Oct. 27
MARYLAND:
State's attorney to seek death penalty in murder of policeman
Prince George's County State's Attorney Glenn Ivey will seek the death
penalty in the case of a Bladensburg man charged with killing a county
police officer.
Ivey announced his intent Oct. 27 at the county courthouse in front of
over 150 county officers and sheriffs who came out to show their support
for their fallen comrade.
Robert Mark Billet, 43, of Bladensburg was indicted in July for the June
21 murder of Sgt. Steven Gaughan of Greenbelt.
Two aggravating factors in this case - the killing of a law enforcement
officer, and the commission of such a crime in evading lawful arrest - led
to Iveys decision to pursue the death penalty, he said.
"I know the General Assembly added those aggravating factors to send [a]
message [to criminals]," Ivey said. "Given the 2 aggravating factors, I
think that the death penalty was... the appropriate sentence to seek in
this case."
County Police Chief Melvin High said he and his officers felt Ivey made
the right decision, even if it was a difficult one to make.
"Police officers put their lives on the line," High said. "We need those
protections and those safeguards, and that message has to be sent."
Billet's trial was scheduled for January, but Ivey said because of this
filing to seek the death penalty, the trial will likely be pushed to March
or April.
Billet was indicted on the following nine counts: 1 count of murder, 2
counts of attempted murder, 2 counts of 1st-degree assault, 3 counts of
use of a handgun in commission of a felony and 1 count of obliterating the
identification number of a firearm.
Steven Gaughan, Officers Michael Eubanks and Shawn Phoebus tried to pull
over the car in which Billet was riding as a passenger for a traffic stop
on Route 197 in June. The driver stopped the vehicle in the parking lot at
Evergreens Apartments in Laurel, and Billet exited the car and fired at
Steven Gaughan as the officers pursued him.
A helicopter transported Steven Gaughan to Prince Georges Hospital Center
in Cheverly, where he died.
The slain officers widow, Donna Gaughan, attended Iveys announcement,
though she declined to comment. Speaking on her behalf, officer and family
friend Lt. John Hipps said the family thanked Ivey and Police Chief Melvin
High for their support.
"I think [Steven Gaughan] would be very proud of the way Donna's handled
herself, and the way everyone's come together," Hipps said.
(source: Gazette.Net)
OHIO:
State moves an additional 70 death row inmates
The state said it has moved an additional 70 death row inmates to their
new home in a Youngstown prison.
The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said there were no
problems with the move, which happened Wednesday but wasn't announced for
security reasons until Thursday.
The department previously moved 31 of the 194 inmates on death row at the
Mansfield Correctional Institution. The remaining inmates should be moved
by year's end, said department spokeswoman Andrea Dean.
The state proposed the move to the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown
to save money.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued, arguing the move would deny
inmates' due process rights available to other inmates transferred to
Youngstown, which serves as a supermaximum security prison for the state's
hardest-to-hold prisoners.
A federal judge rejected the lawsuit Oct. 3, paving the way for the move.
Death row inmates John Spirko and John Hicks, scheduled to die on separate
days next month, will remain at Mansfield to avoid being moved twice, Dean
said.
The state is investigating the actions of 3 death row inmates who hurt
themselves with self-inflicted cuts earlier this month in an apparent
attempt to avoid the move.
(source: Associated Press)
