Oct. 1



TEXAS----impending execution

Death Watch: After Appeal Denied, Death Row Inmate to Die----Claims of mental retardation did nothing to stop the state's next execution


Juan Martin Garcia goes to the gurney on Tuesday, Oct. 6, after 5 weeks in which the state of Texas didn't execute any inmates.

Garcia, 35, was arrested in Houston in Nov. 1998 after police pulled him over for driving with a broken headlight, and authorities found a .25 caliber pistol in his possession. He was released after the arrest, but apprehended a few days later after police tied Garcia's pistol to the Sept. 17, 1998, murder of Hugo Solano.

Court records indicate that Solano was murdered after a botched stickup that concluded with Garcia and an accomplice - Eleazar Mendoza - shooting and killing the man while he was sitting in his car. Both Garcia and Mendoza were charged with capital murder, but Mendoza had his charge reduced to aggravated assault in exchange for testifying against Garcia.

Garcia was convicted and sentenced to death in Feb. 2000. In Oct. 2001, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his sentence. He submitted a petition for writ of habeas corpus to the state in Aug. 2001 and a federal petition in Sept. 2008, but he was unsuccessful in both attempts. His points - that he was the recipient of deficient counsel, a victim of PTSD as a result of his traumatic upbringing, and mentally retarded - did nothing to sway either court, largely because he did not have a solid case on the retardation claim, his most pressing argument. As his federal appeal noted, by 2008 he had acquired no records of any mental deficiencies, pointing only to grade school transcripts and anecdotal information gleaned from interviews to prove his case.

In June 2014 Garcia tried to appeal to the Supreme Court, but justices refused to hear his case. His attorney, David Dow, tells the Chronicle that Garcia has no outstanding appeals except for a plea for clemency. He'll be the 11th Texan executed this year, and 529th since the state's 1976 reinstatement of the death penalty. The state has plans to execute 3 more inmates - Licho Escamilla, Christopher Wilkins, and Julius Murphy - in the next month.

(source: Austin Chronicle)






PENNSYLVANIA:

Trial begins in death penalty case of White Oak shotgun slaying


Stephanie Pavlovic was asleep in bed with her boyfriend the morning of June 26, 2013, less than 2 hours before she was to start her shift at Book Country Clearing House in McKeesport, when she awoke to a shotgun blast.

A man, standing between her bed and the doorway, fired four more times before fleeing the house on Versailles Avenue. When Ms. Pavlovic, who had curled into the fetal position and covered her head until the man left, got up, she realized part of her right hand had been shot off and ran to a neighbor's house for help.

Her boyfriend, Brian Cook, was dead.

Ms. Pavlovic was the 1st witness called by the prosecution to testify Wednesday in the opening day of the trial of Talon Perozich, 22, of White Oak. He is charged with criminal homicide and attempted homicide and related charges and could face the death penalty if found guilty of 1st-degree murder in the jury trial before Common Pleas Judge Kevin G. Sasinoski.

Deputy district attorney Janet R. Necessary told the jury during her opening statement that Perozich killed Mr. Cook because he owed him $230 for fronting Mr. Cook marijuana. She characterized Mr. Cook, who stayed home during the day to care for the couple's son, as a "small-time dealer," who also liked to smoke his own product.

4 days before Mr. Cook, 24, was killed, Ms. Necessary said, Perozich sent him a text message that said, "You trying to get me that [money] today?" That was the last communication between them.

During her testimony, Ms. Pavlovic told the jury that her hand was blown off by the shotgun, and that doctors rebuilt it. She has had four surgeries and is missing 2 fingers. Soft-spoken and quiet, Ms. Pavlovic maintained her composure throughout her testimony until she was asked to hold her hand up to show the jurors.

Although she initially told 911 she didn't know who shot her, Ms. Pavlovic later told a paramedic, "'Tell the police it was Talon,'" Ms. Necessary said. "She'd known him for years, been in high school with him, saw him the previous week."

When Ms. Pavlovic was interviewed by police, she admitted she did not see the shooter's face, but that she recognized his build and that he stood with a slouch. She also knew Perozich had a shotgun because he'd tried to sell it to Mr. Cook.

Adding to the prosecution's case, Ms. Necessary said, would be testimony from two of Perozich's friends, who told police they were with him that night before the shooting and went with him to Mr. Cook's house.

The 2 men, who have been given immunity for their testimony, told police that Perozich drove his mother's van to Mr. Cook's house, and that one of them remained in the vehicle while the other went with him into the house.

