March 6 KANSAS----federal death penalty possible Kline Seeking Death Penalty in Sheriff's Death Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline says he's not opposed to letting the feds try a man accused of killing Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels. But that's only if federal officials agree to seek the death penalty against murder suspect Scott Cheever. Kline told about 100 Greenwood County residents that the state's death penalty statute is in limbo, so there's no guarantee that convicting the 23-year-old suspect would result in his execution. US Attorney Eric Melgren says a federal grand jury is considering the case. He says he'll ask for permission to pursue the death penalty if an indictment is handed down. Cheever is accused of shooting Samuels to death when the sheriff tried to serve a search warrant at Cheever's home to look for a suspected meth lab. (source: Associated Press) GEORGIA: Vass: State correct to switch to lethal injection Former Hall County Sheriff Bob Vass who now sits on the state Board of Corrections says Georgia did the right thing when it switched from the electric chair to lethal injection for executions. Vass commented during an interview for a special edition of WDUN NEWS TALK 550's Northeast Georgia This Week titled "The Death Penalty in Georgia." The program will be broadcast at 8:05 Sunday morning. "I just felt like the state should be above how it executes people rather than (stooping to the level of) the person you're executing," Vass said. "It's completely painless. A person generally yawns and goes to sleep." But what about the pain and suffering the condemn's victim may have been put through? "I think that we're going to leave that up to the good Lord in heaven," Vass said. "I don't know that man punishing man with pain is the way to go." By executing murderers, Vass said, you're taking them out of society - regardless of the means by which its done. Vass said the execution of Stephen Anthony Mobley, 39, last Tuesday for the 1991 murder of John Copeland Collins, 24, during the robbery of a Domino's Pizza in Oakwood went "by the book." Mobley was pronounced dead at 8:00 p.m. - 1 hour after he was supposed to be executed and eight minutes after the process began. The delay was the result of a request from the U.S. Supreme Court which was considering a last-minute appeal from Mobley's attorneys. Vass also says the time Mobley spent on death row - through the various stages of appeal of his case - is about average in Georgia. "The average length of stay on death row in Georgia is 13 years and 7 months and I think Mobley was there about that long." Vass, who served as a federal probation officer before being elected Hall County Sheriff in 1992, was appointed to the state Board of Corrections in 1991. His 5-year term expires next year. The robbery-murder that sent Mobley to death row occurred before he took office and he was already being held in the Hall County Detention Center before Vass took office. Vass says he remained there for about 18 months after he took over while awaiting trial and later transfer to the state prison system. Asked what kind of a prisoner he was, Vass said "he was something of a rabble-rouser." (source: Access North Georgia) ********************** Behind the glass: Condemned killer seemed small, ordinary at execution As a reporter, death is not foreign to me. I've seen the county coroner and a half dozen firefighters hovering over the charred remains of a car trying to extract the crushed remains of an alleged drunk driver. I've seen photographs of a moldy corpse and heard prosecutors describe how the man was poisoned, slowly, by his wife. These are leftover images of death. Tuesday, I witnessed death itself. As I waited nervously in a holding area behind bright yellow bars, unit manager Dana Smith at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson consoled me by saying that the execution would be nothing like Stephen King's movie "Green Mile." "I guess Hollywood wants it to be dramatic, and it's just not," Smith said. When Stephen Anthony Mobley died, there was no gasping for air, choking sobs or convulsions. A hooded executioner did not administer the seven syringes of fluid. An unknowing child would have thought Mobley just fell asleep. The entire experience was not what I expected. I thought this convicted murderer would look like one, like the antithesis of the young man he killed. His victim, John Copeland Collins, was only 24 years old when he died at the Domino's Pizza store he managed in Oakwood. A friend, Michael Ladanyi, remembered Collins as an optimistic person who laughed a lot during the lunches they shared. Young and naive, Collins likely brushed aside the notion that the danger of working in a fast food restaurant is second only to convenience stores, Ladanyi said. "I would think John would be one of those people that would not expect something like that to happen," Ladanyi said. Twice while working at a fast food establishment, Ladanyi had a close call with an armed man. Like Collins, he was in his early 20s and didn't think anyone would shoot him. Now, having lived 14 years longer than Collins, Ladanyi has a more cynical view of the world. That's partially why he writes from home these days instead of managing restaurants. "Everyone that comes into the restaurant looks the same. You never know," Ladanyi said. He's right. Mobley didn't look like a monster. Where was the rumored "Domino" tattoo? Where Mobley looked like any other 39-year-old guy that would order a pizza. It seems inappropriate now to call him "Mobley," after witnessing something so personal as his last breath. He went by "Tony," a friend told me, after I rode out of the prison in an ironclad minivan. Tony must have been keeping the guards entertained as they fastened him onto a gurney, palms down, in the shape of a broken cross. He would break the tension by saying something, which I couldn't hear behind the glass. He would smile and the pink-smocked nurse or the chaplain with his tiny testament would chuckle. But Tony was nervous. Every few minutes, he would bite his lower lip. Once, he asked the chaplain to wipe his nose after his arms were restrained. Again, he asked the chaplain to dry his left eye and cheek. Tony burrowed his face playfully in the tissue, trying to make light of his emotion. He was trying to be brave. I could identify in some small