Dec. 9 MISSISSIPPI: Miss. death row inmate asks governor for clemency Mississippi death row inmate John B. Nixon Sr. has asked Gov. Haley Barbour to spare his life. Nixon, 77, is scheduled to be executed Wednesday at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. While Nixon's attorneys still have some hope that the U.S. Supreme Court might yet stay the execution, "we recognize that clemency is probably John's best hope for avoiding execution," attorneys David W. Clark of Jackson and Brian F. Toohey of Cleveland said in a clemency request hand-delivered to Barbour's office on Thursday. An appeal is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. It seeks to delay Nixon's execution to allow the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals an opportunity to consider Nixon's claim of ineffective counsel during his 1986 trial in Rankin County Circuit Court. Nixon's execution by lethal injection would be the first in Mississippi in 3 years. "We appreciate that it may require great political courage to grant clemency in the current environment," attorneys said in the clemency request. Barbour's spokesman, Pete Smith, said Thursday the governor had not seen Nixon's request yet. "Once he receives it, I expect that he will carefully review it," Smith said. Nixon was convicted of capital murder in the Jan. 2, 1985, murder-for-hire of Virginia Tucker in her Brandon home. Tucker's ex-husband, Elester Joseph Ponthieux of Raymond, is serving a life sentence for hiring Nixon. Tucker's husband, Thomas, was wounded and identified Nixon as the attacker. Two of Nixon's sons and a friend also were convicted in the killing. Nixon agreed to kill the Tuckers for money and rejected their attempts to pay him to leave them alone, authorities said. "When John was sentenced in 1986, Mississippi juries did not have the sentencing option of life without possibility of parole," the clemency request says. "Our belief is that if that sentencing option had been available in 1986 and if John's court-appointed lawyers in Rankin County had the time to learn even a little bit of their client's prior history, no Mississippi jury would have unanimously sentenced him to death." (source: Associated Press) WISCONSIN: Keep Wisconsin's ban on death penalty 2 misguided state senators are citing the high-profile criminal case of Steven Avery as reason to reinstate the death penalty in Wisconsin. In fact, Avery is a powerful example of why this state should not repeal its more than 150-year ban on killing prisoners. Avery is the Two Rivers man who was charged with 1st-degree murder and mutilation of a corpse last month after the remains of Teresa Halbach were found on his family's property. Sen. Alan Lasee, R-De Pere, said Avery's case has convinced him to expand his proposal for a statewide advisory referendum on the death penalty. Lasee wants voters to endorse giving courts the option of instituting the death penalty in single murder cases with strong DNA evidence. Previously, Lasee would have limited the option to multiple murders. Sen. Tom Reynolds, R-West Allis, said Avery's case should help his bill to reinstate capital punishment in cases in which a person is convicted on charges of murder, sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse. The Legislature should soundly defeat both proposals, no matter how narrowly they might be applied. Halbach's death was horrific, and the killer should be severely punished. But the death penalty is not the way to mete out justice. Wisconsin has banned the death penalty since 1853. The ban is cautious, realistic and doesn't prevent courts from locking up killers for life. The ban recognizes that the judicial system is fallible, and that capital punishment is expensive because of lengthy appeals. Avery's case actually shows why the ban is necessary. He spent 18 years in prison for a brutal rape and assault he did not commit. DNA evidence exonerated him and implicated another man. Irrespective of charges against Avery in Halbach's murder, the truth remains that he did not commit the 1985 rape and assault - yet he paid for it. At a 2-day symposium held in Madison last week, there were other falsely accused citizens who had lost between 3 and 12 years of their lives to flaws in the judicial system. Several studies have shown that states sometimes convict the innocent, at least 328 people between 1989 and 2003, according to one study. Lasee and Reynolds may want a life for a life, but these numbers suggest that our government could mistakenly kill an innocent person. That's a mistake Wisconsin cannot afford to risk. (source: Onalaska Community Life) ************ State lawmaker seeks public referendum on death penalty Sen. Dave Zien, R-Wheaton, addresses Wisconsins stance on the death penalty Thursday at the Capitol.A Republican lawmaker who wants to reinstate the death penalty in Wisconsin after 152 years without it said at a hearing Thursday the public should be able to vote on whether capital punishment is necessary for the most heinous crimes. "Why not let the citizens of Wisconsin have a voice as to whether or not they think this would be appropriate here?" said state Sen. Alan Lasee, R-De Pere. Lasee cited several gruesome murders from past decades and said the death penalty is needed to have the punishment fit the crime. "The Bible says something about an eye for an eye," Lasee said. "I think that goes a long way." State Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, questioned the need for a referendum and said elected representatives should already know what their constituents want. "You vote your constituency," he said. "I'll vote mine." Risser also brought up a letter from the Dane County district