Ms. Necessary conceded to the jury that they would not have a lot of scientific evidence to consider in the case - although the spent shotgun shells were confirmed to have been fired from a weapon found by police in the woods nearby.

Defense attorney Lee Rothman told the jury during his opening that they must carefully listen to Ms. Pavlovic's testimony about how she identified his client.

"Don't use sympathy for Stephanie to judge her credibility," he said.

(source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)






VIRGINIA:

Court hearing on lethal injection drugs in execution of Virginia inmate is canceled


A scheduled court hearing for a Virginia inmate's challenge of the drugs the state plans to use to put him to death was canceled Wednesday, and an order temporarily blocking Alfredo Prieto's execution remained in place.

U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Trenga had set a hearing in Alexandria for 2 p.m. Thursday after Prieto's attorneys asked the court to stay the 49-year-old's execution until officials disclose more information about the supply of pentobarbital that they obtained from Texas.

But the hearing was canceled late Wednesday after Trenga approved the state's request to transfer the case to Richmond. An order granted Wednesday that temporarily prevents the state from carrying out the execution remained in place.

The state had been planning to execute Prieto at 9 p.m. Thursday, but it was unclear whether that would happen. A spokesman for Attorney General Mark Herring said that the case has been assigned to Judge Henry Hudson but as of Wednesday evening no hearings had been scheduled. Hudson could rule on the matter without holding a hearing or throw out the case and lift the order.

Prieto's attorneys are seeking information about the supplier of the drugs, tests confirming its sterility and potency and documents showing that the drugs were properly handled.

The El Salvador native was on death row in California for raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl when DNA evidence linked him to the 1988 slaying of a young couple in Virginia. Authorities say he has been linked to several other murders in both states but he was never charged because he had already been sentenced to death.

Prieto's attorneys, Rob Lee and Elizabeth Peiffer, said the lack of information about the execution drugs puts the state at risk of carrying out a cruel and painful execution. Texas allows prison officials to shield where they get execution drugs and Prieto's attorneys say Virginia officials have not provided that information.

The Associated Press filed a public records request for the names of the manufacturers and the suppliers of the drugs, but the documents show only that the drugs were provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Texas prisons spokesman Jason Clark told AP last week that the 3 vials of pentobarbital given to Virginia were legally purchased from a compounding pharmacy, which he declined to name. Virginia will substitute the pentobarbital for midazolam that it intended to use because its supply of that sedative expires Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Corrections didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Richard Vorhis said in a letter to Peiffer on Tuesday that the drugs were legally acquired, tested and transported in an appropriate manner. He noted that Texas has successfully used the same compound in 24 executions over the past 2 years with no problems.

Pentobarbital is the 1st of 3 drugs that the state intends to use.

Mylan, the manufacturer of the rocuronium bromide - another drug that will be used - said the company sent several letters to Virginia officials when it learned about the drug's possible use and then demanded that the state return the product when it received no response.

Spokeswoman Nina Devlin said in a statement that the company is contractually restricting its distributors from distributing Mylan products, including rocuronium bromide, for use in lethal injection or for any other use outside of the approved labeling or applicable standards of care.

Pharmaceutical companies, under pressure from death penalty opponents, have stopped selling U.S. prisons drugs for lethal injections. So Texas and other states have turned to less regulated compounding pharmacies for made-to-order drugs, and like in this case, have sometimes turned to other states to acquire the necessary drugs.

(source: Associated Press)

*******************

Pope urges McAuliffe to spare Prieto one day before scheduled execution


Pope Francis's representatives in Washington wrote to Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe Wednesday, asking him to call off the looming execution of serial killer Alfred Prieto.

Prieto, 49, could be put to death as early as Thursday night, pending the outcome of a court hearing.

"The U.S. Apostolic Nuncio wrote a letter on behalf of the Holy Father to Governor McAuliffe, asking that Mr. Prieto not be executed," said Jeff Caruso, executive director of the Virginia Catholic Conference.

A spokesman for McAuliffe (D) confirmed that the governor received the letter but said he could not immediately provide a copy or any details of the letter, which was first reported by Washingtonian.

"We did receive a letter today," spokesman Brian Coy said.

McAuliffe, a Catholic who attended a White House greeting ceremony for the pope last week, has not always been in step with his church or party on the death penalty.

