August 14 VIRGINIA: Double death penalty case begins Monday 2 men charged in a Danville murder-for-hire scheme will go on trial for their lives starting Monday in Lynchburgs U.S. District Court. The case, moved here because of the new federal courthouse has more holding cells, accuses a Danville man of hiring 2 Tennessee men to murder a Danville man he believed to be a police informant. The trial, involving dozens of witnesses, is expected to last about 4 weeks. According to court documents, federal officials said Lanny Benjamin Bodkins, 32, and Darel Keith Taylor, 24, drove from Johnson City, Tenn., to Danville to murder Tyree Wimbush, 23, at the request of Anthoine Plunkett, 37. Plunkett believed Wimbush was a police "snitch" and he offered to pay Bodkins and Taylor $2,500 to commit the crime. Federal authorities will seek the death penalty against Bodkins and Plunkett. Taylor pleaded guilty in March as part of a plea agreement and is scheduled to testify for the prosecution. The 3 suspects were indicted in February on charges of conspiracy to commit murder for hire; murder for hire; conspiracy to commit interstate stalking; interstate stalking; and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence resulting in death. Plunketts defense attorneys, Beverly M. Davis of Radford and Roger D. Groot with Washington and Lee Universitys Law School, both said they couldn't divulge anything that could come into play at trial. "Mr. Plunkett has always maintained his innocence in the matter and will do so at trial," Davis said. Though prosecutors and defense attorneys declined to comment on the specifics of the case, newspaper articles and court documents give some details about what might have happened that night as well as the prosecutions theories: Shortly before midnight on July 22, 1999, Tyree Wimbush stood chatting with his pregnant girlfriend on the front porch of his aunts house in Danville. He pointed to a dark-colored car and said, "There go those white guys from Tennessee." 30 minutes later, Wimbush lay dead in the road after being shot multiple times by those same men, police said. Danville police said in 1999 that 2 men in a black car pulled up in front of an abandoned building at 712 Claiborne St., a block away from where Wimbush lived. Wimbush stopped his car in front of the vehicle, got out and walked around to the passenger side of their vehicle. Several shots were fired and Wimbush fell to the ground as the car, which had Tennessee license plates, sped off, police said. Prosecutors believe the crime was drug-related. "It is the governments theory in this case that prior to the murder of Tyree Wimbush, Plunkett was a drug dealer in the Danville area, as was Tyree Wimbush, but on a smaller scale," a government motion states. "During the later part of June 1999, police executed two search warrants in the area where Plunkett was known to sell drugs, near Locust Street, in Danville. These search warrants were supported by information provided by a reliable informant." Plunkett was arrested after one such search at his then-girlfriends house yielded a bag containing his wallet, identification, digital scales and a bag with 42 grams of crack cocaine, according to the motion. Though Plunkett was convicted of possession with intent to distribute, the conviction was overturned on appeal. The government states that Plunkett attended a meeting on or around July 14 - 8 days before Wimbushs murder - with several people to determine the identity of the police informant and to decide what to do about that person. Plunkett told those at the meeting he believed Wimbush was the informant and "wanted him dealt with," the motion stated. This was the genesis of the murder-for-hire plan, according to court documents. The documents also state that authorities believe Bodkins was the triggerman and Taylor was the driver of the car. Jurors for the lengthy trial will be selected from Danville and the surrounding counties, not Lynchburg, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig J. Jacobsen, who is prosecuting the case with Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Giorno. (source: Lynchburg News and Advance) FLORIDA: Death penalty cases delayed Since Chief Assistant Public Defender James Slater died unexpectedly in May, the legal system in which he played a crucial role has felt the loss. Friends and colleagues described him as diligent and passionate in the defense of his clients against the death penalty. He was the most experienced counsel in local capital cases, and his departure created a void that has rippled through Manatee County's four pending death penalty cases. Slater's death at the age of 57 - from a rare and aggressive form of lymphatic cancer that killed him a little more than two weeks after its diagnosis - left others in the Manatee public defender's office scrambling to gain the experience they need under state law before they can take the pending cases to trial. "Jim's death put us in a very bad position," said Steven Schaefer, an attorney in the office. "It certainly complicated matters because he was our lead capital attorney in the Manatee County office," said Assistant Public Defender Adam Tebrugge, who is based in Sarasota. Key to preventing additional delays in the 4 cases is the upcoming trial in Sarasota of Joseph P. Smith. Two Manatee public defenders, Schaefer and Carolyn DaSilva, will earn the experience they need before they can take the pending cases to trial by assisting Tebrugge in his defense of Smith, who is accused of kidnapping, raping and killing 11-year-old Carlie Brucia in February 2004. Smith's trial is set to start in November in Sarasota. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Smith. Once the Smith trial is complete, Schaefer and DaSilva will be qualified to defend suspects in the 4 pending death penalty cases in Manatee County, starting with Gary Cloud. Cloud, 48, is charged with killing former actress Barbara Jean Laney in her Lakeside Drive condominium on Aug. 3, 2002. The two were acquaintances and Cloud had borrowed money from Laney, who was 67, in the past, the sheriff's office said. At the time of Slater's death, the state had just announced that it would seek the death penalty for Cloud. "The Cloud case is ready," Tebrugge said. "They were ready to walk in and pick a jury." But Cloud's trial has now been pushed back to January, and Manatee's 3 other cases most likely will fall in line behind that trial. The 3 other Manatee County defendants currently facing a possible death sentence are: - Blaine Ross, 22, who is charged with beating his parents to death with a baseball bat on Jan. 7, 2004. The bodies of Richard and Kathleen Ross were found in the bedroom of their East Manatee home. - Darrell Mitchell, 35, who is charged with strangling Susan E. Tharp in her East Manatee home on July 16, 2004. Prosecutors announced in March that they had obtained new evidence and would seek the death penalty for Mitchell. - Jeffrey Leonard Pompey, 24, who is charged with fatally shooting store clerk Dong Sub Lim and customer Ramon Coto-Delgado during a robbery attempt on Aug. 14, 2002, at the Food Land grocery store on 15th Street East. Pompey was charged six months later as being the masked gunman captured on video by a store security camera. Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties make up the 12th Judicial Circuit. There are public defender offices in each county, but together they operate as a unit, Tebrugge said. A 6th death penalty case pending in the circuit is in Sarasota County. Elton Brutus Murphy is accused of stabbing Sarasota art gallery owner Joyce Wishart to death on Jan 16, 2004. Her body was found five days later in her gallery. Under the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, to be lead counsel on a capital case, attorneys must have at least five years of experience in criminal law, and have experience as lead counsel or have served as co counsel in at least two state or federal death penalty cases tried to completion, among other qualifications. Schaefer and DaSilva have each worked on one death penalty case. In the Smith trial, they will work on one of the most high-profile cases in Florida in recent years. Prosecutors say Smith was caught on camera leading Brucia away from a car wash. It is a case that has brought great scrutiny of the probation system, as Smith had violated the terms of his probation, but was not incarcerated at the time of the slaying. Schaefer and DaSilva will assist Tebrugge in witness preparation - a demanding task in major trials, which frequently have 100 witnesses, Tebrugge said. They may also make some arguments in court. But, Tebrugge said, "I'll be captain of the ship." The trial is expected to take about a month. Upon its completion, the Manatee cases can proceed, starting with the Cloud trial in January. Tebrugge couldn't take on the Manatee cases because of his involvement in the Smith case and another upcoming trial, he said. He also said that the judicial district's chief judge, Robert Bennett, could have made an exception to the qualifications needed so that the delay in the docket could be avoided. But, Tebrugge said, Bennett chose not to and will preside over a Sept. 16 hearing in which all pending death penalty trials in the circuit will be discussed and scheduled. "I think that Judge Bennett felt there was no reason why we couldn't technically comply with the rule," Tebrugge said. Bennett, who was on medical leave last week, was not available for comment. - Jeffrey Leonard Pompey, in the shooting deaths of store clerk Dong Sub Lim and customer Ramon Coto-Delgado during a robbery attempt at the Food Land grocery store on 15th Street East, August 2002. - Gary M. Cloud, in the death of former actress and model Barbara Laney in her Lakeside Drive condominium, August 2002. - Blaine Ross, in the beating deaths of his parents, Richard and Kathleen Ross of East Manatee, January 2004. - Elton Brutus Murphy, in the stabbing death of Joyce Wishart inside her Sarasota art gallery, January 2004. - Joseph P. Smith, in the abduction, rape and slaying of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia of Sarasota, February 2004. - Darrell W. Mitchell, in the strangulation death of Susan E. Tharp in her East Manatee home, July 2004. (source: Bradenton Herald) *************************** Man Faces Hearing In Teen's Death Florida Department of Corrections No. 185563. Behind that number is the face of Phillup Alan Partin. Convicted killer. When people see him in court these days, they often comment about his eyes. Hazel, piercing eyes that send chills up spines. 