Mar. 2 ALABAMA: Court ruling sets aside death sentences for 13 Alabama inmates Mark Anthony Duke and Brandon Samra were sent to Alabama's death row for a 1997 crime committed when Duke was 16 and Samra was 19 - the gruesome killing of Duke's father, two little girls and their mother at a Shelby County home. According to trial testimony, Duke shot the adults and cut one of the girls' throats because he was angry his father refused to let him use his pickup truck. Samra was accused of helping Duke and cutting the other girl's throat. Because of their ages at the time, a U.S. Supreme Court decision Tuesday banning the execution of juvenile murderers will spare Duke from execution, while Samra will remain under a death sentence. "It's a shocking decision for the Supreme Court to draw an arbitrary line making killers less culpable because of their age," said Clay Crenshaw, chief of the attorney general's capital litigation division. "To excuse this conduct should really shock the conscience of this country." The court's 5-4 decision vacates the death sentences of Duke and 12 others on Alabama's death row, who were 16- or 17-years-old at the time of their crimes. The court's decision also means Lee Boyd Malvo can no longer face the death penalty for his role in the 2002 sniper shootings in the Washington area, Alabama and Louisiana. Malvo, who was 17 at the time, is accused in the shooting death of a liquor store manager in Montgomery on Sept. 21, 2002. Montgomery County District Attorney Ellen Brooks said Tuesday that she still plans to prosecute Malvo. "I'm just waiting my turn," Brooks said. "It just emphasizes one reason why this decision was so wrong," Crenshaw said. "Malvo can be prosecuted for capital murder but he won't be subject to the death penalty because this ruling draws an arbitrary line." Death penalty opponents praised the high court's decision, arguing that a life sentence without parole is sufficient punishment for teen killers. Inmates released from death row under Tuesday's ruling will automatically be sentenced to serve life without parole. "It's no picnic to look at life without parole, so people need to stop acting like this is some great gift to juveniles who now have to reconcile themselves in prison," said Bryan Stevenson, director of the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative. The high court had reviewed a Missouri case in which the state Supreme Court struck down a juvenile's death sentence on the basis that executing him would be unconstitutional. The Missouri court found that it is cruel and unusual punishment to execute someone who committed a murder before turning 18. Prior to the ruling, Alabama Attorney General Troy King filed a brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Missouri decision. King said Alabama and other states should have the right to consider the individual circumstances surrounding a capital murder and determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether the death penalty is the appropriate sentence. The Alabama brief was supported by Delaware, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Virginia. "I am deeply disappointed with today's ruling and its failure to recognize that the removal of this deterrent from prosecutors in our land will likely lead to more tragedy, to more brutality and to more victims," King said Tuesday. Stevenson said special consideration should be taken when sentencing juveniles, because they are still developing socially, mentally and physically. He said age is considered in drinking and voting laws because maturity is a factor, so it should also play a role in deciding criminal cases. "What makes them less culpable, unlike adults, is that these are folks who are changing," he said, noting that a juvenile's behavior during teenage years is not a clear indicator of how he will behave as an adult. State Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, introduced a bill Tuesday to raise the execution age in Alabama to 18, which would put the state's law in line with the court's ruling. Sanders had the bill drafted and planned to introduce it prior to the high court's ruling. Crenshaw said that age is already considered during capital murder trials, with only the most heinous of crimes ending in death sentences. Most of Alabama's juvenile death row inmates were motivated by money and material greed when killing, he said. "That's for a jury and a judge to decide," Crenshaw said. "Certainly age can and should be considered. But just because a killer is of a certain age and can no longer be subject to the death penalty is just plain ridiculous." Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said the prisons would wait to receive individual court orders before releasing juvenile death row inmates into the general population. (source: Tuscaloosa News) KENTUCKY: 8 Fayette inmates no longer face possibility of death penalty The U.S. Supreme Court decision yesterday to stop the execution of criminals under 18 won't affect the 36 inmates currently awaiting execution in Kentucky. But at least eight inmates waiting trial in Fayette County will no longer face the death penalty as a possible sentence. The high court decided the issue yesterday, saying executing juveniles violated the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The decision is expected to affect about 70 juveniles currently on death row across the country. The total number of juvenile offenders in Kentucky who would be affected by yesterday's decision is not known, but Fayette could have the most with 8. Jefferson County, which has the largest population and the most murders, has no pending murder cases involving juveniles in which the death penalty is a possibility, said Jefferson Commonwealth Attorney David Stengel. Death penalty foes said yesterday's decision was in line with public opinion in Kentucky. The