March 13 NEW YORK: Death penalty decision Do you believe New York state's death penalty helps prevent violent crime? Or maybe more to the point: Do you believe juries should have the option of imposing a death sentence for our worst murderers? Is the death penalty the only true justice for the families of the victims of these crimes? These questions help frame a debate we're facing, again, in the state Legislature. It's an old struggle. The first time New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, struck down our state's death penalty was 1977. That decision began an 18-year effort by the Legislature to reinstate the statute. I remember it well. Before my election to the Senate last year, I served in the Assembly for 26 years. My 1st year in the Assembly was 1979. Both houses of the Legislature overwhelmingly approved legislation restoring the death penalty, and Gov. Hugh Carey vetoed it. This same scenario played out, every year, for the next 15 years, with former Gov. Mario Cuomo issuing the vetoes after Gov. Carey left office in 1980. I was a strong supporter of the death penalty throughout that time. The vast majority of state legislators were. Public opinion favored the death penalty. In November 1994, George Pataki defeated Mario Cuomo to become New York's 53rd governor. The following year, 1995, the first new law enacted by Gov. Pataki reinstated the death penalty. In 1994, the year before the death penalty was reinstated, New York was the 6th most violent state in the nation. Since 1995, New York has become the least-violent large state in America, and the seventh safest state overall. Our violent crime rate is down more than 50 percent. The death penalty isn't the sole reason for this remarkable turnaround, but throughout the era of falling rates of violent crime, the death penalty has existed as a key weapon in our criminal justice arsenal. I believe it's loomed as a powerful deterrent to violent crime. New York state has a death penalty, and you can bet criminals know it. Or they did, until last June, when the Court of Appeals ruled the 1995 death penalty statute unconstitutional in a case involving a death-row inmate. The court's decision focused on a provision of the 1995 law requiring judges to tell jurors in a capital case that if they deadlocked and failed to reach a verdict, the judge would impose a sentence that would leave the defendant eligible for parole after 20-25 years. The court feared this provision could coerce some jurors into supporting a death sentence only because they feared the defendant could be released from prison in the future. In their decision, the judges called this an "unconstitutionally palpable risk" and a violation of the state's constitutional guarantee of due process of law. So we're back to 1977 - no death penalty in New York state. The Legislature has to act to reinstate it. The Senate has approved legislation I co-sponsored to restore the death penalty. Gov. Pataki's ready to sign it into law, but he can't until it's also approved by the Assembly. The Assembly has been holding public hearings. To no one's surprise, these hearings have provided forums for death penalty opponents. So now there's some question whether the Assembly leadership will allow a vote on legislation reinstating the death penalty. This can't be decided with facts and figures. Both sides of the debate can produce arguments and statistics to convincingly support their positions. It comes down to a personal decision of belief. Do you believe the death penalty is a deterrent to violent crime? Do you believe our very worst killers should face the penalty of death themselves? We're waiting on the Assembly. For those who favor the return of the death penalty in New York state, a new Web site, www.deathpenaltyny.com, is currently offering an online petition to register support for restoring it. This Web site also provides additional information and updates on future legislative action. (source: Opinion, George Winner, R-Elmira, is a state senator; The Corning Leader) ************************ N.Y. against death penalty To the editor | A recent Leader editorial argues that New Yorkers want a return of the death penalty, citing a 2003 poll by Quinnipiac College. But a Siena College poll released just this week, coming after a series of highly publicized Assembly hearings that exposed the death penalty for the false panacea it is, showed that in fact, New Yorkers oppose the return of the death penalty by a margin of 46 % to 42 %. And when asked in this week's Siena poll whether they prefer life without parole or the death penalty as the maximum available sentence for those convicted of the most serious crimes, New Yorkers opted for life without parole by a margin of 56 percent to 29 %. In Western New York, the margin for life