population and the number of capital murder cases it has filed within the last 10 years. In the event 2 people are charged with capital murder and are facing the death penalty in the same case, the office will only defend 1 of them. The office also doesn’t handle the appeals of any convictions, nor does it pay for “second chair” defense attorneys, both of which would be still be paid for through the county. The office also does not handle capital murder cases where the death penalty is not being sought. Hearings on arraignments concerning the indictments were not immediately scheduled with the 354th District Court. (source: The Herald Banner) NORTH CAROLINA: Last gasp for Racial Justice Act appeals before NC Supreme CourtJustices hear arguments from death row The North Carolina Supreme Court will hear arguments from death row inmates who contend their sentences were impacted by racial bias. The court will hear cases on Aug. 26 and 27 in the cases of six prisoners who have petitioned to have their sentences overturned using the Racial Justice Act, which allows for a systematic review of racial discrimination in death penalty trials. Inmates who proved discrimination had to be resentenced to life in prison without parole. The bill was signed into law in 2009 when Democrats controlled the General Assembly and governor’s mansion, but repealed in 2013 when Republicans took over both branches. The court must decide whether the six defendants, who filed claims while the law was in effect, have a constitutional right to present their evidence. The state is challenging their claim and moving for dismissal without hearings. “The court must answer a key question for North Carolina,” said David Weiss, an attorney with the Durham-based Center for Death Penalty Litigation, one of the firms representing the petitioners. “Will our state abide by its constitution and confront the evidence that race has played an unacceptable role in death penalty trials? Or will we throw the evidence away without a hearing and send the message that pervasive racial bias doesn’t matter, even in life-and-death trials?” Oral arguments start Aug. 26 on the cases of Andrew Ramseur, Christina Walters, Marcus Robinson, Rayford Burke, and Quintel Augustine. Tilmon Golphin’s case will be heard the next day. Cumberland County inmates Robinson, Golphin, Walters, and Augustine are the only defendants whose RJA cases were heard in court. They were resentenced to life in prison without parole in 2012, but returned to death row after the N.C. Supreme Court sent their cases back to Superior Court for separate hearings after the state successfully argued for more preparation time. The Superior Court judge dismissed the cases without new hearings. The Supreme Court will decide whether Robinson, Golphin, Walters and Augustine should be sentenced to life, or the right to new hearings. Andrew Ramseur and Burke, who are from Iredell County, filed claims before the law was repealed, but their cases were never heard. After the repeal, their claims were dismissed, with the judge ruling they no longer had a right to present evidence. The defendants plan to offer evidence of race discrimination
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., TENN., CALIF., ORE.
August 25 TEXAS: Texas Trooper passes away from surgery complications following April shooting Our sister station, KVEO has learned that Texas DPS Trooper Moises Sanchez has passed away. Trooper Sanchez was re-admitted to surgery then went into critical condition earlier in the week. Back in April, Trooper Sanchez was shot in the head while responding to a routine traffic stop. State Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa gives this statement: “Saddened to learn of the passing of DPS Trooper Moises Sanchez who was shot twice back in April while responding to a routine traffic accident call in the Edinburg/McAllen area. This is a reminder that our law enforcement men and women risk their lives on a daily basis. There is no routine traffic stop or routine response to a call for help. Today our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Trooper Sanchez who has made the ultimate sacrifice for our families. I also appreciate the healthcare teams that cared for Trooper Sanchez while he fought bravely and courageously these past four months. May he Rest in Peace and be in Heaven. Semper Fi! To a Marine.” DPS Trooper Moises Sanchez was re-admitted to the hospital following his final surgery on August 22. The alleged shooter, Victor Alejandro Godinez, pre-trial hearings were pushed back. Currently, Victor Alejandro Godinez is being charged with attempted capital murder. Local 23 has reached out to Hidalgo County Distract Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez on if the charges will be upgraded to capital murder, and if the state will seek the death penalty. (source: KVEO news) Border Patrol Agent Accused of 12-Day Killing Spree: 'He Decided ... These People Did Not Deserve to Live' What he wanted, he allegedly told Texas investigators in a chilling confession, was to clean the streets of Laredo. That's why, he said, he went on a 12-day rampage, killing 4 women and leaving them on the side of rural roads. Juan David Ortiz, a 35-year-old Navy veteran and former intelligence supervisor for the U.S. Border Patrol, is suspected of being a serial killer who preyed upon local women, killing 4 and kidnapping another, after picking them up along a Laredo street last year. He shot his victims with his service weapon, prosecutor Isidro Alaniz told InsideEdition.com, and left their bodies in plain sight. The women were sex workers, many of whom struggled for years with drug addiction, their families said, and whose workplace was San Bernardo Avenue, a tightly packed thoroughfare of cheap motels, auto body shops, taco stands and convenience stores. All of the women knew each other; some were good friends. But Ortiz, a married father of 2 young children, said he wanted to rid Laredo of the women's presence, according to Alaniz. "He decided in his own mind that these people did not deserve to live," the prosecutor said. "It was not up to Juan David Ortiz to decide to end their lives. Nobody has that right. Nobody has the right to unilaterally decide that another person shouldn't live, and then execute them as if they're just an inanimate object." All but one of the victims had children. All had families in Laredo who are still grappling with the women's brutal ends. "These were mothers, they were daughters, they were sisters," said Colette Miereles, whose sister, 42-year-old Claudine Luera, was victim No. 2. "They didn't deserve this." Angelica Perez, another sister of Luera's, remembers the anguish of bringing together her nieces and nephews. "We had to tell them, 'Your mother's gone.' It's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, because we had to listen to their screams. "He left her on the side of the road like she was trash." The sole survivor managed to jump out of Ortiz's truck after he pointed his service weapon at her, investigators said. He grabbed her shirt, but she slipped out of it and ran, wearing only a bra from the waist up. Erika Pena, 26, fled to a gas station, where she saw a Texas trooper filling up his cruiser. She begged for help, according to Webb County sheriff's deputies. In the next few hours, as deputies searched for Ortiz, he killed 2 more women, authorities said. The murders terrified the border town, which is one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas and home to the largest internal port on the U.S.-Mexico border. International trade fuels the local economy, and the metropolitan area's population of about 260,000 is more than 95% Hispanic and Latino. "When this case broke open, the community's tight-knit, so it was very scary for people," Alaniz said. "Lardeo's not used to dealing with a serial killer. ... This is such a friendly town. People are so respectful." It is particularly galling, Alaniz said, that Ortiz was "entrusted with protection and defending the Constitution." The killings also took place as President Trump ramped up his anti-immigration rhetoric and increased the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., GA., FLA., OHIO
August 24 TEXASnew execution date Judge Sets Execution Date For 'Texas 7' Inmate Patrick Murphy A Dallas County judge has set the new execution date for 'Texas 7' inmate Patrick Murphy. The judge set the new date for November 13th. Murphy was minutes away from execution in March when the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily halted things because the Texas Department of Criminal Justice wouldn't allow a Buddhist chaplain in the execution chamber. Jeremy Desel with TDCJ says they fixed the problem by banning all spiritual leaders from the execution chamber. Murphy and Randy Halprin are the last of the seven gang members who broke out of a south Texas prison and killed Irving police officer Aubrey Hawkins in December 2000 at an Oshman's sporting goods store. (source: KRLD radio news) *** Time Of Death And The Execution Of Larry Swearingen On Wednesday, August 21, The State of Texas prepared to execute Larry Swearingen. He was convicted of the abduction, rape and murder of Melissa Trotter a 19-year0-old college student in Montgomery County. In Huntsville, Texas outside of the Walls Unit prison, which houses the execution chamber, a group of protestors gathered as the time ticks down to 6 p.m., the assigned hour of Swearingen death. They are here for every execution. These 30 or so demonstrators are opposed to the death penalty on moral grounds and are holding signs condemning the practice and are working to have the death penalty abolished. Swearingen was convicted in 2000 and since then he’s been given six execution dates. Five of them the courts stepped in and issued stays allowing him to continues his appeals and keep trying to prove to the legal system that he is actually innocent. More appeals have been filed trying to once again get the courts intervene. At this hour it was up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Then word came at about 5:50 p.m. the Supreme Court rejected the appeal. The execution would proceed. Inside the Walls Unit the process of executing Swearingen moved forward. At 6:21 he was take from the holding cell and taken to the death chamber, strapped on to the gurney and IV’s were put into each arm. Simultaneously the witnesses, Melissa Trotter’s family and the media were brought into the prison from the visitor’s center across the street with the protestors’ bullhorn echoing off the red brick walls. Strapped to the death chamber's gurney with an IV in each arm Swearingen said his last words, "Lord, forgive them. They don't know what they are doing." The lethal injection drug solution was administered at 6:24. At 6:47 p.m., 48-year-old Larry Swearingen was pronounced dead. He had spent the last 20 years of his life behind bars for a murder that he insisted he did not commit. (source: tpr.org) ** Love capital murder retrial delayed until fall 2020 Albert Leslie Love Jr. will have to wait his turn behind 2 other defendants facing the death penalty before the McLennan County justice system can get around to his capital murder retrial. Love has been back in the McLennan County Jail since May 2017, five months after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his capital murder conviction and death sentence in the March 2011 shooting deaths of Keenan Hubert, 20, and Tyus Sneed, 17, at the former Lakewood Villas apartment complex, 1601 Spring St. Judge Ralph Strother of Waco's 19th State District Court conducted a status conference in Love's case Friday afternoon, meeting with his attorneys, Ariel Payan and James R. Young, and prosecutors to try to get a working schedule on when Love can be retried. Payan told Strother on Friday that Love rejected the state's most recent plea offer for life in prison with the possibility for parole, and the court set another hearing date in the case for Oct. 25. However, with the capital murder trials of Keith Antoine Spratt and Christopher Paul Weiss set before Love's, it could be the fall of 2020 before Love's retrial starts, officials said. "Y'all are going to work me to death before I go," a bemused Strother said. Strother will leave office at the end of December 2020 because of age restrictions for district judges. Love, 32, spent time on death row after a trial in Williamson County. Strother moved the case to Georgetown because Love’s co-defendant, Rickey Donnell Cummings, was tried first in Waco. Cummings has been on death row since 2012. Prosecutor Christi Hunting Horse and Payan offered conflicting legal opinions Friday when the judge asked where Love's retrial will be held. The judge asked both sides to brief the venue issue. Hunting Horse said the state is convinced the trial can be held in Waco, while Payan said the venue was moved to Williamson County and he thinks it remains there until officially moved again. The Court of Criminal Appeals awarded Love a new trial after ruling 6-3 that his Fourth Amendment
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., TENN., WYO., CALIF., ORE., USA
August 23 TEXASnew execution date Patrick Murphy has been given an execution date of November 13; the date should be considered serious. (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) * Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present44 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-562 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 45-Sept. 4Billy Crutsinger563 46-Sept. 10---Mark Anthony Soliz--564 47-Sept. 25---Robert Sparks---565 48-Oct. 2-Stephen Barbee--566 49-Oct. 10Randy Halprin---567 50-Oct. 16Randall Mays568 51-Oct. 30Ruben Gutierrez-569 52-Nov. 6-Justen Hall-570 53-Nov. 13Patrick Murphy--571 54-Nov. 20Rodney Reed-572 55-Dec. 11Travis Runnels--573 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) FLORIDAexecution After late appeals are denied, Florida executes serial killer who targeted gay men across Southeast Florida has put to death the man known as the "I-95 killer," who was convicted of killing 3 people and admitted to killing several more in a 1994 spree targeting gay men. The Supreme Court decided late Thursday not to stay the execution. Gary Ray Bowles, 57, was pronounced dead at 10:58 p.m. ET, Michelle Glady, communications director for the Florida Department of Corrections, said. Bowles' attorneys had appealed to the Supreme Court for a stay, arguing that Bowles is intellectually disabled and that was something no court had considered. The state argued in its response filed with the court that Bowles' attorneys didn't file a proper claim until this week. The matter should be, and was, decided by a lower court of appeals, the state said. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that she believes there were important questions in the case. However, "because I do not believe that the questions as presented merit this Court's review at this time, I do not disagree with the denial of certiorari," she wrote. It could be different in other cases, she said. Inmate wanted cheeseburgers for last meal On Thursday, Bowles woke up at 4 a.m. and was calm and in good spirits, Glady said. The FBI began a national search for Bowles in 1994 after they determined he was killing gay men at locations near the highway from Florida to Maryland, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Once on the FBI's most wanted list, he was arrested in November 1994 in Jacksonville Beach going under an alias. He also was later featured in an episode of A's show "The Killer Speaks" as the "I-95 Killer." Bowles pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 1996 for killing Walter Hinton in Jacksonville Beach, Florida by dropping a 40-pound cement stepping stone onto his sleeping head. Bowles then strangled him and stuffed toilet paper and a rag in his mouth, court documents show. His body was found inside his locked home wrapped in sheets and bedspreads, the documents say. A jury sentenced him to death in 1996 for killing Hinton, but the Florida Supreme Court later reversed the death sentence and remanded the case for a new penalty phase. Another jury unanimously sentenced him to death in 1999, and since then, a series of appeals have been denied by courts leading up to Thursday's expected execution. In addition, he was convicted of first-degree murder in 1997 for robbing and killing John Roberts by strangling him and stuffing a rag in his mouth, according to court documents. He also was convicted in 1996 of murder for killing Albert Morris in a case in which he struck Morris in the head, beat him, shot him, strangled him and tied a towel over his mouth. He was sentenced to life in prison for both of those cases. Convicted killer is 99th person executed in Florida Bowles had several previous charges and was sentenced to prison for beating and raping his girlfriend in 1982. Bowles is the 99th person to be put to death in Florida since capital punishment resumed in 1976. Bobby Joe Long, who was convicted for killing 8 women in the Tampa Bay area in 1984, was executed by the state in May. The executive director of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis last week urging him to stop the execution. The organization said Bowles had survived many years of childhood abuse, years of homelessness and child prostitution. "Intentionally ending Mr. Bowles' life is unnecessary," Michael B. Sheedy wrote in the letter. "Society can remain safe from any future violent actions of his through life-long incarceration without parole." (source: CNN) *** Man accused of stabbing Tampa bus driver to death in court as
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., FLA., ALA., MISS., LA.
August 22 TEXAS:execution Texas death row inmate Larry Ray Swearingen maintains innocence until his execution A Texas death row inmate continued to maintain his innocence up until he was executed Wednesday. Larry Ray Swearingen was executed at 6:47 p.m. for the death of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter. "Lord forgive them. They don't know what they are doing," he said in his last words. Swearingen was sentenced to death in July 2000 for Trotter's abduction, rape and murder. The Montgomery College student was last seen alive on December 8, 1998. Her body was found in the Sam Houston National Forest on January 2, 1999, with a torn pair of pantyhose tied around her neck. Swearingen repeatedly challenged his conviction and sentence over the years, and his execution was postponed 5 times. Over the years, he argued that the case against him was built on circumstantial evidence and questionable forensics. Prosecutors contended that Swearingen killed Trotter after she rejected his sexual advances. Witnesses testified they saw Trotter leave campus with Swearingen on December 8, according to court documents. The state also pointed to the fact that Swearingen's wife found a lighter and a pack of cigarettes matching Trotter's preferred brand in the couple's trailer, although they did not smoke, and a detective found a pair of pantyhose in the trash outside the trailer with one leg missing. In a prepared statement his lawyer released after his death, Swearingen said he had proved his "innocence beyond any shadow of doubt," although it was not enough to stop his execution. "Today the State of Texas murdered an innocent man. Sadly, so many people have suffered from all this. Melissa's family and friends were denied the opportunity for closure. My family was torn apart," the statement said. "I want everyone to know I'm not angry about my execution. Sure I would've liked to live and go free. But I feel certain that my death can be a catalyst to change the insane legal system of Texas which could allow this to happen. I am now one of God's sacrificial lambs, and hopefully people will use my example to help keep others from experiencing this dreadful and wrongful persecution." One last appeal The week before his execution, Swearingen requested another stay based on two claims, according to court documents. He argued that the state allowed "false and misleading" trial testimony regarding blood flecks found under Trotter's fingernails. He also claimed the state knew that a criminologist had "manufactured" evidence that the torn pantyhose used to strangle Trotter matched pantyhose found at Swearingen's house. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied his request on August 16, saying the evidence he presented to support his claims was not strong enough to have made a difference to the outcome of his trial. On Wednesday night, the Supreme Court turned down Swearingen's final appeal. Swearingen nevertheless continued to maintain his innocence in an interview with the Houston Chronicle published Wednesday, and questioned if his scheduled execution would come to pass. But the slain teen's mother told the Chronicle she is still convinced of his guilt. "The overwhelming evidence is not just a coincidence," Sandy Trotter said. "There was a trial; he was found guilty, and they agreed on a sentence." (source: CNN) Today the State of Texas murdered an innocent man. Many people participated in my demise, beginning with the Montgomery County police who falsely arrested me without a warrant and particularly officer Leo Mock who planted the pantyhose in my home that was used to convict me. Harris County medical examiner Joye Carter then lied about the length of time Melissa Trotter's corpse laid in the woods. Judge Fred Edwards and the Montgomery County district attorney's office refused to give me a fair shake in legal proceedings, while the Houston Chronicle with other local media shared the same lack of fair play when it came to the court of public opinion. The Texas Criminal Court of Appeals rejected my filings without even looking at them, and finally governor Greg Abbott pulled the trigger. I also have to include myself in this accounting. Not because I had anything to do with Melissa's murder. She was my friend. But in my youth, I made a lot of stupid mistakes. When I was abducted by Montgomery County police in December 1998, I had been driving a stolen vehicle and was trying to commit insurance fraud. I was philandering with Melissa and other women instead of taking care of my wife and kids. I had been violent with both women and men. I put myself in a perfect position to be framed for murder. Sadly, so many people have suffered from all this. Melissa's family and friends were denied the opportunity for closure. My family was torn apart. My mother was ostracized and harassed to the point she had to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
August 21 TEXASexecution Texas executed Larry Swearingen for a 1998 Texas slaying. His lawyer says bad science got him on death row. Swearingen consistently maintained his innocence in the strangling death of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter. Texas prosecutors, however, had no doubt he was her killer. For decades, a staunch claim of innocence and doubts over forensic science engulfed the death penalty case of Larry Swearingen. On Wednesday, he was executed in Texas' death chamber. The 48-year-old man lived on death row for nearly 2 decades, consistently expressing his innocence in the 1998 strangling death of Melissa Trotter, a 19-year-old community college student in Montgomery County he has said was his friend. Multiple state courts had previously taken five execution dates off the calendar over the years to look into different issues surrounding Swearingen’s conviction, but prosecutors and Trotter’s family remain firmly convinced he was her killer. After a late appeal was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court minutes before his scheduled execution time of 6 p.m., Swearingen was taken into the execution chamber in Huntsville and connected to an IV. “Lord forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing,” Swearingen said into a microphone hanging above his head. He was then injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital and pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m., according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Swearingen only had a spiritual adviser present at his execution, watching through a glass pane in a small viewing room, according to a TDCJ witness list. Trotter's parents, brother, grandfather and uncle stood in an adjacent room. Trotter had been missing for weeks before her body was found by hunters in the Sam Houston National Forest on Jan. 2, 1999, with a leg from a pair of pantyhose tied around her throat. Law enforcement had already pegged Swearingen as the main suspect in her disappearance, arresting him on unrelated traffic warrants 3 days after Trotter had last been seen with him on Dec. 8, 1998. Based on what judges have since called a mountain of circumstantial evidence, he was convicted and sentenced to death in 2000. Swearingen and his legal team relentlessly fought his conviction and death sentence, gathering numerous scientists who concluded that, based on the condition her body was in when it was found, Trotter was killed within two weeks of being found — more than a week after Swearingen was already behind bars. They also argued against the science used by state experts who matched a leg of pantyhose in his home to the piece used to strangle Trotter. And they balked at the courts’ dismissal of blood flecks found under Trotter’s fingernails that did not match Trotter nor Swearingen. “They are going to execute someone that the legitimate forensic science has proven innocent,” said James Rytting, Swearingen’s attorney, Tuesday. “And the execution is going through on the basis of other forensic science that is borderline quackery — in fact it is quackery.” The Montgomery County district attorney’s office, however, has zero doubt that Swearingen was Trotter’s killer. Kelly Blackburn, the office’s trial bureau chief, recited a laundry list of circumstantial evidence prosecutors obtained to secure and uphold Swearingen’s conviction, including cell phone records that put him near the spot Trotter’s body was found, her hair in his truck, and some of her school papers being found near his parents’ home. Blackburn also noted Swearingen’s actions after Trotter’s disappearance — saying he falsely reported a burglary when he and wife came back to their home in disarray. Trotter’s brand of cigarettes and a lighter were inside, even though neither Swearingen nor his wife smoked. And Swearingen also wrote an anonymous letter in Spanish with details of the crime scene to pull suspicion away from him. Swearingen later admitted to writing the letter, claiming the details came from an autopsy report he read. Blackburn said Tuesday some of the details were only known by police at the time. “When you look at all the forensic evidence, and then all of the other circumstantial evidence...the only person who has ever been tied to this murder is Larry Swearingen,” he said. The main conflicting points involving forensic science in Swearingen’s case were Trotter’s time of death, the matching of pantyhose and blood flecks found with her fingernail scrapings. The courts had long looked into the issues, sending Swearingen’s case back for reexamination several times and cancelling five previously-scheduled execution dates. Swearingen brought forward multiple forensic experts who contested the state’s theory that Trotter was killed on the day she went missing after being seen with Swearingen, 25 days before her body was found — including the original medical examiner who said as much at trial. They instead said her body was
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS
August 21 TEXASimpending execution After 19 Years On Death Row, Could Time Be Up For Larry Swearingen? Convicted killer Larry Swearingen is scheduled to be executed Wednesday. It was almost 20 years ago that Swearingen was found guilty of the abduction, rape and strangulation of Montgomery County college student Melissa Trotter. This is the sixth time that Larry Swearingen was given an execution date by the state of Texas. Once he was just minutes from being put to death. “When you're sitting there watching the clock, it really speeds up a lot faster,” Swearingen said. This could also be the sixth time Melissa Trotter’s mother, Sandy Trotter, goes through the process of watching the man convicted of murdering her daughter not be executed. “We are more than ready to be done so hopefully it’s looking more likely it’s going to happen. We’ve been delayed quite a few times,” Trotter said as she held a 6-month-old grandson on her knee. The whole family is going to be in Huntsville to witness the execution of Swearingen, which she said should have happened years ago. “It's been very frustrating for our family and horrific for the 92-year-old grandfather Charles Trotter Senior. He will be there viewing Swearingen executed,” Sandy said. Melissa went missing on Dec. 8, 1998 and her body was found 25 days later in the Sam Houston National Forest. After being presented with what the prosecution called a mountain of evidence, it took a jury just over 3 hours to convict Swearingen. Ever since, he has insisted on his innocence. “If they kill me, I won't be the first man that's been killed. I won't be the last. They killed Todd Willingham on junk science. I'm probably no different. But it doesn't mean I'm gonna roll over and just let them do what they want to do without a fight,” Swearingen said. Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004 for the arson deaths of his children. It’s believed, although not officially acknowledged, that he was convicted on the misinterpretation of evidence and Texas executed an innocent man. Swearingen has filed appeals also claiming his conviction was based on junk science. But Sandy Trotter said she has no doubt that Swearingen is her daughter’s killer. “I 100% believe that the evidence is just overwhelming, overwhelming,” she said. “And the appeals court has even said that. It’s like the giant elephant sitting in the corner of the room.” Trotter said she believes there should be an appeal process for the death penalty cases but Swearingen has abused that process. “I think it really needs to be evaluated. He has had way too many appeals,” she said. “I mean they look at one little microscopic DNA something rather than looking at the whole picture.” Kelly Blackburn is with the Montgomery County D.A. office, which prosecuted Swearingen. He said this execution should have happened years ago. “We agree with everyone that before you put someone to death, everything should be done. We’re willing to do that and we're doing it in the most transparent manner possible,” he said. “Melissa Trotter's family understands that too, but its time.” Robert Dunham of the Death Penalty Information Center said the appeals process for Swearingen has taken a long time because of the flaws in the evidence used to convict him in the first place. “They don't consider in Mr. Swearingen’s case the seven different types of junk science. They look at it one piece at a time, and rule it out,” Dunham said. “In the end, what you have is delay of 19 years and the possibility, a very strong possibility that an innocent person may be executed.” Dunham said because of the questions with the evidence, the Supreme Court could grant a stay of execution. “Depending on the nature of the pleadings, the Supreme Court could send the case back for a review of the evidence where they could grant review to assess whether Mr. Swearingen has met the actual innocence requirements,” Dunham said. Blackburn said another stay doesn’t matter, eventually justice will be served. “If it takes 30 years to kill him, then that's what we're gonna do,” he said. “To say whether its takes too long, that's neither here nor there and not for me to say. It’s the system that we have.” (source: tpr.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
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., N.MEX., COLO., UTAH, ORE.
