Oct. 23 CALIFORNIA: March execution sought -- Stockton man convicted in 1981 slaying of teenager The San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office will seek a March execution date for Michael Angelo Morales, convicted 22 years ago for the torture and murder of a Stockton girl. Morales was sentenced to death in 1983 for killing 17-year-old Tokay High School senior Terri Winchell. His execution could be the last of 3 California men put to death within the next 6 months, including a Nobel Prize nominee who founded the Crips street gang. "It is time for this monster to answer to God," said Winchell's mother, Barbara Christian, in an interview last week. "It will not bring Terri back, but at least it will bring justice." The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month denied Morales, 45, a final hearing, largely ending his appeal options. He remains on death row at San Quentin State Prison. A San Joaquin County prosecutor next month will travel to a Ventura County Superior Court where Morales' trial was held to ask for an execution order, said San Joaquin County District Attorney Jim Willett. The murder case involving a love triangle drew such intense local interest that it was moved to Ventura County for trial. State law says the execution must follow from 30 to 60 days after the execution order, putting the execution by lethal injection sometime from February to March, Willett said. The saga began on Jan. 8, 1981, when Winchell left home to get food from a restaurant for her sick mother. She told her mother she'd return within an hour, according to papers filed with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Police found Winchell's body 2 days later in a vineyard on the outskirts of Lodi. She was nude from the waist down and had been struck on the side of her head 6 times and suffered 17 blows to the back of her head, court papers said. Some injuries showed that Winchell fought off her attacker. According to court papers, Morales murdered Winchell as a favor to his cousin Rick Ortega, who was jealous because she dated a young man with whom Ortega had a homosexual relationship. A jury convicted Morales of 1st-degree murder with premeditation, including the special circumstances of intentional killing by torture and lying in wait. San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Bernard Garber -- now a Superior Court judge -- prosecuted Morales. Ortega was also charged in the murder and sentenced to life in state prison without the possibility of parole. Morales is 1 of 3 men who have exhausted their appeal options and are ready for a scheduled execution date, which is unusual, said Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Stanley "Tookie" Williams, 51, could receive a December execution date for a 1981 murder-robbery conviction in Los Angeles County. Williams founded the Crips street gang. Later, he was nominated for a Nobel Prize for literature for writing children's books in prison denouncing street gangs. Clarence Ray Allen, the former leader of a Fresno crime ring, was sentenced to death in 1982 for ordering three assassinations from inside prison on witnesses who testified against him. Allen, 75, could receive death in January. The last hope for Williams, Allen and Morales lies with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who can commute an execution. Since taking office, Schwarzenegger has rejected clemency for two men, who were executed. Ronald Reagan was the last California governor to stop an execution, in 1967. The condemned men can also attempt to argue the constitutionality of the death sentence to stop their executions, Barankin said. "Raising these claims in the 11th hour is likely not to be successful," Barankin said. David Senior, Morales' appellate attorney, did not return repeated phone calls last week for comment. Mack Winchell, 77, Terri Winchell's father, said he doesn't plan to witness Morales' execution. But he said it is long overdue. "I tell you what. All these years, I was hoping it would come to a close on him," Winchell said. "I hope they give it to him." (source: Stockton Record) ILLINOIS: Community members raise death penalty awareness One by one, Beth Ponce, a member of a prison ministry group, read the names of 21 inmates scheduled for execution in the United States by the end of the year. "It makes me sad for them and the people they murdered," she said. "The death penalty in this country victimizes a lot of people." Various community members and faith leaders gathered in Carbondale as part of a yearly meeting to speak out against the death penalty Sunday. Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan put a moratorium on the death penalty prohibiting Illinois from performing executions in 2000. "It was a good move, but my hope would always be there'd never be another," said Martha Beck, Carbondale Interfaith Council president. The death penalty in Illinois was previously abolished in 1972 when the federal government made it illegal. Illinois re-enacted it in 1974. While many of the people at the gathering did not get to voice their own opinion, quotations from murder victim's relatives and peace activists were read. All were in opposition of the death penalty. Gov. Rod Blagojevich has not lifted the moratorium, the death penalty has yet to be abolished in Illinois, and several inmates are on death row. "There may be some Illinoisans who don't know about it," said Elsie Speck, member of the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. The coalition is a non-profit organization working to end Illinois' death penalty by pushing for legislature and raising the publics' awareness. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, executions, death sentences and the overall size of death rows across the United States declined from 2003 to 2004. Lynn Mowry, who came to the gathering, said education about the death penalty has to go beyond the gathering, saying, "We need to go out and tell the people who don't want to know or care." Speck said many people in Illinois might not be aware death row executions could begin again if the moratorium is lifted. "I think the present governor would probably not allow that to happen, but another governor could," she said. Executions taking place in other states is also something Illinoisans need to be made aware of, Speck said. If every scheduled execution is carried out in the country, the number of inmates killed since the 1970s, when the federal government allowed states to once again enact death penalties, will be more than 1,000. She said with other issues clouding media and politics, such as the ongoing war in Iraq and budget problems, the death penalty has taken the back burner in Illinois. (source: Daily Egyptian) ALASKA: Groups rally against death penalty Groups of Alaskans gathered Sunday to rally in support of their cause. The group, Alaskans Against the Death Penalty, gathered at Town Square in an effort to educate the public on facts and myths about the death penalty. They were joined by Amnesty International and different groups of faith. The rally presenters are trying to offer an alternative, one that attempts to reconcile the offender with the families they have harmed. "We think restorative justice squares with the great ideals of this republic and would be a more successful approach to criminal justice in the end," said Taylor Brelsford (left), the rally organizer. The rally joined others of its kind, Sunday, all over the U.S. (source: KTUU) USA: Brother of 'Unabomber' wants to end capital punishment The brother of convicted Unabomber Ted Kaczynski says he wants the death penalty gone forever. David Kaczynski is calling for an end to all capital punishment, nearly a decade after he helped identify his brother as the Unabomber. David Kaczynski fought to keep his brother from being executed. He now says the criminal justice system isn't capable of "determining guilt or innocence 100 % of the time." He also says the system isn't capable of determining who, among the guilty, should live and who should die. The Unabomber is serving a life term for a series of bombings that left three dead and 23 injured. His reign of terror ended when his brother tipped off authorities in 1996. David Kaczynski says he knew he had to stop his brother but he struggled with the possibility of capital punishment. (source: Associated Press)
