Sept. 29
TEXAS----impending execution October 6, 2005 Ronald Ray Howard - TEXAS Take action at: www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1300 Ronald Ray Howard, a black man, faces execution on Oct. 6, 2005 for the murder of Department of Public Safety Trooper Bill Davidson, a 43-year-old white man, during a traffic stop on April 11, 1992. Ronald Howard was 18 years old at the time of the crime and driving a stolen car when Davidson stopped him. In an unpremeditated panic Howard shot Davidson. Ronald Ray Howard has continual expressed his deep regret. On appeal, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Howard's rehearing request. In a dissenting opinion Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Justice Overstreet held that two of the state-stricken jurors were not challengeable for cause. Perhaps if these two legitimate jurors had been allowed to remain on the jury Howard's trial would have ended differently. Thirteen years on death row has changed Ronald Howard. He not only has continued to regret his own crime, but has also joined in the struggle to help other at-risk youth to not follow down his path. Howard's own ghetto upbringing allows him to connect with other at-risk youth. In his 13 years on death row Howard has used this fact to help other young people to not travel the path that he did. Additionally Howard has spent his time on death row becoming a more educated Christian man. Howard has earned the respect of wardens and prison guards, some of whom have come to him for advice or aide. Howard also currently lacks legal representation. The death of Officer Davidson is tragic. However the death of Ronald Ray Howard will not bring Davidson back. Allowing Howard to live also will allow him to continue his work in preventing similar fates for other at risk youth. Please contact Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole to ask that Ronald Ray Howard's execution be stopped. (source: NCADP) ********************************* Jury selection begins in murder trial Jury selection began Wednesday in a potential death penalty capital murder case. Arthur Lee Allen has been charged with capital murder in connection with the death of Quinlan-area resident Hazel Shores in May of last year. General voir dire, or the questioning of the jury pool, started Wednesday morning in the 354th District Court. Individual jurors in the pool received extensive questionnaires, which they were asked to complete and return when the individual voir dire process is scheduled to begin in the court Monday. District Attorney F. Duncan Thomas has indicated he would seek death by lethal injection as a punishment for Allen, should the defendant be convicted of capital murder. Thomas's office has also presented a list of some 50 proposed prosecution witnesses which may be called to testify when the case goes to trial. A date has not yet been announced for the start of testimony in the case. Allen has entered a plea of not guilty in the case and remains in custody at the Hunt County Jail. Shores, the aunt of Allen's wife, was killed at her home in the Kitsee Vista subdivision just south of Quinlan on May 13, 2004. Autopsy reports indicate she had been stabbed several times about the throat and neck. In a criminal complaint against Allen filed as part of court records, Hunt County Sheriff's and Texas Ranger investigators believe some of the wounds on Shores' body were defensive in nature. An amount of hair was also found in one of her clenched hands. Allen was alleged in the complaint to have stolen around $200 from Shores and also to have taken her 1992 Toyota Camry. Allen was later arrested in Dallas while behind the wheel of the vehicle. Capital murder is filed when the murder alleged is committed in connection with the commission of a second major felony, such as robbery, kidnapping, rape or another murder. Those convicted of capital murder face a sentence of life in prison or death by lethal injection. The Texas Legislature has since passed a law allowing a third option, life without parole, although the new law would not apply in Allen's case as it was adopted after Shore's murder. Should Allen by convicted of capital murder and receive a sentence of life in prison under the capital murder statute in place at the time, he would face a minimum of 40 years in prison before being eligible for parole. (source: Greenville Herald Banner) OHIO: Death Penalty Possible In Baby's Murder A Cincinnati teenager now faces the death penalty in connection with the murder of a year-old baby boy. A Hamilton County grand jury indicted 19-year-old Charles Finley. The victim is his girlfriend's son, Christopher Beck. The alleged crime happened at her home in Silverton last week. An autopsy report showed the baby was severely beaten. "This was a well cared for baby and the baby suffered multiple trauma to the body and head including a severe concussion to the right side of the head," said Joe Deters, Hamilton County Prosecutor. Last week, Finley fought to get away from deputies during his court appearance. He was quickly subdued. He's being held on a $500,000 bond. (source: WCPO News) USA: Resolution to Keep Foreign Laws Out of US Courts Considered As the President gets set to announce his next Supreme Court nominee, members of the House of Representatives are giving him some advice; choose someone who will not look to foreign laws and judgments to shape his or her decisions. A resolution before the House will send a strong message that the US Constitution can be envied, but