April 6 VIRGINIA: Man accused of killing Pentagon policeman could face death penalty In Alexandria, a grand jury handed up new charges today that could result in the death penalty for a man accused of killing a Pentagon police officer during a car chase. It's the first line-of-duty death in that police force's 60-year history. The 5-count indictment against Ossie LaRode now includes charges of carjacking resulting in death and murder of an officer of the United States. Both charges are potentially punishable by death. U-S Attorney Paul McNulty says it will be up to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to decide whether to actually seek the death penalty. Police say LaRode carjacked an elderly man at a restaurant parking lot in Alexandria in January and led police on a chase that wound its way through a Pentagon parking lot. Police say Officer James Feltis tried to stop LaRode when he struck the officer. Defense attorney Gerald Zerkin would NOT comment on the case. (source: Associated Press) ALABAMA: Legislature working on changes in Alabama's death penalty law State senators are working on expanding Alabama's death penalty law to cover murderers who use illegal assault weapons, and they are trying to narrow it to exclude minors and the mentally retarded. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9-2 Wednesday for legislation that would rewrite for legislation that would rewrite Alabama's death penalty law to cover anyone who killed a person with an assault weapon prohibited by the federal government. Many types of murders are already covered by Alabama's death penalty law, such as a murder that occurs while another crime is being committed and the murder of a police officer or child. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said the legislation is aimed at incidents where a person has fired an assault weapon and killed an innocent bystander. "They are just blatantly spraying bullets," he said. Smitherman, who is chairman of the committee, also got the committee to vote unanimously for a companion bill that would make it a crime, punishable by up to life in prison, to knowingly furnish a banned assault weapon to a convicted felon who then used it to commit a crime. Smitherman's bills originally covered all assault weapons, but after discussions with the National Rifle Association, he limited them to assault weapons banned by the federal government. Smitherman's bill would not affect as many weapons as it would have a year ago. The federal ban on 19 military-style assault weapons expired in September, but some foreign-made assault weapons, such as the Israeli-manufactured Uzi, are still banned under a 1989 federal law. Miriam Shehane, executive director of Victims of Crime and Leniency, a victim support group, said she supports Smitherman's legislation. Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, got the committee to vote unanimously for 2 bills that would bring Alabama's death penalty law in line with the U.S. Supreme Court's 2002 decision against executing the mentally retarded and its March decision against executing anyone under 18. Sanders' legislation does not set a specific IQ as mentally retarded. Instead, a judge would decide each case. Sen. Bradley Byrne, R-Montrose, questioned whether it was necessary to pass the bills since the Supreme Court's rulings mean there won't be any more executions of the mentally retarded or minors in Alabama - no matter what state law says. "They are necessary in the same way it's necessary to get the racist language out of the constitution," Sanders said. State Attorney General Troy King said his office helped write Sanders' bill on not executing the mentally retarded, and he hopes the Legislature passes it. But he is encouraging legislators to hold off on changing Alabama's law on executing those under 18. King said he believes the 5-4 decision issued by the Supreme Court last month is legally flawed and he's hopeful the court will one day reconsider the issue. Sanders' and Smitherman's bills now go to the Senate for consideration. Sanders is also sponsoring other bills to restrict Alabama's death penalty law, including putting a 3-year moratorium on executions, but the Judiciary Committee did not act on those bills Wednesday. (source: Dateline Alabama) PENNSYLVANIA: Death penalty possible for Haymes The man accused of the rape, murder and dismemberment of 15-year-old Deanna Wright-McIntosh faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted. Deputy District Attorney John F. X. Reilly cited two aggravating circumstances to certify the murder a capital crime during a Wednesday, March 30 arraignment for Lamar Haymes in Delaware County Court House. Haymes, 29, of the 400 block of Hazel Avenue in Yeadon was shackled at the waist and clad in a bright orange prison-issue jumpsuit. He smiled and gave a small wave to 4 female family members seated in the nearly deserted court room. "You're not guilty," one woman called out in a stage whisper. Haymes, however, remained silent on advice of counsel, Public Defender Raymond Williams. Judge Charles Keeler entered a routine plea of not guilty. There is a gag order in effect in the case. Haymes is charged with 3 counts of murder and a lengthy list of related crimes for allegedly beating the girl to death, then dismembering and burning her body to cover up the crime, according to testimony from witnesses at the preliminary hearing in Upper Darby District Court Feb. 15. One of the women questioned Williams as to why