July 14 TEXAS: Man Wants Death Penalty For Wife's Suspected Killer----Police: Woman Beaten To Death In Living Room The husband of a slain Fort Worth woman says a family friend suspected of beating her to death should receive the death penalty. Police said Alicia Torres-Anchondo, 22, was beaten to death in a neighbor's living room on Monday. Investigators said the suspect, Roberto Benavidez, was staying next door to the family with Anchondo's brother. Benavidez said he was high on crack and alcohol at the time of the woman's death. According to police, Benavidez called 911 and turned himself in. "I want to ask him myself why he did it. I want him to look at my kids and tell them why he did it," said Antonio Anchondo, Torres-Anchondo's husband. Friends and family said Torres-Anchondo lived for her boys and was a loving mother, wife and neighbor. "If you needed something, no matter how bad it was, she was always there to help you, always," said Anchondo. Anchondo said his wife may have been doing just that when she died and that he hoped Benavidez would receive the death penalty. "Honestly, I want to happen to him exactly what happened to my wife," Anchondo said. Torres-Anchondo was the mother of 3 little boys. (source: NBC 5 News) ************************** Capital Murder Trial Begins With a Surprise The capital murder case of a Houston County man accused of shooting his neighbors last year began with a surprise. Barney Fuller, Jr. pleaded guilty to all charges in the shooting deaths of Nathan and Annette Copeland in their Lovelady home last year. After entering a guilty plea, Fuller exited the courtroom, and before the jury knew it, they were already in the punishment phase. Jurors heard testimony from several law enforcement witnesses including a dispatcher, a jailer, officers and a Texas ranger. With the unexpected guilty plea entered, no one can anticipate how long the punishment phase will last. Some speculate it may end as early as Wednesday, while others say it will go into next week. When family members of Annette and Nathan Copeland were asked if they were surprised that Fuller plead guilty to the charges they answered, "yes" and "no." They thought he might do it, but couldn't believe he actually went through with it. Day one of the trial was a long one. Up on the 2nd floor of the Houston County Courthouse in Crockett at least a dozen family members listened during the punishment phase as witness after witness described the phone calls and the scenes that came from the Copeland house. Tears and emotion were evident in the courtroom as family members heard testimony of what happened the early morning of May 14, 2003 near Lovelady. That's the morning that tragedy struck the Copeland family of four. Barney Fuller, Jr. went into a shooting rampage and fatally shot Annette and Nathan Copeland. Nathan was shot numerous times in the back and Annette was shot in the head. One of the children was also shot. Then, 14-year-old Cody suffered 4 gun shot wounds, but fully recovered. His younger sister, Courtney who was hiding during the whole incident was not injured. After the shooting, Fuller had barricaded himself in his home and several hours later finally surrendered to authorities. One officer testified that Fuller did not seem remorseful after the shooting. Annette Copleand's sister, Ona Presto is now the children's legal guardian. She says they are also expected to testify later in the punishment phase. Fuller was not present in the court room. He faces the death penalty. According to authorities, there were at least 3 prior incidents involving the Copelands and Barney Fuller, Jr. Fuller was charged with making a terroristic threat in 1 of the incidents. He received a letter to appear in court that same night the Copelands were murdered. Day 2 of the punishment phase begins Wednesday. (source: KTRE News) PENNSYLVANIA: Killer's execution stayed APhiladelphia judge stayed the execution of Wilfredo Ramos, who was convicted of killing a man during a 1998 robbery and drug deal. Common Pleas Judge Steven R. Geroff on Friday prevented the state from carrying out the execution as scheduled Aug. 26. He said Ramos needed time to litigate Post-Conviction Relief Act appeals. Ramos, 28, received the death sentence in 2000 for the murder of James Crawford, 36. In March, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider Ramos' appeal. 3 people have been executed, the most recent in July 1999, in the 26 years since Pennsylvania reinstated its death penalty. As of June 1, 227 people were on Pennsylvania's death row, according to the state Department of Corrections. (source: Associated Press) MISSISSIPPI: MDOC says it's working on mandated death row improvements Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps says Mississippi is repairing faulty toilets and making other changes to improve conditions on death row, as mandated by federal court orders. A group that sued to force the improvements says it will continue monitoring conditions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. "These are problems that have been ongoing for many years now. They are not small changes, and they will make a huge difference to the men who live on that unit," Kara Gotsch, public policy coordinator for the ACLU National Prison Project in Washington, said Wednesday. Epps estimated it will cost about $330,000 to make the changes. If all changes were to be made throughout the maximum security unit, he said the cost would be about $800,000. The National Prison Project had sued over conditions on death row, including complaints that inmates were subjected daily to excessive heat, human excrement, biting insects and the ranting of psychotic prisoners. A major issue raised by the lawsuit and addressed by the court involved complaints that conditions at Parchman were so harsh they contributed to a high rate of mental illness among the prisoners. U.S. Magistrate Jerry A. Davis, in a ruling last year, agreed with that the conditions on death row violated the Eighth Amendment and ordered the state make changes. On June 28, a 3-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from MDOC that Davis should not have considered the lawsuit by death row inmate Willie Russell that led to the court's intervention. In its appeal, Mississippi prison officials claimed that no inmate suffered an illness or physical harm because of conditions cited in the lawsuit. The 5th Circuit, however, let stand a requirement that MDOC improve mental health care for inmates. MDOC has said it is hiring a health care provider and was headed toward compliance with Davis' order. The court, referring to state Health Department reports, had also noted there was concern because unsanitary conditions had been repeatedly reported to prison officials and