death penalty news October 8, 2004
SOUTH CAROLINA: Solicitor to seek death penalty in Cockman case Bob Ariail, 13th Circuit Solicitor, said yesterday that he will seek the death penalty for David Edens and Jennifer Holloway in connection with the kidnapping and death of Jim Cockman. "This case qualifies for the death penalty under state statute because the murder was committed during the commission of a kidnapping," Ariail said in a press release. "The total disregard for life and the brutality of the murder of Mr. Cockman makes this case one that warrants the death penalty." The couple will face state murder and kidnapping charges first, before prosecution on federal charges of carjacking is decided, according to the state prosecutor. "The U.S. Attorney's Office will defer a decision regarding prosecution of any federal charges until the state has completed its case," a solicitor's statement said last Friday. Edens, 34, and Holloway, 27, both of Sevierville, Tenn., have been charged with the kidnapping and murder of Cockman, 71. The couple allegedly forced Cockman into a Suburban they intended to steal at the Gowensville intersection of Hwys. 11 and 14 on Sept. 14. Cockman's body was found nine days later in Sevier County, Tenn. The Greenville County Coroner's Office said Cockman suffocated on the way to Tennessee. Edens and Holloway could also face the death penalty on the federal carjacking charges because the case involved a death, prosecutors have said. Edens and Holloway are being held at the Spartanburg County Detention Center. No trial date has been set. (source: Tryon Daily Bulletin) ============ PENNSYLVANIA: Death penalty sought against accused killer Beaver County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against an Allegheny County man they say was paid to kill someone. Claron Hanner, 27, of the Knoxville section of Pittsburgh, is accused of shooting Frank Helisek Jr., 53, of New Brighton, on Jan. 19, when Helisek answered the door at his home. Beaver County District Attorney Dale Fouse declined to name who prosecutors think paid Hanner, who has pleaded not guilty, to have Helisek shot. At the time, Helisek's son was in jail and expected to testify for prosecutors in a drug case. Police connected Hanner to the slaying through a cell phone dropped at the scene. (source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) ============= NORTH CAROLINA: Arguments laid out in Perkins execution Lawyers representing a Greenville man scheduled to be executed Friday laid out arguments in federal and state courts Wednesday about whether to stop the execution and whether the man should get a new trial. In a federal appeals court, prosecutors asked a judge to overturn a lower court's order to stop the execution while the state's execution procedures are challenged. The judge refused, leaving the stay in place while the state appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court In state court, a judge denied a defense request for a new trial for Sammy Crystal Perkins, 51, based on a challenge that some testimony at trial shouldn't have been presented. Perkins was convicted and sentenced to death in 1993 for the rape and murder of 7-year-old Lashenna "Jo Jo" Moore at her grandmother's Hopkins Drive home. Perkins was dating Moore's grandmother at the time. Wednesday's rulings mean Perkins' fate will be uncertain until the eve of his execution, scheduled for 2 a.m. Friday at Central Prison in Raleigh. In state court Wednesday, Pitt County Superior Court Judge Russell Duke rejected the defense's claim that Perkins was convicted on illegal hearsay evidence. Duke said a U.S. Supreme Court ruling handed down in March that limits the use of evidence not directly from a witness didn't apply because the ruling came down after Perkins' trial. Others have already ruled that the Supreme Court ruling cannot be applied retroactively, Duke said in making his decision. Perkins' attorneys had challenged testimony of a police officer who repeated statements made by Moore's 3-year-old brother. The officer testified the boy had told him Perkins had "made (Moore) dead." The boy also demonstrated with a pillow how Perkins had covered Moore's face, the officer told the court. Pitt County District Attorney Clark Everett, who helped prosecute the case, said even without the testimony the case against Perkins still was strong. "Even if that statement shouldn't have come in, the defendant's statements and other evidence would have been enough," he said. Duke also admonished the defense, saying the Supreme Court case was decided nearly seven months ago, "yet the defendant has waited until less than 72 hours prior to his scheduled execution to file" his latest appeal. Defense lawyers said they