August 4
INDIANA----impending execution
Baird seeks clemency; lawyer says he is insane ---- Man convicted of
killing parents, wife in 1985
A Montgomery County man scheduled to be executed by the state later this
month for killing his parents and his pregnant wife will seek clemency on
the grounds he is mentally ill, his lawyer said Wednesday.
"He was mentally ill at the time of the offense and he is mentally ill
now," said Sarah Nagy, an attorney for Arthur P. Baird II.
Baird was convicted of killing his wife, Nadine, who was 7 months
pregnant, and his parents, Arthur and Kathryn Baird, in 1985. Nadine Baird
was killed in the home she shared with her husband in Darlington, about 20
miles south of Lafayette. His parents were killed the next morning.
In 1987, Baird was sentenced to 60 years in prison for murdering his wife
and 8 years in prison for feticide. He was sentenced to death for killing
his parents.
He confessed to the killings, telling police he had gone berserk. He
believed the federal government was going to pay him $1 million for advice
on how to solve the national debt, and he was going to use the money to
buy a farm, court records show. Police said they found no motive for the
murders.
Nagy contends Baird was delusional.
"He believed a big burly man was moving his arms, causing him to do the
things that he did," she said. "He now continues to believe that a big
burly man is moving his arms, and has other various delusions that have
developed and evolved since his incarceration."
Staci Schneider, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, said the
office would not comment on Baird's clemency until his hearing.
The Indiana Parole Board is scheduled to meet Aug. 19 at the Indiana State
Prison in Michigan City to hear from Baird, said Earl Coleman, the
assistant for the parole board. A public hearing is scheduled Aug. 24 in
Indianapolis. The board is expected to vote later that day.
The board has recommended clemency in a capital case just once since the
death penalty was reinstated in Indiana in 1977. Last year, then-Gov. Joe
Kernan commuted the death sentence for Darnell Williams to life in prison
without the possibility of parole after the Parole Board voted unanimously
to recommend clemency, saying too many unresolved questions remained.
Nagy is confident Baird has a strong case.
"If there's a case to be made for mercy, this is it, because he was less
culpable than a juvenile or someone who is mentally retarded because of
his mental illness," Nagy said.
The state Supreme Court on July 19 ruled against an earlier claim that
Baird shouldn't have been sentenced to death because he was mentally ill
at the time.
Nagy said she also has filed a motion with the state Supreme Court to halt
the execution because Baird is not mentally competent to be executed.
"That's different than arguing that he wasn't competent at the time," she
said.
In the July 19 ruling, state Supreme Court Justice Robert D. Rucker ruled
with the majority, but he wrote separately because he wanted to emphasize
that Baird had made no claim based on his present mental state.
"I continue to believe that a sentence of death is inappropriate for a
person suffering a severe mental illness," Rucker wrote.
If the execution takes place, Baird would be the 5th person put to death
by Indiana this year -- the most since 8 men were executed by the state in
1938.
(source: Indiana Daily Student)
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Murder count filed in egging shooting----Death penalty won't be sought,
prosecutor says
The man accused of killing a 15-year-old boy he thought threw eggs at his
truck was formally charged Wednesday with murder and other crimes that
could send him to prison for up to 82 years.
Prosecutors charged Donald E. Ware, 37, Avon, with the July 24 death of
Brandon Dunson on the Far Westside. Ware also faces a charge of battery in
the wounding of another boy and 2 counts of criminal recklessness stemming
from gunfire at other teens, all of whom were apparently involved in the
prank.
Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi also said the teens involved in the
egg-throwing prank might face charges of criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.
If charged, they would be tried in juvenile court.
"They were doing something they obviously shouldn't have been doing," he
said. "They should be held accountable in proportion to what they did."
Brandon was with a group of boys who threw eggs at cars in the area of
Rockville and Girls School roads. Officials say Ware, whose pickup was one
of the pranksters' targets, chased the boys through a parking lot and
fired at them from his truck.
A few hours later, Brandon was found dead, shot in the back.
Brizzi said Wednesday he would not pursue the death penalty for Ware.
