August 26 CALIFORNIA: Sen. Denham and Sen. Nation: San Quentin Is Another Bay Bridge Debacle The Political Desk provides information, news releases, and announcements obtained from communication and public relations offices. Sacramento - State Senator Jeff Denham (R-Merced) and Assemblyman Joe Nation (D-San Rafael) today announced they are amending AB 1672 which challenges the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) through an independent analysis, to examine the costs to expand death row at San Quentin State Prison, as well as possible alternatives, such as other facilities for death row prisoners. "To spend more money on an outdated 150 year old prison is ludicrous. We cannot allow out of control spending to be wasted on this project when it is way over budget and will soon be beyond capacity," Denham said. "It's time for the Governor and Legislature to look for other alternatives to this mess. The time has come to deal with the sins of the past." The Department of Finance (DOF) yesterday released a letter informing legislative leaders that DCR had cost overruns to the tune of $45 million on the proposed $220 million expansion; bringing the grand total to $265 million, a 20 percent cost overrun. Corrections' reaction to this overrun is downsizing the scope of the project from 1,024 cells to 768 cells, a 25 percent reduction in inmate housing infrastructure. The project will still, however, incur a $13 million cost overrun even with the proposed 25 percent reduction in cells. The new facility will now cost at least $233 million. The downsizing is a tacit acknowledgement by DCR that they expect cost overruns to exceed this 20 percent window and clearly want to avoid returning to the Legislature for additional scrutiny by its members. "Here we are experiencing a 31 percent cost overrun before one shovel has been placed in the ground ," said Assemblyman Joe Nation (D-San Rafael). "San Quentin is quickly becoming another Bay Bridge boondoggle." "It is time CDC take ownership of this impending financial disaster and at the very least, look at costs and alternative sites instead of continuing to ignore the growing number problems surrounding the prison and the construction of the proposed death row." Problems and Possible Solutions: In March 2004 the state auditor released a report which chastised Corrections for failing to conduct a thorough study of the costs associated with the planned expansion of death row. Specifically, the report pointed to the limited analysis and comparison of other suitable locations besides San Quentin. The failure to examine other potential sites has called into question whether or not San Quentin is the most financially viable location for a new death row complex. In April of this year Senator Denham introduced legislation (Senate Bill 901) for the state to come up with a plan to close San Quentin by 2010, sell off the land and use the money to build a new, safer and more fiscally responsible facility elsewhere in the state. Also in April, DCR released their draft Environmental Impact Report which cited their inability to examine alternative locations for the new Death Row expansion because state law requires that all death row prisoners be housed at San Quentin. The response to their concern was AB 1715 (Nation) which would have allowed DCR options for housing death row inmates. The bill would have allowed flexibility to Corrections and allowed the Legislature an opportunity to thoroughly compare the costs, health care services, and other factors before continuing to invest scarce state dollars into a plan that lacks the necessary information to make a fiscally responsible decision. Unfortunately DCR opposed this measure. In July 2005, the DCR health care system was placed into receivership by a federal judge. San Quentin was cited for its treatment of prisoners, the lack of minimal health care for inmates, and an aging and crumbling infrastructure that poses a serious public safety concern and a dangerous environment to guards and other prison employees. The decision led to the removal of the facility's warden. Compounding the problem is the prison's recent riot, which left 42 inmates injured. It has been called the prison's worst riot in nearly 25 years and showcased the entire facility's inadequacies. The question now remains: Will it take inmate or even correctional officer deaths in order to gain the attention of Sacramento leaders to deal with this ridiculous problem? AB 1672 is currently awaiting a hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. (source: American Chronicle) ***************************** Death Penalty Upheld In Hayward Slaying The California Supreme Court today unanimously upheld the death penalty of a man convicted of murdering a Fremont resident and stealing his motor home in Hayward 19 years ago. Mark Schmeck was convicted in Alameda County Superior Court and sentenced to death in 1989 for the shooting murder of Lorin Germaine in 1986. Germaine had left his home on May 30, 1986 to meet a prospective buyer for a 22-foot Dodge Brougham motor home owned by Germaine and his wife. Germaine's body was found on a road near Sunol a week later with 4 or 5 bullet wounds to the head. Schmeck was arrested on June 1 as he tried to complete a deal to sell Germaine's motor home to another man for $1,500. The state high court, in a ruling issued in San Francisco, rejected a series of claims in Schmeck's appeal, including his argument that the prosecutor at his trial had improperly dismissed two Jewish prospective jurors on the basis of their religion. The panel said Schmeck had not proved that the prosecutors engaged in intentional discrimination against Jewish jury candidates. (source: Bay City News) INDIANA: Baird not insane, court says----Indiana justices rule 3-2 that man can be put to death; attorney will appeal to U.S. high court. How they voted The Indiana Supreme Court voted 3-2 against halting Arthur P. Baird's execution next week. The court ruled he may be mentally ill but is not legally insane. 