Feb. 1 OHIO: Supreme Court orders resentencing for killer of Lancaster man The Ohio Supreme Court today ordered the resentencing of an inmate who strangled his cellmate, a Lancaster man who kidnapped and molested a 3-year-old girl and stashed her in an attic in 1999. The justices unanimously upheld the aggravated murder conviction of Timothy Hancock and, in a 4-3 ruling, ordered him resentenced for killing Jason Wagner, 25 on Nov. 13, 2000. Wagner was serving 44 years to life for the kidnapping and attempted murder of a Lancaster girl he snatched from her back yard. Police found the girl bound with duct tape and hidden in the attic of Wagner's home 4 days later on April 29, 1999. Hancock, 35, admitted strangling Wagner at the Warren Correctional Institution near Lebanon after the man allegedly bragged about molesting the girl. A jury recommended the death penalty for Hancock, but a Warren County judge imposed a life sentence without parole after discovering the jury had viewed exhibits he deemed prejudicial during sentencing-hearing deliberations. An appeals court later reinstated the jury's lethal-injection recommendation and the judge imposed the death sentence. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the jury's original death sentence recommendation was invalid and ordered a new sentencing hearing for Hancock. (source: The Columbus Dispatch) ************ Ask yourself: Does your view on executions still ring true? The Trinity Episcopal bells are out of commission while the Downtown church is being renovated, so some of us who work nearby might not know when the state of Ohio executes another murderer. Coverage of executions has faded to a mere shadow since 1999, when the state carried out its first execution in 36 years. Nearly all that's left to remind us now are the bells that toll at as many as 200 places of worship on execution days in Ohio. If you hear them, take a moment to acknowledge what the death penalty means to you. Glenn Benner is scheduled to die on Tuesday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville. He was sentenced to die for kidnapping, raping and murdering 26-year-old Cynthia Sedgwick in 1985 at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls. If you hear the bells that day, think. Reflect on this: Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong? Whether such reflection helps you hone your argument, reflecting on the law's objective can never be unhealthy. We commit the executions as a state, so we all are part of the institution. If you want, think of the murder victims and their families, and revel in the retribution and hoped-for closure the execution might bring about. If capital punishment is an economic issue for you, muse on the relative costs of lengthy death-penalty court cases and life in prison without parole, a sentencing alternative since 1996. Understand that death is not necessarily cheaper. Lawyers cost a lot of money. Still, maybe the expense is worth the vengeance, or closure or peace. Think about that. Or devote the moment to the latest life snuffed out in a tragic chain reaction. A life for a life for a life. The tradition of tolling bells was started in Ohio in 2001 by the Interfaith Coalition to Stop Executions, which formed after Wilford Berry was put to death in 1999. Berry was notorious for at least 2 reasons: He was the first since capital punishment was rekindled. And he had volunteered to die after his arrest for the murder of his boss, Cleveland baker Charles J. Mitroff Jr. Media coverage during the days leading up to the execution of the man who became known as "the volunteer" was hot and heavy, with people on both sides of the issue demonstrating noisily. And so it went with decreasing intensity during the next few years as the state wrapped up death-penalty appeals and carried out one sentence after another. Ohio executed four killers last year, a drop from 7 in 2004. Now, such events are little more than footnotes in the daily news. And on Nov. 29, when John Hicks was executed for the murder of his motherin-law and 5-year-old stepdaughter, how many among us missed the bells of Trinity? Perhaps you never paid attention anyway. Perhaps you should. English poet John Donne recognized the communion of the bells: "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." (source: Commentary, Amy Fisher, Columbus Dispatch) ***************** Bill would let inmates ask state for DNA tests -- New law wouldn't expire, lawmaker says A proposal to renew statefunded DNA testing for some inmates will be introduced by a Columbus-area lawmaker with the backing of Attorney General Jim Petro. "Post-conviction DNA testing is an important component of our justice system and should not be subject to an expiration date," Petro said at a news conference yesterday with state Sen. David Goodman. The New Albany Republican will sponsor a bill reinstating a DNA-testing program passed in 2003. However, the law was allowed to expire Oct. 31. Goodman said his new proposal will not have an expiration date. The old law allowed inmates who had not had previous DNA tests, and who have at least 1 year remaining on their sentence, to seek a test at state expense if the results could prove innocence or guilt. There were 307 requests for testing in two years, but only 15 were granted by the courts. 