Jan. 7 CONNECTICUT: First anti-death penalty bill filed amid Ross case The 1st bill has been filed in the state legislature that would eliminate Connecticut's death penalty and possibly block the looming execution of serial killer Michael Ross. Rep. Peter Tercyak, D-New Britain, submitted the legislation, but it's questionable whether the bill, or another piece of legislation, will be passed before Ross' scheduled Jan. 26 execution. House Democratic leaders plan to survey their members beginning Monday to determine how many want to proceed with a debate. "People have talked to me about this, other legislators, and it's hard to tell," Tercyak said when asked if he believes there is enough support. "There's a lot of anger and vehemence on the other side, so it's hard to tell if that represents numbers (of votes) or if that represents strong feelings." Aside from Tercyak's bill, Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the legislature's Judiciary Committee, said several other death penalty-related bills will be debated this year, including abolition of the death penalty. "There's certainly going to be a bill abolishing the death penalty," he said. "When that hearing takes place is another question." Tercyak said Friday that he initially filed his bill around the same time Gov. M. Jodi Rell said she was examining whether to grant Ross a reprieve and allow the legislature to debate the capital punishment law. Rell decided last month against the reprieve and has said she will veto any bill that calls for ending the death penalty. Although his bill might save Ross, Tercyak said his efforts are more about the public policy of having a death sentence on the books. Ross, 45, has admitted killing eight women in Connecticut and New York, and is on death row for the murders of four young women in eastern Connecticut in the 1980s. He has said he wants to forgo any remaining appeals and face his execution. Ross has said the legislature should take up the matter of capital punishment after his death. If it were debated now, it would become a referendum on whether he should live or die, he says. Tercyak said the legislature should not care about Ross' fate. "We should look at this in terms of making the argument about us and what we want our government to do in our name," he said. Lawlor, a death penalty opponent, hopes Ross' execution will be put on hold, but said the legislature might have "a more enlightening debate" if it occurs after Jan. 26. He said he is still optimistic that Ross won't be put to death on that date because of the various legal appeals and other tactics. "I think really people do not understand how much pressure is going to be brought to bear to prevent this," Lawlor said. "It's not about Michael Ross, it's about capital punishment. I think Connecticut's reputation in the world is at risk here at some extent." If Ross dies, it would mark the 1st time Connecticut has executed an inmate since 1960. Given how much time has passed, many death penalty opponents say they believe the matter should be debated fully during this year's legislative session. House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford, who supports the death penalty, has said he does not believe there is enough support in the legislature to back eliminating or changing the death penalty. He is willing to let the House Democratic caucus decide what to do, he said Friday. "We'll put that out there and see what the number is," Amann said. House Majority Leader Christopher Donovan, D-Meriden, opposes the death penalty. But he's unsure whether there is the will or time to do something in the legislature before Jan. 26. "Until we see how the caucus is, I couldn't tell you. It would just be a guess," he said. (source: Associated Press) TENNESSEE: Supreme Court expands death penalty docket with Tennessee case The Supreme Court says it will review a Tennessee death row inmate's successful appeal. Justices will decide if the 6th U-S Court of Appeals was wrong to order more study of Gregory Thompson's case. In June, the appeals court granted a brief stay of execution for Gregory Thompson to consider his habeas corpus petition and his request for a competency hearing. Tennessee lawyers argued that the appeal was wrongly reopened by the lower court as Thompson's execution neared. Thompson was convicted of abducting Brenda Lane from a Shelbyville Wal-Mart parking lot on New Year's Day 1985, driving her to a rural area and stabbing her to death. Lane was a former reporter with the Times-Gazette newspaper in Shelbyville. The case was 1 of 9 that justices announced today they would hear this spring. (source: Associated Press) INDIANA: Ind. Gov. Removes Convict From Death Row With just 3 days left in his term, Gov. Joe Kernan removed a convicted murderer from death row Friday and called for a review of how fairly Indiana administers the death penalty. Kernan granted clemency to Michael Daniels, an Indianapolis man convicted of killing an Army chaplain in 1978 in a $1 robbery as the minister shoveled snow from his driveway with his 15-year-old son. The son now also is a minister who opposes the death penalty. He said he has forgiven Daniels, and was happy with the governor's decision. Daniels - incarcerated on Indiana's death row longer than anyone else - will now stay in prison for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole, the governor's office said. Kernan said that evidence casting doubt on Daniels was never presented in court, and that Daniels' IQ has been measured at 77, just above the level to be considered mentally retarded. He also said Daniels was psychotic for some time and unable to assist in his defense, and that he was the only one of three co-defendants to get the death penalty. Kernan commuted the death sentence of Darnell Williams in July, less than a week before he was to die by injection for the 1986 murders of a Gary couple. No prisoner has been executed during Kernan's nearly 16 months as governor. Kernan said his reviews of the two cases have "revealed weaknesses" in Indiana's death penalty system. He said he hopes state government in the coming months can examine whether the sentencing system is fair in death-penalty cases. "I have now encountered two cases where doubt about an offender's personal responsibility and the quality of the legal process leading to the capital sentence has led me to grant clemency," Kernan said. "These instances should cause us to take a hard look at how Indiana administers and reviews capital sentences." The victim in Friday's case, Allan Streett, was a chaplain at Fort Benjamin Harrison and father of 3 when he was killed. Tim Streett, the victim's son, had written letters to Daniels offering to help push for his clemency. Daniels did not write back, but Streett said he has spoken to Daniels' mother expressing his forgiveness. Streett said his late mother may not have agreed with Kernan's decision, but she would have been glad the case has come to an end. "As long as he (Daniels) was on death row, every couple of years there was a story about it in the paper," Streett said. "She just wanted that to be over." Daniels' lawyer, Eric Koselke, said the inmate has a legal guardian who would tell him of the clemency. "It took a lot of courage for him (Kernan) to do it," he said. 8 other death row inmates appealed to the outgoing governor for clemency, but Kernan did not make a decision on the other cases. (source: Associated Press)
