death penalty news
August 11, 2004
CALIFORNIA:
Date, place of Wesson's death penalty trial to be decided
A Fresno County judge decided to hear arguments about a proposed delay and
a change of venue in murder suspect Marcus Wesson's trial on Aug. 20,
following a discussion in court Wednesday.
Judge R.L. Putnam said that he would not "make a snap decision" on any of
the issues being discussed.
On Tuesday, Fresno County District Attorney Elizabeth Egan released a
statement saying the prosecution would seek the death penalty in the case
against Wesson, who is charged with killing nine of his family members.
The 57-year-old Fresno man is also accused of 13 sex crimes, including
rape, against victims who are believed to be his family members.
Wesson has pleaded innocent to all charges.
Prosecutor Lisa Gamoian said she could not comment on the case.
Peter Jones, the public defender representing Wesson, said outside court
that "whenever the state seeks to put a human being to death, it's a grave,
serious matter." But for now, Jones said, he is concentrating on getting
his client through the guilt phase.
"Our concern is proving that Mr. Wesson did not commit the homicides on
March 12," he said, alluding to the day when police entered Wesson's home
after a standoff and found nine bodies stacked in a back bedroom.
The decisions on delaying the trial for 90 days, and moving it to another
county, as requested by Jones, were put off so that both sides have the
opportunity to review material that shows local media coverage of the crime
and a survey that would show possible bias on the part of local residents.
Wesson has repeatedly opposed any delay in the case, and has asked to have
his right to a speedy trial respected, but he did not comment during
Wednesday's hearing.
Jones said he is working diligently to meet both Wesson's right to a fast
trial and to effective representation.
"That puts the burden on us," he said.
The trial is set for Sept. 14. If Jones' request for a delay is granted, it
could be postponed until December.
Wesson is being held without bail in Fresno County Jail.
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Prosecutors seek death penalty against Fresno man
Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against a man charged with
shooting nine of his children in his Fresno home.
The announcement was made Tuesday after "a careful review of the facts and
applicable law," according to a news release from the office of Fresno
County District Attorney Elizabeth Egan.
Marcus Wesson's public defender, Peter Jones, told The Fresno Bee that he
was not surprised.
"From our standpoint, we have been preparing on the assumption that they
would seek the death penalty," Jones said. "Obviously, our hope was that
they would elect not to."
Judge R.L. Putnam on Wednesday scheduled arguments for Aug. 20 on a defense
request to delay the trial from Sept. 14 until mid-December and to move it
to another county.
Wesson is charged with shooting nine of his children, ages 1 to 25, on
March 12. Officers were called to his home by two women who were trying to
retrieve their children from inside the Wesson household.
Wesson, 57, is also accused of 13 sex crimes, including rape, with each of
the victims believed to be family members. He has pleaded not guilty to all
charges.
(source for both: AP)
============================
NEW YORK:
Senate adopts 'fix' on death penalty law
The state Senate voted Wednesday to alter the sentencing provisions of the
state's death penalty law to remove procedures declared unconstitutional in
June by the state's highest court.
The legislation stipulates that when a jury deadlocks over the punishment
of a defendant who has been found guilty of a capital crime, that offender
will get life without parole. It also creates a third option for juries
deciding the correct punishment in a capital case, life in prison with the
possibility of parole.
On June 24, the state Court of Appeals said the sentencing methods of the
capital punishment statute were unconstitutional because if a jury
deadlocks between execution and life without parole as the punishment, the
trial judge sentences the defendant to a parole-eligible term of up to life
in prison. The judges said that option might lead some undecided jurors to
vote for death by lethal injection because they cannot bear the thought of
a defendant someday being paroled.
The ruling effectively cleared the four inmates from death row in New York
and put prosecutions seeking executions for murderers on hold.
The measure approved 37-22 by the Republican-controlled Senate Wednesday
was worked out with Gov. George Pataki.
But the willingness of the Democrat-dominated state Assembly to take up the
bill, or any measure that might resume death penalty prosecutions was unclear.
"This is a highly technical issue with many constitutional implications and
we are looking at it," said Eileen Larrabee, a spokeswoman for the
Assembly's Democratic majority leader, Sheldon Silver.
Larrabee said that while the Court of Appeals ruling was more than six
weeks ago, the Assembly had not seen the Republican proposal to comply with
it until Tuesday.
When the Legislature reinstated the death penalty in New York in 1995,
Assembly Democrats voted against the bill 52-41. It passed with
overwhelming support from Assembly Republicans.
Assembly Democrats could effectively keep the death penalty statute on hold
by declining to take up the bill approved by the Senate Wednesday.
Democratic state Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson of Westchester County urged her
colleagues to do just that Wednesday.
"We should leave the death penalty alone," she said. "It would be
fool-hearty to fix it. ... We should let the death penalty die."
Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, said DNA testing has shown that
other states have frequently put innocent people on their death rows.
"We made a mistake in '95," she said. "Perhaps we didn't have all of the
evidence then."
No one has been executed under the 1995 death penalty statute, which
fulfilled Pataki's 1994 campaign promise to reinstate capital punishment in
New York.
(source: AP)