2 justices disagreed, saying the facts suggest Baird "is only marginally in touch with reality." . Majority: Randall T. Shepard, Brent E. Dickson and Frank Sullivan Jr. . Dissenting: Theodore R. Boehm and Robert D. Rucker A sharply divided Indiana Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for Arthur P. Baird II's execution next week, saying he might be mentally ill, but he's not legally insane. Baird, 59, is scheduled to die by chemical injection at midnight Wednesday in the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City. He was sentenced to death for fatally stabbing his parents, Arthur and Kathryn Baird, in 1985. Gov. Mitch Daniels could still spare Baird's life by granting clemency, a form of executive-branch mercy. It's unclear whether or when Daniels intends to act. "We're continuing to monitor the judicial proceedings," Daniels spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said. "The governor also continues to review Mr. Baird's clemency request." Four Indiana inmates have been executed this year -- the most in one year since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1977. Baird's attorney, Sarah L. Nagy, who took the case several months ago, intends to ask the U.S. Supreme Court today for a stay of execution. Such petitions are rarely granted. Nagy argues that it's unconstitutional to put someone to death who was mentally ill at the time of the crime and could not control his actions. She also wants to the nation's high court to weigh in on whether it's unconstitutional to put someone to death who is mentally ill and disconnected from reality. Indiana law prohibits the execution of people who are mentally retarded but doesn't say whether the lives of severely mentally ill killers also should be spared. The U.S. Supreme Court has not directly addressed the question of whether killing the mentally ill constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Writing for the Indiana court majority, Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard discounted mental health evidence Nagy submitted, saying it failed to meet a standard the U.S. Supreme Court set in 1986 for such cases. A report to the court from Dr. Philip M. Coons, a professor emeritus of psychiatry at the Indiana University School of Medicine, found Baird to be "grossly psychotic and delusional" and mentally unfit to be executed. Baird, a 1964 Ben Davis High School graduate, does not comprehend the nature of the murders he committed in 1985 well enough to face execution, according to a written evaluation by Coons, a forensic psychiatrist whose work has been widely published in medical journals. In prison, Baird has not received medicine or treatment for his delusions, court records show. But Shepard wrote that Coons' report was not enough to justify a new round of hearings on Baird's mental state. "He may be denying to himself that it (his execution) will actually occur. He may have a mental illness," Shepard wrote. "But read as a whole, the evidence presented simply shows Baird knows he is about to be executed because he murdered his parents." Nagy is hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will take the case based on a lengthy dissent by Justice Theodore R. Boehm, which Justice Robert D. Rucker joined. The pair argued in the court's 3-2 ruling that Baird's claims should be heard. "It is obvious, I think, that Arthur Baird has suffered from significant mental illness dating from the time he murdered his pregnant wife and parents in 1985," Boehm wrote. "Because of its irreversibility, apart from whatever one thinks of its morality, we should err on the side of caution in carrying out an execution." Baird, formerly of rural Montgomery County in west-central Indiana, has been in prison since a jury found him guilty of three counts of murder and one count of feticide. Baird strangled his pregnant wife, Nadine, on Sept. 6, 1985, and fatally stabbed his parents the next day. He received a 60-year sentence for killing his wife and 8 years for killing the fetus she was carrying. Baird, who had never before been in legal trouble, has consistently maintained that a "big, burly man" controlled his actions during the slayings. Every mental health professional who has examined Baird, including those appointed by courts, has concluded he was unable to control his actions at the time of the crime. "Baird also professes a belief that time will be rolled back to the point that the murders can be undone, and that God will cause this to happen," Boehm concluded. "I think it is plain that Baird is insane by any ordinary understanding of that term. Whether he meets the Eighth Amendment standard of insanity that precludes his execution is less clear." (source: Indianapolis Star) ************************** Execution debate warrants a wait Our position: Convicted killer Arthur Baird should not be put to death while issues of mental illness are unresolved. The heinous acts Arthur P. Baird II committed more than 20 years ago would clearly qualify for the death penalty that is enshrined in Indiana law, if it were not for 2 nagging questions: Did he know what he was doing when he strangled his pregnant wife and fatally stabbed his parents? Does he now understand why he is about to be executed? The Indiana attorney general's office maintains a jury answered the 1st question when it found Baird guilty of three counts of murder and 1 count of feticide, rejecting a defense contention that he was in a state of paranoid delusion. Only 1 of the 4 psychiatrists who testified at the trial pronounced Baird insane; however, several mental health professionals who have examined him since then say mental illness caused him to kill. Among them is Philip M. Coons, a professor emeritus of psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine, who calls it "unjust to execute an individual who suffers from a severe mental disease or defect." Currently, the law only half agrees. The U.S. Supreme Court has outlawed executions of the mentally retarded but has not addressed the issue of the capital convict who is captive to mental illness, whether at the moment of the crime or the moment of punishment. Similarities in the two conditions are such that, even given the hazards of misdiagnosis and fakery, mental illness deserves consideration as a defense against death