2 men were exonerated and 90 cases are pending action by the courts. Each test costs taxpayers about $1,500. Petro, long an advocate of DNA testing as a criminal-justice tool, stepped up the pressure for a new law when Clarence Elkins, of Louisville, Ohio, was freed Dec. 15 after spending seven years in prison. A privately funded DNA test conducted on a discarded cigarette butt showed conclusively that Elkins did not kill his motherin-law and rape his niece. Another inmate serving time on an unrelated offense was charged with the crime. Elkins has since filed a wrongful incarceration lawsuit seeking $700,000 from the state. Goodman said he wants to ensure that no innocent person remains in prison if DNA can reveal the truth. "It's not about notches on your belt. It's about finding justice." Defense attorneys, including Ohio Public Defender David Bodiker, argued that the DNAtesting law required them to jump through too many hoops. Petro disagreed. "I don't think it's overwhelming. What you don't want is everyone filing a request for DNA testing." (source: Opinion, Alan Johnson, Columbus Dispatch) MARYLAND: Evans pleads in video----Unusual clemency request aims to display for Ehrlich death row inmate's humanity A sister talks about beatings he endured as a child. Another relative says he was sexually abused and tried to commit suicide by the age of 10. A college professor talks about the man's "moral insight." His mother tearfully pleads for mercy. Then, in a video designed to persuade Maryland's governor to grant him clemency, death row inmate Vernon Lee Evans Jr. begins to talk. "Governor Ehrlich," Evans says, "today I have the opportunity to speak to you." Evans goes on to say that though the changes he has made won't bring back the victims in his case, "in my mind getting my life turned around was the only means I had to show how sorry I was in being a part in taking of another human life." The appeal, on DVD, was sent to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. yesterday, Evans' lawyers said. "Please hear my plea," Evans' mother, Frances Evans, tearfully says on the video. "Don't execute my son." The 17 1/2 -minute, documentary-style video, which is also on a Web site tracking Evans' case, is part of the defense team's effort to stop the 56-year-old inmate's execution, scheduled for next week. Yesterday, a Baltimore circuit judge denied a request for a temporary delay of the execution. Closing arguments in a federal lawsuit challenging Maryland's lethal injection procedures are scheduled for this morning. The DVD, said A. Stephen Hut Jr., one of Evans' lawyers, is "more effective" than the printed version of the clemency request submitted to Ehrlich on Monday. "It more directly and graphically conveys the effect of his life on his family ... and the abuse and neglect in his childhood," Hut said. But last night, Baltimore County Deputy State's Attorney Stephen Bailey called the video "a blatant attempt to manipulate Governor Ehrlich based on emotion rather than facts or sound judgment." "I respect and appreciate principled opposition to capital punishment," he said. "But I'm appalled at the level to which Vernon Evans' lawyers would stoop in submitting this video." Bailey said that it is "sadly ironic" that Evans' defense team would submit the video after more than two decades of appeals -- "when they know there are no surviving relatives of [the victims] who could submit a similar video." Evans was convicted in the 1983 contract killings of two Pikesville motel clerks, David Scott Piechowicz and Susan Kennedy. The shootings were ordered and paid for by a drug kingpin, Anthony Grandison, who also is on death row. The governor's legal office is reviewing the written petition for clemency that was filed Monday. Jervis S. Finney, the governor's counsel, said that he was told Monday that they would receive the video yesterday, but as of 5 p.m., he said, the office had not received it. It would be the 1st time that a video has been submitted to Ehrlich as part of a clemency request, Finney said. Finney said he planned to watch the DVD but would not say whether Ehrlich would view it. Normally, the office advises the governor on clemency requests, because the paperwork is voluminous, Finney said. The paper petition filed Monday was 51 pages and was sent along with hundreds of pages of legal documents and reports. "It's the technology era. People just don't read everything anymore," Julie S. Dietrich, one of Evans' lawyers, said. "So we wanted a video to accompany our [clemency] petition." Evans' defense team also has set up a Web site, where news releases and updates on their legal challenges are posted. Evans himself contributes to a blog on another site. Gary E. Proctor, a capital defense attorney, said the use of a documentary video in a clemency petition is "not a first in the country, but it's certainly a rarity and still a novel approach." "I think it's uncategorically a good idea," said Proctor, who assisted with Wesley Eugene Baker's legal appeals and clemency request before Baker was executed in December, and is currently representing Grandison and Heath William Burch, another death row inmate. "The problem with clemency -- and I've written a few of these petitions -- is that you're always trying to represent the human being whose fate rests with the governor. You're trying to convey their humanity, and a video should be very effective at accomplishing that." On the video, 3 of Evans' sisters, two of his sons, one of his daughters, his father and mother speak about his life -- what he endured as a child, what he means to them and how he's changed. Evans' lawyers say his earlier defense team never brought up evidence of