Oct. 20 NEW JERSEY: Hearing set Friday in Leslie Nelson death-penalty trial In Camden, a hearing will be held Friday in the case of Leslie Nelson, a transsexual who is seeking permission to represent herself in a death-penalty trial. Nelson was convicted of killing two law enforcement officers in Haddon Heights. She was sentenced to death for the slayings of Camden County Prosecutor's Office investigator John McLaughlin and Haddon Heights patrolman John Norcross. On the day of the shootings, April 20, 1995, authorities went to Nelson's home to execute a search warrant for weapons. 2 juries have ruled that Nelson should be executed, but both verdicts were set aside by the state Supreme Court. (source: Courier Post) NEVADA: Nevada high court rejects death penalty appeal, grants another In Carson City, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled Thursday on 2 Las Vegas death penalty cases, rejecting an appeal from convicted double-murderer Alfonso "Slinkey" Blake but granting a petition filed by Edward Bennett, convicted of killing a convenience store clerk. The case involving Blake, an aspiring R&B artist, is the best-known because of its notoriety, but the other ruling is significant because it goes beyond Bennett's case and deals with an issue that has confronted several lower courts handling capital cases. In Blake's case, Justice Mark Gibbons wrote that he executed two women "and tried his level best" to kill a 3rd woman "who survived only by amazing luck." Considering Blake and his 2003 crime, "the sentence of death is not excessive," Gibbons added. Prosecutors said Blake wanted the 3 women to work as topless dancers and give him part of their earnings, and when they refused he deliberately marched them into the desert and shot each of them twice. Defense lawyers had argued that the trial judge in Blake's case erred in letting jurors hear remarks about prior bad acts that hurt his temporary insanity defense. Those acts included a stabbing, beating women, hitting a man with a baseball bat and trying to rig an ex-girlfriend's car to explode. But in Blake's case, justices said there was no requirement for what's known as a "Petrocelli hearing," in which prosecutors must get a go-ahead in advance from a judge to present details about a defendant that they want jurors to know about. Blake was sentenced to die after being convicted of two counts of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon and one count of attempted murder for the March 5, 2003, shootings. The murder victims were Sophear Choy, 19, and Priscilla Van Dine, 23. Choy's older sister, Kim, also was shot but survived. In Bennett's case, the high court followed up on a landmark ruling in late 2004 that barred prosecutors from using a felony to establish a first-degree murder conviction and then citing the same felony as an aggravating circumstance in seeking a death sentence. The Supreme Court decision stemmed from an appeal by Robert McConnell, a Reno man sentenced to death by a Washoe County jury after pleading guilty to killing his former girlfriend's fiance in 2003. Justices said prosecutors erred in Bennett's case because, after the McConnell case rulings blocked them from pursuing 2 aggravating circumstances, they revived three other aggravating circumstances that they had passed up when Bennett was tried for the murder of store clerk Michelle Moore during a 1988 robbery. The McConnell opinion "does not now give the state cause to resurrect weaker aggravating circumstances it rejected nearly 17 years ago," the high court said. That leaves prosecutors with only one aggravating circumstance - that the murder created a great risk of death to more than one person. Justices preserved that, and prosecutors will bring it up during a new penalty hearing for Bennett. (source: Associated Press) NORTH CAROLINA: DA to seek death penalty for N.C. murders The Stokes County district attorney said in court papers that he plans to seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing a Pinnacle couple in August. District Attorney Ricky Bowman said in papers filed last week that he intends to seek the death penalty against Cobey Wade Lakemper, 28, who's accused of killing William Covington, 72, a retired mail carrier, and his wife, Joyce Covington, 65. Bowman said he intends to seek the death penalty for each death. One of Lakemper's defense attorneys, Mark Rabil, said that the filing was expected. The Covingtons were found shot to death in their home Aug. 7. Warrants were then issued for Lakemper, who was captured Aug. 24 in a bar near Jackson, Tenn. Authorities also were searching for Lakemper in connection with an Aug. 3 robbery in Kansas City and a robbery in Georgia on Aug. 19. (source: Associated Press) IOWA: Death penalty debate may return Republican legislative leaders said Thursday they plan a renewed debate over restoring the death penalty in Iowa, a move they concede is meant to stir their conservative voter base. The starting place will be a meeting next week of a legislative task force to review the state's sex offender laws, said Sen. Jeff Angelo, R-Creston, co-chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "I would like to see the political pressure build to bring it to a vote," said Angelo. "It would be disingenuous to say it's not a political issue in the next election. It certainly is." The death penalty was banned in Iowa in 1965. Last session, the Legislature toughened prison terms and post-prison supervision for sex crimes against children, but opponents blocked debate on the death penalty. "I think this is a debate that has to take place," Angelo said. "Frustration starts to build and the demand for a death penalty become louder." Senate Democratic Leader Michael Gronstal accused Republicans of "purely playing politics." That tactic will fail, he said. When voters understand that Iowa has a penalty of life without the possibility of parole, the political steam for the death sentence fades. "When Iowans understand that, the polls go to dead even," said Gronstal. "Can it work in some areas against some targeted Democrats? Yeah, I suppose it can." The debate comes as state lawmakers prepare for the 2006 election -- and a battle for control of the Legislature. Democrats made gains last year and are optimistic about their chances next year. With the Senate evenly split 25-25, three Republicans have announced plans to leave office. No Democrats are leaving. Gronstal said those political worries are what is behind the GOP effort. "It has nothing to do with making Iowa safe," he said. "It has to do with winning elections." Though lawmakers debated child sex abuse laws last year, the issue is likely to arise again next year. Another big issue is the residency law affecting sex offenders convicted of crimes involving children. It prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care center. "There will probably be some discussion ..." Gov. Tom Vilsack said. "There's the issue of where do these folks live and how do they integrate themselves back into society. It's not an easy question." The death penalty isn't the only contentious issues Republicans are expected to raise during the next session. Larry Sabato, who heads the University of Virginia's Institute of Politics, said sagging poll numbers for Republicans from President Bush down the ballot have the GOP returning to core issues likely to inspire their political base. Those issues also could include abortion and gay marriage. "Republicans understand that they need, for the first time, they really need to fire up the base," said Sabato. "Nothing fires them up like the hot button social issues." At the same time, Drake University political science professor Dennis Goldford said the effort may not get Republicans the mileage they want. "It can't hurt. Will it help on a massive scale? I don't think so," Goldford said. (source: Associated Press)
