Dec. 15
USA: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Congressman Dennis Kucinich----Doug Gordon (202) 225-5871(o); (202) 494-5141(c) Kucinich Introduces Bill to Abolish Federal Death Penalty Bill, Introduced Today, Co-Sponsored By 39 Members Of Congress Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH), today, introduced legislation to abolish the federal death penalty. The Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2005, currently co-sponsored by 39 Members of Congress, will put an immediate halt to executions and forbid the imposition of the death penalty as a sentence for violations of federal law. "The death penalty is not an effective deterrent," stated Kucinich. "Homicide rates in states with the death penalty are no lower than rates in abolitionist states. Of the twelve states without the death penalty, ten have murder rates below the national average." Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, 122 men and women have been released from death row due to evidence of innocence. In addition, an audit released in late 2003 found that death penalty cases in Kansas cost significantly more than comparable non-death penalty incarcerations. The median cost for a death penalty case was $1.26 million while the median cost for a non-death penalty case was $740,000. Imposition of the death penalty is also racially and economically biased. "I strongly believe that violent offenders must be severely punished and prevented from committing future crimes," continued Kucinich. "However, capital punishment is not the answer. The death penalty is not a deterrent, allows innocent people to be executed, and marginalizes the United States' in the fight for human rights in the international community." Joining Kucinich on the bill are Reps. Neil Abercrombie, Michael Capuano, William Lacy Clay, Emanuel Cleaver, John Conyers, Elijah Cummings, Danny Davis, William Delahunt, Sam Farr, Bob Filner, Raul Grijalva, Luis Gutierrez, Alcee Hastings, Maurice Hinchey, Michael Honda, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Dale Kildee, Carolyn Kilpatrick, James Langevin, Barbara Lee, John Lewis, James McGovern, Cynthia McKinney, Edward Markey, Gregory Meeks, Gwen Moore, James Oberstar, John Olver, Major Owens, Charles Rangel, Bobby Rush, Jose Serrano, Pete Stark, Edolphus Towns, Nydia Velazquez, Maxine Waters, Diane Watson, Melvin Watt, and Lynn Woolsey. (source: Common Dreams, Dec. 14, 2005) ******************* Death penalty is dead wrong The Rev. Jesse Jackson led a group of protesters across the Golden Gate bridge - to no avail. Groups brandishing anti-death penalty signs and Save Tookie placards kept a vigil around San Quentin Prison - to no avail. After nearly 25 years on death row, after a refusal for clemency from California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stanley (Tookie) Williams was led handcuffed and shackled into the death chamber at 12:01 Tuesday. The founder of the notorious Los Angles gang the Crips, was pronounced dead at 12:35 a.m. Then the protests began in other countries. In Austria, Schwarzenegger's birthplace, some wanted to have his citizenship revoked. And in his hometown of Graz, some demanded a stadium be renamed the Stanley Tookie Williams Stadium. And in Rome, Pope Benedict's official commentator on justice, Renato Cardinal Martino, said: "We know the death penalty doesn't resolve anything. Even a criminal is worthy of respect because he is a human being. The death penalty is a negation of human dignity." I would add only that capital punishment is a negation both of the human dignity of the person executed and of the dignity of each one of us. On both sides of the ocean, Christian groups contended that Williams should have received clemency because he had converted and turned his life around. And he had indeed spoken out and written a number of books intended to steer kids away from the gang life. He had been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize three times. Others argued that Williams's conversion from gang member to peacemaker was but a ploy for clemency and that he had never truly expressed remorse for his crimes or those of the Crips. Most of this rhetoric around the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams is both right and wrong. And most of it misses the point. The point is not that a condemned criminal who converts ought to have his death sentence commuted to life. That is nonsense. Converts to what? Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism? Or just Christianity? Tookie Williams did not speak much about a religious conversion while on death row, so we really don't know whether he converted to Christianity. Perhaps not. However, it is certainly true that the western world prefers its jailhouse conversions to take place on the road to Damascus, rather than, say, on the road to Mecca. Many an inmate has converted to Islam and there has been little outcry against his execution. But witness the case of Karla Faye Tucker who became a Christian while in jail and whose Feb., 1998 execution in Texas was hugely protested. Solely on the grounds that she had experienced spiritual redemption. Any idea that a condemned person must repent within the parameters of a certain religion speaks only to the idiocy of the death penalty itself. And to its barbarity. Speaking of barbarity, what kind of system allows a condemned man to spend 25 years in a half life or half death waiting for the needle. The French guillotine was quick and far more humane. The European Union certainly believes capital punishment is uncivilized; it has made executions illegal. The Pope thinks it's barbaric. Many religious leaders of all faiths think so. Many Canadians think so. I think so. No, we should never let violent criminals back onto our streets. Stanley Williams would not have been paroled; he would have spent the rest of his life in jail. Life should mean life, not seven, 10 or even 25 years. The problem with Canadian justice lies in our insane parole system, not in the lack of the death penalty. Paul Bernardo will never get out of jail and that's as it should be. He will rot in the slammer without ever again experiencing the thrill that sociopaths get from hurting others. It ought to be noted that Karla Homolka walks our streets because of a bad mistake made by the Canadian justice system, one which no amount of hindsight or after-the-fact restrictions will ever fix. Meanwhile, the fact remains that the death penalty is wrong. It is barbaric, solves nothing and has no place in a civilized society. It is to Canada's credit that capital punishment was abolished in 1976. (source: Opinion, Lyn Cockburn, Edmonton Sun) ********************* Death Penalty Concerns Don't Translate on Political Stage With a number of last-minute exonerations handed to death row inmates lately, a