June 21 FLORIDA: Capital Case Fee Cut Called Tragedy It soon could be harder for murder suspects to find a lawyer because the state is refusing to guarantee private lawyers more than $3,500 for representing low-income defendants facing the death penalty. Currently, the fees are paid by counties, most of which have adopted their own payment schedules, providing higher fees for private lawyers who agree to represent the poor. Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, for example, pay $90 an hour, and Polk pays $85. The state, however, will assume responsibility for paying court-appointed attorneys July 1 as part of a court system revamp approved by voters in 1998. Under the plan adopted this spring by the Legislature, the state will not commit to payments above $3,500 for death penalty cases, leaving many lawyers unwilling to take the cases on the gamble that a judge later will order the state to pay more. Given the complexity of the cases, lawyers say they would be working for less than minimum wage. Private Lawyers, Primary Providers ``The entire situation is a real tragedy for the criminal justice system in Florida,'' said Brian Tannebaum, the legislative chairman for the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. The cap applies only to court-appointed private attorneys, the primary providers of legal representation in capital cases in Florida. If the lawyers follow through with their threat to refuse the cases, as Tannebaum and others say, few lawyers would be available in many areas of the state because so few meet the stringent qualifications for capital cases. State officials dismiss the concern. They say the dire predictions are overstated and that they expect Florida to pay much more than $3,500 in most cases, although they won't say how much. State Rep. Holly Benson, R- Pensacola, who helped write the law governing the payment transition to the state, said, "Not only do we believe passionately in defending people's rights, it's also a practical matter; if we don't provide adequate representation, it costs more in the long run because of the likelihood of appeals." Benson said she expected the payment structure to change during next year's legislative session and said it would have been adjusted this past session if the state had collected adequate market information in time to declare fair rates. Court Has Final Judgment In the meantime, the Justice Administrative Commission will handle the bills and notify the court when fees exceed $3,500. "At that point we have the authority, but not the requirement, to raise an objection," said Stephen Presnell, general counsel for the Justice Administrative Commission. "If we believe it is reasonable, we are not going to object." Presnell would not say what his office considered reasonable, however. The court has final judgment on what the attorney will be paid. The $3,500 cap on fees has existed in Florida rules even at the county level since 1981, but became a moot point as the counties adopted fee structures that exceeded it. The state is "saying you have the right to counsel, not necessarily the right to good counsel," Tannebaum said. "If they are trying to get lawyers out of the court-appointed business, this is the way to do it." (source: Tampa Tribune) NEBRASKA: Democrats craft platform plank Nebraska Democrats carefully finessed their position on the death penalty Sunday and endorsed the Legislature's 2-casino gambling proposal. After nearly 3 hours of debate, they approved a platform and accompanying resolutions that also call for prohibition of the sale of alcohol at Whiteclay and repeal of legislative term limits. In other action, delegates to the party's state convention opened up internal leadership slots for a diverse range of Democratic constituencies. Under a new party rule, recognized caucus groups will be able to place a member on the party's state executive committee. "It's our way of making a commitment to African-Americans, Latinos, gays and lesbians and others who think the party sometimes has deserted them," State Chairman Steve Achelpohl of Omaha said. "And I think it's high time we did this." Young Democrats and the party's women's caucus already have seats at the party governance table. Delegates carefully crafted their platform plank on the death penalty to avoid handing Republicans an issue that might harm Democratic chances to win this November's congressional contests. Sunday's action was a clear indication that Nebraska Democrats believe they may have a rare opportunity to score a breakthrough win or 2 in House races this year. A platform committee proposal calling for immediate abolition of the death penalty was narrowly rejected in favor of a declaration supporting life imprisonment without the possibility of parole as an alternative to capital punishment. The committee's language was removed on a 57-51 vote. Achelpohl, newly elected National Committeeman Vince Powers of Lincoln and former State Chairman Dave Newell of Omaha all argued that Democratic candidates should not be politically burdened with a controversial anti-death penalty platform plank. But Kevin Bernadt, director of Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty, said Democrats should be more concerned with "doing what's right whether (Republicans) attack us or not." Democrats cannot win by "being Republican Lite," he declared. Achelpohl reminded delegates that "we're trying to elect people (and) it's not good politics to put this in the platform." Democratic candidates should be free to express their own views on the issue without being shadowed by a party position, he said. (source: