[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., ALA., OHIO, KY., TENN., UTAH, CALIF., WASH.
January 9 TEXAS: Supreme Court rejects appeal from former Missouri City cop on death row The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down an appeal from a former Missouri City police officer convicted of hiring a hitman to kill his wife, 1 of 2 Houston-area death row losses in the high court this week. Though he has consistently maintained his innocence, Robert Fratta was sentenced to death in 1996 after a Harris County jury found him guilty of masterminding a murder-for-hire plot designed to do away with his wife Farah. "I'm completely innocent of my wife Farah's death," Fratta wrote in an appeal he filed himself, alleging he was framed by his slain wife's father. "The evidence was also legally insufficient. Yet here I set on Texas Death Row awaiting execution unless this Court intervenes." Robert and Farah Fratta were embroiled in a heated divorce and custody battle when the 34-year-old mother was shot in the head while stepping out of her car at their home. The ex-officer and erstwhile firefighter was at church at the time, but investigators flagged him as a suspect in part because he'd reportedly asked around for a hitman before the crime. In the end, prosecutors said, he hired Joseph Prystash, who in turn hired a 3rd man to carry out the killing. All three men are now on death row. Written from a prison typewriter, the appeal the court declined to review on Monday raised a slew of questions including everything from claims about allegedly ineffective lawyers to insufficiency of the evidence used to convict him and problems with jury instructions during his trial. But at the heart of the claim are questions about whether Fratta was allowed to file his own appeals in tandem with attorneys' filings - something lower courts did not let him do, repeatedly ignoring some of the claims he filed himself. "The rule of law is taking another hit," said attorney James Rytting, who represents the condemned former officer. "Robert Fratta's trial was deeply flawed, (he) proved that himself and was penalized for figuring out serious problems with his trial on his own and for trying to bring them to the courts' attention." In addition to turning down Fratta's case, the court declined to review the conviction of Shelton Jones, who was convicted of the 1991 killing Houston police officer Bruno D. Soboleski. Neither Jones nor Fratta has an execution date set. (source: Houston Chronicle) VIRGINIA: Judge denies request for jury questionnaire in MS-13 case Attorneys won’t use questionnaires to vet jurors who might decide a trial for an alleged gang member and murder defendant who could face the death penalty, a judge determined Tuesday. Kevin Josue Soto Bonilla, 21, will be the 2nd co-defendant to face trial in the murder case of Lynchburg teen Raymond Wood. The 1st, 21-year-old Victor Arnoldo Rodas, was found guilty of first-degree murder and other charges in an October trial. The jury recommended he spend 55 years in prison. Bedford County Circuit Court Judge James Updike is scheduled to review Rodas’ sentencing on Feb. 15, and Soto Bonilla is set for a 10-day jury trial to start Feb. 26, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Wes Nance. In recent months, Soto Bonilla’s attorneys have filed a number of motions to ensure he receives a fair trial. Since he is charged with capital murder, Virginia law requires the court to appoint him 2 certified attorneys. One of the lawyers, Anthony Anderson, said the capital nature of the case and the fact that Nance has filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty warrants enhanced discretion in jury selection. A sample juror questionnaire filed by the attorneys asks 42 questions. Some of them include, “Do you believe that members of some racial or ethnic groups are more violent than others?” and, “Are you aware of holding any negative feelings or opinions towards people who illegally immigrated to the United States?” Others ask about knowledge of the case from news coverage, opinion on the death penalty and the MS-13 gang. Nance pointed out in court that the 10-day allowance for trial should provide enough time to talk with jurors, and many answers on the questionnaire might prompt further questions and discussions in court anyway. Updike referenced his experience as a prosecutor to say he hasn’t found jury questionnaires actually save time in the selection process and denied the motion. Soto Bonilla’s attorneys also sought to try the case in a jurisdiction other than Bedford County, citing potential pre-formed and “vehemently held” views on the case and topics like border security. Nance said publicity of the killing and Rodas’ trial alone isn’t enough to move the trial, and there were only quick references to Soto Bonilla during the trial. Updike took that motion under advisement, meaning he will rule on it at a later date. A number matters in the case will be argued on
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., ALA., ILL., OKLA., CALIF., USA
September 27 TEXASexecutions Texas puts Daniel Acker to death, the 2nd execution in 2 daysAcker was convicted in the 2000 murder of his girlfriend in East Texas. Her body was found on the side of the road after neighbors said they saw him abduct her. For the 2nd time in 1 days, Texas carried out an execution Thursday. It was the state's 10th execution of the year, and the 18th in the nation. Daniel Acker, 46, was put to death in Huntsville's execution chamber hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his last appeal, just 24 hours after another man, Troy Clark, died by lethal injection in the same spot. Acker was sentenced to death in the 2000 East Texas murder of his girlfriend, 32-year-old Marquetta George. Her body was found on the side of the road several miles away from the trailer they shared in Hopkins County after their neighbors said they saw Acker grab her, toss her over his shoulder and shove her into his truck, according to court records. Acker had maintained that he was taking her to confront a man she had slept with and she jumped from his moving vehicle. With all appeals exhausted, Acker was injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital shortly after 6 p.m. and pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m., according to the prison department. He gave no final statement. George's brother attended the execution, according to a prison witness list. Acker had no friends or family present at the time of his death. Both Acker and the state agreed that he kidnapped his girlfriend during a fight