not influenced by other countries. Representative Tom Feeney of Florida thinks the practice threatens our very sovereignty. "I think surrendering our sovereignty is part of the mission of some of the people involved in this." In 2 landmark rulings, striking down sodomy laws and a death penalty case, federal courts have cited foreign law to justify liberal, activist decisions. "It is always and everywhere inappropriate to discern the original meaning of the United States Constitution by reference to contemporary foreign activities, laws or constitutions." Todd Gaziano of the Heritage Foundation says such references are a dishonest way to bolster any point activists want to make. "You can find whatever you want if you search far enough in the Zimbabwe Constitution or in Ethiopian court decisions or Chinese or Iranian decisions." Kelly Shackelford of the Free Market Foundation says the next step is a much stronger remedy. "There are many of us who think that when judges begin to rely on foreign law to redraft our Constitution that actually is a basis for impeachment." Feeney says the resolution is meant to send a message to the Senate, the White House, and the judiciary. A Senate version of the resolution has been introduced by John Cornyn of Texas . It has been sent to committee but no hearings have been scheduled. Several House Democrats did not return our calls for comment but Feeney says they will have a hard time justifying a vote against the resolution. (source: Focus on the Family) INDIANA: Television reporter witnesses execution----Journalist recalls 'a very eerie, somber experience' at state prison. Walking into the dismal enclosure of the Indiana State Prison, WSBT-TV reporter Amanda Hart said it was abruptly apparent what was before her. "You quickly gather the seriousness of it," the reporter said. "You see the wall, you see the barbed wire... It's a very eerie, somber experience." Hart was 1 of 6 people to witness former Granger resident Alan Matheney put to death Wednesday by lethal injection for the 1989 murder of his ex-wife Lisa Bianco. WNDU-TV's Jennie Runevitch also witnessed the execution in Michigan City. Although Hart said her reporter's mind focused on recording every part of her surroundings, she still was cognizant that a life was ending before her eyes. "I was very much aware of the fact there was (a) passing of life," she said. It was a letter that led Hart to be a witness at Matheney's execution. The reporter had covered Matheney's trial in 1990, she said, and received a message from Matheney in the mail asking if she would be present during his execution. "It's certainly not the type of letter you typically get," said Hart, adding that she thought long and hard about attending. "It was my responsibility as a news reporter to cover it to the fullest extent," she said. When Hart and the other witnesses entered the darkened witness room, she said the condemned man was lying on a gurney, covered by a sheet up to his chest. "He lifted his shoulder and head (and) turned toward us," she said. Hart believes Matheney recognized the six people as witnesses during a 2nd glance. "He may have said, 'I see them,'" she said. Hart said the witnesses reacted little during the short process. She noticed Matheney's brother shift a bit, but for the most part, everyone remained subdued. As the last of a series of injections was administered, Hart watched Matheney's final movements from 15 feet away. "He seemed to take a deep breath," she said, "then gasp and then lie perfectly still." (source: South Bend Tribune) ************************ Execution may be state's last in '05----Appeals could delay two inmate deaths for months. The execution of Alan Matheney on Wednesday for the beating death of his ex-wife was the state's 5th this year, the most since the death penalty was reinstated in the 1970s. Matheney's execution also might have been the state's last for at least several months. Matheney, 54, was convicted of killing Lisa Bianco in 1989 outside her Mishawaka home while on a furlough from a state prison near Pendleton, where he was serving an 8-year sentence for beating Bianco and confining their 2 children. He was executed by chemical injection at the Indiana State Prison and pronounced dead at 12:27 a.m. After 5 executions in a 7-month span, no others appear imminent. The state attorney general's office has said Michael Lambert and Marvin Bieghler could be put to death this year, but both have appeals pending in federal courts. Lambert was just days away from his scheduled execution in June for the 1990 shooting death of a Muncie police officer when a federal appeals court decided to consider his appeal that certain victim impact testimony may have flawed the jury's recommendation for death. The executions by the state this year are the most in 1 year since 1938, when 8 men were electrocuted over the span of 9 months. Bianco's death caused then-Gov. Evan Bayh to suspend the state's prison furlough program. It was later reinstated with tighter restrictions. The state also agreed to pay $900,000 to Bianco's estate and the couple's children, who were home at the time of the attack. Bianco had divorced Matheney in 1985. She continued to fear her husband even after his incarceration and had gotten assurances from prison officials that she would be notified if he was ever released. She was not notified of the furlough, however, and Matheney violated the terms of his pass and an earlier court order when he left central Indiana for her home. (source: Associated Press)