Rev. Pat Delahanty, chair of the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said a recent University of Kentucky poll showed the majority of people prefer other sentences -- including life without parole -- over the death penalty for juvenile offenders. "(The public) understood that people that age aren't fully developed or culpable," Delahanty said. But Fayette Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Larson, an ardent supporter of the death penalty, said yesterday's Supreme Court decision "slammed the door of justice in the face of crime victims." "Some of the most heinous crimes are committed by people over the age of 16 but under the age of 18," Larson said. In Lexington, some of the juveniles who no longer face a death sentence include Patrick Lewis Cook, Robert Benton Miller and Michael Shepherd. The three boys were all under 18 when police say they pulled a gun on Megan Liebengood, 18, as she was getting groceries out of her car at the English Manor apartment complex on Sept. 15, 2004. One of the juveniles reportedly asked if he should shoot Liebengood. When he got no answer, he shot her in the head, according to police reports. Several of the juveniles charged with murder in Fayette County are among multiple defendants charged with the same murder. They were eligible for the death penalty because the murders were committed during a robbery. Larson said he would now seek a life sentence instead of the death penalty against defendants such as Shepherd, Miller and Cook. (source: Herald-Leader) ARIZONA: Pima County juvenile killers no longer face death penalty Richard Gee, whose brother and uncle were slain: "We should...be getting rid of these parasites, not trying to clothe them and feed them." Tucson-area teen murderers spared **** The 3 Pima County men who had been sentenced to death for crimes committed as juveniles: Christopher "Bo" Huerstel - The case: Convicted in 1999 of killing Pizza Hut employees James Bloxham, 17; Robert Curry, 44; and Melissa Moniz, 20. - Age: 17 at the time of the murders. - What the ruling means: Huerstel's death sentence was tossed out in 2003 after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled the judge pressured the jury into reaching a verdict. Tuesday's ruling prevents prosecutors from obtaining a new death sentence when Huerstel is retried this summer. If convicted, Huerstel could face life in prison with no chance for parole. Levi Jackson - The case: Convicted and sentenced to death for the December 1992 murder of Patricia Baeuerlen, a 40-year-old mother of two boys. Jackson and two accomplices carjacked Baeuerlen, drove her to the desert and shot her in the chest before using her bank card to withdraw cash. - Age: 16 at the time of the murder. - What the ruling means: Jackson now faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison; parole may be possible. Martin Soto-Fong - The case: Convicted and sentenced to death in the June 1992 slayings of store manager Fred Gee, 45, his uncle, Huang Zee Wan, 75, and store worker Raymond Arriola, 32, at the South Side El Grande Market. The store was robbed of about $300. - Age: 17 at the time of the crimes. - What the ruling means: Soto-Fong now faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison; parole may be possible. Execution out - Pima County prosecutors no longer will be able to seek the death penalty against: - Jose Manuel Dicochea: Prosecutors had intended to seek the death penalty against Dicochea, accused of killing Emilia Guadalupe Palacios, 23, a teachers aide in the Sunnyside school district, in January 2003. Dicochea was 17 at the time. - Jose Carlos Cruz: Prosecutors had not decided whether to seek the death penalty against Cruz, 16, accused of killing his girlfriend's father, Lauro Garcia, 55, in December 2004. **** 3 Pima County men who had been sentenced to death cannot be executed, under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Tuesday that forbids the death penalty for crimes committed by persons younger than 18. The ruling raises the remote chance that 2 of the 3 could eventually be paroled, County Attorney Barbara LaWall said. The decision brought a day of pain for some local victims. "This was like a slap in the face for victims of juvenile defendants," said Nancy Arias, whose sister, Patricia Baeuerlen was killed by 16-year-old Levi Jackson after a 1992 carjacking and robbery. A closely divided Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for juvenile criminals, declaring there was a national consensus that such executions were unconstitutionally cruel. The 5-4 decision overturns a 1989 high court ruling. Of the 72 murderers nationwide who had their death sentences thrown out Tuesday, two were from Pima County: Jackson, and Martin Soto-Fong. A 3rd Pima County man accused of murder as a juvenile, Christopher "Bo" Huerstel, will be spared the possibility of a 2nd death sentence. Huerstel had been sentenced to death, then received a new trial, and the prosecution was seeking to obtain the death penalty against him again. Arizona was among 19 states to allow death sentences for killers who committed their crimes when younger than 18. Jackson and Soto-Fong face resentencing, which raises the possibility that they could be paroled, LaWall said. That's because when Jackson and Soto-Fong were sentenced, Arizona did not allow the sentence of life in prison without parole. Both men now face a sentence of 25 years to life in prison, which includes the possibility of parole. "It is a very slim chance that would happen," LaWall said. "However, that is always, always a possibility, and you never know how the composition of the Board of Clemency is going to change." Tuesday's news kindled fresh relief and old anguish among participants in the local cases. Defense attorney Greg Kuykendall said he was "ecstatic" about the news for his client