Journal Star) NEW JERSEY: Report: Killer Nurse Wanted to Get Caught A former nurse who confessed to murdering 16 patients in New Jersey said he wanted to be caught and tried to draw attention to himself, according to a published report. Charles Cullen told authorities that he once purposely threw away medication worth thousands of dollars in hopes of getting caught and disciplined, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported Sunday. The newspaper obtained a portion of the statement Cullen gave to detectives at the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office. "There was fear, fear of being caught," Cullen told detectives in his statement. "I did feel sick. And I several times would tell myself never again, thinking I had no right to do this, that it was wrong ... I wish I was stopped years ago." Ultimately, Cullen resigned from St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem, Pa., amid investigations. As part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, Cullen has agreed to cooperate with authorities. He pleaded guilty to killing 16 patients and claimed to have murdered more than twice that number at 10 health facilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In his interview with Somerset County authorities, Cullen said he struggled over the patients' murders, "especially when everybody around would say, 'Oh God, at least he's dead now.'" "That was the consensus of the people around me, that the person is better off dead than alive," Cullen said. Cullen also told authorities he was surprised he did not lose his license when he threw away as many as 80 bottles of Pronestyl, a medicine used to slow rapid heartbeats. "How the Pennsylvania investigators didn't feel like there was enough evidence to prove it was me, to take away my license, I don't know," Cullen said. "I know sometimes they maybe couldn't narrow it down to a specific night, but at least 2 of those nights they knew I was the only person that was on." (source: Associated Press) INDIANA: Condemned prisoned calls clemency process a "farce" Death row inmate Darnell Williams said in an interview published Sunday that the state clemency process that could spare his life is a "farce." The Indiana Parole Board is scheduled to interviews Williams on Monday at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. After a public hearing June 28 in Indianapolis, the board will vote the next day on whether to recommend clemency to Gov. Joe Kernan. Williams, 37, is scheduled to die by lethal injection July 9. "It's a farce," he told The Times newspaper. "It's a window front. It gives you the appearance that every measure is being taken to make sure that anything that is legitimate and relevant to the case can be brought out." The parole board has not recommended clemency in a capital case since Indiana reinstated the death penalty in 1977, said Earl Coleman, assistant to the parole board. Governors are not bound by clemency recommendations. "These people are going to do what they're going to do," Williams told The Times. "Only my Creator can make them do anything other than that, if that's his plan." Williams, convicted in the shooting deaths of a Gary couple, was days away from a schedule Aug. 1 execution when the late Gov. Frank O'Bannon granted a stay for DNA testing of blood spots found on a pair of Williams' shorts. The Indiana Supreme Court ruled last month that the tests did not eliminate Williams as a possible killer of one of the victims. It also said other evidence of his guilt was overwhelming. Williams said his spirits remain bolstered by his faith, which combines elements of Christianity and Islam. He said he takes life one day at a time. "I know it's there," he said of his execution date. "But is the future guaranteed to me tomorrow? I don't know. I don't know." Williams said he remains in regular contact with his mother and most other immediate family members, but hasn't seen his 17-year-old son in 13 years. Williams has maintained his innocence but said he does not remember anything about the crimes he was convicted of, the August 1986 shooting deaths of John and Henrietta Rease, the former foster parents of co-defendant Gregory Rouster. Rouster also was condemned for the slayings, but a court ruled he was mentally retarded and revoked his death sentence. Williams said he remembers going to the Reases' home with other people, but his consumption of marijuana and alcohol that evening has left him unable to remember other details. Williams said the next thing he remembered was waking up the following day in the Gary jail. Police initially found no blood on Williams or his clothing, he said. The claim was supported last week in a sworn statement by former Lake County forensic technician Ronald Lach, who had inspected Williams after the shootings.MO< Williams said if he had been near the shootings, he would have been covered in blood, like Rouster and the rooms in the house. "Physics is on my side," he said. "It just can't happen that way." It was not until the trial that Williams learned two small spots of blood on his shorts were being introduced as evidence of his guilt. He said he believes the spots were planted by police. Attorneys and others are racing against the clock on Williams' behalf to stop the execution. Appeals are in the works at the federal level, including a petition before the U.S. Supreme Court. However, he doesn't merely want to have Kernan commute his death sentence. He wants a new trial. "I'm innocent of the crime," Williams told the Times. "I'm innocent of killing Mr. and Mrs. Rease." (source: Associated Press)