on March 12, 2000. The 2 had argued at a club the night before, and he spent the night searching for her around town, he testified at trial. Shortly after a man brought her home the next morning, she ran to her neighbor's home asking for help, and Acker took her away in his truck. But there are multiple theories as to what happened between George’s abduction and her severely wounded body being found on the side of the road. At Acker’s trial in 2001, the state told the jury that George died by strangulation, blunt force injuries or both, court records show. The state's main theory was that Acker strangled George to or near death, pulled her out of his truck and then ran her over. But during an appellate hearing, the state’s own expert said George's injuries weren't consistent with strangulation, and the theory arose that Acker pushed her from the truck and then ran over her. The federal judge who took over the case after the hearing wrote in a later opinion that the evidence pointed to her having been "unconscious or incapacitated" when pulled from the truck and then run over by Acker. Acker's attorney argued that the change of theory necessitated a new look at his case. He said in a filing last year that his conviction and death sentence were upheld "based on false evidence, a now-discredited theory, and a new theory never presented to his jury." "There are now serious doubts as to whether this case was a homicide at all," wrote Acker's attorney, Richard Ellis, in a recent filing to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. "Mr. Acker was tried and convicted on the theory that he had abducted the victim Marquetta George and then strangled her while driving, a theory that the State has now disavowed in federal court." But despite the shifting primary theory, federal and state courts upheld Acker's murder conviction, saying the indictment and jury charge allowed the jury to decide George was killed by blunt force injuries alone, even if much of the evidence presented - including autopsy testimony - focused on strangulation. "The district court found that the jury could have convicted Acker based on a theory of strangulation, a theory of blunt-force injury, or a combination of the 2," wrote the federal appellate court in its opinion upholding the lower court's ruling. "... Although the prosecution referred to strangulation in closing argument, the same argument could easily apply to running over George, regardless of whether she had been strangled." Acker turned himself in after George's death - he flagged down a patrol car as it passed by his mother's house, according to court documents. His attorney wrote that he has admitted to her kidnapping and has expressed remorse for that but that George's death was "a tragic accident, and never a homicide." The state, represented by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his office, said in its last briefing filed Tuesday at the U.S. Supreme Court that Acker has already failed to persuade the courts - and the jury - of this claim. "Acker produces no new evidence showing he did not commit the crime but continues to assert that George’s death resulted from her leap from the vehicle - a theory rejected by the jury at the time of trial," wrote Assistant Attorney General Ellen Stewart-Klein. (source: Texas Tribune) ** Texas man put to death in state's 2nd execution in 2
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., ALA., OHIO
March 23 TEXASimpending execution Federal judge in Lubbock rejects Rodriguez death penalty appeal A federal judge in Lubbock on Thursday denied a motion to stop the March 27 execution of Rosendo Rodriguez, who was convicted of the 2005 killing of 29-year-old Summer Baldwin who was stuffed in a suitcase found in a city landfill. Rodriguez also confessed to killing a 16-year-old Lubbock girl who'd been missing for more than a year. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Sam Cummings said he found no extraordinary circumstances necessary to grant Rodriguez's request. The ruling came 3 days after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed Rodriguez's appeal, which contained similar claims. Attorneys contended a medical examiner improperly testified at Rodriguez's trial, that a recent settlement of a lawsuit involving the examiner wasn't disclosed to them, that prosecutors engaged in misconduct and that Rodriguez is innocent. Rodriguez's attorneys have filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. (source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal) * San Antonio man 1 of 2 more Texas killers given execution dates 2 more Texas killers, including a San Antonio man behind the 2004 slaying of a convenience store owner, now have dates with death. Christopher Young, who was on probation when he committed the string of crimes in Bexar County that landed him on death row, is now set to die on July 17, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel. In addition to abducting, raping and robbing a woman, Young was convicted in the killing of 53-year-old store owner Hasmukh "Hash" Patel. Last year, Young's case sparked pushback from religious leaders who said he deserved a new trial in light of alleged religious discrimination during jury selection. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down his latest appeal in January and Texas prisons received notification of an impending death date earlier this month, Desel said. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Tuesday, TDCJ also received notice that Clifton Williams, an East Texas man convicted of robbing a 93-year-old woman before strangling her and setting her body on fire, was given a June 21 execution date. News of the upcoming executions comes just a day after a Harris County judge signed off on an execution warrant for Danny Bible, a serial rapist and murderer whose string of rapes, robberies and slayings crossed multiple states. On appeal, his attorney argued the 66-year-old is no longer a future danger as he is in a wheelchair as the result of a 2003 car crash. 3 Texas killers have already been executed this year, and now 6 more executions are on the calendar. (source: Houston Chronicle) ** Houston Ice Pick Killer And Serial Rapist Gets June Execution DateDanny Bible, the infamous 'Ice Pick Killer,' will be put to death on June 27, 2018. Danny Bible, a serial murderer and rapist, has been in jail for over 40 years. Now, a judge has set a date for the convicted criminal's execution. On March 19, a Harris County judge signed a death warrant for Bible. The wheelchair-bound murderer will be put to death on June 27, according to Chron.com. Josh Reiss, the head of the Post-Conviction Writs Division at the Harris County District Attorney's Office, described the infamous murderer. "He was the 'Ice Pick Killer.' He was a serial killer. A serial rapist and we're going to pursue justice for these victims," said Reiss, according to ABC 13. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg offered her take on the situation. "Some criminals' actions are so heinous, they earn the label 'worst of the worst,'" Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement Monday, according to Chron.com. "The jury who listened to the facts and saw the evidence of the crimes Danny Bible committed clearly reached that conclusion by sentencing him to death." Bible's attorney, Margaret Schmucker, was unsurprised by this most recent development. "It was not an unexpected event today," Schumucker said, according to Chron.com. "I do think it's unfortunate that the state of Texas is going to execute someone who is so little future danger that he can't even get out of a wheelchair." Bible's known crimes began in 1979, when the body of Inez Deaton was found near the Houston bayou. Deaton had been stabbed with an ice pick 11 times. Deaton's murder remained unsolved for 20 years. Between the murder and his eventual incarceration, Bible was involved with a handful of violent incidents, including several beatings of a girlfriend in Montana. He eventually returned to Texas, where he murdered his sister-in-law Tracy Powers, her infant son Justin, and a roommate of Powers' named Pam Hudgens. Bible was caught in 1984 and pled guilty to the killing of Hudgens, for which he was sentenced to 25
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., ALA., OHIO, ARK., NEV., USA
Oct. 25 TEXASimpending execution/Mexican national Texas set to execute Mexican national amid international dispute Texas next month is poised to execute a Mexican national accused of rape and murder in a case that could further inflame border tensions over apparent violations of the Vienna Convention and international law. The Mexican government is now funding legal efforts by Ruben Cardenas Ramirez to halt his execution after authorities neglected to notify Mexico about the arrest and failed to hold a review required by the United Nations' international court in The Hague. "It is as if the United States were thumbing its nose at the government of Mexico and the United Nations," said Sandra Babcock, a Cornell Law School professor specializing in international issues surrounding capital punishment. "And when I say the U.S., I should be clear that we're talking about Texas." To make matters worse, the condemned man's lawyer is alleging that he didn't actually commit the crime that earned him a death sentence in the first place. But according to Hidalgo County prosecutor Ted Hake, the U.N. ruling is "not enforceable" and there's no mechanism to hold the required review under Texas law. "There's no point," he said. "This guy is guilty as sin." The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has weighed in with a recommendation that the U.S. vacate the death sentence, and the Mexican government has pleaded for an opportunity to be heard, according to court filings by defense counsel Maurie Levin. The Mexican consulate this week declined to comment. The former security guard was arrested for the 1997 slaying of his 15-year-old cousin, Mayra Laguna, whose body was found in a canal after she was abducted by a man who slipped in through the bedroom window. The case has been plagued by claims of unreliable forensic evidence, conflicting statements and witnesses, concerns about ineffective lawyers, and allegations of a coerced confession. Yet it was the concerns about treaty violations and international repercussions that pushed the U.S. Department of State to meet in February with Hidalgo County prosecutors. For now, the Nov. 8 execution date still stands. "It makes us a clear human rights abuser," said Robert Dunham of the Death Penalty Information Center. Human rights concerns Authorities in Hidalgo County first collared Cardenas hours after the abduction, but did not immediately notify him of his right to talk to his country's consulate, according to court documents - an apparent oversight that violates Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. A 2004 U.N. World Court ruling known as the Avena case - an issue Babcock argued for Mexico - mandates that foreign nationals who weren't told of their consular rights are allowed a review to examine whether that oversight influenced the outcome of the criminal case. And for Cardenas, there's some chance that it could have. Hidalgo County never told Mexico about the arrest, Levin said. Instead, they found out on their own after 5 months, long after Cardenas had given multiple, conflicting confessions that Levin argues were coerced. Repeatedly, Cardenas asked for a lawyer, but authorities ignored his pleas until 11 days after his arrest, instead pushing on in their interrogations without telling him about his consular notification rights, Levin wrote in court filings. Although the treaty violation could have international repercussions, a 2008 Supreme Court decision deemed it unenforceable, unless Congress takes legislative action - and they haven't. In the meantime, some states have complied, but others have not. "There are Mexican nationals whose rights under the Vienna convention have been violated and they have been executed," Levin said. Conflicting evidence Yet the Cardenas case stands out. "This is the 1st case where there has been a really substantial miscarriage of justice in that Cardenas really could be innocent," Babcock said. "Although there is a confession, that confession is inconsistent with the physical evidence, the statements are inconsistent with each other, and he himself is of low intelligence. And then on top of that you have a lack of physical evidence." Now, Cardenas has few remaining shots at avoiding the death chamber. There's a motion pending in Hidalgo County court for DNA testing of scrapings taken from beneath Mayra's fingernails. The prosecution has already opposed the request, which came coupled with a motion to call off the execution. "To permit Mr. Cardenas's execution to proceed without permitting this testing would fly in the face of the most fundamental concept of justice," Levin wrote in a scathing filing. At the same time, there's a long-shot plea for a reprieve and sentence commutation in front of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, and a request for a 30-day reprieve pending before Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., ALA.
