Jan. 31 USA: DNA tests gain ground as legal defense----Even prosecutors are embracing the technology as a protection against wrongful imprisonment. When Alan Crotzer emerged from a Tampa courthouse last week a free man, he became the fifth person in Florida and the 173rd nationwide to be cleared from a wrongful conviction by DNA testing. But his exoneration after serving 24 years of a 130-year sentence for a crime he didn't commit is significant for another reason. It marks a possible turning point in how Florida prosecutors and lawmakers approach DNA testing. Prosecutors had fought earlier attempts to use DNA to prove someone's innocence, keeping one man behind bars three years after tests proved he couldn't have committed the crime that sent him to prison on a life sentence. In Mr. Crotzer's case, by contrast, they ultimately filed the legal motion that set him free, once defense lawyers convinced them he was innocent. "The state has jumped onboard and finally started to realize that we can't just use DNA to convict, we have to also use DNA to free," says Jenny Greenberg, director of the Florida Innocence Initiative and one of Crotzer's lawyers. Legal analysts say it is part of an evolution taking place across the country in which prosecutors and lawmakers who were once suspicious of the DNA challenges are now increasingly embracing the new technology as a backstop in the criminal justice system. "There have been some very positive results and legislators have seen the benefits of proving an innocent person innocent," says Blake Harrison, who follows the issue at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "If anything, there is public pressure to expand the use of these types of post-conviction reevaluations because of the obvious public benefit to making sure that you have got the right person." On Thursday, Arthur Mumphrey of Texas was freed after nearly 20 years in prison after new tests showed his DNA didn't match that found at a 1986 rape scene. Of the 33 states that have passed laws establishing procedures for DNA testing, 12 have sunset provisions, which offer only limited time for DNA tests in cases where inmates have no more options for appeal. Such provisions were enacted in part out of concern 5 years ago that state courts might be flooded with appeals calling for expensive tests. But the flood hasn't happened, analysts say. In the meantime, the steady flow of exonerations has resulted in widespread public and political support for DNA testing. Opponents of sunset provisions say states should never enact a deadline that would prevent innocent people from proving their innocence. Innocence Project lawyers say it often takes months or years to locate evidence, investigate a past crime, and prepare the necessary legal arguments needed to convince a judge that a DNA test should be administered. When Florida passed its DNA law in 2001, legislators gave potential appellants until 2003 to file a request for testing. That deadline was extended to 2005, and then further extended to July 2006. Now a powerful state senator - and former prosecutor - is pushing for a new DNA law that removes any deadline. In addition, it calls for preservation of evidence for the entire length of someone's incarceration, thus preserving the possibility of future appeals as testing technologies improve. State officials worry about the possible cost of evidence preservation. But proponents say the bill received unanimous support in its 1st state Senate committee hearing last week. "What is driving it is the general public's horror at the difficulties that innocent people have had here in Florida to prove their innocence," says Ms. Greenberg. "Most people in Florida are appalled that innocent people might be in prison and they want something done about it." The same trend is apparent across the country, says Kathy Swedlow, codirector of the Innocence Project at Thomas Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich. Ms. Swedlow has studied post-conviction DNA laws nationwide - including laws with sunset provisions. She says many of the laws have expired at least once and been extended for a couple years as lawmakers study the issue. "The fear I had in early 2001 was that the statutes would expire and it would be over," she says. "That is not what we are seeing." In Michigan, the deadline has been extended from January 2006 to January 2009. Louisiana moved its deadline from August 2005 to August 2007. And New Mexico has pushed its deadline from July 2002 to July 2006. As more cases work their way through the system, lawmakers and prosecutors are becoming more supportive of the idea that DNA testing can help establish the truth about particular crimes, she says. "These statutes are a win-win. They help us identify finally if people are innocent," she says. "In some instances they help us learn that even with the crude technologies of 20 years ago, that police got the right guy." Authorities in Virginia took the extraordinary step of conducting DNA testing to determine whether Roger Coleman had been wrongfully executed in 1992 for rape and murder. Death penalty opponents investigated the case and suggested he was innocent. But DNA test results showed he was, in fact, the killer. (source: Christian Science