OHIO: State justices uphold death penalty for inmate in 'buried alive' slaying In Columbus, the Ohio Supreme Court yesterday unanimously upheld the death sentence of Timothy Hoffner in the 1993 killing of Christopher Hammer, who was buried alive in Sylvania Township after begging for his life. In a decision written by Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, the high court rejected 13 arguments made by Hoffner's attorneys for why he should get a new trial or be resentenced. On April 14, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the death sentence of Hoffner's co-defendant, Archie Dixon. Hoffner, 32, and Dixon, 31, are on death row at the maximum-security prison in Mansfield. Hoffner's attorneys told the Supreme Court in April that Judge William Skow of Lucas County Common Pleas Court did not use the right words when he instructed the jury. "In the event you find the defendant guilty, the duty to determine the proper punishment is placed by law, ultimately, on the court," Judge Skow told the jurors, as they prepared to decide whether Hoffner was guilty of the aggravated murder, kidnapping, and aggravated robbery of 22-year-old Christopher Hammer in September, 1993. Spiros Cocoves, Hoffner's court-appointed attorney, told the Supreme Court that Judge Skow's statement, in particular the use of the word "ultimately," encouraged the jury to recommend the death penalty. The court disagreed. Mr. Cocoves also told the Supreme Court that Judge Skow did not properly weigh the factors to spare Hoffner the death penalty against the reasons why Hoffner should be executed. The Supreme Court said that claim "lacks merit," ruling that Judge Skow properly weighed the problems in Hoffner's life against the details of the crime. Mr. Cocoves plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. (source: Toledo Blade) ******************* Death Row Scot wins fight for medical care Death Row Scot Kenny Richey has won his battle to receive medical treatment for a potentially deadly sleeping disorder. Edinburgh-born Richey, who has spent nearly 18 years in an Ohio prison, was granted his request for treatment to help cure sleep apnea after a visit from the British Consulate. He will now undergo an operation to remove part of his soft palate, which he first requested more than 5 years ago. He will also be sent to a sleep clinic for further assessment. His partner Karen Torley, who lives in Glasgow, said today she was "very pleased" with the development. "Its a great piece of news because Kenny has been in a lot of discomfort. He was very worried about his poor health and sleeping disorder. He is delighted this is finally happening as he has waited so many years for this medical treatment. "I spoke to him on Friday and he sounded very upbeat and reinvigorated. He hasnt phoned since then, so I suspect he may already be in hospital." For security reasons, Richey was not informed of when the operation would take place. It is expected he will be in hospital for a few days following the treatment. Individuals with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and often for a minute or longer. The disorder can lead to high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases, memory problems, weight gain, impotency and headaches. Many deaths among people in their 40s and older that are attributed to heart disease may be related to sleep apnea. Richey, 39, will also have tests on his heart and a camera inserted into his throat to check for stomach ulcers. Ms Torley added: "Kenny also suffers from dental pain and requires a new front tooth. We are hopeful he will receive treatment for this very soon. After that, the next stage is to bring him home." Amnesty International campaigns co-ordinator Sara MacNeice added: "It's good news that Kenny is finally getting the treatment that he requires. "When you consider the mental torment of being on death row for over 17 years, not least when there are compelling claims of innocence, it is vital that at least Kenny's medical needs are met. "We want to see Kenny in relatively good health to fight for the right to have fresh evidence heard in his case." It emerged earlier this week that more than 200 MPs and MSPs have registered their support for Richey at a United States appeals court. Richey is awaiting the outcome of the final stages of his appeal - with a decision expected within days. The MPs and MSPs have submitted an Amicus Curiae Brief to the US Sixth Circuit Federal Court of Appeal. An Amicus Curiae is a legal document filed by individuals who are not party to the case, but who believe that the court's decision may be affected by their interest. Richey, who was born to a Scottish mother and an American father, was found guilty of deliberately starting a fire that killed 2-year-old Cynthia Collins in June 1986 and was sentenced to death. It was claimed to have been an act of drunken revenge against his ex-girlfriend, Candy Barchet, who was asleep with her new boyfriend in the flat below. Richey could have been paroled more than a decade ago had he made a plea-bargain deal, but has always maintained his innocence. His conviction has long been seen as unsound as his trial was not held before a jury. (source: The Scotsman) USA: The children of death Hope Hall's body was found on the bedroom floor of her flat. She had been raped, stabbed 15 times and her throat was cut. The young mother, whose toddler was asleep in a nearby room, was fully conscious as she bled to death. The perpetrator of her murder was 16 years old. Shermaine Ali Johnson has been on death row for the crime since February 1999. He was also given a 100-year sentence for the violent rape of 2 other women committed before he was old enough to vote. His slight build and boyish appearance helped him persuade victims to