August 21 TEXASimpending execution Texas Inmate Larry Swearingen To Be Executed Wednesday For Rape, Murder Of College Student Melissa Trotter A Texas death row inmate is set to be executed Wednesday for the abduction, rape and murder of a Houston area college student more than 20 years ago. Larry Swearingen has continued to maintain his innocence and contends his conviction was based on junk science. The 48-year-old is scheduled to receive a lethal injection in the evening for the December 1998 killing of Melissa Trotter. The 19-year-old was last seen leaving her community college in Conroe, and her body was found nearly a month later in a forest near Huntsville, about 70 miles north of Houston. Prosecutors said they stand behind the “mountain of evidence” used to convict Swearingen in 2000. They described him as a sociopath with a criminal history of violence against women and said he tried to get a fellow death row inmate to take credit for his crime. Swearingen’s longtime appellate attorney, James Rytting, said he would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution, arguing that lower courts “have failed to take into account the considerable amount of evidence of innocence.” Swearingen, who is also represented by the Innocence Project, has previously received five stays of execution. Appeals courts and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to stop the execution. If it happens, Swearingen would be the 12th inmate put to death this year in the U.S. and the 4th in Texas. Kelly Blackburn, the trial bureau chief for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Swearingen, said Swearingen’s efforts to discredit the evidence have been unsuccessful because “his experts’ opinions don’t hold water.” “I have absolutely zero doubt that anybody but Larry Swearingen killed … Melissa Trotter,” Blackburn said. During a 2011 interview, Swearingen told The Associated Press that he was tired of being “demonized” for a crime he didn’t commit. “We’d all like to know who done it,” he said. Blackburn said Swearingen killed Trotter because he was angry that she had stood him up for a date. At the time of Trotter’s killing, Swearingen was under indictment for kidnapping a former fiancée. Swearingen has long tried to cast doubt on the evidence used to convict him, particularly claims by prosecution experts that Trotter’s body had been in the woods for 25 days. Rytting said at least 5 defense experts concluded that her body was there for no more than 14 days, and because Swearingen had already been arrested by then, he couldn’t have left her body there. Rytting maintains that a piece of pantyhose used to strangle Trotter was not a match to a piece found in Swearingen’s trailer. He also disputes prosecution experts’ claims dismissing blood found in Trotter’s fingernail shavings, saying the blood, which was determined to not be Swearingen’s, supports the defense theory that someone else killed her. In letters sent to Swearingen’s attorneys in July and August, the Texas Department of Public Safety said its technicians should not have been as definitive in their testimony about the blood found in the fingernails and the pantyhose match. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week turned down Swearingen’s challenge to the blood evidence and pantyhose match, citing the “mountain of evidence” that “seals Swearingen’s guilt for Trotter’s murder.” Blackburn said Swearingen has tried to get people to lie in order to give him an alibi. After his arrest, Swearingen got another inmate to write a letter Swearingen composed in Spanish that professed to be from the real killer and had it sent to his attorney. In 2017, Swearingen and another death row inmate, Anthony Shore, concocted a plan to get Shore to take responsibility for Trotter’s killing. Shore was executed last year. Rytting said Swearingen is guilty of doing “some very stupid things,” but prosecutors don’t have proof he killed Trotter. “Hopefully we are one step closer to giving (Trotter’s family) that justice that they’ve so long waited for,” Blackburn said. KHOU reports that Trotter’s parents are expected to witness Swearingen’s execution in Huntsville. (source: CBS News) * Larry Swearingen is set for execution for a 1998 Texas slaying. His lawyer says bad science got him on death row.Swearingen has maintained his innocence in the strangling death of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter. Texas prosecutors, however, have no doubt he is her killer. A staunch claim of innocence and doubts over forensic science have long engulfed the Texas death penalty case of Larry Swearingen. On Wednesday, for the 6th time, he is set for execution. The now 48-year-old man has lived on death row for nearly two decades, consistently expressing his innocence in the 1998 strangling death of Melissa Trotter, a 19-year-old community college
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., OHIO, ILL., MO., UTAH, ORE., USA
August 20 TEXASimpending execution Death row inmate Larry Swearingen denied clemency before Wednesday execution Montgomery County’s only death row prisoner lost a long-shot bid for clemency Monday, just over 48 hours before he is scheduled for execution. For convicted killer Larry Ray Swearingen, these final days and last-minute legal filings must feel familiar. The Wednesday execution date marks the 6th time he’s been scheduled for death in the past 2 decades. The 48-year-old Willis man was sent to death row in July 2000, after he was convicted of slaughtering Montgomery County college student Melissa Trotter and dumping her body in the Sam Houston National Forest. (source: Houston Chronicle) How 'Body Ranch' Research Impacts The Appeal Of A Texas Death Row Inmate In a murder investigation, establishing a time of death help can lead to arresting and convicting the perpetrator — or exonerating someone wrongfully accused. That's why getting it right can mean life or death for someone like Texas death row inmate Larry Swearingen. He is facing execution Wednesday for a murder he says he didn’t commit. The science of “time of death” is something studied every day at the Forensic Anthropology Center in San Marcos, also known as “The Body Ranch.” Scattered around an open field under the hot Texas sun there are a dozen human bodies. Their skin is blackened, their flesh is half eaten by bugs and varmints. They are in varying states of decay. This isn’t the scene from a horror movie or a mass murder — this is science. “What we're interested in doing is getting some kind of idea of the rate of composition and then the pattern of decomposition,” said Daniel Wescott, the center’s director and professor of Anthropology at Texas State University. “We typically have about 60 to 70 bodies out at at any given time that might be involved in various different experiments.” This is 1 of the 7 outdoor body composition laboratories in the United States and the largest such forensics research facility in the world. “So what you want to try to do is have some kind of baseline information about what's going on and then alter a single thing to look at how that affects it,” Wescott said. Here, human cadavers are left out in the open and carefully monitored for patterns of human body decomposition. That data is used to train forensic experts so when they look at a murder victim they can read the body and the crime scene to gain an understanding of the time of death. “It's not guesswork,” Wescott said. “We do lots of bodies, so we have a good idea of the normal variation.” In the murder of Melissa Trotter, establishing when she died is central to the conviction and the pending execution of Larry Swearingen. Trotter went missing in Willis Texas on Dec. 8, 1998. Her body was found 25 days later on Jan. 2 in the Sam Houston National Forest. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Her body was tossed onto a pile of bushes. Swearingen had been arrested and jailed on Dec. 11 — three days after Trotter was last seen alive. Swearingen maintains he didn’t kill her and based on the condition of Trotter’s body, forensic experts have said there are questions about his guilt. “The climate, weather, temperature, the data where the body was found, the environment where it was found,” Swearingen said. “[The forensic doctors] looked at all the weights, the organs — [they] looked at everything and they said Melissa died within 10 to 12 days of her body being discovered.” There is a lot of circumstantial evidence in this case that the prosecution says points directly at Swearingen but there is no DNA that ties Swearingen to the death of Trotter. The prosecution’s case depends on establishing that Trotter died before Swearingen was jailed. The forensic evidence for that narrative is weak at best. “Every doctor has said from Texas and beyond that Melissa was dead no more 10 to 12 days before discovery, which would have put it at about the 18th [of December] and I had been locked up over a week by that time,” Swearingen said. Kelly Blackburn is with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Swearingen. He said one piece of evidence isn’t what this case is about. “Science can only tell you so much,” said Blackburn. “You have to look at the whole story because no matter how good the scientist is, no matter how unbiased they claim to be, there is still interpretation.” And what the conditions were in the Sam Houston National Forest for those 25 days is also undetermined. “If you're looking at what the weather was like at Intercontinental Airport and basing the way the body would decompose on those weather patterns versus what's actually happening 20 miles north of here in the national forest, and how cold the temperature could have gotten during that period of time, and how cold it stayed for that period of time, all of
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS
August 19 TEXASimpending execution The Role Of Scientific Forensic Evidence Questioned In Pending Texas Execution Larry Swearingen is scheduled to be executed Wednesday by the State of Texas. It was 19 years ago that Swearingen was convicted of the abduction, rape and murder of Melissa Trotter. This is the sixth time that Swearingen had a date with death in the Texas prison system. But lingering questions about his guilt have caused the courts to repeatedly step in. “My name is Larry Ray Swearingen, I’m on death row — scheduled to be murdered August 21st for a crime I did not commit,” said Swearingen in an interview at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville. “You have faulty forensic sciences that are upholding this conviction, and now they want to murder me to make sure the conviction doesn’t come undone.” After 2 decades on death row, Swearingen was pudgy, bald and his skin was a pasty white. In all that time, he never stopped insisting on his complete innocence. “No, I didn’t not take Melissa’s life. We were friends in the end. We’re friends now. We will always be friends,” Swearingen said. But the police and prosecutors who worked to convict Swearingen of capital murder and who are working now to have him executed contend that was a lie — one of Swearingen’s many lies. “There is no other perpetrator out there. There's no other bogeyman. There's no other serial killer that killed Melissa Trotter. It's Larry Swearingen,” said Kelly Blackburn with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office. “There is a mountain of evidence that connects Larry Swearingen to the death of Melissa Trotter that he was convicted on — besides science.” Forensic science is central to solving murders. Prosecutors rely on it every day. But in the Melissa Trotter case, some of the forensic science appeared to contradict the prosecution. However, Blackburn said there was a wealth of circumstantial evidence in the case that pointed directly at Swearingen. “Larry Swearingen wasn't connected to this case through DNA or through science,” Blackburn said. “He was connected to this case and was convicted on evidence that put him at the scene that on a mountain of circumstantial evidence that put him in Melissa Trotter together ?— what happened before, during and after her murder. So that's why he was convicted.” Swearingen admitted if someone only listened to the prosecutors’ narrative, he sounded guilty. But he said they consistently used junk science to pin a murder on him while dismissing legitimate forensic science that proved it was impossible for him to be Melissa Trotter’s killer. “I was in jail on trumped up charges. It was determined that Melissa Trotter died at the time I was incarcerated in the Montgomery County jail,” Swearingen said. Melissa Trooter, 19, went missing on Dec. 8, 1998, in Willis, Texas, north of Houston. She was an outgoing college student last seen alive at the student center at Lone Star College Montgomery County campus. Swearingen at that time was a 27-year-old electrician. He was driving a stolen red pick-up truck and had a history of problems with the law. “I was a screw up. I was a violent screw up. 2 plus 2 and you get the wrong conclusion. 'Hey, he’s done these things before. Look over here; yeah we have a good suspect here,' ” Swearingen said. Swearingen immediately became the suspect in the Melissa Trotter missing persons case. They had been seen together at the college the day she went missing. Three days after her disappearance, Swearingen was arrested on outstanding traffic warrants. He’s been behind bars ever since. While being questioned by investigators in 1998, he told them he didn’t know Melissa Trotter and had never spoken to her. “I don’t even know the girl. Up until that point I didn’t even know that the girl existed.” Swearingen told officers. “Then why would she have your pager number?” an officer asked. “She asked me if there was a way to get hold of my sister," Swearingen responded. “When I walked up to the marina she asked me, ‘aren’t you Becky’s brother?’ And I said yes.” “You ain't never talked to her before?” an officer asked. Swearingen responded, “No, never.” On Jan, 2 1999 — 25 days after her disappearance — hunters found the body of Melissa Trotter in a remote location in the Sam Houston National Forest. She was partially clothed. Investigators determined she had been strangled with a leg segment cut from a pair of pantyhose. It was now a murder investigation. And the evidence against Swearingen was piling up. Police searched his truck and found strands of Melissa Trotter’s hair. Swearingen now admits she had been in his truck many times. “We were dating. We were friends with benefits. We went out and had a good time. I enjoyed being with her, and she enjoyed being with me,” he said. “What we did or didn’t do is nobody’s business. There has to be some chivalry in the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., OHIO, TENN., IND. WYO., ARIZ., WASH.
August 18 TEXASimpending execution Texas death row inmate maintains innocence as latest execution date looms "On December 8, 1998, Swearingen kidnapped and strangled a 19-year-old white female." This short statement is what you'll find under Larry Swearingen's death row record for his summary of the incident. However, he's arguing that the details of his case, and the murder of Melissa Trotter, are much more complex. Larry Swearingen met Melissa Trotter, a 19-year-old Montgomery College student, on December 6, 1998, where they had a conversation and exchanged numbers. They planned on meeting up the next day, but Swearingen grew irritated when she didn't arrive, according to co-workers. They were spotted together on December 8 at the college library at 1:30 p.m., and were seen leaving together at 2:00 p.m. Melissa's car remained parked at the school. This was the last time she was seen alive. At 2:05 p.m., Swearingen returned a page and said he would have to call back later because he was at lunch with a friend. Swearingen returned to his trailer and left again sometime before 3:30 p.m., then returned again to the trailer sometime before 5:30 p.m., asked his landlord some questions, then left again to pick up his wife, Terry Swearingen, from his mother's house. On December 11, Swearingen was arrested pursuant to unrelated outstanding warrants. On January 2, 1999, Melissa's body was found in Sam Houston National Forest with a ligature made from pantyhose still tied around her neck. The police had searched the area three times before her body was found by hunters. Swearingen knew the area well. Based on the state of decomposition, it was estimated that her body had been in the woods for around 25 days, supporting the possible date of her death to be December 8. A supposed match to the other half of the pantyhose was found at the Swearingen home, along with a pack of Malboro Lights and a lighter resembling one belonging to Melissa. Neither Larry nor his wife smoked. Fibers were found on Melissa's body matching Swearingen's jacket, car seat, and carpet at his house. There were also hair strands in his car that looked to be pulled from Melissa's head, showing definitively that she had been in Swearingen's car at some point before her death. Further incriminating evidence includes a letter that was written by Larry and sent to his mother with the help of another inmate and a Spanish-English dictionary from a woman named "Robin", claiming to know who Melissa's real killer was. The letter gave insight into investigators' suspicions that Melissa's death resulted from violence sparked by sexual rejection. These are the undeniable facts of the case. Swearingen, however, clings to DNA evidence and forensic science to maintain his innocence. He has been assigned several execution dates, pushing back his death based on many of what he and his attorneys perceive to be discrepancies. They cite discrepancies in witness testimonies as well as cell phone records to place Swearingen at different locations at key dates and times in the case, according to his website. The main focus of the defense, however, has been on the state of Melissa's remains and DNA testing and evidence. Statements from two other medical examiners have reevaluated Melissa's autopsy report and estimated that based on lack of insect and bacteria colonies and general state of her body and tissues upon discovery, the remains could have only been in the forest for just under a week at most, even with the near-freezing low winter temperatures. A statement such as this implies that Swearingen is innocent since he was in jail three days after Melissa went missing, and much longer before her estimated death according to this analysis. One examiner allows for the exception of post-mortem refrigeration before her body was deposited at the location, but says the absence of certain signs of this on the body, this is not likely. Additionally, Swearingen's attorneys have claimed that none of the DNA evidence has definitively placed Larry at the scene of Melissa's body. Their appeals have consisted of requests for DNA testing on Melissa's fingernail scrapings, the ligature used for strangulation as well as the alleged other half found at Larry's home, cigarette butts found near her body not offered at trial, various items of her clothing, the rape kit, and hairs and hairbrush collected from the scene. After several appeals and a debacle involving another inmate rumored to be taking the fall for Melissa's murder, DNA samples were finally tested, with no conclusive evidence. Authorities were hesitant to test due to the "mountain of evidence" already stacked against Swearingen. Due to this process, DNA testing laws have changed in death penalty cases. Previously, if it was unknown if there was biological evidence, it didn't need to be tested, even if invisible to the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., TENN., COLO., ARIZ., WYO., CALIF., ORE., USA
August 16 TEXAS: Texas to seek death penalty for MMA fighter accused of double homicide Cedric Marks was indicted on 2 counts of capital murder earlier this year. He has plead not guilty to those charges. According to USA Today prosecutors in Bell County, TX are planning to seek the death penalty for Cedric Marks, 45. A long-time MMA fighter, Marks was indicted in the killings of Jenna Scott, 28, and Michael Swearingin, 32, in March. Marks has plead not guilty to all charges. The remains of Scott, Marks’ former girlfriend, and Swearingin, her friend, were discovered in shallow graves in Clearview, OK on January 3rd. Marks’ current girlfriend Maya Maxwell, who recently gave birth while incarcerated, is also facing charges in this case. She has told authorities that Scott and Swearingin died after being alone in rooms with Marks. Maxwell has also confessed to moving Swearingin’s vehicle in an attempt to sidetrack the investigation into the killings. Scott and Swearingin were declared missing in December. Around this time Marks was arrested in Grand Rapids, MI. He was arrested on a burglary charge after he was accused of robbing Scott’s Temple, TX home back in late 2018. The reported break-in happened shortly after Scott had a request for a 2-year protective order against Marks turned down by Judge Paul LePak. During court proceedings Scott claimed that Marks had previously choked her unconscious and had threatened to kill her and her family. Scott also claimed that Marks had told her he had gotten away with murder in the past and he knew how to cover it up. Police in Bloomington, MN consider Marks a person of interest in the disappearance of April Pease. Marks and Pease were involved in a reportedly bitter child custody battle in 2008. Pease was granted custody of her and Marks’ child, but she went missing a year later. Custody then reverted to Marks. However, the state took custody of the child soon after. Marks has spent the last 20-years competing in professional mixed martial arts. His most notable career appearance came in 2010, in a loss to Andrew Chappelle at Bellator Fighting Championships 20. (source: bloodyelbow.com) FLORIDAimpending execution Florida Supreme Court refuses to block death row inmate Gary Ray Bowles' execution The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected appeals by death row inmate Gary Ray Bowles, who is scheduled to be executed next week for the 1994 murder of a Jacksonville man who was hit in the head with a concrete block and strangled. Justices unanimously denied a request by Bowles’ attorneys for a stay of the Aug. 22 execution. The attorneys argued in a brief last month that the Supreme Court should order a hearing about whether Bowles is intellectually disabled and, as a result, should be shielded from execution. But the Supreme Court said Bowles had failed to make a “timely” intellectual disability claim because he did not raise the issue until 2017. “Bowles waited until October 19, 2017 to raise an intellectual disability claim for the first time,” the court’s 10-page main opinion said. “Therefore, the record conclusively shows that Bowles’ intellectual disability claim is untimely under our precedent.” (source: news-press.com) TENNESSEEexecution Tennessee executes a double murderer by electric chair A double murderer who chose to die by electrocution was executed Thursday night, the Tennessee Department of Correction said. Stephen West was convicted in 1986 of fatally stabbing a mother and her 15-year-old daughter, CNN affiliate WKRN reported. He had several times escaped being put to death, including a scheduled execution in 2001 that was delayed when he began appealing his death sentence, according to several media reports. Jack Campbell, whose uncle was the husband and father of the victims, lamented the legal system. "Our family has suffered very deeply over the past 33 years through all the appeals that we think is very unfair for anyone to have to go through when all of the proof in the world was there for the case to be over within 24 hours, let alone 33 years," he said in a statement. Witnesses to West's death in the electric chair said he sobbed before he died. Reporters in the viewing area said his last words were, "In the beginning God created man." He then began to weep. And then said, "Jesus wept. That's all." He was pronounced dead at 7:27 p.m. CT (8:27 p.m. ET). West had denied he killed the mother and daughter. He blamed their deaths on an accomplice, according to CNN affiliates WKRN and WSMV. A statement from his legal team said: "We are deeply disappointed that the state of Tennessee has gone forward with the execution of a man whom the state had diagnosed with severe mental illness. A man of deep faith who has made a positive impact on those around him for decades and a man who by overwhelming evidence did not commit
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, ALA., LA., OHIO
August 15 TEXASstay of impending execution Federal court stops execution of Dexter Johnson within 24 hours of his scheduled deathIn his recent appeals, Johnson has claimed he is intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for the death penalty. He was convicted of a double murder in Harris County that took place in 2006. A federal appellate court halted the execution of Texas inmate Dexter Johnson on Wednesday evening, less than 24 hours before he was set to die. The court stayed his execution and sent the case back to the district court to look into newly raised claims of intellectual disability. Johnson, 31, was sentenced to death for his role in a double murder in 2006 days after he turned 18. Johnson and 4 other teens carjacked and robbed Maria Aparece, 23, and Huy Ngo, 17, while they sat in her car outside Ngo's house. According to court records, Johnson and the others took the young couple to a secluded area where Johnson raped Aparece before he and another teen shot them both, killing them. The murders were part of what Harris County prosecutors have described as a 25-day crime spree by Johnson and others that also included 3 other slayings. Johnson has been on death row since his conviction in 2007. In recent appeals, Johnson has argued that he is intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for the death penalty under U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Intellectual disability has become a main focus of Texas death penalty law after years of back and forth between the U.S. Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in the case of Bobby Moore. Ultimately, the high court invalidated Texas’ method of determining the disability, and then, after the state court still ruled Moore was not intellectually disabled, overruled that decision in February and said he has shown that he is. Johnson had already argued he was intellectually disabled in an April appeal rejected by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, shortly before a May execution date that a federal judge later postponed in an unrelated filing. But a new attorney raised a similar claim this month in both state and federal court, mentioning recent IQ and neuropsychological tests that put Johnson's IQ below the threshold of intellectual disability. The attorney also noted severe limitations in language skills and a “pronounced stutter.” His attorney argued that the disability could be raised under new evidence because medical standards on intellectual disability have changed since his trial. The state court again dismissed Johnson’s appeal Tuesday, but the federal appellate court issued a stay of execution Wednesday evening. He was set to be executed after 6 p.m. Thursday. In deciding to stop the execution, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals listed numerous deficits Johnson had, such as struggling to articulate words and not being able to follow bus directions or manage money. The judges also noted that an expert witness at trial who claimed Johnson was not intellectually disabled said he would no longer testify to that. But the stay of execution doesn't state that Johnson is ineligible for the death penalty. The case goes back to the district court, which will look further into the appeal. Harris County, which argued for the Court of Criminal Appeals to lessen Moore’s sentence, fought against Johnson’s claim of intellectual disability in recent filings. Prosecutors said that at trial, Johnson raised not the issue of intellectual disability, but of low intellectual functioning caused by traumatic brain injury or mental illness, according to their filing. They also cited slightly higher IQ scores from the time of his trial and stated Johnson is "a man deserving of the ultimate punishment." Johnson was set to be the 4th execution in Texas this year. A dozen more are scheduled through December. (source: Texas Tribune) ** Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present43 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-561 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 44-Aug. 21Larry Swearingen562 45-Sept. 4Billy Crutsinger563 46-Sept. 10---Mark Anthony Soliz--564 47-Sept. 25---Robert Sparks---565 48-Oct. 2-Stephen Barbee--566 49-oct. 10Randy Halprin---567 50-Oct. 16Randall Mays568 51-Oct. 30Ruben Gutierrez-569 52-Nov. 6-Justen Hall-570 53-Nov. 20Rodney Reed-571 54-Dec. 11---Travis Runnels---572 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) ** Death penalty sought in Oklahoma double murder case Prosecutors in Texas say
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., OHIO, TENN.
August 14 TEXAS: Prosecutors seek death penalty against man accused in murder of Temple friends Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a man accused in the brutal murder of 2 Temple friends in January, KXAN’s sister station KWKT confirmed Tuesday. Cedric Marks, 45, faces 2 capital murder charges in the deaths of 28-year-old Jenna Scott and 32-year-old Michael Swearingen. The friends disappeared Jan. 4 and their bodies were found a week later in shallow graves in Oklahoma. Both victims’ families met with District Attorney Henry Garza on July 10 to suggest he seek the death penalty. He filed a notice to the district clerk Aug. 9 doing just that. "There is such a thing as righteous anger and we feel that this is a case for righteous anger," Deborah Harrison, Michael’s mother, told KWKT. Marks pleaded "absolutely not guilty" of capital murder in January. He also faces tampering with evidence and burglary charges. Two other people, Maya Maxwell and Ginell McDonough, were also charged in connection with the complex case. Maxwell told police she was in the house when the pair were murdered, though she didn’t see it herself, according to an arrest affidavit. She also told them where to find the bodies. Officials have not said what penalty will be sought if Maxwell is found guilty. "We believe she needs to be punished because she did assist in everything and we feel like she could have stopped it," Harrison said. "But she did help and we would not have recovered the bodies, we would still be wondering where they were had she not cooperated." In February, Marks was being extradited from Michigan where he was arrested to Bell County when he escaped custody, prompting a widespread manhunt in Conroe, Texas. After he was caught, he spoke out from behind bars to say he had nothing to do with the murders. Marks faces other charges besides the capital murder charges and his bond was set at $1.75 million. (source: KXAN news) FLORIAimpending execution Florida Supreme Court Rejects Death Row Appeal, Next Execution Scheduled For Aug. 22 The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected appeals by death row inmate Gary Ray Bowles, who is scheduled to be executed next week for the 1994 murder of a Jacksonville man who was hit in the head with a concrete block and strangled. Justices unanimously denied a request by Bowles’ attorneys for a stay of the Aug. 22 execution. The attorneys argued in a brief last month that the Supreme Court should order a hearing about whether Bowles is intellectually disabled and, as a result, should be shielded from execution. But the Supreme Court said Bowles had failed to make a “timely” intellectual disability claim because he did not raise the issue until 2017. "Bowles waited until October 19, 2017 to raise an intellectual disability claim for the first time," the court’s 10-page main opinion said. "Therefore, the record conclusively shows that Bowles’ intellectual disability claim is untimely under our precedent." Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant in June for Bowles, who would be the 2nd inmate executed since the Republican governor took office in January. Tampa-area serial killer Bobby Joe Long was put to death by lethal injection on May 23 at Florida State Prison. Bowles, now 57, was sentenced to death in the November 1994 murder of Walter Hinton, who was found dead in his Jacksonville mobile home. Bowles also is serving life sentences for the 1994 murders of John Roberts in Volusia County and Albert Morris in Nassau County. In addition, Bowles confessed to murdering men in Georgia and Maryland, with evidence suggesting he targeted gay men, according to information released in June by the governor’s office. Tuesday’s Supreme Court opinion gave a brief description of the grisly murder of Hinton. "Bowles confessed and pleaded guilty to the 1994 murder of Walter Hinton, who had allowed Bowles to move into his home in exchange for Bowles’ help in moving personal items. Specifically, Bowles dropped a concrete block on Hinton’s head while Hinton was sleeping, then manually strangled a conscious Hinton, and subsequently ‘stuffed toilet paper into Hinton’s throat and placed a rag into his mouth,’" the opinion said, partially quoting an earlier court ruling. In addition to raising the intellectual-disability issue, Bowles’ attorneys also contended that Florida’s death penalty violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In a document filed last month, they wrote that "capital punishment as administered in Florida, and as applied in this case, is contrary to the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society." But the justices turned down the argument, writing that "because the United States Supreme Court has made clear that capital punishment does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the federal
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., TENN., ILL., MO.
August 13 TEXAS: DA to seek death penalty for Cedric Marks The Bell County District Attorney’s office will seek the death penalty for Cedric Marks if he is convicted. "We have filed with the district clerk our notice that we will seek the death penalty in the Cedric Marks case, in connection with the murders of Michael Swearingin and Jenna Scott," Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza confirmed Monday. (source: The Temple Daily Telegram) FLORIDA: State seeks death for man accused in Tampa bus driver's slaying The Hillsborough State Attorney's Office filed a notice in the case of Justin Ryan McGriff, accused of slashing the throat of HART bus driver Thomas Dunn Prosecutors will seek a death sentence for a man accused of stabbing to death a Tampa bus driver. The office of Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty late last month in the case of Justin Ryan McGriff, who is charged with 1st-degree murder in the May 18 killing of Thomas Dunn. Surveillance videos captured the attack on Dunn, 46, whose throat was cut as he steered a Hillsborough Area Regional Transit bus along N Nebraska Avenue. Photographs from the recording, which were used as evidence in a pretrial detetion hearing in May, show a man, whom police identified as McGriff sitting in the rear of the bus. He removes something from his pants pocket, according to court testimony, then walks forward and stands behind the driver. "God bless you," McGriff said, according to court testimony. "What was that?" Dunn asked. "God bless you," he repeated. "Thank you," Dunn said. "God bless you, too." After that, McGriff lunged forward, slitting Dunn’s throat, according to police. Dunn steered the bus to the right and hit the brakes as he collapsed. As passengers panicked, McGriff forced his way out the bus door, police said. Officers later spotted him nearby and arrested him. In June, McGriff’s public defenders suggested that he may be mentally ill. One of McGriff’s roommates told police that his behavior in the days before his arrest was erratic, according to a court document. A judge appointed 2 doctors to determine whether he is competent to proceed toward trial. If he is declared incompetent, he would likely spend time in a state hospital before the case against him could continue. Warren, who became the county's top prosecutor in 2017, has been reluctant to seek death sentences in cases where a defendant’s mental health is in question. If McGriff is ultimately convicted of murder, prosecutors will have to prove the existence of at least one "aggravating circumstance” before a jury weighs whether a death sentence is justified. Prosecutors cited 4 such circumstances in Dunn’s slaying, among them that the crime was "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel" and that it was done in a “cold, calculated, and premeditated manner." The law requires that a unanimous jury recommendation to impose a death sentence. Otherwise, the penalty is life in prison. (source: tampabay.com) TENNESSEEimpending execution Lawyers, Advocates Seek Halt to Execution of Stephen West in Tennessee Advocates from a variety of backgrounds are urging Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to stop the August 15, 2019 execution of Stephen West (pictured), saying that West did not commit the murder and urging the governor not to execute a man who is severely mentally ill. In a July clemency petition that is pending before the governor, West’s lawyers argue for mercy based upon his innocence of murder and his debilitating psychological vulnerabilities. Though they concede that West was present at the murders of Wanda Romines and her daughter, Sheila Romines, and that he raped Sheila, West’s lawyers maintain that his co-defendant, Ronnie Martin, fatally stabbed the victims. The petition says that because of the chronic extreme abuse and trauma he experienced as a child, "Steve was not psychologically equipped to deal with the terrible situation he found himself in" and disassociated when he saw Martin killing the women. The clemency petition asks what it calls "[a]n important question"--if Steve did not intend for either victim to be killed, how could he just stand by and watch while Martin did? The answer to this question," the petition suggests, "lies in Steve’s own tragic background." The petition describes the relentless abuse and neglect West endured, which included his mother beating him so hard with a broom that it snapped, his parents denying him food, and ongoing beatings that resulted in his ankles being broken at least seven times. The extreme trauma, the petition says, caused or exacerbated West’s severe mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder. West’s parents retained a lawyer to defend him at trial, but instructed counsel not to discuss or present evidence relating to his
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, S.C., FLA., TENN., USA, US MIL.
