May 10 VERMONT: Groups plan vigils at courthouse to protest death sentence A number of organizations are planning a vigil next week to protest the death penalty trial getting under way in federal court in Burlington. Josh Rubenstein of Amnesty International U-S-A says the first vigil will be held at noon on May 18th. The organizations, including the Peace and Justice Center, The A-C-L-U and Pax Christi, are also looking for voice their opposition to the death penalty. 24-year-old Donald Fell is facing the federal death penalty on charges that he kidnapped a woman in Rutland in November 2004 and killed her in New York state. Rubenstein says Amnesty International believes Fell should be tried on the charges, but he should not face the death penalty. (source: Associated Press) NEBRASKA: Vela Appeals Death Sentence One of the men convicted in the Norfolk bank slayings is appealing his death sentence again. 5 weeks after the Nebraska supreme court dismissed his appeal, the attorney for Eric Vela is asking a district court judge to reconsider his order allowing a state expert to evaluate Vela. Vela attorney Jeffery Pickens argued Friday that a defense expert's IQ test showed Vela is mentally retarded and, as such, ineligible for the death penalty. A judge took the request under advisement. (source: KTIV News) MISSISSIPPI: Miss. Supreme Court delays appeal hearing The Mississippi Supreme Court has postponed a hearing in the appeal of death row inmate Charles Wayne Ross, who was convicted in the killing of a Dumas community man in 1996. Ross, a former construction worker, was convicted of capital murder and robbery in 1997. A Tippah County jury returned the death sentence. The justices had scheduled the hearing for Tuesday in Jackson. In an order released Monday, Presiding Justice Bill Waller Jr. said the hearing would be rescheduled at a later date. Hershel Ray Yancey, 52, was shot 4 times as he sat on the couch in his home on June 28, 1996. His body was discovered the next morning by his mother. Ross claimed he was at a Union County residence where his half-sister lived at the time of the shooting. However, his testimony conflicted with that of his half-sister Margaret Jones, the prosecution's key witness, who claimed Ross admitted to the crime. Jones testified her brother confessed to killing Yancey and stealing the victim's TV, VCR and a wallet containing $5. Ross had expected to take away much more that night, she said, since he knew that Yancey had gotten paid, according to the court record. The victim's uncashed payroll check was recovered at the murder scene, prosecutors said. (source: Associated Press) KENTUCKY: Lethal Injection: Cruel Punishment Or Justice? In Frankfort, Kentucky, the lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of lethal injection procedures is heading toward a decision. Franklin County Circuit Judge Roger Crittenden gave lawyers for 2 death row inmates and the Corrections Department, one last chance to make written arguments and said Tuesday, he could issue his ruling in a few weeks. Condemned prisoners Thomas Clyde Bowling and Ralph Baze, through their Department of Public Advocacy attorneys, argue that the procedures and drugs Kentucky uses for executions produce a painful death that violates the prohibition on cruel punishment. The Corrections Department counters there is no evidence that the drugs don't work to produce a relatively painless death, and that the lawsuit is more of a public relations assault on capital punishment. Bowling's scheduled execution in November 2004 was delayed when Crittenden said the questions raised constitutional issues. Whatever Crittenden's ruling, it is almost certain to be appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court. Kentucky has executed one man by lethal injection, Eddie Lee Harper in 1999. According to the Corrections Department, there are 36 inmates on death row in Kentucky. (source: Associated Press)
