Oct. 22 TEXAS: Killer asks for death penalty----Man is blamed in four deaths and now may face execution for 1 "He is prepared to give up his life," defense attorney Alvin Nunnery told jurors this morning. "It's what he thinks should happen based on the way he has lived his life." At the start of the punishment phase of Shore's capital murder trial, Nunnery said Shore now only hopes to save his soul, but not his life. "He accepted the Lord into his life," Nunnery said. "He understands that while he would ultimately be free from the pain and penalty of sin - that is eternal damnation- he has to pay the consequences for what he did." Jurors on Wednesday convicted Shore of capital murder in the death of 21-year-old Maria Del Carmen Estrada, who was sexually assaulted, strangled with a nylon cord and left dead behind a fast-food restaurant in April 1992. The 4-day trial has been limited to Estrada's death, but jurors during the punishment phase, which started today, began hearing about the three other females Shore is accused of killing: two teenagers and a 9-year-old girl. "It's ugly," defense lawyer Gerald Bourque said of the evidence that will come out as jurors consider whether to sentence Shore to life in prison or lethal injection. Jurors in state District Judge Caprice Cosper's court deliberated for less than 3 hours after prosecutors urged them to focus on the facts of Estrada's death and not Shore's possible motivations. "Tony Shore is in a world all by himself. You could line up shrinks from now until Doomsday to interview him ... and you will never understand what kind of man he is," Assistant District Attorney Kelly Siegler said in her closing argument. Faced with DNA tests and Shore's tape-recorded confession to police, his lawyers have conceded his guilt since the trial's outset. But they tried to avert a possible death penalty by denying a kidnapping or a sexual assault, which raised the charge from murder to capital murder. "He intended to kill her. He killed her. It's disgusting. It's depraved. It's maniacal. But it's not capital murder," Bourque told jurors. (source: Houston Chronicle) ********************* Tyler Man Arrested For '03 Murder A 2nd Tyler man has been arrested for the October 2003 shooting death of a New Chapel Hill resident, Tyler police said. Bond was set at $1 million for suspect Augustine Akpozor Aghaeze, 19, who remains jailed on a charge of capital murder. Aghaeze's arrest follows the Aug. 25 apprehension of Antwon "Twon" D. Caldwell, 20, after a yearlong investigation into the slaying of 55-year-old Harold Jones. Police said the victim was shot and critically wounded Oct. 6, 2004 after two suspects barged into a home in the 1300 block of North Ross Avenue, demanded cash and fired, police said Jones, who sustained a gunshot wound to the head, died a short time later at East Texas Medical Center. A woman, who was with the victim when the suspects arrived, was not injured, police said. Police have said little about the case since Caldwell's arrest, explaining an additional arrest was expected. That happened Tuesday, following what authorities said appeared to be a routine traffic stop. "There were 2 suspects and the second was arrested by police in Kansas," said Chris Moore, Tyler police public information officer. Authorities have not released a motive for the slaying. Police said earlier the killing appeared to be a "random act of violence." "They were sitting on the couch and there was a knock at the door," Moore said. "He got up to answer it, and 2 armed suspects entered the house and robbed them." Police said the suspects robbed the pair of an undisclosed amount of money before firing on Jones. There was no resistance from the victim, police said. (source: Tyler Morning Telegraph) ******************** ELWOOD JACKSON TRIAL UPDATE The prosecution in the trial of a man charged with killing 3 Fort Sill Apache Casino workers expects to wrap up its case tomorrow. 44-year-old Elwood Jackson faces the death penalty for the shooting deaths of John Limberger and Lena Bohay, and the beating death of Mac Wright with a fireplace poker. On Wednesday, jurors watched Jackson's taped interrrogation. In it, Jackson admits burglarizing the home for valuables and money to buy crack-cocaine, but blames the actual homicides on a man he called Jo Jo. (source: KFDX News) ************************ Psychologist says murder suspect mentally ill Though Carlos Lopez has been treated for paranoid schizophrenia for nearly 12 years, he still shows signs of mental illness, a clinical psychiatrist testified in court Thursday. Lopez, 48, is accused of stabbing 2 elderly women in a Calallen hospital in 1992 because he believed them to be witches. If Lopez shows signs of mental illness during the trial, the trial will be postponed to determine whether he should return to a facility for mentally ill defendants. "I was still able to pick up signs of mental illness but he was more logical," said clinical psychiatrist Joel Kutnick, referring to an August evaluation of Lopez. "He still had some false belief systems about witchcraft, but for the first time there are some cracks in his delusions." Defense attorneys Thursday presented their case that Lopez was insane when he allegedly stabbed 89-year-old Mary Kocurek and 80-year-old Estefana Munoz in their hospital beds. Lopez had claimed Munoz's granddaughter Mary