Feb. 5
USA:
Legal Counsel for Capital Cases
We were thrilled to hear President Bush announce in his State of the Union
address on Wednesday that he would seek funds for expanded training of
defense lawyers in death penalty cases. This is welcome recognition of one
of the more glaring flaws in the nation's wretched system of capital
punishment: the all-too-frequent denial of effective assistance of
counsel. It was also an encouraging sign of progress, given Mr. Bush's
refusal to acknowledge the pervasive problem of inadequate counsel while
presiding over Texas's plethora of executions while he was its governor.
Of course, Mr. Bush is becoming well known for not matching his actions to
his words - the Millennium Challenge to help alleviate poverty in Africa,
Latin America and Asia comes to mind. So we anxiously await next week's
budget to see whether the White House will put its money where Mr. Bush's
mouth is. It's still an open question. According to sketchy details
provided by the White House, Mr. Bush will ask Congress to spend $50
million over 3 years, mostly to underwrite efforts by bar associations and
others to provide special training for lawyers, judges and prosecutors
involved in capital cases. That is far short of the $375 million over 5
years that Congress called for spending to improve the quality of
representation in the broadly bipartisan Justice for All Act, which Mr.
Bush signed into law just last October.
Beyond expanded training, the new law contains well-written provisions
that set standards for effective representation and provide large
financial incentives for states to meet them. So all eyes are on Monday's
budget - we hope it includes financing for these incentives, which will
reveal Mr. Bush's true commitment to death penalty reform.
(source: Editorial, New York Times)
INDIANA:
Daniels backs death penalty if guilt clear Governor admits he has moral
qualms but supports sentence for the worst crimes.
Gov. Mitch Daniels, in his longest public discussion of the death penalty,
said Friday that although he has moral reservations he believes that
sentence is appropriate for the most extreme crimes in which guilt is
clear.
Daniels, who has freely spoken of his religious faith and launched his
inauguration with a church service and gospel concert, said there are
"honest moral questions" about whether the death penalty is proper.
"I honestly would say on different days I can feel differently about
that," he said. "But that's because this is a values issue, one that every
citizen has to search his or her own heart on."
He added that the "people of Indiana very clearly believe that at least in
the worst of cases the option of this penalty is appropriate, and I
agree."
Daniels could face his 1st life-or-death decision soon. Donald Ray
Wallace, convicted of killing an Evansville family of four in 1980, is
scheduled to be executed March 10.
Wallace has not asked Daniels for clemency.
Throughout his campaign for the governor's office, the issue of the death
penalty was seldom if ever raised. And when then-Gov. Joe Kernan commuted
the death sentencof a death row inmate 2 days before leaving office,
Daniels declined comment.
Friday, in his weekly meeting with reporters, Daniels said 2 issues are
involved in weighing the death penalty.
"First of all, there's the need to make sure in any case that there's not
one particle of doubt about guilt," he said.
He would want to be sure, he said, that "whatever else ought to go into
the decision, it's clear that the extreme criminal act had actually been
committed by the person accused."
"And then secondly, very honestly, to weigh the question of to whom
justice and vengeance ultimately belongs," he said, using words that
echoed the Biblical passage: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, sayeth the
Lord."
Asked whether he had religious reservations, Daniels said: "I'll just say
moral."
When Kernan commuted the sentence of Michael Daniels on Jan. 8, giving him
life in prison for the 1978 murder of a Fort Benjamin Harrison chaplain,
he called on state government to examine whether the sentencing system in
death penalty cases is fair.
While Michael Daniels was sentenced to death for his part in the murder of
Allan Streett, 2 accomplices received lesser terms and have long been out
of prison.
Such disparities, Kernan said then, "should cause us to take a hard look
at how Indiana administers and reviews capital sentences." Other states,
especially Illinois, where then-Gov. George Ryan emptied Death Row because
of concerns that innocent people were being executed, also are examining
how the penalty is administered.
Gov. Daniels said he does not think Indiana needs to take any systemic
look at the death penalty.
"I think we have pretty good systems in place now, multiple layers.
Whatever one thinks about the death penalty, you can't say that we
approach it hastily. There's so many layers of appeals," Daniels said.
"Look at the age of some of these cases. And now we have the new forensic
techniques and other precautions and safeguards that are available."
That, he said, is "exactly as it should be."
At least 2 of the more conservative members of Indiana's legislature said
they are comfortable with Daniels' stance on the death penalty.
Rep. Woody Burton, R-Greenwood, and Sen. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis,
said that they have no concerns about Daniels' position as long as he
continues to believe the penalty is appropriate for those guilty of the
worst crimes.
