July 20 ARKANSAS: High Court Case Highlights Death Penalty for Juveniles A U.S. Supreme Court case involving executions of criminals who committed crimes as juveniles could affect Arkansas law. The case has focused worldwide attention on a practice some world leaders say violates the minimum standards of human rights. The high court has agreed to hear a case from Missouri, where the state Supreme Court declared juvenile executions unconstitutional last year. Arkansas is among the American states where convicts who killed as juveniles can be executed. In Arkansas, convicts who were as young as 14 when the capital crime occured can be put to death. In 2001 and again last year, the Arkansas Legislature rejected changes in current law. The only other sentence for a capital crime in Arkansas is life in prison without the possibility of parole. (source: KAIT News) IOWA----federal death penalty trial Iowa Prepares for Death Penalty Case On a fall day in 2000, FBI agents following a jailhouse tip began digging in the gentle hills of northern Iowa near Mason City. The site would yield a terrible discovery. Beneath the ground lay the bodies of four people - including a federal informant and 2 girls. The remains showed signs of beating and torture; 2 were bound with duct tape, socks stuffed in their mouths. The following month, another body was unearthed nearby. The man prosecutors blame for the murders goes on trial next month. Iowa doesn't have capital punishment, but because the case is being tried in federal court, the death penalty is in play - making it the state's first death penalty case in more than 40 years. Expected to last three months, it could also be one of the longest in state history and the most expensive. "There's no doubt this is going to be a big case here," said David McCord, a Drake University law professor who teaches death penalty law. "We don't have that many mass murders in Iowa." Dustin Honken, 35, a convicted drug kingpin, is accused of the execution-style slaying of the three adults and two children in 1993. Honken, currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for a 1997 drug conviction, has pleaded innocent to the federal murder charges. Prosecutors cited several reasons why they believe Honken should be put to death. The killings involved torture or serious physical abuse and substantial planning, prosecutors said. They also mention the grief that the victims' families have suffered. Days before a 1993 court appearance on drug charges, Honken and girlfriend Angela Johnson set out looking for Greg Nicholson, a street dealer turned federal snitch who had agreed to tell a grand jury about Honken's multistate methamphetamine operation, police said. That July night, Nicholson, along with his girlfriend Lori Duncan and her 2 young daughters - 10-year-old Kandi and 6-year-old Amber - vanished. Duncan and her daughters were apparently the victims of circumstance, having allowed Nicholson to move into their home a week after he betrayed Honken to authorities. Together with Nicholson, they were shot with a semiautomatic pistol and buried near a grove of trees. Their lives "were snuffed out by a person ... leaving us numb and staggered with disbelief," the Rev. Jim Stiles said during a funeral service July 11 for Duncan and her daughters, two weeks after a judge released the remains for burial. A few months after the murders, another federal informant, 32-year-old Terry DeGeus, disappeared. On Nov. 5, the day DeGeus was last seen, witnesses say he dropped his daughter off at his mother's before meeting with Johnson, a former lover. "When they were reported missing, nobody around here expected them to be found killed," said Kevin Pals, who worked the case as a police officer. "But after the bodies were found, the case became far more important to people here. The impact was one of shock. Nobody believed that this sort of thing could happen here in northern Iowa." Without DeGeus and Nicholson as witnesses, drug charges against Honken were dropped. Honken was a suspect in the murders from the start. But lacking bodies, investigators couldn't pin the crimes on him - at least until Johnson allegedly began sharing details of the slayings with a fellow jail prisoner. Johnson allegedly gave inmate Robert McNeese hand-drawn maps showing the location of the graves and details of how the bodies were disposed. She hoped McNeese would pass it on to another inmate serving a life sentence willing to confess to the murders, prosecutors said. Johnson, 40, also faces the death penalty when she goes on trial next year on 5 counts of aiding and abetting in the slayings. U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett has approved using the maps as evidence in Honken's trial. Death penalty experts say the final legal bill for the 2 trials likely could exceed $2.5 million after the costs of any appeals are calculated, making them the most expensive criminal cases ever argued in Iowa. Honken also will be the 1st Iowan to face death since the federal death penalty was revived in 1988. No one has been executed for an Iowa crime since 1963. Despite that, legal experts say, Iowans aren't likely to be repelled if Honken is found guilty and sentenced to death. "I don't think people here will find it objectionable at all," said David Baldus, a University of Iowa law professor. (source: Associated Press) NEW YORK: Fix reported in works for death penalty law Legislators and the governor are nearing a deal to rewrite the death penalty law that could be presented to rank-and-file lawmakers as soon as today, a key Democrat said Monday. The agreement would amend part of the death penalty statute that New York's highest court ruled constitutionally flawed and essentially provide a chance to sentence a convicted murderer to 25-years-to-life with no shot at parole even when a jury is deadlocked, said Assemblyman Joe