June 5 VIRGINIA: Dispute arises over possible DNA test The California scientist who has a sperm sample from executed inmate Roger Keith Coleman says he wouldn't turn it over to Virginia. For the past 14 years, evidence that could determine if Virginia executed an innocent man has sat in a small plastic vial stored in the freezer of a California laboratory. Gov. Mark Warner is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether to order new DNA testing on the evidence, about 1/5 of a drop of sperm recovered from the body of a woman who was raped and murdered in her Grundy home. The results could answer a long-lingering question: Was Roger Keith Coleman put to death in 1992 for a crime he did not commit? As Warner nears a decision on what he calls a "tough issue," the matter could be complicated further by a dispute over who would conduct the tests. Edward Blake, the forensic scientist who has kept the remaining sample frozen since he performed initial DNA tests in 1990, said this week he will not hand over the evidence if the governor were to order it tested by Virginia authorities. "There is no logical, rational, scientific basis for that sample to ever leave this laboratory, and if I have anything to say about it, it won't leave this laboratory," Blake said in a telephone interview from his office in Richmond, Calif. Blake's position could strain an already uneasy relationship with Virginia authorities. His work has recently raised questions about the handling of DNA evidence in the case of exonerated death row inmate Earl Washington. And he has been an outspoken critic of the state's reluctance to test the Coleman evidence. A request that Warner order the tests - something a Buchanan County judge and the Virginia Supreme Court have refused to do - has been sitting on the governor's desk for more than a year. "Either have the b---s to do it, or have the b---s to say 'No, we're going to conceal this from the public,'" Blake said. "Do one or the other, governor, so the public can judge you for what you are." The most reliable tests, Blake said, would be conducted by him at his laboratory. "The state of Virginia has a vested interest" in tests that would either confirm Coleman's guilt or be inconclusive, he said. If Coleman were to be exonerated posthumously - which many people familiar with the case consider unlikely - it would mark the first time in U.S. history that scientific evidence has shown that an innocent man was executed. Capital punishment opponents have followed the case closely, keenly aware that it could turn public sentiment their way. Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty has distributed 4,500 postcards urging Warner to order DNA testing in Coleman's case. "Please allow the truth to be known," the cards implore. Warner spokeswoman Ellen Qualls declined to comment on the question of who might do the tests because the governor has yet to decide whether they should even be conducted. "We would note that he's under a court order to return the sample," she said of Blake. That order dates to 2001, when Buchanan County Circuit Court Judge Keary Williams refused to order DNA tests sought by four newspapers and Centurion Ministries, a New Jersey organization that investigated Coleman's case and became convinced of his innocence. Williams ordered Blake to return the evidence to Virginia. However, the order was stayed while the case was appealed. After the Virginia Supreme Court declined to order testing in 2002, Centurion Ministries asked the governor to intervene. Throughout the lengthy process, the state has made no effort to collect the evidence. If ordered to turn the evidence over to Virginia, Blake said he would refuse and then invite major U.S. newspapers to document the showdown. Blake has had the sample in cold storage since 1990, when he was selected by Coleman's attorneys to perform DNA testing. At the time, Coleman was challenging his conviction, and his attorneys hoped technology not available at the time of his 1982 trial would clear him. It did not. Blake found that Coleman was within 2 % of a population that could have produced the sperm sample. Coleman was executed in 1992, maintaining his innocence from the electric chair. News of the case spread far beyond the mountains of Buchanan County, where Coleman's sister-in-law, Wanda McCoy, was raped and killed in her home on the banks of Slate Creek. The circumstantial case used to convict Coleman was questioned in a blitz of national publicity surrounding the execution. Since then, DNA testing more advanced than what Blake used in 1990 has emerged that could resolve the issue once and for all, Centurion Ministries has maintained in court papers. Jim McCloskey, executive director of the group, said he would prefer that Virginia's Division of Forensic Science conduct the tests. "Our strong and clear preference is that Blake not do the work," he said. Centurion Ministries has had concerns with Blake's analysis since his earlier tests implicated Coleman. "I'd hate to see this get hung up on a turf battle over who's going to do the testing," said Paul Enzinna, a Washington, D.C., attorney who represents the group. "But I have no reason to believe