August 12 TEXAS: Routier defense can explore evidence A judge in Dallas County, Texas, has issued an order giving defense attorneys representing Darlie Routier, a former Altoona woman on death row for the 1996 murder of one of her young sons, access to the district attorney’s files in the case. Routier’s mother, Darlie Kee, who was raised in Altoona and still has many relatives in the area, sees this as another positive sign that her daughter is close to receiving a long-awaited hearing that could result in her either receiving a new trial or exoneration. Darlie Routier’s case has been the subject of many reviews on television, including a recent airing of ABC’s “The Last Defense,” which explored several cases in which the alleged perpetrators continue to maintain their innocence despite serving many years in prison. Routier was arrested in June 1996 for the stabbing deaths of her 2 older children, Devon, 6, and Damon, 5, that occurred in the upscale home she shared with her husband, Darin, in Rowlett, Texas. While Routier reported that an intruder entered the home during the early morning of June 6, 1996, stabbing her and the two children, who were sleeping in a downstairs television room. Police, however, quickly concluded that there was no intruder and that Routier committed the murders, even though she also suffered many serious knife wounds, including one on her neck that was 2 millimeters - about 5/64 of an inch - from her carotid artery. The young mother, while charged with the killings of both children, was tried in early 1997 only in the killing of 5-year-old Damon because it was a crime that carried with it the possible death penalty. Routier is represented by several Texas attorneys, including Richard B. Smith and J. Stephen Cooper and the Innocence Project of New York. The Routier post-conviction appeal has been stalled for more than a decade as DNA testing of blood samples from the crime scene have been underway. According to an update filed in June by the defense and prosecution attorneys with the U.S. District Court for West Texas, the DNA testing is continuing. But as of late last year and early this year, several developments have occurred that have brought hope to Routier’s mother. The Innocence Project has joined the defense, and Dallas County District Judge Gracie Lewis has ordered the running of 2 bloody fingerprints that were collected from a coffee table at the scene but as of yet, have not been identified. Kee hopes the prints the may lead to a possible suspect who, Routier claims, entered the home that fatal night. Just a couple of weeks ago, Judge Lewis issued another order granting the defense access to the district attorney’s files in a effort to determine if the prosecution withheld exculpatory information from the defense in preparation for the 1997 trial. Prosecutors are mandated to provide information in their possession that may be helpful to the defense. The judge went to great lengths in her order to limit access to the files to representatives of the defense, expert or other witnesses for the defense, and Routier. Before Routier or prospective witnesses can review items in the file, the defense attorneys must redact addresses, telephone numbers, driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and bank account numbers that would tend to identify the individuals in question. Any information that the defense wants to disclose publicly must first be reviewed by the court, the Lewis order stated. Kee this past week commented, "I think it is a good motion because they (the defense) will review everything (the) prosecutors did." Post-conviction hearings in both the Dallas County Court and Federal District Court for West Texas remain on hold. (source: Altoona Mirror) SOUTH CAROLINA: Dad who killed his 5 kids sentenced to death Timothy Jones Jr, 37, had been given custody of Merah Jones, 8, and her siblings Elias, 7, Nahtahn, 6, Gabriel, 2, and 1-year-old Abigail when he split from his wife Amber. Amber had had an affair with a 19-year-old neighbor after her husband’s devout religious beliefs saw him expect her to be always subservient. After the split, Jones, who had a well-paying IT job, was given custody of the children. He began to beat his children, following the Biblical instruction, 'thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell,' reported AP News. In August 2014, Jones forced Nahtahn, who had expressed his wish to live with his mum again, to exercise for hours until he collapsed as punishment for breaking a power socket and denying it. Jones found his son dead in his bed at their home in South Carolina afterwards, and then strangled or choked his other children to death. Jones put the 5 bodies into his car and drove around for nine days during which he searched for how to 'disintegrate' bodies. He
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., AL., LA., TENN., CALIF.
August 10 TEXAS: County Commissioner Proposes Moratorium on Capital Prosecutions in Dallas, Texas A Dallas, Texas, county commissioner has called for a two-year halt on death-penalty trials, saying it would give the county time to study the financial and ethical costs of capital punishment. On August 6, 2019, Commissioner J.J. Koch (pictured) proposed a county moratorium on capital prosecutions, with cost savings from not pursuing the death penalty redirected toward investigating and prosecuting human trafficking cases. The proposal was notable coming in a county that has executed more prisoners since capital punishment resumed in the U.S. in the 1970s than any other county except Harris, Texas. Several county commissioners expressed support for Koch’s proposal, although they acknowledged that the plan was aspirational and that they could not direct the district attorney, who has exclusive charging authority, to enforce it. District Attorney John Creuzot commended Koch "for having the courage to bring up" the issue. Creuzot said he supported discussing the proposal but could not commit himself to a moratorium on prosecutions "because I don’t know what’s around the corner." Creuzot recently announced that Dallas prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Billy Chemirmir, accused in the deaths of more than a dozen elderly women in North Texas senior living complexes. The trial and potential appeals are expected to be extremely costly for the county. Creuzot told the Dallas Morning News that he supports pursuing the death penalty in circumstances in which a defendant poses a "continuing threat in the penal society." In other cases, he said, a sentence of life without parole can equally and less expensively protect public safety. Citing the Dallas County case of Kenneth Thomas, Creuzot said "[i]t’s becoming more and more difficult to sustain a death penalty conviction." Thomas has been sentenced to death twice, with his first death sentence imposed in 1987. However, his death sentences were overturned both times as a result of prejudicial constitutional violations in each trial. Most recently, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals directed that he be provided a new sentencing hearing on his claim of intellectual disability. A prior sentencing jury had rejected that claim, but had applied a scientifically invalid and unconstitutional standard for evaluating intellectual disability. Commissioners John Wiley Price and Elba Garcia agreed with Koch’s proposed moratorium on prosecutions, and Commissioner Theresa Daniel said she looked forward to discussing the issue, with prosecutors and judges included in the discussion. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins also voiced support for a moratorium, but reiterated that it would be under the district attorney’s discretion. Koch agreed, saying, "We can’t do anything unilaterally. It’s his department." Nevertheless, he said, the commissioners could adopt a moratorium resolution to express their views on capital prosecutions, noting that they also control the budget of the district attorney’s office. Dallas has executed 60 prisoners since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld its capital sentencing statute in Jurek v. Texas in 1976, more than 28 current or formed death-penalty states and the federal government. Only Harris County (Houston), with 129, has carried out more executions. Dallas’s 31-person death-row on January 1, 2013 was the 14th largest of any county in the U.S., and juries in the county imposed 3 more death sentences that year. Since 2013, however, only 1 person has been sentenced to death in the county. (source: Death Penalty Information Center) FLORIDA: Deadly carjacking victim's family face suspect in court The family of an innocent man killed this week says the accused killer, James Hanson should face the maximum penalty. In this case, Hanson is eligible for the death penalty. A wake was held for 68-year-old Mathew Korratiyil on the same day his family went to court to face Hanson at his bond hearing. "He was innocent," said son Melvin Korattiyil. "There was no reason for him to suffer like this." The wake was at the Sacred Heart Catholic Community Center in Valrico, which is where Mathew was both member and where his body was found Tuesday. Hanson told detectives he strangled him with a belt after carjacking him and robbing a bank only a mile away. It's still unclear as to why Hanson took him to the community center. "He was taken away by an animal who never should have been let out," said Melvin Korattiyil. Hanson was denied bail, as a court heard Tuesday's grim details. Melvin's brother, Nelson confirmed it was his father's belongings who detectives found in Hanson's home. Family is furious Hanson was let out of jail barely a month ago, his life sentence for another armed robbery shortened by a judge who agreed his previous lawyer was not up to snuff.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., FLA., ALA., TENN.
August 9 TEXASnew execution date Local death row inmate set with execution date District Attorney Randall Sims came forward with an official execution date for the ongoing death penalty case for Travis Runnels. Runnels has been on death row for 13 years for the murder of a prison supervisor of a shoe-making shop in Amarillo’s Clements unit. Thursday, the 47th District Attorney announced the date of his execution is set for December 11, 2019. Travis Runnels Criminal History Timeline: Runnels criminal history started in 1993, where he was convicted of 2nd-degree felony of burglary. He would go on the accumulate 2 more felony charges. His 2nd felony charge of aggravated robbery included carrying a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to 70 years in prison and would be eligible for parole in 2025. His final felony charge while in prison in Amarillo would later lead to his death penalty. In 2003, Runnels was working on the cleaning staff in the Clements unit boot shop, and had disputes because he wanted to work in the prison’s barbershop. On the day of the murder, Runnels asked another inmate for his boot knife where he would later walk behind the shop’s supervisor, Stanley Wiley, and slit his throat. He was charged with murder after pleading guilty. In 2005, the charge then turned into a Capital murder conviction, and 2 days later he was sentenced with the death penalty. After many appeals were denied, on August 8th 2019, the 47th District Attorney announced Runnels execution date is set for December 11, 2019. At the news conference, NewsChannel10 asked the District Attorney why the courts decided to pursue the death penalty when many prosecutors have been shying away due to expense. “I’m not going to let expense or politics ever interfere with the decision about what I’m going to do on that. I’ve got office policies, I’ve got 5 things in it, the very first one is always do the right thing,” explained 47th District Attorney Randall C. Sims. The District Attorney also explained how inmates came forward with no reward on behalf of Wiley. “There were 8 inmates that testified against Travis Runnels and the reason they did it, I’ll sum it up as 'he’s the nicest man out there, he treated us as equals and was very nice to everybody out there, including the inmates. The inmate that gave the boot knife to Mr. Runnels, while he was the stand, he cried just nearly the whole time,” said Sims. There are 219 inmates currently on Texas’ death row. Texas, which reinstated the death penalty in 1976, has the most active execution chamber in the nation. (source: KFDA news) * Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present43 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-561 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 44-Aug. 15Dexter Johnson--562 45-Aug. 21Larry Swearingen563 46-Sept. 4Billy Crutsinger564 47-Sept. 10---Mark Anthony Soliz--565 48-Sept. 25---Robert Sparks---566 49-Oct. 2-Stephen Barbee--567 50-Oct. 10Randy Halprin---568 51-Oct. 16Randall Mays569 52-Oct. 30Ruben Gutierrez-570 53-Nov. 6-Justen Hall-571 54-Nov. 20Rodney Reed-572 55-Dec. 11---Travis Runnels---573 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) USAimpending/scheduled executions With the execution of Marion Wilson Jr. in Georgia on June 20, the USA has now executed 1,500 condemned individuals since the death penalty was re-legalized on July 2, 1976 in the US Supreme Court Gregg v Georgia decision. Gary Gilmore was the 1st person executed, in Utah, on January 17, 1977. Below is a list of further scheduled executions as the nation continues its shameful practice of state-sponsored killings. NOTE: The list is likely to change over the coming months as new execution dates are added and possible stays of execution occur. 1501--Aug. 15-Dexter Johnson---Texas 1502---Aug. 15Stephen West-Tennessee 1503---Aug. 21Larry Swearingen-Texas 1504---Aug. 22Gary Ray Bowles--Florida 1505---Sept. 4Billy Crutsinger-Texas 1506---Sept. 10---Mark Anthony Soliz---Texas 1507---Sept 25Robert SparksTexas 1508---Oct. 1-Russell Bucklew--Missouri 1509---Oct. 2-Stephen Barbee---Texas 1510---Oct. 10Randy HalprinTexas 1511---Oct. 16Randall Mays-Texas
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, ALA., LA., OHIO, KY., CALIF., USA
August 8 TEXAS: 2-year moratorium on death penalty proposedKoch suggests plant ot study financial, social moral costs of sentence A Dallas County commissioner raised the idea of putting a 2-year local moratorium on the use of the death penalty to give the county time to study the financial, social and moral costs of the punishment. Commissioner J.J. Koch proposed at Tuesday's meeting that Dallas County could save money by avoiding expensive death penalty trials, suggesting those funds be directed toward prosecuting human trafficking crimes. The issue could be revisited after 2 years, he said. But such a decision would ultimately be up to the district attorney in Dallas County, John Creuzot, who said he supports the discussion but stopped short of saying he was on board with the commissioner's plan. "I'm in support of discussing the issue, and I commend [Koch] for having the courage to bring it up and start the discussion," Creuzot said. "I can't commit myslef to that because I don't know what's around the corner." Koch's proposal comes on the heels of Dallas County prosecutors' decision to seek the death penalty against serial murder suspect Billy Chemirmir, who is accused of smothering more than a dozen elderly women at senior living complexes around North Texas. In Texas, capital murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole. Prosecutors can also seek the death penalty for crimes they determine are especially heinous. Koch said he understands why prosecutors would seek the death penalty in a case like Chemirmir's, but if a death penalty moratorium were imposed, he would want to see a "hard moratorium." "So that way, if Chemirmir were to pop up a year from now, and we'd made this decision, we wouldn't be seeking the death penalty," he said. Creuzot said he supports the death penalty in cases where evidence shows a person would be a "continuing threat in the penal society," he said. Death penalty cases are expensive - even long after a trial and conviction. Creuzot said his office is still involved in a 32-year-old case: the killing of Fred Finch and his wife, Mildred, by Kenneth Thomas. Thomas has bee sentenced to death twice - in 1987 and 2014 - and Texas' highest criminal court has ordered another sentencing hearing for Thomas so a jury can decide whether he is intellectually disabled. A date for that hearing has not been set, according to Dallas County court records. If the goal of a death sentence is to create public safety, Creuzot said, a sentence of life in prison without parole can do the same with a much lower cost. "It's becoming more and more difficult to sustain a death penalty conviction in the United States," Creuzot said. Shannon Edmonds, staff attorney with the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, said he hadn't heard of a county government proposing a local moratorium. "The answer is not unique to the death penalty," he said. "A Commissioners court does not have an ability to issue a moratorium on sexual assault prosecutions of life sentences - that's just not their job." In Texas, the governor can't impose a statewide moratorium on the death penalty, Edmonds said. That's not the case in other states, such as California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a moratorium on the death penalty in March. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said it if were possible, he's support a statewide moratorium on the death penalty to study the moral and financial questions of whether the punishment shoud be used. Jenkins said he would support the district attorney putting a stop to the county's use of the death penalty, but the decision would need to be left up to the DA. Commissioners John Wiley Price and Elba Garcia voiced support for Koch's idea. Commissioner Theresa Daniel said she was looking forward to discussions about the topic and said it was important to include the DA's office and judges in those conversations. Koch said the county wouldn't try to force Creuzot's hand on the issue. He said the county commissioners coud pass a resolution supporting a moratorium, and they have final say over the budget for the DA's office. "We can't do anything unilaterally," he said. "It's his department." He suggested that the county use money saved from pursuing death penalty cases to prosecute human trafficking cases. Creuzot said there are other areas of need in the DA's office, pointing to grant for lawyers who handle child abuse cases that's about to run out. He said his budget requests to fund their positions after the grant have been denied. (source: Dallas Morning News) * Lawyer says will try to prevent death penalty A court-appointed lawyer for the man accused of shooting dozens of people in El Paso says he will do everything he can to ensure his client is not executed. 21-year-old Patrick Crusius has been charged with capital murder
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., LA., IND., ARIZ., USA
August 4 TEXAS: El Paso Shooting: 21-Year-Old Suspect Patrick Crusius Likely to Face Capital Murder Charges The El Paso, Texas Walmart shooting suspect could face capital charges following an investigation, officials said during a press conference late Saturday. Police have not confirmed the suspect's name, but multiple reports have identified him as Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old white male from Allen, Texas. The shooting left 20 people dead and at least 26 injured. "Right now we have a manifesto from this individual that indicates to some degree he has a nexus to potential hate crime," El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said during the press conference, reports KETK. The FBI is also investigating the shooting as a possible hate crime. If convicted on capital murder charges, the suspect could be sentenced to life in prison or face the death penalty in Texas. The manifesto police referred to was posted on social media before the shooting and was shared on Twitter afterwards. The one seen on social media references the Christchurch mosque shooting in New Zealand on March 15, 2019. It also shows an interest in white nationalism. Allen said a document was left behind at the scene. During the press conference, officials confirmed that the suspect surrendered to police as they approached and no force was required when arresting him. The identities of the victims were not released, but officials said the victims ranged in age from 2 to 82. At least 2 children were reportedly among the injured victims. The shooting happened at a Walmart on a busy Saturday afternoon. Officials estimated that 1,000 to 3,000 people were inside the store, located next to the Cielo Vista Mall, at the time. Allen said the scene will "be in play for a long period," adding, "Unfortunately, the deceased will remain at the scene until the scene is processed properly for evidentiary purposes to be gathered for later prosecution," reports CNN. 13 victims were taken to University Medical Center of El Paso, where 1 of them died. 11 victims were also taken to Del Sol Medical Center. At least two of the patients there are in a "life-threatening predicament," Del Sol Medical Center Dr. Stephen Flaherty told CNN. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wrote on Twitter that 3 of the victims were Mexican citizens, reports CBS News. Mexican Consul General Mauricio Ibarra said 6 of the injured are Mexican citizens. Following the shooting, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said local law enforcement was working with federal authorities to investigate. "In El Paso, the Texas Dept. of Public Safety is assisting local law enforcement & federal authorities to bring this tragedy to the swiftest & safest possible conclusion," Abbot wrote. "We thank all First Responders for their courageous response & urge all area residents to remain safe." (source: popculture.com) NORTH CAROLINA: NC should end race-based juror selection From unconscious bias to outright racism, race has played a significant role in creating a justice system that too often results in unfair and unjust outcomes. The negative impact of race is nowhere more evident than in jury selection, with North Carolina providing a particularly illustrative - and troubling - case study. Across North Carolina, prosecutors remove twice as many potential black jurors as white jurors during jury selection. And black people are four times more likely to be imprisoned than white people. The same trends exist in death penalty juries, resulting in black defendants being twice as likely as their white counterparts to be sentenced to death for identical crimes. Whether these disparities are the product of implicit or explicit bias — it is a profound injustice and the cost is black lives. That’s why Fair and Just Prosecution and over a dozen other groups joined together to ask North Carolina’s Supreme Court to stand up against the entrenched practice of excluding people of color from juries. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1986 that it was illegal to exclude citizens from juries because of their race and set up a process for assessing these challenges, but the North Carolina appellate courts have yet to find race discrimination against a juror of color, and have routinely disregarded U.S. Supreme Court rules for addressing jury discrimination concerns. North Carolina is one of only a handful of states that has never enforced the ban on race-based jury selection. Now, the N.C. Supreme Court has the chance to turn the corner and send a strong message that the era of excluding jurors of color with impunity is over. The court recently agreed to hear two cases where black jurors were excluded at disproportionate rates. In one case, the prosecution used eight of their twelve strikes to remove black jurors. In the other, the prosecutor said he removed a black juror because he’d been the victim of breaking and entering,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, S.C., OHIO, TENN., MO.
August 1 TEXAS: US prosecutor seeking death penalty for suspected Kenyan serial killer A United States prosecutor has revealed intentions to seek the death penalty for a Kenyan immigrant facing charges of murdering 12 elderly women in the Texas counties of Dallas and Collin. The Kenyan national, Billy Kipkorir Chemirmir, is being held by the authorities in the United States on suspicion of being a serial killer. Chemirmir, an immigrant and a resident of Dallas, Texas, is accused of smothering or suffocating elderly women in senior living complexes in order to steal their jewelry to sell them online. In court documents filed this week, Dallas County prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty if Chemirmir is convicted of capital murder. DEATH PENALTY In Texas, capital murder carries either automatic life imprisonment without parole or the death penalty. Prosecutors reserve the death penalty for offenses considered heinous. Chemirmir, a healthcare worker, is being accused by family members who claim their kin did not die of natural causes. Police arrested Chemirmir last year and announced investigators would review hundreds of unattended death cases for additional potential victims. The suspect has a long criminal record, including having been charged in separate incidents in March and June 2016 with criminal trespassing and false identification at a Dallas retirement community. According to local news outlets, Chemirmir has declined personal interviews but his attorney said his client maintains he is innocent. The court is yet to set a trial date for the case. (source: Nairobi News) SOUTH CAROLINA: SC taxpayers paid $487,000 for the death penalty trial of Tim Jones. That number could go up. Figures recently released by Lexington County reveal South Carolina taxpayers paid more than $487,000 for the 6-week death penalty trial of Tim Jones Jr. Jones was convicted of the murders of his five children and sentenced to death by a jury in June. The total costs thus far for the trial is $487,845. A Lexington County spokesperson said the numbers are preliminary and there is a possibility another $85,000 could be added onto the total, as Jones’ defense has not finished submitting expenses. The county said the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office spent $34,180 on the prosecution of Jones, while the Clerk of Court expensed $39,612. Jones’ public defenders spent the most money, according to the data, spending $414,053 on his insanity defense. A breakdown of the numbers was not immediately available from the county. Expenses such as jury pay, jury meals, and transportation are also factored into the grand total. Lexington County taxpayers pay for the expenses of the Clerk of Court and the Solicitor’s Office, according to the county. That total is $73,792. However, all South Carolina taxpayers fund the states Public Defenders Office. (source: WIS news) OHIO: DeWine again delays execution in OhioGovernor says state can’t get drugs for lethal injections. Ohio officials are going to have to consider execution methods other than lethal injection, although they won’t discuss which ones. Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday morning state prison officials are finding it impossible to line up any company willing to supply drugs for a new lethal-injection method to replace a protocol essentially declared cruel and unusual punishment. Then Wednesday evening, DeWine said he again was delaying the execution of Warren Keith Henness, a Columbus man convicted of the 1992 slaying of a man from Circleville. Henness had been slated to die Sept. 12. His new date is May 14, 2020. DeWine said he would talk to General Assembly leaders about whether legislation allowing a different execution method should be pursued. Some Ohio death row inmates have been asking to be executed by firing squad — used in Utah in 2010 — while 2 Tennessee inmates last year opted to be executed in the electric chair. Ohio’s “Old Sparky” has been in storage for years. DeWine delayed 4 executions early this year after a federal judge in Dayton said Ohio’s current intravenous protocol would “almost certainly subject (a person) to severe pain and needless suffering.” Makers of drugs used in executions have said in recent years they don’t want their products used in executions. Ohio had been buying the drugs through its Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and driving them to the death house at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville without telling drugmakers how the substances would be used. DeWine said the drugmakers have told the state that if they suspect any of their products would be used in executions, they would stop selling to the state altogether, potentially depriving Ohioans of important medicine. Those Ohioans include people who get drugs through the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., GA., FLA., ALA., ARIZ., CALIF.
July 30 TEXAS: DA's Office Seeking Death Penalty Against Alleged North Side Murderer The man who is charged with shooting and burning 2 men in Northern San Angelo may get the death penalty. In the early morning of March 20 police responded to 4800 block of North Chadbourne where they found the burned body's of Jared Lohse and Jack "Chubby" Harris Jr. Preliminary autopsy reports for Lohse and Harris determined the manner of death was homicide resulting from gunshots wounds. Chadwick, who was developed as a suspect early on in the investigation, was already in custody at the Tom Green County Jail on unrelated charges when the murder complaints were signed. He has been in the Tom Green County Jail since the murder. He is charged with murder of multiple people. On July 26 District Attorney Allison Palmer made a notice of intent to seek the death penalty toward Chadwick. His initial pretrial is scheduled for August 7. (source: sanangelolive.com) PENNSYLVANIA: Former Pennsylvania Prison Superintendent Describes Toll of Working on Death Row A former Pennsylvania death-row prison superintendent says working on death row makes corrections personnel feel “less human” and “can be profoundly damaging” psychologically. Cynthia Link (pictured) served as the Superintendent of Pennsylvania’s State Correctional Institution at Graterford from 2015 to 2018, during a period in which the prison housed more than 20 of the Commonwealth’s death row prisoners. In a July 16, 2019 op-ed for Penn Live, Link describes the psychological toll that corrections officers face when working on death row. She explains the challenging nature of working with condemned prisoners even in a state such as Pennsylvania, which has not carried out an execution in 20 years. “Few outside of my profession realize how difficult capital punishment is for the staff; even when executions are not being carried out, housing death row prisoners can be profoundly damaging,” she writes. Enforcing the “inhumane” conditions on death row causes extreme stress and prevents corrections officers from doing the jobs they were trained to do. “Politics, policy and post order often kept us from providing professionally prudent care,” Link says. “Death row was designed to provide temporary housing prior to an execution,” Link says, “but today’s death-sentenced prisoners live inhumanely for many years or decades while staff struggle to help them survive their ‘temporary’ stay.” In an effort to protect corrections officers, Pennsylvania limits them to two year “tours of duty” working on death row and monitors them for mental health problems. Despite those efforts, the stress of the assignment has serious effects on officers. Link explains: “Some officers indulge in alcohol, drugs or other dangerous behaviors to find relief. Some isolate and leave their families. Some have even taken their own lives when it becomes too overwhelming. The stress on death row staff is seldom-discussed but undeniably real. Each tour of duty on death row makes you feel less human.” At its peak, more than 250 prisoners were incarcerated in Pennsylvania’s three death-row facilities. Most eventually had their convictions or death sentences overturned in the courts after spending years in solitary confinement, where they had no contact visits with their lawyers and family members, yet were subject to strip searches each time they left their cells. The prisoners were eventually transferred from the old Graterford Prison (pictured, below) to a new modern supermax facility less than a mile away. Link draws a parallel between the outdated, crumbling building in which death-sentenced prisoners had been held, and the death penalty itself as a policy “relic.” “Prisons eventually outlive their usefulness and turn into relics of an unfamiliar past. Maybe the death penalty is a relic that can also be replaced. I know that doing so would remove a huge burden from the lives of corrections staff.” She urges Pennsylvania’s government to consider prison workers as they make decisions about capital punishment. “As government officials in Harrisburg contemplate what to do about the death penalty, I urge them to factor in the human toll it takes on Pennsylvania’s corrections profession. Death sentences punish them, too.” Numerous corrections officers have spoken about the difficulty of working on death row and carrying out executions. In 2017, a group of correctional officials from around the U.S. warned Arkansas about the extreme impact of the state’s proposal to execute eight people in 11 days. Former Georgia warden Allen Ault has been an outspoken critic of capital punishment, sharing stories of his own experiences conducting executions. Frank Thompson, who held high-ranking positions in prisons in Oregon and Arkansas, wrote, “Many of us who have taken part in this process [of executions] live with nightmares,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, UTAH, WYO.