and may someday get it. At least one member of the Indiana Supreme Court, Justice Robert D. Rucker, has called capital punishment "inappropriate for a person suffering a severe mental illness." In this ever-changing context, it seems rash to proceed with executions where sanity is in serious doubt. Having lost a bid for clemency to the Indiana Parole Board Wednesday, and, by a 3-2 vote, an appeal to the state Supreme Court Thursday, Baird's attorneys are beseeching the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh his mental state as a mitigating factor. Conceivably, the court could break new ground by taking on the case; or it could simply issue a stay of next Wednesday's date for lethal injection. Likewise, Gov. Mitch Daniels could halt the execution, not with any final decision implied but solely to allow continuation of a debate with life-and-death ramifications. By whoever's action, a delay should be imposed. Arthur Baird has spent 21 years locked away and he isn't going anywhere. Society should be in no hurry to decide his fate; especially when the fate of many others may be entwined with it. (source: Editorial, Indianapolis Star) OHIO----impending execution Ohio Supreme Court refuses to stop Spirko execution The Ohio Supreme Court refused Thursday to delay John Spirkos scheduled execution next month. The states highest court rejected a motion filed by Spirkos defense team attempting to push back the execution date to allow the Ohio Parole Board to hold a clemency hearing after a federal judge rules on a pending motion on the claim of newly found evidence. The parole board met Tuesday and will issue a report with a recommendation this coming Tuesday to Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, who decides on clemency. Spirko is scheduled to be executed Sept. 20 for killing Betty Jane Mottinger. She disappeared from her job at the Elgin post office Aug. 9, 1982. Her body was found a month later in a soybean field in Findlay, nearly 60 miles away. She had been stabbed multiple times. Spirkos only pending motion remains in U.S. District Court in Toledo on the claim of newly found evidence. In the claim, Spirko is alleging prosecutors provided misleading information that could have changed the outcome of his case. The information centers around an untried accomplice and includes statements Spirko made to investigators about Mottingers murder. Spirko became a suspect in the killing after he contacted police in October 1982 offering to trade information to get himself out of jail on an unrelated charge in Lucas County. He also faced having his parole violated, which would have sent him back to prison in Kentucky for a 1969 murder. He twice was released on parole in Kentucky even though he was sentenced to life in prison. (source: Lima News) ************************************ Delay for Spirko execution denied----Ohio Supreme Court upholds Sept. 20 date In COlumbus, the Ohio Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision, yesterday refused to delay John Spirko's Sept. 20 execution, allowing the race against the clock to continue as his lawyers pursue a last-ditch federal appeal. Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and Justice Paul Pfeifer supported a stay. No opinion accompanied the court's decision. "We would have been pleasantly surprised if they had granted it," said Alvin Dunn, one of Spirko's Washington attorneys. Spirko was convicted in the 1982 kidnapping and murder of Betty Jane Mottinger, postmaster in the tiny Van Wert County village of Elgin. The prosecution told the jury at Spirko's trial that he robbed the post office with his former Kentucky cellmate and best friend, Delaney Gibson. Spirko has maintained he is innocent. In his appeal in U.S. District Court in Toledo, he argues that the prosecution knew its conspiracy theory was false because a postal investigator, Paul Hartman, was convinced Gibson was in North Carolina before and after the crime was committed. The appeal also argues that photos suggest Gibson had a full beard at the time, but the prosecution forged ahead anyway with the testimony of an 81-year-old woman who said a clean-shaven Gibson was outside the post office that morning. The witness died in 1991. Gibson was never prosecuted and his indictment was dropped late last year. U.S. District Court Judge James G. Carr had suggested the state join Spirko's attorneys in asking the Supreme Court to lift the execution date to give him time to consider Spirko's latest appeal. The state declined. "We are disappointed by the court's failure to act," said Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. "We now turn to the clemency board for justice. Clemency is supposed to be the fail-safe, the last barrier, to preventing the execution of a person who may well be innocent." The state argued during Spirko's clemency hearing earlier this week before the Ohio Parole Board that the North Carolina evidence does not provide an alibi for Gibson and, even if it did, it does not exonerate Spirko. It points to the testimony of the eyewitness, specifically her description of Gibson as having tan arms but pale hands, consistent with a migrant tomato picker who wears gloves while working in the sun. "That is just as good now as it was then," Senior Assistant Attorney General Tim Prichard said. "There is nothing to attack Opal Seibert's testimony." The parole board is expected to make its recommendation to Gov. Bob Taft on Tuesday. (source: Toledo Blade) US MILITARY: Court agrees: No execution for sniper A military appellate court has upheld a ruling that overturned the death sentence of a soldier convicted in a 1995 sniper attack at Fort Bragg (N.C.)that killed an officer. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces agreed that Sgt. William Kreutzer was inadequately represented by inexperienced military lawyers and that they were denied help in proving that Kreutzer suffered from lifelong mental illness. Kreutzer's predawn attack occurred Oct. 27, 1995, as soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division prepared for a 4-mile run. The attack killed Maj. Stephen Badger and wounded 18 soldiers. (source: Associated Press)