there's going to be a turf battle." Blake, however, sees a potential battle looming. "Absolutely," he said when asked if Virginia authorities might balk at his requirement that the evidence be tested in his laboratory. "Because they know that I'm someone who can't be manipulated." Blake's insistence that he perform the tests is based partly on scientific grounds. The sample is his work product, he said, and transporting it across the county could damage the 23-year-old piece of evidence. But in explaining his position, he also cites philosophical differences with Virginia. He has criticized the state for destroying evidence in other capital cases where guilt remained a post-execution issue. With questions about Coleman's guilt lingering, and with DNA testing now available that could answer those questions, Blake finds it unconscionable that the state would try to keep that information from the public. "The ultimate power in any democracy rests in the hands of an informed public," he said. "Your Supreme Court has taken the position that 'we don't want the public informed.' Nothing could be more contrary to the principles of democracy than that position." Adamant as he is that the evidence be tested, Blake said he would not be surprised if the results determine that the state had the right man all along. Another possibility, he said, is that the evidence has deteriorated to the point that tests would be inconclusive. Earlier this week, Warner was asked about the matter during a talk show on WVTF-FM public radio. He promised the caller, Jack Payden-Travers of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, that he will make a decision shortly. "I would hope that justice would override the political concerns," Payden-Travers said after the show. "Unfortunately, being a realist, I know that political concerns often outweigh issues of justice." (source: Roanoke Times) CONNECTICUT: In Court, A Tale Of Hired Death----Perez Trial Evokes Gang Wars Of The 1990s The federal trial of Wilfredo Perez is about far more than the brazen killing of Teddy Casiano at a busy Hartford intersection at lunchtime 8 years ago. Testimony this week has taken jurors into the mid-1990s culture of Hartford gangs and drug dealing, where acts of disrespect could turn deadly. And it has taken them to a pizza joint that used to operate in the South Bronx, where a thug named Fausto Gonzalez didn't hesitate when asked if he would come up to Hartford and kill a man. He just named his price, according to testimony this week by the man who arranged the deal, Santiago "Fat Jay" Feliciano. Feliciano's most common refrain during questioning was, "I really wasn't thinking." Federal prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Perez is convicted of the myriad charges, including contract murder, that would make him eligible. Perez, 37, who operated an auto repair shop near the old Charter Oak Terrace housing project in Hartford with his brothers, already is serving 22 years in federal prison for possessing more than 5 kilograms of cocaine. Perez and Casiano grew up in the same six-unit house in Hartford and their adult lives overlapped as well. Perez, Casiano and their respective brothers were members of the Savage Nomads gang. They hung out at bars on and around Park Street, principally the Hourglass Cafe. Drug deals were as commonplace as draft beers. When Casiano's brother, John Cruz, picked him up from jail after Casiano had done time for a bank robbery, their first stop was Perez's garage, Cruz testified. That was in April 1995. Jurors were shown photographs of Perez, Casiano and others hobnobbing at the Hourglass. Cruz described the bar as "a place where they hung out and sold drugs - Wilfredo's drugs." Cruz said Casiano did what he could to get by after getting out of prison, but threw himself wholeheartedly into one endeavor: bringing structure and discipline back to the ranks of the Savage Nomads. "Everyone was kinda doing their own thing," said Cruz, the gang's former "supreme Gestapo," or enforcer. Casiano made the members attend meetings and pay dues regularly. Most were dealing drugs, and were expected to pay a portion of those profits to the gang. Casiano thought the Perezes weren't contributing enough. Meanwhile, Cruz testified, Wilfredo Perez was confronting Casiano and other Savage Nomads about dealing drugs in the Hourglass, which he considered his turf. Things came to a head in the spring of 1996. Casiano, 33, and other Savage Nomads kidnapped a Perez associate, Ollie Berrios, threw him in the trunk of a car and stole drugs and money from him that belonged to Perez. They left Berrios unharmed, but news that he had cried and wet his pants prompted much amusement among the gang and humiliation for Berrios. The next day, Cruz testified, the gang was having a pig roast at a Knights of Columbus facility in East Hartford to try to raise money to hire a lawyer and bail out a fellow gang member known as "Poison." The trial has been sprinkled with casual references to the "Poison pig roast." Perez and his brother Jose Antonio "Tony" Perez raced in on their motorcycles, kicking up gravel, and confronted Casiano, Cruz said. With expletives flying, each