Lou Munoz placed a witch's curse on him. In August, Lopez was deemed mentally competent to stand trial for capital murder. Kutnick evaluated Lopez two months after the killings and said Lopez suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder because he claimed witches had put a curse on him and that he owned the Nueces County Jail. Kutnick said his evaluation showed Lopez behaved bizarrely days before the incident and his intense belief in witchcraft was an irrational extension of his mental illness, not a cultural belief. Prosecutor Gail Gleimer disagreed, saying there is evidence Lopez had a rational belief in witchcraft before doctors diagnosed him as mentally ill. Kutnick said he believed Lopez's mental illness clouded his mind so much that he did not believe what he was doing was wrong. But witnesses for the prosecution testified earlier this week that Lopez had made threats before the stabbing to harm Munoz and family members for allegedly putting a hex on him, which prosecutors said could indicate premeditation. Defense attorneys and prosecutors said they expect to make closing statements today. **************** Man gets life sentence in killings A Nueces County jury sentenced Joe David Padron, the 28-year-old man convicted of the gang-related shooting of 2 men, to life in prison Thursday. Padron could have been sentenced to death in connection with the Nov. 12, 2002, shootings of Jesus Omar Gonzalez and John Commisky at a house in the 2900 block of Mary Street. Gonzalez and Commisky were both 19. Padron will be eligible for parole in 40 years. Padron and Martin Robles, 25, were arrested in November 2002. Robles has been convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Padron, who served a 10-year sentence on an involuntary manslaughter charge, had been released three months prior to the shooting. Prosecutor James Sales said Padron showed jurors the face he wanted them to see in the courtroom - a nice, young-looking man. "That's not the person he is on the street or in prison, and it's hard to show that to a jury," Sales said. "They acknowledged the fact that even in prison, he is a continued threat." Defense attorneys tried to show during the sentencing phase of the trial that Padron was a model prisoner who joined a teenage prison gang for protection. "We truly believe that he is innocent and the verdict was based on four liars," Padron's attorney Douglas Tinker said, referring to prosecution witnesses who were known criminals. "We are not criticizing the jury. We are very pleased that they did not choose the death penalty." Sales said the victims' family members did not tell him whether they supported the death penalty or a life sentence for Padron. "They wanted the man to be convicted and punished," Sales said. Padron's mother, who testified on her son's behalf, said his family believes he is innocent and would help him appeal. "When we go for the appeal, the truth will come out," Tina Reyes said. (source for both: Corpus Christi Caller-Times) *********************** Murderer wanting new trial Texas death row inmate Delma Banks Jr. and his lawyers have until Dec. 14 to file written legal arguments in his bid for a new trial. Banks, 45, of Texarkana, Texas, stands convicted of capital murder in the April 1, 1980, fatal shooting of 16-year-old Wayne Whitehead. The Texas Attorney General's office has until Jan. 30 to file a reply to Banks' arguments. Banks' death sentence was first overturned by U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven and later by U.S. District Judge David Folsom. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has oversight of Folsom, later reinstated the death penalty. But the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 5th Circuit's ruling that Banks did not deserve an entirely new trial. Acting on the nation's highest court's cue, the appeals court sent the case back to Folsom to decide. Previously, Folsom had ruled that Banks should not get a new trial. Craven, who handles preliminary court matters for Folsom, issued a scheduling order at Banks' request outlining how the case will progress in federal district court in Texarkana, Texas. (source: The Texarkana Gazette) USA: Supreme Court to decide on juvenile death penalty Since 1973, 228 people under the age of 18 have been sentenced to the death penalty, and this month there are 72 juvenile offenders in 12 states who are facing execution. The United States is the only country in the world that still sentences minors to death. Several other countries, such as China, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have executed juveniles in recent years, but all have since renounced the practice. The constitutionality of the juvenile death penalty came under fire in the U.S. Supreme Court last week, as justices heard the case Roper v. Simmons. Chris Simmons is a Missouri man convicted of kidnapping and killing a woman in 1993 at the age of 17. The fates of other juvenile inmates on death row, as well as the fate of the juvenile death penalty itself, ride on the decision that should come before the end of this year. In connection with this landmark case, the University chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union yesterday hosted a lecture by Victor Streib, a Northern Ohio University law professor and expert on the death penalty. Streib, who testified before