July 7 TEXASnew execution date Houston's 'Tourniquet Killer' set for October execution He was a musician. A hard-working father. A charismatic charmer. But now, he's just a convicted killer who has a date with death. Houston's so-called "Tourniquet Killer" - a 55-year-old who admitted to raping and killing young Hispanic women in Harris County for nearly a decade - is slated for execution this fall. Anthony Allen Shore terrorized the county in the 1980s and 1990s, leaving behind a trail of young victims in a gruesome set of crimes marked by the killer's use of handmade tourniquets. He was found guilty on 1 count of capital murder in 2004 and, finally, on Thursday, state District Judge Maria T. Jackson set his execution for Oct. 18. He is the only inmate from Harris County with a death date on the calendar. "There's a reason we have the death penalty in Texas and Anthony Shore is a poster child for why," said Andy Kahan, Houston's victim advocate. One final long-shot plea for consideration is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. "I would certainly say that the odds are not in our favor," said his attorney, K. Knox Nunnally, of Houston. "But we believe that we have a strong argument." The brutal killings went unsolved for nearly 2 decades until Shore was arrested for molesting 2 girls - both of whom were relatives - and a DNA breakthrough cracked the cold cases. As a convicted sex offender, Shore's DNA went on file. And after testing cold case evidence, investigators realized that Shore's sample matched a speck recovered from underneath the fingernails of a dead woman. When police confronted Shore with the newfound connection to the killing, the former telephone technician calmly confessed to four crimes, starting with the slaying of 14-year-old Laurie Tremblay in 1986. 6 years later, he raped and murdered 21-year-old Maria del Carmen Estrada before leaving her naked body in the drive-through of a Spring Branch Dairy Queen. In 1994, he killed 9-year-old Diana Rebollar. When he snatched her, his youngest victim was on the way to the store to buy sugar so her mom could make lemonade. The following year, Shore slaughtered 16-year-old Dana Sanchez, who vanished while hitchhiking to her boyfriend's house in north Houston. All of the victims were raped and tortured before he strangled them with handmade tourniquets. At the time of his 2003 arrest in the slayings, Shore was still on probation for the earlier molestations. Shore is a "true serial killer, a person deserving of the ultimate punishment," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement Thursday. "His crimes were predatory, and his victims the most vulnerable in society - women and children. For his brutal acts, the death penalty is appropriate." Before he was sentenced in 2004 for Estrada's slaying, Shore stunned listeners in court by requesting the death penalty, and a Harris County jury quickly complied. Prosecutors at the time chalked his bizarre request up to a deranged mind and psychopathic narcissism. Now, Shore's lawyers are still fighting for their client's life. Nunnally, who's represented Shore as appointed pro bono counsel through the federal appeals process, said there's currently a petition for a writ of certiorari pending in the U.S. Supreme Court. If granted, that could require a lower court to reconsider a request for appeal. The crux of the appeal is that Shore has previously unrealized brain damage. "In the course of our appeal we discovered he suffered a traumatic brain injury prior to the times he committed the crimes he was accused of," Nunnally said. "That possibly could have affected his reasoning and determination of what is right or wrong." His lawyers aren't seeking to exonerate him, though. "This is not a guilty/innocent argument," Nunnally said. "This is a death/life-in-prison argument." Shore's scheduled execution comes amid a dip in the use of capital punishment both statewide and across the nation. So far, Texas has only executed four offenders this year, and just six more - including Shore - are scheduled to die before the year's end. "This will be the 1st execution date out of Harris County this year and leaving aside any particulars about his case, we're seeing a general downward trend in both executions and death sentences," said Kristin Houle, executive director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. "But it's always disappointing to see new dates added to the list." (source: Houston Chronicle) ** Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present24 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-543 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 25-July 27-Taichin Preyor-544 26-Aug. 30-Steven Long545 27-Sept.7--Juan Castillo--546
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., ALA., USA
JULY 2 TEXAS: Appeals court to review case of Argentine on Texas death row A federal court has agreed to review the appeal of an Argentine man who is on death row in Texas for a 1995 killing. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday it will examine whether Victor Saldano, 44, was competent to stand trial and whether his lawyers were deficient for not requesting a competency hearing before he was resentenced to death years after the initial trial. Saldano, who was in the U.S. illegally, was sentenced to death for the killing of 46-year-old Paul King, who was abducted from a Plano supermarket, robbed and shot. His case has drawn the attention of Pope Francis, who is also Argentine and has met at least twice with the inmate's mother. The Catholic Church opposes capital punishment. Saldano was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die in 1996, but a judge later threw out the original sentence because a psychologist improperly testified that Saldano's Hispanic background made him likely to be a future danger, which Texas juries factor into death penalty decisions. The trial's punishment phase was repeated in 2004 and Saldano was again sentenced to die. In its decision to consider the case, the appeals court wrote that "ample evidence supports an inference of incompetency" and pointed to "numerous instances" of Saldano's