without parole was slightly larger - 59 % to 29 %. Many factors that have led New Yorkers to rethink their position on the death penalty - including the large number of cases of wrongful conviction in which innocent people were eventually freed from death row, and the fact that crime was dropping even before the death penalty was reenacted in 1995. We have spent as much as $200 million or more on capital prosecutions and associated costs since 1995, with no executions carried out. Think of the police officers that could have been hired, victims' services programs that could have been funded or programs for drug treatment or other means to divert youngsters from the criminal justice system in the first place that could have been put in place. Your editorial also repeats a mistake that appeared in a story earlier this week claiming that there have been 43 death sentences issued. In fact, there have been only 7, and no death sentence has been carried out. We think you should be urging the state Senate to undertake the same kind of open hearings that recently took place in the Assembly, rather than simply ramrodding through a measure that many experts - including death penalty supporters - believe to still be constitutionally flawed. Those hearings have helped Assemblymembers learn, as polls show most New Yorkers have learned, that we can live without the death penalty. We hope The Leader, after further study, will reach the same conclusion. (source: Opinion, Bob Liff----New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty spokesman, Manhattan; The Corning Leader) NEW MEXICO: Nephew Faces Death Penalty In Uncle, Aunt's Murder; D.A.: Couple May Have Been Alive When Vehicle Set On Fire In Portales, police revealed new developments Saturday in the killing of Odis and Doris Newman. Police found the Newmans' remains southeast of Portales in the trunk of their burned out car on the morning of March 3. Police determined later that the Newmans' house had also been set on fire. 4 arrests have been made in this case, and District Attorney Matt Chandler talked to Action 7 News about the new details. Chandler said there is information to establish probable cause that both Odis and Doris Newman were alive in the trunk of the vehicle in which they were being held captive when it was set on fire. Police said there is new evidence to suggest the Newman's nephew, Jerry Fuller, along with Stanley Bedford, kidnapped the couple before allegedly killing them. "We believe we will be able to establish the motive of these murders at the time of the jury trial," Chandler said. Chandler would not elaborate on the motive, but said the relationship between the Newmans and their nephew was not a close one. Bedford and Fuller are each charged with 2 counts of 1st-degree kidnapping and 2 counts of murder. "In this case, we do believe that there are facts and sufficient evidence that would lead us to believe that there was a kidnapping, and during the commission of that kidnapping Odis and Doris Newman were murdered," Chandler said. Bedford and Fuller are expected to face the death penalty, Chandler said. The grand jury hearing for the case will be Friday at the Roosevelt County Courthouse. Candler said additional charges will be filed in this case, but would not release any details. Chandler expects a jury trial for the suspects to begin within the next six months. (source: The New Mexico Channel) ALABAMA: Warden's memo puts him on leave Days before being placed on mandatory leave, Donaldson Correctional Facility Warden Stephen Bullard sent out a memo warning of "catastrophic circumstances" at the prison. "I am concerned that it is going to take a lawsuit, riot, death or serious injury for anyone to take this crisis seriously," Bullard wrote in the March 1 memo to Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Donal Campbell. The warden's concerns focused on correctional officers, who have been forced to work overtime, sometimes 32 hours per week. The staff shortage took a toll on him, as well, affecting his health, patience and tolerance, he wrote. On March 4, Bullard was informed that Campbell had placed him on a mandatory 10-business-day leave, which could be extended. Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said that, because the leave is an administrative matter, he could not comment on the reasons for it. Campbell has acknowledged the staffing shortages and crowding at Donaldson. He approved a 5 percent pay differential for Donaldson officers in an attempt to recruit more to the ranks. Bullard used stronger language, however, and said the state was taking advantage of employees. "It is also my opinion that should an employee be injured or even sue for harassment on unfair ... employment practices the department would have no legal standing to defend these charges," he wrote. With space for about 1,000 prisoners, Donaldson houses 1,625, crowding that has overloaded the prison's sewage system. It houses many mentally ill inmates and some of the people on death row. Bullard said in an interview that he has asked many times to be transferred to another prison but was turned down. "Donaldson is considered by most in the department to be the most stressful institution in the state," he said. "I've paid my dues. I've been there for 5 years, and it's somebody else's turn." Most recently, officers are refusing to work mandatory overtime, calling in sick and requesting counseling and medication. It's become difficult for him to force overtime, he wrote in the memo. Still, Bullard said that these are conditions he's spoken about in the past. And it's never resulted in forced leave, which he did not want to take. "I'm very, very confused. I don't understand the tactic that is being used, and hopefully it will resolve itself," he said. (source: Birmingham News) FLORIDA: Brain scan may help defendant----The results could aid a Manatee man accused of beating his parents to death. In Bradenton, attorneys for Blaine Ross are hoping that new brain-imaging technology might help keep him out of prison, or even save his life. Authorities say the 22-year-old high school dropout has admitted to beating his parents to death last year with an aluminum baseball bat. A psychologist who interviewed Ross said he likely suffers from damage to the part of his brain that affects impulse control. In January, Ross underwent a brain imaging scan known as positron emission tomography, or PET. While its use in court cases is still relatively rare, defense attorneys have begun employing the technology to show judges and juries pictures of brains that function abnormally. The scans typically cost several thousand dollars and are used most often to argue against the death penalty. That's what state prosecutors are seeking for Ross. He is being held in jail with no bail set, and his trial is scheduled to start in June. Prosecutor Art Brown said Friday that he doesn't know whether Ross' attorneys plan to introduce the PET scan images at trial or during a possible penalty phase, where a jury debates the sentence. Ross' attorney, public defender James Slater, declined to comment. Another attorney familiar with the case said Slater's use of the PET scan could prove valuable to Ross' defense. "He's trying to find out what's making this kid's head tick," defense attorney Derek Byrd said. Ross "may have true mental issues." Authorities say the Bradenton resident beat to death his parents in January 2004 while they slept in the master bedroom of their home, in the quiet Lionshead development. Ross initially told authorities that he found the bodies of his parents. Richard Ross, 54, who was a supervisor of nuclear medicine at a St. Petersburg hospital, lay face down on the bed, wearing only pajama bottoms. He had been beaten in the back of the head at least twice. His head was resting on a pillowcase that contained his checkbook, his wallet and a set of keys. Kathleen Ross, 52, a Verizon employee, was lying on her back. The covers were up to her waist, and she was wearing mismatched flowery gloves. She had been beaten in the forehead and mouth. Blaine Ross showed no emotion at the house and in later interviews, investigators said, even when a 911 operator asked him to go back in the room and check to see if his parents were dead or injured. Ross was named a suspect within days. Sheriff's detectives said Ross and his 16-year-old girlfriend, Erin Dodds, were drinking alcohol and using marijuana and Xanax in the days leading up to the murders. Friends and former employers of Ross describe him as a troubled young man who often lost his temper. One of Ross' neighbors said Ross had threatened to kill him, and filed a complaint against him. Ross bragged in jail about the slaying just months after his arrest, according to sheriff's reports that detail inmate disciplinary problems. He also tried unsuccessfully to give himself a jailhouse tattoo, sheriff's spokesman Dave Bristow said. Ross' attorneys attribute his erratic behavior to brain damage, and hope the PET scan can bolster that claim and possibly keep him from being convicted, or at least spare him the death sentence. PET scans are typically used to confirm a diagnosed mental illness, experts said. The technology measures activity and inactivity in a particular brain. The images might match the finding of someone diagnosed with schizophrenia, for example. They can also help show whether a person is faking a mental illness. A particular mental illness may contribute to aggression, among other emotions, but it does not cause it, experts say. Bill Mosman, the Miami-based psychologist hired by the defense