Although the Democratic base opposes capital punishment, McAuliffe supported it when he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2009, according to news reports from the time. More recently, McAuliffe's office has said that he personally opposes the death penalty but would not let his personal feelings on keep him from upholding the law.

McAuliffe supported legislation this year intended to shield makers of lethal injection drugs from public pressure by exempting the companies' names from the state's open records laws.

On Monday, McAuliffe said he would not intervene to stop Prieto's execution - the 1st since McAuliffe to took office in January 2014.

As the Vatican sent its letter Wednesday, a federal judge in Alexandria issued a stay on the execution to allow defense lawyers to challenge the use of one of the 3 drugs that the state planned to use.

The execution had been scheduled for 9 p.m. Thursday, and it was unclear if it might still be carried out at that time. U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga initially scheduled a hearing on the drug issue for Thursday afternoon in Alexandria, creating the possibility that the execution could proceed as scheduled Trenga ruled against Prieto.

But late Wednesday, at the state???s request, Trenga moved the case to Richmond, where attorneys on both sides work. No new judge or hearing date was immediately set, but federal judge in Richmond could convene a hearing on Thursday or decide the case solely on the briefs.

Michael Kelly, chief spokesman for Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D), said that Virginia officials would be prepared to carry out the execution Thursday night if there were no court order preventing it.

Prieto, 49, is facing lethal injection for the fatal 1988 shootings of Rachael A. Raver and Warren H. Fulton III outside of Reston. Authorities say they believe he killed nine people and raped four of them in a two-year span from 1988 to 1990.

Pope Francis called for an end to the death penalty during his visit to the United States, which was scheduled to execute 6 death-row inmates in 5 states in the 2 weeks following his trip. The pope's representatives in Washington have sent letters to governors of other states, including Georgia and Oklahoma, asking that the inmates' lives be spared, according to news accounts.

(source: Washington Post)






OHIO:

Ohio bill puts limits on death-penalty evidence post trial


An Ohio Senate committee has approved a bill limiting the ability of condemned killers to gather post-trial evidence in death penalty cases.

The bill passed by the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday would allow judges to deny requests for evidence gathering if it would annoy, embarrass or unduly burden the person from whom the evidence is sought.

Republican Sen. Bill Seitz of Cincinnati says the bill is an improvement over existing law that leaves the decision to allow post-trial evidence gathering up to judges.

Kari Underwood of the Ohio Public Defender's Office says such evidence limits are inappropriate in death penalty cases.

The bill also lifts page limits on petitions for inmates' post-trial challenges or in their appeals if those challenges are denied.

(source: Associated Press)






TENNESSEE:

Death row inmates oppressed by tyranny of the majority


In researching my latest book, "Slouching Toward Tyranny: Mass Incarceration, Death Sentences and Racism," I immersed myself in "Democracy in America" by Alexis de Tocqueville.

While generally regarded as the classic study of our democratic development, Chapter 15 of "Volume I: The Unlimited Power of the Majority" is often overlooked. This chapter came to mind as I studied Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman's decision in denying death row prisoners relief in the recent lethal injection case, West et al v. Schofield et al.

"When an individual or party is wronged in the United States, to whom can he apply for redress? If to public opinion, public opinion constitutes the majority; if to the legislature, it represents the majority and implicitly obeys it; if to the executive power, it is appointed by the majority and serves as a passive tool in its hands ... and in certain states even the judges are elected by the majority."

As Tocqueville notes, if there is a minority, where would they go to obtain relief when the majority chooses all three branches of government?

The death penalty in Tennessee illustrates this through an elected legislature, executive and judges. (The Tennessee Supreme Court, or TSC, is appointed by the governor and retained through election.)

Death row prisoners, who constitute the most despised minority in this state, would seem to have little chance if the majority decided to move against them. This dynamic, not matters of law, is precisely what happened in Bonnyman's court and through the machinations of the TSC when she ruled that lethal injection is constitutional.

In an extraordinary series of rulings, the TSC consistently denied death row counsels' reasonable requests:

1.The executioner is cloaked in secrecy and cannot be deposed or interviewed.

2.The compounder of the lethal drugs also is kept secret, and the process of making the drugs is beyond inquiry.

3.All attempts to delve into the execution protocol with in-depth questioning, beyond what could be gathered of Department of Correction officials on the witness stand, were prohibited.

4.Bonnyman was consistently overruled by the TSC whenever she upheld a motion of the lawyers for the condemned.