let him into their apartment for a drink of water. While no-one can doubt the repugnance of his actions and the need for punishment, there has been a growing unease that, in modern-day America, someone convicted as a child can be executed. It is an issue on which the US stands almost alone. The use of the death penalty against child offenders, people who were under 18 at the time of the crime, is prohibited under international law. The Geneva Conventions, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (ratified by 192 countries), the American Convention on Human Rights and the United Nations Safeguards on the death penalty, all have provisions exempting this age group from execution. Suddenly, though, there is a glimmer of hope for American death row juveniles whose executions have been temporarily put on hold until this autumn when a US Supreme Court could change the course of history if it declares the execution of minors as unconstitutional. Johnson, who is imprisoned in Virginia, has become an unlikely poster boy for raising the minimum death-row age to 18. Campaigners hope his life and the lives of 70 similar offenders may yet be saved from lethal injection. The move could end America's distinction as one of the last places in the world where juvenile offenders are put to death. According to leading US lawyer and author Scott Turow, the reason for having the death penalty in the first place is deeply complex and rooted in the history of the country. While opinions are slowly changing, one group that consistently supports executions is the the families of murder victims. "Losing a loved one to a murderer is unlike any other blow delivered in our often-cruel lives," says Turow. "This is because the survivors' loss is not the result of something as fickle as disease or as random as a typhoon. Instead he has had someone ripped from him by the conscious choice of another human being. This is so far from the ingrained assumptions we share in living together that the reality is almost impossible to contemplate." Turow says the aftermath of a murder leaves those left behind feeling angry, unprotected and let down by the law. The late 1980s saw a steep increase in the number of juveniles charged with murder. As crack cocaine hit the streets in America's urban areas, adult gang leaders and drug dealers recruited and armed youngsters in their battle to control the lucrative drug trade. The backlash was a demonisation of America's youth and a coining of the phrase "superpredator" to describe a generation of morally bankrupt teens. In some states there were calls to lower the age of execution to14 and younger. Thanks to the work of human rights groups inside America and internationally the tide has been turning and currently 19 of the 38 states with the death penalty reserve it for those who kill at age 18 or older. Opinion polls have found that the majority of the American public opposes the execution of minors. A 2003 ABC News survey found that only 37 % of the public wanted the death penalty for Lee Boyd Malvo, who was a juvenile while he participated in the high-profile sniper slayings in Virginia and the Washington area. Meanwhile scientific studies have backed up the anti-death penalty stance by showing evidence that the brain is not fully mature before the age of 18. Added to this are growing concerns surrounding wrongful convictions. So far, 114 people have been released from death row in the USA due to heier innocence, two of whom were juveniles. Those were the lucky ones who managed to get financial support to pay for decent legal aid or DNA testing. Johnson and his fellow death row inmates across the US are now waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case that could save all of their lives. The case involves Christopher Simmons, who was aged 17 ten years ago when he murdered Shirley Crook after a robbery. Last year, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the execution of Simmons would violate the constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment. It cited "evolving standards of decency" that held such executions to be wrong. If the decision is found to be correct by the US Supreme Court, the age limit for execution may be raised across America. Human rights organisation Amnesty International, which is against all capital punishment, has been fighting for 20 years to have the laws on juveniles changed. Rob Freer works for Amnesty on US affairs. He says: "The fact that the US is willing to use the death penalty against children, when a majority of countries have stopped executing anyone, starkly gives the lie to its claims to be the world's most progressive force for human rights. The world has recognised that the immaturity of young offenders, and their potential for growth and change, makes the death penalty a singularly inappropriate punishment in such cases." Indeed, campaigners are keen to point out that the majority of cases involving minors reveal that they have mostly come from abusive, poverty-stricken backgrounds. Shermaine Johnson has a low IQ and a personality disorder, as well as having endured a chaotic, violent childhood. He did not know his father. His mother, a drug abuser, died because of Aids when he was 14. Christopher Simmons was mentally tortured and physically abused as a child by his alcoholic stepfather. None of these facts emerged until the trials were over. It has also been claimed that there is a racial element embedded in the process which leads to death row and the skin colour of the victim statistically can tip the balance towards life or death for the prisoner. A recent study showed that killing a white person made a murderer of any colour three-and-a-half times more likely to be punished with a death sentence than if he'd killed someone black. Of