August 1 FLORIDA: Sumner case tried in Jacksonville? State Attorney Harry Shorstein of Jacksonville said July 26 he will decide by Friday whether to assume jurisdiction in the kidnapping and murder of a Jacksonville couple buried just across the Georgia line from Baker County. Bruce Nixon Jr., an 18-year-old Macclenny man, is among four suspects in the case. "It's a continuing crime, so you can make a case for Jacksonville, (Charlton County) Georgia - even arguably Baker County," said Mr. Shorstein, state attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit headquartered in Jacksonville. "It can be anywhere they were taken from, or anywhere that a felony occurred." He also said federal prosecutors could claim jurisdiction because the crime crossed state lines. After speaking with the chief assistant to the US Attorney in Georgia, however, the prosecutor indicated it's unlikely that office would want to take the case. He hasn't spoken with federal prosecutors in Florida. In addition, Charlton County District Attorney Rick Currie has left it up to Mr. Shorstein to make the call. One factor working against trying the case in Jacksonville is that there is currently a backlog of 88 murder cases being prosecuted there. Mr. Shorstein downplayed that, however, saying, "That's what they pay us to do." James and Carol Sumner, both 61, were reported missing from their Jacksonville home July 10. Their car was found abandoned in Sanderson a couple of days later, but a search by Jacksonville and Baker County sheriff's deputies failed to find anything. Soon afterward, former Macclenny resident Alan Wade, 18, along with Michael Jackson, 23, and Tiffany Cole, 23, of South Carolina were arrested in Charleston after they were caught using the Sumners' ATM card. The 3 reportedly fingered Mr. Nixon, who was arrested July 15 for murder, kidnapping and robbery. After confessing to Jacksonville police, he led JSO homicide investigator Dennis Sullivan, Baker County Sheriff Joey Dobson and Chief Chuck Brannan to the couple's bodies buried near a hunting camp off Stokes Road in Georgia, a few miles north of Baker County. Mr. Nixon said he and his accomplices had dug the graves a couple of days before they kidnapped the Sumners. The plan was to scare them into giving up the PIN to their ATM card. Investigators said the couple, both in poor health, were forced into the trunk of their car at gunpoint, driven to Charlton County and buried. Police sources say they were buried alive. Under Florida law, the heinous nature of the crime and the apparent "cold, calculated premeditation" with which it was conducted allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty. When asked whether that would be a factor in his decision, Mr. Shorstein said, "It's not appropriate to shop jurisdictions." He also said Florida law provides for mitigating factors against the death penalty, including a suspect's age. He noted 2 of the defendants - Mr. Nixon and Mr. Wade - are very young, 18 and 19, respectively. The other 2 are 23. (source: The Baker County Press) ALABAMA----impending execution State prison officials prepare for Sibley execution Alabama Corrections officials are preparing for Thursday's scheduled execution for convicted cop killer George Sibley Junior. The execution will take place at Holman Prison near Atmore. Sibley, who is 62, was sentenced to die for the 1993 killing of Opelika police officer Roger Motley Junior in a shopping center parking lot. His common-law wife, Lynda Lyon Block was executed in May 2002 after she and Sibley had for years failed to file appeals. If the execution is carried out, Sibley will be the 3rd Alabama man put to death this year. *************************** It is encouraging that a new poll shows a majority of Alabamians believe the death penalty should be suspended while the state studies questions of fairness and reliability. We hope the survey influences our elected officials to push for reforms. The poll, conducted earlier this month by the Alabama Education Association's Capital Survey Research Center, shows 57 % of the state residents surveyed favor a suspension of the death penalty. Though a solid majority, 71 %, favored capital punishment in concept, fewer than 1/2 believe that the death penalty is applied fairly in this state. The reasons for the skepticism are obvious. The system of capital punishment in Alabama is riddled with inequities and shortcomings. The most indefensible of these is the state's policy of allowing condemned people to go to their deaths without proper legal representation. We are the only state in the nation that does not provide attorneys to allow