accused the other of screwing up. Casiano offered to give back the loot on the spot, but Perez told him to keep it as a donation to the gang, Cruz said. Casiano did, dividing the proceeds among the gang members, who subsequently sold the drugs at the Hourglass, adding insult to injury. Berrios, meanwhile, made known his desire to see Casiano dead, Feliciano testified. Feliciano took him to New York and introduced him to Fausto Gonzalez, a man who bragged about killing people. Feliciano had known Berrios only 6 months, but the 2 were tight. "Fausto said 'When?'" Feliciano testified. "[Berrios] said he'd have to talk to Wil. He was waiting on Wil." They returned to Hartford, Feliciano said, and Berrios had a three- or four-minute conversation with Perez, which Feliciano could not hear. Berrios reported back that they were to "go get the guys." On May 23, 1996, Gonzalez accompanied Berrios back to Hartford, along with 2 Gonzalez cohorts - Mario Lopez and a guy known as "Shorty." Gonzalez, Lopez and Shorty were involved in a car and motorcycle theft ring, often brandishing guns to steal vehicles from reticent drivers. Lopez drove his green Kawasaki, which Gonzalez and Shorty were going to use during the hit, to Hartford. Lopez testified Friday they were introduced to the owner of the auto repair shop, whom he later identified as Wilfredo Perez. "The owner asked us who was going to be doing the job," Lopez testified. Lopez said that when the owner couldn't reach the intended victim, he suggested they stay in a hotel in Hartford overnight. "I decided we would go back to New York and come back the next day," said Lopez, who testified he has stolen 300 to 400 cars and about 70 motorcycles. The next day, Lopez and Gonzalez returned to Hartford, after being unable to locate Shorty. Lopez testified the plan was that he would drive the motorcycle, and Gonzalez would be the shooter. In response to questions by Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Ring, Lopez testified that Gonzalez has committed "numerous murders." They were gathered at the Perez garage on Newfield Street, Lopez testified, "when the owner walked in and said the victim was going to be there shortly. The owner pulled a lot of money out of his pocket, counted it and put a rubber band around it and gave it to Ollie [Berrios]." Lopez said Casiano arrived and stayed in the garage less than 5 minutes, talking to Perez. As Casiano was getting into his old brown Cadillac, Lopez said he and Gonzalez were "getting ready. I was putting on a helmet. Mr. Gonzalez was checking the gun." As soon as Lopez made a right turn out of the auto shop's driveway, Lopez said, they set out after him and caught up to him at a stop light at the intersection of Newfield and New Britain avenues. Lopez said he did a U-turn and came up alongside the driver's window. "Gonzalez fired numerous shots into the driver's window," Lopez said, adding that Casiano was hit "numerous times in the head." Casiano's car rolled across New Britain Avenue and came to rest in a small commercial plaza. The road where the shooting took place was littered with shell casings, captured in crime scene photographs. Feliciano drove the motorcycle back to New York while the others took a car. When he returned to Perez Auto, he testified, "Wilfred handed me over a thousand dollars." What did he say? Ring prompted. "This is for driving the bike," Feliciano replied. "Tony Perez pulled out a Polaroid [photograph]. He burned it and said, `You got what you deserved.'" Feliciano testified it was his understanding it was a photo of Casiano, though he did not see the image before it was burned. During the trial Perez has sat stoically at the defense table, seldom looking at the witnesses, his body turned toward the jury. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers, Richard Reeve and Michael Sheehan, have vigorously questioned Feliciano about his plea agreement that could result in a sentence of less than life. They're expected to do the same with Lopez, who also has pleaded guilty and faces a life sentence, which could be reduced through his cooperation. Tony Perez, the only other defendant to go to trial thus far, was sentenced to life in prison for conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering, among other convictions. Gonzalez also faces the death penalty when he goes on trial in September. (source: The Hartford Courant) DELAWARE----new death sentece....female Charbonneau sentenced to death ----She masterminded 'cold-blooded, horrible' killings of husbands, judge says Linda Lou Charbonneau will die by injection for orchestrating the "egregious, cold-blooded, horrible" killings of her husband and former husband in 2001, Sussex County Superior Court Judge Richard F. Stokes ruled Friday. Charbonneau, 56, showed no reaction to the death sentence, even as Stokes described in some detail the manner in which she would be put to death. She is the only woman facing execution in Delaware and would be the 1st the state has put to death since 1935. Stokes set no date for execution. Under Delaware law, the state Supreme Court automatically reviews all death penalty cases. Charbonneau's lawyer, Thomas Pedersen, said