April 6 TEXAS: SENATE REJECTS LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE OPTION East Texas lawmakers were split over the issue of giving jurors the power to sentence capital murderers to life in prison without parole. On Tuesday, the state Senate rejected a bill that would have done that. Texas juries have only two options after reaching a guilty verdict in capital murder cases: execution by lethal injection or life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. The bill by Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, had the support of most senators but failed to garner the 2/3 support required by Senate rules to bring it up for debate. By a 19-12 decision, the bill failed by 2 votes. All 12 "no" votes were cast by Republicans, including 2 of the 3 who represent Smith County. "I did not support that bill," said state Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler. "I'm concerned that it would actually weaken the death penalty, if it gives juries the option of sentencing people to life without parole. I visited with some of the law enforcement officials in my area, and they expressed concerns about this bill." State Sen. Todd Staples, R-Palestine, said he voted against the bill because the 3rd option would confuse jurors forced to make life and death decisions. "We need to streamline so jurors fully understand the decision they're making," Staples said. "The current system has been tried and tested and meets the need for the state." But state Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, supported the bill. "I think if you look at all the murders that occur in the state, every case is different, and jurors need that option," Deuell said. "I trust jurors to make that decision." Lucio has pushed for the 3rd option for several years. The bill failed in 2003 when it was 1 vote short. After the bill failed again Tuesday, Lucio was conferring with several lawmakers in an attempt to resurrect it. Lucio said his bill would give juries a critical option in dealing with juveniles who commit murder. The U.S. Supreme Court last month banned the execution of those who commit crimes while younger than 18. In 2002, the court also struck down executions of mentally retarded inmates. Critics of the bill, including some prosecutors and victims' rights advocates, have argued that a life-without-parole option would weaken capital punishment by giving jurors a middle ground to avoid agreeing on the death penalty. "Life without parole does not weaken the death penalty. It is tough on crime," said Lucio, who supports the death penalty. "It provides certainty to the families of the victims because they know those individuals would never walk the streets again." Lucio had faced some pressure to change his bill to eliminate the life sentence that allowed parole after 40 years, which he refuses to do. "I'm against eliminating options," Lucio said. Of 38 states that execute capital offenders, only Texas and New Mexico do not have the life-without-parole option. The 2/3 rule is designed to keep the Senate from getting bogged down with bills that don't have widespread support, and senators typically make sure they have the necessary numbers before trying to get a bill to the floor. The Senate passed the bill in 2001, but it failed in the House by seven votes. Lucio said he has the votes to pass the bill, which requires a simple majority, if he can get the votes he needs to bring it to the Senate floor. "I should have been given the opportunity to debate this issue," he said. (source: Tyler Morning Telegraph) ********************************* 79th LEGISLATURE Future uncertain for life-without-parole bill -- Bill to create option to death penalty and parole languishes in Senate committee. A sharply divided Texas Senate on Tuesday shot down an initial move to debate life without parole as a third option for Texas juries in capital murder cases, a change some prosecutors argue would weaken the death penalty. By a 19-12 vote - 2 votes shy of the required two-thirds to bring a measure up for debate - senators refused to suspend a rule that would have allowed Senate Bill 60 to be considered for initial approval. It was a surprise defeat for Sen. Eddie Lucio, the author, and an indication that the bill faces a most uncertain future. It had been billed as one of the major criminal justice initiatives of the legislative session, if approved. 47 other states have life without parole. In Texas, juries have to vote for execution or life with parole, for which convicts can be considered after serving 40 years. "I am disappointed but never upset," said Lucio, D-Brownsville. "I'm going to work on members to get the votes to bring it up. . . . Right now, I don't know when that will be." Lucio said he thought he had enough votes Tuesday. Until he gets them, the bill will languish on the Senate's calendar. Lucio and others had claimed growing support for a change that has repeatedly failed in the past eight years. This year, supporters said they thought it had the best chance ever. 4 years ago, it passed the Senate 20-8 before failing by seven votes in the House. 