Jan. 12 CALIFORNIA----impending execution Federal Judge Refuses To Block Allen Execution A federal judge in Sacramento Thursday turned down a bid for a stay of execution by a 75-year-old inmate who claims it would be unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment to execute an elderly disabled person. Clarence Ray Allen, who turns 76 on Jan. 16, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison on Jan. 17 for masterminding three Fresno murders in 1980 while he was in prison for another murder. Allen suffers from serious heart disease, diabetes, near blindness and difficulty in walking. After losing a similar appeal in the California Supreme Court on Tuesday, Allen's lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition seeking a stay of execution in federal court in Sacramento on Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Frank Damrell rejected the petition in a 14-page ruling. Damrell wrote, "(T)here is no clearly established U.S. Supreme Court law which renders petitioner's execution, at his advanced age and with his current physical infirmities, a violation of the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment." The judge said Allen was a mature adult "who committed multiple murders with cold-blooded calculation at age 50" and that his current age and illnesses do not affect his guilt at the time of the crimes. Michael Satris, a lawyer for Allen, said the inmate's attorneys will appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Friday. Allen's lawyers also filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, asking that court to overturn the California Supreme Court's denial of his state habeas corpus petition. Satris said, "I hope we do find one court somewhere that's going to consider the decency of Ray Allen's execution." In addition, Allen has a clemency petition pending before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Allen's lawyers say that if executed as scheduled, Allen would be the second-oldest person put to death in the United States since the 1950s. State prosecutors have argued that Allen has survived to his present age only because he used a lengthy appeal process to delay his execution. (source: Bay City News) INDIANA: Court stays Baer's execution for appeal The Indiana Supreme Court has stayed the execution of a man convicted of killing a Madison County woman and her 4-year-old daughter. The review of Fredrick M. Baer's death sentence by the Supreme Court is mandatory, and the court stayed the execution on its own motion. His execution date had been officially set for June 19, although such stays are routine. A Madison Circuit Court jury in May convicted Baer, 34, of Indianapolis, of 2 counts of murder, robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, attempted rape and theft. Baer was convicted of killing Cory Clark, 26, and her daughter, Jenna, 4, on Feb. 25, 2004, in their home near Lapel, about 15 miles northeast of Indianapolis. Circuit Court Judge Fredrick Spencer on June 9, sentenced him to die by lethal injection. Because of the extensive amount of appeals that are made after a death penalty sentencing, execution may not take place for at least 15 years, according to Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings. No date has been set to hear Baer's appeal. (source: Associated Press) KENTUCKY: Death Row fear leads to plea deal In an effort to avoid a trip to death row, a man facing the death penalty is expected to plead guilty today to raping and killing a woman in Boone County. John Wesley Snow, 34, is charged with killing Patricia Volpenhein and leaving her body in a Boone County field, where it was discovered Sept. 12, 2004. Volpenhein was killed less than four months after Snow was released from prison after serving 12 years for killing a 15-year-old girl in 1993. In both cases, the women, who were dating Snow, were shot in the head. Authorities said Snow raped Volpenhein before he fatally stabbed and shot her twice in the head. He then dumped her body near the Ohio River in Hebron. Snow is expected to plead guilty to charges of murder, rape, tampering with evidence and being a persistent felony offender. In exchange, prosecutors will recommend a sentence of life without the chance of parole for 25 years. Boone Commonwealth Attorney Linda Tally Smith said she made the plea agreement because it ensures that Snow will serve a quarter of a century behind bars. Without the agreement, she said, any sentence that Snow received - if he were to be found guilty - would be subject to appeals that could last for years. In addition, Snow's public defenders had filed motions saying they might rely on a defense that he is mentally retarded or mentally impaired. Even if found guilty, a finding of mental retardation would have kept Snow from being executed. Doctors who examined Snow said his IQ is in the borderline range for mental retardation. Boone Circuit Judge Tony Frohlich already has found that Snow is competent to stand trial. But defense attorneys argue that he might have an organic brain disorder, something that a battery of psychological tests were unable to find. (source: Kentucky Post) VIRGINIA: STATEMENT ON COLEMAN BY JIM MCCLOSKEY Press Release From James C. McCloskey, Executive Director of Centurion Ministries, Inc. and Paul Enzinna, Partner, Baker Botts L.L.P. on the Roger Coleman DNA Testing Results The following statement can be attributed to James C. McCloskey, Executive Director of Centurion Ministries, Inc.: With Governor