July 29 UTAH: Hearing in Death-row Inmate's Appeal is Delayed A hearing next week on whether death-row inmate Doug Lovell should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea to the 1985 murder of Joyce Yost has been postponed to give attorneys more time to prepare. Lovell is seeking to withdraw his 1993 guilty plea to aggravated murder in the death of the 39-year-old South Ogden woman. Lovell contends his trial attorney failed to provide effective counsel when he allowed Lovell to make a plea agreement requiring him to lead police to Yost's body in exchange for a life sentence. The deal did not address what would happen if Lovell were unable to find the body. He spent 5 weeks trying unsuccessfully to show authorities where he buried the woman's body in Ogden Valley. The agreement was voided, but Lovell still pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and was sentenced to death. In April the Utah Supreme Court directed 2nd District Judge Michael Lyon to hear Lovell's 12-year-old motion seeking to withdraw his guilty plea. Lyon inherited Lovell's appeal process from now-retired Judge Stanton Taylor. Lovell's new defense attorneys and the Utah Attorney General's Office were to argue the motion next Tuesday before Lyon, but on Thursday the hearing was postponed without a date. However, a hearing was set for Sept. 7 to allow filing of briefs regarding the defense request to clarify the parameters of the coming legal debate. Weber County public defender Jim Retallick has been appointed as Lovell's new lead appeals counsel, assisted by Ryan Bushell, since the Salt Lake lawyer, L. Clark Donaldson, who earned the Supreme Court decision giving life to Lovell's plea withdrawal request, took a new job. Lovell killed Yost to keep her from testifying about his raping her in 1985. Despite her disappearance, Lovell was convicted at trial which turned on the transcript of Yost's preliminary hearing testimony on the rape. Lovell was serving his prison sentence for rape when he was arrested for Yost's murder in 1992. (source: Associated Press) CALIFORNIA: Relatives of slain officer speak out -- 'Justice must be done,' says brother with widow at side Dionne Niemi wasn't sure she'd be able to speak publicly about the shooting death of her husband, San Leandro police Officer Nels "Dan" Niemi. But somehow she found the strength. The 36-year-old Milpitas resident, widowed Monday night in a crime even some who knew the suspect called senseless, bravely faced the cameras Wednesday, speaking hesitantly at times as she explained how much her husband enjoyed his job and thanking the community for helping catch his suspected killer. "Dan loved being here and serving this community," she said at a news conference at San Leandro police headquarters. "I really want to thank the citizens that came forward when he was shot and for all the information the community's provided in helping bring the suspect in. I appreciate everything." Her first public statements came as authorities and acquaintances of suspect Irving Ramirez said they were no closer to determining why on his 23rd birthday he allegedly shot Niemi for no apparent reason and without warning in what police called an ambush. "I'm sorry for the (officer's) family," said Dolores Barahona, an acquaintance of the suspect. "I don't even give a s -- about what happens to Irving. He's nothing to us." Niemi, 42, was talking with a group of people near Doolittle Drive and Belvedere Avenue on Monday night when a man emerged from a white Ford Thunderbird, made some innocuous comments and shot the officer several times, police said. Niemi never drew his weapon. The next day. the San Mateo County sheriff's SWAT team arrested Ramirez as he slept in a Daly City apartment. Ramirez is to be arraigned today at the Hayward Hall of Justice and could be charged with 1st-degree murder. "I stand in front of you today because our voices as victims and our pain as a family must be recognized," said the officer's brother, Jim Niemi, 38, of El Dorado Hills (El Dorado County). "We feel that justice must be done to address this senseless tragedy." San Leandro police Lt. Marc DeCoulode said the suspect has declined to speak to police. Investigators are still searching for a man who was with Ramirez in the white 1995 Ford Thunderbird just before Niemi was shot, DeCoulode said. On Tuesday, police searched a Wells Avenue home in Newark belonging to Maria Vizcarra, Ramirez's mother. DeCoulode declined to say Wednesday what evidence they've gathered. Police don't believe any other people could face charges in the slaying, including those who live in the Daly City apartment where Ramirez was arrested. Niemi also is survived by his 6-year-old daughter, Gabrielle, his 15-year-old stepson, Josh Hewitt, and parents Rudie and Mildred Niemi of Alamo. A funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at Neighborhood Church in Castro Valley. Contributions can be made to the Niemi Family Fund, c/o San Leandro Police Officers Association, 901 East 14th St., San Leandro, CA 94577. (source: San Francisco Chronicle)