2 years ago, it failed to get out of the Senate by a 20-11 vote. Its most recent boost came from a U.S. Supreme Court decision in March that outlawed executions of juveniles, a ruling that commuted to life the sentences of 29 Texas offenders who were younger than 18 at the time of their crimes. They all will now be eligible for parole after serving 40 years. In addition, the Supreme Court has barred the execution of people with mental retardation, another group that under Texas law is eligible only for life with the possibility of parole. "If this is bill does not pass, this will be the bottom line: During the next 2 years, some 17-year-old will kill someone in cold blood, and all they can get for it is a life term with the option of parole," Lucio said. "Then, we are all going to have to explain to the victim's family why we didn't pass this bill that would have ensured they would never get out of prison." Nonetheless, prosecutors from Houston, Fort Worth and several counties have insisted that by adding another option for juries to consider, the bill would make it harder to get a death penalty conviction. "The Houston DA simply wants one option: the death penalty," Lucio said. At the same time, some prosecutors have said they would support life without parole if Lucio amends his bill to abolish life with parole. "I won't do that," Lucio said. During brief debate on suspending the rule, Lucio touted his bill as "tough on crime" because it would allow juries to keep heinous criminals off the streets forever, even if they couldn't sentence a defendant to death. By its vote, the Senate seemed to think otherwise. "The DAs in my district don't support this, and I won't vote for it," said Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler. "Unless the bill changes to my liking . . . I am not switching," Eltife said. The district attorneys "think it weakens the system. . . . I have to look to people who are experts in the field." (source: Austin American Statesman) *************************** ATTACKS ON EXPECTANT MOMS RISE It appears that attacks against pregnant women are happening more frequently in our area. This marks the fourth murder of an unborn fetus in the past 6 months. Back in 2003, state lawmakers raised the penalty for shooting a pregnant woman to capitol murder, and now, those convicted of the crime can face either life in prison or the death penalty. Within the past 6 months, 4 pregnant women with ties to Wichita Falls have been attacked. Three of them died, along with their unborn children. In the most recent case however, the mother survived, but the baby didn`t pull through. Wichita Falls District Attorney Rick Mahler says he is happy Texas decided to place tougher penalties on those who commit this crime. Back in 2003, state lawmakers changed their definition of a human being to include a fetus at any stage of gestation. Since murdering a child under the age of 6 is considered capital murder in the state of Texas, this raised the penalty for the crime. Although the state has made great strides to protect unborn fetuses, these attacks have a lasting affect on the victims` family. Studies show homicide is the leading cause of death for expectant women, over any natural cause. (source: KFDX News) *********************** Packed Prisons: Use space wisely; heed Whitmire's call Time now for a quick refresher on the Texas prison system's boom decade, the 1990s, when the state opened the almost unbelievable number of 73 new lockups - 29 in 1995 alone: Capacity tripled. Criminals lost the revolving door that had spun them in and right back out because of overcrowding. It looked like penitentiaries had a cell for anyone who could be put on the bus to Huntsville by tough-on-crime prosecutors. Things have changed in the new millennium. The prisons are near capacity again. Warning against needless resumption of building, Sen. John Whitmire of Houston is calling on colleagues to douse their eagerness for new laws that would jam prison buses full of new convicts especially the nonviolent kind. Mr. Whitmire maintains that today's 154,700 prison beds are enough, if used wisely. And so he has qualms about the wisdom of 100 bills that have been filed this session to stiffen sentences or add felonies to the 1,900 already on the books. Through a key committee chairmanship, he vows to block expensive bills he considers of marginal value to public safety. Block away, senator. A House-passed bill by Rep. Vicki Truitt of Keller is on a collision course with Mr. Whitmire. It would upgrade car burglary from misdemeanor to felony and create enough convicts each year to keep a new 500-bed prison full. Under the bill, a 16-year-old who reached into a car and swiped a stack of CDs would be