Soto-Fong. "The conditions on death row are as bad as conditions get," Kuykendall said, "and they make it extremely difficult for a person to maintain hope. I think that's intentional." The decision is a major step backward, countered Richard Gee, whose brother and uncle were murdered by Soto-Fong, Andre Lamont Minnitt and Christopher Don McCrimmon in 1992. Fred Gee and Huang Zee Wan were shot and killed, along with Raymond Arriola, inside what was then El Grande Market at 805 E. 36th St. Standing outside the building Tuesday night, Gee, whose family still owns the property, expressed anger and frustration. The argument that a person under the age of 18 is not an adult doesn't fly with Gee. "If they're 16 years old, they should know right from wrong, so they should be treated as an adult," he said. "The judicial system is not moving forward," he added. "We should be moving forward and getting rid of these parasites, not trying to clothe them and feed them. "If the Supreme Court justices couldn't answer our prayers, maybe prison justice can," Gee said. Arias said she faces the prospect of speaking at a new sentencing hearing for Jackson, more than 11 years after she tearfully asked the judge in the case to impose the maximum punishment. Jackson killed Arias' sister when he was 16. "He executed my sister, so I think he should be executed," she said. Now, she said, she worries that Jackson still could be a danger to society, should he escape or be released. At least 1 local victim found reason for relief in the ruling. Kathy Weir said she expects a less complicated retrial for Huerstel, accused of murdering Weir's brother, Pizza Hut manager Robert Curry. "It will be so much easier to prosecute him this time," she said. Weir didn't want Huerstel sentenced to death after his first conviction because she feared his case would come back on appeal. The fiancee of Melissa Moniz, another murdered Pizza Hut employee, saw it differently. "My opinion is that if you take someone's life, your life should be taken as well," said Michael Dunivan. Dunivan said he'll probably be called as a witness in Huerstel's upcoming trial, but he doesn't plan to attend more than he has to. "It'd be too upsetting to go through all that again. It's going to be opening wounds," he said. Besides the Pima County men, three other Arizona inmates will be released from death row and resentenced, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said Tuesday. The ruling was greeted with enthusiasm by numerous death penalty opponents. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, said many juveniles lack maturity and intellectual development to understand the ramifications of their actions. "The age of 18 is the point where society draws the line for many purposes between childhood and adulthood. It is, we conclude, the age at which the line for death eligibility ought to rest," Kennedy said. The United States has stood almost alone in the world in officially sanctioning juvenile executions, Kennedy wrote. Juvenile offenders have been put to death in recent years in countries including Iran, Pakistan, China and Saudi Arabia. In an angry dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia disputed that a "national consensus" exists and said the majority opinion was based on the "flimsiest of grounds." The appropriateness of capital punishment should be determined by individual states, not "the subjective views of five members of this court and like-minded foreigners," he wrote. Tuesday's decision could also lead to answers about a mysterious slaying on a Tucson golf course that may be linked to the 2002 multistate killing spree of snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. Malvo, now 20, was 17 when he and Muhammad committed their crimes. Malvo has already been convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole for 2 of the 10 killings. Tuesday's ruling means that Malvo can give a full account of his actions without fear of additional punishment. Cheryll Witz has sought answers about the March 2002 slaying of her father, Jerry R. Taylor, 60, at Fred Enke Golf Course, at East Irvington Road and South Camino Seco. "I want him to say if he killed my father," Witz told The Associated Press. "Until you have a definitive answer, you don't have closure." (source: Arizona Daily Star) FLORIDA: SW Florida officials react to death penalty ruling Robert R. Jacobs II doesn't want children put to death by a state made infamous by "Old Sparky," the nickname for its electric chair. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with him Tuesday - International Death Penalty Abolition Day - ruling that defendants who were 17 years old or younger when they committed a brutal crime cannot be sentenced to death like their adult neighbors. Jacobs, who serves as public defender for Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties, said although Florida law already prevents defendants 16 years old or younger from being sentenced for a capital crime, this ruling says 17-year-olds also are too young for the state's ultimate punishment. "This clears up the ambiguity for 17-year-olds," he said. "Kids are different" than adults. Not that different, said Chief Assistant State Attorney Randy McGruther. McGruther said 16-year-olds who commit death-eligible offenses, such as murder, can't be sentenced to death, and 17-year-olds are just a year away from being adults. "It's a further erosion of the death penalty," McGruther said of the landmark ruling. "We feel that the cases should be judged on a case-by-case basis. Certainly murders committed by 17-year-olds can be as heinous as those committed by older individuals." Even kids do really bad things, he added. There are 367 inmates on death row in Florida, according to state Department of Corrections records. None from Southwest Florida were 17 years old or younger at the time of their crimes. "The State Attorney just can't indict them . . . for a capital offense," Jacobs explained. Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott said his officers will enforce any law, and if laws change as a result of this ruling, his staff will abide by new laws. Officers' work won't change in Collier County, though, the Sheriff's Office said. "It's not going to affect us at all," Collier County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Kristin Adams said. "It will affect the punishment side." The ruling was another chip peeled away from the death penalty in the heart of the death belt. The American Civil Liberties Union opposes the death penalty, and any strike against it is a good move, said Tom Clark, spokesman for the Lee County ACLU chapter. "I think it is a good thing that they change it," Clark said. "Sometimes kids who are under 18 don't know what they're doing." (source: Naples Daily News) ********************* Tanner bashes ruling, says death penalty a deterrent Tuesday's U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing the execution of juvenile offenders was met with criticism from State Attorney John Tanner, who views the death penalty as a proven deterrent to murder and something Floridians support. "I think it's one more example of judicial activism out of control," said Tanner, who oversees prosecutors in the 7th Judicial Circuit, which includes Volusia and Flagler counties. "What's going to stop the next bank of liberal justices from saying 'if you're under the age of 40 and (you) can't be held fully accountable for killing another human being'?" Tanner said he knows personally of cases in which murders have been prevented by a suspect's fear of the death penalty and suggested the ruling could put public safety at risk. "There is a youth gang element out there that is extremely dangerous, who commit murders and rapes just for the sport of it or to gain gang admission," Tanner said. "Under this ruling, they cannot be brought to a full measure of justice." He said the people of this state overwhelmingly support the death penalty. "These judges are supposed to interpret the law," he said, "not rewrite it." (source: Daytona Beach News-Journal) GEORGIA: Minors excluded from death penalty The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to exclude minors from being sentenced to death fits with a societal standard, said a Clayton County Juvenile Court judge. In a 5 to 4 decision on Tuesday the Supreme Court ruled that sentencing someone to death for a homicide they committed while they were under 18 violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Coincidentally, Judge Steve Teske learned about the decision while attending a meeting with the Georgia State Bar on revising the juvenile legal code. He was very much in agreement with the decision. "I think we have to be careful when applying the death penalty to minors," Teske said. The general philosophy of society is that juvenile offenders have more capacity to be reformed than older offenders, Teske said. That's why there is a separate court system that handles juvenile cases. "If we are to stay true to that public policy ... then it needs to be consistent across the board," Teske said. Teske said that in 1994 the state began allowing some minors between 13 and 17 years of age to be treated as adults when charged with one of the "seven deadly sins," including murder, rape, aggravated sodomy, aggravated child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, armed robbery and kidnapping. But since that time there have been efforts to change the law as authorities realized the "down side to treating kids as adults." The recidivism rate is higher for youths who are sentenced as adults than for those sentenced in juvenile court, Teske said. And it's easier to get a conviction in juvenile court as well. Also, Teske said, the adult Department of Corrections is not equipped to handle youthful offenders. The juvenile detention system is certified to continue to educate the juvenile offenders and raise their competency skills. At the same time, Teske said there is a small group of young offenders who are a serious threat to society and "community safety should always be first." But he certainly agreed with the decision that the death penalty for minors could be considered cruel and unusual punishment. "Why would you want to take someone's life when the position in public policy is that they're still treatable," Teske said. Clayton County's District Attorney Jewel Scott also agreed with the decision. "During the teenage years people tend to make very foolish decisions," Scott said. "You tend to think they really shouldn't be executed for a crime they committed when they were under 18." Former Clayton County District Attorney Bob Keller, now working as executive counsel for the Prosecuting Attorney's Council of Georgia, said he personally had no strong feelings either way on the decision. "It's a tremendously important decision from a policy standpoint," Keller said. But he added that the decision was "insignificant from a practical standpoint" because death penalty cases involving minors are very rare. He can only remember one such case occurring during his 30 years as Clayton County's district attorney, Keller said. Across the nation the decision removed 72 prisoners from death row, including 2 in Georgia. Exzavious Lee Gibson, now 32, and Larry Leonardre Jenkins, now 29, were both 17 when they committed the murders for which they were convicted and sentenced to death, said Russ Willard, spokesman for Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker's office. "Our office is currently reviewing the impact of the decision on (Gibson and Jenkins' cases)," Willard said. While Jenkins and Gibson are no longer slated for execution, Willard said the attorney general is trying to determine if they should be resentenced or if they automatically revert to a life sentence. As for Baker's opinion on the decision, Willard said he has not had time to review it yet. The decision overturns a 1989 high court ruling, Roper v. Simmons, 03-633. 