August 4 LOUISIANA: Davis grills his ex-partner in court----Disgraced cop acts as his own attorney 2 old police buddies were reunited in federal court Tuesday as cop-turned-killer Len Davis tried to avoid a return to death row by poking and prodding the testimony of the prosecution's star witness, Sammie Williams, who took refuge in the federal witness protection program after turning on his partner. In a cross-examination that lasted much of the day, Davis grilled Williams about their days of shaking down cocaine dealers, brutalizing suspects and laughing at the inability of their superiors to stop them. Williams, who went into the witness protection program after a 5-year prison term for his role in a drug-protection ring operated by Davis, admitted to participating in most of the rogue behavior, but he drew the line at the 1994 murder of Kim Groves. It was Davis alone who orchestrated her execution after she filed a brutality complaint against the pair, he said. Davis, acting as his own attorney, tried to get Williams to say he was only trying to set up Groves in a drug sting when she was coincidentally killed. But Williams steadfastly rejected the possibility. Instead, his account barely wavered from the testimony he offered at Davis' 1996 trial, interpreting profanity-laced telephone conversations that captured Davis calling on hit man Paul "Cool" Hardy to carry out Groves' killing, then celebrating her death. The FBI wiretaps, played and replayed over the years as Davis became a national poster boy for police corruption, were no less chilling when dusted off Tuesday for the freshly picked jury, chosen solely to determine whether Davis should return to death row or live the rest of his days in prison for violating Groves' civil rights. The rare life-or-death sentencing hearing is being held because the previous death sentences of Davis and Hardy were overturned on appeal. Hardy's sentencing is scheduled for October. On the FBI tapes, Davis is overheard targeting Groves because she had filed a brutality complaint after Williams pistol-whipped a man during an arrest. "I could get 'P' to come do that ho now and then we can come handle the 30," Davis tells Williams, referring to Hardy as 'P' and using the police signal code for homicide. Later, as the on-duty officers are cruising in their squad car in search of Groves, Davis spots her and calls Hardy with a description of her clothing, telling him, "After it's done, go straight Uptown and call me. After Hardy carries out the hit in front of Groves' Alabo Street home, Davis confirms the killing and -- in a now infamous excerpt -- is overheard screaming, "Yeah! Yeah!" At one point during Davis' cross-examination of Williams, he got his former partner to admit it wasn't uncommon for the pair to cheer the death of a drug dealer. But he got a very different answer when he asked, "Did we celebrate the killing of regular honest citizens?" "No, we didn't. But you did," Williams replied. "I did? Can you give me an example?" Davis asked. "Kim Groves." Unable to shake Williams from his testimony, Davis tried to portray him as a puppet for prosecutors or, as Davis said in his opening statement, a "lump of clay that the government makes into whatever shape they want him." Davis, reading from government documents he obtained as he transformed himself into an adept jailhouse paralegal, cited the itemized list of expenses topping $57,000 that Williams rang up while hidden in the witness protection program. As Williams calmly responded to the questions, Davis accused him of looking at the prosecutors for cues on how to respond. Williams, free since 1999, was at the heart of the federal probe from its beginnings in late 1993 when an undercover FBI agent posing as a drug dealer solicited help from dirty cops. Davis and Williams bit, eventually reeling in eight fellow officers into the sting dubbed "Operation Shattered Shield." FBI agents were eavesdropping on the drug activities of Davis and Williams when they -- unknowingly at the time -- taped the execution and celebration of the hit on Groves. (source: Times-Picayune) *********************** State Supreme Court will hear death-row appeal 6 years after being convicted and sentenced to die for the 1997 murder of an elderly Gonzales woman, the state's highest court is ready to consider the appeal of Daniel Joseph Blank. The Louisiana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments September 9th from Blank's attorneys with the Capital Appeals Project in New Orleans and from Ascension Parish prosecutors. Blank is accused of slaying 6 River Parishes residents, including 71-year-old Lillian Philippe of Gonzales and 55-year-old Joan Brock of LaPlace, during a 10-month period in 1996 and 1997. The September 9th hearing concerns Blank's appeal of his conviction and death sentence in the Philippe case only, but the Brock murder and 4 other murders and 2 attempted murders also figure in the appeal. In an 85-page appeal brief filed at the Supreme Court, Capital Appeals Project lawyers cite more than 70 alleged errors made before and during the trial, They also ask the high court to vacate Blank's conviction in the Philippe case and grant him a new trial. (source: Associated Press) ARKANSAS: Motion by public defenders in Newman case dismissed A request for another hearing to stop the execution of convicted killer Rickey Dale Newman was denied by the state Supreme Court on Wednesday. Newman's case, however, will be in federal court next week when attorneys argue whether a stay of his execution should be lifted. Newman is on death row for the February 2001 stabbing death of Marie Cholette, whose body was found under a makeshift tent in a wooded area where transients camped in Crawford County. He was to be executed July 26, but on July 21 U.S. District Judge Robert T. Dawson issued a stay and ordered a hearing for Aug. 9 in Fort Smith. One of the reasons for the stay was the pending appeal before the state Supreme Court. Matt DeCample, spokesman for the attorney general's office, said Wednesday that the decision by the state Supreme Court closes all pending actions by Newman and his attorneys in state court. "This ruling will factor into (next week's) hearings but until that hearing there is no immediate impact on the case," DeCample said about the confusing legal maneuverings in the capital murder case. Since his sentence, Newman has consistently refused legal help and has said he wants to die. His execution was originally scheduled for last Sept. 28, but the state Supreme Court issued a temporary stay on Sept. 24 after lawyers filed a motion on behalf of Newman's aunt, Betty Moore. The high court said the lawyers did not have standing to seek a stay, but they granted a temporary stay after lawyers argued that Moore had standing as a "next