Oct. 26 MISSOURI----execution Gray is executed for Kerry murders With a sheet covering him up to his neck, Marlin Gray was executed for his role in 1991 murders of 2 young women on the old Chain of Rocks Bridge. Gray died by lethal injection at 12:07 a.m. Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt and the U.S. Supreme Court denied the final appeals of Gray late Tuesday, clearing the way for his execution just after midnight. Blunt was first, denying Gray's request for clemency Tuesday afternoon. "Missouri's highest courts and a jury of Marlin Gray's peers determined unequivocally that he should be held accountable for Julie and Robin Kerry's deaths," Blunt said in a prepared statement. "I support the sentence issued and affirmed by both Missouri and U.S. Courts and believe justice has been served. My thoughts and prayers are with family and friends who mourn the loss of Julie and Robin." Blunt spokeswoman Jessica Robinson said the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole had also recommended the denial of clemency. Minutes later, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Gray's motion for a stay. One of Gray's attorneys, Joanne Martin Descher, released a statement just before 6:30 p.m. She wrote: "I continue to believe that he is innocent and that the imposition of the death penalty in his case is completely unjust and inappropriate. I am deeply saddened over the outcome." On Monday, the 8th U.S. Court of Appeals denied Gray's motion for a stay and also his motion to be allowed to file a new appeal. Blunt has received letters, e-mails, faxes and phone calls opposing the execution, Robinson said, as well as a letter of opposition from U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr., D-St. Louis, and a visit from a busload of Gray supporters Tuesday. Blunt was not in his office, Robinson said, but in Springfield. Gray's advocates and opponents of the death penalty have argued that he was not on the old Chain of Rocks Bridge in 1991 when Julie, 20, and Robin, 19, were pushed to their deaths and their cousin, 19-year-old Tom Cummins, was ordered to jump. At his trial in 1992, Gray, now 38, told jurors that he had left the bridge to smoke pot and that Reginald Clemens had told him, "Man, I just robbed that guy and threw the girls into the river," when he returned. In an interview Thursday, Gray said that when he returned to the bridge, Antonio Richardson said that there had been an accident and that the girls had fallen into the river. Clemens is on death row. Daniel Winfrey, who was 15 at the time, is serving a 30-year sentence after agreeing to testify against the other men and pleading guilty to nine charges, including 2 counts each of 2nd-degree murder and forcible rape. The Missouri Supreme Court reduced Richardson's death sentence to life in prison because he had been sentenced to death by a judge, not a jury. Gray's supporters have argued that Nels Moss, who prosecuted Gray, withheld potentially exculpatory evidence and unfairly swayed the jury by comparing Gray to Charles Manson. In an e-mail message to the Post-Dispatch Tuesday, Moss took issue with Gray's version of events that night and the statements of his supporters. "What Gray fails to say is he told his co-defendants that he 'felt like hurting someone that night' and passed out condoms, according to Winfrey," Moss wrote. Moss said Gray also shared the money taken from the Kerrys and Cummins and congratulated Richardson on his bravery and threatened to shoot Cummins if he resisted. Moss said an internal affairs investigation did not substantiate Gray's allegation of a police beating. "He had no massive injuries from a sustained beating. The best that could be said was that he had a few lumps on his head which were minor and could have been obtained after leaving police custody," Moss wrote. "He claimed no injuries or beating when the jailhouse nurse examined him." Moss said appellate courts had consistently found no misconduct in Gray's trial. "The Missouri Supreme Court in its opinion found that the jury had ample evidence to believe that Marlin Gray aided, encouraged and assisted in these rapes, robberies, assault and murders," Moss wrote. In the interview Thursday, Gray said he wouldn't allow family, friends or supporters to attend the execution because he considered it state-sponsored murder. Gray's brother, the Rev. Mark Williams, said he was going to try to persuade his brother Tuesday to allow witnesses. A little over 4 hours before the scheduled execution, Department of Corrections spokesman John Fougere said Gray declined a last meal and sedative and told officials that no one would be present as a witness on his behalf. Gray becomes the 5th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Missouri, and the 66th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1989. Only Texas (351), Virginia (94), and Oklahoma (79) have executed more inmates in the USA since the death penalty was re-legalized on July 2, 1976. Gray becomes the 45th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 