Nov. 19 MISSISSIPPI: Former Mississippi death row inmate re-sentenced Former Mississippi death row inmate Stephen Virgil McGilberry has been resentenced to 4 consecutive life sentences without parole. Jackson County Circuit Judge Robert P. Krebs resentenced McGilberry on Friday for the 1994 murder of members of his family. McGilberry was saved from execution in March when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute someone who committed a capital offense while under the age of 18. McGilberry was a 16-year-old when used a baseball bat to kill his mother, stepfather, stepsister and her 3-year-old son as they slept in their St. Martin home. The Mississippi Supreme Court in September ordered McGilberry resentenced. McGilberry was 1 of 5 Mississippi death row inmates who were juveniles when they committed their crimes. The court has also ordered new sentencings for Kelvin Dycus, Ronald Chris Foster and Roderick Eskridge. An order to re-sentence William Joseph Holly is expected. (source: Associated Press) ARKANSAS: Appeal Filed To Proceed With Execution Of Convicted Murderer Arkansas prosecutors filed an appeal with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Saint Louis on Friday afternoon in an effort to proceed with the execution of convicted killer Eric Nance. Nance was convicted of capital murder in the 1993 slaying of 18-year-old Julie Heath of Malvern. U.S. District Judge James Moody issued a stay of execution on Thursday and allowed courts to reconsider the issue of Nance's mental retardation. Nance had been scheduled to die by lethal injection on November 28th. (source: KATV News) FLORIDA: Death Row Inmate Convicted Of Raping, Killing 9-Year-Old Boy Gets New Lawyer The death row inmate convicted of murdering a 9-year-old boy will get a new court-appointed attorney in his attempt to win a 2nd trial. Juan Carlos Chavez has claimed ineffective counsel and errors hindered his 1st trial. A Miami-Dade circuit judge allowed attorney Lee Weissenborn to withdraw during a hearing to discuss preparations for a Dec. 5 evidentiary hearing ordered by the Florida Supreme Court. That hearing was meant to determine if there were errors made during his trial. It has been indefinitely postponed until Chavez is appointed a new lawyer by the courts. Chavez has confessed to killing Jimmy Ryce, who was kidnapped at gunpoint and raped after getting off his school bus near his family's home in a rural area of Miami in September 1995. It prompted a state law bearing Ryce's name that keeps sexual predators in custody even after they have finished their prison sentences if they are still considered a danger. "We are confident that the murderer of our son Jimmy is Juan Carlos Chavez," Ryce's parents said in a statement. "We know the legal system will provide justice to our beloved Jimmy." (source: Local10News) NEW JERSEY: Prosecutors want death penalty In Jersey City, prosecutors will ask that 2 men charged with murdering a city family during a botched robbery last January be sentenced to death if found guilty, authorities said Friday. No date has been set for the trial of Edward McDonald, 25, and Hamilton Sanchez, 31, both of whom were formally arraigned on murder charges this month. Both men have pleaded not guilty to the violent slayings of Hossam Armanious, his wife, Amal Garas, and their 2 young daughters. "Both of them are designated as capital murder cases," said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio. "We're seeking the death penalty." Authorities said they believe McDonald killed the father and 9-year-old Monica Armanious, and Sanchez knifed Garas and 16-year-old Sylvia Armanious. The age of the victims and the fact that the murders were an attempt to hinder apprehension after McDonald was recognized by one of the daughters are aggravating factors that make the death penalty a possibility, DeFazio said. DeFazio said the trial probably won't begin until at least next fall. The killings caused tension between the city's Muslim and Coptic Christian communities and sparked rumors about the connection of Islamic extremists to the killings. The Armanious family were from Coptic Christians from Egypt. In an early March raid on |McDonald's Jersey City Heights apartment, authorities recovered a gun that they said was used to subdue the family, as well as distribution quantities of high-grade "hydro" marijuana, DeFazio said. The FBI said McDonald confessed to the slayings under questioning. He told investigators that he and Sanchez stabbed the family to death during a push-in robbery after the youngest daughter recognized McDonald, according to authorities. McDonald lived with his girlfriend in an apartment above the family at the time of the murders and met Sanchez while in jail on drug charges. Sanchez is on federal parole for conspiring to import more than 3 kilograms of cocaine and more than 1 kilogram of heroin in 1995 and lived in a Newark halfway house. (source: NorthJersey.com) DELAWARE: Did State Of Delaware Mishandle Execution? DELAWARE CBS 3 investigated whether the state of Delaware mishandled the execution of killer Brian Steckel earlier this month. The mystery surrounds the unusually long time it took to execute him and investigative reporter Jim Osman exposes what the state may be covering up. Murderer Brian Steckel was laying on a gurney, waiting to die. "Typically, a lethal injection takes 2 to 3 minutes," explained Deborah Denno Fordham University. Steckels execution took 15 minutes. The state of Delaware maintains it did not botch anything and that nothing went wrong but that story is starting to unravel. "Prison officials have never been particularly straight about what the problems are," said Denno. We are talking about accountability and whether the government is hiding the truth or misleading the public. CBS 3 has uncovered serious doubts about what happened in the execution chamber that night. Right after the execution, the state of Delaware had a problem on its hands. 7 media witnesses including Osman reported something unusual. "Brian Steckel was pronounced dead at 12:21 am after what seemed to be like a long execution process," stated Randall Chase of the Associated Press. The state of Delaware in the 1st of a series of denials flatly stated everything went as planned despite the execution running 13 minutes longer than normal... "In this instance the warden wanted to give Mr. Steckel ample opportunity to indicate some final thoughts to his family," said Beth Welch of the Delaware Department of Corrections. The Associated Press and the Wilmington News Journal quoted prison officials saying "there were no technical difficulties" and there "were no malfunctions." At one point during the execution, the condemned man looked up and in a matter of factly said "I didn't think it was supposed to take so long." "In the 20 years I have spent studying these methods, I have never heard of something like this happening," stated Deborah Denno of Fordham University. Denno is one of the nation's leading experts on the administration of lethal injections. "The fact that it took so long to execute indicates something wrong was happening with the system that day because this is so unusual if not unique," added Denno. Simply put Denno believes the state of Delaware is not telling the truth out of fear of criticism. "This is an embarrassment," said Denno, adding, "It reveals how incompetent they are." There is the possibility Steckel's body may not have taken to the first 2 chemicals injected into him that would sedate him and paralyze his muscles. CBS 3 filed a freedom of information request asking for records that detail the execution but the state says it does not keep records like that. (source: CBS News)