18 years after being convicted of 2nd-degree murder in Miami, he's behind bars again. This time he's in the Land O' Lakes jail, charged with 1st-degree murder in the slaying of 16-year-old Joshan Ashbrook 3 years ago. A pretrial hearing is set for Monday. Aug. 1 marked the 3rd anniversary of the discovery of Ashbrook's body in woods off Shady Hills Road. Her 130- pound frame was clad in a black bra and striped sleeveless shirt. Her body was cut and bruised. Her throat slashed. The gaping wound was nearly 4 inches long, the autopsy report said. Cause of death: blunt head and neck trauma. Manner of death: homicide. Partin's name came up quickly as a potential suspect, court records show. The mother of Ashbrook's boyfriend told detectives the girl telephoned then stopped by moments later on the day before her body was found. Detectives retrieved the number from the woman's caller ID and traced it to a cell phone. At some point, sheriff's Detective Lisa Ann Mazza called it and a man answered, according to her deposition filed in Pasco Circuit Court. Asked his name, he said it was Phillip Thompson. Mazza asked about Ashbrook. The man said he gave a girl a ride and let her use his phone, the deposition said. Mazza tried to set up a meeting to talk about the girl. He told her he was "kind of a transient," so it was difficult for him to meet, according to the deposition. Homeless, Hustler, Killer Years earlier, Partin also didn't really have a place to call home. In fall of 1987, he slipped into a gay bar on Miami's Biscayne Boulevard with a plan. Partin had made it his routine for nine to 10 months to frequent places like the Cactus Lounge so he could have a place to sleep. To shower. "It's a hustler lounge," Partin, then 22, later told a Miami detective. "It's for where the gay people go to pick up tricks. ..." "Are you a hustler?" the detective asked. "Yes," Partin replied. As he played pool one night in late September or early October, he noticed an older man watching him. Gary Thorne eventually asked Partin for a game, then invited him to a Fort Lauderdale bar. They stopped at Thorne's house so he could let his cat inside. Partin laid down on a bed, his feet on the floor. When Thorne touched him intimately, Partin told him to stop. Thorne then told Partin it was too late to go to the bar. "I got up to go and he stood up and he put one hand on each of my shoulders and he tried to kiss me," Partin told the detective. 'That's when I grabbed him by his shoulders and spun him around and grabbed him by his neck. I spun and flipped him onto the bed." The 2 men - both about 5-foot-7 - tumbled off the bed, Partin landing on top. "I started letting go and he made noise like he was screaming," Partin told the detective. ``So I tightened up again and told him to be quiet. "And then somehow I got to the other side of the bed and I reached for the phone and, you know, I was holding him with one arm and I reached for the phone with the other arm and ... I grabbed the cord and put it around his neck and I held it with one hand and I reached with my other hand and I pulled it you know, just so he doesn't say anything, doesn't holler. I just wanted for him to be quiet and then I let go because he wasn't moving or anything, and I let go and he didn't move or say nothing." "How many times did you wrap it around his neck?" the detective asked. "About 2, maybe 3," Partin said. "I'm not sure. Tight." Partin was convicted of 2nd-degree murder and sentenced to 17 years in prison on March 31, 1989. In years to come, Florida prisons became so crowded that inmates were given generous gain time, cutting many sentences by 2/3. Partin earned an additional 1,370 days off for good behavior, according to the Department of Corrections. He was released Aug. 1, 1995. One Last Search 7 years to the day later, Ashbrook's body was discovered by electric company employees. She was a frequent runaway, and her family already was searching for her. Investigators think Partin picked up Joshan on U.S. 19, not far from her home on Sheelin Drive in New Port Richey. What happened in the years between Partin's release from prison and his October 2003 arrest in North Carolina in the Ashbrook case is unclear. Records show numerous addresses in Florida, California and North Carolina and one in Michigan. Partin, now 40, declined to be interviewed for this story. "No interest in talking to people who spread lies and propaganda," he scrolled in the margin of the request. "Do not contact me again." A nearly 8-year marriage to Gloria Hurtado, 4 years his senior, ended 7 months before he re-entered society. "It was very bad for me," Hurtado, who lives in Miami, said recently. Other than saying he never hurt her physically, she declined further comment. Less than 2 months after his prison release, Partin married Heather Ann Gillooley, 6 years his junior. It ended July 15, 1997, a year after a Polk County circuit judge issued a protective order against Partin, records state. Later in 1996, another woman won a protective order against him. Partin was arrested that year in Polk County on charges of sexual assault and battery, records state. Those charges later were dropped. By 2002, Partin wanted to move from North Carolina to Florida after another troubled relationship with a woman. Fred Kaufman had met Partin, nicknamed "Sonny," in prison nearly 20 years ago, so when Partin asked for a place to stay, Kaufman didn't hesitate. Kaufman agreed to let Partin and his 7-year-old daughter stay at Kaufman's Port Richey home, as long as the other man got a job, according to a deposition. Kaufman cleaned and painted a room in his