Sept. 20 ALABAMA----impending execution State court denies motion to delay execution of Talladega man The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request to delay the execution of a Talladega man, who said he wants to die by electrocution and not by lethal injection. John W. Peoples Jr., convicted of murdering a Pell City couple and their 10-year-old son before taking their vintage Chevrolet Corvette, had asked the Alabama Supreme Court to delay his execution, set for Thursday at 6 p.m. CDT at Holman Prison near Atmore. In court papers filed Monday, Peoples said death by lethal injection would violate the death warrant issued against him and the 1984 court order calling for his death by electrocution, the means of executing condemned inmates in Alabama at the time. Alabama changed its primary method of execution from electrocution to lethal injection beginning July 1, 2002. "I think they correctly denied his motion," said Alabama Assistant Attorney General Beth Hughes. She said Peoples' recent arguments about the method of execution were a delay tactic without merit. Alabama law states inmates who were sentenced to death row prior to July 1, 2002 could have requested death by electrocution by July 31, 2002. Peoples sent his first letters asking for the electric chair to the Holman warden and Hughes this month. Prosecutors argued that Peoples simply made his request too late. No other death row inmate has requested death by electric chair since Alabama changed its execution method, Hughes said. "It was a surprise because (the defense) had the opportunity to do that and they didn't," Hughes said. William C. Cagney, Peoples' New Jersey-based attorney, did not immediately return calls Tuesday from The Associated Press. Peoples, now 48, was convicted in 1983 in the murders of Pell City businessman Paul G. Franklin, and his wife, Judy Choron Franklin, both 34, and Paul Franklin Jr., their 10-year-old son. The boy and his mother were beaten to death with a rifle, and Peoples led authorities to the spot where their bodies were dumped in a field. The man's body was too decomposed by the time he was found for investigators to determine a cause of death. Prosecutors in Talladega contended that Peoples killed the three because he wanted the Fanklins' 1968 red Corvette. Peoples was arrested in the Corvette soon after the slayings. In his request for a delay of execution, Peoples also argued that his trial attorney failed to make arrangements to get him a life sentence for directing authorities to the bodies. "John's trial attorney abandoned him to a death sentence, told his jury they had no 'options' but to execute him," Peoples' state Supreme Court filing reads in part. According to court records, Judy Franklin wrote Peoples' name inside a clothes hamper with eye makeup before she and her son were abducted. Peoples' cousin, Timothy Gooden, also testified for the prosecution under a plea deal that allowed him to receive a life sentence with the possibility of parole. Gooden, who was with Peoples the night of the killings, later claimed investigators pressured him into testifying falsely against Peoples. Gooden was re-indicted for capital murder and, after pleading guilty, sentenced to life without parole. (source: Associated Press) SOUTH DAKOTA: Man avoids possible death penalty by guilty plea A Sioux Falls man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to kidnapping, rape and murder in the slaying of an 8-year-old girl. Murray James Jones was sentenced to 3 consecutive life sentences in the death of Jessica Rae DeLaTorre, whose body was found April 9 near Fulton. In exchange, prosecutors agreed not to pursue the death penalty. Jones, 41, admitted taking the girl from the home he shared with the girl's grandmother. Police said the grandmother was away for the night, leaving Jones to watch DeLaTorre and her 2 brothers. A death certificate says she died of blows to the head, chest and abdomen. In late April, Jones had pleaded not guilty. Jones had visited a Sioux Falls "cybercafe" and twice was recorded looking at child pornography. The 2nd time, April 8, was the evening before Jessica disappeared. (source: Associated Press) NEVADA: Nevada court rejects appeal from convict who sought execution The Nevada Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a state prison inmate who had sought execution rather than the life sentence imposed after he was classified a habitual criminal. The high court ruled against Byron Crutcher, who was convicted in 1997 in Las Vegas of robbing a person older than 65. Due to prior crimes, including burglaries, he was classified a habitual criminal and sentenced to life in prison with possible parole after 10 years. Justices, who last year tossed out his execution request, this time rejected several claims, including Crutcher's contention that he wasn't properly adjudicated a habitual criminal and that he was denied his right to an attorney during part of the lower court proceedings against him. (source: Associated Press)
