Feb. 24 CONNECTICUT: Death penalty bill faces obstacles A bill discussing the abolishment of the death penalty will probably not make it past the Judiciary Committee, senators and lobbyists said yesterday at the General Assembly. Sen. Andrew McDonald (D-Stamford) the co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said although he is not in favor of the death penalty, it will remain. He also said that from the most recent polls he saw, there is a "clear majority of people in favor of the death penalty." According to the Connecticut General Assembly web site, the bill will "repeal the death sentence as an authorized penalty for persons who commit certain murders." The bill stated instead of the death penalty, the criminal will serve life in prison without any possibility of release. Kim Harrison, a contracting lobbyist who presents legislation for many non-profit organizations, said she is not in favor of the death penalty and is hoping the bill will get passed, but admits it will not happen. "I need 76 votes to pass the bill, and one year I got 58," Harrison said. "I will miss it by a little this time, but will have some small success in the Judiciary Committee." Harrison also said those working with her against the death penalty are very smart and compassionate, but there are not a lot in the General Assembly. "The General Assembly isn't made up of compassionate people," Harrison said. Sen. David Cappiello (R-Danbury) said in contradiction to his colleagues that this bill has more of a connection to a current case. "This bill has everything to do with the Ross execution," Cappiello said. "He is the epitome of why we should have the death penalty." Cappiello said he does not feel the death penalty is an "easy way out" for prisoners like Ross. Cappiello said he thinks about the victims and their families and wonders why Connecticut should not execute those who have committed such heinous crimes. He is confident the Connecticut government is good enough to make the right decisions if someone should be executed. Mike Clark, an 8th-semester journalism major, said the bill will not pass and he is okay with that. "I think it is obvious the bill won't pass, which is good because I think that Michael Ross deserves to die," Clark said. Chief State's Attorney Chris Morano said this issue of the death penalty is a very serious matter and he is uncertain of how he stands. But, if they are going to change the law, then do it now. He said there are very few people on death row in Connecticut because there is a careful process to make sure the people there are guilty. "I am conflicted when looking at the families of the victims, sometimes I am for the death penalty and sometimes I am not," Morano said. "There are very few people on death row because a government's biggest horror is executing someone who is not guilty." According to McDonald, the bill should be moved out within the next five to seven days without passing. (source: The Daily Campus) NEW MEXICO: House panel approves death penalty repeal A bill to abolish the death penalty in New Mexico flew through a committee and is headed to the House floor for a vote. The measure would replaces capital punishment with a sentence of life in prison without parole. The Judiciary Committee passed the bill Wednesday on a 6-to-3 vote following a long public hearing. The committee heard testimony on both sides of the issue from murder victims families and their advocates. Its the first time the full House will vote on a death penalty repeal since opponents geared up about 8 years ago to try to overturn the law. Similar repeal bills have reached the Senate floor but failed -- most recently in 2001 by one vote. There are 2 men on New Mexicos death row. If the repeal were enacted into law, it would not affect their sentences. (source: Associated Press) ********************* Area dealing with large number of death-penalty cases As debate over the death penalty rages in the New Mexico Legislature, the Santa Fe district attorney's office is seeking or might seek that very fate in a relatively large number of cases, said DA Henry Valdez. "(The large number) is absolutely unusual," Valdez said. "If we have one every couple of years, that's more what we're used to." Valdez and his staff attorneys are looking at possibly pursuing the death penalty in 3 cases and are actively seeking the death penalty in 2 other cases. Before last summer - when both of the current death-penalty cases were filed - it had been nearly 6 1 /2 years since the Death and the district attorney The Santa Fe district attorney's office is seeking or might seek the death penalty in 5 cases involving 8 people: Repeal wouldn't spare 2 on row. A repeal of the death penalty in New Mexico would not affect the sentences of the 2 men currently on death row: Timothy Allen of Bloomfield , convicted in December 1995 of killing and raping 17-year-old Sandra Phillips. Robert Fry of Farmington, convicted in June 2000 of the death of Betty Lee in remote San Juan County. Execution dates for both men are a long way off while the cases undergo appellate review, said Tia Bland, spokeswoman for the New Mexico Corrections Department. The last man executed in New Mexico was Terry Clark in 2001. The ranch hand convicted of killing 9-year-old Dena Lynn Gore of Artesia and was the first person put to death in the state in more than 40 years. DA's office had last sought the death penalty and more than 10 years since anyone was sentenced to death in the 