modest house at 7425 Buchanan Drive before Partin's arrival in mid- July 2002. It's where investigators think Partin killed Ashbrook. Partin's daughter, a search warrant shows, told detectives that on July 31 her father picked up a hitchhiker who matched Ashbrook's description. The 3 played video games and watched television all day in that bedroom. Later, blood found on the floor and walls was matched with Ashbrook's DNA, according to court records. By that time, Partin already had gone, leaving his daughter behind. Weeks later, Partin asked Kaufman to deliver the child to a Wal-Mart in Polk County. The men then took her to the home of another Partin friend and dropped her off for safekeeping, Kaufman's June deposition states. Until that day, Partin had denied any involvement in Ashbrook's slaying. But as the 2 men drove back to Wal-Mart, Kaufman asked again. "I said, `Did you kill this girl,' and he said, 'Yeah.'" "I was driving in a tunnel of just like unbelievable that this is even happening. "And he went on to tell me that he hog-tied her and slashed her throat, and how the blood - how much blood came out of her and splashed on his shoes, and her shoes, or something. ... And there was blood in the truck, and how she begged for her life." The conversation continued about 10 minutes, Kaufman said in his deposition. "What really threw me was when he said there was another one in the works. I'm like - I got my hand on the wheel going, I'm driving with a serial killer." Partin hasn't been charged in any other slayings. Since being extradited to Pasco County, Partin has had three defense attorneys, stalling his case. Often, he's boisterous in the courtroom. If Partin is convicted, prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty. During a disagreement with his first attorney, Keith Hammond, in April 2004, Partin told a judge he didn't want any deals for life in prison instead of death by lethal injection. "I've got a tattoo on my back. It says, 'Live free or die,'" Partin told the judge. "Either you people kill me or you people send me back to the streets." (source: Tampa Tribune) NEVADA: 2 plead guilty in robberies, murder 2 men accused of robbing two McDonald's restaurants and killing a tourist who attempted to stop them from fleeing pleaded guilty Thursday to avoid a potential death sentence. Charles Anthony Walker and Shawn White were scheduled to go to trial on Monday for the killing of 49-year-old Thomas Latimer of Maitland, Fla., and multiple charges of robbery and burglary. The plea agreement also encompassed charges White and Walker faced for holdups of three 7-Elevens, a Jack in the Box restaurant and a Grumpy's Convenience Store in January. Walker, who shot Latimer, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon and 3 counts each of robbery with use of a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery. Under the terms of the negotiation, if he were to be sentenced to anything less than life without the possibility of parole, prosecutors can back out of the agreement and go forward to trial. White pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and same robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery charges as Walker did. Under the terms of his agreement, if he is sentenced to anything less than 30 years to life in prison prosecutors can back out of the agreement and go forward to trial. District Judge Joseph Bonaventure will sentence Walker and White on Sept. 14. Prosecutor Robert Daskas said the deal made sense because "our primary concern was for the family of the victim and they wanted to know that the shooter was never going to see the light of day again." White's attorney, Deputy Special Public Defender Randy Pike, said the negotiation would have never been reached if it weren't for Walker not wanting White to face the possibility of death or life in prison without parole. "Mr. Walker accepted his responsibility as someone Shawn (White) looked up to, like he was his big brother. He (Walker) made all the decisions and he planned the robberies. He was the only one who handled the weapon." "He felt bad, and felt responsible for putting White in this situation." Walker's attorney, Joseph Sciscento, said, "The only reason Walker pleaded guilty was because he didn't' want White to live the rest of his life in prison." Sciscento said Walker never had much of a chance in life because he "was in and out of prisons growing up in South-Central Los Angeles, he had no guidance, no father and no male role models." During Walker and White's preliminary hearing, Dennis Cross, who was attending the World of Concrete show at the Las Vegas Convention Center with Latimer, testified the pair were eating lunch at the McDonald's on Paradise Road near Twain Avenue on Jan. 21 when they heard a scream come from the cash register area. Cross identified Walker in court as the man he saw pointing a gun at the register while White jumped over the counter and stole the money. He said Walker left the restaurant first, and when White followed him out, Latimer chased him. He said Latimer and White "had their hands on each other' in the parking lot and Walker was in the driver's seat of a grey 4-door car. He said Latimer and White exchanged punches, prompting Walker to make a move. "Walker got out of the car with one foot on the floor board and 1 outside,' Cross said. "Latimer and White separated, and Walker fired 2 shots into