the juvenile offenders currently on death row 51% are black, 18% are Latino and 31 % are white. All are male. Reprieve is a UK based charity that protects the human rights of people facing the death penalty in the United States. Due to its dilligence 2 of its clients, Ryan Matthews, a juvenile offender, and his co-accused Dan Bright were released three weeks ago from Louisiana's death row having spent a combined 15 years facing execution. Since the day he was arrested, Matthews protested his innocence of the murder of shopkeeper Tommy Vanhoose. Even at the time of the original trial, the prosecution were aware that DNA material recovered from a mask worn by the murderer did not match the DNA profile of either Ryan or Bright. However, it was only when Reprieve-funded investigators managed to definitively link the DNA evidence to Rondell Love, currently in prison for a separate crime, that the prosecutors finally agreed to a new trial. Andie Lambe, UK director of Reprieve, says: "If you are under the age of 18 you are not considered mature enough to drink alcohol, vote or serve on a jury, yet you are old enough to be sentenced to death by the jury that you cannot serve on. How can this be right?" Amnesty's Rob Freer confirms there is a great deal of hope pinned on the forthcoming Supreme Court ruling which will revisit a 1989 decision it made which allowed the execution of 16- and 17-year-old offenders. "Justice must not be made to wait another 15 years," Freer says. "This time, the supreme court must do the right thing and bring the United States into line with the global consensus that executing people for crimes committed when they were children is just plain wrong." Meanwhile, 70 lives hang in the balance. BROKEN LIVES Sean Sellers----Age when arrested: 16 Sellers, of Oklahoma, was executed shortly after midnight on February 4, 1999. He was sentenced to death for the shooting on March 5, 1986, of his mother and stepfather. As a child Sellers was left with friends and relatives by his mother, who also physically abused him. He channelled his growing fear and resentment into satanism. In 1992, he was diagnosed as suffering from multiple personality disorder (MPD). Still he remained on death row. In prison he became a Christian. Christopher Simmons----Age when arrested: 17 Simmons, of Missouri, suffers from a severe personality disorder. He murdered Mrs Shirley Crook in 1993 after a bungled burglary. He bound her hands and feet, covered her face with duct tape and pushed her into a river. At the time, he lived with his mother, Cheryl and stepfather, Bob Hayes, an abusive alcoholic who intimidated and beat the boy. As a disturbed teenager, Simmons eventually turned to drugs and alcohol. Ryan Matthews----Age when arrested: 17 Matthews, of Louisiana, always protested his innocence after being accused of the 1997 murder of grocer Tommy Vanhoose. After a three-day trial he was given the death penalty. A masked gunman had shot Mr Vanhoose several times. Witnesses saw the robber discard a ski mask before driving away. The police found tissue samples on the mask and DNA testing excluded Ryan from being the perpetrator. Despite this, he was found guilty. It was only when UK human-rights charity Reprieve funded an investigation which definitively linked the DNA evidence to another man that prosecutors agreed to a new trial. After 7 years on death row, Matthews was released 3 weeks ago. (source: The Herald) TENNESSEE: Executing justice To summarize a just-released report from the state comptroller (a word officially pronounced however you want to say it): It's cheaper to execute someone than to imprison them for life. But death penalty trials cost more than life-in-prison trials. And the irreversible punishment is applied unfairly. And it makes jurors depressed. And did we mention there's no evidence that capital punishment is an effective deterrent? Insiders say Bredesen will call for a moratorium right after he endorses Nader for president. (source: Nashville Scene) NEW YORK: Letter: Expand, don't eliminate, death penalty The editors still don't get it. We don't care if capital punishment is a deterrent to crime. We don't care what the racial or economic status of the criminal is. It is just punishment and retribution for people who can shoot a cop and then run him over, shoot cops trying to serve a warrant, and shoot a defenseless woman and her teenage daughter. We are not interested in coaxing or cajoling or digging deep into their psyche. These barbarians must be eliminated, and quickly. The recent court ruling that jurors are given "too much information" to make a decision in death penalty cases is ludicrous. This only adds to our suspicion that justice is a sidebar if it happens, and extracting money from taxpayers to be redistributed to lawyers' estates is the primary objective of the system. The death penalty should be expanded to include child molesters, rapists and home invaders. I wonder at the moral and psychological makeup of legal professionals and activists who consistently defend these vermin, while declaring the destruction of an innocent newborn's brain constitutionally protected. Quite insane. RICH MULLIN----ENDICOTT (source: Letter to the Editor, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin) ******************* Legislature prepares to act on death penalty bill---Pataki, Bruno, Silver promise quick action, but League of Women Voters urges care over speed Gov. George Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver all vowed last month to fix a flaw in the 1995 law that led the state Court of Appeals to deem the law unconstitutional. Bruno said Tuesday he was "fairly certain" that Pataki would send the Legislature a bill next week to fix the problems. "We are actively engaged in drafting legislation that