June 30 PENNSYLVANIA----new execution date Pennsylvania Governor Rendell Signs Execution Warrant Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell today signed a warrant for the execution by lethal injection of Terrance Williams of Philadelphia County. Williams' execution is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 18. In February 1986, Williams was convicted of 1st-degree murder and sentenced to die for senselessly murdering Amos Norwood during a robbery. Williams was formally sentenced on July 1, 1987. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed his death sentence on February 8, 1990. On May 24, 1995, Williams filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief, which was subsequently amended by counsel. On October 20, 1998, the lower court denied the petition. On December 22, 2004, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the denial of post-conviction relief. Williams, 39, is an inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Greene. Governor Rendell has now signed 39 death warrants. CONTACT: Nina Tinari, Pennsylvania Office of the Governor, +1-717-783-1116. (source: Pennsylvania Office of the Governor) NEBRASKA: Panel of judges consider Mata's fate A panel of judges is considering whether Raymond Mata Jr. should be sentenced to death or spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder and dismemberment of his former girlfriend's 3-year-old son. At the start of the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Mata's defense attorneys argued that having an abusive and alcohol father is partially to blame for how Mata developed. Attorney Jeffrey Pickens described Mata as a rotten father who abused his wife and served as a poor role model. "The father was a drunk who moved his family around; there was no stability and that should be a mitigating circumstance," said Pickens, who is with the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy. In videotaped interviews shown in court, Mata's family members, including his former wife, 2 children, sister and mother, pleaded with the judges to let him live. "I pray to God that he doesn't get the electric chair," said Mata's mother, Ynez Cruz. "I know he doesn't deserve the death penalty; like they say, 2 wrongs don't make a right. "I feel bad about what happened to Adam but killing my son won't bring him back," Cruz said. Mata was convicted of the 1999 kidnapping and murder of 3-year-old son Adam Gomez. Parts of the boy's body were found in Mata's freezer and in a dog bowl. Patricia Gomez, the mother of slain 3-year-old Adam Gomez, said in an interview that she hoped Mata receives the death penalty. "He chose to kill and now our son is dead. His mom could go and visit her son anytime she wanted but I can't," Gomez said. The 3-judge panel that will determine Mata's sentence consists of Robert Hippe of Gering, John Sampson of Fremont and Robert Steinke of Columbus. The judges were expected to make a decision on Thursday. (source: Associated Press)