Latimer. He (Latimer) turned around and dropped to the ground. White got into the car and they drove off.' Cross took down the license plate number on the car before returning to Latimer, who lay on the pavement of the parking lot. Less than 20 minutes later police pulled over and arrested Walker and White near Sierra Vista Drive and Swenson Street after identifying a car matching the one witnessed by Cross. Latimer was taken to University Medical Center, where he died of his wounds early on Jan. 22. (source: Las Vegas Sun) ILLINOIS: Alleged serial killer's case rekindles debate over death penalty reforms Prosecuting accused killers has convinced Peoria County State's Attorney Kevin Lyons that Illinois' death penalty reforms are as flawed as the capital punishment system they tried to fix. Still, Lyons has no doubt about pursuing a death sentence for alleged serial killer Larry Bright, who authorities say confessed in the deaths of eight Peoria women, burning some bodies in backyard pits then scattering the remains. The 39-year-old former concrete worker likely won't stand trial until next year, but his case has rekindled debate over an Illinois justice system haunted by innocent men sent to death row. Lyons contends the reforms, including a state-funded "pot of gold" for defense lawyers and mental health experts, are poorly veiled attempts to make death sentences too much trouble for prosecutors. Supporters say prosecutors' complaints are proof of the success of the reforms passed after then-Gov. George Ryan cleared death row before leaving office in 2003 after courts found 13 men had been wrongly convicted. Lyons, one of the most vocal critics of the reforms on behalf of other prosecutors, lobbied against last spring's failed effort to allow death sentences only when a defendant's guilt was proven beyond all doubt, rather than simply beyond reasonable doubt. "Instead of striking a balance, the trouble we have with it is that the burdens and the hoops become so many and so detailed that it borders on the absurd," Lyons said. Supporters say the reforms - including added protections against false confessions, unreliable eyewitnesses and jailhouse snitches - are working. "I think justice is being better served," said Stephen Richards, head of the state appellate defender's death penalty trial assistance division. "People actually innocent or with reasonable defenses have a better shot at not being convicted and executed." 7 men have been sent to death row since Ryan cleared it and an 8th has been sentenced to die but is awaiting a ruling to reconsider the verdict. More than 100 death penalty cases are pending across the state, court officials said. During the 1990s, before Ryan halted executions in 2000, the state was sentencing more people to death. Illinois had a high of 17 death sentences in 1990 and a low of 6 in 1997, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics, part of the Justice Department. When Ryan emptied death row in 2003, he commuted 167 death sentences to life in prison and pardoned four men. Gov. Rod Blagojevich has continued the moratorium on executions. Lyons, a 5-term prosecutor, objects most to a state fund that has doled out more than $13 million to defend hundreds of death penalty cases statewide since it was established about 5 years ago. He said the fund pays for teams of defense lawyers who spend even more money on psychological exams for their clients, sometimes hiring several experts until they get the findings they want. The fund also pays for researchers who spend months sifting through an accused's background, seeking any evidence that might sway a jury if the case moves to the death penalty phase. "I don't suggest the defendant simply has a party of one, his attorney and that's it. I can't tell you exactly what the balance should be, but I know it shouldn't be how it is now," said Lyons, who has prosecuted about a dozen death penalty cases. It's too early to say how the reforms will affect Bright's case, which is still in its early stages. Brown County State's Attorney Jerry Hooker said that by effectively eliminating the death penalty, the reforms have taken away a bargaining chip for prosecutors to seek prison sentences without parole that can spare victims' families from having to relive the crime at parole hearings. "If the legislature wants to have a debate on whether to have the death penalty or not, that can be done," said Hooker, president of the Illinois State's Attorneys Association. "But let's not make legislation that handcuffs prosecutors and keeps us from doing our job." Defense attorneys say it should be tough for the state to impose the death penalty. "That is the ultimate penalty and it's irreversible. They should know if they're going to do that they're going to have a fight on their hands," said James Elmore, one of Bright's court-appointed attorneys. Rob Warden, executive director of Northwestern University's Center for Wrongful Convictions, discounted prosecutors' criticism. "I've always thought asking prosecutors what we should do about wrongful convictions is tantamount to asking foxes what we should do with hen houses," Warden said. Death penalty opponents say more still needs to be done. "No human system can be devised that ensures mistakes or misconduct won't happen," said Jane Bohman, executive director of the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty. (source: Associated Press)