team to examine Ross, said he appears to suffer from a traumatic brain injury. Mosman reported evidence that a "closed head injury" -- for example, a head that hit a car window -- damaged the frontal lobe of Ross' brain. That lobe controls, among other things, decision-making and planning, temptation and frustration. Neurological experts say trauma to the head is capable of damaging the brain even if there's no evidence on the outside. PET scans have a mixed record in helping murder defendants. A 14-year-old boy in Miami accused of killing a middle school classmate underwent tests in December last year to determine if a brain abnormality affected his behavior. Experts hired by his attorneys said the tests showed the boy may have a growth in his brain that could cause violent impulses. But a judge rejected those arguments and found the teen competent to stand trial. PET scans have been most effective in the sentencing phase of a case, where a judge decides on punishment, according to a federal study released last year. The study found several cases where the technology was used to secure life sentences in death penalty cases. But the study also concluded that PET scans may soon be used to help prosecutors win convictions and harsher punishments by arguing that such a brain injury makes a person more prone to commit a violent crime. (source: Herald Tribune) *********************** Murder case still pending A suspect has been named. Questions are circulating about the performance of investigators and prosecutors. And, in what has been described as a rare occurrence, a judge dismisses the state's case only to see prosecutors revive it with a new indictment. Looking back at about 14 months of developments in the investigation into the 2004 slaying of University of Florida graduate assistant Sudheer Reddy Satti, his friend Lewis Bryant said they offer no clear answers about who killed Satti or why. "Everybody is kind of confused. Everybody is kind of wishing they had all the information because they can't put it together," said Bryant, 39, speaking about himself and some of Satti's friends. Bryant attended UF with Satti and now works in Ocala. "The defense attorney is privy to all the information, and the police are privy to all the information. They're probably the only ones who are qualified to make any sort of conclusion on whether they should go after whomever." State Attorney Bill Cervone has not elaborated on what new evidence prosecutors used to move forward and re-indict Praveen Kumar Vedam, 26, for 1st-degree murder in Satti's slaying except to say it involves additional analysis of blood found in a computer case from Satti's missing laptop. The case, and later the computer, were located at Vedam's workplace. "The danger with all of this is we are walking ever closer in terms of trying the case in the media," Cervone said when asked to detail the prosecution's evidence. Robert Rush, Vedam's defense attorney, said the new test results may have to do with an analysis that narrows down the blood's origin, based on population. Circuit Judge Robert Cates dismissed charges against Vedam in December 2004, citing insufficient evidence. Before the dismissal, Cervone had said additional analysis was pending on blood samples from the computer case. DNA tests available at the time showed the blood in the case matched Satti's. The tests were inconclusive as to whether Vedam's blood was part of the sample. At an earlier hearing, Judge Cates noted that the only blood Vedam could possibly be linked to was on the case. He said he was concerned about the lack of other forensic evidence against Vedam, especially in Satti's apartment. Killing on campus Satti, 24, a civil engineering student, had planned to leave Gainesville for the University of New Hampshire to pursue a doctorate. Instead, alerted by friends unable to reach him before his departure, officials checked his Maguire Village apartment on campus and found Satti's body on Jan. 4, 2004. He had been stabbed about 30 times. Vedam was a former roommate of Satti's who was working in the Gainesville area as a software programmer. He also had been an engineering student at UF and wanted to pursue his doctorate. After the case was dropped against him last year, he returned to India in January to be with his family, where his father had been hospitalized, Rush said. A grand jury reindicted Vedam in January. He has not yet been located or returned to Gainesville. Vedam contacted Rush via e-mail after learning about the new warrant, but Rush said he plans to file a new motion to dismiss and won't advise Vedam about returning to the United States until the judge rules on the defense motion. Traveling back and forth between the countries is a significant financial burden for Vedam, he said. Spencer Mann, with the