death penalty news July 16, 2004
WASHINGTON: Death Penalty Will Not Be Sought Against Dorcy The death penalty will not be sought against a mother accused of killing her two young daughters and leaving their bodies in an abandoned rock quarry. Last month, 39-year-old Charlene Dorcy told police she had shot her two daughters - 2-year-old Brittney and 4-year-old Jessica Dorcy. She then led them to a remote area and pointed out where to find the bodies. Dorcy faces aggravated murder charges in their deaths and if convicted, could end up spending the rest of her life in prison. Dorcy has not yet entered a formal plea to the charges against her. Her next court appearance is scheduled for August 12, which will allow time for a mental evaluation. (source: katu.com) ------------------------------------------ Murdered Girls: Mother Won't Face Death Penalty No Plea Entered The woman accused of shooting her two daughters and leaving their bodies in a rock quarry, will not face the death penalty. Charlene Dorcy appeared in court Thursday to face charges but did not enter a plea. A psychiatric evaluation requested by the defense is not yet complete. Dorcy's lawyers have asked that he case be postponed until it can be determined if the woman is capable of assisting in her own defense. The 39-year-old Hazel Dell woman, who has a history of mental illness, told Vancouver Police last month that she killed her two daughters, 2-year-old Brittney and 4-year-old Jessica. (source: koin.com) ===================== GEORGIA: Woman faces possible death penalty in rival's death Jurors in Newton County have sentenced a 44-year-old woman convicted in the shooting death of a romantic rival to life in prison without parole. The Superior Court jury convicted Barbara Dalton yesterday in the shooting of Donna Sanders on May 23rd, 2002. They returned today to decide whether to sentence Dalton to death or to prison. Jurors remained deadlocked on the issue of her sentence last night after deliberating four hours. Prosecutors contended that Dalton planned to kill Sanders because she was angry that Sanders and her former boyfriend were romantically involved. They say Dalton kidnapped Sanders and the woman's ten-year-old son and took them to her son's home, where she shot the woman. Jurors found Dalton guilty on 20 counts, including malice murder and felony murder. (source: AP / First Coast News) ====================== NORTH CAROLINA: Davidson man won't face death penalty Robert Gallant will be brought back to N.C. A Davidson County man charged with murder could be returned to Lexington as soon as this weekend, but he comes back with the guarantee that he won't face the death penalty if he is convicted. Garry Frank, the district attorney for Davidson County, said that Robert William Gallant, 23, signed a waiver withdrawing his right of extradition yesterday, setting in motion the process for bringing him back to North Carolina. Sheriff David Grice said that a Davidson County detective and Chief Deputy Maj. Brian Grubb will make the 10-hour drive this weekend to Buffalo, N.Y., to pick up Gallant. Frank said he wrote Gallant a letter while the suspect was still in Canada, guaranteeing that the death penalty would not be an option. Otherwise, Gallant might have fought for amnesty, a process Frank said he was told could take as long as two years. Investigators say that Gallant shot and killed Jason Israel Arrowood, 27, then dumped his body before he fled to the Canadian border in a truck belonging to Arrowood's stepfather. Arrowood was last seen June 16. His family reported him missing June 17, after he did not show up for an admissions appointment at a local training school for truck drivers. Family members say that Gallant asked Arrowood for a ride as Arrowood was cleaning out the last of his belongings from a mobile home on Allred Road. Gallant lived in the same mobile-home park with his parents. Gallant was stopped at the Canadian border as he tried to cross near Buffalo on June 17. Canadian customs officials charged him with a weapons violation after they searched the truck and found a loaded handgun under the driver's seat. Gallant later admitted that he killed a man in Lexington, according to Canadian police. Davidson County sheriff's deputies found Arrowood's body along a rural county road the next morning. Gallant is at Erie County Holding Center in New York state, Frank said. Gallant was returned to the United States on Wednesday after he signed a form waiving his refugee and protection rights in Canada. Those rights could have given Gallant amnesty while American officials tried to bring him back. In addition, Canada may refuse to extradite a person wanted in the United States if they could face capital punishment. "The whole expedition of it was to secure him for trial," Frank said. A Canadian judge has stayed the weapons charges against Gallant. (source: Winston-Salem Journal) ---------------------------------------------------- Death penalty stand by Forrester misstated? During the 2003 General Assembly session, state Sen. James Forrester voted for Senate Bill 972 allowing a two-year study of N.C.'s capital punishment process (accompanied by a temporary moratorium on all executions). With bipartisan support, the measure passed 29-21.Sen. R.B. Sloan Jr., Forrester's opponent in the Republican primary, criticizes Forrester's position as being "soft on crime." On the contrary, Jim