Prosecutors have grown reluctant to file for the death penalty because the
process is so drawn out and the outcome is far from certain.
In this case, no circumstances exist that would clear the way for seeking
the death penalty. Examples of such legal grounds would include a killing
committed during another crime, such as rape or carjacking; killing a
child 12 or younger; or the slaying of a police officer.
"I am absolutely pursuing the strictest recourse possible," Brizzi said.
(source: Indianapolis Star)
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Our sick society----Vandalism now punishable by death
We are living in some very sick times. The latest piece of evidence is the
tragedy that occurred Sunday, July 24, when 15-year-old Brandon Dunson was
murdered in cold blood on the Westside after hurling eggs at cars.
Our politicians want to ban violent videogames while they're cutting funds
to after-school programs that would give youth an alternative to
vandalism. The driver of a maroon Ford F-150, a victim of the vandalism,
hunted down the youths, pulled out a weapon and killed Dunson and wounded
one of his friends.
As a result, Indianapolis police announced plans to strictly enforce the
citys curfew law, which prohibits those under 18 from being out
unaccompanied by a parent or guardian after 11 p.m. Sunday through
Thursday and 1 a.m. on weekends.
While my friends at the Indiana Civil Liberties Union are against the
states curfew law, I have to take exception with them on this. The streets
are too dangerous these days, especially when you have people willing to
kill over petty vandalism.
Those teens shouldnt have been throwing eggs at cars, I agree. They should
have been detained or arrested and maybe served some time at Juvy. Young
Mr. Brunson received the death penalty for his alleged crime.
Like a lot of people before me, I went through my days of petty vandalism,
and while Im not proud of what I did, and would not endorse anyone
emulating me, I dont have any regrets.
I remember being 18 and 19 and hanging out with some friends in Broad
Ripple and getting into lots of trouble. Back in the 80s, there was even
less for kids and young adults to do than there is now. Our weekend
consisted of looking for alcohol, then consuming it, then going on sprees.
Ive experienced many of the pleasures life has to offer, and among the
most enjoyable of them was hanging out of the window of a car going 40
miles an hour down a suburban street and using a baseball bat to smash the
hell out of mailboxes.
Id take a Hank Aaron swing and send the box flying, then wind up and swing
at the next target. Letters and packages would go flying. The mailboxes
would sail through the air. It was astonishingly fun.
I feel bad now about the damage I caused, but at the time it was one of
the most exhilarating things Id ever done. If I could go back and make
restitution to my victims, I would. But I was so smashed back then that Id
have to send a $250 check to everyone who was living north of 38th Street.
Remember those yellow boxes used to deliver the Indy Star? We must have
destroyed 10,000 of those things, and I most emphatically do not apologize
for that, even now.
Ive done my share of tagging and graffiti too; theres an underpass at
Bluff Road and I-465 that probably still has my NIXON LIVES and PUBLIC
ENEMY RULES tags on its underside. One of my pals made a stencil of a
housefly and must have tagged every white wall in the city with it.
My point is not to glorify vandalism, but to emphasize that some young
people have and always will do destructive things. Especially now, when we
have outlaws running our government, and a breakdown of the moral fabric
of our society hastened by the policies of the current president, people
are going to act out on it.
Its unfortunate that a young man full of such potential had to die for it.
The person who did it should be egged and then executed, in my opinion.
Kill the bastard for what he did. There is no excuse for murdering a
child, even if he messed up the paint job on the mans redneck-mobile.
As I said in the beginning, these are sick, sick times. Our politicians
want to ban violent videogames while theyre cutting funds to after-school
programs that would give youth an alternative to vandalism.
Lives are being lost across the world for no reason. In Africa, someone
dies every three seconds of diseases that could be cured with $2 worth of
medicine. Genocide continues in Darfur and the world does nothing.
Were dedicating our national treasure in an ill-conceived war thats
killing thousands and thousands of Iraqis and Americans monthly while
having no exit strategy.
The same politicians who want to outlaw abortion - which I agree is a
noble goal - refuse to address the root causes of the problem, such as
contraception, education and raising the self-esteem of our young people.
