August 19 OHIO: We should step back from death penalty Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters announces Jan. 13 the indictment of Andre Bell on murder charges, and that he would pursue the death penalty in the case. Bell, 33, was charged with shooting and wounding his ex-girlfriend, Cassandra Jent, in her Price Hill home and fatally shooting her friend Stephanie Bowling. 60 years ago in the Deep South a black woman was electrocuted by the state of Georgia for allegedly killing a white man, after a 1-day trial. Not surprising. But just this week, shock waves rolled through the death penalty community when the Georgia Pardons Board announced it was granting a posthumous pardon to the same lady, Lena Baker, admitting it had committed "grievous error in denying clemency in 1945." This is the 2nd prosecutorial admission of error in a posthumous matter in a week. Both are unprecedented, and occur in a climate of a decided trend against capital punishment worldwide, with more countries abandoning the barbaric practice in recent years. On Aug. 17, The Enquirer reported another case where a judge threw out a case against a man who had spent half his life on death row - contrariwise on the same day the news that "Iraq resumes executions, three set to hang." There may be a lesson in all this for Hamilton County because the prosecutor who contributed to the present swollen Ohio death row population is back. Joe Deters rightly claims some little credit for the 198 on the "row," especially for the 40-plus from Hamilton County. He's announcing new cases and repeating the tired message that the only way to stop the killing is to kill more people. The news from Georgia is momentarily refreshing. How about our town? Thomas Luken -- College Hill (source: Letters to the Editor, Cincinnati Enquirer) NORTH DAKOTA: Prosecutors argue motions in death penalty case A lawyer for the man accused of kidnapping University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin says earlier convictions for attempted kidnapping and sex crimes do not qualify him for the death penalty. Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 52, of Crookston, Minn., has been charged in federal court with kidnapping resulting in the death of Sjodin, 22, who disappeared from a Grand Forks shopping mall in November 2003. Rodriguez has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Rodriguez is convicted. Rodriguez's lawyers have asked U.S District Judge Ralph Erickson to bar capital punishment in the case. Defense attorney Richard Ney argued Friday that Rodriguez's 1980 conviction in the attempted kidnapping and stabbing of a Crookston woman was tainted. Ney said the woman did not identify Rodriguez until after she was hypnotized. "The conviction was based on evidence that should not have been allowed," Ney said. U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley said that argument should be saved for a sentencing hearing. He said the woman looked into Rodriguez's eyes "for 1 minute" and gave a detailed description to police. "For heaven's sake, he attacked (the woman) and was convicted of that crime," Wrigley said, pointing to Rodriguez. Wrigley and Ney got into a skirmish when Wrigley accused Ney, who is known for handling death penalty cases, of taking the law out of context. Wrigley told Erickson that factor should be considered "no matter how many death penalty cases he's done." Ney said Wrigley should "argue the law and not personalities." And Erickson warned both attorneys that he would not put up with personal attacks because it would risk a mistrial. "Try it once, try it right," Erickson said. Rodriguez first ran afoul of the law in 1974, pleading guilty in separate cases to attempted rape and aggravated rape. Ney said those convictions should not be used against Rodriguez in the death penalty argument because the crimes were not considered to have caused "serious bodily harm." Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Anderson that definition was based on prosecutors' understanding of the law 30 years ago. "We don't need to show there was physical harm," he said. Rodriguez, dressed in a gray dress shirt and dark slacks without a belt, sat motionless throughout the 3-hour hearing. He was flanked by his lawyers, Ney and Robert Hoy, as well as 2 U.S. marshals. Chris Lang, Sjodin's boyfriend, said it was difficult to look at Rodriguez. "My focus isn't in any direction but Dru," Lang said. "We don't have any choice but do be here," he said. "It's a long process, but it's nothing like what she had to go through." Lang and family friend Bob Heales, who also was at Friday's hearing, led several searches for Sjodin. Her body was found in a ravine near Crookston in April 2004. Erickson set the next hearing for Sept. 30, when he is to hear arguments over whether Rodriguez's Hispanic background played in factor in the decision to seek the death penalty. The trial is set to begin next March in Fargo. (source: Associated Press) MISSOURI: Shockley pleads not guilty, faces death penalty A Van Buren man, who will face the death penalty if he is convicted of gunning down a Missouri State Highway Patrol sergeant in his driveway, pleaded not guilty to the crime Thursday morning. Lance D. Shockley, 28, appeared before Presiding Circuit Judge William L. Syler and was formally arraigned on the Class A felony of 1st-degree murder and the unclassified felony of armed criminal action (ACA) in connection with the death of Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. and the Class D felony of leaving the scene of an accident. Shockley, who is being held without bond in Cape Girardeau County Jail, pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Shockley is accused of killing Graham, a 12-year veteran of the Highway Patrol. The 37-year-old was found dead March 20 outside his Van Buren residence, located in a hollow off of Highway M, about three miles