Jan. 12 LOUISIANA: Sports store murder case moving closer to trial Defense attorneys for two men accused of killing a woman inside a clothing store last year received copies of a taped statement one of the men gave police, the men's juvenile criminal records and other case information from authorities Tuesday. State District Judge Todd Hernandez also set more pretrial hearing dates to handle issues before the scheduled Oct. 11 trial of Adell Atkins 20, 2320 McHugh Road, Baker, and Terry Thompson, 19, 1633 N. Marque Ann Drive. An East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury last year indicted Atkins and Thompson on a count of 1st-degree murder and 2 counts of attempted 1st-degree murder in 3 shootings Aug. 16 inside Urban Sports Center, 7790 Greenwell Springs Road. The men are accused of shopping for about 30 minutes and then pulling out guns and firing after being told the store was about to close, Baton Rouge police officials have said. Hana Hamideh, 21, was killed in the incident, and Hamideh's 27-year-old husband, Nidal Hamideh, and store employee Jermain Lee were injured. An arrest warrant says crime scene investigators lifted several sets of fingerprints on a counter inside the store and from chairs where the suspects sat while trying on shoes. Thompson was arrested after investigators discovered his fingerprints inside the family-owned store and later identified Atkins as his alleged accomplice, police have said. Prosecutor Aaron Brooks said during Tuesday's hearing that he expects defense attorneys will attempt to suppress evidence during a March 28 hearing. Brooks also said he expects defense attorneys to ask Hernandez to prevent jurors from getting information about the lineup and the statement Thompson gave police. Prosecutors have already filed a notice alerting defense attorneys that they will seek the death penalty against the 2 men. A 1st-degree murder conviction carries the death penalty or a sentence of life in prison, Brooks said. Thompson is being represented by David Price and Mario Guadamud while Atkins' attorneys are Susan Manuel and Bert Garraway. (source: The Advocate) KENTUCKY----foreign national/juvenile may face death penalty Man, juvenile indicted in separate murder cases----PARENTS WERE SHOT; MINOR HELD AS ADULT A Fayette grand jury indicted 1 man and 1 juvenile Monday on murder charges. The case against Jack "Jackie" Cook III, 42, has been delayed for several months while Cook underwent psychological testing. Cook was sent to the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center in LaGrange shortly after he was arrested in June for shooting his father and mother. His father died, but his mother, Margaret Cook, survived. At a hearing in November, his case was sent to the grand jury, which indicted him on charges of murder and assault. Cook told police that he shot his parents inside their home at 1033 Andover Forest Drive on June 17. Edgar Jesus Gonzalez Torres, 17, was arrested on Oct. 14 and charged with murder and robbery in the death of Francisco Javier Gonzales, 35, a horse groomer at Three Chimneys farm. Gonzales' family found him in his Cambridge Drive apartment with a gunshot wound to the head. According to police reports, Torres told investigators where some of the items he stole from Gonzales were located. Torres, a minor, will be tried as an adult. Prosecutors can seek the death penalty against the Mexico native because the murder happened during a robbery. Torres was living with an aunt and uncle in Lexington at the time of the arrest, according to police reports. Torres also was charged with robbery and tampering with physical evidence. (source: Lexington Herald-Leader) FLORIDA----new death sentence Baby's killer gets death sentence for strangling woman A man who strangled a 40-year-old woman only a month after finishing a prison sentence for killing an infant should die for the 2nd murder, a judge ruled Tuesday. Senior Circuit Judge C. Pfeiffer Trowbridge upheld a unanimous jury recommendation and sentenced Eddie Bigham, 47, to death. The jury convicted Bigham of 1st-degree murder in the May 2003 strangulation of Fort Pierce resident Lourdes "LuLu" Cavazos. "Neither the court nor the jury is inclined to give this defendant a third strike at committing murder," Trowbridge said. "The unanimous decision of the jury was the only appropriate one under the circumstances." Bigham's face revealed no expression when Trowbridge announced the sentence. He remained silent during the entire hearing Tuesday morning. Chief Assistant Public Defender Mark Harllee said Bigham was prepared for the outcome. "It was expected," Harllee said. "We had a 12-0 recommendation from the jury. The judge had to have extraordinary circumstances to override the jury." Bigham's case automatically will be appealed to the Florida Supreme Court. Prosecutors argued that Bigham dragged Cavazos into a wooded lot at 26th Street and Avenue E, where he raped and strangled her. His DNA was found on her body and clothes. During the November trial, Trowbridge threw out the rape and kidnapping charges, saying there wasn't enough evidence to support