his abusive upbringing at sentencing. And they say jurors didn't hear the testimony of the only eyewitness to the murders -- a jewelry store clerk who worked in the motel -- that the lawyers contend proves that Evans was not the gunman. She testified at Evans' post-conviction hearing in 1996 that the shooter was about 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall and left-handed. Evans, whose nickname is "Shorty," is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and right-handed. The DVD includes a portion of surveillance video taken at the jewelry store where the clerk witnessed the 1983 shootings through a store window. The footage shows her flinching, apparently at the sound of gunfire, before hurriedly closing up the jewelry shop. Evans does not deny that he was involved in the shootings, but has said that he was not the gunman. A professor at Mount St. Mary's University and a student at the school also are interviewed on the video. "I think he will grow and continue to be a positive force in young people's lives," says the professor, Gertrude Conway, who talks about Evans' frankness with students about the problems associated with drug and alcohol abuse. The narrator says that Evans, who has 7 children and 13 grandchildren, and his family frequently pray for the families of the victims. And, printed on one screen, Evans is quoted as saying, "Getting my life turned around was also the means I had to show how sorry I am. ... I will do all I can to continue to make a difference, wherever I am." The video ends with Gwendolyn Bates, one of Evans' sisters, begging the governor for mercy: "We are pleading from our hearts to yours to please have mercy on my brother." (source: Baltimore Sun) GEORGIA: Stop Ga. Death Penalty Until Problems Solved, Report Says----ABA study cites habeas issues, jury confusion Because Georgia cannot "ensure fairness and accuracy in every capital case," it should implement a moratorium on executions and death penalty prosecutions, an American Bar Association study states. Anne S. Emanuel, a Georgia State University College of Law associate dean who chaired the 21-member ABA team, said the state government should stop working on capital cases until it can address problems with jurors' application of mitigation evidence and the lack of free habeas corpus lawyers for indigent death row inmates. "We're not saying a death penalty is never appropriate," said Emanuel. "We're saying you should dot the I's and cross the T's." Russ Willard, a spokesman for Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, said the state's top lawyer opposes the moratorium recommended by the ABA report. "Our office continues to review the ABA report, but this appears to be a lobbying packet put together in an effort to have the Legislature make changes to the state process," said Willard. The ABA report said that one of the 21 members of the team, Harry D. Dixon Jr., a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, did not agree with the call for a moratorium. PROBLEMS WITH THE DEATH PENALTY Among the problems cited in the 325-page report are inadequate pattern jury instructions on mitigation. The study said that Georgia capital jurors often misunderstand the applicable burden of proof for mitigation, as well as the scope of mitigating evidence. Approximately 40 % of the jurors interviewed for the study did not understand that any evidence could be used in consideration of mitigation. In addition, 62 % thought the defense had to prove mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. The report also criticized Georgia for not appointing counsel for state habeas proceedings, noting that only Georgia and Alabama do not provide indigent death penalty defendants with attorneys in such proceedings. "That is particularly problematic because so often death penalty indigent defendants have inadequate counsel at trial," Emanuel said. "So if trial counsel misses something, and you don't have a right to assistance of counsel for habeas, very serious errors that affect the accuracy and fairness of the death penalty can go uncorrected." The study recommended that Georgia provide indigent death penalty defendants with at least 2 attorneys in habeas proceedings. That proposal likely would require action by the legislature, given that the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in 1999's Gibson v. Turpin, 270 Ga. 855, that there is no federal or state constitutional right to a habeas lawyer. Also, the study called the state's burden of proof for mentally retarded defendants "inappropriate" because Georgia is the only state to require a defendant to prove mental retardation beyond a reasonable doubt. The authors of the study called for the burden to be placed on prosecutors to disprove mental retardation when the defense presents "a substantial showing." However, if state law continues to place the burden on the defense, the defense ought to be able to meet its burden with a preponderance of the evidence, according to the study. In addition, the study discussed racial disparities in capital sentencing. In particular, the authors found that "among all homicides with known suspects, those suspected of killing whites are 4.56 times as likely to be sentenced to death as those who are suspected of killing blacks." If Georgia were to implement a moratorium, the authors of the study recommended that the state sponsor a study of the death penalty system to determine whether there are unacceptable disparities in such factors as