July 25 TEXAS: Prosecutors to seek death penalty against accused serial killer of elderly peopleBilly Chemirmir is linked to the deaths of 19 people, according to criminal court records and civil lawsuits. Dallas County prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for a 46-year-old man charged with 12 murders of elderly women and linked to 7 other deaths of elderly people. Billy Chemirmir, 46, is charged with 7 counts of capital murder in Dallas County and 5 counts of capital murder in Collin County, where he also faces 2 counts of attempted capital murder. Chemirmir is also accused of killing 7 other elderly people, according to lawsuits filed against an upscale senior living center. The lawsuits allege Chemirmir posed as a maintenance worker at The Tradition-Prestonwood, where he killed and robbed 8 elderly women and one elderly man. The suits say the senior living center failed to provide adequate security and hid Chemirmir's connection to the string of deaths. In each death, excluding the death of 89-year-old Solomon Spring, the elderly women were found smothered in their homes. In most of the cases, the deaths were initially deemed natural. Chemirmir was arrested March 21, 2018, on a murder charge in the smothering death of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris. After his arrest, Chemirmir was also charged in Collin County with 2 counts of attempted capital murder in an attack of a 92-year-old woman the day before Harris was killed and the attack of a 93-year-old woman in October 2017. Chemirmir has been indicted in the deaths of: Phyllis Payne, 91, on May 14, 2016 Phoebe Perry, 94, on June 5, 2016 Norma French, 85, on Oct. 8, 2016 Doris Gleason, 92, on Oct. 29, 2016 Minnie Campbell, 83, on Oct. 31, 2017 Carolyn MacPhee, 81, on Dec. 31, 2017 Rosemary Curtis, 76, on Jan. 17, 2018 Mary Brooks on Jan. 31, 2018 Martha Williams, 80, on March 4, 2018 Miriam Nelson, 81, on March 9, 2018 Ann Conklin, 82, on March 18, 2018 Lu Thi Harris, 81, on March 20, 2018 He is linked through lawsuits to the deaths of: Joyce Abramowitz, 82, on July 20, 2016 Juanita Purdy, 83, on July 31, 2016 Leah Corken, 83, on Aug. 19, 2016 Margaret White, 87, on Aug. 28, 2016 Solomon Spring, 89, on Oct. 2, 2016 Glenna Day, 87, on Oct. 15, 2016 Doris Wasserman, 90, on Dec. 23, 2017 (source: WFAA news) FLORIDA: Here’s Why Juries in Death Penalty Trials Might Not Be So Fair, Impartial After All You have the right to a fair trial by a jury of your peers, but researchers argue your “peers” typically end up being mostly white. Alisa Smith, Chair of the Department of Legal Studies at UCF, told Spectrum News that findings from the University of California in recent decades show African Americans are more likely to be disproportionately excluded from death penalty trials. “You can’t exclude a juror based upon race, but you can exclude a juror based upon a belief or a perception that they can’t be fair and impartial,” Smith explained. The findings show that as African Americans become more anti-death penalty, the likelihood of them being excluded in these trials as a juror increase. The research is reflected in the triple-murder trial of Central Florida man Grant Amato, who is accused of killing his parents and brother. 10 people out of the 12 person jury are white, and the alternates are 3 white men. The point of death qualification is to identify jurors who can be fair and impartial in deciding the ultimate punishment. But Smith says it doesn’t always work that way. “That question alone tends to bias a jury toward a group of individuals who are more likely to impose the death penalty,” she explained. While there is no cookie-cutter solution, Smith argues that a potential solution is to have 2 separate juries — 1 for the trial and 1 for the penalty phase. (source: baynews9.com) ALABAMA: Judge will decide Thursday if Lionel Francis should get death penalty for killing young daughter A Madison County Circuit Judge will decide Thursday if Lionel Francis will get the death penalty for killing his 20-month-old daughter. Francis, 37, was convicted in May of capital murder in the death of Alexandria Francis. The child was shot in May 2016 at the family’s home on Lockwood Court. Francis didn’t testify at this trial, but he told police the shooting was an accident. The prosecution’s case included testimony from a state medical examiner who said the nature of the child’s wound indicated the gun was pressed tightly to her forehead before he pulled the trigger. The child’s mother, Ashley Ross testified she was changing her clothes, with her back to Francis and her daughter when she heard the shot fired. Ross’s testimony shook the courtroom at Francis’ trial, as prosecutors played her anguished 911 call pleading for medical attention. The jury also heard her one phone conversation with Francis’ where she angrily dismissed his
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., OHIO, ILL., KY., MO., WYO., ORE., USA
July 24 TEXASdeath row inmate, foreign national, dies Mexican national on Texas death row dies of cardiac arrest After more than 2 decades on Texas death row, a Mexican national convicted of killing 3 teens in El Paso died in bed early Sunday of cardiac arrest, a prison spokesman confirmed. Officials found 49-year-old Ignacio “Nacho” Gomez in his cell on the Polunsky Unit around 5:37 a.m. and took him to a Livingston hospital, where he was pronounced dead just over an hour later. The 49-year-old had long suffered from mental illness, and spent much of his time behind bars in the prison psychiatric ward. According to his lawyer, he wasn’t competent to be executed. (source: Houston Chronicle) Exonerated death row inmate fulfills mission 14 years ago, I reviewed the innocence claim of Texas death row inmate Anthony Graves for the Judicial Process Commission in Rochester. I concluded that Graves’ claim was meritorious. I wrote about his case in “Justicia,” JPC’s newsletter. Graves also asked me to help get his case more national attention. “I want this case of injustice exposed on a national stage to bring attention to the serious flaws with the death penalty,” he said. “I feel very strongly that this is why I’ve been chosen to experience such injustice.” On March 8, 2006, Graves wrote to me again: “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the courts have overturned my conviction, and ordered the state to retry me or turn me loose. I’m totally speechless for the past several days. I’ve never prepared myself for a favorable ruling because I’ve been so used to receiving negative news. But they have finally gotten it right. And the opinion they’ve written speaks volumes about the prosecution’s conduct. I can’t believe it. My attorney said that the opinion is pretty much air tight and there’s no way the courts would ever accept an appeal from the state to review it. This is so mind boggling! It’s like a dream that I’m afraid to wake up to.” On an August night in 1992, in Somerville, Texas, six people including 5 children were beaten, stabbed, shot and left to die in a burning house. One of the children was the son of Robert Earl Carter. Four days earlier, Carter learned the child’s mother had filed a patrimony suit against him. The police investigation focused on Carter after he attended the victims’ funerals with bandages on his ears, face and hand, all concealing burns. After failing a polygraph test, Carter admitted guilt. Not wanting to implicate his wife — who had a burn on her neck immediately after the fire — and pressed by police who doubted Carter committed the crime alone, Carter said Anthony Graves, his wife’s cousin, had helped him. Carter, his wife and Graves all were indicted. Shortly before Graves’ trial, police had Carter undergo another polygraph test. Afterward, Carter told the district attorney that his wife was his accomplice and Graves was not involved. Nevertheless, Carter was warned that if he refused to testify against Graves, Carter’s wife would be tried for murder. The withholding of this information by prosecutors prompted the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn Graves’ conviction and to conclude that Graves would likely have been acquitted had the jury been given this information. Although at trial Carter testified that Graves was his accomplice, Carter told many people before and after Graves’ trial that Graves was innocent. He said he testified against Graves to protect his wife. In his final statement before he was executed, Carter said, “Anthony Graves had nothing to do with it. I lied on him in court.” Carter’s wife was not put on trial. Graves was convicted and given a death penalty. It was later shown that wounds prosecutors claimed were inflicted by a knife like one owned by Graves could have come from any single-edged knife. Also, investigation by Graves’ appellate lawyers cast doubt on the credibility of jailhouse informants and guards who testified they overheard Graves make inculpatory statements to Carter. Charles Sebesta, the Burleson County district attorney who prosecuted Graves, offered no plausible motive for Graves’ participation in the murders. An alibi witness for Graves didn’t testify because she received a threat she would be prosecuted as an accomplice if she testified on Graves’ behalf. My own review of his case also revealed that Graves consented to a polygraph test. Sebesta claimed Graves failed it. But authorities refused to give the polygraph charts of Graves or Carter to Graves’ attorneys. Warren Holmes, a highly respected criminologist and polygraph expert, offered to evaluate these charts after I appraised Holmes of Graves’ case. I concluded that the most plausible explanation for the unwillingness of Texas officials to relinquish the polygraph charts was their concern the charts would support Graves’ claim of actual innocence. In his
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., TENN., OKLA.
July 21 TEXASimpending executions Dexter Darnell Johnson's execution is scheduled to occur at 6 pm CDT, on Thursday, August 15, 2019, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. 31-year-old Dexter is convicted of the murder of 23-year-old Maria Aparece and 17-year-old Huy Ngo on June 18, 2006, in Houston, Texas. Dexter has spent the last 11 years of his life on Texas’ death row. Dexter was born and raised in Texas. He dropped out of school following the 9th grade. During the early morning hours of June 18, 2006, Dexter Johnson and 4 of his friends, Ashley Ervin, Louis Ervin, Keithron Fields, and Timothy Randle, were driving around in Ashley’s car, looking for someone to rob. The group discovered Maria Aparece and Huy Ngo siting in Maria’s vehicle on the street. Johnson took a shot gun and stood outside the driver’s side door, threatening to shoot Maria if she did not cooperate. Johnson demanded she open the door, and when she did, he threw her into the back seat and sat in the driver’s seat. Fields, who was out side the passenger side door, threw Huy into the back seat with Maria, and sat in the front seat on the passenger side. Louis sat in the back. Ashley and Randle followed in Ashely’s car. Johnson demanded money from Maria and Huy. Eventually, Johnson pulled over into a wooded area and forced Huy from the car. Johnson then raped Maria, while Fields forced Huy to listen and taunted him. Maria and Huy were then marched into the woods, by Johnson and Fields, where they were shot and killed. Over the next several days, Johnson used Maria’s credit card several times. On June 21, 2006, Johnson was arrested for possession of marijuana. He was quickly linked by police to the disappearance of Maria and Huy. Police were able to obtain security footage from a Wal-Mart, where Maria’s credit card was used after she went missing. During his trial, testimony was presented that showed Johnson was the leader of a gang. Johnson is also believed to be connected to several other murders. Following his sentencing, Johnson threw a chair in courtroom, resulting in him being forcibly restrained and escorted out of the courtroom by several sheriff’s deputies. Ashley Ervin is currently serving a prison sentence and is eligible for parole in 2046. Keithron Fields has been sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole. Timothy Randle is currently serving a 25 years in prison. Louis Ervin was a juvenile at the time of the crime. Dexter Johnson was previously scheduled to be executed on Thursday, May 2, 2019. That execution was stayed by a Federal court. Dexter wrote to the federal court shortly after being given his May 2, execution date, complaining about his attorney, who has been on his case for years. The court appointed a 2nd legal team to investigate the claims, while allowing the 1st attorney to remain on the case. The 2nd legal team has now claimed that the 1st attorney “violated ethical and professional duties throughout his representation.” Based on these concerns, the federal court halted Dexter's execution. Dexter's 1st attorney has since voluntarily removed himself from the case. Please pray for peace and healing for the families of the Maria Aparece and Huy Ngo. Please pray for strength for the family of Dexter Johnson. Please pray that if Dexter is innocent, lacks the competency to be executed or should not be executed for any other reason, that evidence will be presented prior to his execution. Please pray that Dexter will come to find peace through personal relationship with the Lord, if he has not already. ** Larry Ray Swearingen is scheduled to be executed at 6 pm CST, on Wednesday, August 21, 2019, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. 48-year-old Larry is convicted of the kidnapping and murder of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter on December 8, 1998, in Montgomery County, Texas. Larry has spent the last 19 years of his life on Texas’ death row. Larry was born in Montgomery County, Texas on May 21, 1971. He attended school through the 11th grade. Larry worked as an electrician/mechanic until his arrest. Larry had 1 prior conviction for burglary of a building, for which he received probation. After his arrest for murder, the probation was revoked and he was given a 2-year sentence. Melissa Trotter was a student at Montgomery College in Conroe, Texas. She met Swearingen in the beginning of December 1998. On December 8, 1998, Melissa and Swearingen were observed together in the library. They were seen leaving the campus together by her biology professor, who later identified the man with Melissa as Swearingen. After leaving campus that day, Melissa was never seen or heard from again. On January 2, 1999, her partially nude body was found by two hunters in the Sam Houston National Forest. On December 11, 1998,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA
July 19 TEXAS: After defeats in 2019, a group of Texas lawmakers is teaming up to push criminal justice reformThe new Criminal Justice Reform Caucus in the Texas House will set its sights on changes in 2021. Lawmakers entered 2019 with high hopes that they could change Texas' bail procedures, death penalty laws and drug policies. But the legislative session ended this summer without major reforms in any of those issues. Trying to prevent a similar outcome in 2021, a bipartisan group of House representatives has banded together to form an uncommon, issue-based caucus in the Texas Capitol: one targeting criminal justice reform. “I’m sad to say that for all our other successes, the 86th Legislature was a failure for criminal justice reform,” said state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, in a statement given to The Texas Tribune on Thursday. “Misinformation and a lack of issue-specific guidance on the floor stopped a lot of commonsense, crucially needed bills.” Moody and state Rep. Jeff Leach, a Plano Republican who chairs the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee, will initially lead the House Criminal Justice Reform Caucus, which has 10 other House members — 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans — signed up. The goal is to help educate colleagues on criminal justice issues and work together to advance reform proposals, Moody said. In some ways, the 2019 legislative session was marked by bipartisan progress on issues that have vexed the Legislature for years, most notably school finance. But time and again, key proposals to change the criminal justice system fell flat. A bipartisan push to reform bail practices, which have been ruled unconstitutional in several counties, slowly moved through the House with backing from Gov. Greg Abbott before dying quickly in the Senate. House lawmakers messily scrambled back and forth on a measure to limit arrests for nonjailable offenses, like traffic violations or theft under $100, before it finally fell apart. Proposals to restrict or require reporting on law enforcement’s ability to seize property without a criminal conviction failed, were partially resuscitated and then later killed again in the House. And a House bill to lessen criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana arrived at the Senate’s doorstep with a death notice already pinned to it. For Moody, who announced Thursday he'd seek reelection to the Texas House after weighing a run for the open El Paso district attorney seat, the biggest failures this year pertained to death penalty bills. The most notable was one that would have created a pretrial process for determining if a capital murder defendant is intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for execution. Texas’ top criminal court has been slammed twice by the U.S. Supreme Court in the last 2 years for how it determines intellectual disability in death penalty cases, and state judges have begged for the Legislature to step in for years. “[These are] reforms that have been essentially dictated by the U.S. Supreme Court, and we failed to act again for 20 years running now on intellectual disability, and that should just be unacceptable,” he told the Tribune. “What was a session that could have seen monumental reform in criminal justice saw very little.” Leach has also been a rare Republican voice advocating for death penalty reforms. He said in the statement that Republicans and Democrats can find common ground on criminal justice priorities. “I am confident that, working together, we can make the Texas system a shining beacon of smart, effective criminal justice that leads the nation,” he said. Although notable House bills often died after impasses with the lawmakers in the Senate, Moody said he hopes the caucus will help combat misinformation that disrupts reform efforts. “All those positive structural things will create fewer roadblocks to success and will create a better line of communication to the Senate,” he said. Other members of the newly minted caucus weren’t as keen on marking the session as a failure. State Rep. James White, R-Hillister, chair of the House Corrections Committee, marked as achievements legislation to improve care for women in prison, tackle the backlog of rape kits and end the widely reviled Driver Responsibility Program. But he said the caucus will allow for lawmakers to take a broad approach and look at the criminal justice system as a whole, noting that several of the members are chairs of relevant committees dealing with public health, the judiciary and the state’s prison system. State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, a Houston Democrat who leads the chamber’s Public Health Committee, said that lawmakers have recognized that Texas has over-criminalized our society. “I’m happy that we’re going to be able to come together and have some consensus on some issues that have plagued us for a long time,” she said.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA., TENN., MO., CALIF., USA
July 17 TEXAS: Execution Alert -- Call to Action for Larry Swearingen Larry Swearingen is scheduled to be murdered by the State of Texas on August 21st, 2019. Larry Swearingen was sentenced to death although no biological material recovered from the scene contained any conclusive link. Always protesting innocence, Larry Swearingen is now facing his 6th execution date. Actions: * Texas residents, please send a letter to Governor Greg Abbott telling him to STOP this execution via the 'Speak Out' page on the NCADP website * Contact Texas Governor Greg Abbott by phone at: 512-463-2000, by email via this link, or by tweet @GregAbbott_TX If you prefer to send a letter, here is the mailing address: Office of the Governor, State Insurance Building, 1100 San Jacinto, Austin, TX 78701 * If you live in Texas, write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. * Please share this information with your friends, especially those in Texas, and ask them to help STOP the execution of Mr. Swearingen by taking one of the actions listed above. In addition, here is a link to some general talking points to help you in your advocacy efforts, as well as a recent news article that talks about the decline in support the death penalty is receiving. Lastly, take a listen to 'Power Corrupts' the new podcast from political scientist and Washington Post columnist Brian Klaas. The episode 'An Eye for an Eye' explores Nick Yarris, who spent 22 years on death row, but right before scheduled execution DNA evidence set him free. NCADP's Gregory Joseph joins this episode to explore questions of whether a just society can execute people, racial bias and the arbitrary nature of death sentences. Please check the NCADP website in the days to come to stay informed of any new developments in this case. National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty www.ncadp.org NCADP 80 M St, SE, c/o WeWork, Washington, DC 20036 www.ncadp.org (source: NCADP) * Former statewide judge leaves GOP, citing Trump’s racism Citing what she called President Donald Trump’s racist ideology, Elsa Alcala, a retired Republican judge on the state’s highest criminal court, announced on Facebook that she can no longer support the GOP and has left the party. “It has taken me years to say this publicly but here I go. President Trump is the worst president in the history of this country,” Alcala wrote Monday. “Even accepting that Trump has had some successes — and I believe these are few — at his core, his ideology is racism. To me, nothing positive about him could absolve him of his rotten core.” Appointed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals by Gov. Rick Perry in 2011, Alcala spent 20 years as a GOP judge, also serving in a trial court and intermediate appeals court. She was one of two Latinas to serve in recent years on the state’s two highest courts, the other being Justice Eva Guzman, currently on the Texas Supreme Court. Alcala left the criminal court at the end of 2018. Alcala said Trump’s behavior, including a recent tweet suggesting that four Democratic congresswomen of color should “go back” to the countries they came from, combined with state and national Republican Party support for the president, weighed on her conscience. “Every day with the Republican Party seemed worse than the day before. Trump speaks about brown people like me as lesser beings,” Alcala told the American-Statesman on Tuesday. “It’s cliche to say, but the Republican Party left me.” Trump, Alcala said, seeks to exclude “people who look like me.” “I thought that maybe Texas state politics at the Legislature might be better than the national Republican politics, but it was more of the same,” she said. James Dickey, chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, issued a statement thanking Alcala for her service. “We are sorry that she has chosen to no longer support the party that supported her, her colleagues and her successors,” Dickey said, adding that the booming Texas and national economies prove that Republican policies work. “Democrats are promoting extremist schemes with the inevitable tragic consequences that have destroyed every socialist economy ever put into place. We encourage every Texan to ensure a bright future and greater opportunity for all by continuing to vote for Republican leadership,” Dickey said. During her time on the Court of Criminal Appeals, Alcala made news with a 2016 opinion that said it was time for a closer look at the constitutional issues behind the death penalty. Although she expressed no opinion on whether the death penalty was constitutional, Alcala said that several death row inmates have raised compelling arguments that the court should address, including whether confinement in a 60-square-foot cell was cruel or whether the death penalty is unconstitutional because it disproportionately affects minorities. On Facebook, Alcala said she
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., KY., KAN., N.MEX., ARIZ., NEV., USA
July 16 TEXAS: State files a motion to set Rodney Reed’s execution for November The state has filed a motion to schedule an execution date for death-row inmate Rodney Reed, calling for him to be put to death on Nov. 20, 2019. Reed’s attorney, Bryce Benjet, then filed a motion of his own Monday afternoon opposing the state and asking a Bastrop District Court judge to dismiss or strike the state’s request to schedule the execution. Benjet argues the state has retaliated against Reed and his family for exercising their First Amendment rights. He also argues that the state falsely implied the execution date would not interfere with litigation in the case. “The timing of the filing alone presents strong circumstantial evidence that the motion was filed in response to Mr. Reed and his family’s exercise of First Amendment rights, and not in a legitimate effort to enforce the judgment in this case,” Benjet wrote in the motion. His family members were joined by anti-death penalty activists to protest on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied his most recent appeal. Reed’s family believes he was wrongfully convicted and intended to plead with the Supreme Court to overturn his conviction. “Being black and considered poor, they didn’t anticipate on us being in Washington,” said Sandra Reed, Rodney’s mother. The state’s motion asks the court to deny Reed a hearing. If the court does allow Reed a hearing, the state asks that it happen as soon as possible because the order would need to be entered by Aug. 21, 2019, in order to set Reed’s execution on Nov. 20. Reed’s legal team has fought for years to overturn Reed’s conviction and get him a new trial. He was scheduled to be put to death in March 2015, but the execution was paused just days beforehand. He was first sentenced to death in May of 1998. “This trial has been a Jim Crow trial from the beginning, from the very beginning and we are outraged by that,” said Roderick Reed, Rodney’s brother. Reed was convicted of killing Stacey Stites and dumping her body on a rural Bastrop County road in 1996. DNA from the Stites case matched Reed, but Reed said he had a consensual and secretive relationship with her. Stites was set to marry Jimmy Fennell, a Georgetown police officer, at the time of her murder. Fennell was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for an unrelated crime. He was accused of raping a woman in his custody but pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Reed’s attorney believes new evidence shows Fennell was the actual killer. Reed’s case has garnered national attention as his defense team — led by Benjet — has uncovered new evidence, found new witnesses and cast doubt on the state’s case and critical forensic evidence used at trial. Reed had applied for relief from his 1997 murder conviction on the grounds that scientific expert opinions used at trial were false and have since changed. But on June 26, the Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed that application for relief. The appeals court also denied Reed relief he sought in 2017 that included new testimony and evidence the defense presented. Reed has unsuccessfully pushed to get pieces of evidence tested for DNA, including the belt used to strangle Stites. “Our family has done nothing but asked for a fair trial from the beginning, to present all the evidence from the beginning,” Roderick Reed said. (source: KXAN news) * "I'm not sorry": A quarter century later, Eddie Bernice Johnson stands by her crime bill voteJohnson is the only Texan remaining in Congress who voted for the bill, which has become deeply unpopular among Democrats and is a contentious issue in the 2020 presidential primary. On the afternoon of August 18, 1994, Eddie Bernice Johnson, a barrier-breaking freshman congresswoman from Dallas, stood on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and stumped for the most infamous legislation of that decade. “Every day, most of the headlines have to do with crime,” she said, describing a desperate state of affairs in her home district. “School has been open less than two weeks now and already teachers have had guns in their faces. They found a gun arsenal underside of the building. It is overwhelming, but we must do something about it." Johnson was slated to speak that morning about health care, but she held off for 10 minutes to weigh in on President Bill Clinton's crime bill, which looked to be in jeopardy despite Democratic control of both chambers of Congress. "I cannot understand why there is so much opposition and so much rhetoric and so much demagoguery surrounding the bill that will address these issues," she said. 3 days after Johnson's speech, the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act — better known today as the 1994 crime bill — passed the House. The next month, Clinton signed it into law. 2 1/2 decades later, Clinton’s
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., FLA., NEB., ARIZ., CALIF., ORE.