State Attorney's Office, said prosecutors have been in touch with the Alachua County Sheriff's Office about a warrant for Vedam's arrest. Rush, who won a dismissal of the original case against Vedam, has questioned numerous elements of the investigation, from how it was handled to the significance of the blood on the computer case. "I think that the disjointed investigation in the beginning was problematic," said Rush. The University of Florida Police Department was in charge of the investigation. But other agencies, including the Alachua County Sheriff's Office and the Gainesville Police Department, also were involved. Police have said Vedam made conflicting statements regarding the computer and where he was when officers believe Satti died. But Rush said he believes there was "a complete misunderstanding" regarding Vedam's interview with investigators. "I think they intimidated him to the point where he really wasn't understanding what they were doing," he said, noting Vedam is an Indian national and there could have been language and cultural barriers. Police say questioning shows Vedam lied about his whereabouts but Rush said their questions were not specific. Cervone refutes comments, made by some who have been critical of the investigation, including members of Gainesville's Indian community, that Vedam was re-indicted to cover up mismanagement of the case. After Cates dismissed the case against Vedam, Cervone said he had 2 options, appeal the dismissal or re-indict. "Appealing at that point would be without having all the evidence available to us included in the case," he said, referring to the new testing that's been completed on the blood in the computer case. Working the scene UF Police Chief Linda Stump said her office formed a "mini task force" early in the investigation that included the Alachua County Sheriff's Office and the Gainesville Police Department. "UPD recognizes that there are experts out there we do not have," she said, referring to why other agencies were called in to assist on matters including crime scene management. "We recognize our limitations here with crime scene evidence. You don't do a case justice if you don't rely on outside expertise." Stump said other agencies were called in to assist on the case "in a timely manner when it was appropriate." For example, she said, evidence technicians from the Gainesville Police Department were on the scene the same day that Satti's body was found. Gainesville Police spokesman Sgt. Keith Kameg said that city police were contacted within the first few hours of the case by university police officials. "We ended up assisting them with our detectives as well as with assistance from our computer crime unit," he said. The Alachua County Sheriff's Office referred questions to the State Attorney's Office. Referring to UPD, Cervone said, "I do feel that their forensic capability would have been stretched by a crime scene of that magnitude." He also said that UPD, which is an accredited police department that has met standards, "wisely" chose to involve other agencies. Rush also said investigators did not do a thorough job following up on information that Satti may have called an area escort service and may have been having sex when he was killed. DNA evidence wasn't gathered that could have confirmed or denied if that was true, he said. There was a lack of "blood spatter" on the lower part of Satti's body, as if someone was straddling him, and Satti was found partially unclothed on his bed. Rush also said an area woman with an escort service contacted police after the slaying to report that a man with an Indian accent - using the name Mr. Reddy and living in the area where Satti lived - had called the service twice on Dec. 31, 2003, the same day friends said they last heard from Satti. She did not send anyone, Rush said she told police. Forensic evidence collected shows female hair in the bathroom at Satti's home. Blood tests also showed information that also could indicate a woman's presence, Rush said. "The significance is this is the crime scene blood," he said, compared to blood found in the computer case. A shoe found in a garbage bin at the apartment complex also had female blood on it. Responding to details about calls to an escort service, Cervone said, "Mr. Rush is doing exactly what defense lawyers do," raising scenarios that the prosecutor said have no evidentiary support. There is no female blood associated with the crime scene, the prosecutor said, and no evidence proving Satti called an escort to come to his apartment. Satti's father, Nagi Reddy Satti, also has called Rush's assertions regarding an escort service "baseless" and later said he believed Vedam "knows something" about his son's death. "The other fact I think has been glossed over is Satti's e-mail was not