incoherent and strange behavior around the time the punishment phase was repeated. Physicians offered various explanations for Saldana's behavior, including his isolation on death row and that he was faking his condition to get drugs. Lower courts have ruled that the trial court had no obligation to hold a competency hearing. The appeals court record showed both the trial judge and Saldano's lawyers had concerns about his mental state, but the court's record includes no results of any examinations of Saldano. Defense attorneys never requested a competency hearing and the judge indicated he "had no reason to believe Saldano was legally incompetent," the 5th Circuit wrote. Defense lawyers, meanwhile, made a strategic decision at the resentencing phase to not introduce evidence of Saldano's mental condition. Instead, they stressed that Saldana didn't have a prior criminal record, that he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and that it was a companion, Jorge Chavez, who came up with the idea to commit the crime. Chavez is serving a life prison term. The appeals court has given Saldano's attorneys 30 days to present written arguments. State attorneys then will have 15 days to respond. (source: Associated Press) VIRGINIAimpending execution An execution will not equal justice On July 6, Virginia is scheduled to carry out its 3rd execution under Gov. Terry McAuliffe, D, and 113th since 1976. The inmate, William C. Morva, was convicted of fatally shooting 2 men - a deputy sheriff and a hospital security guard - in 2006. His guilt is not in question. What is less clear is if jurors would have sentenced him to death had they been aware of the true extent of his mental illness. At varying points, Morva reportedly believed that he was meant to lead a distant indigenous tribe; that he was gifted with special powers to carry out an unidentified quest; that he was unjustly persecuted by local officials and the administration of President George W. Bush; and that his real name was Nemo, which is Latin for "nobody." These are not signs of a rational mind, but rather one afflicted with debilitating mental illness. A mental-health expert who assessed him after his conviction diagnosed him with delusional disorder, a serious psychotic condition similar to schizophrenia. We have previously written that capital punishment is dehumanizing. But the execution of a man suffering from severe mental illness is an act of particular barbarism - especially if his condition may have been misdiagnosed in trial. According to Morva's attorneys, the mental-health experts who provided statements to the jury did not receive his full case history and diagnosed him with a personality disorder rather than psychosis. Despite his personal opposition to the death penalty, McAuliffe is committed to upholding Virginia law, a stance we understand and respect. He commuted a death sentence in April, however, after he found flaws in the sentencing process of Ivar Teleguz. His predecessors - then-Gov. James Gilmore, R, and now-Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. - had granted clemency on grounds of mental illness. Morva's case raises many of the same questions and adds fodder to the national effort to abolish capital punishment for people with serious mental illnesses. McAuliffe should look favorably on the petition for clemency before him and commute Morva's sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He should also ensure that Morva receives the mental-health treatment he so obviously needs. The killing of
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., ALA., MISS., OHIO
April 14 TEXAS: Court grants Duane Buck relief that could remove him from Texas death row The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted Texas death-row inmate Duane Buck the right to pursue his claims of ineffective counsel and relief under a rule that covers mistakes and neglect - a move that could spare him from execution. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race improperly tainted inmate Buck's death sentence and remanded the case to the lower court for a new hearing. In a two-page ruling filed Thursday, the federal appeals court also ordered him released unless the state initiates proceedings for a new trial for punishment within six months or "elects not to seek the death penalty and accedes to a life sentence." Buck was convicted in Houston 20 years ago for the killings of his girlfriend, Debra Gardner, and her friend, Kenneth Butler. He was sentenced to death after a psychologist testified he would be a continuing threat to society because he is black. The case, which has made national headlines for years, could be a harbinger of how the country's highest court deals with death penalty cases with racial overtones, experts have said. After February's decision, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said her office would review Buck's case, including speaking with the victims' families and looking over mitigation evidence, before deciding how to proceed. "Racially charged evidence has no place in any courtroom, and this administration will not tolerate its presence," she said. "We remain committed to seeking justice for the victims of Duane Buck's heinous criminal acts and will do so without what Chief Justice Roberts described as the 'strain of racial prejudice' present at the 1997 trial in which Buck was convicted." [see: http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/14/14-70030-CV0.pdf] (source: Houston Chronicle) VIRGINIAimpending execution 3 Reasons Why Virginia May Execute an Innocent Man In 2006, a jury convicted Ivan Teleguz of hiring someone to kill Stephanie Sipe, his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child. Now, more than a decade later, Virginia is scheduled to execute Teleguz on April 25, 2017, and there is substantial evidence suggesting that Teleguz is innocent. How is that possible in the United States - the land of the free, where a poor person is entitled to legal counsel and a criminal defendant has numerous chances to be heard in court? Actually, it happens with some ease, and in part, it happens because of conscious choices we have made about our legal system. There are at least 3 reasons for this counter-intuitive reality. 