planned to appeal Duke's ruling. It was lawyers for the state who appealed in federal court, asking the Supreme Court to overturn the stay of execution issued by U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle last week. Boyle issued the stay after Perkins' lawyers argued he should be able to pursue a lawsuit over the legality of the state's lethal injection method. The state's execution method, including the order and amount of chemicals used, was recently changed. However, Perkins and three other death row inmates had originally challenged the state's execution procedure in January, claiming it constituted cruel and unusual punishment. Based on that complaint, Perkins was also issued a stay in May before his first scheduled execution date. Of the other inmates involved in the suit, one has been executed and another sent to prison for life because he was mentally retarded. It was the U.S. Supreme Court that lifted the stay for the man who was executed. The court made that decision after the 4th Circuit upheld the stay, as it did Wednesday in Perkins' case. Raymond Dayle Rowsey is the only person to be put to death by the state this year. Attorneys for Perkins also continue to ask Gov. Mike Easley for clemency. A clemency hearing was held earlier this year. The governor's office said Easley has reviewed supplementary materials submitted by Perkins but won't have another meeting. Defense lawyers have said clemency would be proper because Perkins' trial was marred by jury discussions of the case before formal deliberations began. The lawyers also said Perkins' mental illness wasn't fully presented to the jury because of poor testimony by a defense expert. (source: Daily Reflector) -------------------- Barriers to N.C. execution of Sammy Perkins cleared - U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeal, Easley denies clemency The U.S. Supreme Court issued two decisions yesterday that cleared the way for the execution of Sammy Crystal Perkins, who was sentenced to death in 1993 for the rape and slaying of a 7-year-old girl. By a 5-4 vote, justices turned down a request by defense attorneys to leave a stay in place so Perkins, 51, could contest the lethal-injection execution method used by the state of North Carolina. And the high court was unanimous in rejecting a request by the defense to reverse state-court rulings against Perkins on the issue of whether improper evidence was allowed during his trial in Pitt Superior Court. Those court decisions left clemency as the only barrier between Perkins and the death chamber, but Gov. Mike Easley denied the request to spare Perkins' life last night. His execution was scheduled to take place at 2 a.m. today. "No one knows how long they have to live, but Sammy Perkins has a clearer idea," defense attorney Nora Hargrove said during a break in visitation at Central Prison, where death-row inmates are housed. Hargrove and co-counsel Ed West said that clemency would be proper because Perkins' trial was marred by jury discussions of the case before formal deliberations began. They also said that Perkins' mental illness wasn't fully presented to the jury because of poor testimony by a defense expert. Perkins was convicted for the rape and killing of Lashenna "Jo Jo" Moore, his girlfriend's granddaughter, in Pitt County. During the day as he waited to hear from the Supreme Court, Perkins visited with his mother, daughters and other relatives, Hargrove said. In the late afternoon, Perkins asked for a last meal of two fried chicken breasts, two fried chicken wings, sweet-potato pie, a large order of McDonald's french fries, a 20-ounce Coke and a cup of ice. Perkins' execution was in doubt after Judge Terrence Boyle of U.S. District Court issued an order last week stopping the execution so Perkins could pursue a lawsuit that challenged the method of execution by injection. A physician said in an affidavit filed with Boyle's court that an autopsy of an executed inmate showed low amounts of an anesthetic in his blood and that he may have felt pain during his death. That stay was upheld by a federal appeals court, before Thursday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Perkins' execution would be the first by the state since January. Attorney General Roy Cooper effectively put executions on hold last spring while the U.S. Supreme Court decided an Alabama case challenging a form of lethal injection sometimes used by the state as cruel and unusual punishment. The high court cleared the way for the Alabama execution in late May, after which a spokeswoman for Cooper said that the state would resume efforts to carry out lethal injections. The N.C. Department of Correction says it has changed its protocol for executions. (source: AP)
