August 26 OKLAHOMA----execution Workman executed for 1987 beating death of 2-year-old girl Windel Ray Workman was executed by lethal injection Thursday for the 1987 beating death of his live-in girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter. Workman died at 6:08 p.m. after receiving a fatal cocktail of drugs at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He became the 158th person executed in state history. Workman, 46, was convicted in Oklahoma County and sentenced to die for the Jan. 10, 1987, killing of Amanda Holman, who had bruises on her face, chest, back and buttocks. Workman maintained his innocence and claimed the bruises were caused by Amanda's falls from her bed and in the bathtub. Later, he claimed that either Amanda's mom or grandmother were at fault. But the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and the 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Denver denied Workman's last-ditch efforts to save himself Thursday, rejecting his claims of innocence and inadequate trial defense. He did not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board had denied clemency Aug. 5. Three doctors who treated or examined Amanda, who died of blunt head trauma, said her injuries were consistent with being hit by a fist, a hard object or being slammed into a wall, court records say. Testimony, including Workman's, indicated he had sole custody of the girl during the time her injuries occurred. Court records show he had a history of abusing the child. Workman becomes the 6th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 76th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1990. Oklahoma trails only Texas (325) and Virginia (93) in the numbers of executions since America re-legalized the death penalty on July 2, 1976. Workman becomes the 41st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 926th overall since America resumed capital punishment on January 17, 1977. (sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin) TEXAS----execution Killer of FW clerk executed In Huntsville, condemned prisoner James Allridge, whose case attracted the attention of celebrity capital punishment opponents, was executed Thursday evening for killing a Fort Worth convenience store clerk 19 years ago. Allridge, 41, was the 2nd Texas inmate to be executed in as many nights. Allridge was visited last month by actress Susan Sarandon, who purchased some of his prison-made artwork and for years corresponded with him. Sarandon, 57, won an Academy Award in 1996 for her portrayal of death penalty opponent Helen Prejean in the movie version of the New Orleans-based nun's book "Dead Man Walking." Prejean was among the people Allridge selected to watch him die. Allridge's attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court in a last-day appeal to halt the punishment and review the case, contending he'd been a model prisoner for years and his rehabilitation disproved his trial jury's finding that he'd be a continuing threat to society, one of the criteria for the death penalty in Texas. The appeal was denied. "When our criminal justice system is on the verge of executing a prisoner who is innocent of the aggravating factor on which his death sentence is predicated future dangerousness the Texas system provides no remedy," their petition to the high court Thursday said. "The primary premise for executing Mr. Allridge, by virtue of his rehabilitation during his lengthy incarceration, has evaporated." They also argued jurors were not allowed to consider evidence that a violent and abusive older brother bullied Allridge into participating in the fatal shooting of store clerk Brian Clendennen, 21, who was robbed of $300. Allridge's brother, Ronald, was put to death in 1995 for killing a woman during the robbery of a Fort Worth fast-food restaurant, part of a 2-month crime spree that targeted convenience stores and fast-food places. Unlike his brother, who also had served time for killing a classmate at age 15, the crime wave appeared to be out of character for James Allridge, who had no previous criminal record. He was described as a good student and hard worker but someone who fell under the control and demands of an older violent brother who intimidated him. "My brother didn't even have a chance at life," the victim's brother, Shane Clendennen, who also was to witness the execution, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "People who say the death penalty is wrong haven't gone through this... All I have is a picture and a grave site." "I am deeply regretful any of this has happened," Allridge told The Associated Press last week from death row, adding that he would like to express his sentiments to Clendennen's relatives. "This should never have happened." Allridge, however, said he believed his nearly two decades on death row was beneficial to others. "I know I've done a lot of good," he said. "A lot of young guys here never had positive role models. A lot of times they just want someone to listen to them. I listen." Two other sets of brothers have received lethal injection in Texas, which by far leads the nation in carrying out the death penalty. Prison records show four pairs of brothers were put to death in the 1920s and 1930s, when the electric chair was the method of punishment. On Wednesday, Jasen Shane Busby, 28, of Tyler, received lethal injection evening for the slayings of a pair of teenage girls in East Texas in 1995. At least 11 other Texas inmates have execution dates through the end of this year. Allridge becomes the 12th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 325th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on January 17, 1977. He is also the 86th condemned inmate to be put to death during the tenure of Governor Rick Perry. Allridge becomes the 42nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 927th overall since America resumed capital punishment on January 17, 1977. (sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin) ******************* Police turn up hundreds of boxes of evidence from crime lab The Houston Police Department has discovered evidence from 8,000 criminal cases that was improperly stored in its property room, Police Chief Harold Hurtt said today. The discovery adds to HPD's ongoing problems with its crime lab. The 280 boxes containing evidence from cases processed between 1979 and 1991 were found in the property room in August 2003, but they were not opened until last week. The boxes include evidence -- such as bloody clothing, human body parts and a fetus -- from homicides and other cases. Hurtt said the department will methodically go through all of the items to look for new evidence in old cases. He expects the process to take about a year. The boxes were located as part of the department's ongoing efforts to improve its crime lab and evidence-processing capabilities. Hurtt said they sat unopened for a year because the labels on the boxes indicated they were from several hundred closed cases. The boxes actually could contain evidence from thousands of open and pending cases, Hurtt said. (source: Houston Chronicle)