1. Prosecutors, Not Judges or Juries, Resolve Most Criminal Cases in America When most people think of criminal cases, they have visions of Atticus Finch and dramatic closing arguments before juries. In fact, 97 % of federal cases and 94 % of state cases are resolved through plea-bargaining. The prosecutor determines what charges to bring against a defendant, offers him a lesser sentence if he accepts the deal in lieu of a trial, and often plays one defendant off of another in the process. In most cases, criminal defendants accept a plea rather than insisting upon their day in court because the penalty and risk associated with going to trial is simply too high. Teleguz's case demonstrates this phenomenon well. There was no physical evidence connecting him to the murder of Ms. Sipe; the prosecution's case was based on the testimony of three witnesses. Since his trial, 2 of those witnesses have recanted their testimony and have admitted that they lied when they implicated Teleguz in exchange for favorable treatment from the government. The Commonwealth repeatedly told the 3rd witness, Ms. Sipe's actual killer, that he would face the death penalty unless he "cooperated" with them by agreeing to testify against Teleguz in Ms. Sipe's murder and sticking to that story. Not surprisingly, he did just that and he is serving out a life sentence while Teleguz faces imminent death. 2. The Myth of the Right to Counsel Speaking of Atticus Finch, why didn't Teleguz's lawyer prevent this outcome? Indeed, the United States Supreme Court has held time and again that "[t]he right of one charged with crime to counsel may not be deemed fundamental and essential to fair trials in some countries, but it is in ours."[1] There is a huge divide, though, between the right and the reality. Like Teleguz, 80 % of criminal defendants are poor, and they are entitled to a lawyer at the state's expense. Those lawyers are overworked, underpaid and operate without anything close to what the government has in the way of investigative and expert resources. For these reasons, while in office, Attorney General Eric Holder regularly described indigent defense systems nationwide as "unjust," "morally untenable," "economically unsustainable," and "unworthy of a legal system that stands as an
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., ALA., TENN.
March 21 TEXASimpending execution Parents of slain Hurst Putt-Putt manager seek to halt killer's executio The parents of a man slain during a robbery in 2006 in Northeast Tarrant County have signed an affidavit calling on the state not to execute one of the killers next month. Glenn and Judy Cherry, whose son Jonas Cherry was killed at Putt-Putt Golf and Games in Hurst where he was an assistant manager, wrote a letter to state and local authorities requesting that Paul Storey's death sentence be commuted to life without parole. "Paul Storey's execution will not bring our son back, will not atone for the loss of our son and will not bring comfort or closure," the affidavit states. "We are satisfied that Paul Storey remaining in prison until his death will assure that he cannot murder another innocent person in the community, and with this outcome we are satisfied and convinced that lawful retribution is exercised concerning the death of our son." Cherry's parents, who are opposed to the death penalty, addressed the letter to Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson, Gov. Greg Abbott, state District Judge Robb Catalano and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Glenn and Judy Cherry said they know how hard it is to lose a child and have no wish to see Storey's family suffer in a similar way. "His family did not harm us and are innocent regarding our suffering," the letter states. Jonas Cherry begged for his life during the crime, which took place about 8:45 a.m. Oct. 16, 2006. Storey and Mike Porter stood over Jonas Cherry, who pleaded: "Please! I gave you what you want. Don't hurt me." They refused and shot him twice in the head and twice in his legs. Cherry, who was approaching his 1st wedding anniversary, was pronounced dead at the scene. Storey and Porter were convicted of capital murder, but only Storey got the death penalty. Porter got life without parole after making a deal with the Tarrant County district attorney's office. Storey is scheduled to be executed April 12. On Monday afternoon, Storey's lawyers continued their efforts to persuade the state to spare his life. During a hearing, attorneys Mike Ware and Keith Hampton said they plan to file their client's clemency petition with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles this week. Clemency, or mercy, is something attorneys representing death row clients routinely ask for but seldom receive. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 282 death row inmates nationwide have been granted clemency for humanitarian reasons since 1976, but only 2 of those inmates were in Texas. According to documents filed in federal court, Storey's lawyers were never told that he was just barely functional intellectually. That information has, in part, led at least 1 juror to change his mind. Sven Berger, a 36-year-old software engineer now living in Washington state, voted for the death penalty along with the other 11 jurors at the end of Storey's trial in 2008. The jury deliberated less than 2 hours before assessing the death penalty, Berger said. "There was a definite sense in the room that a decision had already been made," Berger said. "Had I known he was mentally impaired there would have been a much longer conversation about my decision." Berger, who has signed an affidavit detailing his change of mind, also said that prosecutors argued during the trial that Cherry's parents wanted the death penalty to be imposed. Ware recently told him that Cherry's parents wanted Storey to have a life sentence without parole. "More than anything else that affected me," Berger said. "If the family of the deceased did not want the perpetrator executed, that would have been important for me