accessed until after the body was found," Rush said. Case reports show the computer, missing from Satti's apartment, had been used between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2004, and that Satti's e-mail accounts had been used at least 5 times on Jan. 5, 2004, the day after Satti was found dead. Rush said Vedam had been allowed to use the laptop on Dec. 31, 2003. Vedam, in letters to Satti's brother after his arrest, said he had the computer because the name of a woman Vedam had been seeing romantically probably was somewhere in the computer. "Probably in his laptop he has all this information. That's the reason I hide (sic) it and nobody knows about it," he wrote. Rush said, "This woman had an arranged marriage. Praveen was very much in love with her. He tried to get her parents to allow her to marry him and they refused. Once she is engaged and goes back to India, culturally she shouldn't be communicating with single men." Vedam was concerned about his culture's perception of any communication between himself and the woman or Satti, who was her friend. Piecing the evidence Bryant, Satti's friend, said he and others still have questions for Vedam about why he had the computer. And, he said, Rush's theory about someone else at Satti's apartment, "would surprise me very much if that were the case." "Unless they have a recording, I don't know that they can say a call came from a certain house," Bryant said, referring to any phone calls supposedly made by Satti to an escort service. Plus, he said, without a recording how would anyone know that Satti made the call and not the killer. However, although he wants answers, Bryant said he doesn't want to see the wrong person convicted. "It could be a technicality is the reason that they let him out," Bryant said about Vedam. "But it also could have been some misleading evidence that put him in jail, and I could not imagine being a foreign national in jail." University of Florida law professor Mike Seigel believes it's too early to point fingers about mistakes made in the case because much of the information won't be available unless it goes before a judge. The case now is in limbo pending Vedam's return or possibly an appeal by his attorney. And Seigel said it seems prosecutors in the Vedam case believe they are right when it comes to identifying a suspect. "Obviously they think they are. Believing that, legitimately they are going to use every means possible to get it to a jury." But, with little known forensic evidence, Seigel said it could be a difficult case for prosecutors even if a jury hears it. Still, he noted, although it can be an uphill battle, prosecutors can win circumstantial cases. Looking at the verdict in the Scott Peterson case, Seigel said he was surprised at the outcome. A jury convicted Peterson last year in the high-profile killing of his pregnant wife Laci and unborn son. Investigators said he dumped her body into San Francisco Bay. Some court observers felt that there was more circumstantial than forensic evidence linking Peterson to the crime. But, Seigel said, "Obviously, they put enough pieces (together) in that puzzle." Timeline of events in the Sudheer Satti murder case: Sudheer Satti comes to America from India in 2000 to pursue a master's degree in civil engineering at the University of Florida. He returns to India to visit his family in 2002, family members say. Praveen Vedam graduates with a master's degree in electrical and computer engineering from UF in December 2002 and applies for graduate school in engineering at UF. Satti and Vedam share an off-campus apartment for about 2 1/2 years between 2000 and 2003. Satti moves to Maguire Village apartment on campus in May 2003. Court records say Vedam tells police he last saw Satti the morning of Dec. 31, 2003, after sleeping over at Satti's apartment. On Dec. 31, 2003, friends drop Satti off late at his Maguire Village apartment. They plan to host a send-off party for him because he is moving to pursue a doctorate at the University of New Hampshire. He is scheduled to arrive up north on Jan. 9, 2004. On Jan. 4, 2004, Satti, 24, is found stabbed more than 30 times in his on-campus apartment, the university's 1st murder in at least 25 years. There is no sign of forced entry. University Police contact Gainesville Police to assist the same day. The Alachua County Sheriff's Office joins the "mini task force" formed soon after to investigate the death. Satti's e-mail accounts are used at least 5 times on Jan. 5, 2004, and his missing computer is used between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2004, according to court records. On Jan. 13, 2004, a reward is offered for items missing from Satti's apartment. On Jan. 15, 2004, a memorial is held on the UF campus for Satti. Vedam speaks at the event, giving