****************************************
Governor may get last word on inmate's execution
With less than 5 weeks left before the scheduled execution of an Indiana
death row inmate, it likely will fall to Gov. Mitch Daniels to decide
whether Donald Ray Wallace lives or dies.
Wallace, convicted in the 1980 slayings of 4 people, has said he does not
want to ask Daniels for clemency -- but he still could change his mind
before his March 10 execution.
Daniels, who has made few, if any, public comments about the death
penalty, acknowledged mixed feelings about the issue.
"If I said I had no reservations or conflicting sentiments, I wouldn't be
honest," Daniels said Wednesday night through a spokeswoman.
"I believe, and it's clear the people of Indiana believe, that in the most
heinous cases, this penalty is appropriate."
During primary and general election campaigns going back to July 2003,
Daniels has had little to say about capital punishment.
"I'm not sure he stated a position during the campaign," Bill Oesterle,
who was Daniel's campaign manager, said earlier Wednesday.
The governor's lawyer, Steven Schultz, has briefed Daniels on the case,
said gubernatorial spokeswoman Jane Jankowski.
Daniels "would follow a procedure designed to ensure that there are no
lingering questions of guilt," she said.
The Indiana Supreme Court this week scheduled the execution, which is to
take place at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.
Wallace was convicted in 1982 of shooting to death Patrick Gilligan; his
wife, Theresa; their 5-year-old daughter, Lisa; and their 4-year-old son,
Gregory, in Evansville.
His is the third-longest-running appeal of any Indiana death row inmate.
Earlier this month, the high court for the fourth time declined to
overturn his sentence.
Sarah Nagy, Wallace's attorney, said he feels a clemency petition would be
"kind of an exercise in futility," though she will try to persuade him to
seek it.
Nagy also said she might file another appeal next week, contending it
would be cruel and unusual to execute Wallace after 22-plus years on death
row.
"It would serve no legal or moral purpose, and I believe he is
rehabilitated," Nagy said.
If Wallace seeks clemency, he must file a belated petition because he's
missed the deadline. The petition would then be reviewed by the Indiana
Parole Board, which would make a recommendation to Daniels.
Former Gov. Joe Kernan commuted the death sentences of 2 inmates --
Michael W. Daniels and Darnell Williams -- to life in prison.
Daniels refused to comment then, saying he did not want to politicize the
decisions.
Of the 35 men on Indiana's death row, only 2 have been there longer than
Wallace.
Wallace's case had 2 long delays.
It took 3 years to transcribe testimony from the month-long trial, said
Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Stan Levco, who tried the case as a young
assistant prosecutor.
Then, Wallace changed lawyers while a writ of habeas corpus was before
U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker. The case lingered there 7 years.
Nagy said when she took over the case, she went through "8 large banker's
boxes of testimony and other records."
Indiana death row inmates spend more time awaiting execution -- about 10
{1frac2} years -- than in all but 2 states, according to the U.S.
Department of Justice.
"The death penalty is so very complicated, and a big piece of it is a
life- and-death decision, and that is not easy to take," defense attorney
Paula Sites said.
Since 1977, 11 people have been executed in Indiana; the last was Joseph
Trueblood, 46, on June 13, 2003. He was convicted of killing his
girlfriend and her 2 children in Tippecanoe County in 1988.
****
Death Row inmates The Indiana Department of Correction lists 36 inmates on
Indiana's death row. These 10 have been there longest:
- Richard Moore, 73, sentenced Oct. 24, 1980, for killing his ex-wife,
Rhonda Moore, 27, his father-in-law John H. Caldwell Sr., 54, and
Indianapolis police officer Gerald F. Griffin, 29.
- Rufus Averhart (now known as Zolo Agona Azania), 50, sentenced May 25,
1982, for killing Gary police officer George Yaros, 57, during a bank
robbery.
- Donald Ray Wallace, 47, sentenced Oct. 21, 1982, for killing George
Patrick Gilligan, 30, wife Theresa Gilligan, 30, children Lisa, 5, and
Gregory Gilligan, 4, during a robbery at their Evansville home.
- Marvin Bieghler, 57, sentenced March 25, 1983, for the shooting deaths
of Thomas E. Miller, 20, and his wife Kimberly J. Miller, 19, at their
mobile home near Russiaville.
- Mark A. Wisehart, 42, sentenced Sept. 26, 1983, for killing Marjorie R.
Johnson, 65, during a robbery at her Anderson apartment.
- Greagree C. Davis** (now known as Chijoike Bomani Ben-Yisrayl), 43,
sentenced Oct. 26, 1984, for the stabbing death and sexual assault of
Debra D. Weaver, 21.- David Leon Woods, 40, sentenced March 28, 1985, for
the stabbing death of Juan Placencia, 77, during a robbery at Placencia's
Garrett apartment.