989th overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977. With 13 executions scheduled in America in November alone, the USA is poised to have its 1000th execution in the modern era next month. (sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin) OHIO: Trimble guilty on all counts A Portage County jury ruled Tuesday that James Trimble was guilty of killing 3 people in a January rampage in Brimfield Township. Trimble was found guilty of all 9 charges he faced, including 3 counts of aggravated murder, in the shooting deaths of his girlfriend, Renee Bauer, and her 7-year-old son, Dakota, on the night of Jan. 21 at the Sandy Lake Road home they had shared for a year. Sarah Positano, a 22-year-old Kent State University student, was killed the following morning, according to authorities, during a standoff between Trimble and Metro SWAT officers at her Ranfield Road apartment. The sentencing phase of the trial, which will include 5 days of testimony to determine whether the death penalty will be imposed, is scheduled to begin Nov. 2. The jury of 7 men and 5 women reached agreement after 8 1/2 hours of deliberation. The additional charges were 3 counts of kidnapping, 1 count of aggravated burglary and 2 counts of felonious assault. (source: Akron Beacon Journal) USA: Measure Would Alter Federal Death Penalty System----House Legislation to Renew USA Patriot Act Would Loosen Some Provisions for Execution The House bill that would reauthorize the USA Patriot Act anti-terrorism law includes several little-noticed provisions that would dramatically transform the federal death penalty system, allowing smaller juries to decide on executions and giving prosecutors the ability to try again if a jury deadlocks on sentencing. The bill also triples the number of terrorism-related crimes eligible for the death penalty, adding, among others, the material support law that has been the core of the government's legal strategy against terrorism. The death penalty provisions, which were added to the House bill during a voice vote in July, are emerging as one of the major points of contention between House and Senate negotiators as they begin work on a compromise bill to renew expiring portions of the Patriot Act. If approved, the provisions could have a significant impact on future Justice Department terrorism prosecutions. The Senate version of the bill does not include the death penalty expansions. Senate Democrats say that the proposals are extraneous to the Patriot Act and should not be approved without fuller debate. Death penalty opponents and defense lawyers also contend that the measures, by removing some of the safeguards now in place, would increase the risk that innocent people could be executed. "These are radical changes in the way federal death penalty cases are litigated, and they were added virtually without any debate," said Jennifer Daskal, U.S. program advocate for Human Rights Watch. The Justice Department has endorsed the provisions and a spokesman for House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) said yesterday that the proposals were viewed as relatively uncontroversial because they were overwhelmingly approved on the House floor. "I would expect that the House will forcefully advocate for those provisions," said Jeff Lungren, a spokesman for Sensenbrenner. "I would say its prospects look fairly good." A Republican staffer on the Senate Judiciary Committee said the death penalty issue was "one of several concerns" about the House bill, which also includes fewer restrictions on surveillance and search powers than the Senate version. The death penalty provisions were added as an amendment by Rep. John Carter (R-Tex.), who had originally proposed the changes in a separate bill called the Terrorist Death Penalty Enhancement Act. The same package was included in a House intelligence reform bill last year but was stripped out during conference negotiations with the Senate, officials said. Carter spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel said the proposals are important because "the congressman believes capital punishment is a deterrent for all kinds of crimes, including terrorism." Under the proposals, 41 crimes would be added to the 20 terrorism-related offenses now eligible for the federal death penalty. Prosecutors would also find it easier to impose a death sentence in cases in which the defendant did not have the intent to kill. In one example cited by Human Rights Watch, "an individual could be sentenced to death for providing financial support to an organization whose members caused the death of another, even if this individual did not know or in any way intend that the members engage in acts of violence." But critics are most concerned about procedural changes related to juries, including a provision that would allow a trial with fewer than 12 jurors if the court finds "good cause," with or without the agreement of the defense. The bill would also give prosecutors a chance to try again if a jury is deadlocked over a