eligible for a felony record and 2 years in state lockup, instead of today's one-year max in county jail. Leading lawmakers are concerned that state prisons continue to get a steady stream of nonviolent offenders who are better dealt with in treatment or probation programs. That's especially true of low-level drug offenders or many convicted of DWI. Such prisoners need not compete with hardened criminals for space behind bars. As Mr. Whitmire says, "Prisons ought to be for people who want to rape you or shoot you or murder you." (source: Editorial, Dallas Morning News) ********************************* Wrongful imprisonment The Texas Senate passed and sent to the House on Monday legislation designed to streamline the process for providing compensation to wrongfully imprisoned Texans. Senate Bill 87 by Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, would eliminate what he called "an onerous and burdensome" provision requiring that those petitioning for compensation obtain a letter certifying actual innocence from the district attorney in the county that handled the case. Texas is the only state with such a requirement. "Texans who have been wrongfully imprisoned should not have to jump through extra hoops in order to receive the compensation they deserve," Ellis said. "We should not add insult to injustice." Someone wrongfully sent to prison is entitled to $25,000 for every year of wrongful imprisonment if the person provides the state comptroller with proof of incarceration and the pardon or court judgment clearing them of the crime. (source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram) FLORIDA: Lawmakers In Fla. Back Public Use of Deadly Force People in Florida will be allowed to kill in self-defense on the street without trying to flee under a new measure passed Tuesday that critics say will bring a Wild West mentality and innocent deaths. The Florida House, citing the need to allow people to "stand their ground," voted 94 to 20 to codify and expand court rulings that allow people to use deadly force to protect themselves in their homes without first trying to escape. The new bill goes further by allowing citizens to use deadly force in a public place if they have a reasonable belief they are in danger of death or great bodily harm. It applies to all means of force that may result in death, although the legislative debate focused on guns. The "Stand Your Ground" bill passed the Senate last week, 39 to 0, and now goes to Gov. Jeb Bush (R), who indicated he will sign it. "This is about meeting force with force," said Rep. Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala), the House sponsor. "If I'm attacked, I should not have to retreat." Critics have few objections to allowing people to protect themselves from intruders in their homes but said the provision making it easier to use deadly force in public gives gun owners a license to kill. They added that the measure could lead to racially motivated killings and promote deadly escalations of arguments. "For a House that talks about the culture of life, it's ironic that we would be devaluing life in this bill," Rep. Dan Gelber (D-Miami Beach) said. "That's exactly what we're doing." (source: Washington Post) ************************************ Man executed for '99 slaying A convicted killer who did not try to block his execution with a last-minute appeal said in his final statement that he was receiving his just penalty. "This is the punishment that I deserve. I am taking responsibility for my actions," Glen Ocha, 47, said speaking calmly while strapped to a gurney moments before a lethal mix of chemicals began to flow. Ocha closed his eyes and breathed deeply before he was pronounced dead by lethal injection at 6:10 p.m. Tuesday at Florida State Prison in Bradford County. He was put to death after entering a guilty plea to 1st-degree murder in the 1999 death of Carol Skjerva, 28, in Osceola County. Ocha's death brought protests from capital punishment opponents who called the execution another in a series of "state-assisted suicides." Gov. Jeb Bush also said he had considered postponing the death sentence out of respect for Pope John Paul II but decided against it due to Skjerva's family. "I have a duty to carry out the law, and in this case I actually was prepared to delay the execution out of courtesy for and respect for the pope's passing," Bush said. "But I also have a duty to have sympathy for the victims." Bush is a Roman Catholic, and the pope, who died Saturday, had long opposed the death penalty. "I think he's mocking the pope by going forward with this," said Abe Bonowitz, director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, about Bush's comments. Bonowitz, who was among about 40 death penalty protesters who stood outside the prison Tuesday night, also noted that 7 of the 16 inmates previously executed under death warrants signed by Bush had dropped appeals instead of fighting