crisis of conscience appears to be growing over the death penalty in this country. For those who doubt it, one need only look at Alabama, one of the unlikeliest of places for the penalty's re-evaluation. The fire-engine red state, where evangelism readily mixes with a socially conservative brand of politics, is tied with South Carolina for the 8th-highest number of executions in the United States since 1976. But even in Alabama, the death penalty is now opposed by the state's largest and most powerful newspaper. In November, the regularly conservative editorial board of The Birmingham News announced it had found gaping irregularities in that state's criminal justice system, forcing it to about-face and oppose capital punishment. "Cases where inmates have been convicted and later cleared challenge long-held notions about the reliability of eyewitness identification, the use of jailhouse snitches and, in some cases, the integrity of police and prosecutors," the editors said in the introduction to a series examining how death penalty convictions are won in Alabama. "While these questions apply to all criminal cases, they are particularly troubling in death penalty cases where mistakes can go, literally, to the grave." Capital punishment's most vocal critics have long been liberals and civil rights groups who say blacks and Latinos are more likely to end up on death row than whites. Religious conservatives, including most recently Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., have also joined in the chorus of doubts. But the American public still overwhelmingly supports the death penalty, and politicians remain hesitant to voice any opposition. The debate over the death penalty is often over whether certain killers deserve to die. The more horrific the crime, the more persuaded fence-sitters may be that capital punishment is an effective tool. Every story about a Jessica Lunsford, Dylan Groene and Carlie Brucia - children who were kidnapped, sexually assaulted and brutally murdered - seems to validate those who want government to mete out the ultimate punishment. The Birmingham News took a different approach to the issue. The power to take life is not a right the government should have, the newspaper said. Rather, it is a privilege that must be earned by the system. The board called on the state to establish more and better resources for poor defendants, including a higher wage for defense attorneys; removal of elected judges' power to override a jury's decision and impose the death penalty; mandated pre-trial hearings to determine the credibility of witnesses and jailhouse informants; and preservation of all evidence, especially DNA, in capital cases. "Is that standard too high to demand?" the editorial board asked. "Not when we're talking about a punishment that can't be undone, a sentence as final as death." Political Perils National awareness of the risk of wrongful capital convictions dates back at least to 2000, when former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, a pro-death penalty Republican, declared a moratorium on executions after a series of investigations uncovered faulty capital convictions. After a state probe, Ryan commuted the sentences of all 167 Illinois death row convicts, saying he'd rather that 166 guilty men live than put to death 1 potentially innocent prisoner. Mark R. Warner, Virginia's popular outgoing governor and a possible 2008 presidential candidate, announced on Wednesday that 2 prisoners - 1 of whom is in his 20th year behind bars - would be set free after DNA evidence disproved rape charges against them. He also said that all 660 boxes of cases filed in the state's Department of Forensic Science would be reviewed, with DNA testing done as needed. Last month, Warner granted clemency to a man who would have been the 1,000th inmate to be executed since capital punishment was restored by the Supreme Court in 1976. Warner commuted the man's sentence to life in prison without parole because evidence in his trial was improperly destroyed by a court clerk, making DNA testing that could potentially exonerate him impossible. Few other states have taken such dramatic measures. Only 13 states, including Illinois and Virginia, have formed panels to study capital convictions. Among them is California, which saw a high-profile execution on Tuesday when it administered a lethal injection to quadruple murderer Stanley Tookie Williams, co-founder of the infamous Crips gang. Not on that list of 13 is Texas, which has a smaller death row than California but has outpaced the rest of the country in executions by miles - a whopping 355 in less than 30 years. In total, the states and federal government have put to death 1,003 inmates since 1976. Though President Bush used Texas' death penalty statistic to prove in the 2000 election that he was tough on criminals, the Lone Star State has found itself increasingly isolated in the world in its fervent embrace of capital punishment and has become the butt of comedians' jokes. A recent pro-death-penalty editorial in the Yakima (Washington) Herald-Republic was headlined: "Death Penalty Isn't Reckless in U.S. - Well, Maybe in Texas." Some death penalty opponents believe a groundswell of discomfort is emerging toward capital punishment as it is currently practiced, but politics has stymied efforts at re-examination. Since 1988, when Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, a death penalty opponent, crashed and burned in his effort to defeat Vice President George H.W. Bush, politicians have declared their opposition to capital punishment at their peril. "Democrats have failed to get out the message that they're tough on crime," conceded Democratic strategist Cliff Schecter. "For that reason, they've often felt like they need to sound tougher on it." Schecter said he did not know of a politician who was publicly pro-death penalty and secretly opposed to the practice. But simply expressing reservations about how it is carried out also appears politically untenable. Nonethless, a spate of high-profile exonerations moved Congress to pass the 2004 Innocence Protection Act, which among other things expanded inmates' access to DNA testing. The passage of the act was a concession by federal lawmakers that the criminal justice system did not contain as many fail-safes as it should. Still, criticizing the death penalty can leave politicians open to charges that they are soft on crime. In last year's U.S. Senate race in Colorado, Ken Salazar, a Democrat, ran an ad charging that his Republican opponent, Pete Coors, was against the death penalty even for Usama bin Laden. Salazar went on to win the election, although the death penalty issue was not the sole reason for Coors' defeat. Ironically, some observers say, leadership on re-examination of the death penalty may be more likely to come