death row inmates to pursue post-conviction appeals. If they cannot afford a lawyer after their conviction, they often are out of luck. Yet five people have been found not guilty in this state after their initial capital conviction. The number is small, but it raises the haunting question of whether the state has executed innocent people who were unable to pursue a post-conviction appeal. Citing chronic revenue problems, elected officials have said time and again that Alabama does not have the money to pay for attorneys for death row inmates. If ever there was a morally bankrupt argument, it's that one. Money makes a telling difference even before the initial conviction. Until recently, the state capped its payments for out-of-court work in capital cases at $1,000. That kind of parsimony didn't exactly attract the best and brightest defense attorneys. The record, in fact, is rife with instances of inadequate defenses by low-paid counsel who overlooked critical evidence, failed to call key witnesses or even fell asleep during capital trials. Racial imbalance is another troublesome issue. Recent statistics indicate that 46 % of the inmates awaiting execution are black, even though African-/sAmericans account for only 26 % of the total/sAlabama population. Then there is the issue of judicial override. Almost 25 percent of the inmates on death row in Alabama are there because a judge overrode the decision of the 12 jurors and imposed the death penalty. Alabama is 1 of only 3 states in the nation that allow this practice. Another consideration is DNA testing. Thanks to federal grants, Alabama is making strides in whittling down a testing backlog at its state labs. The hope is that future funding will allow DNA testing to be used in all capital cases in which it is warranted. But we aren't there yet. No capital defendant in Alabama has an automatic right to DNA testing, despite its unquestionable value in helping to determine the truth about crimes. All of these concerns argue for a suspension of capital punishment in Alabama until the many questions they pose are answered satisfactorily. (source for both: The Tuscaloosa News) NORTH CAROLINA: Trial begins for man accused of killing 2 at football game Prosecutors say Timothy Wayne Johnson gunned down 2 bystanders outside a football game. His attorneys say Johnson was acting in defense of his younger brother. Both sides began laying out their cases Monday in Wake County Superior Court. Johnson is accused of killing 2 men at a tailgate party outside Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh on Sept. 4, when N.C. State University was playing its opening game of the season. The victims were a Camp Lejeune Marine, 2nd Lt. Brett Harman, and his friend, Kevin McCann, who was visiting from Chicago. His attorneys concede that their client was the shooter, although Johnson has pleaded not guilty on both counts. He faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted. Earlier this year, the brothers were sentenced for crimes related to an August 2004 home invasion and robbery in Raleigh, in which armed assailants broke in, restrained people with duct tape, then left with drugs, cash and guns. Timothy, 23, pleaded guilty to robbery and burglary charges in that case and was sentenced to at least 10 years in prison. A jury found Tony, 21, guilty on robbery, kidnapping and burglary charges, for which he was sentenced to at least 16 years. Those violent felonies on their records make both eligible for the death penalty if they are convicted of 1st-degree murder. Testimony and evidence in the home invasion revealed that Timothy Johnson sold drugs during his high school and college years. His defense lawyers admit he smoked marijuana before the shootings and had a gun stashed in his car. Prosecutors paint the younger brother, Tony Johnson, whose murder trial is set for October, as the instigator and catalyst in the shootings. Rob Harman, Brett Harman's older brother, sees wasted potential for all 4 young men. "(Timothy Johnson) made horrible decisions, and Brett and Kevin were killed as a result," he said. "If Brett had died in Iraq, that would have been the path that he chose, and as painful as that would have been, it would have meant something." The Johnsons' mother, Ann Johnson, 58, blamed the party lifestyle for distracting her sons from an upbringing that taught right and wrong. "You always think what you could have done or said that would have changed how quickly they got off the track with drugs and alcohol" she said. "They wouldn't be in the position to have gotten in a fight that night that got out of hand." (source: Associated Press)