Lentol, D-Brooklyn, the Democrats' point man on criminal justice. "There may well be an agreement in the offing," Lentol said. He said that the leaders would today present the progress of negotiations to the (Democratic) conference and the conference could decide whether to accept or continue negotiations. The Legislature, adjourned since June 23, is returning to the State Capitol today for a possible one-day session. Last month, the state's highest court struck down New York's death statute as unconstitutional, saying its sentencing provisions were coercive. The law required a judge to tell a jury that if it deadlocks on whether to impose death or life in prison, the judge would impose life in prison with possible parole after 20 years. That's coercive, the high court ruled. For example, jurors worried about a criminal returning to the streets could be pressured to vote for death. The ruling effectively suspended the death penalty statute. Depending on how the statute is rewritten, the ruling could affect the prosecution of Cyril Winebrenner, 23, who is charged with fatally stabbing and shooting his half-sister, 26-year-old Tabatha Bryant, last year. Winebrenner's case - and the pending cases of eight other defendants for whom prosecutors are seeking death - could go to trial only with life imprisonment without parole as the top punishment. Since the court decision, the Assembly, Senate and Gov. George Pataki have been negotiating a rewrite. The changes center on giving a sentencing option of life with no chance for parole even when the jury is deadlocked. Pataki acknowledged the 3 sides have been talking. "I hope we can correct what the court termed a (flaw) as quickly as possible." Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said he has "a high expectation" that an agreement would be hammered out. Meanwhile, a coalition of capital punishment foes held a news conference Monday to urge lawmakers not to rewrite the death penalty. Given that DNA evidence has cleared dozens of people on death row across the country in the last decade, New York should use the court decision to drop capital punishment altogether, they said. Marguerite Marsh, whose daughter was murdered by serial killer Kendall Francois about 7 years ago, said the death penalty "is not justice, but revenge." Faced with possible execution, Francois struck a plea bargain and was sentenced to life in prison. "For me justice was served," said Marsh. (source: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle) *********************** Lawmakers, governor near rewriting death-penalty law Legislators and the governor are nearing a deal to rewrite the death penalty that could be presented to rank-and-file lawmakers as soon as today, a key Democrat said Monday. The agreement would amend part of the death-penalty statute that New York's highest court ruled constitutionally flawed and essentially provide a chance to sentence a convicted murderer to 25-years-to-life with no shot at parole even when a jury is deadlocked, said Assemblyman Joe Lentol, D-Brooklyn, the Democrats' point man on criminal justice. "There may well be an agreement in the offing," Lentol said. "(Today) we will present the progress of negotiations to the (Democratic) conference and the conference could decide whether to accept" or continue negotiations. The Legislature, adjourned since June 23, is returning to the State Capitol today for a possible one-day session. The leader of the state Senate added that he too expected an agreement on changes to the capital-punishment law. Last month, the state's highest court struck down New York's death statute was unconstitutional, saying its sentencing provisions were coercive. The law required a judge to tell a jury that if it deadlocks on whether to impose death or life in prison, the judge would impose life in prison with possible parole after 20 years. That's coercive, the high court ruled. For example, jurors worried about a criminal returning to the streets could be pressured to vote for death. The ruling effectively suspended the death penalty statute. No one has been executed under this statute, which was enacted in 1995, and district attorneys across New York have been pursuing the death penalty at a dramatically reduced rate over the last 4 years. Since the court decision, the Assembly, Senate and Gov. George Pataki have been negotiating a rewrite. The changes center on giving a sentencing option of life with no chance for parole even when the jury is deadlocked. Democrats who control the Assembly are the key to any agreement. Lentol stressed that Democrats have not discussed the issue since the court decision and that some of his colleagues may want to put it off for more study. "(They) may feel as a body they want to do it," Lentol said. Pataki acknowledged the three sides have been talking about an agreement. "I hope we can correct what the court termed a (flaw) as quickly as possible," the governor said. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said he has "a high expectation" that an agreement will be hammered out. Meanwhile, a coalition of capital-punishment opponents held a news conference Monday to urge lawmakers not to rewrite the death penalty. Given that DNA evidence has cleared dozens of people on death row across the country in the last decade, New York should use the court decision to drop capital punishment altogether, they said. Marguerite Marsh, whose daughter was murdered by Poughkeepsie serial killer Kendall Francois about seven years ago, said the death penalty "is not justice, but revenge." Faced with possible execution, Francois struck a plea bargain and was sentenced to life in prison. "For me justice was served," said Marsh, an Albany County resident. Representatives from the state Catholic Conference (the lobbying arm of the Catholic Church), Amnesty International, the NAACP, the New York Civil Liberties Union