attorney saying the office was under-funded and not equipped to handle death penalty cases. Angie Hougas, a member of the board of directors for Amnesty International USA, said the death penalty is "a cruel and degrading treatment of human beings because it perpetuates a cycle of violence." She said executions made possible by the death penalty do not bring closure to families who have been victims of gruesome crimes. Other groups in opposition, including UW-Madisons Wisconsin Innocence Project, focus on false convictions of death row inmates. The project is a law-school-run program consisting of 15-20 students at a time, headed by professors John Pray and Keith Findley. "On the national level, there have been 163 DNA exonerations since the advent of DNA testing 15 years ago, along with hundreds of others due to other types of evidence," Pray said. Pray said he is also concerned about the uneven distribution of the death penalty. "Who your lawyer was, how much money you have, where you live, your race, the race of the victim - these have major effects on the administration of the death penalty," Pray said. Those who oppose the death penalty also call attention to the high financial costs the death penalty incurs, regardless of whether it is used or not. Professor John McAdams of Marquette University said he supports the death penalty. "We as a society have a moral obligation to reinstate the death penalty," McAdams said. McAdams said he believes the lists of people who have been exonerated from death row have been radically overstated and said the death penalty has been proven to deter crime. In response to elevated costs, McAdams said he believes the high security "Supermax" incarceration necessary for extreme offenders is just as expensive, and that "high costs come from cases that are strung out in appeals by death penalty opponents." (source: The Daily Cardinal) MONTANA: McKeon to sentence killer today District Judge John McKeon Wednesday delayed sentencing for convicted murderer Laurence D. Jackson Jr. until 9 a.m. today, nudging what was supposed to be a weeklong sentencing hearing into an eighth day. McKeon initially announced that he would impose Jackson's sentence for deliberate homicide at 4 p.m. Wednesday. But after four hours in his chambers, McKeon alerted the clerk that he would not meet the self-imposed deadline. The judge's methodical style has extended the timeline at several stages of the legal proceedings. Jackson's trial last year in Missoula was scheduled to last 2 weeks but spanned a month. Jackson, 28, faces a possible death sentence for shooting Blaine County deputy sheriff Joshua Rutherford in a shootout near Harlem on May 29, 2003. The jury that convicted Jackson concluded that his crime included an "aggravating factor" - killing a peace officer in the line of duty - that made him eligible for execution. Jackson also faces up to life in prison for attempted deliberate homicide for wounding former deputy Loren Janis the same night. The other development Wednesday was the conclusion of closing remarks by defense lawyer Ed Sheehy of Helena and Missoula. He rebutted final arguments by Blaine County Attorney Yvonne Laird on Monday. Laird argued that Jackson alone is responsible for Rutherford's death and should be executed. She pointed out that Jackson has an extensive criminal record, gets in trouble even in jail and has refused to get help for alcohol addiction. But Sheehy insisted Wednesday that the issue of legal responsibility for Rutherford's death was settled when a jury found him guilty of homicide last year. The question now, he said, is one of "moral responsibility," or culpability for the crime. "There is a substantial difference," Sheehy said. He asserted that prosecutors were on weak legal footing when they pointed to Jackson's criminal history and other behavior problems to bolster arguments for a death sentence. The judge, he said, may only consider the lone "aggravating factor" - that he killed a peace officer in the line of duty - and possible "mitigating circumstances" in his deliberations about the death penalty. "The points the prosecutors make are true, but they are not the proper basis for the death penalty," Sheehy said. McKeon said earlier this week that he is required to sentence Jackson to death unless he finds mitigating circumstances that are "sufficiently substantial" to reduce Jackson's culpability for the crime. Jackson's lawyers have argued that Jackson's prenatal exposure to alcohol, his difficult childhood, chemical dependency and a host of other factors meet the threshold for leniency. They've asked the judge to impose an 80-year prison sentence, which would make Jackson eligible for parole in about 20 years. Following this morning's sentencing, McKeon will commence a 2nd sentencing hearing on the attempted deliberate homicide charge. Jackson could receive up to life in prison without parole for that crime. (source: Great Falls Tribune) NEW MEXICO: Court Upholds Death Sentence Given To Robert Fry The state's highest court on Thursday upheld the murder conviction and death sentence of a Farmington man for killing a mother of 5 in 2000. Robert Fry was sentenced to die by injection for the June 9, 2000, slaying of Betty Lee, 36, who was stabbed and bludgeoned with a sledgehammer in a remote area of San Juan County. The Supreme Court unanimously affirmed Fry's 1st-degree murder conviction but Chief Justice Richard Bosson dissented from the court decision to uphold the death sentence given to Fry. Bosson said the case should have been remanded for a new sentencing hearing. He contended that jurors weren't properly instructed on the legal standard needed for capital punishment in New Mexico. Fry