Feb. 6 TEXAS: Execution date to be set for serial killer Sells A judge is expected to set an execution date for convicted serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells. Sells was arrested Jan. 2, 2000, and confessed to at least a dozen murders in seven states, according to authorities. Sells was convicted of the rape and murder of 13-year-old Kayleen Harris in Del Rio in December 1999. He tried to do the same to her 10-year-old friend. He was found guilty in September 2000. Sells would eventually confess to at least a dozen other murders, including the death of Mary Bea Perez of San Antonio in April 1999. Perez was kidnapped from Market Square on April 18, 1999, during Fiesta, and a fisherman found her badly-decomposed body in Alazan Creek a week after she vanished. By the time Sells had confessed to killing the 9-year-old San Antonio girl, he was already on death row. One of Sells' most heinous crimes is the murder of a family in Illinois. The family of 4 had befriended him, and offered Sells a meal. Authorities said he shot the father, then beat a 3-year-old boy and his pregnant mother with a bat. Investigators said the woman gave birth during the beating, and Sells beat the baby girl as well. Sells' hearing is at 1:30 p.m. Monday. (source: San Antonio Express-News) ************** DNA exonerations are high-profile again The issue of innocence - who is, who isn't and who should get a chance to prove it - has been in the national conversation a lot lately. The spate of attention started last month when Virginia's governor ordered DNA testing in the case of a man executed for the rape and murder of his sister-in-law. Although the results ultimately showed Roger Coleman was indeed guilty, some say the case paved the way for post-execution testing. After that, the issue landed in the U.S. Supreme Court. In mid-January, the justices heard arguments in a Tennessee case that deals with the question of how to handle evidence of innocence raised after the appeals process has been exhausted. The topic even has mushroomed into a television show, with ABC recently launching a procedural drama called "In Justice." Similar in style to shows like "Law & Order" or "CSI," the fictional program breaks new ground in that it focuses on freeing the innocent rather than catching the guilty. But whether real life will begin to look more like what's on the small screen is a topic of hot debate. People on both sides of the issue are giving the recent developments their own spin. With the Coleman case, for example, innocence advocates say his guilt isn't nearly as important as the fact that the testing was done. DNA exonerations have made people more aware of the justice system's vulnerabilities, they say, even if the results don't always match up with innocence claims. "We've been trying now for years to get other governors to open up the vaults," Peter Neufield, co-director of the New York-based Innocence Project, said in a recent interview with Knight Ridder Newspapers about the Coleman case. "I think it's going to break the logjam." But others point to the case as an example of the overhyping of wrongful convictions. Joshua Marquis, an Oregon prosecutor who is vice president of the National District Attorneys Association, noted that the news of Coleman's guilt got much less media coverage than the announcement of the testing. Such unbalanced coverage gives the public a distorted view of the justice system, Marquis said. While legitimate innocence cases must be taken seriously, he said, the 173 people who have been exonerated so far through DNA represent only a tiny percentage of felony cases. "My concern is that an urban legend is being created in this country about a mass number of people being wrongfully incarcerated by taking a tiny number of exonerations and blowing them way out of proportion," Marquis said. "The number that needs to be asked is, in what universe? The universe is 15 million to 20 million felony cases." Marquis acknowledges that only a fraction of criminal cases involve DNA evidence, meaning that a very small portion of defendants could be exonerated through testing. But even if the number of exonerations is extrapolated to account for that, statistics make it clear that wrongful convictions are episodic, not epidemic, he said. "The real number of (wrongfully convicted people) is about the same as the incidence of human rabies," Marquis said. Walter M. Reaves Jr., a local defense attorney who is the area's authority on innocence cases, has mixed feelings about the recent developments. Unlike some advocates, he thinks the Coleman case was damaging. "Unfortunately, it ended up being negative attention," he said. "(Post-execution DNA testing) is one of those areas where you have to pick your battles carefully, because if you pick one like that, it can set you back." Still, Reaves said the Coleman case brought up some important issues. For one thing, it showed