Sept. 2 MISSISSIPPI: Death Sentence Is Upheld The Mississippi Supreme Court today upheld the death sentence of Laurel man, rejecting his claim that a key prosecution witness was also an accomplice to the crime. A jury in Lamar County in 2002 convicted Xavier Brown of the murder-for-hire of Felicia Newell of Hattiesburg. Brown was sentenced to death. According to the court record, Brown was allegedly ordered to kill Newell by her ex-husband, who later committed suicide. Newell was found slumped over the steering wheel of a car outside her residence at an apartment complex in Hattiesburg in 1998. She died of a gunshot wound. In his appeal, Brown claimed jurors should have been cautioned about the testimony of Corey Johnson. Brown claimed Johnson was an accomplice to the crime. The Supreme Court says evidence showed Johnson didn't participate in the crime and only rode with Brown to Hattiesburg. The court says for Brown to be right, Johnson must have some active role in the murder. (source: Associated Press) TENNESSEE: Judge Stops Workman Execution Thursday, a federal judge in Memphis temporarily blocked the execution of convicted killer Philip Workman who was scheduled to die September 22. Judge Bernice Donald delayed the execution pending resolution of a federal appeals court review of another Tennessee murder conviction. Workman was sentenced to death for killing Memphis police Lieutenant Robert Oliver in 1981. Workman has twice come within hours of execution only to have his life spared by court delays. Donald said a U.S. 6th Circuit review of the murder conviction of condemned murderer Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman could affect the legal standing of Workman's latest appeals. Workman's defense lawyers contend they have found new evidence that could support Workman's claim that the officer he was convicted of killing was hit by a bullet fired by another policeman. (source: News Channel 5 News) PENNSYLVANIA----stay of execution Court stays execution of Philadelphia man In Harrisburg, a federal judge has stayed the execution of a Philadelphia man convicted of shooting to death 2 members of a rival gang. Melvin D. Speight Jr., 31, has been on death row for more than a decade. Gov. Ed Rendell signed his death warrant last month, but on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody granted a request by Speight for a public defender to represent him on further appeals. Speight is an inmate at the State Correctional Institution in Greene County. Rendell has signed 22 death warrants during nearly 2 years in office. (source: Associated Press) SOUTH CAROLINA: State to seek death penalty against man accused of killing Orangeburg officer Prosecutors this morning formally served a Virginia man with notice of their intent to seek the death penalty in the July shooting death of an Orangeburg police officer. Appearing in handcuffs and a bullet-proof vest at the Calhoun County Courthouse, Mikal Deen Mahdi, 21, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, grand larceny over $5,000 and 2nd-degree burglary. Mahdi, who showed no emotion during the hearing, waived his bond hearing. He is being held in the state prison system pending his trial, which hasnt been scheduled. Mahdi is accused of fatally shooting Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Capt. Jim Myers, 56, at a small farm Myers owned in rural northwest Calhoun County on July 18. He also is charged with breaking into a building on Myers' property and stealing Myers' police-issued pickup truck after the shooting. Mahdi, who later was captured in Florida, also faces charges in connection with the July 15 shooting death of a convenience store clerk in Winston-Salem, N.C. (source: The State)
