Nov. 15 TEXAS----impending execution Death row inmate is not one to stand out----With all appeals exhausted, Rowell will become 18th to die this year Unlike many of his fellow inmates on death row, Robert Dale Rowell never got much television airtime or received much newspaper ink. The 50-year-old will walk into Texas' death chamber tonight a virtual unknown, the 18th inmate to be put to death this year. No public campaign has been waged on his behalf. The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty issued a routine alert on Rowell's execution that does little more than lay out the facts of his case. A last-minute reprieve is unlikely. His lawyers are not claiming he is mentally retarded or that his trial attorney fell asleep in court. His appeals were exhausted last month when the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to review his case or his claim that the trial judge should have given the jury better instructions. "There is nothing now pending," Rowell's attorney Ed Mallett said Monday. The trial was not even one to stand out for Kelly Siegler, the Harris County assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case in 1994. "The fact that he killed somebody before is probably what convinced the jury that he needed the death penalty," she said. Rowell was convicted of capital murder in the fatal shooting of crack dealer Irvin Wright and housemate Raymond Mata. Angie Perez, Mata's wife, was seriously wounded. Much of his defense centered on his lawyers' contention that Rowell did not rob the victims and the death penalty should not have been available. After the jury convicted Rowell, his lawyers tried to use the punishment phase of the trial to mitigate the crime by showing Rowell had begun a life of drug abuse at 13. A year later, according to court records, Rowell was injecting heroin and taking "anything else that I could get my hands on." Soon, he turned to robbery and burglary to support his $100-a-day drug habit, which led to his first conviction in 1974 for assault. He also was convicted for holdups of a drug store and a convenience store. In 1980, he attempted to rob a restaurant, where he exchanged gunfire with an off-duty Houston police officer. In 1982, he stabbed another inmate more than a dozen times, claiming the other man had made sexual advances toward him. He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 8 years in prison. Rowell stayed clean for almost 1 years after his release from prison in 1991. But after his introduction to crack cocaine, he told authorities his "life deteriorated rapidly" and he was soon using an ounce, or $500 worth of cocaine a day. According to court records, about 4 a.m. on May 19, 1993, Rowell went to his dealer's home in the 100 block of Red Ripple in northwest Houston to steal his money and drugs because he felt he had been overcharged. Perez, who testified during the trial, said she heard "thumping" sounds as Rowell was beating the 600-pound Wright in the next room. Rowell ordered the three into the bathroom tub where he shot them. Mata, shot in the head, died instantly. Wright died later. Perez was hit in the hand and the head, and told authorities she had numbness in her leg and trouble walking. 11 years later, Mallett describes his client as a "reasonably literate, very nice person." "He has a history of being violent when confronted and under the influence of drugs. All of his offenses are drug-related," Mallett said. "He's aware he has an extreme susceptibility to addiction and that he cannot control it when it's available to him." Rowell earned his GED and associate's degree in prison. In court records, Randy Rowell explained that he and his brother had to be more independent as children because their mother had been on medication most of her life. Randy Rowell did not return a phone call seeking comment for this article. "The whole neighborhood did drugs and once you do them, you always want them," Robert Rowell is quoted in a 1998 report after a psychological evaluation. "Before I did drugs, I stayed with my grandfather and fished and I was happy." Rowell is the 1st of 2 Harris County men sentenced to die this week. Shannon Thomas is slated to be executed Wednesday for the 1993 triple slayings of a Baytown father and his 2 children on Christmas Eve. (source: Houston Chronicle) MISSOURI----new federal death sentence Jury convicts man in federal death penalty case In Kansas City, a man who spent 5 years as a fugitive has been convicted of ordering the murder of a drug dealer over a $240,000 cocaine debt, and the attempted murder of another man. After finding Edwin Hinestroza, 35, guilty Monday of cocaine distribution, murder for hire and using a firearm in a drug-trafficking crime that resulted in 1st-degree murder, federal jurors are being asked to consider the death penalty. 