July 12 TEXAS: Texas took a decade of Alfred Brown's life. It's time to pay him back. After wrongfully convicting Alfred Brown and keeping him behind bars for 12 years, the state should stop trying to sweep him under the rug. Brown was sent to death row in 2005 for the 2003 murder of a Houston police officer and a store clerk at a check-cashing business, but his alibi was not vindicated until years later, when unearthed phone records showed that Brown was at his girlfriend's house at the time of the killing. Although the Court of Criminal Appeals threw out his conviction and death sentence in 2015 because this evidence never made it into the hands of his defense at trial, he wasn't declared actually innocent until earlier this year, when Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg and Harris County District Court Judge George Powell both swore to his innocence. Brown's plight calls to mind an exoneration that went more smoothly: the case of Hannah Overton, who received a finding of actual innocence in 2017 and was compensated by the comptroller the next year without question. The comptroller's office stated that a trial court does not have the authority to dismiss a case it has previously dismissed, but there is clearly precedent for this exact pattern. Like Brown, Overton's case was dismissed twice by the same court, but that did not stop the comptroller from performing his duty of compensating her. Brown has a strong case for actual innocence, and we wish him the best of luck in gaining his due. That doesn't mean we should be comfortable with our system. The state took 12 years of Brown's life and has no intention of paying him back even after admitting the mistake. Now, the burden is on Brown to prove his own innocence. Perhaps the comptroller has good reasons for inconsistency which haven't yet been made clear. Nonetheless, our system has clearly let Brown slip through the cracks. Whatever may happen in the future, Brown now represents a sliver of freed inmates both wronged and ignored by the state. He was not only released, but found innocent, and yet the state still refuses to make him whole. There ought to be a place in our system for people drifting between freedom after wrongful convictions and full pardons. Right now, we're keeping them in limbo. We shouldn't treat a dismissal like a pardon. Neither should we make it an excuse to neglect the wrongfully jailed. Whether or not the state accepts his innocence, Brown spent over a decade in prison thanks to the state's mistakes, not his own. It's time to make him whole and ensure that other victims of the judicial system will not be overlooked. (source: This editorial was written by the editorial board and serves as the voice and opinion of The Dallas Morning News) * Supporters: Fight over Reed’s innocence ‘nowhere near over’ Rodrick Reed stood on the steps of the Supreme Court building in Washington last week, joining capital punishment abolitionists from across the nation one day after Texas’ highest criminal court denied his brother Rodney Reed’s latest appeal for a new trial. Reed, who was convicted in 1996 for the Bastrop County murder of Stacey Stites and placed on death row, has argued for a new trial after his defense attorneys claimed his conviction was based on false scientific evidence and that new evidence called into question testimony provided by Stites’ fiancé, Jimmy Fennell. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected those appeals in a unanimous ruling last Wednesday after reviewing the merits of their argument. It was Reed’s latest loss after the Supreme Court rejected his attorneys’ request to test DNA evidence 1 year ago. “When something like that happens, it kind of knocks the wind out of us a little bit, but we take a deep breath and we keep moving forward,” Rodrick Reed said from Washingtonn. “We move forward in faith and belief that justice will be done, because my brother is truly innocent and all the evidence proves that.” “This fight is nowhere near over,” he said. Last Thursday, Rodrick and other family members gathered on the Supreme Court building’s steps hoisting protest signs and wearing bright shirts reading “free Rodney Reed” or “Texas executes innocent people.” They were joined by advocates from across the country, all seeking to abolish capital punishment in favor of alternatives. Speaking and protesting with all these allies, some of whom have won exoneration themselves, Rodrick found support and inspiration. “It always gives you hope when you have somebody fighting for the same thing you’re fighting for — that always lifts you up,” Roderick said. “When you speak with people who have been where you are, and you see them here today, it gives you hope. It lets you know that the fight is never over.” For 20 years Rodrick, other members the Reed family and supporters around Bastrop have been
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., FLA., OHIO, TENN., NEB., N.MEX., UTAH, ARIZ., USA
July 11 TEXAS: San Antonio man facing death row in killing of 2 teens in 2015 takes plea A San Antonio man facing death in the killings of two teenagers in 2015 entered a guilty plea Wednesday and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. It was about a year ago that proceedings in Brian Flores’ capital murder case ended in a mistrial because one of his lawyers was injured in a fall. The incident called into question whether the lawyer would be able to finish selecting a jury, which in death cases can take up to a month to seat. Flores was 33 and already in jail on 2 other charges when he was arrested and charged with capital murder-multiple persons in the deaths of Joshua Rodriguez, 18, and Victoria Dennis, 17. The homicides occurred at the Churchill Park complex in the 1200 block of Patricia Drive on the North Side on Sept. 29, 2015. (source: mysanantonio.com) PENNSYLVANIA: DA to seek death penalty in child stabbing Lawrence County's district attorney said he intends to pursue the death penalty against Keith L. Burley Jr., who was arrested in Monday night's stabbing death of an 8-year-old boy in Union Township. Burley was apprehended Tuesday morning in Youngstown following the fatal stabbing of Mark Edward Mason. The homicide took place in the presence of three other boys who were inside the house on High Street where the attack occurred. The other boys witnessed the stabbing but escaped the house. "I can't get into specific details," Josh Lamancusa said Wednesday, "but I can share that this little boy died a hero, saving his brother and the other children in the house." Lawrence County Deputy Coroner Rich Johnson, who attended the autopsy at Heritage Valley Health System in Beaver County, determined that Mark Mason died of multiple stab wounds to the neck, and that the manner of death was homicide. Johnson would not say how many times the child had been stabbed, only that the information would be released at later court proceedings once Burley is brought to Lawrence County to face the charges. An angry Lamancusa said that he has contacted the governor's office, demanding to know why Burley was released from state prison a couple of months ago after serving only the minimum sentence of a previous homicide conviction, when he also has a trail of convictions of other violent crimes, some involving guns. Burley also has a conviction for having stabbed an inmate in the neck in the Lawrence County jail in 2002. Burley had been released on parole from the March 19,1999, robbery shooting death of 36-year-old Randall Stewart in the Halco Drive area. According to a 1999 police report provided by New Castle police chief Bobby Salem, Burley initially faced 90 different charges in the Stewart shooting, including homicide and robbery, but he entered a guilty plea to 1 count each of 3rd-degree murder and having a gun without a license. He was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in a state correctional institution as a result. "The (state) parole board released a guy who is a repeat violent and dangerous offender," Lamancusa said. "That is ridiculous. I can't imagine what the parole board was considering when they released him at the minimum. I find it hard to believe anyone could have looked at his past record and determined that he's not a threat or danger to the community. "Now we have the confirmation of the depth of his depravity, sadly." "I will be pursuing the death penalty," Lamancusa declared of the Monday stabbing. "It's a horrific case. To do so, he will have to sign a notice of aggravated circumstances and file it in the courts. The notice will set forth the reasons, including the aggravated circumstances, to justify it. "I think Burley meets several of the requirements," Lamancusa said. Burley remains in the Mahoning County jail, awaiting an extradition hearing that is scheduled for Thursday. It was unknown Wednesday when he would be returned to Lawrence County to face his charges. According to a criminal complaint and reports from authorities, Burley had gotten into an argument that turned physical with his alleged girlfriend in the parking lot of the New Castle Fire Department on Monday night. He allegedly assaulted and injured the woman, and she was taken to the hospital for treatment. In the course of their argument, he is accused of getting into her vehicle where her 2 sons — Mark Mason and his 7-year-old brother — were waiting, and driving off with them to the house at 60 High St., which was the home of another acquaintance. 2 other boys, ages 15 and 8, were upstairs playing video games when they heard someone entering downstairs, the complaint states, about half an hour after the dispute at the fire station. The boys went downstairs to see who was there and Burley was there with the two boys and was holding a gun, according to the account they gave the state police.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., FLA., LA., TENN., ARIZ., CALIF., USA
July 9 TEXASnew execution date Execution date set for ‘Texas 7’ prisoner who accused judge of anti-Semitism A “Texas 7” escapee who filed an appeal alleging his trial judge was racist and anti-Semitic is now scheduled for execution this year, despite 2 pending legal claims still winding through the courts. Dallas County Judge Lela Mays on Wednesday approved an Oct. 10 death date for Randy Halprin, a Jewish prisoner who in May accused ex-Judge Vickers Cunningham of routinely using obscenity-laced language and racial slurs to describe Jewish and minority defendants. “In case after case, the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly and consistently enforced defendants’ constitutional right to a judge free of bias,” defense attorney Tivon Schardl said Monday in a statement. “Yet, Mr. Halprin’s trial judge, who presided over the death penalty trial, made critical decisions about what evidence the jury would hear, and sentenced Mr. Halprin to die, was biased against Mr. Halprin, referring to him as a ‘fn’ Jew’ and a ‘G*n k**e.’” Now 41, Halprin was originally sent to death row for his role in a 2000 prison escape and crime spree that left dead Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins. That December, Halprin and six other men took hostages and broke out of the Connally Unit south of San Antonio. They stole a prison van, then switched it out for a getaway vehicle and fled to Houston, where they pulled off two robberies to stock up on supplies, guns and money. Afterward, they drove toward Dallas, hoping to get away from the search teams hunting for them. On Christmas Eve, the escapees held up an Oshman’s sporting goods store in Irving - and Hawkins was the 1st officer who responded to the call. In a chaotic scene, 5 of the men started firing at the lawman. When it was over, Hawkins lay dead in the parking lot, shot 11 times and dragged 10 feet by an SUV as the panicked prisoners fled with $70,000 and 44 guns. Some of the men admitted to to their roles, but Halprin has consistently maintained that he never fired a shot and that he didn’t even want to bring a gun. Still, he and the other 5 survivors - 1 man killed himself before he could be captured - were sentenced to die under the controversial law of parties, a Texas statute that holds non-shooters as criminally responsible as triggermen. After more than 15 years spent fighting his conviction and sentence, Halprin’s legal team learned of Cunningham’s alleged bias last year when he admitted to the Dallas Morning News that he’d set up a living trust that rewarded his children if they married a fellow white Christian. “I strongly support traditional family values,” he told the paper in a video interview during his 2018 campaign for county commissioner. “If you marry a person of the opposite sex that’s Caucasian, that’s Christian, they will get a distribution.” He lost the Republican run-off by just 25 votes. Afterward, defense investigators began interviewing people who knew him to find out more about his views toward Jewish people and minorities. “If someone were actually African-American he would call them (N-word) and their 1st name,” childhood friend Tammy McKinney recounted. “It was his signature way of talking about people of color.” The May appeal and attached statements detailed a slew of other alleged expressions of bias toward Catholics, Jews, Latinos and black people. Previously, Cunningham did not respond to the Chronicle’s requests for comment. In early June, even before the federal courts ruled on that appeal, the office of Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot asked for the October execution date. A district attorney’s office spokesperson did not respond Monday to a request for comment. The Texas Office of the Attorney General - which represents the state instead of the district attorney once a case reaches federal appeals - last month filed a response brief both arguing that Halprin wasn’t legally entitled to relief and condemning Cunningham’s alleged bigotry. “To be clear, the details of Cunningham’s living trust and the accounts of those who knew Cunningham regarding his bigoted statements and beliefs are troubling to say the least,” state attorneys wrote. “The Attorney General’s Office does not condone or excuse Cunningham’s creation of his living trust, and the racist and religiously-bigoted statements he is alleged to have made are abhorrent.” Aside from Halprin, only one other Texas 7 prisoner who’d been sentenced to die - Patrick Murphy - is still alive on death row. The others have all been executed. (source: Houston Chronicle) *** Texas 7 death row inmate fighting for religious freedom Execution halted, a convicted cop killer's lethal injection on hold minutes after what would have been his last meal. It's a result of a major Supreme Court decision which led to changes in how death row inmates die in Texas
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., COLO., UTAH, AIZ., USA
July 6 TEXAS: Mexican man charged in crash that left 6 dead A 23-year-old Mexican man has been arrested and charged with smuggling migrants in a run that ended death for 6 migrants. A statement Friday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Corpus Christi says Ivan Dario Puga-Moreno of Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico was arrested Thursday in Houston. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Police in Robstown, about 17 miles west of Corpus Christi, say its officers tried to stop a sport utility vehicle on suspicion of speeding late Tuesday, but the SUV got away. Hours later, Nueces County sheriff’s deputies found the SUV’s wreckage in a ditch, 6 of its occupants dead and 9 others injured severely. The federal complaint says Puga-Moreno had been the driver of the vehicle containing 18 migrants and had fled the scene. (source: Associated Press) FLORIDA: The murder was caught on stunning surveillance video. The accused now faces executionDavid Paneque, 29, is accused of murdering Leandro Lopez, 31, at a West Miami-Dade strip mall on March 4, 2019. The reputed Miami gang member accused of murdering an associate on stunningly clear surveillance video now faces the death penalty. Prosecutors on Friday announced they would be seeking to execute David Paneque, 29, who is charged with the killing of 31-year-old Leandro Lopez. A grand jury on Wednesday indicted Paneque for first-degree murder, armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Lopez was gunned down in March atop a parking garage in West Miami-Dade; surveillance footage showed that Lopez begged for his life before Paneque gunned him down, took something off of his body and drove off in a truck. Paneque did not appear for Friday’s court appearance. He pleaded not guilty, through his defense attorney. Lopez’s family and supporters were in the gallery wearing shirts with the slain man’s photo. Detectives are unsure of a motive, but the 2 men had spent the night drinking at strip clubs. At the time of the killing, Paneque was on probation after he served 10 years in prison for stabbing a man during an armed robbery. Born in Cuba, Paneque had been ordered deported because of his criminal conviction. Even under renewed diplomatic relations established under former President Barack Obama, the island accepts back relatively few of its criminal citizens. Deportations to Cuba have risen under the aggressive policies pursued by President Donald Trump but still number only in the hundreds. More than 37,000 Cubans in the United States are facing orders of removal for convictions of crimes or immigration violations. Most of those are living freely under orders of supervision, which require them to check in at least once a year. Cubans were rarely ever deported in the years before diplomatic relations resumed in 2015 under Obama. Even now, the country is considered “recalcitrant” and will not accept back most of its nationals. *** Ex-assistant principal likely faces death penalty in case of murdered Norland High teacherErnest Joseph Roberts appeared in a Miami-Dade court Friday for arraignment as prosecutors announced they will go to a grand jury to get an indictment for 1st-degree murder. Prosecutors plan to seek an indictment against the ex-Norland High assistant principal accused of murdering a teacher — which means he’ll likely face the death penalty. Ernest Joseph Roberts appeared in a Miami-Dade court Friday for arraignment as prosecutors announced they will go to a grand jury to get an indictment for 1st-degree murder. In Miami-Dade, prosecutors automatically seek the death penalty on all 1st-degree murder cases when they are filed. For now, Roberts is charged with 2nd-degree murder. Roberts pleaded not guilty, through court documents filed by lawyer Rod Vereen. “There shouldn’t be a rush to judgment. My client is being convicted in the court of public opinion, and they don’t know the facts of the case,” Vereen told the Herald on Friday. “Let justice run its court. My client is innocent until proven guilty.” Roberts, 39, is accused of murdering Kameela Russell, a teacher and test proctor at Norland High in North Miami-Dade. The popular educator disappeared on May 15, failing to pick up her daughter at a relatives’ home in Miami Gardens. Her body was found days later in a canal near Roberts’ home. From the beginning, he was the chief suspect — Russell was last seen alive pulling her car into the front his home that evening. Court documents paint a compelling circumstantial case against Roberts, who had been friends with Russell since childhood and was even the godfather of her children. Miami Gardens police detectives say Russell’s blood was found on an Amazon box inside his bedroom, which had been thoroughly cleaned with bleach. Surveillance video from a neighbor showed her pulling in
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., ALA., IND., KY., NEV., CALIF., USA
July 3 TEXAS: Death penalty dropped for man charged in murder of Breanna Wood Prosecutors say they will no longer be seeking the death penalty against the main suspect in the death of 21 year old Breanna Wood, though there is no clear indication as to why. Wood's body was found in a box wrapped in plastic in an abandoned building off FM 666 near Robstown in January of 2017, 28 year old Joseph Tejeda is facing capital murder charges for the fatal shooting of Wood. He is also accused of hiding her body after telling police officers he was offer $500 dollars to commit the crime. He is 1 of 6 other defendants facing charges in the murder. Tejeda is set to go to trial in September. (source: KIII TV news) NORTH CAROLINA: Flurry of motions delays sentencing phase in Dixon capital murder case A motion for Judge Greg Horne to recuse himself for the Nathaniel Dixon case has been denied and so has a request for a mistrial in the death penalty case. Last week, a jury found Dixon guilty of shooting and killing his pregnant girlfriend, Candace Pickens, and severely injuring her 3-year-old son in May 2016. Defense attorneys for the convicted murderer filed a motion that Horne recuse himself, saying the judge had mishandled communications involving a juror. Another judge, who temporarily took over proceedings, denied the request and said Horne was the best judge for the job, given that he had presided over the trial. Horne then denied motions made by defense attorney Vicki Jayne, who repeatedly argued for a mistrial. Her argument focused on a juror who inadvertently saw a WLOS story on about a witness who had been killed after testifying in the Dixon trial. Horne questioned the juror, who had notified a bailiff after he saw the story about Dixon’s former girlfriend Tiyquasha Simeul. In open court Tuesday, Jayne said she’d received information that investigators don't believe her client, Dixon, had any role in the killing, though she did not say where she got the information. She said at the time the juror saw the report, he only had the initial story to go on. Jayne said the juror expressed concern over the killing to a bailiff and she thought it could have influenced him in deliberations. The bailiff then took the stand and testified he had communicated the information to Horne. In court Monday, Horne apologized and said he didn’t have any recollection of the bailiff communicating the information, but said he didn’t find it warranted a mistrial. Defense attorney Michael Casterline has been following the case and isn’t surprised by the defense’s flurry of motions given the fact the case was charged as a capital case. “No one’s been put to death in a number of years in the state of North Carolina,” Casterline said. “But, it’s still is the law, and, in theory, it could happen. Obviously, a juror being aware of potentially prejudicial information could affect how they feel about that case. So, I think they’re probably doing what they need to do.” Jayne also asked the judge to take the death penalty option off the table, since the jury’s guilty verdict dictates an automatic life sentence for Dixon. Legal motions delayed the start of the sentencing phase, which is now scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. Monday, July 22. “I think in a criminal trial it could cut either way,” Casterline said. “It could be beneficial to the defense in some ways, because it creates distance from when they heard the evidence, or it could hurt them, as well." In filing the multiple motions and repeatedly arguing for a mistrial, the defense team made no apologies. “I am fighting for my client's life,” Jayne said to the judge. (source: WLOS news) ALABAMAfemale may face death penalty Woman accused of killing 7-year-old Alabama boy pulled from burning home A south Alabama woman has been charged with capital murder in the death of her boyfriend’s 7-year-old son, whose body was pulled from the family’s burning mobile home Sunday morning. Jacqueline “Pat” Stewart, 45, of McIntosh, is being held in the Washington County Jail in connection with the death of Case Trae Ketchum. Stewart, who was initially held on a 48-hour investigative hold, was arrested on the murder charge Monday, according to NBC 15 in Mobile. Case died of blunt force trauma, according to court documents obtained by the news station. The documents state he was killed on or about the morning of the fire. Firefighters with the McIntosh Volunteer Fire Department responded to the family’s home around 5:20 a.m. Sunday, where they found the house in flames. According to department officials, they were able to enter the trailer and pull the boy out. Case was already dead when they pulled his body from the fire. According to AL.com, Stewart was outside the home by the time firefighters arrived. Case’s father, Jesse Ketchum, and another child were out of town when Case
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., LA.
July 2 TEXAS: Death row inmate Rodney Reed’s family goes to Supreme Court after Texas appeal denied Anti-death penalty activists will join family and friends of Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed in protest on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Tuesday after the Texas high court denied Reed’s latest appeal. The family intends to plead with the Supreme Court to overturn what they say was a wrongful conviction. “Tonight, Rodrick and others in Rodney’s family are pleading with SCOTUS to ensure Texas does not continue to violate Rodney’s constitutional rights by denying him access to DNA testing of the crime scene evidence which can prove his innocence and a new, fair trial,” the group wrote in a news release. Stacey Stites was murdered in 1996 and her body was dumped on a rural Bastrop County road. DNA from the Stites case matched Reed, but Reed said he had a consensual and secret intimate relationship with her. Stites was engaged at the time. Reed was convicted a year later in her death. Reed has sought to overturn his conviction for years and the Court of Criminal Appeals most recently dismissed his application for relief last week. Reed’s lawyers argue that the scientific expert opinions used at trial more than 20 years ago have since changed. In 2017, the appeals court denied Reed’s appeal after a hearing in Bastrop County that included new testimony and evidence presented by the defense. Reed’s case has garnered national attention as his defense team, led by Innocence Project attorney Bryce Benjet, has uncovered new evidence, found new witnesses and cast doubt on the state’s case and critical forensic evidence used at trial. Stites was set to marry Jimmy Fennell, a Georgetown police officer, at the time of her murder. Fennell was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for an unrelated crime. He was accused of raping a woman in his custody but pleaded guilty to lesser charges. He was recently released from prison. Reed’s attorney said a wealth of new evidence shows Fennell was the actual killer. (source: KXAN news) FLORIDA: Court hearing pace quickens for man facing death penalty in 2017 murder A judge put Christopher Eugene Smith’s murder case on the fast track, telling the attorney for the Dunnellon man facing the death penalty there’s enough time to prepare. Circuit Judge Richard “Ric” Howard on Monday set Smith’s next court appearance for Sept. 25, when Howard ruled for 34-year-old Smith to either schedule a trial or change his not-guilty plea. “I’ve got nothing but time for trials,” Howard said. Smith’s public defender, Ed Spaight, told the judge that pace is too fast for him to line up witnesses and evidence for not just Smith’s trial but also for his sentencing phase, if it comes to that. “I just don’t see it being ready…60 days from now,” Spaight said. Assistant State Attorney Pete Magrino, who filed Smith’s death penalty notice last October, said he’s fine with Howard’s decision. A Citrus County grand jury indicted Smith and Sara Jane Atwood in September 2018 for the April 2017 premeditated murder of James Thomas Roman and the armed burglary of his home on West Cardamon Place in Lecanto. Atwood, 25, of Inverness, has a court hearing on July 15 and a trial scheduled for the week of July 22. Atwood, a beneficiary of Roman’s will is accused of conspiring with Smith to burglarize the 73-year-old’s house, where Smith allegedly strangled Roman to death during the break-in, reports show. Smith then stole Roman’s Nissan pickup truck and led sheriff’s deputies and Florida Highway Patrol troopers on a pursuit that ended with his apprehension in Marion County. A Judge sentenced Smith in September 2017 to a year and six months for charges connected with the pursuit. Authorities later extradited Smith to Citrus County last September to face his pending charges. Smith is also facing charges connected to May allegations he attacked a jail inmate and held a dozen others hostage with a homemade knife. (source: Citrus County Chronicle) LOUISIANA: Jury selection underway in Kevin Daigle capital murder trial Nearly 4 years since the fatal shooting of State Trooper Steven Vincent, jury selection is scheduled to get underway in the trial of the man accused in his death. Kevin Daigle, 57, is charged with 1st-degree murder and could face the death penalty if convicted. Jury selection is expected to take about a week. The trial is expected to last 2 to 3 weeks. Vincent, a 13-year veteran of the Louisiana State Police, was shot on the side of La. 14 near Bell City on Aug. 23, 2015. He died the next day. Daigle is also accused of killing another man, 54-year-old Blake Brewer, in Moss Bluff the same day. Daigle is charged with 2nd-degree murder in Brewer’s death, but that charge will be tried separately. The trial is being held in Lafayette after Judge Clayton Davis
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, MISS., OKLA., S.DAK., N.MEX., CALIF., USA
June 29 TEXAS2 new execution dates Execution dates set for 2 more Texas death row prisoners 2 more Texas death row prisoners — a North Texas man man who stabbed his family and an Aryan gang member from El Paso who strangled a woman — are now scheduled for execution this year. Robert Sparks was sentenced to die in 2008 after a chaotic trial in Dallas County, where he was convicted of murdering his wife and 2 stepsons before raping his stepdaughter. He still has pending appeals in the case, but a judge this week greenlit a Sept. 25 execution date, court records show. Justen Hall was sent to death row in 2005, 3 years after strangling a woman with an electrical cord. He is slated to die on Nov. 6, according to a prison spokesman. The Lone Star State has executed 3 men so far in 2019, and with the addition of the 2 new execution dates, there are 8 more prisoners scheduled to die this year. Just after midnight on Sept. 15, 2007, Sparks put his hand over the mouth of his wife, Chare Agnew, and stabbed her 18 times in her bed, according to court records. Then, one at a time, he woke up his stepsons — 9-year-old Harold and 10-year-old Raekwon — and stabbed them 45 times each, dragging their bodies into the living and stashing them under a comforter. Next, he went after the girls, raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter on the couch while her younger sister watched. Afterward, he apologized to them for the rapes and murders — but said their mother had been trying to poison him. He was arrested a few days later and tried the following year. On appeal, he raised concerns about the possibility of false testimony offered by A.P. Merillat, a state expert who told the court about the prison classification system and claimed that Sparks could still pose a threat behind bars. That claim is currently in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, along with one about how a bailiff’s courtroom attire may have biased the jury. During the punishment phase of trial — when jurors decided on whether Sparks deserved to die by lethal injection — one of the bailiffs wore a necktie with an image of a syringe on it. It’s not clear whether the jury could see that tie, and so far courts have decided it wasn’t enough to make a difference in the outcome of the case. The attorneys representing Sparks — Seth Kretzer and Jonathan Landers — this week questioned the decision to set an execution date with litigation still pending in court. “The Office of the Attorney General, which represents the state, filed a motion asking for more time,” Kretzer told the Chronicle, “and yet the district attorney’s office wants an immediate execution date. There’s no reason to force the Supreme Court’s hand.” The other condemned prisoner added to the list of upcoming executions has been on death row for nearly 15 years for a murder stemming from a fight outside drug house in El Paso. On Oct. 28, 2002, Melissa Billhartz got in fight with a man she knew, and the dispute escalated into an assault. Afterward, she said she wanted to call police - and Hall and his friends became worried, fearing authorities would discover the meth house. The others opposed that plan, according to court records, but Hall left and a few hours later showed up with the woman’s body in the back of a truck. He then ordered a friend to go bury her and cut off her fingers with a machete so police couldn’t find any DNA. In the early years after he was sentenced to die, Hall asked to give up his appeals. Later, his attorneys raised concerns about DNA testing on the cord used to kill Billhartz, and suggested his confession was coerced. But in 2016, Hall again asked to waive his appeals in a letter to the court. “These walls 24/7 have broken me,” he wrote. “It is taking every last ounce of will to even make it from day to day.” The following year, he told a judge he was guilty and ready to die, assuring the court he was mentally competent to make that decision. His attorney on Friday did not respond to a request for comment. (source: Houston Chronicle) State to seek death penalty in 2 capital murder cases McLennan County prosecutors announced Friday that they will seek the death penalty against 2 capital murder defendants. For the first time since the cases were indicted, the district attorney's office announced Keith Antoine Spratt and Christopher Paul Weiss will face the death penalty in separate cases. First Assistant District Attorney Nelson Barnes made the announcements Friday during a status hearing in Spratt's case, saying that "with the facts of this case and the defendant's background," his office will seek the death penalty. Barnes declined additional comment on the case. Waco attorney, Russ Hunt, who will represent Spratt along with his son, Russ Hunt Jr., said he was surprised by the announcement. "We will be ready and we will do our best for Mr. Spratt,"
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., GA., FLA., OHIO, OKLA., USA
June 28 TEXASnew death sentence Nueces County jury sentences man to death in West Texas deputy's 2013 slaying A Nueces County jury convicted Gary David Green on June 18 of capital murder in connection with the death of Upton County deputy Billy "Bubba" Kennedy. The same jury handed down the death sentence Wednesday afternoon. In Texas, capital murder is punishable by either life in prison without parole or the death penalty. The trial was moved from West Texas because of a change of venue. The Associate Press reported that Green was arrested in October 2013 following a shootout at a McCamey convenience store. His card was declined at the store and he demanded free gas, the Odessa American reported. The man was approached by Kennedy and another deputy, who ran a check on the vehicle's license plate and discovered it was stolen. More: Trial underway in fatal 2013 shooting of West Texas deputy Kennedy went to the vehicle's side door and unfastened his gun from its holster, according to the newspaper. Green opened his door and fired, it states. Both officers reportedly returned fire. The jury found that Green would be a continuing threat to society and determined there were no "mitigating circumstances," such as Green's character and background, that warranted life in prison over the death penalty, court records show. (source: Corpus Christi Caller-Times) NORTH CAROLINA: US Drops Case Against Man Sentenced to Death 43 Years Ago U.S. prosecutors have dropped their case against a North Carolina man 43 years after he was sentenced to death for a murder he says he did not commit. Charles Ray Finch, 81, was freed in May after his case was dismissed on the grounds that police mishandled the investigation of the 1976 shooting of a storekeeper during an attempted robbery. Prosecutors have since decided a new trial would be impossible since so many of the witnesses are either dead or have moved away, the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) said Wednesday. The African-American defendant had been sentenced to death in North Carolina in July 1976 for the grocery store clerk's murder, but the sentence was later commuted to life in prison. In 2002, a group of law students went back to study the case and found a number of problems that threw doubts on the conviction, including police manipulation of witnesses during a line-up and lying about a ballistics report. In the line-up, a witness had told the police that the suspect had been wearing a coat at the time of the killing. Finch was the only one in the room made to wear a coat. In January an appeals court ruled that if the jury had been aware of such manipulations it would not have convicted Finch, and overturned the verdict. Family reunion Finch was released from jail in a wheelchair in May and reunited with his family. DPIC said Finch was the 166th person to be exonerated after being wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death since 1973, and the 18th to have spent more than 25 years behind bars. "Mr. Finch's exoneration illustrates the continuing failure of the judicial system to protect the innocent in death-penalty cases, and particularly prisoners of color," said DPIC director Robert Dunham. (source: voanews.com) GEORGIA: Tracing the racist history of the death penalty in GeorgiaR.J. Maratea argues that lynching declined when white people began to realize that the courtroom would work just as well. Killing with Prejudice: Institutionalized Racism in American Capital PunishmentBy R. J. Maratea, New York University Press Of the nearly 1,500 executions in the United States since 1976, over 70 % have occurred in the 11 southern states of the former Confederacy. Sociologist R. J. Maratea posits a direct line of racialist social control in these states extending from slavery to the modern criminal justice system. Maratea focuses on the case of Warren McCleskey, who was executed by Georgia in 1991 for killing a white police officer during an armed robbery. McCleskey’s crime “hit squarely in the face of expected racial etiquette in the Deep South and singled out Warren McCleskey as a black man in need of killing.” To support this claim, Maratea surveys Georgia’s history, observing that prior to the Civil War, Georgia’s criminal statutes expressly subjected black men to death for a wider array of crimes than white men. For years after the Civil War, mobs of white men lynched black men for violating unwritten racial codes.M State and local government officials often looked the other way, and the federal government’s response to lynching was repeatedly stymied with filibusters by southern senators. Nevertheless, Maratea argues, incidents of lynching declined in the 1920s and 1930s when southerners began to realize that “mob violence could be enveloped into the existing justice system and effectively accomplished
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., FLA., ARK., MO.
June 26 TEXAS: State Won't Compensate Wrongly Convicted Ex-Death Row InmateThe Texas state comptroller has denied compensation to a man who served 12 years on death row for a murder prosecutors and a judge have said he didn't commit. The Texas state comptroller has denied compensation to a man who served 12 years on death row for a murder prosecutors and a judge have said he didn't commit. A judge had ruled Alfred Dewayne Brown, at the request of Harris County prosecutors , innocent last month of the 2003 slaying of a Houston police officer. Brown had been convicted and condemned in 2005 for Officer Charles Clark death during a robbery of a check-cashing store. Officials had said Brown is entitled to almost $2 million under state law. However, the Houston Chronicle reports the state comptroller's office offers little insight to the reason for its denial of compensation. Brown's attorney, Neal Manne, says he'll ask the comptroller to reconsider. If nothing results, he can appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. (source: Associated Press) NORTH CAROLINA: What does it take to bring a death penalty case to trial in NC? Just 43 people have been sentenced to death in North Carolina since 1984. Even more are waiting in prison for their execution dates. "There are many cases where it is fully justified and very appropriate,” Henderson County district attorney Greg Newman said. He said, when considering the death penalty, prosecutors need to consider multiple factors, including the strength of the case. "In other words, do you have strong facts that support a charge of murder?” Newman said. Newman said prosecutors also need to consider the defendant's criminal history. The majority of people currently on death row in North Carolina face multiple charges in addition to 1st-degree murder. "The 3rd thing that I consider is who is our victim?" Newman said. "Is this person a very active and productive and valued member of our community." Newman said another consideration is the people sentencing the suspect to death. "What is the likelihood that a jury will feel strongly enough about the case to return a death verdict?" Newman said. Even once a jury returns a death penalty verdict, it's likely the case will go through decades of appeals, exhausting the court system and placing a burden on the victim’s family. "Any time that we decide to embark upon this road, it is a major undertaking in terms of our time, in terms of what families are going to experience, in terms of what we are asking witnesses.” Newman said. (source: WLOS news) FLORIDA: 'Judicial activism' raised in key death penalty case Reversing the state’s retroactive consideration of certain death-penalty cases would amount to “the most egregious judicial activism in the history of Florida,” a lawyer for a Death Row inmate argued in a brief filed Monday with the Florida Supreme Court. The filing, in the case of convicted murderer Duane Eugene Owen, comes as a revamped Supreme Court is exploring whether to reverse course on decisions that allowed dozens of convicted murderers to have their death sentences reconsidered. Justices are looking at the issue after Gov. Ron DeSantis reshaped the Supreme Court early this year, turning what had been widely viewed as a liberal-leaning majority into a court dominated by conservative justices. The issue stems, in large part, from rulings in 2016 by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court about the state’s death-penalty sentencing system. In a case known as Hurst v. Florida, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state’s death-penalty sentencing system was unconstitutional because it gave too much power to judges, instead of juries, in deciding whether defendants should be sent to death row. That ruling, premised on a 2002 decision in a case known as Ring v. Arizona, led to sentencing changes, including requiring that juries be unanimous in finding necessary facts and in recommending imposition of the death penalty. In a pair of decisions in December 2016, the Florida Supreme Court decided that the sentencing changes would apply retroactively to cases that became final after the 2002 Ring ruling. Re-sentencing should only be an option for cases in which jury recommendations for death were not unanimous, the court also decided. But the revamped Florida court in April ordered Owen’s lawyer and the state to address the retroactivity issue. That prompted Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office to urge justices to make a relatively rare move of receding from the previous retroactivity rulings in what are known as the Mosley and Asay cases. Moody’s office said the Supreme Court should rule that the death-penalty sentencing changes should apply only to new cases, not retroactively to older cases. Moody’s office also contended that “stare decisis,” the concept of relying on court precedent,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA., FLA., MISS., LA., KY., TENN.