way, as my leg jumped rapidly under my black skirt to distract from the lump in my throat. "Stephen Anthony Mobley shot an innocent man in the back of the head," I kept reminding myself while I watched the affable killer being prepared for his punishment. Another reporter and I witnessed the preparations for the execution from our seats on the front pew in the small viewing area. Behind the glass, six guards and 2 nurses talked out loud with the condemned as they fastened the black straps and inserted the tubes into the soft crooks of his arms. On the other side, we could hardly whisper. Prison officials stood against 3 walls like a barricade blocking the view of the rest of the world. The air was stifled with tension and anticipation though this was familiar territory for everyone else in the room, including the more experienced reporter. I was in the wilderness, just waiting for my big heart to trip me up and stain my professional image. The few other witnesses were brought in after Tony was secured down to his taped fingertips, hooked up to tubes and a heart monitor and covered up to his waist with a sheet. Tony said his last words. "Then, after the microphone was silenced, Tony mouthed, "Thank you" to his two friends in the second pew of the audience. Of the 2 friends, the Episcopal priest with a wild goatee remained stony. He had given his friend his last rights hours earlier. His young-faced counterpart beamed a smile to his departing friend. He cried quietly 8 minutes later when Tony's head drooped and his face lost its color. So did I. While the doctors checked for a heartbeat, I was brought coldly out of the moment when a reporter leaned over to double-check Tony Mobley's last quote. (source: Nikki Youngs, The Gainesville Times) CALIFORNIA: National and international debate could affect local death penalty case As an accused cop killer sits in a Vista jail awaiting his murder trial later this year, there is a chance that legal decisions pending in the nation's highest court ---- and opinions issued by a court halfway around the globe ---- may trickle down into his local case. Adrian George Camacho faces the death penalty if he is convicted of gunning down rookie Oceanside police Officer Tony Zeppetella almost 2 years ago. Although he was raised in Oceanside and went to local schools, the 29-year-old Camacho is a Mexican citizen who illegally entered the country as a baby. Now, a national and international dispute over the rights of foreign nationals in America facing capital charges could complicate Camacho's case if he is convicted and sent to death row. The International Court of Justice ---- the United Nations' highest judiciary, which helps settle conflicts between nations ---- ruled last March that the U.S. had violated an international treaty by sentencing Mexican nationals to death without contacting the Mexican Consulate early on in the cases. The ruling came after the United States failed to convince the international court to reject the case. The U.S. Supreme Court is now trying to decide how the international ruling should play into the case of Mexican nationals on death row. Though Camacho has not yet been tried, Camacho's attorneys said in papers filed with the local Superior Court in recent weeks that they anticipate the coming Supreme Court decision could affect Camacho's case. The Mexican Consulate in San Diego said this week it had contact with Camacho after his arrest. What's at issue, Camacho's attorneys said, is whether the contact came "without delay." Camacho's attorney William Stone declined, however, to say what the delay may have been, or why it would be an issue in the case. National and international cases The case the U.S. Supreme Court agreed in December to take on involves the death penalty sentence of a Mexican national in Texas. The inmate in question is Jose Medellin, who is sitting on death row for his part in the brutal 1993 rapes and murders of 2 teenage girls he and a group of friends happened upon. At issue is whether Medellin has a right to challenge his conviction because he was not advised of his right to speak with the Mexican Consulate prior to trial. He was sentenced to death at age 19 before the consulate was notified. The Supreme Court took on Medellin's case to determine if and how the U.S. courts should use a recent ruling by the United Nations' highest tribunal, which last year issued a ruling regarding consular communications by foreign nationals facing death sentences. Last March, the International Court of Justice at The Hague, commonly referred to as the World Court, determined that the United States should give 51 Mexican nationals on death row in America, including Medellin, a "review and reconsideration" of their convictions and sentences to see if consular notification would have made a difference in the case. The World Court ruling came after Mexico sued the United States on behalf of the 51 Mexicans ---- more than half of whom are on California's death row, including two sent there by San Diego courts. Mexico, which opposes the death penalty, alleged their countrymen were arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to death in the United States without being advised of their right to contact a Mexican Consulate, a violation of the Vienna Convention of 1963. The United States raised numerous objections, including an argument that arresting, detaining, trying, convicting and sentencing a foreign national was not in violation of the Vienna Convention. The Vienna Convention ---- a treaty that the United States and Mexico have signed ---- contains a provision to help consular officials get assistance to their countrymen when they are detained in foreign countries. Under the treaty, authorities who detain a foreign national must notify that person of his or her right to get help from his country's consulate. Authorities must also tell the consulate that one of their nationals has been jailed. The World Court ultimately found that the United States had not given the 51 defendants their rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The World Court judgment is legally binding, but the international court has no power of enforcement. The Supreme Court has taken Medellin's case as a way of evaluating if and how the United States should apply the World Court decision. "The Supreme Court has seen fit to take the case because the issue is very important," said