north of U.S. 60. He was still in uniform and had just arrived home after completing his tour of duty for the day. While looking into Graham's death, investigators began retracing Graham's work activities, including the 1-vehicle crash on County Road 217 that left Jeffrey R. Bayless dead. Graham initially investigated the Nov. 26 fatal crash. Enough evidence subsequently was developed to charge Shockley with the crime and he became considered a person of interest in Graham's death. Investigators followed numerous leads, interviewed witnesses and executed a search warrant on Shockley's property for possible evidence linking him to Graham's death before charges were filed against Shockley on March 29. During Thursday's court appearance, Shockley's attorneys, Janice Zembles and Thomas Marshall, reportedly made an oral motion asking the court to sever count III, the Class D felony of leaving the scene of an accident, from the other charges against Shockley. "Their reason was that on the face of the information there didn't appear there was any connection between the 2," explained Carter County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Ligons. It is the state's position that the two cases are related. The state consolidated the cases in June when it dismissed the leaving the scene charge against Shockley and then filed an amended information adding that charge to the murder and ACA charges. "The judge is going to allow them to make a formal motion in writing" to be filed by Aug. 31, said Ligons, who, along with Assistant Attorney General Kevin Zoellner, will then be given until Sept. 12 to respond. The defense reportedly also made an oral motion to dismiss the information against Shockley for failure to list the aggravated circumstances in the information. "In murder cases, there are basically two avenues of punishment" -- the death penalty or life in prison without the possibly of probation or parole, Ligons explained. "To pursue the death penalty, there had to be aggravating circumstances. "For the state to pursue (the death penalty), we have to give them (the defense) notice of what aggravating circumstances the state intends to pursue." The state had given the defense notice that it intended to seek the death penalty in June. The statutory aggravating circumstances cited in the state's notice were: The murder in the first degree was committed against a peace officer during or because of the exercise of his official duty. The murder in the first degree was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture or depravity of mind. The murder in the first degree was committed against a peace officer while engaged in the performance of his official duty. The murder in the first degree was committed for the purpose of avoiding, interfering with or preventing a lawful arrest of the defendant. The murdered individual was a witness or potential witness in a pending investigation, and was killed as a result of his status as a witness or potential witness. The state's notice further said it intended to prove 2 non-statutory aggravating circumstances during the penalty phase of the trial. Those circumstances, according to the notice, were that Shockley committed the offenses of first-degree involuntary manslaughter in the death of Bayless and of leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident on Nov. 26. The defense's position is "purely legal and technical," Ligons said. "They (argued) the aggravating circumstances should be listed in the original complaint. That's not the law in Missouri. "I think they're bringing it up to pursue solely in federal court later. I think it is pretty well decided in Missouri. They don't have to be (listed)." Syler will take up the motions at 11 a.m. Sept. 29. In capital murder cases such as this, "this is the kind of thing we'll get the next several months, motion after motion," Ligons said. "A lot of them will be purely technical and legal." (source: Poplar Bluff Daily American Republic) ********************************************************************** Missouri Execution Alert Timothy Johnston is to be executed. Aug. 31, 12:01 am (protest events Tues. 8/30/2005). Johnston's death sentence was for the 1989 murder of his wife, Nancy Johnston, a domestic violence rage and murder. Issues: He has a lifelong history of alcoholism and killed his wife in a drunken rage, without premeditation. Asking for commutation does not minimize the crime or condone domestic violence; rather, it points to the disproportion in sentence. He has no previous felony convictions. He has one issue pending in the courts and should not be executed while it is unresolved. WHAT YOU CAN DO on or before Tuesday, August 30: Any part helps: 1. Ask Gov. Matt Blunt to commute the sentence: 573-751-3222, fax 573-751-1495; State Capitol, Box 720, Jefferson City, MO 65101. Toll-free: KC: 889-3186; St. Louis: 340-6900. 2. Please also contact the parole board to ask for their recommendation of commutation: Parole Board Chair Dana D. Thompson 1511 Christy Drive Jefferson City, MO 65101 573-751-8488 FAX 573-751-8501 4. Please also write letters to your newspapers expressing sympathy for the victim but concern about this execution. Write to your local newspapers or a major Missouri newspaper: St. Louis Post-Dispatch 900 E. Tucker Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63101 (314) 340-8000 (phone) (314) 340-3050 (fax) email [email protected] Kansas City Star 1729 Grand Av. Kansas City, MO 64108 (816) 234-4141 (phone) (816) 234-4926 (fax) email [email protected] News Tribune P.O. Box 420 Jefferson City, MO 65102 (573) 636-3131 (phone) (573) 636-7035 (fax) email [email protected] Updates: http://www.moabolition.org, 816-756-0911, 363-3968; 573-635-7239,449-4585; 314-385-8344, 322-5159 (source: Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty----P.O. Box 54----Jefferson City, MO 65102, phone: 573-635-7239, www.moabolition.org)