Our police forces are understaffed, underpaid and working with 1970s
technology. Theyre having to take over the role of parental figures more
often than they should.
Our cities are being devastated by meth and crack, while the war on drugs
is largely focused on eradicating marijuana. Pot may not be benign but it
doesnt take lives and ravage communities.
This isnt a Republican or Democrat issue, although President John Kerry
would have begun a process of healing. Its an issue about our nations
survival. Bin Laden has no need to kill Americans when we are doing such a
good job of it ourselves.
Our souls are at stake here. Its time for the so-called Christians in our
government to walk the walk. Start with bringing our troops home, then
work on uniting our people. We can do all of that while still eradicating
poverty in the Third World in our lifetimes.
Were facing challenges weve never faced before, and theyre problems
largely of our own making. Brother Malcolm was right when he said, "The
chickens have come home to roost."
Meanwhile, the family of a young man mourns because some kids were out
having fun.
Ill say it a 3rd time, for emphasis: We are living in sick times.
(source: Steve Hammer, Nuvo.net)
ARIZONA:
A Family's Vindication----Rodney Aviles will never stand trial for a
gruesome double murder, but Maricopa County did
Anita Watson was overwhelmed July 19, after a 9-person jury awarded her
and her family $28 million, at the conclusion of a civil trial in downtown
Phoenix. But it wasn't like she was thinking about how to spend her share
of the money.
"I kept thinking about my mom and the baby and about my sick brother
Rodney, too, and how sad this all was and how it didn't have to happen
like it did," says Watson.
Rodney is Rodney Aviles, the focal point of the hotly contested trial.
Mom was Mauricia Aviles, the family's late, beloved matriarch.
And the "baby" was 7-year-old Alexia, the daughter of Anita's brother
Lenny and Texas resident Lulu Saldana (also a plaintiff).
Mauricia and Alexia died in the early evening hours of June 23, 1999, the
victims of particularly vicious murders inside Mauricia's home near 43rd
Avenue and Greenway Road.
About 2:40 p.m. on that tragic day, mental-health officials at the
Maricopa Medical Center, specifically psychiatrist Carla Denham, had
ordered Rodney's release from custody ("Blood on Their Hands," Paul Rubin,
October 14, 2004).
Dr. Denham had done so even though she and others recently had diagnosed
Rodney as delusional, psychotic, suffering from schizophrenia and probably
addicted to cocaine.
Six days earlier, Rodney's family members had pleaded with authorities to
commit him after a series of frightening incidents at Mauricia's home,
where Rodney was living.
Then 20, Rodney had been mentally unstable for years, but his rapid
deterioration in early June 1999 had forced his family into seeking help.
Records from the county medical center indicated that Rodney didn't
improve much during his court-ordered evaluation. But doctors released the
young man, even though they were aware that his psychotic, violent
delusions -- mostly fixated on his mother -- were continuing.
They did so in part because hospital staffers were convinced that Rodney's
psychosis was cocaine-induced, and that he didn't belong in the psych
unit.
About 2 hours after he got home, Rodney bludgeoned his 59-year-old mother
and little niece to death in the family's living room.
Afterward, he placed a blue comforter over the legs of his victims and a
statue of the Virgin Mary between the battered bodies. He also put a
ceramic statuette of an angel next to Alexia's body.
Police captured Rodney outside Gila Bend about 12 hours after the murders.
The gruesome double-murder case against Rodney took almost 6 years to
resolve, largely because of continued questions about his legal competence
to stand trial.
During that time, Anita Watson convinced famed Wyoming attorney Gerry
Spence to help keep Rodney off death row, where county prosecutors had
expressed their desire to send him.
Spence was appalled that prosecutors were seeking the death penalty
against a young man with universally diagnosed severe mental illness and
underlying learning disabilities. Pro bono, Spence joined forces on the
criminal case with a deputy public defender, Vikki Liles.
Earlier this year, Judge Warren Granville agreed that Rodney Aviles is
permanently incompetent to stand trial for murder. He will remain locked
up at either a county or state hospital for the foreseeable future,
perhaps for the rest of his life.