from religious conservatives like Coors than social-issue liberals. Virginia Governor-Elect Tim Kaine is an example of this new breed of candidate. The Democrat is both anti-abortion and anti-death penalty, and handily defeated his Republican opponent despite ads that took a similar tack as the one Salazar used to run against Coors. "Tim Kaine [proves] you can show religious conviction [and be a Democrat]. He believes in life and therefore believes the death penalty is wrong," Schecter said. While the Catholic Church has long been on the frontlines of the anti-death penalty movement, religious conservatives in the United States have been slow to approach the issue with the same fervor they bestow on abortion, assisted suicide and stem cell research. "We believe all life is sacred," said the Birmingham News editorial board on Nov. 6. "And in embracing a culture of life, we cannot make distinctions between those we deem 'innocents' and those flawed humans who populate death row." Bob Blalock, the News' editorial page editor, said he did not expect the investigative series to be well received. "We live in a state that probably is even more in favor of the death penalty than what you might see nationally," Blalock told FOXNews.com. "If you had asked me beforehand, I would have said readers would be 2-to-1 against what we did. But in e-mails and letters and phone calls, readers were more than 2-to-1 supportive of what we've done." Voters OK With Mistakes The majority of Americans remain in favor of the death penalty, though that figure is down from where it was just a few years ago. A Gallup poll conducted Oct. 11-13 shows that 64 % favor capital punishment for murderers, as compared to 70 % 2 years ago. Support for the death penalty peaked in 1994 at 80 %, according to the poll. As long as that's the case, Blalock said, lawmakers will be too timid to criticize the death penalty openly, miscarriages of justice notwithstanding. "I don't know that that's going to change nationally or in Alabama until the polls make it seem OK for politicians to step out in front of the crowd," Blalock said. "As long as you have polls showing 7 out of 10 people favoring the death penalty, it's going to be the rare politician who's going to say, 'The death penalty troubles me.'" Most polls show that support for the death penalty goes down when life imprisonment is also an option. Perhaps surprisingly, while 61 % of respondents to the Gallup poll said they believe the death penalty is applied fairly, 59 percent also said that they believed an innocent person has been wrongly executed in the past 5 years. The mantra for many death penalty reform advocates is "mend it, don't end it." They believe strongly that people who commit heinous and calculated murders do not deserve to live, but want fixes in the criminal justice system to reduce the chance that the government will execute the innocent. Death penalty proponents contend that the threat of false convictions is greatly exaggerated, despite the fact that more than 120 death row inmates' convictions have been overturned since capital punishment was reinstituted. "The system errs decidedly on the side of caution. Many guilty murderers are relieved of a death sentence because of technical flaws," said Michael Rushford of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation. "If an innocent person were executed in this country, I'd know about it and so would you." Time-consuming and costly probes into capital convictions after convicts have died are rare. But recently, investigations by journalists at The Houston Chronicle and The Chicago Tribune cast serious doubts on the guilt of some who had already been put to death. To deduce that an innocent person has never been executed from the fact that no proven cases have been uncovered "just defies common sense," said Samuel Gross, professor at the University of Michigan Law School. "When you look at the stories of people who were exonerated in capital murder cases, you see time and again that essential steps along the way were caused by chance. What if the real killer hadnt confessed?" Gross wondered. "Maybe the real killer could've gotten hit by a truck or wasn't arrested for another homicide." Gross was speaking from personal experience. He participated in an investigation that recently led the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's office to reopen a murder investigation - 10 years after the man convicted of the crime had been executed. "The importance of luck in cases we do know about almost certainly implies there were others who weren't so lucky," Gross said. Another, perhaps more disturbing, observation may explain the lack of national outrage over the possible execution of innocent people. When most voters look at death row, they may simply just not see a reflection of themselves. "Let's face it - middle-class Americans are less likely to be in the desperate circumstances that studies show criminals disproportionately come from," said Jody Armour, a professor at the University of Southern California Law School. "People may be willing to accept some error. If the criminal justice process is disproportionately falling on the poor and minorities, many Americans may feel like neither of those groups are ones that characterize them or the ones they care most about." (source: Fox News) ***************** House Calls----Food for thought about capital punishment In our president's home, Texas, the criminal prosecutor from the state's Department of Criminal Justice has the dubious honor of sending more folks to their final resting places than any other state in the union. The term used for this heinous act is "capital punishment." I personally am against the idea of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" especially where death is the ultimate punishment. The result of this act is that you become blind and toothless as a society and have not solved any problems. It has been shown that the death penalty does not deter anyone from committing murder. In my faith, forgiveness outweighs revenge. In fact, the scriptures state, "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord." I am sure when you repeat the Lords prayer, you recite, "Forgive us the wrong we have done as we forgive those who wrong us." If we do not forgive others, how do you expect your Father to forgive you? It has been said, forgiveness is an act that does not seek a sinners death but gives the sinner a chance to repent. What really crystallized my thought about capital punishment was an article that I read about the last meal a person on death row requested. I believe that these requests gave me the realization that this is a human being created by God. To give you food for thought, I would like to give you a few examples of the last meals requested by men on death row in the state of Texas: * Charles Brooks, executed Dec. 7, 1982-T-bone steak, French fries, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, rolls, peach cobbler, iced tea * Lawrence Buxton, executed Feb. 22, 1991-steak (filet mignon), pineapple upside down cake, tea, punch and coffee * Anthony Cook, executed Nov. 10, 1993-double meat bacon, cheeseburger, strawberry shake * Noble Mays, executed May 6, 1995-4 or 5 fired eggs (sunny side up), 3 sausage links, 3 biscuits, coffee * James Russell, executed Sept. 9, 1991-an apple * Johnny Garret, executed Feb. 11, 1992-ice cream * Stephen Morin, executed March 13, 1985-unleavened bread * James Smith, executed June 26, 1990-dirt * Robert Madden, executed May 28, 1997[requested that his final meal be given to a homeless person (his request was denied) * Danny Harris, executed July 30, 1993-"God's saving grace, love, truth, peace and freedom" * Carlos Santana, executed March 23, 1993-"Justice, temperance, with mercy." Even the executioner is not proud of what he has to do. In fact, in a firing squad, only one rifle has bullets. In the vials containing poison, only one vial contains the chemical and during electrocution, only one in the team gives the gesture for ending one's life. Remember, that even Jesus wrongly was executed and yet His last words were unconditional forgiveness. The last taste he had in his mouth was a distasteful concoction. During this season leading up to the birth of our Savior, let us be aware that we all have sinned and have been saved through the forgiveness of that child who was born in a manger because there was no room for Him in the inn. Let us pray, visit and write to those who are in prison and be thankful, because there for the grace of God go I. (source: Gerald, W. Deas, M.D., Frost Illustrated) OHIO: Halder's defense tries to avoid death penalty ---- His guilt is admitted, premeditation is not Biswanath Halder committed aggravated murder and enough other crimes to lock him up for the rest of his life. It wasn't just prosecutors who argued that on Wednesday, but also Halder's own legal team. His lawyers wrapped up his trial much the same way they began it last month: by apologizing for Halder's May 9, 2003, shooting rampage at Case Western Reserve University, and conceding he's guilty of many of the most serious counts against him. In his closing argument, de fense lawyer John Luskin told jurors Halder mur dered graduate student Nor man Wallace. He also ac knowledged Halder "absolutely, unequivocally, without a doubt" is guilty of several counts of attempted murder and many other charges. But the defense team also suggested the jury nullify the chance at a death penalty by clearing Halder of key elements of the 197 remaining counts against him. For the state to convict Halder of capital murder, the jury must find either that Wallace's murder was premeditated, or that Halder committed it while committing aggravated burglary or kidnapping. Luskin and co-counsel Kevin Cafferkey urged the jury to acquit him of those "specifications" appended to the aggravated-murder counts. Wallace's murder, they said, was an unplanned result of a furious eruption by Halder -- a pathetic, lonely man who boiled over. Halder obsessed for three years about Case employees he blamed for sabotaging the Web site he spent years building, and snapped when an appeals court dismissed his lawsuit against them, his lawyers argued. But, they noted, Halder didn't kill with "prior calculation and design:" He only went into Peter B. Lewis Building when he expected it to be nearly empty to shoot it up in protest. He killed 1 student and wounded two others spontaneously, then fired in panic at police -- blindly, because he had lost his eyeglasses, the lawyers argued. With that, Assistant County Prosecutor Richard Bell nearly boiled over himself. "Are you kidding me?" Bell retorted in his closing argument. "This [defense] is an affront -- an affront to that [Wallace] family back there" in the courtroom. Bell called Halder a sociopath, and contrasted him to Wallace, a 30-year-old star student the prosecutor described as "the guy whose life you'd want to have if you could have it all over again." "It angers me that [Halder] could be portrayed as some sad, strange little man -- that's not the case," Bell said. "He planned this for a long time." Halder may have won a victory when Judge Peggy Foley Jones dismissed terrorism counts against him. A conviction would have meant at least a life sentence without parole, or death. If jurors convict him of the remaining aggravated-murder counts, Halder could be sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility in as little as 28 years. (source: Plain Dealer) ************** Press Release----RICHEY CAMPAIGNERS WELCOME 'CONSTRUCTIVE' MEETING WITH FOREIGN OFFICE Alistair Carmichael, Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, and campaigners for Kenny Richey, a Scot who has spent over 19 years on death row in Ohio, today held what they described as a "constructive" meeting with Foreign Office officials. Commenting after the meeting, Alistair Carmichael said: "Last month's ruling by the Supreme Court was extremely disappointing. However, Foreign Office officials today made it clear that they recognise that they will play an important part in the month's ahead. The constructive meeting we held today left me feeling fairly confident that they will do all they can to help secure justice for Kenny Richey. "The exact nature of any future Government's assistance in this case remains uncertain. However, the fact that they are prepared to pull out all the stops to help Kenny is very encouraging." Clive Stafford Smith, Legal Director of Reprieve, who spent almost two decades defending death-sentence cases in the US was also at the meeting. He added: "The British Government's intervention has been critical in the past to help British nationals facing execution, such as Krishna Maharaj. The United States Supreme Court is using obscure technicalities to keep an innocent man on death row. His original trial was a travesty of justice. An innocent British man was sentenced to death thanks to the incompetence of his court appointed lawyer. Now we need to the British Government to take strong action to ensure that the US authorities are not allowed to use technicalities to deny Kenny justice." (source: Liberal Democrats in Government (UK), Dec. 14) VIRGINIA: DNA Tests Exonerate 2 Former Prisoners----Va. Governor Orders Broad Case Review Newly tested DNA from rapes committed more than 20 years ago has exonerated two Virginians who had each spent more than a decade behind bars, reigniting a national debate about post-conviction testing of biological evidence. Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) announced the test results Wednesday. One of the defendants served 20 years in prison for a rape in Alexandria that the new testing shows he did not commit. The other man was released in 1992 after serving about 11 years for an assault in Norfolk. The governor did not reveal the names of the exonerated men because they had requested privacy. He said he would expedite their pardon requests. The revelations are the result of modern-day testing Warner ordered more than a year ago on a small number of biological samples that had been collected in thousands of criminal cases. Those samples were taken to establish blood type in the time before DNA testing and the leaps in forensic science that have cleared the 2 convicts. Warner said the discovery of two innocent men among the 31 newly examined cases compels an even more sweeping review. He ordered that 660 boxes containing thousands of files from 1973 through 1988 be examined for cases that can be retested using the latest DNA technology. There is no estimate on how long that would take or how much it would cost. "I believe a look back at these retained case files is the only morally acceptable course, and what truth they can bring only bolsters confidence in our system," Warner said in a statement. Warner's order stems from the accidental discovery in 2001 of a treasure trove of evidence, including some aging biological samples, stapled to the yellowing case files of a former analyst in Virginia's state-run forensics lab. It is not clear why the analyst, who is dead, had meticulously preserved the evidence in the days before DNA tests existed. Virginia's review marks one of the first instances in which a governor has ordered a broad examination of DNA cases and places the state at the forefront of a national debate over post-conviction DNA. Virginia has executed more people than any state except Texas since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. Like other states, its judicial system has been rocked by exonerations from DNA testing in several high-profile cases. The latest results from Virginia are sure to provide ammunition to those who question the reliability of non-DNA evidence in criminal cases. Both of the recent cases had relied heavily on eyewitness testimony. The samples taken at the time were used to determine blood type, a far-less discriminating test than the DNA methods used today. Although the Virginia men were not eligible for the death penalty for their convictions, their cases could help those who say greater use of DNA testing will detect the presence of possibly innocent inmates awaiting execution across the country. "This is a 7 percent innocence rate -- among people who never even asked for testing -- that should give pause to people who think mistakes in our criminal justice system are flukes," said Peter Neufeld, co-director of the New York-based Innocence Project. "This should be a beacon for other governors across the country to implement post-conviction DNA testing." The new testing conclusively proved that Virginia should not have jailed the Norfolk and Alexandria men and produced a "cold hit" linking someone else to the Alexandria rape. Alexandria Commonwealth's Attorney S. Randolph Sengel said prosecutors would do "everything humanly possible" to bring the real criminal to trial. The testing did not produce a new suspect in the Norfolk case, and the victim is dead, making a new trial unlikely, officials said. Jack Doyle, the chief prosecutor in Norfolk, said the exonerated inmate told Doyle that he was "grateful his name was going to be cleared and that the truth regarding the offense would finally come out." Prosecutors in Alexandria and Norfolk have requested that the governor issue complete pardons in both cases. Sengel declined to identify the Alexandria man, who was released about a year ago, but said Wednesday that "I have met with him, and he is thankful that his innocence has been established." The biological samples in the two cases were contained among the files of lab analyst Mary Jane Burton, who retired in 1988 and died in 1999. For years, Burton had meticulously preserved pieces of clothing smeared with blood, semen or saliva in her files, which ended up in a storage facility. Burton's files were rediscovered in 2001, when an inmate asserted his innocence under a new state law that for the first time granted the right to request testing of DNA evidence more than 21 days after sentencing. In May 2003, Warner pardoned Julius Earl Ruffin, 49, of Virginia Beach, who was cleared by DNA evidence after spending 21 years in prison for rape. Marvin Lamont Anderson of Hanover County and Arthur Lee Whitfield of Norfolk each spent more than a decade in prison for crimes they did not commit and were exonerated by evidence in Burton's files. Those exonerations led to the 1st round of random testing and Wednesday's announcement. Legal advocates at organizations such as the Innocence Project have been pushing for greater use of DNA testing in capital cases. But some prosecutors and lawmakers have said increased DNA testing could open the door to a flood of frivolous claims by inmates and undermine the basic system of evidence. Joshua K. Marquis, vice president of the National District Attorneys Association and an Oregon prosecutor, said high-profile exonerations like those announced Wednesday have led to a "misperception" that DNA is routinely freeing inmates. "Do we have an epidemic problem of wrongful convictions in this country? No," Marquis said. "The problem of wrongful convictions is episodic, not epidemic." Still, Marquis said prosecutors nationwide would welcome additional funding for post-conviction testing. But he said evidence from current rape and murder cases should be tested first. He noted that a few years ago San Diego prosecutors launched a program to reexamine DNA evidence in old cases. "Our allegiance is to the truth," Marquis said. Virginia's state forensics lab, which has a top reputation nationwide, also made headlines this year when an independent audit raised questions about potentially flawed results in the case of pardoned death row inmate Earl Washington Jr. in 2000. A later review of 123 current criminal cases at the lab found no pattern of problems, and this review has nothing to do with the reliability of the lab. Warner has also spent more than three years deciding whether to test the DNA of Roger Keith Coleman, an inmate who was executed in 1992 for the rape and murder of his sister-in-law. Aides to Warner said the governor is likely to make a decision in that case before he leaves office Jan. 14. (source: The Washington Post) ***************** DNA Tests Clear More Convicted Men in Virginia A laboratory review of DNA evidence found that 2 men were wrongfully convicted of sexual assaults, bringing to 5 the number of Virginia inmates cleared by samples saved by a forensic scientist, the governor said Wednesday. The men had already completed