how difficult it is for defendants to get DNA testing. Without an order from the governor, the Coleman testing likely would have stalled, he said. Even in states such as Texas that have post-conviction DNA statutes, procedural hurdles often bring quests for DNA testing to a premature end, Reaves said. "It's extremely difficult to meet the burden of testing that the courts have applied," he said. The case before the Supreme Court is important, Reaves said, because it addresses at least a narrow part of those procedural hurdles. He also is excited about the launch of ABC's new show, he said, if for no other reason than it is further acknowledgement that innocent people do go to prison. "It kind of blew my mind when I saw that," Reaves said of the commercials. "I don't know that Hollywood is a predictor of what happens in real life, but obviously some people are interested in it or they wouldn't be producing the show." However, Reaves said he hopes people realize that real-life exonerations are not as simple as those on TV. A good example, he said, is his most recent crusade to clear a client's name. The case involves Cameron Todd Willingham, a Corsicana resident executed in February 2004. Reaves tried to stop the execution based on scientific evidence that the fire which consumed Willingham's house and killed his three daughters was not arson. Reaves was unsuccessful, in large part, he thinks, because the scientific evidence came in the form of expert opinion, not DNA. Getting an exoneration based on such evidence is nearly impossible, he said. That is true even when the science behind the testimony changes, Reaves said. In the Willingham case, for example, the methods used in the fire investigation have since been declared "junk science," he said. Multiple arson experts who re-examined the case using current techniques concluded that the fire was likely accidental, Reaves said. Yet, the new evidence did not stop Willingham's execution and likely will never clear his name, he said. "It's based on scientific testimony, but it's based on the type of scientific testimony that people have disagreed about," Reaves said. "Anybody of any (scientific) significance agrees this wasn't an arson case, but there will always be people who disagree. That even one person can disagree makes it difficult to meet the level you need for absolute exoneration. .<2009>.<2009>. You're just never going to be able to reach that level of certainty with opinions." Nonetheless, Reaves plans to continue working with the Innocence Project on the case. Its value now, he said, is to show how things can go wrong. On a related note, some of Reaves' previous work may draw attention again this year. In 2001, Reaves worked with an author named Fredric Dannen to exonerate a Waco man based on DNA evidence. That man, Calvin Washington, had spent more than 15 years behind bars for the 1986 rape and murder of a local woman. As the first DNA exoneration in Central Texas, the case would have been big news on its own. But it also generated attention because of its connection to the most infamous murder case in Waco's modern history - the killings of three teenagers in 1982 that are known as the Lake Waco murders. Superficially, the cases were linked because the victim in Washington's case, Juanita White, was the mother of David Wayne Spence, who was executed for his supposed role in the Lake Waco murders. But the connections went deeper than that. Both involved the same head investigator and same lead district attorney, both of whose tactics have been questioned. The cases also used types of evidence that many experts say contribute to wrongful convictions. They include bite-mark evidence, which the vast majority of forensic scientists now say is unreliable, and testimony from "jailhouse snitches," many of whom later recanted their statements. Spence's supporters say the exoneration of Washington and Williams bolsters his innocence claims. If the same investigator and prosecutor got it wrong in one case using a certain type of evidence, it isn't a stretch to say they got it wrong in another, they argue. A book being written about capital punishment may soon clear up the controversy. Written by Dannen, the author who worked with Reaves, it will focus on the Lake Waco murders. Although Dannen won't disclose details of the book, he said it should be published by the end of the year. Regardless of what Dannen's book concludes, however, it is likely only a matter of time before someone who has been executed is exonerated, said Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and chairman of the Innocence Project's board. The United States has the best criminal justice system in the world and most people behind bars are guilty, he said, but the government does make mistakes. "Most reasonable people now realize that there is a distinct possibility that an innocent person has been executed," Ellis said. "And since Texas