Rodney's siblings and Lulu Saldana later sued Maricopa County and others
in the medical-malpractice case finally decided July 19.
Rodney's treating psychiatrist, Dr. Denham, and her employer at the time,
MedPro -- a consortium of doctors and other medical personnel that
provided medical services for the county -- settled out of court with the
family in 2003 for an undisclosed sum.
But lawyers for Maricopa County insisted hospital staffers had handled
Rodney's release correctly, and resolved to go to trial. In hindsight,
that decision proved to be the wrong one.
After deliberating less than a day, the jury held Maricopa County liable
for $21 million of the $28 million award, or 75 %. They apportioned blame
to Dr. Denham at 18 %, 1 p% each to Anita Watson and victim Mauricia
Aviles (the pair technically had signed off on Rodney's release) and 5 %
to Rodney himself.
"This was a family that went to the county for help and didn't get it, and
the jury picked up on that simple theme," says Phoenix attorney Jeff
Miller, who represented the plaintiffs. "The case also provided a tragic
example of how people with serious mental illness are treated in this
county, and I think the jury was sending a message."
That's accurate, according to Mesa juror Jim Sprygada, who sent an e-mail
to New Times shortly after the verdict, saying he'd just read Rubin's
story:
"After sitting through more than a week of testimony as a juror on the
case, we agreed with the same questions brought up in the New Times
article and then some.
"We found for the plaintiffs in this case to the amount of $28 million,
which to some jurors seemed far too little. My condolences to the Aviles
family for all they have been through in this avoidable experience."
Sprygada and the other jurors heard testimony about Rodney's incessant
delusions in the days before the murders. For example, he was accusing his
mother of having tattooed his penis and scarring his face after drugging
him, neither of which was true.
Dr. Denham's last notation to Rodney's chart before releasing him to his
mother and his sister Carmen Tallebas on the afternoon of June 23 was
telling:
"It is probable that [Rodney] has some underlying pathology -- as his
affect is impaired, he is isolative, and his delusions persisted for a
significant period of time after cocaine left his system. Actually,
although he is longer agitated and bizarre, his delusions are still
present."
Astoundingly, Denham approved the return of a six-inch folding knife to
Rodney before releasing him to his family. Authorities had confiscated the
knife when they first admitted him to the hospital days earlier.
Though that knife wasn't the murder weapon, which police never did
recover, its return to the delusional patient spoke to the haphazard
approach that hospital officials used with their patient.
Coincidentally during that time, Rodney's brother Lenny and Lulu Saldana
were visiting Phoenix after a trip to Disneyland, SeaWorld and the Grand
Canyon.
Sadly, their presence at Mauricia's home gave Rodney the opportunity to
kill his niece and his mother.
The size of the civil verdict stunned courthouse observers aware of the
difficulties that medical-malpractice plaintiffs' attorneys have had
winning cases in Maricopa County in recent years.
The county Board of Supervisors has yet to announce whether it will appeal
the verdict.
Anita Watson speaks for herself and her family when she says, "I'm left
with a sense that I don't trust anyone inside the system anymore. They
still probably don't believe that they did anything wrong. But we took
Rodney down there to get help, and they basically just let him out. They
knew he was crazy and dangerous. During the trial, we all felt better at
just getting the truth out to the jury. We didn't know what was going to
happen, but we felt strong about it, that we were doing the right thing."
As for her brother Rodney, she says, "He's a very sick person and he
should be where he is right now, not in prison. I love my brother, and I
loved my mother and the baby [Alexia]. We won our case, yes, but this is
sad all the way around."
(source: Phoenix New Times)
ALABAMA----impending execution
Slain Officer's Wife Expresses Doubt About Sibley Execution
Death row inmate George Sibley is set to die by lethal injection at Holman
prison. A jury convicted Sibley of killing an Opelika Police officer in
1993.
Now, the slain officer's wife is expressing some thoughts that may
surprise you.
12 years have passed since Roger Motley's murder, and yet, these last 24
hours are the hardest for his widow.