their prison sentences before the findings, Gov. Mark Warner said. Since 2002, 3 other men who were convicted of crimes they did not commit have been cleared thanks to the scientist, Mary Jane Burton, who had an unusual habit of saving pieces of the evidence she handled, even before DNA testing had been invented. As a result of those exonerations, Mr. Warner, a Democrat, ordered an independent laboratory to review a random sampling of cases she handled to see if others had been wrongly convicted. Because of the latest findings, all samples saved by Ms. Burton, who is now dead, will be reviewed, Mr. Warner said. The prosecutors in Norfolk and Alexandria, where the cases were investigated, have asked that Mr. Warner grant absolute pardons to both men. Mr. Warner has asked that their petitions go through the normal review process, but in an expedited manner. The 2 men have requested that their names not be released, Mr. Warner said in a news release. In the Norfolk case, the man was convicted based on identification from the victim, who is now dead, said Jack Doyle, the Norfolk commonwealth's attorney. The review of the Alexandria case resulted in a "cold hit" in Virginia's DNA data bank, Mr. Warner said in the release. Because of that, the Alexandria commonwealth's attorney, Randolph Sengel, said he could not comment on the case because it was an open investigation. Ms. Burton, who died in 1999, worked in the Virginia state crime laboratory from 1974 to 1988. Over the years, she took tiny bits of evidence she tested - cotton swabs and clothing fragments smeared with blood, semen and saliva - and inserted them into their case files, which eventually landed in a storage facility. Few people knew of her habit, and the samples were forgotten until 2001, when Paul Ferrara, director of the State Department of Forensic Science, found a case file containing an old swab. (source: New York Times) INDIANA: Ind. Man Faces 4 Murder Charges in Killings In Fort Wayne, a man accused of killing his family told police he beat and strangled his wife and killed their 3 young daughters after the couple argued about household chores, according to court documents. Police found Simon Rios, 33, on the front porch of his home after getting a suicide call early Tuesday. Inside, they discovered blood in the living room and Rios' wife and their 3 children dead in a bedroom. Rios pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 4 preliminary counts of murder and 2 counts of moving a body. He was jailed without bond. Autopsies showed the girls -- ages 10, 4 and 20 months -- had all been strangled and their mother had died from a blow to the head and strangulation, the coroner said. Rios told police he and his wife argued after she arrived home from work about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to a probable cause affidavit. He said he hit her with a steel pipe, then strangled her with an extension cord, the affidavit states. He then strangled one of the girls with his hands and used an extension cord to kill the other girls, according to the affidavit. Neighbor Nancy Gater said Simon Rios worked at a factory but had lost his job this year. The bodies were found a day after authorities searched the neighborhood for clues to the disappearance of a 10-year-old girl. Police spokesman Mike Joyner said that police did not find a connection between the cases when they questioned Rios, but that he is a possible suspect. Rios had a previous conviction in Allen County for misdemeanor domestic battery in 2003, but friends said they had seen no signs of trouble in the family. Michael Guzman, who described Rios as a friend, said he had never heard Rios raise his voice to his children or speak ill of his wife. "Everybody who knows him loves the guy," he said. (source: Associated Press) MISSISSIPPI----execution Convict's last words accuse his son Despite the cold steady rain, protesters gathered outside the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman on Wednesday evening to pray for John B. Nixon Sr. and Virginia Tucker, the woman he was hired to kill in 1985. Nixon was executed Wednesday evening after spending 20 years on death row. Condemned killer John B. Nixon Sr. said the state was illegally killing him as needles were being inserted into his arms inside the execution chamber on Wednesday evening. "I did not kill Virginia Tucker. I know within my heart who did, and it hurts me in my heart to acknowledge it was a son of mine and a Spanish friend of his and another person in Jackson," Nixon said while inside the chamber. Strapped to a gurney, Nixon began to hum a little and moved his head to the left. The former Utica mechanic sighed twice and drifted out of consciousness from the lethal injection, ending Mississippi's 1st execution in 3 years. The state medical examiner pronounced Nixon dead at 6:25:08 p.m. "It was quick and fast," said Rankin County Sheriff Ronnie Pennington, who witnessed the execution. By the numbers 5----U.S. prisoners executed this month 60----U.S. prisoners executed in 2005 1,004----People executed in U.S. since death penalty resumed in 1976 [source: National Coalition To Abolish The Death Penalty] Nixon was convicted in Tucker's 1985 slaying inside her Brandon home and had been on death row for about 2 decades at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman in Sunflower County. "I wish to thank God for the opportunity to have lived long enough to witness this day," said Joey Ponthieux, the victim's son, in a written statement. At age 77, he became the oldest person executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Gilbert Jimenez, who later testified against Nixon, and Nixon's sons, John B. Nixon Jr. and Henry L. Nixon, also were convicted in connection with the murder. All three have been released from prison. Nixon and three others were paid $1,000 each by Elster J. Ponthieux, Joey Ponthieux's father and the victim's ex-husband, to commit the crime. Elster Ponthieux is serving a life sentence for capital murder at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County. Members of Nixon's family, including his sister, Ruth Lee, witnessed the execution. According to witnesses, Nixon's family sobbed quietly. They did not comment afterward. One of Nixon's daughters, Dorothy Nixon-Clark, remained at her home in Texas on Wednesday but said in a news release that her father's execution "is just and called for. My sympathies go with the remaining family of the victim," said Nixon-Clark, who also wrote about her father's "violent outbursts towards anyone in his path." Thomas Tucker and Joey Ponthieux also witnessed the execution. Tucker remained silent, and Ponthieux said a quick prayer. For more than 2 decades, Nixon appealed his conviction several times. Gov. Haley Barbour denied his request for clemency Sunday. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his petition for a stay of execution Wednesday morning. Daryl Neely, Barbour's policy adviser and representative at the execution, said Nixon told him around 5:45 p.m. that he was "ready to go and face what he had coming." "The fact that he faced execution at age 77 is a result of his own choices," Joey Ponthieux said in his statement. "The idea that any condemned prisoner should have their execution stayed solely on the basis of age, rather than on fact and evidence, is an affront to our legal system and is quite frankly, repugnant." Throughout the day, Nixon's mood changed, according to corrections officials. In the morning, officers reported he was in a good mood and chatting. But, as the execution time neared, Nixon became somber. "He's not playing anymore," Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said earlier. "Time is caving in on Mr. Nixon, and it appears to me that he is realizing that." Epps and officials observed Nixon in Unit 17 of the state penitentiary during a portion of his visitation with family members Wednesday afternoon. The quote Nixon gave his attorneys to pass on - "That I was where I would be/then should I be where I am not/here I am where I must be/where I would be I cannot" - was taken from a Mother Goose poem titled Katy Cruel. A white van, serving as a hearse, carried Nixon's body away. One of his sisters claimed the body, Epps said. Others involved Elster J. Ponthieux is serving a life sentence for ordering John B. Nixon Sr. to kill his ex-wife, Virginia Ponthieux Tucker. He is housed at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County and was first eligible for parole in January 1996. His next parole hearing is in April. John B. Nixon Jr., son of John B. Nixon Sr., was not at the home when Virginia Tucker was killed. He was released from prison Nov. 25,1989, after serving 3 1/2 years of a 5-year sentence for accessory after the fact to capital murder. Henry L. Nixon, son of John B. Nixon Sr., chased Thomas Tucker as he escaped from the crime scene, firing a shot that grazed his head. He was released from prison June 30, 1995, after serving 9 years of a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to commit capital murder. Gilbert Jimenez wrestled Virginia Tucker to the ground before she was shot by John B. Nixon Sr. Jimenez agreed to a plea bargain and testified against Nixon Sr. He was released from prison Oct. 28,1994, after serving about 8 1/2 years for conspiracy to commit capital murder. ************************ Mississippi executions Mississippi has executed 7 inmates, including Nixon, since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. The previous 6: Jimmy Lee Gray (Sept. 2, 1983): Gray, 34, was convicted of kidnapping, sexually molesting and killing 3-year-old Dressa Jean Scales of Pascagoula. Edward Earl Johnson (May 20, 1987): Johnson, 26, was convicted of killing J.T. Trest, a marshal in Walnut Grove. Connie Ray Evans (July 8,1987): Evans, 27, was convicted of fatally shooting Arun Pahwa while Pahwa knelt on the floor of a Jackson convenience store. Leo Edwards (June 21, 1989): Edwards, 36, of New Orleans was executed in the 1980 shooting death of Jackson convenience store clerk Linzy Don Dixon, 26, during a robbery. Tracy Alan Hansen (July 17, 2002): Hansen, 39, was executed for the 1987 murder of Mississippi Highway Patrolman David Bruce Ladner. Jessie Derrell Williams (Dec. 11, 2002): Williams, 51, was executed for raping and mutilating 18-year-old Karon Ann Pierce in 1983. (source for both: Clarion-Ledger) ************** Witnesses observe defiant, rambling conclusion to life of convicted killer A steady rain fell when the van carrying me, 3 other media representatives and Sunflower County Sheriff James Haywood pulled up to Unit 17 at the Mississippi State Penitentiary on Wednesday evening. We were quickly taken into a small room with about a 4-foot window Through the window, John B. Nixon Sr. laid on a gurney with large tan belts across his chest, one across his abdomen and one across his legs. Wearing white sneakers, reddish sweat pants and a white T-shirt, Nixon looked the part of a Colonel Sanders, with flowing white hair and a white moustache. Witnessing my 1st execution, I didn't know what to expect or how it would affect me. I was picked to view the Jan. 8, 2003, execution of Ronald Chris Foster. But 2 days before the execution then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove granted him a reprieve, citing legal questions pending before the state's and nation's high courts. I found Nixon's execution easier than expected. As the sodium pentothal, pavulon and potassium chloride began to take effect, Nixon's eyelids began to move rapidly. Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps would say later that the lethal injection began about 6:05 p.m. There were no clocks in the room. Nixon gave a rambling 5- to 10-minute speech proclaiming his innocence. Nixon said he didn't deny committing the crime because he thought one of his sons would end up where he was, on death row. "I would rather die than to see my son die," Nixon said. The execution witnesses were divided with half sitting with the victim's family and others sitting with the condemned man's family. The 2 families could not see each other from the separate rooms. I was with the victim's family - Thomas Tucker, the victim's widower, and Joey Ponthieux, the victim's son. As the drugs took effect, Ponthieux kneeled and performed the sign of the cross. He rarely looked through the window at Nixon. At one point, he placed his hand on Tucker's shoulder. Tucker, for his part, looked impassive with his eyes affixed on Nixon. At one point, he adjusted his glasses. Nixon, who served in both the Navy and Army, said he went to serve his country with love of Mississippi. "I would like to know why Mississippi is illegally killing me," Nixon said as his breathing began to get shallow. Nixon's final audible words were "I pray for everybody. I don't want to have malice, but I do. I think Mississippi has done me wrong." The microphone was removed, but you could hear him make a humming sound. He gave two sighs and seemed to lapse into unconsciousness. There was an eerie silence for about 3 or 4 minutes, and then state Medical Examiner Dr. Steven Hayne pronounced Nixon dead at 6:25 p.m. We were immediately ushered out of the room and went back to the van for transport to the media center. Before entering the execution chamber, we all had been searched. We were not allowed to carry pencils, watches or electronic devices into the room and had to sign a form acknowledging it was illegal to smuggle in items.Corrections officials provided each media witness with a pen and a pad to take notes. The day ended for me about 9 p.m. following a telephone interview with WJTV-Channel 12. I