either. It took the jury 1 1/2 days to convict him of 1st-degree murder. It took only 25 minutes of deliberations before the jury issued a recommendation for the death penalty instead of life in prison. That was after jurors heard testimony that Bigham had a previous conviction of 2nd-degree murder in the 1988 death of his former girlfriend's 5-month-old baby in Broward County. The baby died of blunt trauma to the head. Bigham also was accused of dipping the infant in water so hot it burned her skin. He served 14 years for the child's death, and he was out of prison for only one month and living with a relative in Fort Pierce when he killed Cavazos. His attorneys said he spent so many years in prison, he became "institutionalized" and couldn't adjust to life on the outside. They argued he could live a productive life in prison. Trowbridge said he gave that argument little weight. "His conduct in prison has not translated into good conduct under freedom and seems to offer little reason to choose life imprisonment," he said. Cavazos' sister Yajahra Garcia said Trowbridge's sentence brings her relief. "The main thing is I'm glad he can't do it to anyone else," Garcia said. Assistant State Attorney Lynn Park echoed those thoughts. "He should not be given a chance to commit a 3rd murder," Park said. (source: Palm Beach Post) *********************** Prosecuters to seek death penalty----Suspect pleaded not guilty in gallery owner murder case In Sarasota, prosecutors filed a notice of intent seeking the death penalty against a 47-year-old man arrested in connection with the death of a Sarasota art gallery owner. The state attorney's office filed the notice against Elton Brutus Murphy in a Sarasota court Thursday. Authorities say Murphy killed Joyce Wishart, 61, inside the Provenance Gallery last January. "By filing this notice, the state preserves its right to have a mental health expert examine the defendant in the penalty phase should the defendant's mental state become an issue," Assistant State Attorney Debra Johnes Riva said. Court records indicate Murphy pleaded not-guilty to the 1st-degree murder charge on Nov. 4. A case management hearing will be held next week, according to court records. (source: Bradenton Herald) ILLINOIS: Jury weighs ex-death row inmate's $20 million case against FBI agents A federal jury on Tuesday began deliberating over whether a former Chicago Police officer and freed death row inmate deserves more than $20 million in damages -- or anything at all -- after he accused two FBI agents of framing him in two crimes. The case was put in the hands of the jury Tuesday after the monthlong trial that followed Steve Manning, 54, suing FBI agents Robert Buchan and Gary Miller. Attorneys for Miller and Buchan say the veteran agents had no motive to put their careers on the line and frame Manning. The two followed legitimate leads and found what they believed was credible evidence against Manning, attorney Jonathan Haile said. But Manning charges that Buchan and Miller stacked the deck against him by coaching witnesses, not disclosing that witnesses were getting paid and allegedly leaking sensitive information to an informant. Alleges frame-up In 1993 Manning was convicted and sent to Illinois death row in the murder of trucking-firm owner James Pellegrino. Prosecutors relied heavily on the testimony of often-used jailhouse informant Tommy Dye, who claimed Manning confessed to him in prison. Manning was cleared in 2000 after a higher court ruled some evidence should not have been allowed during trial. He was sent to Missouri to serve a 200-year sentence in a 1992 conviction for the kidnapping of 2 Kansas City drug dealers. That conviction was overturned after flaws were found in that case. Manning attorney Jon Loevy said Buchan and Miller had their hands in both cases. Loevy also said Dye knew too many details that Loevy suggested were leaked to him. Loevy said the agents framed him to retaliate after Manning stopped serving as an FBI informant. Loevy accused them of wanting to further their careers by putting a former police officer on death row. Plaintiff called anything but an angel Loevy said the agents should pay for putting Manning behind bars where he not only lost his free life for 14 years, but had to endure the violent world of prison. "They put Steve Manning in hell," Loevy told the jury. Loevy asked jurors for $20 million to compensate Manning's jail time and another $200,000 in punitive damages. Loevy asked jurors to decide for themselves what Manning deserves in "economic damages" for money he lost while locked up. But Haile said Manning doesn't deserve any damages. Haile said Manning didn't offer any evidence that the two agents were out to get him. He also said Manning wasn't an angel. Manning had pleaded guilty to a burglary he took part in while he was a police officer. He was also convicted in an insurance scam. During his testimony, Manning admitted he took bribes while he was a police officer. And while in jail, Manning admitted to arranging with Dye for a fake alibi for a murder he said he didn't commit. (source: Chicago Sun-Times)