5.The case was fast-tracked by the TSC, and the chancellor was ordered to deliver an opinion in 30 days after the conclusion of the trial.

The Tennessee Supreme Court was responding to the pressure from the legislature to move on with executions in this state. Indeed, attempts were made by the legislature to usurp the governor's power and appoint TSC judges. The legislature and the governor were responding to the will of the majority, so the circle of influence was complete, just as Tocqueville described it.

It's time for Tennessee to reconsider the death penalty

Tocqueville terms this circle of oppression the "tyranny of the majority." This is precisely what we have with the death penalty in Tennessee.

It makes no difference that the lawyers for the condemned had expert witnesses who truly were the best in their field while the state had people with superficial knowledge.

Nor did it matter that the court record clearly reflects the inadequate training of those carrying out the execution or that Department of Correction officials did not even understand how the drug worked or what the shelf life was.

In short, the facts and evidence were not pertinent because the decision had been made by the 3 branches of government to expedite executions. It was a classic example of the tyranny of the majority at work.

(source: Joseph B. Ingle is a United Church of Christ minister who works with the condemned. He will discuss "Slouching Toward Tyranny: Mass Incarceration, Death Sentences and Racism" at the Southern Festival of Books on Oct. 9----The Tennessean)


KANSAS:

Exonerated death row inmate to speak at college


Curtis McCarty spent the better part of 20 years of his life thinking he would be executed for a murder he didn't commit.

Exonerated after it was shown a forensic chemist falsified evidence, McCarty now speaks out against the death penalty across the U.S. He will be speaking about his experiences in "Innocent and on Death Row: A Talk by Death Row Exoneree Curtis McCarty" from noon to 1 p.m. Oct. 7 in Mingenback Theatre on the campus of McPherson College.

McCarty is one of 155 individuals who have been sentenced to death and later exonerated of the crime since 1973. McCarty was wrongfully convicted in the murder of 18-year-old Pamela Willis and was imprisoned in Oklahoma after being sentenced to death.

The talk will be followed by an opportunity for questions.

McPherson College is hosting the event, which is sponsored by the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty. The public is invited and encouraged to attend this free event.

(source: The Kansan)






CALIFORNIA----female faces death penalty

Death penalty sought for ex-wife accused of killing Exeter police officer


The Tulare County District Attorney's Office will seek the death penalty against Erika Sandoval, who allegedly shot and killed Exeter police officer Daniel Green, 31, her ex-husband and father of their 2-year-old son.

Sandoval, 26, was arrested 1 day after Green's body was found Feb. 6 in his home in Goshen. He had been shot several times, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department said.

Prosecutor David Alavezos said in open court Wednesday that the district attorney's office would seek the death penalty.

Charges against Sandoval include the special circumstance of lying in wait, which could result in the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

No motive for the slaying has been stated by authorities, but Sandoval and Green had been sharing custody of the child. They had a contentious relationship and engaged in heated disputes about child custody, according to court records.

A trial is scheduled to be set Oct. 29. Sandoval is being held without bail.

(source: Fresno Bee)

*****************

California's New Death Row: Virginia----Spared in one state, a serial killer could be executed in another.


California has a new death row; it's called Virginia. Anti-death penalty advocates, federal judges, and defense attorneys have been so successful at blocking capital punishment in California that a San Quentin death row inmate has more to fear from being extradited for a capital murder to another state than seeing his sentence carried out here. There has been no execution in California since a federal judge effectively halted the practice in 2006.

Take serial killer Alfredo Prieto. In 2005, Prieto was on San Quentin's death row for the 1990 rape and murder of 15-year-old Yvette Woodruff in Riverside County, when DNA evidence linked him to 3 1988 murders in Virginia. Under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California sent Prieto to Virginia, where killers sentenced to death actually face the likelihood of execution. (Authorities say evidence links Prieto to 9 murders.) In 2010, a Virginia jury sentenced Prieto to death for the murder of Rachel Raver and Warren Fulton, both 22. Prieto is scheduled for lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional Center in Virginia on Thursday night. Just 13 inmates have been executed in California since the death penalty resumed in 1978. Prieto will become the 2nd California death row prisoner to be executed in another state.

In Virginia, capital punishment opponents and defense attorneys rifled through their bag of tricks to shield Prieto from a jury verdict and sentence.