Juanita Motley Kirkwood is not looking forward to the process.
"I have a real hard time with going in and watching someone die," she
said.
Kirkwood has tried to move on with her life, raising the 4 children she
shared with Roger Motley. At the same time, her new home is still filled
with mementos of his life. On the eve of the killer's execution, Kirkwood
is filled with anxiety. She knows what is coming. She witnessed Lynda
Block's execution 3 years ago for the same crime.
"I did not stay for the whole thing that time. I think I will (today),"
she said.
Sibley has filed a last minute appeal with the Supreme Court trying to
avoid his execution. Surprisingly, Kirkwood says if it were up to her he
would.
"I'm not, I never have been sure that I believe in capital punishment. I
was thrown into this situation," she said.
Kirkwood knows she will face criticism for her opinion.
"But nothing they do to George Sibley or Lynda Lyons will bring Roger
back. Nothing they do will repair the damage that was done to our family,"
she said.
And despite what many say about executions deterring murders, she doesn't
believe it.
"This is not going to send some big, dramatic message out to someone who
is of that state of mind anyway. I don't think you're going to reach those
people," she said.
Juanita Kirkwood will have lots of support when she witnesses Sibley's
execution. Roger Motley's mother, 2 sons and goddaughter will sit with her
along with Opelika's police chief.
Sibley's hopes for a reprieve seem to be fading. He's asked the high court
twice since March to overturn his conviction. Both times, justices
rejected his request.
(source: WSFA News)
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Witnesses recount childhood abuse----The Devin Moore Trial
After playing tapes of radio traffic the morning 2 Fayette police officers
and a dispatcher were killed in June 2003, prosecutors rested their case
against Devin Moore on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Moore's attorneys began his defense with testimony from Moore's
brother and sister-in-law about what they described as Moore's harsh
upbringing.
Moore is charged with 6 counts on 3 capital murder charges in the fatal
shootings of Fayette police officers Arnold Strickland and James Crump and
dispatcher Leslie "Ace" Mealer. He is accused of grabbing Strickland's
pistol while he was being booked on a stolen vehicle charge and using it
to shoot the three men. If convicted, he faces the death penalty or life
in prison without parole.
Judge James Moore denied motions by defense attorney Jim Standridge to
dismiss the charges against Devin Moore. Standridge claimed prosecutors
failed to prove the cause of death and said that Moore's taking of
Strickland's pistol was an "afterthought" and shouldn't be considered a
robbery. Committing a murder while in the process of a robbery is one of
the capital charges against Moore.
Defense attorneys began laying the groundwork for claims that Moore is
suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which triggered the
shooting. They also claim that compulsively playing the video game "Grand
Theft Auto" programmed him to kill.
But first the jury heard the radio chatter leading up to and immediately
after the shooting. It also heard Devin Moore calmly call his mother and
tell her he was in jail.
Included in the message was a playful exchange between Strickland and
Fayette County Deputy Sheriff Chuck Tidwell. Strickland had just arrested
Moore for driving a stolen vehicle, and Tidwell was looking for another
stolen vehicle that night.
"Hey Chuckie."
"Hey Arnold."
"I found my 10-40 (stolen vehicle). You found yours?"
"That's a negative. Mine's moving. It's not sitting still like yours."
"Ah, he was resting," said Strickland, who found Moore sleeping in the
vehicle.
"Maybe mine will be," Tidwell said.
"Ah, no, you'll have to chase that one," Strickland joked.
It would not be long before Tidwell would go to the Fayette police
station, discover the bodies and make a horrified call to his dispatcher.
"Officers down. Officers down," Tidwell said, his voice cracking.
"The ambulance is supposed to be en route," Dispatcher Jerry Porter told
Tidwell.
"Ten-Four," he said. "It's bad. We have people down."
Earlier in the recording, Moore called his mother to tell her he'd been
taken into custody. He told her he'd been charged with receiving stolen
property after buying a car from a "crackhead."
"I offered him some money and he gave me the car," Moore told his mother.
"Devin, I can't -- I just can't believe you, boy," his mother responded.