also has been convicted of 3 other murders. He was sentenced to life in prison for the March 31, 1998, killing of Donald Tsosie, 40, of Ganado, Ariz. Tsosie was beaten with a shovel. His body was found nearly a month later at the bottom of a cliff south of Farmington. Fry received 2 life sentences for the Nov. 29, 1996, killings of Matthew Trecker, 18, and Joseph Fleming, 25. The Farmington men were stabbed and their throats were slashed in the now-defunct Eclectic, a counterculture store in downtown Farmington. Currently, there are 2 men on death row - Fry and Timothy Allen of Bloomfield. Allen was sentenced to die for the murder, kidnapping and attempted rape of 17-year-old Sandra Phillips of Flora Vista in 1994. Over the past three decades, 28 people have been sentenced to death in New Mexico, according to death penalty repeal advocates. One prisoner was executed - child-killer Terry Clark in 2001 - while 19 sentences were overturned, 5 were commuted and one convicted murderer died in prison. Clark's execution was the 1st in New Mexico in 41 years. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: Nun's 'Pen Pal' Exonerated In Killings For the past 11 years, Sister Marjorie Fish has been corresponding with Harold C. Wilson, a Pennsylvania inmate who last month became the 122nd person to be freed from death row because of DNA evidence since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Fish, an ardent opponent of capital punishment, said Thursday she was shocked when she heard that Wilson had been exonerated. "When I got the news, I had to read it over several times," she said. "I couldn't believe it. All I could think was, 'This is a miracle."' Wilson, 47, spent 16 years on death row after a jury convicted him in 1989 of the tomahawk murders of three people in a Philadelphia drug house. By chance, Fish picked Wilson's name from a hat during an anti-death penalty conference sponsored by the Society of Friends, whose members are known as Quakers. Wilson, an African American Muslim, was looking for a spiritual adviser to correspond with. Advisers were supposed to be of the same religious background as inmates. "So I wrote to Harold and I underlined it - I am a Roman Catholic nun," said Fish, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph. "And he said it made no difference. And we went on from there." Wilson's first trial was overturned in 1999 because of errors by his defense attorney, and on further appeal he received a new hearing because of the district attorney's involvement in racially discriminatory practices in jury selection. DNA testing revealed blood from the crime scene that did not come from Wilson or the victims, which suggested the presence of another assailant. In his latest trial, he was acquitted Nov. 15 of all charges. Fish, 67, said she never discussed Wilson's alleged crime with him in their letters and emails, and "and all he ever said about it was that he was innocent," she said. Fish took up a collection among the sisters and helped Wilson get a computer in his cell. "I encouraged him to read books and to work toward his GED, which he did. He was a really poor fellow from Philadelphia. He wrote some very beautiful poems that he sent me." Fish also corresponds with a Connecticut prisoner, Alex Sostre, who is serving a life sentence for the 1999 killing of East Hartford police Officer Brian Aselton. Fish said she did not reach out to Wilson based on the possibility he might be innocent. She said she assumed that "to be on death row, you have to kill someone." "And in my years of working with people in the criminal justice system, I know you have to work with people where they are." But Fish, who later testified for Wilson as a character witness during his retrial in 2003, learned some details about the case from his attorney, and she came to believe in Wilson's innocence. She also has spoken to his family in South Philadelphia, including his 88-year-old mother. But she gives another nun a lot of credit for the turnaround in Wilson's case. Sister Ernestine Maillot, 101, began writing to Wilson, and praying the rosary twice a day for him about six years ago. "It's Ernie's prayers that did it," Fish said. Fish is the director of Tabor House in Hartford, a residence for homeless adults with HIV. She is a veteran of the Connecticut criminal justice system, having worked with both juveniles and adults, and is a staunch opponent of the death penalty. "I think it's an issue of life - you don't have the right to take a life of another, even though that person may have taken one," she said. "There is also an issue of fairness - most of the people on death row are poor, African American or Hispanic. There is no fairness in our judicial system." Fish and Wilson have yet to meet in person, or even talk on the telephone, though she made 2 attempts over the years to visit him at the super-max facility in Waynesburg, Pa. But that doesn't seem to matter to her. "I worked with him on a spiritual level," Fish said. "He is very sincere in his faith. ... He has a deep spirituality that comes through in his letters and his writing." On Wilson's website, which is linked through the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty, he writes that "you the people, need to take a good hard look at the present day criminal justice system. You need to see the suffering and injustice that abounds in prison. You need to recognize the role of money and racism in capital punishment, and the public indifference that sends innocent people to their deaths." At the end of a poem he sent to Fish titled, "Accepting God's Truth," Wilson wrote, "Thank you again Sr. Fish and Sr. Ernestine for your support." (source: Hartford Courant)