has been involved in over 2/3 of the people who have been executed, it puts a lot of pressure on us." (source: Waco Tribune-Herald) MARYLAND----impending execution Spare death-row inmates life, plead U.S. Catholic leaders to Maryland guv 2 U.S. cardinals and a bishop, the Vaticans envoy to the United States and a U.S. bishops conference official appealed to Marylands governor to spare the life of a condemned inmate, who is scheduled to be executed this week for 2 1983 contract killings. The appeals, announced Feb. 3 by the Archdiocese of Baltimore, are the latest in a series of last-minute attempts to save Vernon Evans, who maintains he was not the gunman in the murders of two motel clerks. Evans, 57, was condemned to death for the 1983 contract killing of Scott Piechowicz and his sister-in-law, Susan Kennedy. His co-conspirator, Anthony Grandison, is also awaiting execution for the crime. His attorneys do not deny Evans was at the scene, and the death row inmate has admitted he was offered $9,000 by a drug dealer who ordered the killings. But they say a jury did not hear from a witness who might have testified that another man pulled the trigger, and note that the jury did not have the opportunity to convict Evans to life without parole. Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the United States, made an appeal on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in a Feb. 1 letter. Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore, Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington and Bishop Michael A. Saltarelli of Wilmington, Del., the three ordinaries of the dioceses serving the church in Maryland, co-signed a Feb. 3 letter asking Ehrlich to grant Evans clemency, while noting that they "are not unmindful of the suffering visited upon the families" of the victims and option of life without parole that became available to the state 6 years after the murders. "Our church's teaching recognizes the right of legitimate government to resort to capital punishment, but it challenges the appropriateness of doing so in a society now capable of defending the public order and ensuring the public's safety," they wrote. "If non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect peoples safety from an aggressor, then public authority should limit itself to such more humane means, because they are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good, and with the dignity of the human person." The Maryland church leaders made a similar appeal to Ehrlich on behalf of condemned inmate Wesley Baker, who was executed in December for a 1991 murder. They noted in their latest appeal that the governor had ignored their earlier plea. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Domestic Policy Committee, also urged Ehrlich to "urge that you exercise your power of clemency and spare the life of Mr. Vernon Evans." "This execution can only compound the violence that already exists in our society," the bishop of Brooklyn, N.Y., wrote in the Feb. 1 letter, noting that the bishops serve "as pastors who minister to both the victims of capital crimes and those who sit on death row." "We strongly believe that the use of the death penalty diminishes all of us when a man or woman is killed on our behalf." Pointing to the U.S. bishops November 2005 document The Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death , Bishop DiMarzio said that the death penalty is an inappropriate response because: it is acceptable only necessary to protect society, "state-sanctioned killing" diminishes all citizens, "its application is deeply flawed," and there are other more humane methods of punishment. "This is not about ideology, but a fundamental respect for life," the bishop wrote. "We do not believe that you can teach that killing is wrong by killing. We do not believe that you can defend life by taking life." (source: Catholic Online) VIRGINIA: Moussaoui jury selection to begin----Jurors will decide if he will be sentenced to death for 9/11 attacks In ALexandria, after years of delay caused by struggles over classified evidence, the case of the only man convicted in the Sept. 11 terror attacks returns to a criminal courtroom today. Zacarias Moussaoui, who pleaded guilty to a 6-count federal indictment in April, faces a penalty trial during which a jury will decide whether the 37-year-old should spend the rest of his life in prison or die by injection. Jury selection starts today. About 500 potential jurors from across Northern Virginia have been summoned to the U.S. District Courthouse, just a few miles from the Pentagon, site of one of the Sept. 11 attacks. Thus will begin an arduous, weeks-long screening process aimed at seating an impartial panel. Opening arguments and the first witnesses are scheduled for March 6. Prospective jurors will hear a broad outline of the case from U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema and then fill out long