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 Jan. 25.

(source: News & Advance)








FLORIDA:

Florida Supreme Court upholds death sentence for Titusville woman convicted of murder



The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a Titusville woman's death sentence Monday, after years of appeals.

Margaret Allen, 52, was found guilty of torturing and murdering her former housekeeper, Wanda Wright, in 2005 after a dispute over possible stolen money. A jury in 2011 unanimously recommended the death penalty for Allen after she and two associates disposed of Wright's body in a wooded area near Mims.

Court records show Allen accosted Wright after a missing purse with $2,000 inside. When Wright denied stealing the money, Allen began beating her before pouring bleach and other household chemicals down her mouth.

Allen then put tape over the victim's mouth and strangled her to death with a belt at her Robbins Avenue home.

Two accomplices, James Martin and Quinton Allen, were convicted of helping Allen bury Wright's body in a remote area of Brevard County near State Road 46 in February of 2005.

Allen was convicted in 2011. Her sentence was upheld by an appellate court in 2013. She continued her appeals to the Florida Supreme Court.

(source: Florida Today)








ALABAMA:

Cantrell faces death penalty in Limestone murder



1 of 2 men charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of a Madison man in 2016 will face the death penalty when he is tried in Limestone County, an official said today.

District Attorney Brian Jones had asked the Limestone County Circuit Court to allow the state, as represented by the DA's office, to seek the death penalty for Trevor Davis Cantrell, 21, of 7900 Old Madison Pike, Madison, if he is convicted. Circuit Judge Robert Baker granted the request today. No solid trial date has been set.

Cantrell and Dacedric Deshun Ward, 24, of 122 Sweet Hollow Way, Madison, are charged with capital murder and 1st-degree robbery in connection with the Dec. 26, 2016, fatal shooting of Jason Ender West, 18, of Madison, at the Sonic restaurant on County Line Road in Madison-annexed Limestone County.

West had gone to the Sonic parking lot to buy Xanax from Ward and Cantrell, according to court records. The 2 men intended to rob West, but Ward pulled a gun and shot West, who died a short time later at Huntsville Hospital, records show.

West graduated from James Clemens High School mid-year and was heading to college, his parents have said.

The state has so far not sought the death penalty for Ward, records show. Jones said that is because Ward's defense attorney has not yet asked the DA's office (the state) whether it intends to seek the death penalty in Ward's case. Once that is done, the state will ask the court to allow it to seek the death penalty.

Both men remain jailed without bail in Limestone County, which is allowed under Alabama law in capital cases.

(source: enewscourier.com)








OHIO:

Lawyers say woman's confession to killing 3 young sons should not be allowed at trial



More than 3 years after a Central Ohio mom was arrested on charges she murdered her 3 young sons, lawyers for Brittany Pilkington were in court arguing that her confession to police should be suppressed and not allowed in her death-penalty case.

Pilkington, who was arrested in August, 2015, is accused of killing her 4-year-old and 2 infant sons over a 13-month period from 2014 through August, 2015. Court documents revealed the Bellefontaine woman confessed to police that she killed the boys because she felt her husband paid more attention to them.

Pilkington's mom said her daughter, who was 24 at the time of her arrest, was "drilled for 12 hours" by authorities. Her attorneys have argued authorities pressured her into confessing and she didn't understand what she was doing when she agreed to be interviewed without a lawyer. A defense attorney has also argued experts concluded the Bellefontaine woman has brain damage and a low IQ.

Prosecutors say she was advised of her rights, and a judge previously ruled the recorded interrogation can be used.

Police say Pilkington smothered all three boys, killing 3-month-old Niall in 2014, 4-year-old Gavin in April, 2015, and 3-month-old Noah in August, 2015. Authorities say after Noah was born, he and his older sister were taken into protective custody over concerns about the deaths of the 2 boys, but they did not have enough evidence to prove foul play.