death sentence. Currently, a hung jury at sentencing automatically results in a life sentence, which mirrors the system used by mostof the 38 states that currently allow the death penalty. Five states, including California, allow prosecutors to empanel a new jury if the first one deadlocks. In a statement to the House Judiciary Committee, Justice Department terrorism chief Barry M. Sabin called the proposal "a major change in federal capital punishment and procedure." David Bruck, a death penalty expert at Washington and Lee University's law school, noted that federal juries are already screened to remove opponents of capital punishment. "The chances are that if a jury disagrees the first time, they'll disagree the next time and the next time, no matter how much time and how many millions of dollars you waste on it," Bruck said. "If you can't get a unanimous jury to decide that a particular case is one of the worst of the worst, that tells you something." (source: Washington Post) NORTH CAROLINA: Death penalty option slows Hargrove jury selection Lawyers continued Tuesday with the painstaking process of selecting jurors for the first-degree murder trial of Dennis Lamonte Hargrove, who faces possible capital punishment if convicted of killing a woman, shooting out a toddler's eye and wounding 2 others on Markham Avenue in June 2003. So far, attorneys have labored for 6 days to find a panel that could be fair but unafraid to vote for the death penalty if Hargrove were convicted as charged. Both sides had approved 5 jurors as the selection process got under way Tuesday. However, additional prospects fell away quickly throughout the day, mostly because of extreme opinions about capital punishment. The prosecution needs a panel that has no overriding moral or religious scruples against the death penalty, while defense attorneys are seeking people who would be equally willing to consider a sentence of life in prison without parole. 1st-degree murder is the only crime for which jurors, rather than the judge, decide punishment in North Carolina. Death or life imprisonment are the only options. The questioning of jury candidates continues today. Evidence cannot be presented until 12 regular jurors and as many as 4 alternates are chosen. The alternates would step in if any regular panelists became ill during a trial that is projected to last 6 weeks. "You have to apply the law whether you like it or not," prosecutor Tracey Cline told several candidates Tuesday. "You cannot apply your own interpretation." Sympathy for the shooting victims or defendant should play no part in deliberations about Hargrove's guilt or innocence, Cline added. The prosecutor also quizzed candidates about the reasonable-doubt burden of proof that applies in Hargrove's trial. "A reasonable doubt is a doubt based on reason and common sense," Cline informed potential jurors. "It is not a 100 % guarantee. It's not beyond all doubt." In addition, defense lawyers Mike Howell and Steve Freedman gave potential jurors a brief tutorial on the mechanics of arriving at death verdicts in North Carolina. First, jurors must be convinced that at least 1 so-called aggravating circumstance exists in a case, and that it outweighs any offsetting factors in mitigation, the defense team said. They explained that jurors must be unanimous in choosing aggravating factors, while a mitigating factor can be considered even if only one person votes for it. A mitigating factor is defined as a reason why someone who has pleaded or been found guilty of a crime should be given a more lenient sentence. Finally, a jury must conclude that any aggravating circumstances are "sufficiently substantial" to merit capital punishment, defense attorneys noted. But even after hearing all that, 1 jury candidate said Tuesday he could never vote for the death penalty. "I don't think it's right," he said. "The state shouldn't be killing people." The man was excused. Another man, identifying himself as a Catholic, said he was opposed to capital punishment on religious grounds. He said he couldn't be impartial in the guilt-or-innocence phase of Hargrove's trial, knowing the death penalty was possible if Hargrove were convicted. He, too, was excused. It was a common theme on Tuesday. "I don't believe in the death penalty," a female jury candidate told lawyers. "I wouldn't say he was guilty if I thought he was going to get the death penalty. I don't think I could be fair." The woman was promptly dismissed from further consideration. At least one person was excused for the opposite reason, however. He described himself as an ardent supporter of capital punishment. "I could weigh the law, but I think my opinion would sway me," he acknowledged. "I would definitely be predisposed." Hargrove is accused of gunning down Colette Moss in her Markham Avenue apartment, shooting out the eye of a 2-year-old girl and wounding two other women -- allegedly to scare a delinquent drug buyer into paying up. The victims reportedly had nothing to do with the drug deal. (source: Herald-Sun)