Warner's announcement, it has been established once and for all, with absolute scientific certainty through unimpeachable DNA testing, that the semen found in Wanda McCoy belongs to Roger Coleman. This means that Roger Coleman is the killer of Wanda McCoy. We now know that Roger's proclamations of innocence, even as he sat strapped in the electric chair moments before his death, were false. We, who seek the truth, must live or die by the sword of DNA. Through my efforts, spanning from 1988 until the day of Rogers execution on May 20 1992, Centurion Ministries conducted an exhaustive reinvestigation of Roger's conviction. Up until the Centre of Forensic Sciences issued the most recent DNA results, I had always believed in Roger's complete innocence. In my view, he had no motive, means, or opportunity to do this crime. I now know that I was wrong. Indeed, this is a bitter pill to swallow. Those of us who seek the truth in criminal justice cases must never be afraid of finding it. If there is a means to discover the truth, we must never shrink or shy away from using it in our search. We must never stop the hard effort to touch the factual bottom of any case. The Truth can be very elusive, and even illusory. Our search for facts can delude us into thinking that what we have found is gold, only to discover that it is in fact fool's gold. But once the gold of absolute truth is revealed, we must embrace it, and be thankful that we have finally uncovered it. Believing in Roger's innocence and even promising him on the night of his execution that I would do all in my power to one day prove his innocence, I have spent the last 6 years persistently pushing for the post execution DNA testing that was just completed. Even though the results are far different that I expected, and even though this particular truth feels like a kick in the stomach, I do not regret that this effort has at last brought finality to all who have had an interest in this matter. In Socrates' Apology, he said that, "in doing anything, we ought only consider if, in our doing, we are doing right or wrong." This arduous journey was an honest and diligent search for the truth that I believe has served the public interest. The search for the truth in establishing Roger Coleman's innocence or guilt is finally over. The controversy that has surrounded the Coleman case for the last 25 years has now been put to rest, at least as far as I am concerned. I'd like to thank Virginia Governor Mark Warner for authorizing the DNA testing to proceed. Without his intervention, the complete truth would never have been revealed. I also want to thank Paul Enzinna, Esq. of the law firm Baker Botts in Washington, DC for partnering with me in our 6-year effort to get the DNA testing done. I trust that all those with the power and authority to do so throughout the nation will follow in Governor Warners footsteps to have the courage and vision to preserve all the biological evidence and allow post conviction and even post execution DNA and other forensic testing to go forward so that the absolute truth may be known to all. No one should fear the truth. As Governor Warner did, let the DNA chips fall where they may. Only then, can real justice be done. ** The following statement can be attributed to Paul Enzinna Partner, Baker Botts L.L.P. (Washington office): The challenges - legal and logistical - that Centurion Ministries put in front of us when we signed on to assist them in the Roger Coleman case 6 years ago were daunting. But as in all our pro bono efforts, we wanted to make certain Jim McCloskey and Centurion Ministries had access to the best legal counsel available to address the complex issues of this case. Our work with Centurion Ministries is a continuation of our firm's more than 150-year commitment to providing pro bono legal assistance on matters of national and international import. SOURCE Centurion Ministries, Inc. Web Site: http://www.centurionministries.org ********************* STATEMENT ON COLEMAN BY VADP Statement of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (www.VADP.org): DNA Testing Sets Precedent "We are thankful to Gov. Warner for his continuing efforts to advance the cause of justice through the application of the latest scientific advances in DNA technology. His order to test the existent DNA in the case of a man who was executed in 1992, has set a precedent. Had he not done so, no resolution of the persistent question of Mr. Colemans guilt or innocence could have been achieved. In cases where issues of possible innocence are unresolved that future scientific developments could lead to resolution it is vital that the evidence be preserved. Virginias precedent of the posthumous testing of existent DNA evidence underscores the necessity of the retention of such biological exhibits so that further developments in the testing of DNA evidence can be used to clear up questions of possible innocence of executed individuals. It is now incumbent upon the Commonwealth to enact statutes that require the post-execution preservation of such testable evidence. "In the vast majority of cases in which DNA is not available or part of the case it is especially critical that the original trial be as fair, complete, and vigorous as possible. In this case we finally can close a chapter with certainty, but in so many cases in which DNA testing is unavailable that certainty can never be attained. And, in too many cases, lingering doubt about the guilt of the executed remains." (source: VADP)