The boy's father, Joe Pilkington, said he didn't know his wife was being investigated for his sons' deaths, and he even took his daughter for genetic testing after they died to see if there was a medical explanation. During the investigation into the 3 boys' deaths, Joe Pilkington was arrested and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of gross sexual imposition for having sex with his wife when she was underage, before they were married.

One expert testified that the interrogation was just too much for Pilkington.

“She couldn’t process that and she just went along and subsequently she just parroted what her interrogators were telling her," said Jeffery Madden, a psychologist. "It's a capitulation, not a confession.”

Madden said Pilkington suffered brain damage from lead poisoning as an infant. He also read from a medical report which showed Pilkington banged her head on her bedpost nightly when she was a child.

Prosecutors tried to point out that investigators frequently asked her if she wanted breaks or food and water during the lengthy interrogation and that Pilkington refused.

“She said no, but (investigators) should have known better," Madden testified.

Brittany Pilkington is set to go on trial for her three sons' deaths starting March 18.

(source: ABC News)

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

High Court Rules Against Pair of Convicted Killers



The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Sixth Circuit to reconsider an Ohio man’s vacated death sentence and declined to hear an appeal from another convicted murderer, drawing a stinging rebuke from 3 liberal justices.

Danny Hill was convicted in 1986 of torturing, raping and murdering a 12-year-old boy a year earlier. He was sentenced to death and his punishment was affirmed by a state appeals court and the Ohio Supreme Court.

Hill filed a federal habeas petition claiming his death sentence is illegal under Atkins v. Virginia, a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that held the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment prevents the execution of a defendant who is intellectually disabled.

A federal judge denied the petition but the Sixth Circuit reversed and overturned Hill’s death sentence, prompting Ohio to appeal to the nation’s highest court.

The Sixth Circuit’s decision relied on Moore v. Texas, a 2017 decision in which the justices found that adjudications of intellectual disability must be based on accepted medical criteria.

In an unsigned opinion Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Cincinnati-based appeals court must reconsider its decision to vacate Hill’s death sentence because it should have relied on precedent that was in effect at the time his case was in state courts.

“No reader of the decision of the Court of Appeals can escape the conclusion that it is heavily based on Moore, which came years after the decisions of the Ohio courts,” the 8-page opinion states.

It concludes, “Because the reasoning of the Court of Appeals leans so heavily on Moore, its decision must be vacated. On remand, the court should determine whether its conclusions can be sustained based strictly on legal rules that were clearly established in the decisions of this Court at the relevant time.”

In another death penalty case, the high court decided Monday not to hear the appeal of Donnie Cleveland Lance, a Georgia man convicted of killing his ex-wife and her boyfriend in 1997.

The denial of review prompted a scathing dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan.

Sotomayor said jurors deciding Lance’s punishment did not hear evidence about dementia, frontal lobe damage in his brain and a low IQ that places him in the “borderline range” for intellectual disability.

“The mental impair­ment evidence reasonably could have affected at least one juror’s assessment of whether Lance deserved to die for his crimes, and Lance should have been given a chance to make the case for his life,” the dissent states. “The Georgia Supreme Court’s conclusion that it would be futile to allow him to do so was unreasonable.”

(source: Courthouse News)




KENTUCKY:

Louisville defense attorney under investigation for hiding bullet casings in death penalty case



A special prosecutor has been assigned to investigate whether anyone with the Louisville Public Defender’s office committed a crime by concealing key evidence in a death penalty case.

Because of a conflict with local prosecutors, the Kentucky Attorney General’s office has tasked Kenton Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders with reviewing whether public defender Angela Elleman or anyone in her office broke the law by hiding bullet casings linked to the shooting of 15-year-old Gregory Holt for more than 6 years.

Elleman, who represents Anthony Hogan, and an investigator dug up the shell casings buried in a tree stump outside a bar in Louisville just months after the April 11, 2012 murder.

The Jefferson Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office only discovered the existence of the casings last February when talking with Hogan about testifying against co-defendant James Mallory. At least 1 other attorney in the public defender’s office knew about the casings.