19 states had allowed death sentences for killers who committed their crimes when they were under 18. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, said many juveniles lack maturity and intellectual development to understand the ramifications of their actions. "The age of 18 is the point where society draws the line for many purposes between childhood and adulthood. It is, we conclude, the age at which the line for death eligibility ought to rest," Kennedy said. Kennedy went on to say that most other countries in the world do not support execution of minors and citing that belief is based "in large part on the understanding that the instability and emotional imbalance of young people may often be a factor in the crime." In an angry dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia disputed that a "national consensus" exists and said the majority opinion was based on the "flimsiest of grounds." The appropriateness of capital punishment should be determined by individual states, not "the subjective views of 5 members of this court and like-minded foreigners," he wrote. Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, joined by Kennedy, formed Tuesday's decision. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justice Clarence Thomas joined Scalia in seeking to uphold the executions. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor filed a separate dissent, arguing that a blanket rule against juvenile executions was misguided. Case-by-case determinations of a young offenders' maturity is the better approach, she wrote. The 19 states that allow executions for people under age 18 are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Texas and Virginia. The federal government does not execute juveniles. (source: The News Daily) *********************** Amnesty International, others not happy with Mobley execution The Tuesday execution of Stephen Mobley was not without demonstrators in opposition of capital punishment but no one showed up to demonstrate in favor of the death penalty. Laura Moye of Amnesty International says she did not attend the execution in hopes of stopping it, but rather to re-iterate a message to state lawmakers. "We think the state should not be in the business of killing people to show that killing people is wrong." Moye also took issue with an almost hour long delay in the execution saying it caused mental anguish to a condemned inmate. "To give a man his last meal and then sort of yank him around like that," Moye said. "That alone should make the death penalty unconstitutional as cruel and unusual punishment." She added ten vigils were held statewide at the time of the execution. Also in the crowd was Cannon for Community Ministries for the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta and former priest for the family of Mobley's victim John Collins. She said the execution should have been commuted to a life sentence based on the fact the family of the victim did not support the death sentence given to Mobley. "This was a clear case for clemency on both moral grounds and legal grounds. The wishes of the victim's family (were) completely overlooked." Shew added with the Tuesday execution, healing for the family is hampered. "That is a life long ongoing circle for anyone who loses a child. But, the wounds were re-opened and made deeper by what happened here tonight." Mobley was the 2nd inmate to be executed in Georgia this year. (source: Access North Georgia) ILLINOIS: Illinois death penalty opponents rejoice at Supreme Court decision regarding juveniles Illinois proponents of abolishing the death penalty rejoiced Tuesday at the U.S. Supreme Court finding unconstitutional the execution of juveniles convicted of murder. "We agree with that decision," said Sister JoAn Schullian, chairwoman of Macon County Citizens Opposing Capital Punishment. "We have been aware it was pending. It's another step in the right direction toward abolishing the death penalty." Even though the Macon County group works on the state level to achieve that end, it does support others who are working on the federal level for abolition, she said. Illinois does not execute juvenile killers, but 19 other states are affected by Tuesday's high court ruling. The Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty also applauded the court's decision Tuesday. "The court's ruling ends the shameful situation in which the United States stood virtually alone in the world in executing juvenile offenders," said Jane Bohman, executive director of the Illinois coalition, in a news release. The coalition is particularly pleased by the ruling because one of its board members, Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, was a petitioner on a friend of the court brief filed by family members of victims murdered by juvenile offenders, said Bohman, who has spoken numerous times in Decatur in opposition to the death penalty. In the early 1990s, Bishop-Jenkins and her family opposed efforts to use the murder of her sister, brother-in-law and their unborn child by a juvenile offender as justification to apply the Illinois death penalty statute to minors. The high court has now ended execution for two groups with diminished capacity, juveniles and the mentally retarded, Bohman said. She called upon Illinois prosecutors to reconsider their pursuit of the death penalty against the seriously mentally ill, whose capacity also is diminished in many cases. At least several of the inmates on Illinois' death row suffered from serious mental illness at the time of the crime for which they were condemned to death, Bohman said. (source: Herald & Review)