would address the issues raised" in the Appeals Court case, Pataki spokeswoman Lynn Rasic said Wednesday. In late June, the state's highest court ruled that a provision on jury instruction could lead jurors to choose death to avoid the possibility of parole. Before sentencing, juries are advised that they can choose between life in prison without parole, or death. The jury is told that if it is deadlocked over the sentence, a judge must impose 20 to 25 years to life in prison with the chance of parole, an option that could free the criminal in fewer than 20 years. The court's decision vacated the death sentences of three killers on death row, and left dozens of other cases in legal limbo. Albany District Attorney Paul Clyne said Wednesday some murders committed before the court's decision but not yet tried in court could still be eligible for the death penalty, but that would have to be tried in court. Defense lawyers could argue that the death penalty law in place at the time of the crime was unconstitutional. Any crimes committed between the June 24 court ruling and whenever a new death penalty law is enacted would not be eligible as capital cases. Admitted cop killer Keshon Everett took advantage of the court's decision by pleading guilty to the December murder of Albany Police Lt. John Finn earlier this month. Everett would have faced the death penalty, but now will face a maximum of life without parole. "The Court of Appeals held out a brass ring, and he grabbed it," Clyne said. Although the state's top leaders vowed to fix the problems with the death penalty statute as soon as possible, the League of Women Voters said Wednesday the new law should be written with care, after meetings with New Yorkers. "We don't want the Legislature to pass something as a quick fix," said Ann Brandon, chairwoman of the league's 2002 death penalty study. No one has been put to death since the law was reinstated in 1995. But several studies have shown that giving district attorneys the sole discretion over which crimes receive capital prosecution creates an uneven punishment system. For example, fewer than 20 % of the state's murders occurred outside of the New York City area, but more than 60 % of death penalty notices were filed by upstate prosecutors, according to the study. (source: timesunion.com) ****************** Help Founding member of Campaign to End the Death Penalty Lawrence Hayes Founding Campaign to End the Death Penalty (CEDP) member and former death row prisoner Lawrence Hayes was re-imprisoned in April on a flimsy parole violation charge. Lawrence was in a serious car accident in February and missed a parole meeting while he was hospitalized. For this, he is once again behind bars, facing a life sentence. Lawrence spent over 2 years on New York's death row, before his sentence was reduced to life when the Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in 1972. A former Black Panther, Lawrence was arrested when he was 19 on a trumped-up charge of killing a cop in Queens. After his release on parole in 1991, Lawrence became a community activist and helped found the CEDP in 1995. Lawrence recently appeared in a film about the death penalty called 'Deadline,' featuring former Illinois Governor Ryan who emptied death row of all its 167 inmates in 2003. The film was an entry at this year's Sundance Film Festival and is now playing in NYC. The CEDP is working with the film's producers to bring attention to Lawrence's situation and help raise funds for his legal defense. He currently has no lawyer and needs medical attention. Donations are very much needed. If you can help or want to write to Lawrence, please contact Emily of the CEDP at [email protected]. Donations can also be made out to: The Lawrence Hayes Support Fund and sent to: The Lawrence Hayes Support Fund c/o Big Mouth Productions 104 West 14th Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10011 (source: Media Rights) MISSISSIPPI: Death row conditions to change----Faulty toilets, other changes to cost $330,000, official says 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 that the conditions on death row violated the Eighth Amendment and ordered the state to 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. 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. 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. "We take this very seriously." (source: Associated Press) ********************* Death row - Reasonable accommodations OK'd The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a reasonable decision regarding a federal magistrate's order to improve conditions on death row at the State Penitentiary at Parchman. Reviewing improvements ordered in 2003 by U.S. Magistrate Jerry Davis, the appeals court's changes are relatively small, regarding the cleanliness of laundry, whether inmates wear sneakers instead of flip-flop sandals while exercising and affirming mental health care be improved. The Department of Corrections should be relieved, as appealing the May 2003 decision by Davis could have been much worse than Davis' order, which was remarkably mild. Conditions at the unit were proven in court to be dismal, including inmates being exposed to raw sewage, uncontrolled insects and sweltering conditions. Items the state appealed include allowing inmates daily showers and access to ice water and fans when the heat index rises above 90 degrees. That's not exactly "coddling" the inmates. Those on death row don't deserve luxuries. If a person has committed a crime grievous enough to have merited the state's ultimate punishment, luxury in awaiting imposition of the death sentence shouldn't be expected, or offered. But the court didn't order frills, just adequate shelter and hygiene. The basics should be afforded. (source: Opinion, Clarion-Ledger)