The Mallory trial has been delayed as both defense attorneys for Mallory and the judge presiding over the case, Susan Schultz Gibson, have questioned whether Elleman committed a crime, specifically tampering with physical evidence, a felony.

In a motion filed in November, Lexington attorney Gregory Coulson, who represents Mallory, asked Judge Gibson to investigate the issue by reviewing all of Elleman’s communications with her client and inspect the defense’s case file to “determine that the services of (the defense team) have been used in furtherance of a crime or fraud upon the court.”

In a Dec. 21 order, Gibson denied this request, writing that it is not her role in the case “as a neutral and detached entity” to conduct a criminal investigation.

“That investigation is appropriately carried out by either the Kentucky Bar Association or the prosecutor’s office,” Gibson wrote.

The head of the public defender’s office, Dan Goyette, has defended the actions in a previous statement to WDRB News:

“After a careful review of the rather complex legal and evidentiary situation that arose in this case, it’s clear that the actions of Mr. Hogan’s attorneys were directed in the best interests of their client and were consistent with their professional obligations."

A call to the public defender’s office on Tuesday was not immediately returned.

In the recent motion, Coulson, who recently took over representing Mallory, acknowledged that requesting an investigation by the judge of the public defender’s office is unusual, but argued that the “conduct is clearly felonious.”

The public defender's office represents defendants who cannot afford an attorney.

After Elleman and an investigator dug up the shell casings, they were put in a safe at the public defender’s office.

Hogan claims he saw Mallory bury the shell casings after Holt was shot to death in his mother’s apartment near Dixie Highway and East Rockford Lane.

Coulson said that Elleman posted a picture on social media in 2013 showing her in the tree stump with the evidence.

Holt was a student at Farnsley Middle School. Prosecutors have said Holt’s mother, Kendra Wilson, participated in a robbery and attempted execution of Mallory hours earlier, and that Mallory shot the teen while trying to retaliate against Wilson.

(source: WDRB news)








TENNESSEE:

Defense attorneys: Hamilton County DA's office should be disqualified from prosecuting gang racketeering case



Defense attorneys for a man facing the death penalty in the state's massive gang racketeering case say the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office needs to be disqualified from the prosecution.

Citing an "appearance of impropriety," attorneys Steven Moore and Fisher Wise argued Monday that District Attorney General Neal Pinkston's office needs to be taken off the 55-person case because a former defense attorney who previously represented two of the defendants became a prosecutor for Pinkston last fall.

Per ethics rules, they say, defendants Cortez Sims and Montez Murphy were not given notice that Assistant District Attorney Lee Ortwein left his defense practice in November to work for Pinkston, who brought a Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations case against 55 alleged members of the Athens Park Bloods street gang last spring.

Because Sims and his family members are accused of planning the 2016 murder of state's witness Bianca Horton, and because Murphy is charged in the overall case, Moore and Wise argued that Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz should order Pinkston's office off the case to avoid any appearance of impropriety or unfairness.

Prosecutors have already signaled they will seek the death penalty against Moore and Wise's client, Courtney High, along with defendants Charles Shelton and Andre Grier, if they're convicting of kidnapping and killing Horton to prevent her from testifying against Sims at a different murder trial in 2017. Though Horton was not present, a jury still convicted Sims of first-degree murder, and he is serving a life sentence amid an appeal of the conviction.

"We don't want our justice system to be tainted by the appearance that attorneys are getting information they shouldn't get from other attorneys who've previously been involved in other cases," Wise said.

To be clear, Wise and Fisher said, they were not directly accusing Ortwein of sharing any confidential information — just the concern that a "reasonable person" could interpret it that way with all of the media attention and chatter about the case. They said ethics rules and some case law back up their concern and that prosecutors have the burden of proving them wrong.

To that end, Pinkston said he submitted 50-plus affidavits from members of his office, including Ortwein, explaining how no confidential information was shared. Greenholtz, who reviewed the affidavits, said one of them asserted that Ortwein never discussed the Sims prosecution with anybody other than his wife, another Assistant District Attorney in the office who works on more minor crimes in General Sessions Court.