lingering problems were not being corrected. Davis had ordered the improvements not only to death row but also the entire building where death row is located, called Unit 32. The 5th Circuit said because Russell and other inmates were housed in death row, called Unit 32-C, improvements, including screens for windows and ice water on hot days, would be limited to death row. Among the improvements required for death row was one that "pingpong" toilets be fixed. When a toilet is flushed in one cell, the waste appears in the toilet of the adjoining cell unless both are flushed at the same time. Epps said toilets throughout the maximum-security unit will be repaired. "We don't want inmates flushing their toilet and (the waste) going into others' toilets," Epps said Wednesday. "We take this very seriously." (source: Associated Press) NORTH CAROLINA: For Fairer Trials: Good Bill Shouldn't Prevent House Vote on Moratorium The General Assembly is moving closer to adopting a law that will make for fairer trials, reduce the likelihood of erroneous convictions and perhaps limit an often lengthy appeal process. Law makers would make statewide a practice -- called open discovery -- that many district attorneys already follow in opening their investigative files to defense attorneys prior to trials. The bill would go further, requiring both defense lawyers and prosecutors to share information about their cases with each other. This is an encouraging step in North Carolina's flawed criminal justice system. If the House approves a bill passed by the Senate, the state will have a better process in place to avoid cases such as one that sent Alan Gell of Bertie County to death row for a murder that, evidence on appeal suggested, he did not commit. Mr. Gell was convicted in 1998 after law enforcement officials withheld evidence that might have cleared him. The bill is a result of collaboration among N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper, the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys and the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers. They agreed to key reforms -- including requiring law enforcement officials to give all the information they collect to prosecutors. The bill also would require defense lawyers and prosecutors to share information about tests, evidence, experts and potential witnesses. Prosecutors hope this will help court officials determine the truth and perhaps diminish the pressure on prosecutors simply to win their cases at all costs. They also say it should help bring about just courtroom results. Clearly, this bill is in the public interest. But prosecutors who helped draft the proposal now say that it means the General Assembly doesn't need to consider a 2-year moratorium on executions. Last year the Senate approved a temporary moratorium to allow a study of ways to eliminate such horrendous courtroom mistakes as the one that sent Mr. Gell to death row and sent another man to prison for a murder that DNA evidence later showed he did not commit. Prosecutors say there's no need for a moratorium. Nonsense. The open discovery bill would do nothing to affect the cases of 190 inmates already on death row. North Carolina should postpone executions in order to examine the system that put those inmates on death row and determine that the charges were just and the sentences were fair. We agree with the growing number of distinguished citizens -- including former N.C. Supreme Court chief justices Rhoda Billings, Jim Exum and Henry Frye, Duke University historian John Hope Franklin, former UNC president William C. Friday, broadcast executive James Goodmon, former Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt and attorney Julius Chambers -- that in the interest of justice the House should join the Senate in adopting the temporary moratorium. The House should approve the open discovery bill, too, but that's not enough. (source: Editorial, Charlotte Observer) ******************** Leaders debate bill suspending executions With time running out on this year's legislative session, local prosecutors and black leaders spoke out Tuesday about a pending bill that would suspend executions for 2 years. Leaders of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys held a news conference to urge legislators that a moratorium on executions is not necessary. They were countered by a group of nine prominent black leaders - including poet Maya Angelou, Duke University historian John Hope Franklin and civil rights attorney Julius Chambers - who sent a letter supporting the moratorium to House Co-speakers Jim Black and Richard Morgan and Gov. Mike Easley. Prosecutors said protections already in existence allow capital defendants to challenge the fairness or credibility of their conviction and sentence. "There are many safeguards in place to prevent miscarriages of justice," said Frank Parrish, the district attorney for seven northeastern counties and the conference president. The Senate approved a death penalty moratorium bill last year, making the chamber the first legislative body in the South to approve one. The measure has been pending in the House ever since. Morgan is opposed to the idea, and he and fellow Co-speaker Jim Black have agreed not to take up controversial measures this session. Easley, a former prosecutor and attorney general, has said he sees no reason for a moratorium. If the moratorium bill were to be passed by the House and signed by the governor, the General Assembly would be asked to conduct a study of issues surrounding the implementation of the death penalty. Prosecutors are lobbying for passage of a bill that would require prosecutors and defendants in capital cases to share their case files if requested by the opposing side. The Senate already has approved the so-called "open discovery" bill; it is currently before the House. There is no documented case of North Carolina wrongly executing a death row prisoner, Parrish said at a news conference. "With the historical record in this state, it flies in the face of reason, it flies in the face of common sense ... to suggest that a moratorium is either wise or warranted," he said. Judges have removed two men from death row since 2002 after allegations that prosecutors withheld evidence that might have undermined their cases. One of those men, Alan Gell, was acquitted in a retrial earlier this year. The black leaders' letter to Morgan, Black and Easley rejects prosecutors' argument that Gell's acquittal proves the system works. "The highly publicized exonerations of death row inmates demonstrate that North Carolina's system of capital punishment is flawed and in need of careful study and reform," the letter read. "These cases do not reflect a system that is working properly." (source: Associated Press)