June 21 TEXAS: Tarrant County man faces death penalty, accused of killing ex-girlfriend and her young daughter Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a Euless man accused in the 2018 strangulation of his ex-girlfriend and her 10-year-old daughter in an east Fort Worth apartment. Paige Terrell Lawyer, 39, is charged with capital murder in the killing of O’Tishae Womack and her daughter Kamyria Womack on April 6, 2018. Womack’s twin 4-year-old sons had been in the apartment at the time of the slayings, but they were not injured, according to an arrest warrant. Prosecutors filed their intention to seek a death sentence against Lawyer a few weeks ago in Criminal District Court No. 396. The last case on which local prosecutors sought the death penalty was in October 2017 against Miguel Hernandez, who was arrested naked in the bed of his pickup truck and charged in the July 27, 2014, slaying of James Bowling. Bowling, 56, was strangled after what police said was a violent fight during a burglary attempt. A Tarrant County jury found Hernandez guilty, but sentenced him to life without parole. Lawyer was arrested April 8, 2018, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Suspect texted threats to victim According to the arrest warrant obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2018, O’Tishae Womack and her sister had taken a walk in a park together on April 5, 2018. During their walk, the sister told police, Lawyer passed them several times, as if checking up on them. He also kept calling and texting O’Tishae Womack. Among the texts that Womack would receive that day from Lawyer was one that said, “BEFORE I LEAVE I WILL KILL YOU.” Her sister said Womack called later that same day, asking her sister to please pick up her children from school because Lawyer was planning to come over to get some stuff from the apartment. The sister told investigators that Womack later came to her house to pick up the kids, saying she’d return later that evening because Lawyer was still at her apartment. She never came back, the sister told police, according to the warrant. Womack’s mother is believed to have been the last one to talk to her. The mother told investigators she had gotten a call from her daughter about 10:30 p.m. on April 5, 2018, in which Womack said she was going to come over because Lawyer was refusing to leave her apartment. “This was the last time that anyone can confirm that O’Tishae Womack was alive,” according to the warrant. The bodies of Womack and her daughter were found the next day an an apartment in the 200 block of Shady Lane Drive. Lawyer remained in the Tarrant Jail on Thursday in lieu of $500,000 bail on the capital murder charge. He also was being held on 2 Fort Worth assault charges and bail was $1 million. Tarrant County death penalty cases The last time the death penalty was given by a Tarrant County jury was against Amos Wells in 2016. Wells was convicted on Nov. 3, 2016, of capital murder in the deaths of his pregnant girlfriend Chanice Reed, 22; her mother, Annette Reed, 39; and Chanice Reed’s 10-year-old brother, Eddie McCuin, on July 1, 2013. Rodolfo Arellano was selected to face the death penalty for capital murder in a case where he abducted his estranged wife in April 2016, tied a 119-pound chunk of concrete on her and tossed her off the Lake Worth bridge to drown. But Arellano pleaded guilty in January and received a sentence of life without parole. There are 8 pending defendants who are facing the death penalty in Tarrant County. (source: star-telegram.com) GEORGIAexecution Georgia inmate is the 1,500th person executed in the US since the death penalty was reinstated A Georgia inmate convicted in the killing of man who gave him a ride in 1997 died by lethal injection Thursday, the state's Department of Corrections said. Marion Wilson Jr. is the 1,500th person to be executed in the United States since the return of the death penalty in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. His execution was carried at 9:52 p.m. ET at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia after the US Supreme Court denied a stay of execution. Wilson was sentenced to death in 1997 for the murder of Donovan Corey Parks in southeast Atlanta. Parks was found dead on a residential street after he gave Wilson and another man a ride from a Walmart store. Parks had gone to the store to buy cat food and accepted to give them a ride when they approached him in the parking lot, authorities said. Wilson was been convicted in Baldwin County, Georgia of malice murder, felony murder, armed robbery, hijacking a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of a sawed-off shotgun, according to the state's office of the attorney general. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles met to consider clemency for Wilson on Wednesday but
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., S.C., GA., FLA., ALA.
June 20 TEXASnew execution date Randall Mays has received an execution date for October 16; it should be considered serious. (source: MC/RH) * Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present43 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-561 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 44-July 31Ruben Gutierrez-562 45-Aug. 15Dexter Johnson--563 46-Aug. 21Larry Swearingen564 47-Sept. 4Billy Crutsinger565 48-Sept. 10---Mark Anthony Soliz--566 49-Oct. 2-Stephen Barbee--567 50-Oct. 16Randall Mays568 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) ** Houston judge questions capability of federal prosecutor in San Jacinto County death penalty case A federal judge publicly rebuked a Justice Department prosecutor in a Houston death penalty case over allegations the Washington, D.C., lawyer hid exculpatory evidence in another capital case in Indiana federal court. U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes, who is known to air his feelings candidly about government employees and policies, made his opinion of Assistant U.S. Attorney James D. Peterson clear Wednesday during a discovery hearing. “I think that America could find a better representative of its values and ideals than Mr. Peterson,” Hughes told another prosecutor on the case. It was the second time in the past year the judge has clashed in court with Peterson. The judge’s admonition came during a hearing for James Wayne Ham, of San Jacinto County, who faces a capital trial on charges that in 2013 he fatally shot Eddie “Marie” Youngblood, a 52-year-old Coldspring postal worker and then burned her remains. Ham’s defense lawyers say that amid a dysfunctional culture in their unit, Peterson and two other Justice Department lawyersdemonstrated a pattern of misconduct in other death penalty cases around the country that warrants further scrutiny of their work regarding Ham. If the judge orders the release of additional documents, the defense team will assess whether they believe evidence that weighs in favor of Ham’s innocence was withheld. The lead defense lawyer in the Houston case, Kimberly C. Stevens, also noted that Peterson’s Texas Bar license has been suspended since 1996 for failure to pay his dues. She told the judge that becoming ineligible due to an administrative suspension constitutes a violation of the federal and local rules. Peterson has an active law license in Virginia and could appear in federal court without a Texas license, according to the state bar association. Evidence presented in a civil suit in Connecticut that Peterson and Steve Mellin, another prosecutor previously tied to the Ham case, had destroyed or failed to produce evidence favorable to the defense in other federal death penalty cases. And a declaration by Amanda Haines, a former co-worker, in an Indiana death penalty case stated that she had resigned due to ethical breaches she had reported that were never addressed by management. Haines, the aggrieved ex-prosecutor, said in a sworn statement that Peterson “committed a fundamental error in judgment” and a violated protocol in the Indiana case when he interviewed dozens of witnesses who had evidence favorable to the defendant without law enforcement present. Peterson then compounded the error, in her view, by destroying his notes and then denying he had disposed of them. Haines said that attorney Mellin, who worked on the Ham case in Houston from 2013 to 2014, had missed deadlines and failed to review documents or identify exculpatory Brady material boxes of evidence in the Indiana case. Justice lawyers said under oath that Peterson’s department was riddled with personnel problems, including allegations of a sexualized environment at the office that was both hostile to and discriminatory against women. Male lawyers accused of failing to cover the basics won awards and got plum assignments, like the Boston Marathon bombing case, while female prosecutors got short shrift, the women said. Stevens, the defense lawyer in Houston also asked the judge to review the conduct of Kevin Carwile, who previously headed Mellin and Peterson’s unit at the Justice Department and Carwile’s deputy, Gwynn “Charlie” X. Kinsey Jr. Both men appeared at Ham’s death penalty determination hearing in Washington opposite 2 female defense lawyers. These top capital prosecution officials subsequently faced scrutiny and were ousted from their roles in the wake of allegations of misconduct and disparate treatment. Hughes, the judge in the Houston case, ordered the prosecutors to produce a list of all events and documents involving Peterson and the other Justice lawyers. The
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.Y., N.C., GA., ALA., ARK.
June 19 TEXAS: How many doses of lethal injection drugs does Texas have? With execution drugs in short supply across the nation and increasing secrecy about the companies that provide them, The Texas Tribune is keeping track of movement in the state’s supply. 06 doses expire June 5, 2019 06 doses expire June 27, 2019 15 doses expire Jan. 12, 2020 Scheduled executions Jul 31 Ruben Gutierrez Aug 15 Dexter Johnson Aug 21 Larry Swearingen Sep 4 Billy Crutsinger Sep 10 Mark Anthony Soliz Oct 2 Stephen Barbee Recent inventory changes -1 dose May 1, 2019 Drugs removed from stock +15 doses April 29, 2019 Drugs added to inventory -1 dose April 24, 2019 Execution of John William King Since 1977, lethal injection has been the method for executing Texas criminals sentenced to death. But the drugs used in executions have changed over the years, as the state has struggled to get a hold of enough life-ending doses. Texas, along with other states that hold executions, has been engaged in a battle for years to keep an adequate inventory of execution drugs. Currently, the state uses only pentobarbital, a sedative it has purchased from compounding pharmacies kept secret from the public. To promote transparency, The Texas Tribune has obtained the inventory history and current supply of execution drugs held by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The information, collected through continuous open records requests, is updated regularly with the available doses and recent changes to the state’s inventory. In 2011, drug manufacturers began blocking their products from being used in lethal injections. As Texas’ struggled to perform executions, it turned to compounding pharmacies, state-regulated agencies that mix their own drugs without federal regulation. When one pharmacy’s name became public, the owner said he received threats, and asked for the drugs to be returned. Texas refused, and the state Legislature passed a law in 2015 to maintain the privacy of any person or business involved in an execution, from the person who inserts the needle to the company that sells the drug. Since then, Texas has kept enough pentobarbital in stock for scheduled executions, faring better than some other states. But the drugs haven’t come easy. In 2016, Pfizer, the last-remaining open-market manufacturer of drugs that were used in executions, banned its products from being used for that purpose. Afterward, states that had regularly performed executions halted the practice as they are unable to obtain any drugs. Others rushed to schedule executions ahead of the expiration dates of their limited supply of drugs or switched to using a controversial sedative, midazolam, which was involved in botched executions in Oklahoma and Arizona. Texas has been able to keep an adequate supply on hand, but part of that is because the state has repeatedly extended the expiration date of doses in stock — retesting the potency levels as the expiration date nears and then relabeling them. The practice has drawn sharp criticism from death penalty defense attorneys, who say the old drugs are causing painful executions. Even with its relative security, Texas is always looking for new supplies. In 2015, the state attempted to import from overseas a drug previously used by Texas in executions, sodium thiopental. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration seized the drugs and later ruled that they couldn’t be brought into the United States because they were unapproved and misbranded, but the state is fighting that ruling. also: see: https://apps.texastribune.org/death-row/ (source for both: The Texas Tribune) * Man convicted in fatal 2013 shooting of West Texas deputy faces death penalty A Nueces County jury convicted a man in the 2013 fatal shooting of a West Texas sheriff's deputy. The jury found Gary David Green guilty of capital murder Monday in connection with the death of Upton County deputy Billy "Bubba" Kennedy, court records show. Green, who is now facing the death penalty, was arrested in October 2013 after a shootout at a McCamey convenience store, according to the Associated Press. The trial was moved from West Texas to South Texas because of a change of venue. McCamey — which is in Upton County and has a population of around 2,000 people — is about 50 miles south of Odessa. After weeks of jury selection, testimony began last week before visiting judge Tessa Herr. The jury returned a verdict in less than half an hour, according to a court official. The trial's punishment phase is expected to start Wednesday. In Texas, capital murder is punishable by either life in prison without parole or the death penalty. According to a news article from the Odessa American, Green's credit card was declined at the convenience store and he demanded free gas. He was approached by Kennedy and another deputy, who ran a check
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, DEL., GA., FLA., ALA., TENN., ARK., USA
June 13 TEXAS: Patrick Murphy: the story of the ‘Texas 7’ murderer on death row featured in the ITV documentary Countdown to ExecutionThe convicted murderer is still waiting for his execution date Patrick Murphy – 1 member of the Texas 7 – has been waiting on death row for years, and will eventually be executed by lethal injection. Murphy is the subject of death row: Countdown to Execution, a new ITV documentary presented by Susanna Reid who visited and interviewed Murphy as he sits and waits for his fate. Reid will interview inmates who are due to be executed by lethal injection, and will also speak to lawyers and the residents of Huntsville, Texas, to find out what it’s like to live with America’s most active death chamber on their doorstep. But who is Patrick Murphy and what exactly did he do to be sentenced to death? On 13 December 2000, Patrick Murphy became notorious when he and 6 other prisoners broke out of the John B. Connally maximum-security prison in Texas, United States, and they became known as the Texas 7. They were Donald Newbury, Randy Ethan Halprin, Larry James Harper, Joseph C. Garcia, Michael Anthony Rodriguez and George Rivas, who was the ringleader. At the time of the breakout, Murphy had been serving a 50-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault. He and his fellow inmates overpowered and restrained nine maintenance supervisors, four correctional officers, and three inmates. They then stole a white prison truck in which to escape in before dumping it in a Wal-Mart car park and fleeing to San Antonio. To get money, they robbed a branch of Radio Shack before checking into a motel and robbing a sporting goods store in the nearby town on Christmas Eve. They bound and gagged all the staff and stole 44 guns, ammunition and $70,000 in cash. Murphy acted as lookout and getaway driver and heard that someone had called the police through his scanner. Irving police officer Aubrey Wright Hawkins responded to the call but when he arrived he was ambushed, shot 11 times and run over as the gang escaped. He later died in hospital. A $100,000 reward was offered to capture the gang, which rose to $500,000. Thanks to an episode of America’s Most Wanted, 6 of the gang were apprehended while the 7th man, Larry Harper, killed himself before he could be arrested. Why is Murphy now on Death Row? As it was unclear who shot and killed Officer Hawkins, all 6 surviving men were charged, convicted and sentenced to death for his murder under the Law of Parties. This allows for a person to be held criminally responsible for another’s actions if that person acts with “the intent to promote or assist the commission of the offence and solicits, encourages, directs aids, or attempts to aid the other person to commit the offence”. It also states that if, “in the attempt to carry out a conspiracy to commit one felony, another felony is committed by one of the conspirators, all conspirator are guilty of the felony actually committed”. Garcia, Newbury, Rivas and Rodriguez have all been executed while Halprin and Murphy are still incarcerated on death row. When is Murphy due to be executed? Murphy was originally scheduled for execution on 28 March 2019, but the Supreme Court granted him a last minute reprieve because his constitutional right to freedom of religion had been violated when his Buddhist spiritual adviser was refused entry into the death chamber. (source: inews.co.uk) DELAWARE: Speak Out: Death penalty debate Readers reacted to a recent letter by Kristin Froehlich headlined “No to death penalty reinstatement.” • It’s not a deterrent cause we don’t use it! We give the criminal 25 years of appeals! While locked up, they get 3 meals, a bed, TV, internet, iPads and free schooling! Let’s turn prison back into prison! It’s not supposed to be a state-funded hotel stay! — Dean Grabowski • As I said in my letter, “Wilmington was called Murdertown USA and law enforcement officers were killed in Delaware while the death penalty was active.” — Kristin Froehlich • I’m not sure why it’s supposed to be a deterrent. It’s a punishment. People kill other people and they aren’t deterred by whatever might happen to them. People steal and aren’t deterred by the chance of losing their freedom. People are going to do whatever they want. A society only stays in balance by punishing those who choose to not follow the basic rules of society. A 5-year-old needs correcting when he does something he’s not supposed to do. A 25-year-old who shoots a store clerk doesn’t need correcting. — Christopher Foxwell • Society is too soft on criminals. If you murder someone or commit a horrible crime, there should be real consequences like the death penalty. Problem has been they don’t get sentenced and then the sentence carried out. Why all the years on death row? Why pay to support murderers who are worthless to society or
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS
June 12 TEXAS: Texas 7 inmate says judge who sent him to death row is a bigot, so he deserves a new trial An inmate condemned to die for his role in the Texas 7 prison escape says the Dallas judge who put him on death row is a bigot and a racist who should have recused himself from the case, according to a federal court filing appealing the man's conviction. Randy Halprin filed the appeal saying that former state District Judge Vickers "Vic" Cunningham was prejudiced against him because he is Jewish and routinely used derogatory and offensive language about Jewish people, Catholics, African Americans and Hispanics. Halprin said the courts should grant him a new trial. Halprin's attorneys wrote in the appeal, called a writ of habeas corpus, that Cunningham regularly spoke the N-word, condemned "the [expletive] Jews" and used other slurs to describe racial minorities. The Dallas Morning News reported last year that Cunningham, who is white, rewarded his children with a trust if they married someone who is white, Christian and of the opposite sex. Cunningham, 57, denied the allegations in the appeal Tuesday in a brief statement to The News. Last year, he denied racial bigotry in an interview, but he did confirm the trust he set up for his children. "The fabrications contained in the writ are more of the same lies from my estranged brother and his friends," Cunningham said Tuesday, referring to his brother Bill Cunningham, who is married to a black man. "I have not communicated with him since our father's funeral. I will not be commenting further." Halprin, 41, was a member of the Texas 7 gang of prison escapees who murdered Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins during a robbery on Christmas Eve 2000. Cunningham sentenced Halprin to death in 2003. His attorneys allege in the appeal filed last month that the judge's anti-Semitic beliefs and statements violated the Constitution's due process requirement guaranteeing fair treatment at trial. They say Halprin is entitled to a new trial no matter how strong the evidence is against him. Halprin has said he did not fire his gun the night Hawkins was shot 11 times and run over behind an Oshman's sporting goods store. Halprin was convicted and sentenced based on Texas' law of parties, which allows for anyone participating in a crime to be held accountable for Hawkins' murder. "Before, during, and after Randy Halprin's trial, Judge Cunningham harbored deep-seated animus towards and prejudices about non-white, non-Christian people. He expressed these views frequently in private and they informed his thinking about his public service in the law," Halprin's attorneys Tivon Schardl, Timothy Gumkowski and Paul Mansur wrote. "Judge Cunningham had a duty not to preside over a case in which he considered the defendant a ... '[expletive] Jew.'" The Dallas County district attorney's office did not respond to a request for comment. Toby Shook, the lead prosecutor who is now a defense attorney, declined to comment. Halprin's attorneys said in the filing that they were not aware of the allegations against Cunningham until The News' report about the trust and other allegations of bigotry. Then they conducted their own investigation, they wrote. Halprin does not have a scheduled execution date. Halprin was a victim of child abuse who went on to be a child abuser. While baby-sitting for a friend he met at a homeless shelter, he broke a 16-month-old's arms and legs, fractured his skull and beat his face until one eye filled with blood. He pleaded guilty to injury to a child and was serving a 30-year sentence when he escaped Dec. 13, 2000, from the Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas. 'Level of hatred' In the appeal, Halprin's attorneys quote Tammy McKinney, who grew up with Cunningham and knows him as an adult, as saying that the judge "did not like anyone not of his race, religion or creed, and he was very vocal about his disapproval." McKinney said that Cunningham's "level of hatred" grew as he aged but that he was always prejudiced and that prevented them from ever becoming "truly good friends," according to the court filing. The trial of Texas 7 ringleader George Rivas was presided over by Molly Francis. Rivas was sentenced to death and has been executed, along with three other escapees. Another committed suicide to avoid capture in Colorado, and the gang's lookout won a reprieve in March from the U.S. Supreme Court. When Francis was appointed to a state appellate court, Gov. Rick Perry appointed Cunningham as her replacement. Cunningham was proud of the role he played in sentencing 5 of the Texas 7 to death, including Joseph Garcia and Michael Rodriguez, who were Hispanic. Rodriguez was also Jewish and attended services with Halprin in prison. Garcia and Rodriguez have been executed. McKinney said the judge would talk about the cases at parties and, when he lost his
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ARIZ., USA
June 11 TEXAS: Complaint Alleges that Prosecutor in Alfred Dewayne Brown’s Case Knowingly Hid Evidence of Innocence A special prosecutor in Harris County, Texas, has filed a complaint with the Texas State Bar Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel against former Assistant District Attorney Daniel Rizzo, alleging that Rizzo intentionally concealed exculpatory evidence crucial to the exoneration of former death-row prisoner Alfred Dewayne Brown (pictured). Brown was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in 2005 for a robbery murder in which a store clerk and responding police officer were shot to death. Brown claimed that phone records would show he was at his girlfriend’s apartment at the time of the murder. Rizzo withheld the records from the defense, then abused grand jury proceedings to jail Brown’s girlfriend until she agreed to implicate Brown. Brown was exonerated in 2015 after the phone records came to light. An investigation by Special Prosecutor John Raley later led to an official declaration that Brown is “actually innocent.” In early June 2019, Raley filed what the Houston Chronicle described as a “scathing grievance” with the Texas state bar alleging that “Rizzo was aware of exculpatory evidence and chose not to produce it to the defense and the court.“ He accused Rizzo of engaging in “significant misconduct” by “withhold[ing] from the court and defense counsel evidence likely to acquit Brown and then press[ing] forward in seeking the death penalty.” Raley said “Mr. Rizzo’s misconduct in the Brown case raises substantial questions regarding his honesty, trustworthiness, and fitness to be a lawyer. ... Mr. Brown, an innocent man, spent nearly 12 years on death row because of the misconduct of Daniel Rizzo.” As Special Prosecutor, Raley issued a report — commissioned by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office —advocating for Brown’s exoneration. The report, issued in March 2019 after more than 1,000 hours of investigation into Brown’s case, found “[b]y clear and convincing evidence, [that] no reasonable juror would fail to have a reasonable doubt about whether Brown is guilty of murder. Therefore his case meets the legal definition of ‘actual innocence.’” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg and Harris County District Court Judge George Powell subsequently made official declarations of Brown’s “actual innocence,” paving the way for Brown to receive state compensation for the years in which he was wrongfully imprisoned. Raley’s report documented that Rizzo concealed “crucial evidence” of phone records that supported Brown’s alibi that he had been at his girlfriend’s apartment at the time of his alleged crime. A copy of the records were discovered by police officer Breck McDaniel in his garage during Brown’s appeals. In 2003, in preparation for Brown’s trial, Officer McDaniel obtained the phone records for Brown’s girlfriend’s apartment in an effort to disprove Brown’s alibi. Instead, the records showed that Brown had, as he claimed, called his girlfriend at work at a time that made it impossible for him to have been involved in the murder of Houston Police Officer Charles Clark. McDaniel sent an email to Rizzo informing him of the phone records. When that email was uncovered in 2018, District Attorney Kim Ogg filed a Bar complaint against Rizzo. Rizzo claimed he never read the email and had not been aware of the records. Raley’s complaint rejected Rizzo’s version of events, explaining that, while Rizzo had not replied to the email, he made a change to a subpoena that McDaniel had requested, demonstrating that he in fact read the email. Rizzo has denied concealing the evidence. His lawyer, Chris Tritico, wrote, “There is more credible evidence that supports that Breck McDaniel suppressed what he clearly thought was exculpatory evidence, but did not understand was inculpatory evidence, after all it was in HIS GARAGE. If the District Attorney wants to set a cop killer free they can do so without laying it on the back of a 27-year public servant.” “For Rizzo to call Brown a ‘cop killer’ at this stage reveals both his desperation and his bias,” Raley replied. “Rizzo was fully aware of the existence of the exculpatory evidence, decided not to produce it, and pretended that it did not exist.” In the complaint, Raley wrote that he “cannot imagine anything in the practice of law more horrible than executing an innocent man.” “Rizzo’s unethical and illegal actions resulted in an innocent man being sent to death row,” he said. “Fortunately, an extra copy of the records was found and produced before Brown was executed. If our justice system is to work properly, the State Bar of Texas must hold prosecutors who hide evidence of innocence accountable for their conduct.” (source: Death Penalty Information Center) FLORIDA: Injustice of Central Park Five should give Florida pauseM There are 340 people on
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., VER., PENN., FLA., ALA.
June 1 TEXASinmate removed from death row Former death row killer who targeted gay men in 1980s gets life sentences A former Charles Manson follower linked to a string of gay hate crimes in the 1980s won an appeal and has been let off death row, but under a new plea deal will still spend the rest of his life behind bars. Marlin Enos Nelson, a 50-year-old Harris County man who once professed a hatred of gay people, was originally sentenced to die for the 1987 murder of a telephone switchman who picked him up for sex, according to court records. But in 2013, an appeals court decided that flawed jury instructions at his 1988 trial could have unfairly netted him a death sentence, so the judges overturned his punishment while leaving in place the guilty verdict. (source: Houston Chronicle) NEW HAMPSHIRE: Ayotte, Prosecutor in Capital Murder Case, Angered by Death Penalty Repeal Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte says she is disappointed and angry that New Hampshire has abolished its death penalty. As the state's attorney general, Ayotte was the lead prosecutor in the case of Michael Addison, who killed Manchester Officer Michael Briggs in 2006 and is the state's only inmate on death row. While the bill ending capital punishment is not retroactive, its opponents argue Addison eventually will see his sentence converted to life on prison. The state Senate voted to overturn Gov. Chris Sununu's veto of the bill on Thursday, a week after the House did the same. In a series of tweets, Ayotte says law enforcement officers and their families deserve better than what they got from lawmakers, and that Addison was the happiest about the vote. (source: Associated Press) ** Ignore the pope on death penalty Can a murderer or kidnapper, that kills his victim, or a traitor, be put to death by the state? Yes. The state has an obligation to protect the commonweal of society, even to the point of imposing the death penalty and deprive the killer of his/her own life. Contrary to what the current pope of the Catholic Church has said, and his attempt to change church teaching on the subject of the death penalty, the church has always taught that the death penalty can be used as a last resort — after due process — in order for the killer to pay with his own life for his crimes against society. There are far too many Catholics that do not know their faith, and think that whatever the pope says or writes is binding on the conscience of the faithful. This is not so! There are strict requirements that have to be met in order for a teaching to be binding. Suffice to say, that the pope is human, and like you and I, is entitled to his opinion. If he says that the death penalty is null and void from this point on, he is not to be obeyed! Remember, he cannot change any teachings on faith and morals, period! When Christ was standing before Pilate, He told Pilate that if His kingdom was of this world, His legions would come and protect and save Him. In addition, He said that he (Pilate) would have no authority over Him if it were not given him by His Father, and consequently, through the state, to him! Today, we have “legal” murder in the form of abortion, and now infanticide in the form of letting a poor baby girl that survived an attempt to kill her through the “procedure” of abortion, left to die a cold and lonely death or thrown into the trash can! Murder is still murder, and these killers should also be subject to the death penalty, period! Pray for the restoration of the death penalty in all 50 states, and pray for an end to the “legal” murder of the pre-born. And while you’re at it, pray for our country!! EUGENE R. DeLALLA P.O. Box 653 (source: Keene Sentinel) VERMONT: ‘Ladies in Waiting’: A window into the souls of death row If the eyes are the window into the soul, what might you see in a photo of a woman on death row? Artist Rita Fuchsberg saw her next project. After reading a 1998 article in The New York Times that printed the photos of women on death row, Fuchsberg was inspired to create a series of portraits of them. “Ladies in Waiting” is the installation exhibit that resulted, and it will open in tandem with the member show at the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center in West Rutland Saturday, June 8, with a 5 to 7 p.m. reception. Insanity shines through in one face, fear in another. Next, rage. “I felt I had caught the spirit of the person, what I thought I saw in the photograph,” Fuchsberg said by phone recently. “It’s not something I can really describe: Was it something in the mood? The eyes? That indescribable either sadness, anger, (or) complete lack of interest; (some) are absolutely crazy. “20 years ago I painted it,” Fuchsberg explained, and submitted it as one of 1,500 artists who applied to an international exhibit with the Texas Moratorium. She was one of 50 accepted. There
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS
May 27 MAY 27, 2019: TEXAS: Despite bipartisan support, Texas bill tackling intellectual disability in death penalty cases failsNegotiators in the House and Senate couldn't come to an agreement on a bill addressing how Texas handles capital murder defendants who may be intellectually disabled. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing people with intellectual disabilities amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. A bill aimed at ending Texas' years of legal troubles around ensuring it is not administering the death penalty on people with intellectual disabilities died in the Texas Legislature this weekend after negotiators in the Senate and House failed to find common ground. The legislative session ends Monday. House Bill 1139, by state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, was originally written to allow capital murder defendants to request pretrial hearings to determine if they are intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for the death penalty. If the trial judges found they were intellectually disabled, they would be ineligible for a death sentence and instead receive an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. As the bill moved through the Senate, however, it was largely gutted, instead only stating that a defendant who has an intellectual disability can’t receive the death penalty and such determinations must be made using current medical standards. That language would have codified existing U.S. Supreme Court rulings but offered no direction on how to follow them. Earlier this week, when the bill came back from the Senate amended, Thompson requested a conference committee in which members from both chambers could iron out the differences between the two versions. The committees had until midnight Sunday to file a report with a compromise version. The deadline passed without a report. Thompson’s original version of HB 1139 passed out of the Texas House in an 102-37 vote and was supported by members of both parties. She could not be reached for comment Saturday night. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing people with intellectual disabilities amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, but left it up to states to determine the definition of such disabilities. Texas has never passed legislation to regulate the process, leaving it up to courts to decide if a defendant is eligible for the death penalty. However, Texas courts have still run into trouble with the higher court because of a test some judges have implemented to determine if a defendant is eligible for the death penalty. In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals’ process as unconstitutional in a case involving Bobby Moore, ruling that it used outdated medical standards and non-clinical factors that advanced stereotypes, like how well a defendant could lie. The Texas court was asked to re-evaluate Moore using different methods. The court’s revised method, which still rejected Moore’s claim of intellectual disability, was again knocked down by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year. “There’s a disconnect between the U.S. Supreme Court and our court down here,” Thompson told the Tribune earlier this year. “We just want to make sure that we’re doing justice, that we’re following the law.” State Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican who is vice-chair of the Senate's Criminal Justice Committee, opposed the version of the bill that passed the House, questioning whether the pretrial process would allow “activist judges” who were against the death penalty to use it as a way to limit capital punishment. State Sen. Borris Miles, a Houston Democrat who carried the bill in the Senate, later presented the much more limited version of the bill, which passed out of that chamber. “As the legislation moved, I worked with my fellow members in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and passed a version of the bill to continue the discussion in a conference committee where we could craft language that would respect the US Supreme Court rulings,” Miles said in a statement Saturday night. “Unfortunately, the leadership would not allow HB 1139 to move forward, dooming the bill.” A spokesperson for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick did not immediately respond to questions on the bill. State Rep. Joe Moody D-El Paso, a member of the conference committee, said that the House members on the committee attempted to use the report to advance two other death penalty-related bills when it became clear that the Senate was not going to support addressing the issue of ensuring that Texas isn't executing people with intellectual disabilities. The 1st, House Bill 1030, would clarify instructions to a jury when they are deciding whether to give a defendant the death penalty of life in prison. The 2nd, House Bill 464, would allow evidence appeals that could lessen punishments, like a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, S.C., FLA., ALA., MISS., MICH., NEB., COLO.