Monitor) **************** News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International USA: Too slow to help, too eager to kill----Systemic failure and the execution of severely mentally ill offenders Hundreds of severely mentally ill offenders in the US, are mired within a healthcare system that is too slow to help and a justice system that is too quick to pass death sentences, said Amnesty International today as it launched a major report on the use of the death penalty against mentally ill offenders in the US. The report focuses on the systemic problems confronting the mentally ill and chronicles the cases of 100 severely mentally ill offenders who have been executed since 1977 -- 1 in 10 of the total number of executions carried out since then. Citing pervasive systemic failures in both the healthcare and criminal justice systems, the report also highlights the grim situation of the mentally ill currently on death row, which according to the US National Association of Mental Health is 5 to 10 % of the USs total death row population of approximately 3,400. "The execution of those suffering from severe mental illnesses is a cruel and inhumane practice, which has been overlooked for far too long. Prejudice and ignorance give rise to fear and for many people it is easier to sentence a mentally ill offender to death rather than to find genuine treatment solutions," said Susan Lee, Amnesty International Americas Programme Director. An illustrative case is Scott Panetti, who was sentenced to death in Texas in 1995 for killing his parents-in-law in 1992. He has a long-documented history of hospitalization for his mental illness, including schizophrenia - which caused him visual and auditory hallucinations. During his trial, Scott - who acted as his own lawyer dressed as a cowboy - said that demons had been laughing at him as he left the scene of the crime. One of the doctors who was at the trial said: "Scott was completely unaware of the effect of his words and actions. Members of the jury had hostile stares and looked at Scott in disbelief while he rambled and made no sense." Scott is still on death row. In June 2002 the US Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for people with mental retardation (the term mental retardation, rather than learning disability, is used in the USA) on the ground that mental retardation diminishes personal culpability and because of the difficulty to justify the deterrent argument. "Mental retardation and mental illness are not the same but the symptoms can have similar consequences -- a mentally ill persons delusional beliefs may cause them to engage in illogical reasoning and to act on impulse. There is a profound inconsistency in exempting people with mental retardation from the death penalty while those with serious mental illness remain exposed to it," said Susan Lee. "Capital punishment is a highly politicized punishment. For far too long, politicians have generally failed to offer the electorate any measurable evidence that judicial killing, let alone of offenders with mental illness, offers a constructive solution to violent crime." According to Amnesty Internationals report, the case of Scott Panetti is representative of the circumstances in which people with severe mental illnesses are given death sentences and executed. In many cases, those with severe mental illness don't understand the charges against them or the seriousness of the crime they committed. In others, the defendant is heavily medicated for the trial, and perceived by the jury as remorseless. Lack of remorse is a highly aggravating factor that weighs heavily in a jurys decision to impose the death penalty. Some defendants have even been forcibly medicated in order to make them "competent" to be executed. Amnesty International calls on all US authorities to immediately ban the use of the death penalty against mentally ill offenders and to put an end to the broken capital punishment system once and for all. Additionally, public officials at all levels must ensure that pleas for help by those suffering from mental illness do not go unanswered and that adequate medical treatment is given to those who need it the most. Summary of the report: http://amnestynews.c.topica.com/maaerECabnVwUbb0havb/ Full report: http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maaerECabnVwVbb0havb/ More on the Death Penalty: http://amnestynews.c.topica.com/maaerECabnVwWbb0havb/ ***************************************************************** You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. (source: Amnesty International) FLORIDA----impending execution Killer is down to final appeal A Vietnam veteran convicted of murdering a woman for whom he did repair work will claim death by injection is cruel and unusual in trying to avoid execution. Convicted murderer Arthur D. Rutherford lost a federal appeal Monday, one day before his scheduled execution, but he had another pending, one of his lawyers said. If that fails, the Vietnam veteran will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which last week stayed the execution of another Florida death row inmate on an issue Rutherford also has raised, that the state's lethal injection procedure is cruel and unusual punishment. "We're just waiting to see what happens," attorney Linda McDermott