the court last week, has spent more than 20 years researching the death penalty and its implications for juvenile offenders. Previous Supreme Court decisions have set the minimum age for the death penalty at 16. Streib said this age limit is ironic because "juveniles are denied adult rights and responsibilities throughout the law." "Underage (teens) cant drive, vote, marry, contract or play church bingo," Streib said. 6 states which currently allow the juvenile death penalty have argued that age does not determine moral culpability, or responsibility under the law, saying in a court brief, "the arbitrary age of 18 - does not define ones character, judgment, maturity, personal responsibility or moral guilt." These states have also argued that cases should be examined on an individual basis, and the court should not make blanket rulings on all older teens. In a separate brief filed in the case, Justice For All, a pro-death penalty group based in Houston, Texas, said "executing (Simmons) is not cruel and unusual punishment because he specifically knew it was wrong to kill, understood the consequences of his actions and nevertheless committed a horrific premeditated murder." Streib refuted these points, arguing that the Missouri case against Simmons showed that the murder was an impulse, rather than premeditated, murder. Streib said in almost all cases in which a juvenile commits murder, it is based on impulse. Another main argument used by pro-death penalty groups is that the death penalty is a deterrent of crime - discouraging potential young killers from killing because should they get caught, they may face the death penalty. In his lecture, Streib noted studies showing that adolescents are more deterred by the prospect of "rotting in prison" through life without parole than they are by the death penalty. "Deterrance is also irrelevant to adolescents, since they do not plan their actions or engage in cost-benefit analyses," Streib said. Simmons was 17 when he was indicted and was consequently convicted and sentenced to death. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in August 2003 to re-sentence Simmons to life without parole. The court said that because Simmons was under 18, his execution would violate the "evolving standards of decency," which defines cruel and unusual punishment by gauging the mood of national law. The Missouri state attorney then petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. Streib said along with the drop of juvenile death sentencing - only 2 juveniles were sentenced in 2004 - the actual number of juvenile executions has dropped from 5 in 1999-2000, to four in 2001-2002 and only one in 2003-2004. "Prosecutors appear to be less willing to bring capital charges in juvenile cases," Streib said. International law has also been called into question, as the United States is the only country in the world where the death penalty is legal for people under 18. While the Court is split on whether to acknowledge international law as a factor for shaping domestic constitutional standards, this argument will certainly be a factor in the final decision, Streib said. While Streib said it is "foolish to try to predict the Courts decisions," he and other organizers of the lecture anticipate a 6-3 decision in favor of Simmons to effectively overthrow the juvenile death penalty. Many justices have expressed opinions in the past on this issue, with Sandra Day OConnor representing an important swing vote that could sway the decision. Although the death penalty has not been legal in Michigan since 1846, University students still feel strongly about the issue. Bob Koch, a 2nd-year law student, said, "It's easy to lose sight of the importance of this issue here at Michigan since this state hasnt executed somebody in over 100 years. But this school produced national leaders, and in this country reral juveniles face real execution, and thats a real problem that we have to face. (source: The Michigan Daily) UTAH: Gun dealer offering pistol used by Gary Gilmore in essay contest The pistol used by Utah killer Gary Gilmore is being offered as a prize in an essay contest on the death penalty. Dennis Stilson, a gun dealer and bail bondsman from Spanish Fork, Utah, said he's willing to give away the .22-caliber Browning long pistol if he gets enough entries for $108 apiece in the essay contest, KUTV in Salt Lake City reported. Stilson displayed the pistol at a Las Vegas gun show in 2002, when he said he had received an offer of $500,000 during an Internet auction that year. He turned it down. Now Stilson said he hopes to raise enough money from the essay contest to open a youth center in Spanish Fork. The pistol, authenticated by FBI reports, was used by Gilmore to kill two people, including a Provo motel manager. Gilmore was executed by firing squad in 1977, the 1st person put to death after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty a year before. "Let's do it," were Gilmore's final words. The case was chronicled in writer Norman Mailer's book "The Executioner's Song," and dramatized in an HBO movie "Shot In the Heart." After the Gilmore case was closed, authorities returned the gun to the owner of the Spanish Fork gun store from which Gilmore had stolen it. Stilson in 2002 said he was trying to sell it on behalf of the owner, then bought the gun himself. (source: Associated Press)
