Jan. 18 CALIFORNIA: California to execute inmate in 1981 slayings, barring intervention by courts, Schwarzenegger California could see its 1st execution in nearly three years early Wednesday unless a last-minute appeal is granted or if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger grants him clemency. Donald Beardslee, 61, is scheduled be put to death by injection at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday at San Quentin State Prison for the 1981 slayings of 2 women. More than 2 dozen public officials, members of the victims' families and members of the media are scheduled to witness the execution. Beardslee's remaining legal challenges before the U.S. Supreme Court include claims that the lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment and that jurors were unfairly influenced when they rendered a death verdict. It would be the 1st execution in California since January 2002 and only the 11th since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1977. More than 600 men are on the state's death row. In his clemency petition, Beardslee's lawyers claim he suffers from brain maladies when he killed Stacey Benjamin, 19, and Patty Geddling, 23. The 2 were lured to his Redwood City apartment to avenge a soured $185 drug deal. Schwarzenegger has not answered Beardslee's clemency petition. Decisions from the Supreme Court and Schwarzenegger could come any time. A year ago, 21/2 months after he took office, Schwarzenegger denied clemency to Kevin Cooper, convicted in the hacking deaths of four people in 1983. Cooper later won a stay of execution from a federal appeals court. At a hearing Friday on Beardslee's request, Former San Quentin Warden Daniel Vasquez called for clemency, saying Beardslee had been a model inmate during his 21 years on death row and contributed to the safety of guards and other prisoners. "Donald Beardslee is the rare inmate," Vasquez said. "Killing him would be a shame." But Tom Amundsen, victim Stacey Benjamin's brother, said, "Now it's time to say goodbye to Mr. Beardslee. That's what I want, that's what my family wants." Prosecutors have said that Beardslee was not an unwitting dupe when he committed the murders, as his lawyers say. The last execution in California came on Jan. 29, 2002, when Stephen Wayne Anderson was put to death for shooting an 81-year-old woman in 1980. (source: Associated Press) NEVADA: A recent Nevada Supreme Court ruling could end up limiting prosecutors' ability to seek the death penalty in murder cases, defense attorneys and prosecutors agreed. The decision, issued in a Washoe County case involving Robert McConnell, limits certain criteria used by prosecutors to seek capital punishment. Clark County Public Defender Phil Kohn said the ruling would help ensure the death penalty in Nevada is only used for the most heinous crimes. "It filters out the cases that do not belong in the realm of death penalty litigation," Kohn said. "The death penalty is incredibly expensive to the taxpayer, and it should be used only for the worst crimes." But prosecutors criticized the ruling. "If it is upheld, it is going to have a significant impact in restricting our ability to seek the death penalty," said Chris Owens, Clark County chief deputy district attorney. The Washoe County district attorney's office has asked the court to reconsider its ruling. In its Dec. 29 ruling, the court upheld McConnell's death sentence for the August 2002 fatal shooting of his former girlfriend's fiance, Brian Pierce, at her home. But at the same time, the court issued a lengthy finding on the method in which certain death penalty cases are sought in Nevada. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: Judges stay 2 executions Judges have stayed the executions of 2 Philadelphia murderers who were scheduled to receive lethal injections in the coming weeks. The Feb. 17 execution of Roy L. Williams, 40, convicted of killing a stranger near one of Philadelphia's biggest drug markets, was stayed by U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick on Jan. 7. Surrick's order was released Tuesday by the state Corrections Department. The March 9 execution of Steven McCrae, 24, sentenced to death in 2000 for the murders of 2 men, was stayed Thursday by Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Gary S. Glazer. (source: NEPA) ************************ Supreme Court hears Allentown death penalty appeal The U.S. Supreme Court considered Tuesday whether a jury unfairly sentenced a Pennsylvania man to death on a 17-year-old Lehigh County murder conviction in a case expected to clarify death penalty standards for attorney conduct and jury instructions. Ronald Rompilla, 56, was convicted of robbing, stabbing and setting on fire a tavern owner in Allentown in 1988. He argues his sentence should be overturned because jurors weren't told by the trial judge they could sentence him to life in prison without parole. Rompilla also alleges his public defenders failed to review records showing mitigating evidence of mental retardation and a traumatic upbringing, even after prosecutors gave warning they planned to use the documents against him. During oral arguments Tuesday, justices were divided along ideological lines. "When you have prosecutors telling the defense they plan to use a certain file, and these files were available in the courthouse and had he opened these files he would have access to a wealth of information, isn't that harmful error?" asked Justice John Paul Stevens, a member of the court's more liberal wing. But Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said the justices could only overturn the death sentence if it was unreasonable given all the evidence presented at trial, including the fact that defense attorneys had interviewed several witnesses. "That's a really tough road," she said. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia last year sided with Pennsylvania prosecutors in saying the attorney representation was adequate because Rompilla's attorneys had reasonably relied on testimony from mental health experts and family members. The lower court also said the trial judge wasn't required to clarify that life in prison meant no possibility of parole, even though jurors asked about parole eligibility 3 times, since prosecutors had not raised the issue of Rompilla's "future dangerousness." During arguments Tuesday, Justice David H. Souter questioned whether prosecutors had indeed argued the point of future harm. Souter noted that prosecutors presented the man's history of violent felony convictions and suggested he might do it again. "This is not a general argument of this is a very bad person. They said he's now done it twice, it's his 2nd crime and now he's getting better," he said. Amy Zapp, Pennsylvania's chief deputy attorney general, responded that law at the time allowed prosecutors to make general references to future dangerousness without triggering a requirement that jurors be told that a defendant will not be released if sent to prison. Of the 33 states that offer life-without-parole sentences, only Pennsylvania refuses to tell jurors -- even when asked -- that a defendant will not be released if given such a penalty. "They did not tell the jury to take future dangerousness into account," Zapp said. The case is Rompilla v. Beard, 04-5462. A ruling is expected by late June. (source: Morning Call) VIRGINIA: Jurors say Juniper should get death penalty A Norfolk jury recommended today that Anthony Juniper die for killing his ex-girlfriend, her brother and her 2 young children a year ago. The jury convicted the 33-year-old Juniper last week of 4 counts of capital murder, 4 weapons charges and a count of armed burglary. The jurors deliberated for about 2 hours this morning before they returned to tell the judge they had decided in favor of the death penalty. Juniper is scheduled be formally sentenced on April 1st. (source: WAVY News)