said. The 56-year-old carpenter was convicted of killing and robbing Stella Salamon in 1985 at her home in Milton, where he had done repair work for her. She had been strangled or asphyxiated and her body was found in a bathtub. LAST LOOK? The U.S. Supreme Court granted a last-minute stay of execution to Clarence Hill last week so that the justices can determine whether the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta erred by denying him a chance to appeal the lethal injection claim. The 11th Circuit was taking another look at the issue in Rutherford's pending appeal. Hill, 48, fatally shot a Pensacola policeman during a 1982 bank robbery. He was strapped into a gurney with intravenous lines attached to his arm Tuesday when Justice Anthony Kennedy granted a temporary stay. The full court Wednesday extended the stay to give lawyers time to present their arguments. JEB CONCERNED Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday he hopes the court doesn't wait until the last minute to spare Rutherford. Attorneys for the 2 inmates contend that a cocktail of three chemicals used by Florida and several other states can cause excruciating pain. A study published in The Lancet medical journal last year by a University of Miami researcher found that a painkiller is likely to wear off before a second chemical causes the inmate to suffer a heart attack. The third chemical paralyzes the inmate so he cannot react to or express the pain, according to the study. The Florida Supreme Court refused to grant Hill or Rutherford a trial court hearing to present evidence on the issue. The state justices Friday also rejected Rutherford's claim that new evidence might exonerate him. His lawyers had argued a key prosecution witness had changed her story twice since the trial. (source: Miami Herald) OHIO----impending execution Board denies mercy for killer set to die The Ohio Parole Board chose yesterday to not grant clemency to a condemned man who raped and murdered two women 20 years ago. The board voted unanimously against mercy for Glenn Benner, 43, who had not sought clemency. Benner is scheduled to be executed Feb. 7. Benner was convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering Cynthia Sedgwick, 26, in August 1985 in woods at the Blossom Music Center near Akron. He also was convicted of raping and murdering a friend, 21-year-old Trina Bowser, in Akron in January 1986. Benner also was convicted of raping and trying to kill 2 other women in the months between the killings, but he was not sentenced to death in those crimes. The board said there is no doubt about Benner's guilt and no circumstances in his life that would outweigh his crimes. "Benner committed heinous crimes against innocent female victims," the report said. Gov. Bob Taft can accept the recommendation or change the sentence to life in prison without parole. Benner has said he didn't seek clemency because the process doesn't take into consideration whether inmates have changed while incarcerated. He added that he didn't want to cause the families of his victims further pain. If executed, Benner would become the 20th man put to death in Ohio since 1999, when Ohio resumed carrying out executions. (source: Associated Press) ************* Petro wants death penalty to remain in New Concord murder case The Ohio attorney general is arguing that a convicted murder who killed a New Concord woman should have the death penalty reinstated. Jim Petro's office filed papers with the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Monday arguing the court should keep the death penalty against John David Stumpf. Stumpf was convicted of murdering Mary Jane Stout in 1984. The appeals court set aside Stumpf's conviction in 2004, after Stumpf appealed on the basis that an accomplice, Clyde Wesley, was convicted of the same crime. Petro's office then took the matter before the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned the decision by the appeals court and sent the issue of Stumpf's death sentence back to the lower court. In the Monday filing, the attorney general's office claims Stumpf failed to present "the District Court an argument that the state's allegedly inconsistent theories of prosecution resulted in an unconstitutional sentence." Stumpf's attorneys have argued that since Wesley was also convicted of Stout's murder, Stumpf could not convicted of the same crime. However, Petro's office argues that Stumpf knew the nature of his conviction when he pleaded guilty. Stumpf pleaded guilty to 1 count of aggravated murder, and a 3-judge panel in Guernsey County gave him the death sentence. He also was sentenced to seven to 25 years in prison to run consecutively for attempted murder for shooting Stout's husband, Norman. Stumpf and Wesley went to the Stouts' home adjacent to Interstate 70 and Country Road 44 in Guernsey County in 1984 under the pretense of using the phone. Mary Jane was shot four times with Stumpf's gun and Norman was shot twice in the head, seriously wounding him. "We were gratified at the high court's reinstatement of Mr. Stumpf's conviction after recognizing his guilty plea to aggravated murder complied with constitutional standards," Petro said. "Today, we are arguing that Ohio law also allowed for imposition of the death penalty based on