April 7 VIRGINIA: Death sentence upheld in Arlington pool hall slaying A federal appeals court upheld the death sentence of an Arlington man who had his appeal argued by former independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr. The 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected Starr's argument that Robin M. Lovitt was denied his due process rights because a court clerk destroyed much of the physical evidence in the case, making post-conviction DNA testing impossible. Although the clerk "made a serious error in judgment," the physical evidence had not been discarded in bad faith and the mistake occurred after Lovitt's trial, the three-judge panel wrote. Lovitt, 41, was convicted and sentenced to death for the November 1998 robbery and slaying of Clayton Dicks, 45, a night manager at the pool hall. Dicks was stabbed with scissors and about $200 was stolen. Starr, who led the investigation that led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, handled the Lovitt case pro bono. Starr's law firm, Kirkland & Ellis, responded to the appeals court ruling with a statement: "The death penalty simply is not an appropriate punishment in a case so suffused with constitutional error, and we will continue to pursue all available channels for relief." Emily Lucier, a spokeswoman for the Virginia attorney general's office, said prosecutors were pleased. "This case has received an unprecedented amount of review of all of his claims, and his sentence should be carried out," she said. (source: Associated Press) SOUTH CAROLINA----new death sentence Killer Of Myrtle Beach Officer Gets Death Penalty A plea to keep him off death row for his 3-year-old daughter's sake wasn't enough to convince a jury to spare the life of a man who admitted killing a Myrtle Beach police officer more than 2 years ago. Horry County jurors deliberated about 2 hours Wednesday before sentencing Luzenski Allen Cottrell to death for shooting officer Joe McGarry in the head during a chance encounter. McGarry was killed outside a Dunkin' Donuts on Dec. 29, 2002 after checking to see if Cottrell had resolved some tickets McGarry had written weeks earlier for drug offenses. A fellow officer who was meeting McGarry to talk about his upcoming wedding said Cottrell pulled out a gun and started shooting without warning, leading to a gunfight in the parking lot that threatened the other officer and store customers. Speaking before his lawyer's closing argument, Cottrell admitted killing the officer, but asked jurors to spare his life because he has a young daughter. As the verdict was read, Cottrell showed little emotion and left the courtroom barely acknowledging his family. Cottrell's lawyer said the trial might have ended differently if a judge had not allowed testimony in the penalty phase about two other 2002 killings his client has been charged with but has not been tried. "I never had a case where untried crimes of this severity were put before a jury," said attorney William Nettles, who plans to appeal. Prosecutor Greg Hembree successfully argued the 2 other murder charges would help jurors understand Cottrell's character. "He's just got a thirst for killing and he kills for no good reason," Hembree said. McGarry was the 3rd officer in Horry County gunned down between 2000 and 2002. 2 of the killers have gotten the death penalty, while the other was sentenced to life in prison. "If you kill and officer in Horry County you will face a death sentence and likely will get it," Hembree said. (source: Associated Press) ARIZONA: County to pay $1.4 mil to exonerated inmate Maricopa County supervisors on Wednesday unanimously approved a $1.4 million settlement with Ray Krone, the exonerated death-row inmate who spent more than a decade behind bars. Chairman Max Wilson apologized to Krone and said, "I'm sorry it happened" and it "shows that we're just human." Krone, who now lives in Pennsylvania, said he was happy with the settlement but complained that those directly responsible had not expressed remorse to him. The supervisors offered their apologies even though they had not been involved in what happened to Krone. Krone, 48, was first convicted of 1st-degree murder and kidnapping in 1992. DNA tests later proved he didn't rape and murder a Phoenix bartender. Krone, a former postal worker, had filed a federal lawsuit against the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and Phoenix police. The suit involving Phoenix is ongoing. The county will cover $722,000 of the $1.4 million settlement. Insurance will cover the rest. Although Supervisor Fulton Brock voted to approve the settlement, he indicated that he didn't agree with where the board was going on the issue. For Ray Krone, his crooked smile became a criminal offense. Krone was wrongfully convicted twice of killing a Phoenix woman based largely on expert testimony that purportedly matched his teeth with bite marks found on the victim. Now the ABC reality show Extreme Makeover plans to transform the since-exonerated Krone, once dubbed the "snaggletooth killer," into a man with a winning smile. "It's the embarrassment of being called the snaggletooth killer, living with that," Krone said in a phone interview before heading to California for his cosmetic adventure, which began Thursday. "My teeth are what they really used to convict me." "I'm overwhelmed to think that I'll have straight teeth again," he said. "That isn't something I've had since I was about 19." Krone was a postal worker who had just bought his 1st house when he was arrested in 1991 in the killing of Kim Ancona, a bartender who worked at a Phoenix lounge where Krone played darts. Krone was convicted in 1992 and sentenced to death. But his case was overturned in 1994 on procedural grounds. A new trial was ordered and Krone was convicted a second time in 1996. In sentencing him the second time, the judge in the case said he wasn't sure that Krone was the killer. He spared Krone the death penalty and sentenced him to life imprisonment. In 2002, new DNA testing proved Krone wasn't the killer. Using an FBI database, DNA from the crime scene was linked to a man already in prison for another crime. A trial for the new suspect is pending. Krone was freed that year. By then, he had spent a decade in prison - 2 years of that on death row. He sued city and county officials for his wrongful conviction, but the case drags on and he has yet to see any money. Days after his release, Krone said he didn't expect to find a wife or have children because he had spent most of his 30s in prison. He's hoping a makeover will change that and provide another start to his life on the outside. "It's definitely something that would come back into a real realm of possibility," said Krone, 47, who now lives in Dover Township, Pa. "Whatever my life is supposed to be now that I'm out, I think this is part of the plan." Krone will spend nearly 2 months in California recovering from surgery and meeting with a fitness trainer and nutritionist. He's allowed to talk to his family during the procedures, but he won't be able to see them until everything is done. A "reveal" party is being planned for Krone near his hometown. Producers for the show say Krone was the perfect candidate. "We want a candidate whose looks have deeply, negatively affected their lives," said Lou Gorfain, an executive producer for Extreme Makeover. "He has incredible charisma," Gorfain added. "He's the ultimate candidate." Although plans are still tentative, executive producer Julie Laughlin said Krone will undergo extensive dental work, including new porcelain veneers, the latest in tooth replacement. Two dermatologists will work on him simultaneously to smooth out acne scars. He'll have a hair transplant, an eye lift, nose job and liposuction on his cheeks. For 2 months, he'll live in a Hollywood Hills mansion complete with a gym, pool, gourmet kitchen and plasma screen televisions. "He deserves a real break," said attorney Chris Plourd, who unsuccessfully defended Krone during his second trial and worked on getting new DNA tests. Plourd and a camera crew flew to Krone's home during the weekend to surprise him with the news that he was chosen for a makeover. "He said he was sentencing me to six to eight weeks for an extreme makeover," Krone joked. (source: Arizona Republic)