1st Judicial District. "I take (the death penalty) seriously," Valdez said in a recent interview. "It is a difficult decision, and that's why it takes so long. "Personally, I think there are some crimes that deserve the death penalty. I have no qualms either professionally or personally telling jurors they ought to impose the death penalty." Sentence a possibility The DA's office is considering filing the death penalty in the following cases: Derrick Lane, 21, of La Madera, is charged with the murder, rape and kidnapping of Ariana Rendon, 25, of Dixon. Rendon was seen with Lane at the Club Tropicana pool hall in Espanola the night of Oct. 28, 2003, and early the next morning, police have said. Rendon's friends told police the woman left the pool hall with Lane and a friend around closing time. The friend asked to be let out of the van along Paseo De Onate in Espanola , because Lane was behaving strangely and "making weird comments," police have said. The friend got out, according to police, but Rendon remained in the van. Rendon's body had been severely beaten when it was discovered, and some of her clothing was found along U.S. 285. Valdez said his office is close to deciding whether or not to seek the death penalty against Lane. Jonathan Dick, 26, was kidnapped , punched, kicked, hit in the head with a rock and a tire iron, strangled and finally stabbed during a heroin-fueled orgy of violence that ended with his death in an arroyo near Chili in last March, according to court documents. In that case, Donald Hamilton, 27, of Los Alamos, John Knight, 21, of Espanola and Dion Martinez, 29, of Alcalde are each charged with an open count of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, possession of heroin, aggravated battery and 4 counts of tampering with evidence. Hamilton is also charged with 1 court of criminal solicitation. Jorge Serrano, 20, was initially charged in the case but agreed last fall to plead guilty to kidnapping and second-degree murder in exchange for a 12-to-18-year sentence and will testify against the others in the case. A 5th man - 22-year-old Juan Ignacio Sanchez of Ojo Sarco - also was charged in the case but hanged himself in his jail cell soon after his arrest. Before deciding whether to pursue the death penalty against 1 or all 3 remaining defendants, prosecutors are waiting for the court to rule on what evidence will be allowed at trial, Valdez said. Imminent decision A decision is imminent on whether to seek the death penalty against Karen Smallwood in the killing of a 19-year-old Santa Fe mother last year, Valdez said. The body of Ursula Duran was found last Oct. 13 at the southeast Santa Fe home of her aunt and uncle, where she'd been housesitting. Duran - the mother of a 2-year-old boy - was shot numerous times. Smallwood, 59, was arrested near Orlando, Fla., last November after a monthlong, multistate investigation that involved 36 law-enforcement agencies. Smallwood was a former housesitter for Duran's aunt and uncle and was characterized by her family as a drifter. Smallwood is charged with 1st degree murder, aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon, tampering with evidence and 2 counts of unauthorized automated-tellermachine withdrawal. "We're real close (to deciding) on Smallwood," Valdez said. Ongoing cases The 2 death-penalty cases already being pursued by the DA are: Jesus "Chuy" Aviles-Dominguez , 28, and Daniel Good, 31, both of Santa Fe, are each charged with 1st-degree murder and a slew of other counts in the beating death of Dickie Ortega in the Santa Fe County jail last June. Ortega was accused in June of being a "snitch" by others who lived in his same jail pod, then beaten with fists and feet in the shower portion of the living area, according to court records. When a corrections officer finally noticed Ortega's labored breathing, he was taken to the medical unit. Ortega suffered head trauma, a torn liver, an injured kidney, broken ribs, a broken nose and numerous contusions and bruises on his torso, prosecutors have said. The case is just beginning to wind its way through the court system. Both Aviles-Dominguez and Good appeared Wednesday at a motions hearing, where Aviles-Dominguez said he and his codefendant were innocent and the victims of "malicious prosecution." Christopher McClendon, 40, was linked to the 1989 rape and killing of a Santa Fe woman by a DNA test in early 2004. The convicted serial rapist is serving two life sentences for kidnapping and raping a 24-year-old waitress from the Cowgirl Hall of Fame Restaurant in 1999. He was also convicted of rape and kidnapping in San Juan County in 1985, but was paroled in 1989. McClendon now faces the death penalty for allegedly raping and murdering Tracy Barker, 22. Barker, a supervisor for Pizza Hut at Villa Linda Mall, was beaten and strangled May 2, 1989. Her body was found near Richards Avenue. Recent cases The last time the DA's office sought the death penalty was in February 1998, when Robert Bryant was accused of killing an Albuquerque woman. Bryant was convicted in November 1999, but a jury decided to impose a life sentence in prison rather than the death penalty. The last person sentenced to death in the 1st Judicial District was Jerome Martinez in April 1994, though he died in prison of an illness before he could be executed. Martinez was convicted in April 1994 of murdering 9-year-old Venessa Valerio during a burglary of her Rio Chama home. He died in March 1996. (source: Santa Fe New Mexican)