joined with New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty to call for a moratorium. "To have a quick fix today would be to put a bandage on a (flawed) law," said David Kaczynski, whose brother, Ted, was the Unabomber convicted of a nearly 20-year spree of mail bombings. David Kaczyinski, who turned in his brother in exchange for a promise not to seek the death penalty, has since headed the anti-capital punishment coalition. (sources: Gannett News Service / Ithaca Journal) CALIFORNIA: Peterson defense attacks blood evidence Tests showed that many of the suspicious stains in Scott Peterson's home and pickup truck were not blood, and there was no incriminating evidence in a tool box in the vehicle, a detective testified Monday at Peterson's murder trial. Detective Henry "Dodge" Hendee returned to the witness stand as defense attorney Mark Geragos continued to attack the investigation, highlighting for jurors that seven stains found in Peterson's truck -- blotches in places including the steering wheel and in the truck's bed that police suspected were blood -- all tested negative. Hendee said more tests on suspicious stains found in the Petersons' kitchen, bedroom and on a pair of gloves taken from his truck, also tested negative for blood. The detective said one test of a spot on the inside driver's door of Peterson's truck did test positive for blood. Peterson previously told authorities he had cut his hand and they would likely find his blood on the truck. Geragos also asked Hendee about a hair found inside a large tool box in the bed of Peterson's truck, pointing out that testing indicated it came from a law enforcement officer processing the crime scene. "At the time I thought it could possibly be Laci's," Hendee said. Prosecutors allege Peterson used the tool box to conceal Laci Peterson's body during the drive from the couple's Modesto home to San Francisco Bay. Hendee acknowledged Monday that no incriminating evidence was found on the tool box. Geragos has been picking apart the case as an exhaustive search for hard evidence that turned up nothing incriminating. In his latest round of questions, it appeared as if Geragos was not only working to establish for jurors that many of the suspicious stains tested negative for blood, but also that Peterson clearly did not clean his truck and home before police arrived on December 24, 2002, the night he reported his pregnant wife missing. Prosecutors allege Peterson meticulously cleaned the alleged crime scene in the couple's Modesto home where they say he murdered his wife on or around that Christmas Eve, then drove to the bay and dumped the body. Peterson acknowledges being on the bay that Christmas Eve day, but said he went fishing alone and returned to an empty home. Geragos asserts that someone else abducted and killed Laci Peterson, then framed her husband. The remains of Laci Peterson and the couple's fetus washed ashore just 2 miles from where Peterson claims he was fishing. Geragos has also attacked the prosecution's sole piece of physical evidence they say links Laci to the boat -- a single strand of dark hair that DNA testing indicates may have come from her. Hendee testified he found the hair in a pair of pliers on Peterson's boat, yet when he and another detective went to police headquarters to check the specimen for a root, 2 hairs were present in the evidence envelope. Geragos has indicated sloppy police work led to the duplicate hairs. Hendee also testified he was in charge of a demonstration that led to photographs shown to jurors July 7 of a pregnant woman about the same size as Laci lying inside the toolbox and on the floor of Peterson's boat. Geragos attacked the photos as a ridiculous attempt to simulate a dead body by using a live person. He also claimed that Peterson could never have dumped the 153-pound body from the boat without tipping. (source: Associated Press) VIRGINIA: Muhammad Attorneys Say Rights Violated Prosecutors violated John Allen Muhammad's due process rights by simultaneously presenting contradictory theories in his capital murder trial and that of fellow sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo, attorneys for Muhammad said in court papers Monday. Muhammad is on death row after being convicted last year in the death of Dean Meyers, one of 10 sniper killings over 3 weeks in October 2002 in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. One day after Muhammad was sentenced to death, Malvo - who was 17 at the time of the sniper spree - was sentenced to life in prison for the slaying of FBI analyst Linda Franklin. Capital murder convictions in Virginia are automatically appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court. In a brief supporting Muhammad's appeal, his lawyers alleged 102 specific errors in the trial and sentencing, including the inconsistent prosecution theories. The state argued in the Muhammad case that he controlled his younger accomplice, yet it claimed in the Malvo case that the teenager was "an independent thinker, and not under the sway of John Muhammad," defense lawyers Jonathan Shapiro and Peter Greenspun wrote. Muhammad's attorneys also argued that there was no proof that Muhammad was the triggerman or that he ordered Malvo to shoot Meyers, and that a state anti-terrorism law under which Muhammad was charged is unconstitutionally vague. Defense lawyers unsuccessfully raised the same claims at trial. The state attorney general's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Fairfax County Circuit Judge Jonathan Thacher has scheduled an Oct. 4 trial for Muhammad in Franklin's death. Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. has said a second trial is worth pursuing because of the seriousness of the crime and the potential for the death sentence to be overturned on appeal. No decision has been made on a 2nd trial for Malvo. (source: Associated Press)
