June 16 INDIANA----new execution date Execution Date Set For Man Convicted In 3 Killings The Indiana Supreme Court has set an execution date for a man convicted of killing 3 people following an argument. The court ordered Thursday that Kevin Conner, 38, of Indianapolis be executed on July 27. He was sentenced to death in 1988. Conner appealed his death sentence in state and federal courts, both of which rejected his arguments. Conner was convicted in the January 1988 slayings of three former schoolmates, Bruce Voge, Steve Wentland and Tony Moore. Prosecutors said three of the men, who had been drinking, went for a drive while Voge remained behind and Moore stabbed Wentland during an argument. Moore then chased and struck Wentland with the car and Conner stabbed him several times, according to court documents. Conner and Moore then argued and Conner shot Moore, then drove to Moore's house and shot Voge, prosecutors said. Conner had sought a new trial because the jury was not property instructed to consider that Conner was drunk when he committed the murders, an assertion the justices rejected. "The jury was instructed that, although voluntary intoxication did not excuse commission of a crime, intoxication could be a defense if it was so extreme that the defendant could not form the requisite intent (knowing or intentional) required for murder. This was an accurate statement of law," the justices wrote in their ruling. The court said the jury was adequately advised of the intoxication defense and that Conner was not deprived of a fair trial and he had received all the appeals to which he was entitled. (source: Associated Press) ************************ Accused killer says he wants death penalty An accused child killer says he is ready to accept the death penalty for the Christmas Eve slaying of a 12-year-old girl. "I wish to exercise my legal right to plead guilty to the death penalty," Jeffrey Voss wrote in a letter to Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi. "I have had 6 months to think about this and this decision has been entered into knowingly and intelligently." Voss, 40, is accused of raping, torturing and killing Christina Tedder on Dec. 24. Christina's body was found Dec. 30, frozen in a creek near McCordsville. In the letter, received by the prosecutor's office today, Voss wrote that his lawyers have blocked his previous attempts to plead guilty. Writing the prosecutor, Voss said, was his only option. "I am willing to submit to a psychological evaluation to prove I am competent to make this decision," Voss wrote. "I may have to fire my attorneys ... as they will try to block my efforts to plead guilty." Defense lawyers Robert Hill and Mark Inman could not be reached for comment. Brizzi agrees psychologists should examine Voss. If competent, Brizzi said, Voss is within his rights to accept his punishment. "He has a constitutional right to plead guilty and accept the maximum punishment just as he has a constitutional right to plead not guilty and go to trial," Brizzi said. "Facing what he potentially faces and given the depravity of the alleged acts, it certainly is an option." The victim's mother, Michelle Tedder, said there's no doubt Voss deserves to die but she fears this plea be a ploy. "I don't trust anything Mr. Voss says," Tedder said. "Hopefully it's true and hopefully he dies. He's a menace to society and that's where he needs to be, in hell." Voss is scheduled to appear before Superior Court Judge Robert Altice for a pre-trial hearing June 29. Voss' case was assigned to Altice after a special judge found Superior Court Judge Grant Hawkins had an appearance of bias against the death penalty. (source: Indianapolis Star) USA: Bishops OK vocations prayer day, will draft death penalty statement The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops June 16 decided to hold an annual day of prayer for priestly vocations and to draft a statement on the death penalty for consideration this November. Meeting June 16-18 in Chicago, on their 1st day the bishops also approved changes to expand and strengthen their Committee on Priorities and Plans, listened to a panel presentation on lay ecclesial ministry and welcomed a delegation from the Latin American bishops' council. They heard preliminary presentations on a series of other issues, including revisions in their "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" and the related "Essential Norms" for dealing with sexual abuse. They were to vote on those items the following day. Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Rapid City, S.D., chairman of the Committee on Vocations, told the bishops that the idea of a national day of prayer for priestly vocations came from the late Pope John Paul II during a meeting he had with a group of U.S. bishops last year. He noted that the fourth Sunday of Easter has been set by the Vatican as a day of prayer for all vocations, but the pope's suggestion was for a specific day for priestly vocations. Since some dioceses already have such a day and there was no consensus on a specific day to be celebrated nationwide, he said his committee was recommending that each diocese hold an annual day of prayer for priestly vocations on a day to be decided by the local bishop. The proposal passed overwhelmingly by a voice vote with no discernible nays. Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of Brooklyn, N.Y., chairman of the Committee on Domestic Policy, requested approval by the bishops to draft a new statement opposing all use of the death penalty in the United States and present it to the bishops for debate and a vote when they meet in Washington this November. He said it has been 25 years since the bishops issued a statement specifically on the use of the death penalty, and a great deal has changed since then -- including widespread work by bishops at the state level to fight capital punishment, repeated statements by Pope John Paul II opposing use of the death penalty in almost all circumstances, and strong opposition to its use in the "Catechism of the Catholic Church." He also noted that public opinion polls show growing opposition to capital punishment by U.S. Catholics, especially among Catholics who regularly attend church. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington urged development of such a statement, saying that with the change in Catholic public opinion, "this is a tremendous moment; if we don't take this moment, we lose a great opportunity." Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston said that unfortunately Texas leads the nation in the number of executions it performs. "I consider this statement extremely important for us," he said. The bishops' approval to draft such a statement for consideration in November came in an apparently unanimous voice vote, with no audible nays. Bishop DiMarzio said the domestic policy committee would work with the committees on doctrine and pro-life activities in drafting the statement. Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., USCCB president, asked the bishops to take a series of votes to reconfigure and expand the Committee on Priorities and Plans so that it can better carry out the task of long-range planning of conference priorities in accord with a series of decisions the bishops made last November. In an apparently unanimous voice vote, the bishops approved the committee's recommendation that it be restructured to include the 14 bishops who sit on the USCCB Administrative Committee as regional representatives and that it be headed by the USCCB secretary, with the USCCB treasurer as vice chairman and the USCCB general secretary as an automatic member. The bishops then took a written vote, as required by conference rules, to change their bylaws to account for the changes in structure. By a voice vote they then approved a similar change in their committee handbook to account for the new structure. While the results of the written ballot were not immediately available to the bishops or the media, the apparent unanimity of the two voice votes virtually guaranteed that the bylaws change had been approved as well. (source: Catholic News Service) ARKANSAS: Oklahoma death row inmate appears in court in Arkansas An Oklahoma death row inmate pleads innocent in federal court to kidnapping and other charges stemming from the abduction of an Arkansas doctor and his wife. Scott James Eizember appeared before a US Magistrate today on 2 counts of kidnapping, and 1 count of carjacking. He also faced 1 count of brandishing a firearm in connection with a crime of violence. The judge appointed a public defender to the case and set an August 22nd trial date. Eizember was convicted earlier this year of first-degree murder in the October 18, 2003, bludgeoning death of AJ Cantrell in Depew, Oklahoma, and sentenced to death. The same jury convicted him of second-degree murder for the shotgun slaying of Cantrell's wife Patsy Cantrell, and sentenced him to 150 years in prison. (source: Associated Press) ILLINOIS: Judge miffed at outbursts from former death row inmate, adjourns abruptly The judge presiding over charges that former death row inmate Aaron Patterson sold marijuana and tried to buy guns illegally adjourned court abruptly Thursday and left the room, plainly miffed over Patterson's repeated outbursts. "Will you let me finish my sentence? Thank you, sir," U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer said as Patterson kept interrupting her. But Patterson went on talking, telling the judge at one point that he was trying to stop her from speaking. "I'm scared of what you're going to say," he said. At the time, she was considering defense motions that would allow him to tell jurors that police had entrapped him and other matters. When Patterson refused to stop talking, Pallmeyer finally said: "If your effort is to get me to stop talking, I think you've succeeded. I'm prepared to adjourn." "We're adjourned," she quickly added, then got up and walked out. Patterson, 40, is to start trial June 30 along with co-defendant Mark Mannie on charges he sold marijuana and illegally sought to purchase 4 guns. He claims he was set up by the police who have had a grudge against him for decades. Patterson spent 17 years in prison for murder. He drew the spotlight in 2003 when he was pardoned by former Gov. George Ryan, who had put a moratorium on state executions over concerns about wrongful convictions and later cleared death row. Patterson has said police framed him for murder and is one of several former death row inmates suing current and former Chicago detectives for allegedly torturing them into confessing to crimes they didn't commit. On his release, Patterson said he would devote his life to rooting out police corruption. Federal prosecutors say he emerged as a leader of the Black P Stones street gang. Ordinarily, defendants in federal court cases are supposed remain silent unless the judge invites them to speak and let their attorneys do their talking for them. In hearings leading up to the trial, though, Patterson has piped up often, complaining that no one had paid sufficient attention to his side. At a previous hearing, Pallmeyer had him taken out of the courtroom and placed in a holding cell to cool down, then allowed him back in. (source: Associated Press)