3 other Columbian men were convicted in the 1998 killing of Julian Colon, 23, a Colombian living in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, Kan. 2 of the men, Arboleda Ortiz and German Sinisterra, were sentenced to death, while a 3rd man, Plutarco Tello, was ordered to spend the rest of his life behind bars with no possibility for parole. Colon and his nephew, Herberth Andres Borja-Molina, then 17, were attacked, beaten and shot at, but the bullet missed the younger man. He pretended to be dead, and he and his uncle were put into the trunk of a car that was abandoned in a park, where he escaped. Borja-Molina testified that Hinestroza blamed him and his uncle for the disappearance of the drug money from Hinestroza's suburban Leawood, Kan., apartment. Hinestroza, who has acknowledged he was a mayor drug dealer, had been accused of ordering the killing. "He wasn't merely present," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Valenti said in closing arguments last week. "He was important. He was the decision maker. He was the one who made everything happen." But defense attorney James Eisenbrandt said jurors should use caution when considering statements from the hit men implicating Hinestroza. He said they were scrambling to protect themselves. (source: Associated Press) VIRGINIA: Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty, But Victims Father -- Father And Defendant Former Friends A man facing the death penalty in connection with the killing of a 17-month-old boy has an unlikely person lobbying for his life - the victim's father. Since Ikarius Layden Chandler Kubin was found dead in his home in Harrisonburg's Deer Run apartment complex in April, Jason Kubin says he has been haunted by the memory of his son and thoughts of revenge. But soon after police charged Clifford Donald Lamb, 23, with murder, Kubin said he forgave him. And with the grand jurys indictment of Lamb on a capital murder charge last month, Kubin says that Lamb doesn't deserve to die. Commonwealth's Attorney Marsha Garst said she is seeking the death penalty for Lamb, and trial has been set for May 1. Prosecutors say Lamb, who lived with the mother and infant, ripped a cord from bedding in the child's crib and strangled him to silence his screams. Police say Lamb confessed to strangling the child. But executing Lamb won't bring his son back, Kubin says, and it would punish someone who, he claims, is not prone to violence. Defending A Friend Less than a year ago, Kubin and the accused were close friends. Beyond that, Kubin says, he knew Lamb for years and trusted him to be a primary caregiver for his son after he and the boys mother separated. Kubin, 31, said he visited his son several times a week and said the child and Lamb got along well. Kubin says he's still angry, but that he wont turn his back on someone he once considered family. "Everybody's against him," he said. "The only people that are really for having his life spared are [the babys mother] and me." The child's mother did not wish to comment. Kubin admits he opposes the death penalty in all cases, for religious reasons. But, he says, his views on this case are affected by his knowledge of the defendant. He describes Lamb as a passive person, who - despite a difficult life - never mistreated others. Kubin says Lamb has been victimized in the past, and that may have caused him to snap. "The 1st time I've ever seen any kind of violence from Cliff, he's murdering somebody," Kubin said. "It was his hands, but I don't think he knew what was going on." So, he says, Lamb needs psychological treatment, but not execution - not even prolonged incarceration. Tell It To A Jury Days after Garst announced she was seeking the death penalty, Kubin said he was surprised he wasn't consulted before the decision. The prosecutor said she wouldn't comment on the specifics of the case before trial. But a defense attorney who isn't involved in the case said if the commonwealth's attorney and Kubin aren't talking, it would be unusual. Gene Hart said Garst usually consults with victims' families. "One thing she's great at is taking care of victims and victim's families. Its one of her primary focuses in that office," he said. Hart is a defense attorney who practices in Harrisonburg, and has worked on capital cases. But while often consulted, the views of victims' families are one of many things a prosecutor must consider. Ultimately, a commonwealths attorney serves the community that elected them, not just the families of victims, Hart said. What Effect On The Sentence? But Kubin's anti-death penalty views will likely have an effect on the trial, especially if a sentencing phase is needed, Hart said. "One of the most powerful pieces [of testimony] for life you could put up for a jury member to consider would be the immediate family members of the victim," Hart said. "If you've got a guy saying, 'I don't want the guy who did this to my son to die,'" the power of that can't be overstated." But exactly how Kubin's testimony would play with a jury is hard to predict, Hart said. Jurors could see his friendship with the defendant as a source of bias, or they could see him as someone who can speak to Lambs true character. "It could let [jurors] know what this guy was like, not just when something terrible happened, but in everyday life," Hart said. (source: Daily News Record) CALIFORNIA: Man Convicted of Murdering Officer A jury Monday found Adrian Camacho, 30, guilty of 1st-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Oceanside Police Officer Tony Zeppetella. The 27-year-old rookie officer was shot to death June 13, 2003, after a traffic stop. Defense attorneys had told jurors that Camacho, who has a lengthy criminal history, was under the influence of drugs at the time. The Superior Court jury returns Nov. 28 to decide whether Camacho should be executed or sentenced to life in prison. (source: Los Angeles Times) ******************* City Considers