Over the past few years, death penalty opponents successfully have pressured major pharmaceutical companies to stop the manufacture of lethal injection drugs. The Obama administration played a role in that effort in 2011 when the Drug Enforcement Administration seized states' supplies of sodium thiopental on the grounds that the drug was not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. States since have had to hustle to find replacement drugs. Virginia obtained midazolam to use in its 3-drug lethal injection protocol, but the supply expired Wednesday. It looked as if Virginia would not be able to purchase new drugs, when Texas came to the rescue with a dose of pentobarbital, which it gets from a special compounding pharmacy not fully under the heel of the FDA.

May I note the irony in the Obama White House's (rightly) bemoaning the prospect of a government shutdown when it (wrongly) uses a federal agency to shut down states' enforcement of their own laws? "Whether a state is able to carry forward its death penalty law largely depends on the determination and leadership it has. Virginia has that determination to carry out its death penalty law," Georgetown adjunct law professor William Otis told me. California does not.

Prieto's attorneys have been busy, as well. They argue that Prieto, 49, has an intellectual disability - and they want Virginia to return him to California, where he could benefit from a "full and fair" assessment. They have no shame. In turning down the appeal, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit wrote that the bilingual Salvadoran national had been able to obtain driver's licenses in Virginia and California, operate power equipment, fly across the country, "arrange his own housing, negotiate the purchase of a car, and employ aliases to avoid detection." Prieto is scheduled for execution Oct. 1 for one reason: He also killed in Virginia.

(source: Debra Saunders, spectator.org)

**************************

Banning rampage suspect could face death penalty


Prosecutors Wednesday filed murder charges that could result in the death penalty against a Hemet man suspected in a bizarre and violent rampage that left 2 people dead and 3 others injured in Banning and Beaumont last weekend.

James Paul Diaz Jr., 34, is charged with 2 counts each of murder, attempted murder and child abuse, 3 counts of assault with a deadly weapon and 1 count of vandalism.

He also faces a special circumstances allegation of committing multiple murders, which makes him eligible for the death penalty should he be convicted in the deaths of Paul Lesh, 66, and Benjamin Johnson, 34.

The Riverside District Attorney's Office has also alleged 2 prior strike conditions against Diaz: 1 conviction in Riverside County in 1998 for shooting into an occupied home and a 2014 conviction in San Diego County for battery inflicting serious bodily injury.

The district attorney will decide later in the case whether to pursue capital punishment.

Diaz, who's being held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, was scheduled to make his initial court appearance at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta Wednesday afternoon, but the hearing was postponed until Thursday.

The crime spree began at 11:36 a.m. Saturday, when Banning officers responded to a call of shots fired in the 700 block of East John Street, where 2 wounded men were found in a vehicle, according to Banning police Chief Alex Diaz, who is no relation to the suspect.

1 of the victims was dead by the time officers arrived. The 2nd man suffered minor injuries and was treated at a hospital, then released.

A witness told police the suspect was driving a white SUV.

At 11:43 a.m., officers received reports of a vehicle-to-vehicle shooting near the intersection of San Gorgonio Avenue and Nicolet Street. A motorist was treated at a hospital for minor injuries caused by broken window glass, police said. The suspect in that shooting was also described as driving a white SUV.

10 minutes later, officers responded to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon at a gas station at 22nd and Ramsey streets. Officers found a man who was sitting inside his parked car when he was set upon by an assailant who beat him using fists and a blunt object, according to police. The victim was treated at a hospital, then released.

Video at the scene showed a suspect driving a white SUV and fitting the description of the suspect in the earlier attacks, police said.

At 12:13 p.m., police were called to the 200 block of East Lincoln Street, where a vehicle had crashed into a wall outside a Banning city vehicle yard. Arriving officers found a man who had been shot to death inside the vehicle.

A description of the suspect and his SUV was disseminated to other law enforcement agencies, including Beaumont police, the California Highway Patrol and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Around 12:20 p.m., officers in Beaumont received a call that a man fitting the suspect's description was knocking on doors in the 700 block of American Street and asking where his children were.

5 minutes later, Beaumont police went to the 1300 block of Eighth Street in response to a report that a man broke a window and door handle on a vehicle occupied by a woman and her 2 children, the Banning police chief said. The woman told police the man continually asked if his children were inside the vehicle as well.

At 12:32 p.m., Beaumont officers spotted a white SUV fitting the description of the suspect vehicle in the area, conducted a high-risk traffic stop and took Diaz into custody. A weapon was found inside the SUV, police said.

(source: The Desert Sun)

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