execution. "You and me and everybody in this state are being asked to help this guy commit suicide," Bonowitz said. "A real punishment would be having to wake up every day and realizing that your liberty has been severely limited until you die naturally." But, in a statement from Ocha read after the execution by his standby counsel Gregory Hill of Tampa, Ocha said his death was not a suicide. "Some have suggested that my decisions are nothing more than a suicide assisted by the state. They are wrong. I have made my peace with my God and go now to face his judgment," Hill read from Ocha's statement. Ocha, who had changed his name to Raven Raven while in Kentucky, also apologized both in the written statement and in the execution chamber to Skjerva, her family and friends for her death. Ocha choked Skjerva, a convenience store employee, then hanged her from a kitchen door when his arms became tired. He had become angry after they had sex after meeting at a Kissimmee bar and she called him names, telling him she would have her boyfriend beat him up, court records state. Before attacking the woman, Ocha had been drinking and had taken Ecstasy. Previously convicted in Kentucky of attempted premeditated murder and robbery with a firearm, Ocha had a past of alcohol and drug use, according to court records. The same records also document a history of "suicidal thinking," including a 1978 incident with police where he told officers "shoot me, I want to die" and then later tried to hang himself in jail using a jacket. Before the execution, Bonowitz also called Bush's stance on the death penalty and the Terri Schiavo case "hypocritical." "He's willing to impose his beliefs into the politics and try to change the law on those situations like Terri Schiavo and abortion. But on the death penalty, he claims to be upholding the law and doing his job." The governor intervened in the Schiavo case when, in 2003, he pushed through a state law that authorized him to order that the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube be reinserted. Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, had disputed claims by her husband, Michael Schiavo, that she did not want to be kept alive artificially and that her feeding tube should be removed. Ultimately, her husband prevailed in an ensuing court case over what should happen regarding Terri Schiavo. The 41-year-old died last week, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed on March 18. (source: Gainesville Sun) ************************ Man gets wish: his execution----Some death penalty opponents say Glenn Ocha commited suicide. He said he was accepting justice. Glenn Ocha woke up Tuesday morning and told the guards outside his cell he was ready to die. He had been waiting for this day for more than 6 years, dismissing the lawyers who tried to delay his execution, and waiving all of his appeals. At 6:01 p.m., as he lay strapped to a gurney at Florida State Prison, Ocha - convicted of killing 28-year-old Carol Skjerva on an October night in 1999 - said he was not a man desperate to die, but a sinner trying to repent. "I would like to say I apologize to Carol Skjerva, the girl that I murdered, her family and her friends," said Ocha, 47. "This is the punishment that I deserve. I'm taking responsibility for my actions. I want everybody to know I'm not a volunteer but this is my responsibility I have to take." With that, Ocha closed his eyes and lay completely still as a lethal dose of chemicals was injected into his veins. He joined the growing number of death row inmates in Florida who hastened their deaths, a practice critics call "suicide by governor." Six of the last 9 inmates waived appeals and refused attempts to delay their executions. Ocha was pronounced dead at 6:09 p.m. "If I had stomach cancer, one of the most painful ways to die, I could not get an assisted suicide in this state," said Abe Bonowitz of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, who led a group of about 40 protesters outside the prison Tuesday. "But if I commit a murder, the state will bend over backwards to help me die." Ocha, who legally changed his name in prison to Raven Raven, had a well-documented history of suicide attempts. In 1978, he begged a deputy who was arresting him for an unrelated crime to shoot him. Ocha also attempted to hang himself with a jacket in an Orange County holding cell. He pleaded guilty without a trial to murdering Skjerva, a convenience store clerk from Kissimmee. When the Florida Supreme Court affirmed his conviction in 2002, Ocha waived all further appeals and dismissed his lawyers. Gov. Jeb Bush said he was prepared to delay Ocha's execution out of respect for the death of the pope, but after checking with members of the victim's family, he decided to proceed. Bush said the family members needed closure. "It's not an easy thing to do, but it's the right thing to do," Bush told reporters Tuesday