Decorations to Protest Death Penalty Berkeley city officials may opt to temporarily decorate a public building at the end of the month to symbolize the city's opposition to the death penalty. Council members are expected to approve a recommendation from the city's Peace and Justice Commission tonight that would have Berkeley join a coalition of nearly 300 cities around the world protesting the death penalty by decorating a local building, thereby symbolizing its stance against capital punishment. If the recommendation passes, employees from the offices of City Manager Phil Kamlarz and Mayor Tom Bates will put up decorations between Nov. 28 and Nov. 30, the dates when the Grand Duchy of Tuscany became the 1st state to abolish capital punishment in 1786. At tonight's meeting, Bates will suggest stringing lights around Berkeley City Hall and placing a sign in the lobby explaining the city's position against the death penalty, said Cisco DeVries, Bates' chief of staff. In June, Bates' office received a request from the Community of Sant'Egidio, a group of Italian activists protesting the death penalty, to participate in the 3-day event. The group co-founded the World Coalition Against The Death Penalty in 2002 along with Amnesty International, Penal Reform International and the French group Ensemble contre la peine de mort, all of which oppose the death penalty. Bates, who DeVries said supports the proposal, then sent the issue to the Peace and Justice Commission for discussion. After reviewing the invitation in September, commissioners voted nearly unanimously to recommend the city's participation in Cities Against the Death Penalty, with one commissioner voting against the plan and another abstaining, said Commission Chair Steve Freedkin. "A couple commission members were reluctant to support the recommendation because of their personal feelings regarding the death penalty," he said. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 59 people were executed in the United States in 2004. There were 3,315 inmates on death row at state and federal institutions the same year. Some commissioners said the event's closeness to the Thanksgiving holiday may lead Berkeley residents to rethink their opinions about capital punishment. "Our decision has a broad base of support," said Commissioner and Rabbi Jane Litman. "The observance will come the weekend after Thanksgiving, and one of the things we are thankful for is that we live in a country that respects peace and justice and the death penalty is neither peace nor justice." The commission is currently considering launching a campaign to promote public awareness about the death penalty as well as adopting a death row inmate by paying the legal expenses of other inmates sentenced to death. Commissioners will also decide at a future meeting whether to recommend making several copies of an "appeal for a universal moratorium on the death penalty" publicly available for residents to sign year-round, Freedkin wrote in an e-mail. Councilmember Betty Olds said although capital punishment often sparks controversy, the commission's recommendation is a comparatively mild gesture. "I think it's a good idea and that it will pass," she said. "It's really a minor thing considering some of the other issues that have come up before the council." (source: The Daily Californian) FLORIDA: Mosley trial details phone calls----An engineer testifies on cell phone calls made from the Ocala area. Forensic anthropologists, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office detectives and former co-workers of John Mosley Jr. continued to pore over details Monday about the deaths of Lynda Wilkes and her 10-month-old son in the 3rd day of Mosley's 1st-degree murder trial. Mosley is on trial for 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in the deaths of Wilkes, 41, and son Jay-Quan Mosley. The 2 disappeared April 22, 2004, after meeting Mosley at a Northside shopping center. Wilkes' body was later found badly burned north of Waldo. The infant's body has never been found, despite a 4-day search of a Valdosta, Ga., landfill after police were told the body was left in a Dumpster. Calls made from Mosley's cell phone after Wilkes' disappearance originated from a cell tower near the Ocala area where Wilkes' body was dumped and set afire, according to testimony of an engineer for Verizon Wireless. Mosley's cell phone records and Wilkes' home phone records were analyzed by investigators to establish a timeline of events. Mosley called Wilkes' home the day she disappeared from a pay phone across the street from Quality Tires on Brentwood Avenue around 11:30 p.m. He met with her that afternoon in the parking lot of a J.C. Penney. 2 days after Wilkes and her son went missing, Mosley had all four tires on his maroon-colored Suburban replaced, despite having about 2,000 to 3,000 more miles of tread left, according to the mechanic at PepBoys on Dunn Avenue. "If the customer had not requested it, I wouldn't have recommended it," said James Dale, who worked on Mosely's car that day. When questioned by defense attorney Richard L. Kuritz, Dale said it wasn't unusual for a customer to buy new tires before they became a safety issue. However, Mosley did get into an altercation with the store manager about keeping the tires for resale rather than recycling them. The trial resumes today. (source: The Times-Union)