Haymes was not in "street" clothes for the arraignment. Defendants usually wear street clothing when they are appearing before a jury but no jury is involved at this point. A plea of not guilty also was entered for Haymes on a second case in which he is charged with raping a woman on Dec. 4. He allegedly was accompanied~ by several men when he picked the woman up in North Philadelphia. They drove to Yeadon Community Park on Union Avenue and the woman and Haymes allegedly exited the van. He is accused of attacking the woman in a remote area of the park. She allegedly fled to a Baltimore Avenue restaurant and called police. The woman allegedly picked Haymes out of a photo array as her alleged attacker, according to police. She was not present at the arraignment. Judge Keeler set May 9 for a pre-trial hearing. A second defendant in the murder case, Anwaar Malik Gettys of the first block of Linden Avenue in Lansdowne is being arraigned separately. Police allege the murder took place in Gettys' home. He is charged with abuse of a corpse and related offenses for allegedly helping to dispose of Wright-McIntosh's body on a vacant lot in West Philadelphia. (source: News of Delaware County) OHIO: Northeast Ohio city unfazed by death row relocation Youngstown, a city that survived organized crime and the loss of its steel industry, isn't concerned about having the state's worst criminals contained within its borders. "We've had a bad reputation with other notoriety. What's the difference?" said Maria Tsarnas, owner of Our Place diner, located a couple of miles from the Ohio State Penitentiary where death row will be moved this summer in a cost-cutting move by the state. Striking a more optimistic tone, Tsarnas added that death row will provide job security at the prison. "I think Youngstown is coming up," she said. "They've improved downtown. It's slowly getting better." It's an attitude Mayor George McKelvey is hearing more often in the northeast Ohio city of 82,000 people. "People are excited. People are starting to believe," he said. Youngstown's steel industry collapsed in the late 1970s, and the city has struggled to make a comeback, battling high unemployment and an image of mob ties and corrupt public officials like imprisoned ex-congressman Jim Traficant. McKelvey said recent progress includes $100 million worth of downtown construction in the form of a convocation center, new government buildings and the reopening of a central plaza to vehicle traffic. He said the city has a long way to go, but death row won't get in the way. The supermaximum security Ohio State Penitentiary sits hundreds of feet off a country road on the outskirts of the city - a place visitors wouldn't find unless they were looking for it. It's designed for the most dangerous prisoners. Except for an hour a day, inmates are kept in cells built to prevent them from communicating with each other. Because the penitentiary already holds the "worst of the worst," McKelvey doesn't think it can get any worse when death row prisoners are moved in from the Mansfield Correctional Institution. "It's a non-issue," he said. "Our community is grateful for its (the prison's) presence here and the millions of dollars it contributes to our local economy." Youngstown, which is also home to a privately run prison, doesn't have any plans to turn its prison industry into a tourist attraction, said Greg Sherlock, vice president of governmental affairs for Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber. Mansfield embraced death row and its prison history by preserving the old Ohio State Reformatory, which provides tours and has been the location for several movies including "The Shawshank Redemption." Mansfield officials have said they're disappointed about losing death row but don't believe tourism will suffer. The state will continue to execute condemned killers at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, which could diminish any perceived link between Youngstown and capital punishment. Huntsville, Texas, located north of Houston, became synonymous with executions as home to the nation's most active death row. Like Mansfield, it used its reputation to attract tourists. While inmates are still put to death in Huntsville, death row was moved a few years ago to nearby Livingston, Texas, a town of 5,500 people. "It had no effect. Not many people knew it," said Livingston Mayor Ben Ogletree, adding that people don't see who's behind the prison walls. ON THE NET Ohio State Penitentiary: http://www.drc.state.oh.us/Public/osp.htm Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber: http://www.regionalchamber.com (source: Associated Press) NEVADA: Nevada death row inmate's appeal rejected again For the 4th time, the Nevada Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of death row inmate Patrick Cavanaugh, convicted in 1984 of killing a former "Coasters" singer in Las Vegas. The high court ruled Tuesday against Cavanaugh, 59, who contends he's innocent and doesn't deserve the death penalty for the murder of Nathaniel "Buster" Wilson. After he was shot in 1980, Wilson's arms and legs were sawed off. His body was found several years later in California. Prosecutors say Cavanaugh feared that Wilson was going to tell police that he was involved in a phony check scheme. In his appeal, Cavanaugh claimed his trial attorney was ineffective in questioning the jury panel and failed to investigate and present mitigating evidence during his penalty hearing. (source: Associated Press)