to know, and I believe it would have been important to the other jurors." Christopher Wilkins, who went on a 2-day killing spree in Fort Worth and was executed on Jan. 11, was the 1st person executed in the United States in 2017. Berger said he got the impression during testimony that Storey was not very bright but was not a future danger to society. But he did not feel equipped at that time to sway other jurors to his way of thinking. He said he never understood why Storey deserved a death sentence while his accomplice, Porter, received a life sentence. "It seemed clear to me that Porter was the leader," Berger said. "It irritated me that he took the plea deal. It was infuriating to see Porter get life and Storey get death." Storey's mother, Marilyn Shankle-Grant, said she spoke to Berger about his change of heart and forgave him. "This young man was placed in the position of deciding whether someone was going to live or die," Shankle-Grant said. "He didn't want to go against the crowd. There were a whole lot of people who were going one way and he didn't want to voice his opinion. "We all have things that we've done in the past that we wish we could have done
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., ALA., OHIO, CALIF., WASH., USA
Jan. 4 TEXAS: Paxton sues FDA for delaying import of death penalty drug Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday his office has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for delaying the state's importation of a drug used in capital punishment. The lawsuit argues the FDA's claimed legal grounds for refusing the drugs' entry into the United States are invalid, citing an FDA exemption for law enforcement purposes. Thiopental sodium, also known as Sodium thiopental, is part of the 3-drug cocktail used in lethal injections. In its December newsletter, the Council of State Governments said, while Texas has 317 inmates on death row, it only has enough of a key lethal injection drug to execute 2 of them, stemming from a nationwide shortage of the drug. The Attorney General's Office is asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to declare the FDA's delay unlawful and compel the agency to make a final decision on the admissibility of the drug, which was detained by the FDA 17 months ago. "There are only 2 reasons why the FDA would take 17 months to make a final decision on Texas' importation of thiopental sodium: gross incompetence or willful obstruction," said Attorney General Paxton. "The FDA has an obligation to fulfill its responsibilities faithfully and in a timely manner. My office will not allow the FDA to sit on its hands and thereby impair Texas' responsibility to carry out its law enforcement duties." In April 2016, KXAN reported that the FDA blocked an appeal to bring in Sodium thiopental. (source: KXAN news) Supreme Court examines death penalty for the disabled Bobby James Moore got the death penalty for a murder he committed in 1980 at a Houston supermarket. But 36 years later, he apparently has a new argument: He is intellectually disabled and cannot be executed under a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The Supreme Court heard his case at the end of November. Moore was 21 when he and some friends decided to rob Birdsall Super Market. His job was to stand guard with a shotgun. Things did not go as planned. Almost immediately after two clerks in the courtesy booth learned they were being robbed, one of them screamed. Moore pointed his shotgun at the second clerk, a 72-year-old man named James McCarble, and shot him in the head. McCarble died instantly. Police caught up with Moore 10 days later at his grandmother's house in Louisiana, where he confessed to the crime. In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled executing the mentally disabled violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. But the court left it up to the states to determine mental ability within certain parameters. During oral arguments in November, lawyer Clifford Sloan cast Texas as an oddball state that uses something other than current clinical standards to diagnose intellectual disability -- a 1992 definition along with other factors thought up by judges, not scientists. The Texas appeals court said Moore had abilities that showed he was not so intellectually disabled as to be exempt from capital punishment. Both sides agreed Moore had a terrible childhood. He dropped out of school in 9th grade. His father beat him. He was kicked out of the house at 14. He had 4 felony convictions by age 17. "At the age of 13, Mr. Moore did not understand the days of the week, the months of the year, the seasons, how to tell time, the principle that subtraction is the opposite of addition, standard units of measurement. And there are numerous other deficits like that that are undisputed," Sloan said. Justice Stephen Breyer had his doubts about whether the Supreme Court could establish a consistent standard for judging mental ability. Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller argued the state's criteria for intellectual disability is consistent with Supreme Court precedent as well as clinical standards. He also noted the legal finding of intellectual disability is different from a medical diagnosis. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had a concern of her own about letting states set their own standards: "Isn't making it discretionary a huge problem in this area, because if you let one trial court judge apply it and another one doesn't have to apply them, then you're opening the door to inconsistent results depending upon who is sitting on the trial court bench, something that we try to prevent from happening in capital cases." The current justices are divided on the much more basic question of whether the death penalty is constitutional at all, for anyone. Breyer is a frequent critic of capital punishment, as is Justice Sonia Sotomayor. In 2014, the court struck down Florida's law that said if an inmate's IQ is over 70, evidence of other intellectual disability need not be considered. (source: Baptist Press) ** Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., ALA., MISS.