friend" of the convicted murder. In November, Newman apparently had a change of heart and decided to fight his execution. He asked that attorneys from the federal Public Defender's Office be allowed to raise whatever claims are available to prove his innocence. However, in December he asked that appeals be dismissed and that the stay of execution be lifted. In June the state Supreme Court lifted the stay. In July the attorney general's office certified that Newman did not have any appeals pending and notified the governor's office that the execution could proceed. The federal Public Defender's Office, however, filed a motion asking for a rehearing on the court's June decision after the attorney general's office had told the governor that he could set the execution date. In Wednesday's decision, the high court said the federally appointed public defenders "have no standing in this matter, nor can they force Newman to accept their representation after Newman duly and properly rejected it." Next Tuesday's hearing is expected to include arguments over a document Newman signed July 13. The Public Defender's Office argues that Newman never understood the full meaning of the document and that it does not prohibit attorneys from continuing to pursue the stay. The state has said in briefs that the document details how Newman wants his remains handled after the execution and that it also waives any further appeals by Newman. (source: Arkansas News Bureau) ILLINOIS----[NOTE----death penalty sought despite wishes of victim's family members] Murder suspect Zirko faces death penalty The Cook County State's Attorney's office will seek the death penalty against the Chicago piano player charged with killing a 38-year-old Glenview woman and her mother, even though the move dismays some of the victims' relatives. Steven Zirko, 43, is charged with killing Mary Lacey, 38, his former companion, and Lacey's mother, Margaret "Dolly" Ballog, 60, of Chicago, in Lacey's Glenview home Dec. 13. "We're Catholics, so we don't want the death penalty," said Helena Kolbasky of Elmwood Park, Lacey's sister and Ballog's daughter. "He stole their lives, but we're not for the death penalty." Thomas Ballog, Lacey's father and Margaret Ballog's former husband, said he preferred a life sentence be sought. "I'd rather let him sit for life and wake up every morning knowing he has to get through 23 hours of the same," Ballog said. Asked to comment on the weight a victim's family has in a decision to seek the death penalty, Tandra Simonton, with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, said, "We do consult with a victim's family; however, we have the final word on that." Zirko continues to be held without bond in Cook County Jail. He was indicted in March on 6 counts of 1st-degree murder and two counts of home invasion. He also faces charges of solicitation to commit murder and solicitation to commit murder for hire, for which he was indicted almost a month after the Dec. 13 slayings. Zirko has pleaded not guilty to each of the charges. Prosecutors last month filed notice of their intent to seek the death penalty. Assistant State's Attorney Steve Goebel said prosecutors determined the case warranted it. 2 people were killed; the murders occurred in tandem with a home invasion, another felony; and the court had issued an order of protection for Lacey that demanded Zirko steer clear of her, Goebel said. Friday, Zirko's attorney, Barry Spector, asked Cook County Circuit Court Judge Tim O'Brien to appoint an investigator and mitigator to assist the defense. "When the state files a motion to seek the death penalty, it sets into effect a number of procedural safeguards," Spector explained. Among those safeguards are the services of an investigator, who helps defense attorneys follow up on evidence, and a mitigator, who works to develop evidence that is to be presented in a trial's sentencing phase, Spector said. Both would be appointed and paid by the state Capital Mitigation Fund. The judge said he would rule on Spector's request Sept. 7. Prosecutors have alleged Zirko was upset by Lacey's attempts to keep him from the 2 children they had parented. In earlier court appearances, prosecutors said gunpowder residue was found on Zirko's right hand by Glenview police and that his cell phone registered on a tower in Niles the morning the women were murdered. Prosecutors alleged Zirko drove his girlfriend's Jeep to Lacey's home, that he cleaned the vehicle with a substance that left a white film and that Zirko's mother telephoned the girlfriend twice to ask that she also clean the Jeep. In 2000, Zirko had taken out a $500,000 life insurance policy on Lacey and a $100,000 policy on Ballog, they said. Prosecutors also have alleged Zirko earlier offered money to a man to intimidate Lacey, and offered money to another man and to a Palatine chiropractor to kill Lacey. Meanwhile, the home at 1901 George Court that Lacey was leasing at the time of her death is slated to be torn down. A permit to develop the site with a new residence, sought by Kevin Calcaterra, has been granted. An application for a demolition permit is pending. (source: Pioneer Press) KENTUCKY: Prosecutors to seek death penalty in shooting of ex-boss Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a man charged with fatally shooting a woman and trying to kill her boyfriend. Michael Joseph Flick, 34, is charged with killing Christina Wittich on May 20 as she made dinner for her boyfriend, Randall Lambirth. Lambirth testified at a hearing Tuesday that he came home to find Flick standing over Wittich in his kitchen. Flick then shot him in the arm, Lambirth said. Lambirth said he threw a table toward Flick. Lambirth's brother, Chris, came in, and the 2 restrained Flick until police arrived. Flick was initially charged with murder and assault. He went to Boone County with an electronic ankle bracelet to monitor his location and was prohibited from returning to Fayette County except for court appearances. A grand jury changed the assault charge to attempted murder and added a burglary charge against Flick. On Tuesday, Fayette Circuit Judge Mary C. Noble revoked Flick's $200,000 bond and ordered him back to jail. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty and Noble said facing that punishment might cause Flick to retaliate against Lambirth or eliminate any evidence against him. "Bond cannot be taken arbitrarily from the defendant," Noble said. In a death penalty case, "there is a difference in what the defendant might be compelled to do." Lambirth bought Flick's LensCrafters optometry practice at Lexington Green and took over Sept. 1, 2003. Flick remained at the office as Lambirth's employee until being fired in November 2004. Wittich worked there as an office manager. (source: Associated Press)