She hung up on him abruptly after asking him if he'd called his father.
Treasa Blake, county 911 director and Mealer's boss, testified that she'd
made the copy of the recording and gave times of radio broadcasts and
telephone calls. She sobbed quietly at points during her testimony.
Moore's half brother, Adam Moore, testified that their father, Kenneth
Moore, would make the boys strip naked and then would beat them with a
belt if they disobeyed him or did something that angered him. Adam Moore
said that once while Kenneth Moore was beating Devin Moore, he hit the
boy's testicles with a belt. The blow was severe enough that his testicles
swelled and Devin Moore had difficulty urinating, Adam Moore said.
Both he and Aunt Sadie Wicker testified to seeing whelps on Devin Moore's
back at a family reunion after the boy took a severe beating. She cried as
she testified how the boy cried out when his great grandmother hugged him.
The incident created problems between Kenneth Moore and other family
members.
"It was like 'The Passion of Christ,'" Adam Moore said. "He had whelps all
over him."
Adam Moore said his father, who was hospitalized in Bryce Hospital at one
time, flew into a rage when beating the boys. He said Kenneth Moore beat
them anywhere from four to seven times a week. Other punishment included
making the boys do 1,000 pushups, he said. He'd also make Adam Moore and
another brother, Michael "Mookie" Moore, beat Devin Moore, Adam Moore
said.
Michael Moore played football for the University of Alabama and Troy State
University and is now a professional football player.
Adam Moore said Kenneth Moore would berate the boys while he beat them,
and he constantly called Devin Moore "crazy." He also said "terrible
things" about Devin Moore's mother. Devin Moore's mother was a 15-year-old
baby sitter for the Moore family when she and Kenneth Moore conceived
Devin Moore while Kenneth Moore was still married to Adam Moore's mother.
"There was no love," Adam Moore said. "He would treat us like a worker."
Adam Moore said Kenneth Moore forced Devin Moore to do heavy manual labor
as a small child. Their father ran a janitorial business, and Adam Moore
said he would keep them up all night cleaning businesses. At home, they
had constant chores, he said. Adam Moore said his father was obsessed with
work."
"We were working like grown men, 16- and 17-hour shifts," Adam Moore said.
"We were happy when school was in so we could get a break."
Adam Moore described how the boys hated their father. He described how he
and Devin Moore saw their father beating Adam's mother and cutting off her
hair while she was naked. He said Kenneth Moore stuck a double-barrel
shotgun in her mouth and made her sit in a tub of Clorox.
"We'd wish he was dead," Adam Moore said. "We'd wish that he'd die in a
car wreck."
Adam Moore said he and Devin Moore would pray that they wouldn't get a
"whuppin."
Kenneth Moore would give the boys "surprise" beatings, waking them up from
sleep for their punishment, Adam Moore said. He described how waking Devin
Moore up became a family prank. They said when startled from sleep, he
would immediately start acting as if he were doing some kind of work, such
as scraping a floor or making a bed.
Adam Moore is now being held in the Walker County Jail awaiting transport
to a federal prison on a firearms charge. He was found in possession of a
firearm after being convicted on a drug charge.
On cross-examination, District Attorney Chris McCool noted that while Adam
Moore had the same upbringing and had been arrested and booked, he never
shot a police officer. Standridge countered that Adam Moore hadn't been
exposed to the abuse as early as Devin Moore and hadn't reacted in the
same way as Devin Moore.
Both Adam Moore and his wife, Megan Moore, testified that Devin Moore
would "zone out" or retreat into "his own little world." Megan Moore said
people could talk for extended periods to Devin Moore and that Devin Moore
would remember none of it. Both also testified that Devin Moore spent long
periods of time playing video games.
Megan Moore testified to witnessing a beating Kenneth Moore gave Devin
Moore. She said she was frightened by Kenneth Moore and didn't want to be
around him.
Thursday will begin with hearings out of the jury's presence. Attorneys
will argue about the admissibility of some records and the testimony of a
psychologist serving as a defense expert witness.
(source: The Tuscaloosa News)