May 25 TEXAS: Lawmakers to negotiate key death penalty provision A bill that would prevent people with intellectual disabilities from being sentenced to death, in the works since 2003, will go to negotiations after the Senate removed a provision requiring a disability determination hearing before the trial — a key piece to come into compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court. Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, has been trying to pass a version of House Bill 1139 since a year after the court first opposed the state’s methodology for determining intellectual disability. Then, in February, the court ruled that Bobby Moore, 59, was intellectually disabled and ineligible to receive the death penalty for the fatal shooting of a Houston store owner during a 1980 robbery. The House passed the bill 102-37. However, the Senate removed the essential provision to bring the state in line with the court. As originally written, the bill — the product of negotiations between Thompson and district attorneys offices — mandated that a hearing to determine whether a defendant has an intellectual disability would take place at least 120 days before trial, in order to reduce instances in which sentencing must be repeated if a defendant is given the death penalty but later found to have an intellectual disability. (source: Austin American-Statesman) SOUTH CAROLINA: SC may use firing squad as death penalty workaround South Carolina lawmakers are considering legislation that would add firing squads to the state's existing execution methods. The House Criminal Laws subcommittee on Thursday approved a Senate proposal that also changes South Carolina's default execution method to the electric chair. Lawmakers acted after prison officials told them they don't have the drugs needed for lethal injection and don't know when they will be able to obtain them. Don Zelenka is South Carolina's deputy attorney general. He says 29 prisoners are currently on death row. The bill has passed the Senate. South Carolina's last execution was in May 2011. (source: Associated Press) FLORIDA: Group mourns first execution under Gov. DeSantis About a dozen anti-death penalty advocates held a memorial service at the state capitol for serial killer Bobby Long and his 10 victims Friday. Long was executed Thursday and was the 1st inmate executed under Governor Ron DeSantis. Pastor Brant Copeland with First Presbyterian Church said he was disappointed to see the new governor sign the death warrant. “I am disappointed that Governor DeSantis has signed a warrant so soon after taking office, but I am hopeful that if we can sit down with Governor DeSantis and show him the evidence and appeal to his own humanity he might change his mind about signing future warrants,” said Copeland. 28 inmates were executed under former Governor Rick Scott, the most of any governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. (source: WCTV TV news) Here are the 46 men sent to death row by Tampa Bay area courtsFrom execution-style killings to murder-for-hire plots, they are some of the most heinous killers in Tampa Bay. Here are their crimes. The Thursday night execution of Bobby Joe Long leaves 340 inmates on Florida’s death row. 46 of those men were convicted in Tampa Bay area courts. 2 more who were convicted and sentenced to death for the beating death of a man they lured to the woods off a dating site will soon join them. Of those 46 men, many have been serving their sentences for more than 30 years. Florida killings have even inspired a new Oxygen show called Florida Man, highlighting murders in the state. These men represent some of the most vicious killers in Tampa Bay history. From execution-style killings, to murder-for-hire plots and no shortage of brutal, hands-on killings that will give you chills, here is a county-by-county breakdown of the 46 men Tampa Bay area courts have sentenced to die. also, see: https://www.tampabay.com/florida/2019/05/24/here-are-the-46-men-sent-to-death-row-by-tampa-bay-area-courts/ State allowed to proceed with death penalty in Brucia case Judy Cornett slipped her white Hyundai into a parking spot at the Sarasota County Courthouse Friday afternoon, pulled out a black marker and wrote these words on a piece of poster board: “Death for Joe Smith.” “It made me angry when I wrote that,” she said. “Those were my feelings and my emotions.” Cornett and a small group of 4 others — they call themselves “Predator Patrol” — then attended a hearing in which a public defender presented a series of motions as to why the state should not be allowed to seek the death penalty against Joseph Smith for the brutal kidnapping and murder of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia in 2004, a case that drew national attention after the abduction was captured on camera at a Sarasota car wash. Judge Charles Roberts
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., PENN., FLA.
May 23 TEXAS: Death Penalty Reform Bill Gets Watered Down to ‘Nothing’ Before Passing SenateAfter passing the House, HB 1139, meant to reform how Texas decides whether a defendant is too intellectually disabled to execute, was significantly softened in Senate committee. A House bill meant to reform Texas’ death penalty procedures for intellectually disabled defendants was amended in the Senate to the point that criminal justice reformers are now calling it “worthless.” With the end of the legislative session quickly approaching, the changes will likely derail one of the biggest priorities for capital punishment reformers this year. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that it’s unconstitutional to sentence intellectually disabled people to death, but it left states to create their own criteria for determining whether a defendant is intellectually disabled. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 2004 adopted the “Briseno factors” to determine intellectual disability, though they are based on outdated medical standards and stereotypes, including a reference to the character Lennie from John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. In a 2017 ruling on the case of death row inmate Bobby Moore, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Briseno factors invalid for determining a defendant’s eligibility to face capital punishment. The state’s highest criminal court and Attorney General Ken Paxton have claimed Moore is not intellectually disabled and fought to uphold his death sentence; the state court has twice been overruled by the Supreme Court, which determined in February that Moore is indeed intellectually disabled. Moore’s case laid the foundation for House Bill 1139, by Houston Democrat Senfronia Thompson. The version that passed the House — on a vote of 102-37 on April 30 — would have allowed a pretrial hearing to determine whether a defendant has an intellectual disability and therefore is ineligible for the death penalty. But all language related to a pretrial hearing was stripped from the proposal in the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice. The change came after Houston Republican Senator Joan Huffman, the committee’s vice chair and a former Harris County prosecutor, voiced her opposition. The version substituted in committee preserved only the parts of the bill that codify the Supreme Court’s decisions that intellectually disabled people are exempt from the death penalty and that courts must use prevailing medical standards. That essentially means the bill “does nothing,” said Elsa Alcala, a Republican and former Court of Criminal Appeals judge. Alcala gained notoriety after issuing opinions questioning the constitutionality of the Texas death penalty. She now lobbies for death penalty reforms on behalf of Texas Defender Services, a nonprofit that represents death row inmates. “The whole point of the bill has now been taken out,” Alcala told Senate committee members on Friday. “It’s worthless. It’s not worth the paper it’s written on.” The measure would have saved the state time and money, Thompson, the bill’s author, told the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee in March. Capital murder cases cost the state about $2.5 million each, she said, and they’re more expensive than noncapital trials because of longer jail stays for defendants before and during trials, pretrial preparations and higher attorney fees. Defendants found to be intellectually disabled would not walk free; they can be sentenced to life without parole if convicted. The bill had support from criminal justice reformers and many prosecutors who said it would resolve the patchwork practices of courts across the state. In some cases, juries don’t consider a defendant’s intellectual disability until the punishment phase of a trial. “It’s worthless. It’s not worth the paper it’s written on.” Prevailing medical standards for establishing intellectual disability take into account a person’s everyday behavior, academic performance and age of diagnosis — all factors that are irrelevant to the offense the defendant is accused of, Alcala told Senate committee members on May 8. But it would be nearly impossible to convince a jury to divorce the offense from a defendant’s everyday behavior, Alcala said, and that is why she favors a pretrial hearing conducted by a judge, as prescribed by the original HB 1139. But Huffman chafed at the suggestion, saying the bill would allow an “activist judge” to decide that a defendant has an intellectual disability solely to avoid leveling a death sentence. After a brief argument between Huffman and Alcala, Houston Senator John Whitmire, the Democratic chair of the committee, moved to close public testimony, though several witnesses — all registered in favor of the bill — were waiting to testify. “I’m done, I’ve made my point, and everybody knows where I stand,” Huffman said. Huffman was a prosecutor in the 1997 trial of Duane Buck, a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., PENN., S.C., FLA., ALA., LA.
May 22 TEXAS: Supreme Court Denies Review in Death-Penalty Case Where Texas Judge Rubberstamped Prosecution’s Findings The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a case in which the Texas courts decided a death-row prisoner’s appeal by adopting the prosecution’s fact findings and legal arguments word-for-word without providing the defendant’s lawyer any opportunity to respond. In a May 20, 2019 ruling, the Court without comment denied the petition for writ of certiorari filed by Ray Freeney, thereby permitting the Harris County prisoner’s conviction and death sentence to stand. The decision was the latest in a series of cases in which the Court has refused to take up the issue of state-court rulings that are verbatim copies of proposed orders written entirely by the prosecution. In June 2018, researchers at the University of Texas School of Law Capital Punishment Center exposed the systemic rubberstamping of prosecutors’ pleadings in Harris County capital cases. The researchers found that county judges had adopted prosecutors’ proposed findings of fact verbatim in 96% of 191 capital cases in which factual issues had been contested. Harris County has executed 129 men and women, more than double the number executed in any other county in the United States and more than have been executed in any state in the country other than Texas. In a Washington Post op-ed, columnist Radley Balko said Freeney’s case not only raises questions about the practice of judges rubberstamping prosecutorial findings, but also “test[s] the absurd, outer limits of AEDPA’s deference to state courts.” AEDPA is the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, the habeas corpus amendments passed by Congress in 1996. Those amendments have significantly reduced federal courts’ ability to review and redress violations of a state defendant’s right to a fair trial and sentencing by requiring federal judges to give a high level of deference to state court findings. Balko explains, “to get a federal court to review a state court’s ruling, a defendant must show not only that the state court (and the state courts that upheld the ruling) were wrong, but that the prevailing ruling was either ‘contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law,’ or an ‘unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented.’ Put plainly, you must convince the federal courts not only that the state courts were wrong, but also that they were unreasonably wrong.” When Ray Freeney’s case came before Texas District Court Judge Renee Magee, his appeal lawyers sought a new sentencing hearing because his trial lawyers had failed to investigate and present to the jury evidence that Freeney suffered from mental illness and had been the victim of chronic child abuse. Judge Magee, who had spent 19 years as a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, asked for briefs, and received 204 proposed findings of fact from the prosecution, based on over 800 pages of testimony. The next day, she adopted the factfinding verbatim. Freeney’s defense attorneys were never given an opportunity to respond, or to submit their own brief containing new evidence to support their claim that his trial attorneys had provided inadequate counsel. The University of Texas study has demonstrated that “rubberstamping” of prosecutors’ proposed orders is common in Harris County, particularly in cases in which the judge was a former county prosecutor. But Feeney’s case stood out even more in that Judge Magee provided his lawyers no opportunity to respond to the prosecution’s proposed disposition of the case. “When you have such egregious inattention to facts and lack of stewardship of constitutional rights as we’ve seen in Harris County,” Balko said, “the entire system begins to look like a farce.” Under AEDPA, rubberstamped findings are routinely treated with the same level of deference as findings that judges wrote themselves. Balko explains that, “under the controlling case law for the [Texas federal courts], ‘a full and fair hearing is not a precondition to presumption of correctness to state habeas court findings of fact.’” “The message sent to state judges by the Fifth Circuit in Mr. Freeney’s case was clear,” says Richard Bourke, one of Freeney’s attorneys. “You don’t need to consider the defense’s legal arguments. You don’t need to consider the defense’s evidence. You don’t even need to wait until the defense has presented either. You can just rubber stamp the state’s brief. And you needn’t worry about the Fifth Circuit overruling you.” Rubberstamping “isn’t even all that uncommon. In some parts of the country, it’s routine,” Balko said. In several 2016 articles for The Marshall Project, Andrew Cohen noted court decisions “ghostwritten” by prosecutors in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, S.C., FLA., ALA., OHIO, MO.
May 21 TEXAS: Texas House initially passes "Lauren's Law" "Lauren's Law" named in honor of the Lauren Landavazo who was killed 2 1/2 years ago in Wichita Falls is one step closer to the desk of Governor Greg Abbott. Monday evening the Texas House voted for the legislation that could change the age for capital punishment. The bill would raise the age of a victim where the suspect could be prosecuted for capital murder from under the age of 10 to under the age of 15. In Lauren Landavazo's case, she was 13-years-old when Kody Lott shot and killed her while she was walking home from school Lott was sentenced to life in prison, but by state law, he will be eligible for parole after he has served 30 calendar years. But if "Lauren's Law" gets signed into law, a person charged with capital murder of a someone under the age of 15 will no longer be eligible for parole. The Texas House will have to vote on the bill once more on Tuesday. After that, it will be sent back to the Senate where the author, Senator Pat Fallon, will decide if he wants to accept the amendment that was added by the house. If he accepts it, the bill will be sent to the governor's desk. (source: texomashomepage.com) SOUTH CAROLINA: Jerome Jenkins, other death row inmates may never be executed Jerome Jenkins, the Horry County man sentenced to death last week for the 2015 Sunhouse robberies and murders may never be executed due to the nation-wide shortage of the lethal injection, according to Horry County Solicitor, Jimmy Richardson. Out of the 30 people on death row in South Carolina, five are from Horry and Georgetown Counties, including Jenkins. However, since the company that manufactured the lethal injection stopped producing the drug, no one has been executed in South Carolina since 2011. "Lethal injection, for now, is a thing of the past," Horry County Solicitor, Jimmy Richardson said. South Carolina legislators have tried to solve the lethal injection issue with bills that would bring back the firing squad and make electrocution the default execution method, but so far, none have passed. Richardson says the death penalty was banned in the '70s after the Supreme Court ruled electrocution too gruesome, and as a result, the lethal injection was introduced. He says if they bring back some of the old execution methods, the Supreme Court could ban the death penalty again. "You're walking on this tight wire of the 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which says this is a cruel and unusual punishment, and that's sort of what has the legislators stumped." Richardson says even though South Carolina doesn't currently have the means to execute someone, he won't stop pushing for the death penalty when it's warranted, like in Jerome Jenkins's case. "Here, we very judiciously use the death penalty, but we do use it on the worst of the worst, and then once they get up on death row, that's up to our elected legislators to figure out what to do with them at that point, realizing that the lethal injection may not be an option," Richardson said. "The only other solution for us is to give in and say we're just not going to seek it anymore, and I'm not willing to do that." Richardson says not pursuing the death penalty in certain cases where it's needed would cause a downward spiral for prosecutors. "Once you get down to the highest penalty (being) life (instead of the death penalty), there will be the same attacks on that sentence as there are presently on the death penalty. Then it will be life is too much, 30 years is too much, 20 years is too much, and I don't think we need to go down that slope," Richardson said. Richardson says even before the lethal injection shortage, it would take decades for someone on death row to be executed because of the appeals process. He adds that even if the inmate is not executed, being put on death row is still a worse punishment than life in prison, because death row inmates are only allowed out of their cell for 1 hour a day. (source: WBTW news) FLORIDAimpending execution Catholic bishops push for stay of execution for convicted serial killer Days before a convicted serial killer is executed, Florida's Catholic bishops are pushing the governor to change his mind. The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis Monday afternoon, urging him to commute the death sentence of Bobby Joe Long to life without parole. Long is scheduled to die by lethal injection on May 23 at 6:00 p.m. He pleaded guilty to 8 homicides and was sentenced to death in 1985. Last month, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Long's death warrant, the governor's 1st. The head of the bishops' conference said while the group doesn't condone Long's crimes, there is worth to his life. "Even those who have done great harm have inherent dignity and great worth. We hope that by staying this execution,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., DEL., S.C., FLA., ALA., OHIO
May 19 TEXAS: Cameron Todd Willingham's Ex-Wife Changed Her Opinion After The Events Shown In Trial By Fire One of the most fascinating yet heartbreaking events in America’s legal system history is brought to the big screen with Trial By Fire. The film, based on the 2009 New Yorker article also title Trial By Fire, chronicles events around late Texas native Cameron Todd Willingham. In 1992, Willingham was convicted of arson-related triple homicide and was executed 12 years later by the death penalty after his 3 daughters were killed in a 1991 house fire. While Willingham always insisted he was innocent, later evidence suggested he was wrongly convicted and executed. His then-wife, Stacy Kuykendall, was, too, convinced of his innocence until ultimately believing he was guilty. Kuykendall played a major role in Willingham’s life and fate, but in the movie version she is quite prominent. So where is Willingham’s wife now? Since her ex-husband’s execution, Stacy Kuykendall has remained completely under the radar. The sole exception was when she spoke out about his ultimate fate in a 2012 interview with The Huffington Post, 8 years after his execution, while his family members sought Willingham’s pardon. “Todd is guilty, the criminal justice system and the courts confirmed his guilt, and he should not be pardoned for his crimes,” Kuykendall said at the time. “My girls would have been 23 and 21 years old today. I miss them so much.” While Kuykendall was in Willingham’s corner and also persistent about his innocence for years, she changed her stance shortly before his execution.“I read that Todd’s stepmom and cousin are asking the governor for a pardon. I don’t blame Todd’s stepmom for fighting for her son,” she continued to The Huffington Post in 2012. “Mothers love their children and always will, no matter what happens in their lives… I understand why she does not want to face the facts of what he did to our girls.” In the case, Willingham refused an offer to plead guilty in return for a life sentence. Their daughters killed in the 1991 fire were two and one (twins), and Willingham escaped. Kuykendall and Willingham had a tumultuous past and both had come from troubled backgrounds. According to The New Yorker article, Willingham had been unfaithful, drank heavily, and would physically assaulted his partner, even while she was pregnant. They married a few months before the fire and were a significant part of each other’s lives. “Me and Stacy’s been together for 4 years, but off and on we get into a fight and split up for a while and I think those babies is what brought us so close together,” Willingham had said, per The New Yorker. “Neither one of us… could live without them kids.” While Kuykendall admitted to investigators that she’d been hit by Willingham, she initially defended his innocence and didn’t believe he’d kill their children. She also previously campaigned for his release and wrote to the governor of Texas, “I know him in ways that no one else does when it comes to our children. Therefore, I believe that there is no way he could have possibly committed this crime.” However, her letter didn't work and within a year she’d filed for divorce. Days before Willingham's execution, fire scientist Gerald Hurst concluded there was no foul play and the fire was caused by a space heater, however the governor declined Willingham’s reprieve. Unfortunately, by then, Kuykendall had been swayed by the other court documents and findings. Although Kuykendall, who was eventually convinced of her ex-husband’s guilt, turned down many of his last requests, she was there for his execution by lethal injection. Wilingham’s last words reinstated his innocence, but given Kuykendall’s last public words about him, it seems that wherever she is, she still doesn’t believe him. (source: refinery29.com) NEW HAMPSHIRE: Just 2 votes away from death penalty repeal New Hampshire has debated repeal of the death penalty since Gov. Badger called for its abolition in 1834. This year, if House and Senate vote tallies hold during upcoming override votes, repeal will become a reality. In 2019, bipartisan coalitions in the House and Senate passed a death penalty repeal bill by veto-proof (66%-plus) margins. Gov. Chris Sununu then made good on his promise to once again veto the legislation that would replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole. Death penalty repeal has passed the Legislature three times, in 2000, 2018 and 2019, only to fall to the respective veto pens of Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and Gov. Sununu, so if repealing the death penalty is important to you, now is the time to reach out to your state representatives and senators. The New Hampshire House has signaled that it may vote as early as this Thursday to override the governor’s veto and if does, we strongly encourage representatives to override the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., MASS., N.C., S.C., FLA., ALA., LA.
May 18 TEXAS: Did Texas execute an innocent man? Film revisits a haunting question. Texans will have an opportunity to revisit a question that should haunt anyone who believes in the integrity of our criminal justice system: Did our state execute an innocent man? The new film “Trial by Fire” tells the true story of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was sentenced to death for setting a fire to his home in Corsicana that killed his three young daughters in 1991. The film is based on an investigative story by David Grann that appeared in the New Yorker in 2009, five years after Willingham was executed over his vociferous protestations of innocence. In my experience of serving 8 years on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and 4 years as a state district judge in Travis County, the Willingham case stands out to me for many of the same reasons it stood out to filmmaker Edward Zwick, who calls it a veritable catalogue of everything that’s wrong with the criminal justice system and, especially, the death penalty. False testimony, junk science, a jailhouse informant, and ineffective legal representation all played a role in Willingham’s conviction. In October 2010, I presided over a posthumous Court of Inquiry at the request of two of Willingham’s family members seeking to clear his name. I heard compelling testimony from scientific experts who thoroughly debunked the arson evidence used against Willingham at his 1992 trial (a trial that lasted just two days). The tragic deaths of Willingham’s children likely were the result of a terrible accident, not a crime. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia notoriously wrote that there has not been “a single case – not one – in which it is clear that a person was executed for a crime he did not commit. If such an event has occurred in recent years, we would not have to hunt for it; the innocent’s name would be shouted from the rooftops.” For Zwick, “Trial by Fire” provides an opportunity to do just that: shout it from the rooftops and channel the rage he felt after reading David Grann’s article. His film is an honest portrayal of an unsympathetic man condemned as much by how people perceived him as the false evidence presented at his trial. My own “shout” came in the form of an 18-page legal opinion, which would have granted the petition for a posthumous exoneration. I based my decision on the overwhelming, credible and reliable evidence presented during that hearing in 2010, weighing both the faulty forensic science as well as the dubious statements of Johnny Webb, the jailhouse informant whose testimony also was instrumental in Willingham’s conviction. The Texas judicial system that failed Willingham at every turn also prevented me from issuing my order, however. Regrettably, the Third Court of Appeals halted the inquiry to consider whether I had authority to examine the case; I retired from the bench before that issue was resolved. Through “Trial by Fire,” Willingham has another opportunity to make his case from beyond the grave – not just to those who played a role in his death but anyone coming into contact with the criminal justice system today. Ed Zwick would like the person who served as the foreman of the jury that convicted Willingham – after deliberating less than an hour – to see this film. I would like all future jurors out there to watch “Trial by Fire” and confront the realities of this irrevocably broken system. 15 years may have passed since the state of Texas executed Cameron Todd Willingham, but his case and the lessons it should teach us still matter. See the film and then shout from the rooftops. (source: Commentary; Charlie Baird retired as judge of the 299th District Court of Travis County in 2010. He continues to practice law as a criminal defense attorney in AustinAustin American-Statesman) New Podcast: Emmy- and Oscar-Award Winning Director Edward Zwick on His New Film, Trial By Fire In the latest episode of the Discussions with DPIC podcast, Emmy- and Oscar-winner Edward Zwick speaks about his newmovie, Trial By Fire. The film, which Zwick co-produced and directed, tells the story of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was convicted and sentenced to death in 1992 for the deaths of his three children in a house fire that prosecutors wrongly claimed had been intentionally set. As Willingham’s execution approached in 2004, evidence came to light that arson investigators had relied on flawed and outdated methods. The trial prosecutor also withheld evidence that a jailhouse informant who claimed that Willingham had confessed to him had been provided favorable treatment in exchange for implicating Willingham. Willingham’s case featured what Zwick called a “catalog” of problems: “it had the withholding of exculpatory evidence, it had junk science, it had jailhouse snitches who would testify in exchange for reduced sentences, [and] it
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., S.C., GA., FLA., ALA., LA.