May 7 TEXASimpending execution Lawsuit: Controversy should delay Texas execution Texas prison officials must reveal the source of their lethal injection drugs to avoid an incident as horrific as last week's bungled execution in Oklahoma, attorneys for a Texas death row inmate argued Tuesday in an attempt to delay his upcoming execution. Lawyers for Robert Campbell filed a federal civil rights lawsuit citing the Oklahoma execution that went awry when an intravenous line of lethal drugs became dislodged, a failure that went unnoticed for 21 minutes. The inmate, Clayton Lockett, later died of an apparent heart attack. Oklahoma prison authorities have blamed a collapsed vein, not the drugs, for the injection problem, though an investigation is ongoing. Campbell's lawyers argue that the problem is the secrecy surrounding the drugs, and that the drug supplier's name is necessary to obtain and test the efficiency of the drugs - arguments that have been rejected by federal courts in Texas and other states in recent months . The possible cause of Mr. Lockett's botched execution are all issues that have been, are, or could be problematic in Texas, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Houston. There is a substantial risk that Mr. Campbell's execution could be as horrific as Mr. Lockett's. Texas' Department of Criminal Justice, which is among the named defendants in the lawsuit, does not comment on pending litigation, agency spokesman Jason Clark said Tuesday. Like several other states, Texas has refused to identify the source of its execution drug by citing possible threats of violence to the supplier if it's disclosed. Texas uses a single drug, pentobarbital, while Oklahoma used a 3-drug combination. Campbell's attorneys said it doesn't matter that different drugs were used in Oklahoma, because all of the potent drugs have potentially serious side effects. The risk to inmates like Campbell, who was convicted of abducting, raping and killing a woman in 1991, derives primarily from the secrecy of the entire process - not the individual drug that might be used in one execution vs. the next, the lawsuit argues. Questions about execution procedures have drawn renewed attention from defense attorneys and death penalty opponents in recent months as states have been forced to scramble to find new sources of execution drugs. Several drugmakers, including many based in Europe, have refused to sell drugs for use in executions. The issue surfaced in Texas - the nation's most active death penalty state - when it replenished its execution drug stock in late March. But the U.S. Supreme Court rejected appeals that focused on secrecy surrounding the drug supplier's name, and 3 Texas inmates have been executed since then. To move forward without hesitation despite full awareness of the grave risks and possibly torturous results ... should not be countenanced by a civilized society, nor tolerated by the constitutional principles that form the basis of our democracy, Campbell's attorneys said. Oklahoma officials tried for 51 minutes to find a vein in Lockett's arms and feet before inserting an IV through his groin. That vein collapsed, but the dislodged line was under a sheet and wasn't discovered until 21 minutes after the execution began, according to a report from the state's prison chief. Another vein wasn't viable and the state didn't have another dose of lethal drugs nearby, so the execution was stopped, but Lockett died about 10 minutes later. The autopsy report on Lockett will take two to three months to complete. Campbell, 41, is set to die next Tuesday for the 1991 slaying of a Houston woman, Alexandra Rendon, who was abducted while putting gas into her car, robbed, raped and shot. Campbell was 18 at the time and on parole after serving 4 months of a 5-year sentence for robbery. His lawyers also have other appeals in the courts, arguing that his execution should be halted because he is mentally impaired and that legal help he received at his trial and in earlier stages of appeals was deficient. (source: Associated Press) ** Bedford man faces death penalty after jury quickly convicts him for stabbing girlfriend, her sons A Tarrant County man who killed his estranged girlfriend and her 8-year-old son in their Bedford apartment last spring was convicted of capital murder Wednesday. Cedric Ricks, 39, could face the death penalty in the May 1, 2013, slaying of 30-year-old Roxann Diana Sanchez, and her 8-year-old son, Anthony Reyes Figueroa, according to the Tarrant County DA's office. Ricks also attacked Anthony's big brother, Marcus, and he testified in the trial. The 13-year-old said he survived by mimicking the gurgling sound his brother made as he died, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The couple's 9-month-old baby was found unharmed in the apartment. The
