Jan. 15 VIRGINIA: State Objects to Bells Request For Investigator The Virginia Attorney Generals Office has taken exception with convicted murderer Edward N. Bells motion asking for additional investigative help for his appeal, and is asking the federal court to deny the request. Bell, 40, of Winchester, was sentenced to death in 2001 for murdering Winchester Police Sgt. Ricky L. Timbrook on Oct. 29, 1999. Since his conviction, Bell has been on death row at Sussex Correctional Facility in Waverly appealing his sentence. In a court filing Thursday, Senior Assistant Attorney General Katherine Baldwin says that Bells attorney, Jonathan P. Sheldon, has more than enough people to help with the case. Baldwins response is to a Jan. 6 motion by Sheldon, who is asking the court to appoint investigators for Bells case. That motion also asks the court for an additional 90 days to file a federal habeas corpus petition - a civil action challenging a criminal conviction as unconstitutional. Baldwin says in her filing that Bell has not shown his requests for an investigator and other help is necessary. The state response also says the federal court already has the authority to authorize the defendants attorneys to obtain investigative, expert, or other services if deemed necessary. In November, the Virginia Supreme Court rejected Bells latest appeal, his execution was scheduled for Jan. 7. However, on Dec. 23, a federal judge in Abingdon ordered a stay of execution. Sheldon claims new witnesses have come forward that could prove his clients innocence. A supposed ex parte filing by Sheldon has also gotten a strong objection by Baldwin in her latest response. An ex parte filing is one that is done by one party in a dispute without the other party having knowledge of it. Baldwin says an ex parte filing can only be considered by the court if there is a need for confidentiality. "Bell has made no showing of a need for confidentiality," Baldwin wrote. Sheldon has said he has not filed anything ex parte. Baldwin also says any issues Bell will present to the court about his guilt or innocence will need to be dismissed. Because Bell did not raise his innocence issue with the state court, it would be exempt from federal review, Baldwin wrote. Also, the guilt or innocence of a habeas petitioner is not an acceptable claim in a federal habeas proceeding, she wrote. "Although a petitioner may demonstrate his actual innocence as cause to excuse a defaulted claim in federal court, Bell never could establish that he was actually innocent of the capital murder of Timbrook," the document states. "In order to make this showing, a federal habeas petitioner must present new evidence of innocence so strong that a court cannot have confidence in the outcome of trial unless the trial was free of nonharmless constitutional error," Baldwin wrote. Her response also says a claim by Sheldon that his client suffers from mental retardation will also require dismissal because in prior appeals processes, it has never been proven. In an e-mailed response Friday, Sheldon said the state response is another roadblock to finding out what really happened when Timbrook was killed. "Bell has never had any investigation of his case," Sheldon wrote. "The Attorney General has consistently avoided discussing the merits of the case including new witnesses." A date to hear the motion has not been set. (source: Winchester Star) ALABAMA: Prosecution: Rudolph's Bible included handwritten note on 'bombs' Lawyers for serial bombing suspect Eric Rudolph want a court to throw out a handwriting analysis of his Bible, which prosecutors say had the word "bombs" scribbled beside an apocalyptic passage describing hail from heaven. The defense contends the analysis by a federal expert doesn't meet the scientific standards required to be introduced at Rudolph's upcoming trial for a deadly 1998 abortion clinic bombing in Birmingham. Prosecutors haven't filed documents stating whether they oppose a hearing on the matter. U.S. Attorney Alice Martin declined comment Friday. Carl R. McClary, an analyst with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, matched Rudolph's handwriting with writings found on several documents and books, including the Bible, according to the defense. Investigators and news reports have publicly tied Rudolph to the far-right Christian Identity movement. His lawyers deny the connection. Rudolph also is charged in the bombing that killed a woman at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and bombings outside an abortion clinic and a gay bar in Atlanta in 1997. He could face the death penalty if convicted in the Birmingham bombing, which killed an off-duty police officer and critically injured a nurse. Prosecutors said the word "bombs" was printed in large letters in the margin beside Revelation 16:21, which was underlined. The passage has been read by believers to describe God's final judgment on a corrupt, immoral world. The passage reads: "And there fell upon man a great hail storm out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the hail thereof was exceedingly great." The defense also wants a judge to throw out fingerprint evidence that prosecutors could use in a bid to link Rudolph to the Alabama bombing, and it contends an explosives-sniffing dog that helped in searches of Rudolph's trailer and storage shed was unreliable. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: Death penalty off table for retrial A Lower Southampton man who won a new trial in August after serving more than 20 years of a life sentence for murder will not face the death penalty, lawyers on both sides confirmed Friday. Dennis Flanagan, 40, was just 17 years old when he pleaded guilty in 1981 to killing James Redman, 26, of Northampton. Witnesses said Flanagan and his co-defendant, George Yacob, then 20, targeted Redman because he was gay. The state Supreme Court ruled that Flanagan is entitled to a new trial because he "lacked a basic understanding of the legal principles" that were part of his guilty plea. Flanagan was arraigned in Bucks County court in Doylestown Friday and entered a not-guilty plea to charges of murder and robbery. Prosecutors had filed a notice that they would seek the death penalty if Flanagan is again convicted but withdrew the motion before the hearing. Flanagan's new attorneys, Randall Miller and Ronald Elgart, had argued in court filings that, under double jeopardy laws, Flanagan can't face capital punishment because a prior judge heard evidence and then ruled against imposing the death penalty in 1981. "The law is clearly on our side," Miller said. Gray-haired and dressed in a prison jumpsuit, Flanagan did not testify at the hearing before county Judge John Rufe but answered, "Yes, your honor" when asked if he understood what was happening in court. Redman's partially decomposed body was found under a pile of trash inside a Bensalem industrial park on July 5, 1981. His parents had reported him missing 2 days before. Witnesses told police that Flanagan and Yacob bragged that they robbed Redman and, "struck him with rocks, kicked him in the throat and stabbed him," court records say. Redman's car was found near the Top of The Hill Apartments, where Flanagan lived at the time. Yacob was also convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Miller said Friday that Yacob has changed his story to police several times. Miller said he was confident that a jury would find Flanagan not guilty. The trial is tentatively set for Feb. 14. "We look forward to getting into court and believe we will be able to establish Mr. Flanagan's innocence," Miller said. "It's going to be a completely different case than what was presented in 1981." (source: Bucks County Courier Times) NEBRASKA: Lawmaker introduces lethal injection bill The accounts of Robert Williams' execution in the electric chair were chilling. Williams, convicted of murdering 2 Lincoln women, had a bubble blister the size of a baseball on his left calf and charring on both sides of 1 knee and on the top of his head when he was executed in 1997. A witness reported seeing smoke emanating from Williams' body. And since Nebraska is the last state with the electric chair as its sole means of execution, many people feel it is just a matter of time before a court declares electrocution cruel and unusual punishment. To that end, Sen. Phil Erdman of Bayard introduced a bill (LB506) on Friday that would switch Nebraska's method of execution to lethal injection. "If we don't resolve this on our time, there's a chance that we'll be here on someone else's time in a special session from a court mandate," Erdman said. And even though most state lawmakers favor changing Nebraska's method of execution to lethal injection, majority doesn't always rule in the Legislature. Last session, Speaker Curt Bromm pulled a lethal injection bill from the agenda because of time constraints as the session waned. It was a victory for Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers -- an ardent death-penalty opponent -- who had been clogging up debate on other bills in order the keep the lethal-injection bill from being debated. Chambers has declined to discuss the subject this session "People know where I stand," he said. Three people have been put to death in Nebraska since executions were resumed in 1994: Harold Otey, John Joubert and Williams. In 2003, U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon of Omaha vacated the death sentence of Charles Jess Palmer for a 1979 murder in Grand Island. In doing so, Bataillon cited the recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that said juries, not judges, must decide if a crime merits the death penalty. At the end of his order, Bataillon said he had been prepared to rule the use of the electric chair as cruel and unusual punishment. Palmer presented evidence and post-mortem photographs of Otey, Joubert and Williams. Aside from the accounts of Williams' execution, coroner reports show that Joubert suffered a 4-inch blistering burn on the top of his head and blistering on both sides of his head above his ears. Witnesses observed that Otey was still breathing after the 1st and 2nd applications of electricity. In a pre-session survey of lawmakers by The Associated Press, 29 of 47 senators said they supported changing to lethal injection. Seven said they were leaning that way. 6 said they were against the change, while two said they were leaning that way. 3 others did not answer the question and two did not participate in the survey. "The death penalty is in effect in Nebraska, and we have an obligation to be able to carry it out," Erdman said. And he knows that Chambers is waiting for the debate. "I would expect vigorous opposition," Erdman said. *************************** Convicted Bank Robber Gets Death Penalty The leader of a bank robbery attempt in which 5 people were killed was sentenced Friday to death in the electric chair. Jose Sandoval, 25, was convicted of killing 3 people and 3 partners of killing the other victims in the September 2002 attempt at a U.S. Bank branch in Norfolk. Surveillance tapes indicate 3 gunmen were in the bank for only 40 seconds, and no money was taken. The defense had asked for leniency because testimony indicated Sandoval had a difficult childhood, a personality disorder and was under the influence of LSD during the robbery attempt. A jury convicted Sandoval in November 2003 and found his crimes merited the death penalty. A 3-judge panel sentenced Sandoval after a hearing last month. The case will automatically be appealed. Sandoval, Jorge Galindo and a lookout, Gabriel Rodriguez, were each found guilty of 5 counts of 1st-degree murder for the killings of four bank employees and a customer. A 4th man, Erick Vela, pleaded guilty. The victims were assistant bank manager Lola Elwood, customer Evonne Tuttle and employees Jo Mausbach, Samuel Sun and Lisa Bryant. Galindo also received the death penalty. Rodgriguez, who is Sandoval's half brother, was sentenced to 5 consecutive life terms. Vela's sentence is still pending, and his lawyers are arguing he is mentally retarded and not eligible for execution. Nebraska is the only state with electrocution as its sole means of execution, and legislators have been considering switching to lethal injection. (source for both: Associated Press)
