Dec. 13 CALIFORNIA: Streamline death penalty appeals -- Legislature needs to reform death penalty appeals process so it better balances due process rights of convicted killers with interests of grieving families. A judge sentenced David Westerfield to death last year for the abduction and murder of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam in San Diego County. If the 51-year-old convicted killer is like the average inmate on California's death row, his date with the executioner won't come for another dozen years or so. In fact, "the leading cause of death on death row is old age," according to Ronald George, chief justice of the California Supreme Court. George laments that "the process" of administering justice to convicted killers like Westerfield "is not working ideally." Since the Legislature re-enacted the death penalty a generation ago, California courts have sentenced more than 600 criminals to die. Yet, since California resumed executions in 1992, only 10 killers have received justice. Justice George explained that the reason the average stay on California's death row is so inordinately long, the reason so few death row inmates actually are executed, is because California goes far beyond most states in providing "due process." California guarantees capital defendants highly qualified defense attorneys at the trial court and appellate levels, at no personal expense to the defendant. These defense attorneys must have extensive experience in capital and other serious cases. They receive public funds to conduct their own investigations and to hire expert witnesses. Under state law, even when a jury votes to sentence a defendant to death, the trial judge has the authority to overturn the sentence if he feels the jury's decision was improper. Moreover, every death penalty case is automatically appealed to the state Supreme Court. And capital defendants are, of course, allowed to challenge their convictions at every level of federal court. The labyrinthine process of carrying out death sentences amounts to "justice delayed" for families of murder victims. Marc Klaas received a letter last month explaining the latest delay in executing the man responsible for the 1993 abduction and murder of his 12-year-old daughter, Polly. "We've passed the 11th anniversary of my daughter's murder," he told the Reuters news agency. "We've passed the eighth anniversary of the day he was sentenced to die. Yet his appeal has not even been done. It has not even been filed." It is an injustice that Polly Klaas' killer will spend more years on California's death row than the little girl spent with her family. The same goes for Westerfield. The Legislature needs to reform the death penalty appeals process so that it better balances the due process rights of convicted killers with the interests of grieving families in seeing the timely administration of justice. (source: Editorial, Daily Breeze) ******************** Peterson Jurors to Resume Deliberations Jurors deciding on a sentence recommendation for Scott Peterson took the weekend off following a long day of deliberations, a fact that could bode well for the man convicted of murdering his wife and her fetus, legal observers said. Jurors resume deliberations Monday on whether Peterson should be sentenced to death or life in prison. They recessed after 8 1/2 hours of deliberations ending Friday afternoon. "It was a good sign for Peterson that they didn't come back immediately," said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson. "It makes a lot of sense to me that frankly they wanted to take the weekend ... Because I think in the amount of time they've deliberated, about the only thing they've been able to do is hear each other out." The jurors will remain sequestered in a hotel until they reach a unanimous agreement on a punishment. The judge will formally sentence Peterson on Feb. 25. The same jury of 6 men and 6 women found Peterson guilty Nov. 12. Defense attorneys called 39 witnesses over 7 days in the penalty phase of Peterson's double-murder trial. Prosecutors called just 4 of Laci's family members, all on the 1st day, Nov. 30 Peterson, 32, was convicted Nov. 12 of murder in the deaths of his wife, Laci, and her fetus. Prosecutors say he strangled or smothered his wife on or around Christmas Eve 2002 and dumped the body in San Francisco Bay. Peterson claims he was fishing alone that day. If jurors are unable to agree on a sentence, prosecutors must decide whether to retry just the penalty phase or to accept a default sentence of life in prison. (source: Associated Press) FLORIDA: High Court Upholds Inmate's Death Penalty The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a Florida death row inmate should not get a new trial even though his lawyer conceded the man's guilt without his consent. The 8-0 ruling sets aside a Florida Supreme Court decision in favor of Joe Elton Nixon. He was convicted in the 1984 murder of a woman he met at a Tallahassee mall. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who did not attend oral arguments for the case in November, did not take part in the decision. At issue was the court-appointed attorney's decision to admit at trial that Nixon was responsible for the victim's "horrible, horrible death" in hopes that his candor would persuade the jury not to impose the death penalty. The state court said that deprived Nixon of his Sixth Amendment right to a vigorous trial defense. In an opinion written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court said it would not second-guess the attorney's trial strategy, which they called "reasonable." Nixon had several opportunities to object when his lawyer told him of the strategy but didn't, she said. "When counsel informs the defendant of the strategy counsel believes to be in the defendant's best interest and the defendant is unresponsive, counsel's strategic choice is not impeded by any blanket rule demanding the defendant's explicit consent," Ginsburg wrote. Florida prosecutors say Nixon tied Jeanne Bickner, a 38-year-old state worker, to trees with jumper cables and set her on fire. Facing substantial evidence against Nixon, his lawyer offered unsuccessfully to plea-bargain for life imprisonment before deciding to concede the man's guilt at the beginning of trial. In a 5-2 decision last year, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a new trial after finding the lawyer did not effectively represent Nixon and that the defendant did not agree to the lawyer's strategy. The case is Florida v. Nixon, 03-931. (source: Associated Press) KENTUCKY: "I hope he gets the death penalty" Kaylynn Gaddie was last seen on Wednesday, a search got underway to find her on Friday. The search ended in tragedy when the body of the 18 month old was found wrapped in a plastic bag in the Jefferson Memorial Forest early Sunday morning. Her mother's boyfriend is behind bars and facing a murder charge. Shawn Michael Shaw was arrested in Shelbyville on Saturday evening at the Shelby Motel on US 60. Police say he told them where to find the child's body and admitted to wrapping it in the plastic bag and throwing it over a guard rail in the area of the Forest. "She was just precious, " said James Barr, who is Kaylynn's great uncle. "She did not deserve this." Members of Kaylynn's family had been trying to get ahold of Shaw for the last few days. They had been making calls to his cell phone. Family members told WHAS News that Shaw was the last one to be with the child when he was seen picking her up at a babysitter's on Wednesday. The family is stunned by the discovery of the child's body. "I hope he gets the death penalty," says Barr. Shaw is facing murder and tampering with evidence charges. (source: WHAS News) USA: The death penalty sometimes is right Recently, the editor of a Fargo weekly publication wrote an editorial: "Oppose murder." He said "capital punishment is murder - barbaric immoral behavior" and asked readers to write to U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley to state their opposition. About the same time, a defense attorney said Alfonso Rodriguez is "terrified at the thought of being executed." Dru Sjodin must have experienced some moments of terror. In the early years of the history of our country, many people depended solely on the horse for transportation. The penalty for stealing horses was hanging. This justice was harsh but swift and sure; horses were rarely stolen. I don't flatly approve of capital punishment, but I do believe there are situations where it is needed. I believe Robert Blake, O.J. Simpson, Scott Peterson, Alfonso Rodriguez and Chai Vang would surely have acted differently had they known they would face justice somewhat more "swift and sure." I hope readers will write to Wrigley. I intend to do so. Norman Alme----Milnor, N.D. (source: Letter to the Editor, The Forum)