a message from Satti's family with whom he has been in regular contact, thanking Satti's friends and UF for their support. On Jan. 16, 2004, police search the business where Vedam works after one of his bosses reports seeing Vedam using a laptop matching the description of the missing computer. A laptop carrying case believed to belong to Satti is found, police say "hidden," in an air duct in the business' attic. On Jan. 22, 2004, police arrest Vedam for grand theft involving the missing computer. Following an initial court appearance on Jan. 23, 2004, Vedam remains jailed on a $50,000 bond. He has no prior criminal history and remains held only on a grand theft charge although his defense attorney acknowledges the state considers Vedam a suspect in Satti's slaying. On Feb. 18, 2004, Vedam is accused of first-degree murder in Satti's death, the same day he is set to bond out of the Alachua County jail on the grand-theft charge. Vedam, now held without bond, maintains his innocence in media interviews. On March 9, 2004, a grand jury indicts Vedam for first-degree murder. Prosecutors say they will not seek the death penalty. On July 13, 2004, Circuit Judge Robert Cates agrees to change the bond from no bond to $25,000 on Vedam after he notes there are "some gaps" in the prosecution's case. On Nov. 29, 2004, Cates says he may dismiss the case against Vedam, citing a lack of other forensic evidence except for blood on Satti's computer case. Prosecutors argue it only means the killer "did a good job of cleaning himself up." On Dec. 10, 2004, Cates dismisses the murder charge against Vedam, citing insufficient evidence. Earlier in the week, he also dismisses the pending grand theft charge over Satti's computer. Satti's father said he still believes Vedam "knows something" about his son's death. Criticism of the handling of the investigation by members in the Gainesville Indian community becomes more public. On Dec. 13, 2004, Vedam says at a press conference he feels "anguish" over his friend's death and wants the "real killer" found. On Jan. 20, 2005, a grand jury re-indicts Vedam for Satti's murder. Prosecutors say they have new evidence involving the analysis of blood found on the computer case but do not elaborate. Rush questions that information and also says Vedam has left America and returned to India where his father has been hospitalized. In March 2005, prosecutors say they are talking with investigators about a warrant for Vedam. Rush says he plans to file a motion to dismiss the case. In their case against Praveen Vedam, prosecutors note: Sudheer Satti's missing laptop computer and case were found at Vedam's workplace, and Vedam was seen using a similar laptop at the business. The computer had been used after Satti's body was found. Satti's e-mail accounts were accessed at least five times on Jan. 5, 2004, the day after he was found dead. Investigators also found the computer was used to access the Internet from the business where Vedam worked. Blood found in the case matches Satti's blood. Vedam's blood cannot be included or excluded from the sample. But prosecutors say they have additional test results linking Vedam to the blood sample. Prosecutors have said the investigation was not mishandled. University Police reported other agencies were called in early in the investigation to assist with the case. Police reported Vedam and Satti had an argument in the days before Satti's death and that Vedam made conflicting statements regarding Satti's computer and his whereabouts when officers believe Satti was killed. In his arguments against the state, defense attorney Robert Rush says: Satti had allowed his friend, Vedam, to use the computer. Vedam, in letters to Satti's brother, said the computer contained information about a woman he used to date. Concern over perceptions of their relationship in their traditional culture prompted him to hide it. Phone calls from a woman involved in an area escort service indicated a man matching Satti's description called twice on Dec. 31, 2003, the last day friends say they were in touch with him. The defense said this indicates that someone other than Vedam could have come to Satti's home, killed him and stolen items, including an audio system that has never been recovered. Rush has questioned the quality and thoroughness of the investigation, calling it "disjointed." Rush has said that there was "a complete misunderstanding" regarding officers' interview with Vedam due to language and cultural barriers and officers' interview techniques. In their case against Praveen Vedam, prosecutors note: Sudheer Satti's missing laptop computer and case were found at Vedam's workplace and Vedam was seen using a similar laptop at the business. The computer had been used after Satti's body was found. Satti's e-mail accounts