she will appeal her conviction. Charbonneau was convicted April 23 of masterminding the deaths of her former husband, John Charbonneau, 62, in September 2001, and her husband, William Sproates III, 45, the following month. An autopsy found dirt in Sproates' lungs, indicating he was still breathing when he was buried. After hearing Charbonneau plead for her life, the jury voted 10-2 to recommend death in the John Charbonneau killing and 9-3 in the Sproates case. Under state law, Stokes had final say in sentencing, but had to give great weight to the jury's recommendation. "The family is happy that she is being sentenced to death," said Richard Charbonneau, John Charbonneau's brother. "But there won't be closure for the family until the day of her execution. She put our family through so much in the last 4 years." Deputy Attorney General James Adkins said he was pleased with the sentence. "It doesn't bring them back," he said. "But it's the best justice we can get." Adkins had argued that Charbonneau plotted the murder of John Charbonneau out of greed, and planned the killing of Sproates after he started asking too many questions about John Charbonneau's disappearance. Sproates was John Charbonneau's nephew. Adkins said Charbonneau enlisted the help of her daughter, Mellisa Rucinski, and Rucinski's husband, Willie Brown, to carry out the murders. Speaking to a crowded, near-capacity courtroom, Stokes said Linda Charbonneau "engineered these killings" and rejected an argument that she should be treated the same as her two co-defendants, neither of whom faces the death penalty. Stokes is scheduled to sentence Rucinski on Friday to as long as 25 years in prison for her role in the murders. She pleaded guilty to one count of 2nd-degree murder and one count of conspiracy in John Charbonneau's death. Brown is expected to be sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, without possibility of probation or parole, for carrying out the murders of Sproates and John Charbonneau. Brown pleaded guilty to two charges of 1st-degree murder. "They were her agents," Stokes said. "She has more, not less, responsibility for their murders." Stokes reviewed the case for almost an hour Friday, outlining the details of the crimes, the findings of the jury and, finally, his recommendation for 2 death penalties. The judge looked directly at Charbonneau as he pronounced his sentence, which also included 10 years in prison for 2 conspiracy charges and 20 years for possessing a deadly weapon during a felony. Pedersen said Charbonneau was not surprised by the sentence. Dressed in a white prison top and trousers and shackled at the ankles, Charbonneau stood quietly as she listened to Stokes. Pedersen stood to her right and co-counsel Craig Karsnitz to her left. She wiped away tears with a tissue when Stokes mentioned her grandchildren and her mother. The only sounds in the courtroom after the sentence was announced were quiet murmurs from John Charbonneau's sister, Jerry Ann Heath. Heath was among the first to suspect that something had happened to her brother in late September 2001. In a summary, Stokes painted a picture of a callous woman who recruited Brown to do her killing. Stokes described the on-again, off-again relationship between Linda and John Charbonneau as "dysfunctional" and said she physically and mentally abused him. Linda Charbonneau took advantage of his violent temper and dislike of John Charbonneau. She then led John Charbonneau to his death by telling him someone was breaking into their home in Bridgeville. Brown "viciously struck him in the face," Stokes said. John Charbonneau "cried out to Linda Charbonneau not to let this happen," but she did nothing, Stokes said. Brown loaded John Charbonneau into Linda Charbonneau's van and, with Rucinski at the wheel, took him to a prepared shallow grave near Angola, where he beat him to death. The three defendants cleaned out John Charbonneau's home, and Linda Charbonneau made plans to move in with her husband, Sproates, at his home in Magnolia. But when Sproates discovered a blood-spattered box, he started asking Charbonneau questions and also mentioned his suspicions to a Delaware State Police trooper. "She told Brown and Rucinski that something had to be done about Sproates," Stokes said. "Her words became his death warrant." Stokes described the beating death of Sproates as "a horrific encounter" in which Charbonneau lured Sproates into his home as Brown waited inside. "Brown is the one who killed them," Stokes said. "But she was the dominant force behind these crimes." According to the Death Penalty Information Center, women account for less than 2 % of the national death row population. 10 women have been executed in the United States since 1976 - the last in October 2002 in Florida. Delaware has executed 3 women in its history. There now are 15 men in Delaware prisons who have been sentenced to death. 2 other men await sentencing after jury recommendations for the death penalty. The last death penalty recommendation in Sussex County came in March 1986 when a jury unanimously called for Kenneth W. DeShields to be sentenced to death. He was executed in 1993. (source: The News Journal)