morning. Ocha woke up about 5 a.m. and chatted with guards, said Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections. "He was in a good mood, very positive," Ivey said. "He even indicated he was glad the execution was tonight." >From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., Ocha visited with his brother, Martin Ocha, and the Rev. Dale Recinella, a Catholic priest from Macclenny. At 10:30 a.m., he had a final meal. Recinella stayed with Ocha until 4:30 p.m. Ocha requested and received a Valium before being led to the death chamber, Ivey said. Ocha told authorities he met Skjerva at a Kissimmee bar where he engraved beer mugs. Drunk and high on ecstasy, he accepted her offer of a ride to his home at Buenaventura Lakes, where they had sex. Ocha said he grew enraged when Skjerva made a disparaging remark about his anatomy. He made her sit in a chair while he got rope from his garage and tried to strangle her. When his arms grew tired, Ocha hanged her from a door, drinking a beer and cleaning his kitchen as she died. Next, Ocha stuffed Skjerva's body in an entertainment center in his garage and drove to Daytona Beach. He confessed to the murder after he was arrested for disorderly intoxication. None of Skjerva's family members witnessed Ocha's execution. But in a statement read after his death by his lawyer, Greg Hill, Ocha said he was sorry for the pain he caused Skjerva's family and friends. He also denied suggestions he was mentally unfit to waive his appeals, and took issue with those who labeled his death a suicide. "Throughout this case I have fully accepted my responsibility and the punishment decided by the courts," the statement said. "Many people have given their opinion on whether I was competent to make these decisions. I have made these decisions in this case. I have been examined by more doctors than I can count. Every one of them, at various stages, have found me competent throughout the proceedings." Hill spent about two hours with Ocha Monday night, and said he seemed lucid and aware of his surroundings. Ocha was the 60th person executed in Florida since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, and the 1st since May 26, when John Blackwelder was put to death by lethal injection. (source: St. Petersburg Times) ARIZONA: Supervisors expected to approve wrongful death sentence settlement For sitting years on Arizona's death row for a murder he didn't commit, Ray Krone is about to be compensated. Today, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors are expected to approve a 1.4 (m) million dollar settlement with Krone. Once known as the "Snaggletooth Killer," the 48-year-old Krone was sentenced to death in 1992 on testimony that his bite matched a mark on a murder victim. Eventually through scientific advances in D-N-A, Krone was set free. Krone had filed a 100 (m) million dollar federal lawsuit against the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and Phoenix police. The suit claimed his verdict was a result of police incompetence, fraud, misconduct by prosecutors and perjury. A suit involving Phoenix is ongoing. (source: Associated Press) CONNECTICUT: Stage set for renewed legal conflict over execution Legal briefs have been filed in Superior Court as a prelude to the latest showdown over the execution of serial killer Michael Ross. Hearings begin Thursday in Superior Court to determine whether Ross is mentally competent to forgo further appeals and opt to die by lethal injection May 11. New London State's Attorney Kevin Kane said in court documents filed Tuesday that Judge Patrick Clifford should defer to state and federal appellate rulings in January that Ross is competent, barring "new and overriding evidence" to the contrary. Attorney Thomas Groark was appointed by Clifford in February to investigate and argue the position that Ross is incompetent, a position that Ross continues to dispute. Groark, in documents filed Tuesday, maintained that Clifford faces a clean slate and is not bound by appellate rulings that upheld Clifford's Dec. 28 ruling that Ross is competent to accept his death sentence. Public defenders in the past have argued that Ross was trying to commit state-assisted suicide because he preferred death to the harsh conditions of death row. Groark noted that the argument is not that conditions on death row violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment, but whether those conditions "have affected the particular defendant's volitional capacity to decide whether to continue to fight for his life." Ross, 45, is facing execution for killing 4 young women and girls in eastern Connecticut in the early 1980s. He has been trying to end his appeals and become the 1st person executed in New England since 1960. Ross on Jan. 28 came within hours of being the 1st convict executed in New England since Connecticut electrocuted Joseph "Mad Dog" Taborsky on May 17, 1960. (source: Associated Press)