Forrester is a vocal supporter of capital punishment. However, after researching the death penalty and its implementation in our state and talking to his constituents and fellow legislators, Jim Forrester is convinced that administration of the death penalty has been arbitrary, flawed and unfair to the poor and to minorities. Sen. Forrester is in favor of strong action, and his support for SB 972 is a firm message saying, "Let's fix this broken justice system, make it work fairly for everyone." Vote for Sen. James Forrester on July 20. George Burazer, Mount Holly (source: Opinion, The Charlotte Observer) =========================== OHIO: Highway suspect can stand trial, psychiatrist says McCoy suffers from schizophrenia A psychiatrist said he found the man charged in a series of Columbus-area highway shootings competent to stand trial despite a profound case of paranoid schizophrenia. Charles A. McCoy Jr., 28, of Columbus, has pleaded innocent to 24 counts, including the November shooting death of a 62-year-old woman who was the only person hit in the series of crimes from mid-2003 to Feb. 14. He could face the death penalty if convicted. McCoy has had the illness marked by persistent delusions and hallucinations for at least 10 years and requires medication "to achieve and/or maintain competence," said a sworn statement by Dr. Mark Mills filed Thursday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. While medicated, McCoy understands he is charged with several serious crimes and is able to communicate with his attorneys and assist them in his defense, Mills said. "We'll just march forward based on this report," Judge Charles A. Schneider said. Both sides are to file motions dealing with trial procedures today, and the trial is set for January. The defense is relieved that there's no delay needed to evaluate and change McCoy's treatment, and that McCoy is able to understand and work with his attorneys, lead attorney Andrew Haney said. Franklin County jail records indicate the dose of his medication has been increased a few times since his arrest in March, Haney said. He is taking a drug to control delusions and another that regulates sleep and helps with depression, Mills' statement said. Mills said he will have to work more with McCoy to help defense attorneys decide if they will change his plea to innocent by reason of insanity by Schneider's Sept. 3 deadline. The competency decision dealt only with McCoy's state of mind now, not during the time of the shootings. Mills, a professor with New York City-based Columbia University professor, has a private practice in Washington, D.C., and specializes in the legal aspects of psychiatry. He met with McCoy in jail for two days last month and reviewed his medical history. "Generally, people with schizophrenia are miserable," Mills said, and the correct drugs can reduce the misery and help the person function normally. Schneider approved paying up to $6,250 in public funds for a psychiatrist, at $250 per hour for as many as 25 hours, and spending $5,000 for a private investigator for the defense. McCoy's family is paying his three attorneys. A message seeking comment was left with Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien. (source: AP / Cincinnati Enquirer) ========================== CALIFORNIA: Justin Helzer found sane in deaths of five people A jury took less than two days to decide that Justin Helzer was sane when he murdered five people as part of a scheme to prepare for Christ's return to Earth. Helzer, 32, his older brother, Glenn, and their former roommate, Dawn Godman, killed five people, including the 22-year-old daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop during the summer of 2000. Justin Helzer was convicted last month. On Thursday, the same jury that found him guilty decided he knew his crimes were morally wrong. He had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and could've been sent to a mental hospital as punishment. Those same jurors must return to court next week for the death penalty hearing. Helzer's lawyers had argued he was so submissive to his brother, who masterminded the killings, that he suffered from a rare condition called "shared delusional disorder," believing his brother was a prophet and that the slayings were divinely sanctioned. Defense attorney Daniel Cook said he was disappointed with the verdict but heartened that the jury had considered it at length. "Now, we have to try to figure out a way to convince these people to save his life," said Cook, adding he believed his client was essentially a good man who had done terrible things. Godman pleaded guilty and accepted a 38 years to life prison sentence in exchange for testifying against Justin Helzer. Glenn Helzer pleaded guilty without a deal. The trio declared war on Satan on July 30, 2000, before kidnapping Annette Stineman, 78, and Ivan Stineman, 85, a Concord couple who once employed Glenn Helzer as their stockbroker, to extort $100,000 from them. The third victim, Selina Bishop, was befriended by Glenn Helzer to cash the Stinemans' checks. The three victims were dismembered with a saw, then stuffed into gym bags and dumped into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Glenn Helzer fatally shot Bishop's mother, Jennifer Villarin, 45, and her companion, 54-year-old James Gamble, at Bishop's apartment in Marin County. (source: AP / Herald Tribune, Southwest Florida)