Pinkston said Monday that Ortwein hasn't ever been involved in the racketeering prosecution, hasn't represented Sims since the summer of 2017, and doesn't have access, like most of his office, to the state's evidence, which is stored electronically.

"Does Mr. Ortwein have a conflict? Without question," Pinkston said. "Has he participated in any of this prosecution? No. The majority of this investigation occurred long before Mr. Ortwein was ever in the DA's office. It occurred almost a year leading up to that."

Judge Greenholtz said he will consider the issue further and release an order at a later date. The judge is also expected to rule soon on another issue in the case: Whether the state has to prove that each defendant benefited financially from any prior crimes prosecutors are using to tie them to the gang.

Some defense attorneys say the state's racketeering law states that "[financial] gain" is essential and are hoping to get the case dismissed with that argument. Prosecutors have countered that any crime committed in service of the gang contributes to the gang's overall influence and possible wealth.

(source: Chattanooga Times Free Press)








UTAH:

More calls for death penalty in Provo police officer's killing



A state lawmaker says his death penalty bill is a perfect fit for the man accused of killing a Provo officer.

State Representative Paul Ray, R-Clinton, says that’s why he wrote and fought to pass HB433 in 2017.

Provo Master Officer Joseph Shinners was shot and killed late Saturday night in Orem. The alleged killer is Matt Hoover, 40.

Ray says Hoover fits the exact profile of the bill he crafted.

“Clear-cut death penalty case,” Ray said. “He’s a monster. You don’t want him back on the streets. He’s going to be dangerous in prison. He’s going to go after correctional officers or inmates.”

Nannette Wride agrees. Her husband, Sgt. Cory Wride, was shot and killed 5 years ago this month after stopping to help someone he thought was in need.

“[Shinners] died the same way as Cory, being shot and killed,” said Wride. And that’s why she believes Hoover should be put to death.

"I think that anyone who kills a police officer, there should be no question they should get the death penalty,” Wride said.

Defense attorney Kent Morgan, a former prosecutor for the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office who handled capital punishment cases for 10 years, agreed that Shinners' murder case does fit the criteria for the death penalty.

“Killing a police officer, in this case intentionally, for the purpose of escaping being held in custody does fit the definition of aggravated murder,” said Morgan. “But we also live in a country where the death penalty is not automatic and never will be. We always have to weigh the aggravating and mitigating circumstances.”

(source: KUTV news)








CALIFORNIA:

Trial starts in sledgehammer killings of California family



The 2010 disappearance of a family from their Southern California home puzzled investigators for years, with no signs of forced entry and the couple's credit cards untouched.

After their remains were found three years later in the desert more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) away, authorities charged a man with the killings, alleging he used a sledgehammer to beat to death his business partner, the partner's wife and two young sons before burying them in the remote area.

Now, Charles "Chase" Merritt is on trial in the deaths of Joseph McStay; McStay's wife, Summer; and their 3- and 4-year-old boys. Opening statements began Monday in San Bernardino County, where the family's remains were found.

Merritt, 61, has pleaded not guilty and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Authorities have said Merritt's cellphone was traced to the remote gravesites and to a call days later seeking to close out McStay's online bookkeeping account.

They also say Merritt's DNA was discovered on the steering wheel and gearshift of McStay's SUV, which was impounded near the Mexican border a few days after the family vanished.

Defense attorney James McGee said McStay could have transferred that DNA to the vehicle after he met with Merritt shortly before the family vanished. McGee also said none of Merritt's DNA was found at the gravesites but DNA belonging to other unidentified individuals turned up there.

"From the evidence the government is going to present, our argument is going to be: You had the wrong guy," McGee said.

Britt Imes, supervising deputy district attorney for San Bernardino County, said he could not comment on ongoing cases.