the facts of this case, and that the penalty was imposed properly by the trial court." The Sixth Circuit court is continuing to review the case. Stumpf remains on death row. (source: The Times Recorder) GEORGIA: State officials unfazed by death penalty criticism Georgia political leaders showed little interest Monday in imposing a moratorium on death sentences or overhauling capital punishment. Their muted reaction came the same day the American Bar Association, the nation's largest legal organization, issued a 323-page report citing flaws in Georgia's death penalty system. It called for a halt to capital trials until they can be fixed. Dan McLagan, spokesman for Gov. Sonny Perdue, said if other politicians wish to take up the issue, Perdue would meet with them. But McLagan said Perdue's focus this year is education funding and reform, not the death penalty. Secretary of State Cathy Cox, a Democratic candidate for governor, does not support a moratorium, her spokesman, Peter Jackson, said. "She thinks the ultimate crime deserves the ultimate punishment," he said. Cox's rival for the Democratic nomination, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, could not be reached Monday for comment. An ABA panel said it found 7 weaknesses in the state's application of capital punishment. They included no guarantee of counsel at a habeas corpus appeal based on constitutional or procedural grounds; confusing jury instructions; and what the panel considered an unfair standard of proof for defendants to show mental retardation. Georgia is the only state with the death penalty that does not guarantee a convicted murderer will have an attorney at habeas corpus appeals. The practice means some defendants must represent themselves or rely on an unpaid, volunteer lawyer. The report says this "creates a situation where this critical constitutional safeguard is so undermined as to be ineffective." Habeas appeals often result in new trials, including 22 since 1996 for Georgians on death row. Georgia has executed 19 prisoners in that time. The state provides $800,000 a year to a nonprofit group to help provide lawyers for habeas appeals. It has asked for a $385,000 increase next year. Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams (R-Lyons), who noted he would not support a moratorium, opposes the additional funding. He said the state already spends too much money for habeas appeals. "I've always had a problem with us spending taxpayer dollars helping those folks with their appeals after we already spent money prosecuting and defending them," he said Monday. The panel that prepared the ABA report included law professors, prominent attorneys and a retired chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. One panel member, former U.S. Attorney Donnie Dixon of Savannah, supported many findings of the report, but did not endorse a moratorium. ABA President Michael Greco said the recommended moratorium "underscores the grave risk of injustice and the need for a comprehensive evaluation of Georgia's death penalty system." (source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution) MISSOURI: 2nd federal judge assigned to death penalty case In St. Louis, afederal judge who stayed the execution of a man convicted of killing a Kansas City teenager has been replaced in the case, and the new judge has until Wednesday to decide whether Michael Taylor's death should be delayed any longer. A 3 judge-panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis on Sunday reversed the stay of execution granted by Senior U.S. District Judge Scott O. Wright. On Monday, the panel assigned U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. to the case. Taylor had been scheduled to die by lethal injection this week. His attorney, John William Simon of St. Louis, wants to challenge the state's three-drug method of execution, saying it creates a risk of gratuitous pain and is unnecessary to carry out the goal of "mere extinguishment of life." Wright, in granting the stay Jan. 19, set a hearing on Simon's argument for Feb. 21 and, if needed, Feb. 22, after which the judge said he would issue a decision "within a reasonable time." But the 8th Circuit panel decided that was too long to wait. The judges extended Taylor's execution date - previously set by the Missouri Supreme Court for Wednesday - to 11:59 p.m. Friday, and ordered Gaitan to issue an order by noon Wednesday. Gaitan conducted an emergency hearing Monday, and it was expected to continue into Tuesday. Whatever the judge's decision, Simon said he expected one of the sides to appeal. Taylor pleaded guilty to 1st-degree murder, forcible rape, armed criminal action and kidnapping for the March 1989 killing of 15-year-old Ann Harrison. She was waiting for her school bus when Taylor, now 38, and Roderick Nunley, now 40, forced her into their stolen vehicle. Taylor raped Harrison in Nunley's mother's basement and then helped Nunley kill her because they were afraid she would identify them. Taylor and Nunley have said they had been using drugs and wanted to steal her purse. Both were sentenced to death in 1991. After their sentences were overturned, they were again sentenced to death in 1994. The Supreme Court is expected to set an execution date soon for Nunley. (source: Associated Press)