- Gregory Scott Johnson, 39, sentenced June 19, 1986, for murder and arson
in the death of Ruby Hustler, 82, Anderson.
- Keith B. Canaan,** 46, sentenced Nov. 26, 1986, for the murder of Lori
Bullock, 22, in her Evansville apartment.
- Arthur Paul Baird II, 58, sentenced March 13, 1987, for the murders of
his parents, Kathryn and Arthur Paul Baird Sr., as well as his pregnant
wife, Nadine S. Baird, and the 7-month-old fetus she was carrying.
(Note: Debra Denise Brown, 42, was sentenced to death June 23, 1986, for
the killing of Tamika Turks, 7, Gary, during a crime spree with accomplice
Alton Coleman. She was convicted in Ohio of 2 murders committed during
that spree, and is serving a life sentence there.)
** Indicates inmates who remain on death row while a new trial or
sentencing is pending.
(source for both: Indianapolis Star)
***********************
2 Men Charged in Ind. Girl's Death
In Brownstown, 2 men have been charged in connection with the abduction
and slaying of a 10-year-old girl whose body was found in a creek,
authorities said.
Charles Hickman, 20, charged with murder and criminal confinement in the
death of Katlyn Collman, told investigators her abduction was intended to
scare the girl into keeping quiet about methamphetamine activities in her
neighborhood, prosecutors said.
The suspect did not speak to reporters as he was led into a courthouse for
a hearing Friday.
Another man, Timothy C. O'Sullivan, 22, and an unidentified 17-year-old
boy were awaiting a hearing on charges they allegedly gave false
information to officers investigating the case.
Court documents filed by prosecutors said that Collman drowned about 15
miles from her hometown of Crothersville. Her body was found Sunday and
she had last been seen 5 days earlier as she walked 3 blocks home from an
errand to buy toilet paper.
Hickman told investigators that Collman was brought to his home by the
residents of an apartment near the store where she had shopped, the
documents alleged. He said the residents were worried Collman had seen
them producing or using methamphetamine and that she might tell others
what she had seen, according to the documents.
"They decided to scare her with the hope that she would be intimidated
enough to keep her observations to herself," FBI agent James Kouns wrote
in an affidavit.
Prosecutors allege that Hickman tied the girl's hands behind her back.
Hickman first told investigators the girl tried to run away and fell into
the creek, but also said he might have "bumped" her into the water.
Prosecutors had not decided whether to seek the death penalty against
Hickman.
The girl's death was the 1st homicide in 25 years in the town of about
1,600 people some 40 miles north of Louisville, Ky.
(source: Associated Press)
PENNSYLVANIA:
D.A. seeking death penalty in Salem Mtn. slaying
The death penalty may await two men charged in the murder of a Carbondale
man whose body was found in a shallow grave on Salem Mountain last year,
their prosecutor said Friday.
The announcement came at the arraignment for Antonio
"Tone" Ortiz and Anthony Zedar, both tied by police to the shooting death
of Frank L. West.
Mr. Ortiz, 30, is accused of pulling the trigger, Lackawanna County Deputy
District Attorney Amy C. Phillips said, while Mr. Zedar, 50, is accused of
offering to pay Mr. Ortiz to carry out the killing.
Friday's hearing, before Judge Terrence R. Nealon, was merely a formality,
allowing both men to plead not guilty on the record. They have been jailed
since July, when Mr. West's body was found by friends searching for his
remains. A magistrate bound their cases over for trial in November.
Neither man said anything on Friday beyond "not guilty, sir" and "yes,
sir" to Judge Nealon.
2 different motives have been proposed by Ms. Phillips.
The first is that Mr. West, 32, of Rear 95 Canaan St., allegedly stole
crack cocaine from Mr. Ortiz, of Manhattan's Lower East Side, and that the
April killing was payback.
The 2nd is that Mr. Ortiz killed Mr. West as a contract hit for Mr. Zedar,
of 72 Webster Court in Eynon -- who allegedly wanted Mr. West dead so he
could be with Mr. West's fiance, Stacey Cosgrove.
Because it is a death-penalty case, each man is being represented by two
lawyers. Mr. Ortiz's lead lawyer is Paul P. Ackourey, who is being helped
by Ben Josielevski. Mr. Zedar's lead lawyer is John Petorak, who is being
assisted by Gerard M. Karam. All but Mr. Petorak have been appointed at
public expense.
Ms. Phillips has asked that the pair be tried together; Judge Nealon has
not ruled on her request. He scheduled their trials for Sept. 6.
Both men are being held at the Lackawanna County Prison. Because they are
charged with capital crimes, Judge Nealon said, they cannot post bail.
(source: Scranton Times Tribune)