The McStay family disappeared from their home in Fallbrook, which is about 50 miles (80 km) north of San Diego, in 2010. Their remains were found in 2013 along with a 3-pound (1.4-kilogram) sledgehammer and a child's pants and diaper. Authorities have said all four victims were believed to have been killed by blunt-force trauma to the head.

Investigators have said they spoke with Merritt shortly after the family went missing and noticed he referred to them in the past tense. They also have said a customer service representative told them he received a call about McStay's QuickBooks account, which he used to pay vendors connected to his water features business, after he vanished.

The call, according to authorities, was placed from Merritt's cellphone.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Brown wouldn’t be the first to clear death row



Your editorial, “Why Gov. Brown should abolish the death penalty” (Mercurynews.com, Jan. 2), lays out a compelling case for commutation of all of California’s death sentences.

There is precedent for this action.

In January 2003, as he was leaving office in Illinois, Gov. George Ryan commuted the sentences of all 167 inmates on death row for all the very reasons that you cite in your editorial.

Terry McCaffrey

Former area coordinator

Amnesty International

Palo Alto

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

Trust our voters, juries regarding death penalty



Re: “Editorial: Why Gov. Brown should abolish the death penalty” (Mercurynews.com, Jan. 2):

Hopefully, Gov. Jerry Brown will not follow the exhortation in your Jan. 2 editorial that he “abolish the death penalty altogether” by commuting the sentences of the 740 convicted murderers on death row to life without the possibility of parole.

Such an executive order would severely undermine both our trusted jury system and our democratic form of government. As recently as 2012, Californians voted to uphold the death penalty, rejecting the argument that it wasted money.

Since it became a state in 1850, California has never wrongfully executed anyone.

Ending the death penalty by an executive order would also undermine public safety because many criminals, themselves, clearly believe in the deterrent effect of the death penalty every time they “execute” the violators of their “rules.” They do not give rule breakers “three hots and a cot” for life as you now propose.

Trust our juries and our people.

John Haggerty

Santa Clara

(source for both: Letter to the Editor, Mercury News)








WASHINGTON:

Abolish death penalty once and for all



Although the Washington Supreme Court ruled in October that Washington’s use of the death penalty was unconstitutional, the court’s action did not completely eliminate capital punishment in the state.

The Legislature still needs to vote this year to repeal.

Washington’s death penalty was racially based, arbitrary and lacks fundamental fairness, the justices ruled and opponents have been saying for years. Research quoted in the Supreme Court decision found that, in this state, “black defendants were four and a half times more likely to be sentenced to death than similarly situated white defendants.”

The Supreme Court left open the possibility that the Legislature could fix the death penalty. No current or future Legislature should be permitted to do so.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson is working with 2 lawmakers, Sen. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, and Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, to close the door on the death penalty once and for all. Lawmakers have tried and failed for years to pass similar legislation.

The death penalty is not a deterrent to crime and is unnecessary for public safety. It is not worth the cost to taxpayers or the emotional energy required from victims’ families.

Since Washington reinstated the death penalty in 1981, 33 people were sentenced to die, although some had their sentences changed on appeal, and five have been executed. Gov. Jay Inslee declared a moratorium on executions in 2014. The Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling converted the sentences for the state’s remaining 8 death-row inmates to life in prison without release.

In the past 15 years, seven states have ended their death penalties and Washington, Colorado and Oregon adopted moratoriums. Only a few states are still executing prisoners, including Texas, Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma, but nationally death sentences have decreased dramatically.

In Washington, one of the best arguments for eliminating the death penalty is the disproportionate way it has been used, both geographically and racially.

“The death penalty is unequally applied — sometimes by where the crime took place, or the county of residence, or the available budgetary resources at any given point in time, or the race of the defendant,” Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst wrote in the lead opinion.

Prosecutors seek the death penalty only in the most populous counties, because those are the municipalities that can afford the cost of trial and death-penalty appeals. Seeking the death penalty adds at least $1 million to the cost of prosecution — money that could be better used toward other law and justice work.

This is the year to eliminate the death penalty in Washington state.

(source: Editorial, The Seattle Times)
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