were accessed at least 5 times on Jan. 5, 2004, the day after he was found dead. Blood found in the case matches Satti's blood. Vedam's blood cannot be included or excluded from the sample. But prosecutors say they have additional test results linking Vedam to the blood sample. Prosecutors have said the investigation was not mishandled. University Police reported other agencies were called in early in the investigation to assist with the case. Police reported Vedam made conflicting statements regarding his whereabouts when officers believe Satti was killed. In his arguments against the state, defense attorney Robert Rush says: - Satti had allowed his friend, Vedam, to use the computer. - Vedam, in letters to Satti's brother, said the computer contained information about a woman he used to date, which is why he hid it. - A phone call from a woman involved in an area escort service indicated a man matching Satti's description called twice on Dec. 31, 2004, the last day friends say they were in touch with him. The defense said this indicates that someone other than Vedam could have come to Satti's home, killed him and stolen items, including stereo equipment, that has never been recovered. - Rush has questioned the quality and thoroughness of the investigation, calling it "disjointed." - Rush has said that there was "a complete misunderstanding" regarding officers' interview with Vedam due to language and cultural barriers. (source: Gainesville Sun) ********************* McDuffie denied new trial; sentencing set Tuesday In Deland, nothing Roy Lee McDuffie's defense presented Friday -- including a handful of orange jumpsuit-clad inmates and allegations that evidence was not properly tested -- would change the outcome of a new trial, a judge ruled. Circuit Judge S. James Foxman denied McDuffie a new trial after his defense put 4 inmates on the stand who said a critical witness lied during the trial. "This case has been haunted by jailhouse testimony," Foxman said. "I think even if you put the four witnesses that just testified for the defendant today on at trial, the result would not have been different." McDuffie, 42, was convicted of first-degree murder for the Oct. 25, 2002, shooting and stabbing of Deltona Dollar General clerks Janice Schneider, 39, and Dawniell Beauregard, 27. The jury unanimously recommended he should be executed for the crimes. Judge Foxman is expected to sentence McDuffie on Tuesday. He told jurors he rarely goes against their advice. McDuffie's defense made its final argument Friday before the case gets an automatic appeal to the Florida Supreme Court. Court-appointed defense attorney Rob Sanders told the judge McDuffie should receive a new trial because Curtis Williams, who testified McDuffie conspired in jail to pin his charges on someone else and was a racist, told other inmates he lied on the stand. The defense also argued hairs found on the duct tape used to bind Beauregard and on the victims' clothing were never fully tested and that the state's case was largely circumstantial. The state argued there was far more evidence than a palm print on a piece of duct tape in this case and evidence presented in the defense's motion for a new trial did not affect the merits of the state's case. Inmate Stefan Armstrong, who was housed on the same cellblock as Williams, said Williams lied to protect his lover. The defense has suggested Williams and Michael Fitzgerald, who they say is the real perpetrator, had a relationship in jail. "He said he hated McDuffie basically, and he wanted him to die," Armstrong said. "He hoped he died." Wesley Wilkins, facing an attempted murder charge, said Williams told him Fitzgerald had knowledge about the robbery. He said Williams would taunt McDuffie by tapping his vein in his arm to indicate a lethal injection. Johnnie Bullock, who is facing the death penalty on a murder charge, said Williams would boast in jail about lying in court and was happy when the verdict and death penalty recommendation were returned. "Yeah, I helped get that (expletive) the death penalty," Bullock said Williams said while watching news reports. Bullock described Williams as a snake. Sanders asked Williams on Friday if he lied in court. "No, I didn't," he sternly replied. Williams denied the accusations against him and said he and Fitzgerald were nothing more than friends. Schneider's daughter, Jessica Pierce, said she was happy with the judge's decision because she could not have attended another trial. "I've really already seen everything I feel I needed to see to move on," she said. "I don't want to hear argument that he's innocent." Beauregard's sister, Tammy Ryan, said she was relieved they were moving on to McDuffie's sentencing. "He's going to get the death penalty," she said. (source: Daytona Beach News-Journal)