then began the three-hour drive back to Jackson with a colleague. Execution witnesses People who watched the execution of John B. Nixon Sr.: FAMILY Ruth Lee, sister Janell Veach, niece MINISTER Billy Mitchell, Christ St. Holy Church of Terry VICTIM'S FAMILY Thomas Tucker, widower Joey Ponthieux, son LAW ENFORCEMENT Sheriff Ronnie Pennington, Rankin County Sheriff James Haywood, Sunflower County GOVERNOR'S WITNESS C. Daryl Neely, governor's policy adviser MEDIA Gene Adams of WLBT Randy Bell of Clear Channel Radio Jimmie Gates of The Clarion-Ledger Steven Keith Hill of Mississippi News Network Danza Johnson of Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Kelly Markham of Mississippi Public Broadcasting Holbrook Mohr of The Associated Press Havonnah Willis of WAPT (source: Jimmie Gates, Clarion-Ledger) ************ Convicted Hitman, 77, Executed in Miss. A 77-year-old convicted hitman was executed Wednesday, becoming the oldest person in the nation put death since capital punishment was reinstated nearly 3 decades ago. John B. Nixon Sr. still claimed innocence as he was strapped to the death chamber gurney, and blamed one of his sons for the 1985 murder of a Mississippi woman. "I did not kill Virginia Tucker,'' Nixon said before he was given the lethal injection. "I know within my heart, and it hurts to acknowledge, that it was a son of mine and a Spanish friend and another man from Jackson." Nixon, a former car mechanic, did not say which son he blamed. 2 of Nixon's sons -- John B. Nixon Jr. and Henry Leon Nixon -- along with Gilbert Jimenez were convicted in the killing but were given lesser sentences. Corrections officials said the sons, now out of prison, had not been in contact with their father. According to court records, one of Nixon's accomplices wrestled Virginia Tucker to the ground at her Brandon home, and Nixon put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger. Elester Joseph Ponthieux, Virginia Tucker's ex-husband and father of her son, Joey Ponthieux, is serving a life sentence for hiring Nixon for $1,000 to carry out the killing. Gov. Haley Barbour refused Nixon's request for clemency, and the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to intervene. Tucker's family did not speak to reporters after the execution, but Joey Ponthieux issued a written statement thanking "God for the opportunity to have lived long enough to witness this day." ********************* Protesters gather outside prison to mourn Nixon execution A small group of death-penalty protesters stood in the wintry rain outside Mississippi's sprawling Delta prison on Wednesday, praying as they awaited word that John B. Nixon Sr. had been executed by lethal injection. As the hired killer ate his last meal, spoke with family members and prepared for his death, about 20 people huddled under umbrellas. "There are few of us here," said Sister Donna Gunn of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Jackson. "But I'm pleased with those of us who chose to come. I think these prayer vigils are happening all over the state and in our churches." Nixon, 77, the oldest person to be executed in the nation since the death penalty was reinstated almost 30 years ago, murdered a Brandon woman for $1,000 in 1985. It was Gunn's 3rd death vigil outside the penitentiary; the last 2 times were for executions in 2002. Gunn said death should be natural, not imposed by the state. "Personally, I oppose the death penalty because I think it stands as a symbol of a violent society," the nun said. "For me, there is no reason to impose the death penalty when life in prison is an option." The protesters tried to light a candle for their vigil, but the rain would not allow it. Instead, they passed the candle around symbolically and used car headlights to illuminate the damp, dreary night as they sang, "Let there be peace on earth." The vigil was a way for protesters to pray for both Nixon and his victim, Gunn said. "For us, it's a reminder that a death has taken place tonight," Gunn said. Scott Dickison, 22, of Webb, said the protest may have appeared fruitless to some, "but I think when you come out you have to realize you're part of the bigger purpose and this single event is part of a bigger issue." "If no one did anything, then things would continue to go on, but it takes a lot of small movements of people to create something bigger," Dickison said. (source for both: Associated Press) ************* Another Example Of A Death Penalty Case Gone Awry! Justice For Cory Maye Cory Maye, a black man sits on Mississippi's death row for a "crime" for which he shouldn't even have been prosecuted. Mr. Maye lived in a duplex, and his next door neighbor was a known drug dealer. Police, serving a "no-knock" warrant at midnight, didn't realize the building was a duplex, and part of the team crashed through Mr. Mayes door, and then rushed into his bedroom, where Mr. Maye was sleeping along with his 18 month-old daughter. Mr. May, abruptly woken by shouting men invading his home without warning in the dead of night, grabbed the pistol he kept by his bedside and opened fire. In so doing, he shot and killed one of the police officers, Ron Jones, who also happened to be the son of a local police chief. Mr. Maye, who had no police record, and who was not a subject of the warrant, was arrested, tried, and convicted of murder with special circumstances, and sentenced to die. Mississippi clearly violated Maye's civil rights the moment its cops needlessly and recklessly stormed his home in the middle of the night. The state of Mississippi is about to add a perverse twist to that violation by executing Maye for daring to defend himself. CBS News' Public Eye blog has also picked up on this, and notes that, while the Mainstream Media spared nothing in their coverage of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, an evil man who, if anyone does, deserved to be executed, almost nothing at all has been written about Mr. Maye's case. I also note that this is a perfectly predictable result of the drug war. "No-knock" warrants are a disaster waiting to happen, and this is certainly not the first time that police have used such warrants to raid the wrong house, nor is it the first time that law-abiding citizens have exchanged gunfire with the police as a result. It is, however, as far as I know, the 1st time a citizen has been convicted of a capital crime for defending his home against such outrages. This is certainly a tragedy for everyone involved, but the fault lies entirely with the police officers who broke into the wrong home. For more information, contact JUSTICE ON TRIAL [email protected] ([email protected])----Director, Justice on Trial, 23720 Maple Ct. Auburn, CA 95602 ---- Phone : 530-268-9277----Fax : 530-268-0400 Justice On Trial : http://www.justiceontrial.org (source: NewsReleaseWire)