race and geography. The panel also said Georgia should restrict death sentences to cases where the defendant is found guilty of "malice murder, either express or implied." Georgia's current law permits a death sentence for either malice murder (a slaying committed with the intent to kill or with a disregard for the life of the victim) or for felony murder (a killing committed during the commission of another felony). "A conviction of felony murder does not require a finding of an intent to kill, or of a reckless indifference of life," the study stated. "The death penalty should only be imposed where the jury has found the defendant acted with either express or implied malice." To ensure that capital prosecutions are applied evenly across Georgia, the study recommended that a statewide clearinghouse be established to review decisions to seek the death penalty. "This clearinghouse should collect data on all death-eligible cases and make this data available to the Georgia Supreme Court for use in conducting its proportionality review," the study stated. STUDYING SENTENCES Georgia was the 1st of 16 states to be studied by the ABA's Death Penalty Moratorium Project. Nine lawyers took part in the Georgia study, including Emanuel, Dixon and Harold G. Clarke, a former Georgia Supreme Court justice. The others were GSU visiting law professor Timothy W. Floyd; former ABA president and McKenna Long & Aldridge partner R. William Ide III; Professor Kay L. Levine of Emory University School of Law; Professor Jack L. Sammons of Mercer University School of Law; Professor David E. Shipley of the University of Georgia College of Law; and J. Douglas Stewart of the Gainesville law firm of Stewart, Melvin & Frost. The team included one nonlawyer, state Sen. Vincent D. Fort, D-Atlanta, and nine law student researchers from GSU, one from Emory and one from Mercer. Fort said he anticipates introducing a bill this year calling for the moratorium. While describing herself as "perennially an optimist," Emanuel conceded that she doesn't hold out much hope of the bill's passing. "It's probably unlikely," she said. (source: Fulton County Daily Report) CALIFORNIA: Woman's Hearing Delayed in Lake Forest Killing----She enters no plea to murder charges. She has said she shot her great-grandson's dad because he was a molester. Handcuffed and walking slowly, an 81-year-old woman was ushered into a Newport Beach courtroom Tuesday to face charges of murdering her great-grandson's father. Jeane E. Allen talked in a whisper, and only then to agree to have the hearing postponed until Monday. She did not enter a plea. In an interview Monday, Allen said she shot and killed Alex L. Reyes as he stood on the front porch of her Lake Forest home fixing a baby stroller. She said she suspected he was molesting her great-grandson. Allen, who was being held at Orange County Jail without bail, is charged with murder, use of a gun during a crime and an enhancement of lying in wait. The charges call for penalties ranging from life in prison without parole to death. The district attorney's office has not determined whether to seek the death penalty. The shooting occurred Saturday morning while Reyes, 26, of Brea, was meeting his son during a court-monitored visit. Reyes and Allen's granddaughter, Leslie Bieg, 24, were in divorce proceedings and battling over custody of their 19-month-old son. While Reyes' parents waited nearby in a car, Allen said she walked into her house, grabbed a gun and fired 2 shots - striking Reyes in the head and thigh. Allen told The Times during a jailhouse interview that she shot Reyes after he asked for an apology letter from her for accusing him of molesting the child. "In God's eyes, I don't feel guilty because it was the only thing I could do to save his life," she said Monday. She said she then called 911 and told the dispatch operator "I just shot a pedophile." Reyes, who wanted to be a police officer, had long denied the molestation accusation and had even taken a lie detector test, his divorce attorney said. A longtime acquaintance, Jessie Standifer, said Reyes had told him the accusation was groundless and vowed to fight the claim and win custody rights. "At times," Standifer said, "he felt helpless within the system, really upset, really frustrated." Speaking outside court Tuesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Murray described the shooting as a "coldblooded, calculated, methodical" murder. "What she did was heinous, cruel and not only cruel to the victim but to do it when he's going to spend time with his son, and his parents were waiting in the car, that's unbelievably callous," Murray said. Age is not a factor for leniency, he said, and "molestation is not an excuse to murder someone." Allen is the oldest inmate at the county jail. Defense attorney John Barnett said Allen was only trying to protect her great-grandson. "Is there anything you would not do to protect an infant? There's a moral responsibility to protect our children," Barnett said. "It is part of the natural order that parents and grandparents protect their young. It's one of the forces of evolution, and when there's a belief that someone is trying to harm the young, then the response is appropriate, natural and compelled by nature." Allen said she believed that Reyes was a pedophile, but there is no concrete evidence - only the divorce papers - to support that. Reyes was never charged, and neither Allen nor his wife reported the matter to police. Allen and her granddaughter made