Kathy Cannon, one of the two attorneys representing Camacho. "It has world implications, and it has an effect on the specifics of this (Camacho's) case." World attention The Supreme Court is looking at what should be done when the United States fails to inform foreign nationals of their consular rights, said Mark Warren, an international legal researcher specializing in consular rights. Based in Ottawa, Warren served as an advisor to the Mexican government in the World Court case. He explains that Mexico wanted the United States to overturn the death penalty in the cases at hand while the United States argued that it shouldn't have to. The World Court, Warren said, chose a "prudent and implementable middle ground" in asking the United States to give a meaningful review to the 51 cases. The Supreme Court is venturing into "uncharted waters," said Richard Deiter, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center. "You have a decision from a court outside of the U.S. which tells the U.S. courts to do something. Whether they do it or not depends on what the Supreme Court says," Deiter said. Deiter said he believes the issue at hand may only apply to foreign nationals already on death row, not those who have yet to go to trial, such as Camacho. Warren agrees that the focus of the Supreme Court case is for those tried and sentenced to death, but said he believes the Supreme Court decision will extend beyond foreign nationals currently on death row. Both men said the pending Supreme Court case is attracting world attention. United States agrees to comply On Monday, the United States filed a brief with the Supreme Court in the Medellin case, telling the court that President Bush has determined that the United States will comply with the World Court ruling and allow the 51 Mexican nationals to have their cases reviewed. State Department spokesman Lou Fintor said it is the obligation of the United States to comply with the World Court's judgment. "While the U.S. had concerns about the reasoning underlying the judgment, the president's determination fulfills our obligation to comply with the judgment, Fintor said Wednesday. Now, the issue for the state courts to decide is whether the failure to provide consular notification caused actual prejudice to the 51 foreign nationals either at trial or at sentencing, he said, noting that reviewing the cases doesn't mean the outcome will be different. And, in the event that a "new alleged violation" of the consular notification comes up, Fintor said the State Department "will work with the relevant author to investigate the allegations and take appropriate action." Local effect? Just what effect the Supreme Court case could have on Camacho's case remains to be seen. Defense attorneys Cannon and William Stone last week declined for the most part to comment on specifics in Camacho's case. Prosecutor David Rubin of the San Diego County district attorney's office also declined to speak on the case. Records indicate Camacho, a documented gang member, grew up in the Oceanside area and attended local high schools, but was in the country illegally. A spokesman with the Mexican Consulate in San Diego has said Camacho, who does not speak Spanish, entered the United States when he was 11 months old. Camacho is accused of shooting Zeppetella after Zeppetella pulled Camacho over for a routine traffic stop on June 13, 2003. Stone said that the issue at hand in Camacho's case is whether the Mexican Consulate was contacted "without delay." A few years ago, California passed a law that in many cases requires police, when they arrest a foreign national, to notify that person's consulate within a few hours. Whether quick notification took place is unclear. In November 2003, on the day the district attorney's office announced they would seek the death penalty for Camacho, one of Camacho's then-attorneys, Vic Eriksen, told the North County Times there were plans to file a motion in Camacho's case alleging that Camacho was deprived of the right to contact the Mexican Consulate. At that time, Eriksen said Camacho responded "no" when police asked if he wanted them to contact the consulate, but that he was under the influence of drugs and should have been provided information in writing. On Friday, Eriksen said he recalls being under the impression in November 2003 that Camacho had declined consular contact, but said he might be wrong. Also on the day in 2003 when prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty, Alberto Lozano, a spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in San Diego, said Camacho was aware of his right to contact the consulate and declined to do so. But Stone, one of the attorneys who took over Camacho's case for Eriksen, said last week he can find no evidence that Camacho declined his right to contact the consulate. Officials at the local Mexican Consulate have previously said they have been in contact with Camacho and are tracking his case. They declined this week to comment on the case or to say when Camacho and the consular officials first spoke. At a recent hearing, Camacho's attorneys told San Diego Superior Court Judge Joan Weber that they plan to raise the issue of consular advisement in Camacho's case. Weber said she will hear arguments over the issue and its application to Camacho's case this summer, with the hope that the Supreme Court will have by then issued a ruling in the Medellin case. The high court is set to hear arguments in the Medellin matter March 28. (source: North County Times) ALABAMA: Jury Recommends Death Penalty For Bessemer Man A jury has recommended the death penalty for a Bessemer man convicted in the fiery deaths of a couple. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Teresa Petelos will sentence Aundra Marshall, 31 on April 22. The judge could accept the jury's recommended penalty or sentence the man to life in prison without parole. Marshall was convicted late Thursday of capital murder in the February 2004 deaths of Clarence R- Kile, 48, and his wife Allison Kile, 39. A Bessemer cutoff jury voted 11-1 for the death penalty Friday. Prosecutors said the victims were burned alive in the trunk of their car after Clarence Kile failed to pay a drug debt. Defense lawyer Erskine Mathis said it was a very difficult case and he will appeal the conviction. Co-defendant Dionne Eatmon's trial is scheduled for April. (source: Associated Press)