May 14 TEXAS: The DissenterTexas’ highest criminal court turned Elsa Alcala into one of the state’s most prominent death penalty critics. Elsa Alcala began her legal career in the Harris County DA’s office, joining a prosecutorial machine famous for cranking out death sentences. 3 decades later, she’s a prominent critic of the death penalty. Alcala, a Republican, says serving as an appellate court judge opened her eyes to systemic inequities in the criminal justice system. During her 7 years on the Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas’ highest criminal court, she became known for lengthy dissents that challenged other judges, particularly in high-stakes appeals from death row. In one 2016 dissent, she questioned whether the death penalty in Texas is even constitutional. And in one of her final opinions last year, Alcala broke from a majority ruling that would have allowed for the execution of a mentally disabled man. Alcala, who chose not to run for re-election last year, has spent this legislative session lobbying for death penalty reforms at the Capitol on behalf of Texas Defender Service, a nonprofit that represents capital defendants. She spoke with the Observer about her evolution from a prosecutor seeking death sentences to one of the most prominent voices questioning capital punishment in Texas. Your career unfolded alongside some big changes in the criminal justice system. How did your thinking evolve over time? I started out as a prosecutor under [former Harris County District Attorney] Johnny Holmes in ’89. It was basically pre-DNA, so back then the gold standard was an eyewitness. If you had an eyewitness, you thought, ‘Wow, we’ve got a rock-solid case.’ The hard cases were the circumstantial evidence cases. It sounds so simplistic today, but that’s where we started. During the [job] interview they asked, ‘How do you feel about the death penalty?’ I said I was against it, they asked me why, and I didn’t really know, so I just answered what the law school professors had told me: that it didn’t make fiscal sense. That seemed to satisfy them that I wasn’t just some bleeding-heart liberal. I remember one of the senior lawyers said something like, ‘We’ll see what you think in 5 years.’ I started off handling misdemeanors, little bitty property crimes and speeding cases, but within five years I was trying murder cases. I tried three death penalty cases, and I got the death penalty on two of them. One was Eddie Capetillo, who was 17 years old at the time of the crime. I have kids now who are 19 and 16 years old. The thought of using the death penalty on somebody that young is just horrific to me now, but I wasn’t really thinking about it from that point of view then. Back then I was looking at the cases really only from the point of view of the victims. One was a 9-year-old girl shot between the eyes. There was a 7-year-old boy killed in the same incident. Just horrible crimes. I really wasn’t thinking about the defendant beyond the technical analysis — did he intend to commit the crime, what are the mitigating factors, is he a future danger? So you didn’t start thinking differently about the system until your time as a judge? After 9 years at the DA’s office I became a trial judge for 3 1/2 years. Then I went on to the court of appeals for nine years. It was just general jurisdiction, which was probably the best thing that ever happened to me, because I was exposed to civil law and some of the brightest civil lawyers around. You’d see drug-addicted parents, kids removed to go live with grandparents, things like that. So I’m starting to get a bigger picture. By the time I ended up on the Court of Criminal Appeals, I’d been away from the death penalty for almost a decade, so I feel like I was looking at the issue with fresh eyes. Over time, I started forming the opinion that, generically speaking, we have all these laws out there and they sort of give us this illusion of justice, but in many cases, justice wasn’t really happening. Were you surprised to find yourself developing a reputation as a voice of dissent? In some ways Texas has been very progressive on criminal justice matters, from a junk science commission to expanding the appointment of counsel. But those are things that have occurred outside of the courts. For whatever reason, I think there’s just a lot of entrenchment on the courts. Some people have been there for way too long. After enough time, I kept thinking, “If I stay, what am I going to become?” You’ve called yourself a “Republican hanging on by a thread.” What does that mean? I was Republican long before Trump was, but somehow he came along and changed everything. I don’t feel included in that. I can’t join that kind of negativity and hatred. I am not an us-versus-them kind of person. We’re all in this together, whether we’re talking about the person on death row or the immigrant at
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., S.C., ALA., LA., TENN., MO., CALIF., USA
May 12 TEXAS: Shooting suspect's girlfriend arrested in slaying of El Paso County Deputy Peter Herrera The girlfriend of the man charged in the shooting death of El Paso County sheriff's Deputy Peter Herrera also has been arrested and charged in his slaying, officials announced Saturday. Arlene Piña, 20, was charged with capital murder of a peace officer and was booked Saturday into the El Paso County Jail on a $1 million bond. Piña was the passenger in the convertible BMW 3325i that was stopped by Herrera at about 1:50 a.m. March 22, officials said. He was shot during that traffic stop, officials say. Herrera was taken to a hospital, where he died two days later. The shooting suspect, Facundo Chavez, was arrested shortly afterward. "At the time (of the shooting), we released the passenger, because we were not sure of her involvement in the case," Sheriff Richard Wiles said at a news conference Saturday at the El Paso County Jail. "However, after some really great detective work by our supervisors and detectives out of our Crimes Against Persons section, we were able to establish and believe that that female was actively involved — even though she didn't pull the trigger — in the death of Deputy Herrera." Wiles said a warrant was issued Friday and Piña was arrested at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at a home in San Elizario and was booked into the El Paso County Jail. Wiles said the investigation and arrest took a while because authorities had to clean up audio that was recorded by the police camera and the deputy's body camera and also get into her cellphone records. "The key parts rest again in the video and audio of the body cam and the camera in the patrol vehicle. Even though at some point the individual leaves the video portion, you can still hear the audio portion," Wiles said. A complaint affidavit supplemental report states that Herrera told Chavez to exit the car. Immediately after getting out, Chavez shot at Herrera5 times at point-blank range, the supplemental report alleges. After getting out, it says that Chavez can be heard beating Herrera. Piña then gets out and says in Spanish, "Beat that (expletive)," it states. The supplemental report states that after several minutes, the 2 run back to the car and attempt to flee, but the vehicle stalls. Video shows Chavez get out and run, then Piña follows him, it states. At 2:49 a.m., with the help of Border Patrol agents, the 2 were found hiding in a shed in San Elizario, the report states. They were taken to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit at 3850 Justice Drive in far East El Paso to be interviewed. The supplemental report states that after being read her Miranda rights, Piña claimed a third person was involved and blamed the shooting on that person. She also claimed that person assaulted her as she was dragged to the shed, then slapped her cellphone out of her hand as she tried to call 911, then took the phone. After being told the video didn't support her story, Piña admitted she was lying and blamed the shooting on her boyfriend, Chavez, the report says. She said she saw him take a clip from the shift area of the car and insert it into a gun, which he then put in his waistband. She said he said he was going to shoot the deputy, the report states. Funeral services were held for Sheriff's Deputy Peter Herrera Friday. His procession lasted nearly an hour. Mark R Lambie, El Paso Times The affidavit supplemental report says that as Chavez was being booked into the El Paso County Jail in Downtown, he said he wanted to speak with Major Crimes Unit investigators. After being taken there, he was read his Miranda rights. According to the affidavit, he told investigators that he shot Herrera because he was a felon in possession of a handgun and had an extended clip with 30 rounds. He also said that as Herrera approached, Piña grabbed his leg and said that he was the "cop" who had been harassing her. According to the supplemental report, Herrera previously had met Piña on March 12, when he was dispatched at 2:07 a.m. to help a woman retrieve a car from Piña. The affidavit says that during that interaction, Piña gave Herrera information that her boyfriend, Chavez, was dealing drugs. The report states that in a jail telephone call recorded April 12, Chavez said Piña was part of the crime, saying he had told her to leave but she decided to stay. He said during the assault, she tried to take Herrera's gun, the report alleges. It states dried blood on Piña's hands support Chavez's account. The report states a forensic examination of Pina's cellphone and her cellphone call records showed she did not call 911 as she claimed in her interview, but she did make 8 phone calls and sent 2 texts. The records indicate she was trying to get a family member to help her and Chavez escape, including sending a "pin drop" to show where the 2 were hiding before they
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., S.C., FLA., TENN., NEV, USA
May 11 TEXASnew execution date Fort Worth man convicted of killing pregnant girlfriend gets October execution date A Fort Worth man convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend and her 7-year-old son more than 10 years ago now has an execution date scheduled for October. Stephen Barbee, who has maintained his innocence for years and argued that his confession to police was coerced, is now slated to die on Oct. 2, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel. The now-52-year-old was sent to death row in 2006, after a Tarrant County jury found him guilty of the murder of Lisa Underwood and her son Jayden. The slain woman's friends only realized she was missing when she didn't show up for her baby shower. The day of the slayings, a sheriff's deputy stopped Barbee walking along a service road in a wooded area, but the man fled after giving a fake name. Later, authorities found Underwood's car in a creek nearby, and decided they wanted to talk to Barbee as a person of interest. When officers first brought him in for questioning, Barbee said he hadn't seen Underwood for months. But when he went to the bathroom, police said that he copped to everything while alone with one detective in an unrecorded conversation. In that confession, prosecutors said, Barbee admitted to starting a fight with his girlfriend before holding her face down in the carpet until she stopped breathing and then holding his hand over Jayden's mouth until he did as well. The North Texas man said he was afraid that Underwood was going to tell his wife about their liaison, according to court records. After his admission, Barbee took police to the shallow graves where he buried the slain bagel store owner and her son. A Tarrant County jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to death in February 2006. Early in his appeals, Barbee's attorneys argued that his trial team's work wasn't up to par, that police withheld a videotape of their full interrogation and that his trial lawyers abandoned their client. But the judge overseeing the case at that point apparently disagreed, rubberstamping the state's claims "without so much as changing a comma," current attorney Richard Ellis wrote in a later appeal. He also called into question the confession used to convict Barbee, arguing that it was coerced and pointing out that police never even wrote down parts of it. His client, Ellis wrote, later recanted that confession and has since maintained his innocence. But during a whirlwind 2.5-day-trial, the defense team didn't do enough to show that or to investigate information that pointed to another suspect, he said. His latest appeals focused on the claim that his trial attorneys conceded Barbee's guilt even though he didn't agree to that. But the courts weren't persuaded by those claims, and this year a Tarrant County judge greenlit Barbee's execution date. The Lone Star State has already executed three men this year, and - including Barbee - 4 more are on the calendar. (source: Houston Chronicle) * Covering capital punishment and death row execution: 8 tips from Michael Graczyk Before retiring in 2018, Michael Graczyk covered capital punishment for more than 35 years as a criminal justice reporter for the Associated Press. He has observed more than 400 prison executions in Texas, which leads the country for the number of people executed since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. Today, Graczyk still writes about death row inmates as a freelancer. “He built a reputation for accuracy and fairness with death row inmates, their families, their victims’ families and their lawyers, as well as prison officials and advocates on both sides of capital punishment,” AP reporter Nomaan Merchant wrote in an article about Graczyk’s retirement. “He made a point of visiting and photographing every condemned inmate willing to be interviewed and talking to relatives of their victims.” Nationwide, there were 2,814 men and women on death row at the end of 2016, the most recent year for which the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics has released data. Although more than 1/2 of U.S. states and the federal government allow capital punishment, the vast majority of executions in 2017 occurred in 4 states — Texas, Florida, Arkansas and Alabama, according to a preliminary federal report. Later this month, four prisoners are scheduled to die by lethal injection in Alabama, Florida and Tennessee. The governor of California instituted a moratorium on the death penalty in March, but prosecutors there are still seeking a death sentence for a former police officer accused of being the notorious Golden State Killer. Journalist’s Resource called Graczyk at home in Texas to ask him about his work and for tips to share with other journalists who are reporting on capital punishment, death row or executions. Here
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., GA., FLA., ALA., OHIO
May 9 TEXAS: Court upholds capital murder conviction and death sentence for Joseph Colone A Texas court has upheld the capital murder conviction and death sentence for a man who killed a mother and daughter. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Wednesday and denied the appeal of Joseph Colone. In July of 2010, Colone shot and killed 41-year-old Mary Goodman and her 16-year-old daughter, Briana, at their home on Hartel Street in south Beaumont. Mary Goodman had identified Colone as the man who robbed a Beaumont game room in June of 2010. Prosecutors say he murdered Goodman to prevent her from testifying against him in that robbery and killed Briana because she was also at the home. A jury in May 2017 decided Colone should receive the death penalty for the capital murder conviction and Judge Raquel West sentenced him to death. Colone appealed, claiming among other things, the judge should have granted him a change of venue due to publicity about the case. The appeals court ruled against Colone in each of the points of error he contends took place. (source: KFDM news) *** Texas House OKs bill to ban death penalty for those with severe mental illnessUnder the measure, defendants who have active psychotic symptoms of certain mental illnesses at the time of the crime would be ineligible for capital punishment. But the bill's author believes death penalty proponents may keep it from passing on a necessary final vote later this week. For the 2nd time in 2 weeks, the Texas House moved to change death penalty law. On Wednesday, the chamber tentatively passed a measure that would prohibit handing down a death sentence to someone with a severe mental illness, like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. House Bill 1936 by state Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, would let capital murder defendants present evidence at trial that they were severely mentally ill at the time of the crime. If the jury agrees, the defendant would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole if found guilty. The measure passed on a quick voice vote with no discussion after being delayed several times in the last week. The bill will come up again this week for a final, recorded vote. If passed, it would then go to the Senate. But Rose doesn't expect her colleagues in the lower chamber to approve it on that necessary final vote later this week, the Austin American-Statesman reported Wednesday night. She told the paper she expects it to face opposition from Republican proponents of the death penalty. Rose’s bill would allow defendants with mental illness to be ineligible for the death penalty if they had schizophrenia, a schizoaffective disorder, or a bipolar disorder, and, at the time of the crime, had active psychotic symptoms that impaired the defendant’s rationality or understanding of the consequences of their actions. Rose brought a similar bill to the Legislature in 2017, but it never made it to the House floor for debate. Last Monday, the House moved to create a pretrial process for determining if a capital murder defendant had an intellectual disability and, therefore, would be constitutionally ineligible for execution. Another bill was passed last month to clarify juror instructions in death penalty cases. Neither of those bills have made it out of Senate committees yet. There is currently no law that restricts issuing a death sentence for mentally ill defendants, but the U.S. Supreme Court has held that inmates must be able to understand that they are about to be put to death — and why — to actually carry out executions. The most well-known inmate with mental illness is Scott Panetti, a diagnosed schizophrenic who killed his wife’s parents in 1992 and has lived on Texas’ death row for nearly a quarter century. At his trial, Panetti — who represented himself — dressed as a cowboy and tried to call witnesses such as the Pope, John F. Kennedy and Jesus Christ. (source: The Texas Tribune) * Death penalty bill faces uncertain vote in House Though the Texas House gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a bill that would deem people convicted of capital murder ineligible for the death penalty if a jury finds that they have a severe mental illness, the bill’s author expects it to fail on final passage Thursday. The House must approve bills on two separate days, and Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, says House Bill 1936 will run up against Republicans who support the death penalty in its second vote. Rose slid it by her colleagues Wednesday, she said, as the bill came to the floor as many members returned from lunch. Under HB 1936, defendants could ask the jury during the sentencing phase to provide a separate determination on whether the defendant had schizophrenia, a schizoaffective disorder or a bipolar disorder at the time of the murder. Those who are found guilty and to have one of the illnesses to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., S.C., FLA., ALA., LA.
May 7 TEXAS: FBI releases details in investigation, shooting that led to Fort Worth officer’s deathSince 2016 police have traveled cross country to highlight lives and families of officers who died in the line of duty. This year, Cannonball Memorial Run stopped in Fort Worth to honor Garrett Hull’s family. More details of what led to the shooting death of police officer Garrett Hull in September were released on Monday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Hull, 41, was a criminal intelligence officer with the Fort Worth Police Department and was fatally shot on Sept. 14 by a man suspected in a string of armed robberies that had been occurring at Hispanic bars and cantinas over the summer and into September. Days before the robbery, detectives identified 2 possible suspect vehicles — a truck and an SUV — from surveillance video related to 2 of the robberies, according to the FBI. Officers had identified the driver of the SUV and on Sept. 9, a robbery detective requested a Special Response Team to keep watch of the SUV. Officers then saw the driver of the SUV meet up with a truck that matched the description of the 2nd vehicle. Detectives didn’t have enough information to issue an arrest warrant yet, so they began surveillance on the 2 vehicles, the FBI said. On Sept. 13, officers from several different units — including the criminal intelligence unit — followed the driver of the SUV to a bar at 403 W. Biddison St., in the Worth Heights neighborhood. The occupants of the SUV watched the bar until just after 10 p.m. They then left and picked up a 3rd person at a nearby gas station. The 3 suspects were later identified as Timothy Huff, 33, Dacion Steptoe, 23, and Samuel Mayfield, 33. At 11:28 p.m., the SUV parked at a vacant home near the bar. About 30 minutes later, the surveillance footage at the bar showed that the men went into the back patio of the bar. 2 of the men immediately pointed handguns at customers. The customers were forced to the ground and their belongings stolen. One of the men went inside and continued to rob patrons, the FBI said. Detectives who were watching outside became aware of the ongoing robbery when a customer ran out of the bar followed by a masked man who pointed a gun at the runner. The suspect ran back inside the bar, the FBI said. Meanwhile, uniformed officers in an unmarked van and truck parked close to the front and rear bumpers of the suspects’ SUV. They took positions around the vehicle, the FBI said. Huff, Steptoe and Mayfield ran out of the bar and toward the SUV, but when they saw officers, they turned and ran in different directions. Officers spread out to chase the men. One officer followed a banging sound that came from a nearby home and found that the door had been kicked in. Mayfield was standing inside the home. He complied with the officer’s order to lie down on the ground and was arrested. A the same time, Steptoe was spotted by an officer after he jumped a fence behind another home. He ignored commands to stop and continued to run. The FBI said that one of the officers yelled, “Gun, gun, gun!” Hull, a 17-year police veteran, had just left the area where Mayfield was arrested and joined the chase of Steptoe. Just before midnight, Steptoe ran through a small opening between the front of a parked truck and the corner of a house. An overhead floodlight lit the opening, but everything beyond the hood of the truck was in darkness, the FBI said. When Hull reached the opening, Steptoe fired 2 shots with a 9mm handgun. Hull took cover and shot back at Steptoe, but Steptoe continued to shoot and hit Hull in the head. Another officer returned gunfire and Steptoe fell to the ground. Steptoe began to stand up with the firearm in his hand, the FBI said, and a third officer commanded him to stop moving, but Steptoe didn’t comply. 2 officers fired again, and Steptoe fell with his firearm still in his hand. He was later pronounced dead. At the same time, other officers ran to Hull and put him into a marked patrol vehicle. He was pronounced dead later that day. Huff was found by officers in a nearby garage. Police found a weapon, mask and “proceeds” from the bar robbery near where he was caught, according to an arrest affidavit. Both Huff and Mayfield are jailed and charged with capital murder in Hull’s death. Bail in the capital murder case is set at $1 million for each. In December, Huff’s attorney filed a motion seeking a reduction in bond. It was denied. On April 23, state prosecutors filed a notice that they will seek the death penalty for both men. Trial dates have not yet been set. Details of the deadly night were released in the FBI’s report on officers killed and assaulted in 2018. Hull was one of three officers killed in Texas last year. A 37-year-old officer with the Richardson Police Department was shot and killed in an ambush on Feb. 7. In Dallas, a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., PENN., GA., FLA., LA.
May 3 TEXAS-new execution date North Texas man convicted of killing Godley woman during crime spree gets September execution date A North Texas man sentenced to die for killing a 61-year-old woman during a 2010 crime spree is now scheduled for execution later this year. A Johnson County judge last month signed off on a Sept. 10 death date for Mark Anthony Soliz, who was sent to death row 7 years ago following a 2-county string of violence. "I will fight this execution date with every legal tool in my kit," said Houston-based defense attorney Seth Kretzer, vowing to file another appeal and pursue a clemency request from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. In June 2010, Soliz and his buddy Joe Ramos stole long guns and a 9-millimeter semiautomatic in a burglary, according to court records. For the next week, they robbed strangers at gunpoint, shot a man in the ear, killed the driver of a beer delivery truck, pulled off a carjacking, burglarized homes, and shot a man repeatedly in a drive-by. Most of the crimes were in the Fort Worth area, but on June 29, Ramos and Soliz drove to the Johnson County home of Nancy Weatherly and knocked on her door, then pulled out a gun when she answered and pushed inside to rob her. Before leaving, according to state records, Soliz shot Weatherly in the back of the head. During trial, Soliz barely paid attention and sometimes fell asleep even as the jury heard how Weatherly begged for her life before she was killed, the Fort Worth Star Telegram reported at the time. The jury also heard about Soliz's rough childhood, surrounded by drugs and poverty. He saw his aunt stabbed to death when he was young and started breaking into parking meters when he was 9 or 10. In the years since he was sent to death row, Soliz has filed appeals alleging bad lawyering and claiming his death sentence should be considered unconstitutional because he suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. But the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his latest claims earlier this year, and he's now one of three Texas men with pending execution dates. (source: Houston Chronicle) * Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present43 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-561 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 44-Aug. 21Larry Swearingen562 45-Sept. 4Billy Crutsinger563 46-Sept. 10--Mark Anthony Soliz---564 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) NEW HAMPSHIRE: Supporters of Death Penalty Repeal Bill Holding Vigils Supporters of a bill to repeal the death penalty are starting daily candlelight vigils outside of the New Hampshire Statehouse to express their hope that Gov. Chris Sununu will sign it, or allow it to become law. Both the House and Senate have voted with veto-proof majorities to repeal the state's capital punishment law. Sununu, a Republican, vetoed a death penalty repeal bill last June and is expected to do the same this year. The vigils, which started Thursday, are being led by the New Hampshire Council of Churches. The Rev. Jason Wells, the group's executive director, says the people of New Hampshire have spoken clearly that the state can live without the death penalty. (source: nhpr.org) * Death penalty repeal awaits Sununu's veto On Wednesday, Senate President Donna Soucy signed HB 455, repealing the death penalty for capital murder. The New Hampshire Senate previously voted 17 to 6 to pass the bill, while the House voted 279 to 88 — reaching a veto-proof majority. The bill now awaits action from Gov. Chris Sununu, who is expected to veto it. “The death penalty has been an issue every New Hampshire legislator has grappled with over many years," said state Sen. Donna Soucy, D-Manchester, in a statement after the signing. "My journey on this topic began 25 years ago in an ethics class at Saint Anselm College. “While our conclusions may differ, I have the utmost respect for my colleagues who have been on similar journeys and for the votes they have cast. At its core, repealing capital punishment is a matter of public policy and conscience. It has been my privilege to speak with my constituents and my fellow lawmakers about this important issue and it was my privilege today to take the historic step of signing the death penalty repeal bill.” Sununu indicated he will veto the bill. “I will continue to stand with crime victims, members of the law enforcement community, and advocates for justice in opposing this bill,” he said. (source: eagletribune.com) PENNSYLVANIA: Study: Republicans are abandoning the death penalty in record numbers So if you thought it was weird that one of the most progressive Democrats in the state House was teaming up with one of its most conservative members on a bill calling for
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., GA., FLA., LA., ARK., ORE., USA
May 2 TEXAS: Remorseless Statement Released After Texas Death Row Inmate Executed for Hate Crime The Texas prison system recently read out a remorseless statement by John William King, the man who was executed on April 24 for orchestrating one of the most gruesome hate crimes in U.S. history. King, 44, was sentenced to death for the dragging murder of James Byrd Jr., a black man. He was 1 of the 3 men convicted for the 1998 murder. The atrocity made global headlines and inspired Congress to pass federal hate crime legislation that increased penalties for crimes motivated by race, color, religion or ethnicity. King said “No,” when asked by a warden inside the nation’s busiest death chamber whether he had any last words before receiving a lethal injection. The prison system released a statement that King had prepared earlier, following his death. It was read by prison system spokesman Jeremy Desel. The statement said, “Capital punishment: them without the capital get the punishment.” Desel described King as “stoic” just hours before he was executed. “King did not open his eyes at any point during the process when witnesses were in the room,” Desel told the Associated Press according to The Caller Times. “When the witnesses entered the witness room, Mr. King was already on the gurney. He had his eyes closed and made very little if any movements.” Byrd’s sister Clara Taylor, who watched the execution, said King “showed no remorse then and showed no remorse tonight.” She told CNN that it was a “just punishment” and said, “There was no sense of relief.” Just before his death on June 6, 1998, Byrd was at a party. He was last seen getting into a truck with King, Lawrence Russell Brewer, and Shawn Allen Berry. The 3 white men drove him to a secluded area, beat him up, spray-painted his face, tied his ankles with logging chains, and then dragged him for 3 miles on the road behind their truck. Brewer died by lethal injection in 2011 and Berry is serving a life sentence. The Practice of Reading Last Statement The practice of reading the last statement of condemned prisoners didn’t go well with a Texas lawmaker who said on Monday that the practice should be stopped. “If a death row inmate has something to say to the public or victims, let him or her say it when they are strapped to the gurney,” state Sen. John Whitmire wrote in a letter to prison officials. Whitmire has been in the Senate for nearly 40 years. The Houston Democrat is one of Texas’ most powerful lawmakers in the criminal justice system and previously spurred the system to change its execution-day procedures. Before his execution, Brewer ordered an extensive meal, which did not go well with Whitmire, who expressed outrage over the dining request. Brewer didn’t eat anything he ordered, according to the prison officials. (source: ntd.com) NEW HAMPSHIRE: Death penalty repeal heads to governor's desk A repeal of the state's death penalty has been sent to Gov. Chris Sununu. Sununu said he will veto the bill, but it passed both the state Senate and House with a veto-proof majority. Supporters of the ban say capital punishment is costly and runs the risk of killing an innocent person. Opponents say it's reserved for the most heinous of crimes. New Hampshire has one man on death row – Michael Addison, who was convicted in the 2006 murder of Manchester police Officer Michael Briggs – and hasn't executed someone since 1939. (source: WMUR news) GEORGIAimpending execution Clemency denied Gainesville man After a few hours of deliberations, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency early Wednesday evening to convicted double murderer Scotty Morrow. The decision followed more than 5 hours of testimony, most of it from Morrow’s supporters who said the condemned man was genuinely remorseful. It required just a simple majority of votes from the 4 men and 1 woman who make up the pardons board. They deliberated separately and gave no reasons for why and how they reached their conclusion. The odds were against Morrow the 52-year-old Gainesville man from the start. Only 11 death sentences have been commuted by the board since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. And Morrow’s crimes, however out of character, were particularly heinous. On December 29, 1994, he fatally shot his ex-girlfriend Barbara Ann Young and her friend, Tonya Woods, in the head after Young informed him she would not take him back. The murders occurred inside Young’s home, witnessed by her 5-year-old son — 1 of 5 children she left behind. Hall County District Attorney Lee Darragh urged the the board to go through with the execution. Clemency hearings are held behind closed doors and Darragh did not return a phone call seeking comment. While Darragh spoke of the murders and their impact, Morrow’s attorneys asked the board to consider their client’s life
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, S.C., GA., FLA., ALA., LA.
May 1 TEXAS stay of impending execution Federal judge grants Houston death row inmate Dexter Johnson a stay 2 days before execution Shortly after losing a long-shot bid for clemency, Houston-area death row prisoner Dexter Johnson won a stay some 48 hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection in the Huntsville execution chamber. For more than a decade, the condemned killer lodged appeal after appeal based on allegations of brain damage and intellectual disability, but in the end it was the possibility of a conflicted attorney and ineffective lawyering that prompted a federal district judge to side with him. The high school dropout with schizophrenia was originally sentenced to die for a 2006 carjacking that left 23-year-old Maria Aparece and 17-year-old Huy Ngo dead. That June, Johnson and 4 accomplices came across the young couple sitting in Aparece's Toyota, as they chatted outside Ngo's home. Johnson and 2 others threatened them with a pistol and a shotgun, according to testimony at trial. Then, 3 of the attackers drove the pair around Houston in Aparece's car, stealing her cash and credit cards and trying to get money from her bank accounts. Behind them, 2 other accomplices followed in their own car. Eventually, the violent crew pulled over and, according to trial testimony, Johnson raped Aparece in the backseat. Her boyfriend was forced to listen to it all on his knees as the other attackers taunted him. Then, Johnson shot Ngo in the head before slaughtering Aparece. At trial, Johnson's defense team argued that it was someone else who walked the couple into the woods and fired the fatal shot. According to prosecutors, the double-slaying was just one of many crimes that Johnson pulled off during a month-long spree of violence that spring and summer. Johnson has long maintained his innocence, but still a Harris County jury sentenced him to death. In December, a local judge gave the green light to the May 2 execution. Shortly afterward, Johnson wrote to the federal court complaining about his attorney, Patrick McCann. Since McCann had been on the case for years, the court did not kick him off but instead appointed a second legal team, headed by federal defender Jeremy Schepers. The North Texas attorney was tasked with figuring out whether McCann's earlier work was up to par. While McCann continued to work on Johnson's case, filing appeals based on claims of intellectual disability, Schepers investigated McCann's work and alleged that the Houston attorney "violated ethical and professional duties throughout his representation," according to court records. In sealed federal filings, McCann disputed that characterization but the claims were enough for the the federal judge to grant Johnson a stay to allow Schepers more time to investigate and litigate his concerns. As of now, McCann is still on the case; the judge asked for a hearing to determine whether he should be removed. Even after the last-minute win for the condemned man, the stay could have been overturned by a federal appeals court - but the Office of the Attorney General told defense counsel they have no plans to contest the order. Neither Schepers nor McCann opted to weigh in on the record. Meanwhile, McCann's co-counsel - Houston-area attorney Mandy Miller - defended him Tuesday in an emailed statement. "While we dispute the attack on Mr. McCann's prior representation, we are grateful for a stay – no matter why it was granted," she wrote. "We will continue to litigate the claim of intellectual disability that will prevent Mr. Johnson's execution, in the event the stay is lifted. Once our duty to Mr. Johnson is fulfilled, Mr. McCann will gladly answer to the federal court for any questions regarding the work he has put into this case for nearly a decade." Though the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals recently turned down the condemned man's intellectual disability claims, Miller and McCann on Tuesday filed a motion asking the court to reconsider, and are also working on an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Harris County District Attorney's Office remained confident Johnson would get another execution date. "His day of reckoning is inevitable," First Assistant District Attorney Tom Berg said. "The issue at hand has nothing to do with the district attorney's office and we anticipate a new execution date will be set shortly." With Johnson's date likely called off, there just 2 others - including a Montgomery County man convicted of killing a college student - scheduled in Texas for the remainder of the year. (source: Houston Chronicle) Texas will no longer share death row inmate's final statements Texas prison officials on Tuesday abruptly halted the practice of sharing death row inmate's final written statements after a lawmaker expressed outrage over the state relaying the last words of an avowed racist