allegations in divorce proceedings that they had witnessed Reyes molesting the boy and calling him inappropriate sexual names. Bieg's divorce attorney could not be reached for comment. But Reyes' attorney, Larry Fancher, said the allegations were fabricated. In his attempt to obtain custody of his child, Reyes agreed to be examined by mental health experts and underwent two polygraph tests. One result was inconclusive; the other was in his favor, Fancher said. Still, the allegations did prompt a judge to order that the father's visits be limited from 10 a.m. to noon on Fridays and Saturdays and be monitored. The matter was also forwarded to the county's Child Abuse Registry. It was unclear what happened from there, and county social service officials did not comment. State law requires professionals such as teachers, doctors and public assistance workers to report child abuse allegations. The county's Child Abuse Registry receives more than 27,000 reports each year for allegations of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, caregiver incapacity, neglect, abandonment and exploitation of children. Scott Altman, professor of law and associate dean at USC, said people often make exaggerated claims while going through a divorce. But making false sexual allegations is uncommon, he said. "If you make that claim and it is found false, it will backfire," Altman said. "The judge will think you are malicious and more likely to rule against you. You are more likely to see allegations of criminal behavior." Fancher said he thought it was telling that neither Allen nor Bieg reported their accusations to police. (source: Los Angeles Times) *************** DA weighs death-penalty case No decision has been made about whether the Solano County District Attorney's Office will seek the death penalty against an Oakland man facing murder charges in the slayings of 2 young Solano County women. Appearing briefly Tuesday morning before Superior Court Judge Mike Nail, Chief Deputy District Attorney George Williamson said the DA's Office was still evaluating a possible death penalty and examining defense mitigation arguments in the case of 42-year-old defendant Kevin Sterling Jones. Nail subsequently set 8:30 a.m. Feb. 15 for further arraignment in the case. According to the District Attorney's Office, the charges against Jones stem from the 1999 slaying of 22-year-old Jamie Williams of Fairfield and the 2000 killing of 16-year-old Sharonda Parker of Vallejo. Williams' body was discovered in Alameda County, while Parker's body was found in Napa County. Forensic pathologists who examined the victims said both appeared to have been strangled to death. Although Jones initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, he surprised the court in December by offering to plead guilty to both murders and accept life imprisonment without possibility of parole. The plea offer from Jones' co-counsel, Chief Deputy Public Defender Michael Ogul, came moments before Jones' preliminary hearing was to begin and was rejected by Williamson. (source: The Reporter) NEW YORK: Spitzer, Paterson split on tax, death penalty The newly minted Democratic ticket of Eliot Spitzer and Sen. David Paterson disagreed yesterday on death and taxes. While gubernatorial hopeful Spitzer vowed he won't seek tax hikes if elected, Paterson, his pick for lieutenant governor, defended a tax-the-rich plan. Paterson, of Harlem, also differed with Spitzer on the death penalty, saying his opposition to capital punishment is "spiritual." Spitzer is a longtime advocate of the death penalty. Republicans jumped on the chance to accent the differences. "The 1st debate during the election year should be between Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson," said the state GOP's executive director, Ryan Moses. "They have both sides of the issues covered." "We're not raising taxes," Spitzer told reporters yesterday. Paterson, however, said he would reimpose a personal income tax surcharge on New Yorkers earning more than $500,000 annually, contending that is preferable to maintaining the sales tax on clothing costing less than $110. In arguing against tax increases, Spitzer suggested that state aid could begradually increased to New York City schools over a period of years, but would not say how much money should be allocated. The state attorney general refused to embrace the $5.6 billion increase in city school aid demanded by a judge, saying, "That number could change significantly since it was proposed." Gov. Pataki has appealed the ruling. Spitzer campaign manager Ryan Toohey said the 2 Democratic partners "share a vision of how to reform state government" - but won't parrot each other on every issue. "Are there going to be areas where they disagree? Of course," Toohey said. (source: New York Daily News) IOWA: Girl's family encourages Iowans to press for death penalty In Davenport, the family of Jetseta Gage says child killers should be put to death. That comment came yesterday after a Scott County jury quickly convicted Roger Bentley of kidnapping and killing the 10-year-old Cedar Rapids girl last March. The 38-year-old Brandon man faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. But the girl's relatives say the sentence should be more severe and they encouraged Iowans to press lawmakers for the death penalty in similar cases. Gage's great aunt Jenny Slight says "if you rape and murder a child, you deserve death." Bentley will be sentenced on February 24th. (source: Associated Press)