questionnaires. The forms contain more than 200 questions, probing attitudes on everything from Islam to the death penalty. After returning to the courtroom to answer questions from Brinkema, prosecutors and defense lawyers, the potential jurors will be reduced to 85. From that number, 16, including 4 alternates, will be selected to hear the case. For their service, jurors will be paid the standard fee of $40 a day. The trial is expected to take several weeks. Already, the case of the United States of America v. Zacarias Moussaoui has consumed more than four years, underscoring the perils of trying accused terrorists in civilian courts in which constitutional protections can collide with national-security interests. "I think it's very important to try these kinds of cases in the civilian courts rather than a military tribunal," said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law school professor who tracks terror-related cases. "Moussaoui shows how difficult this can be." Born in France and educated in Britain, Moussaoui was indicted Dec. 11, 2001, 3 months after the Sept. 11 attacks. Since he first appeared in court the following January, he has fired his lawyers and briefly represented himself before that right was revoked. He filed dozens of handwritten motions, some making derogatory statements about Jews and the judge, until Brinkema ordered him to stop. He has declared his fealty to Osama bin Laden and said he prays for the destruction of the United States. He also demanded access to captured al-Qaida members, claiming they could prove his innocence in the Sept. 11 plot. The length of Moussaoui's case file -- it now includes nearly 1,500 items -- reflects the intensity of the legal struggle. Much of the material on the docket is sealed from public view because it is classified. The case has repeatedly been delayed by disputes over classified information arising from defense demands for access to al-Qaida captives. Twice, the case has been halted during appeals to the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to iron out disputes over classified evidence. The appeals court barred direct testimony for al-Qaida members but ordered prosecutors, defense lawyers and the judge to craft written summaries of their testimony. When at last the penalty trial opens, the case will focus on one central question: How much did Moussaoui know about the Sept. 11 attacks? The penalty phase of the trial has been divided into 2 parts, with the most critical portion coming in the 1st part, when the prosecutors seek to show Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty. They must prove that he had -- and withheld -- information that could have prevented the Sept. 11 attacks. If the trial reaches its 2nd stage, when the jurors would consider mitigating and aggravating factors, prosecutors plan to call relatives of 45 people who were killed on Sept. 11. They will show photographs of the attacks and of all who were killed. Prosecutors contend Moussaoui should be sentenced to death because he lied when questioned after his arrest on an immigration violation on Aug. 16, 2001. Had Moussaoui revealed his role in the plot, the government would have been able to stop the attacks or at least limit the toll of the nearly 3,000 people who died when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center towers in New York, the Pentagon in Arlington County and the Pennsylvania countryside. Moussaoui has repeatedly denied he had such knowledge. When he entered his guilty plea, Moussaoui admitted to a series of acts mirroring those of the 19 terrorist hijackers. He said he was a member of the al-Qaida terror group. He conceded that he trained in a terrorist camp in Afghanistan. He confessed to taking flying lessons to further al-Qaida's plot to use aircraft to kill Americans. He revealed he bought knives and joined a gym. But Moussaoui has insisted he was to be part of a second wave of attacks and had no knowledge of what was being planned for Sept. 11. Some evidence has emerged to back his assertion. According to the final report of the federal 9/11 Commission, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who masterminded the plot, "denies ever considering Moussaoui for the planes operation. Instead, he claims that Moussaoui was slated to participate in a 'second wave' of attacks." Mohammed also said Moussaoui had no contact with Mohammed Atta, the tactical leader of the plot. But prosecutors argue that even a casual tie to the hijackers is enough to warrant the death penalty. Moussaoui's defense lawyers plan to argue that Moussaoui knew nothing about Sept. 11 that could have helped U.S. intelligence. Brinkema recently ordered the government to turn over documents describing what officials knew about al-Qaida threats and some of its hijackers before Sept. 11. "Substantial evidence will be presented at trial that the United States government knew more about al-Qaida's plans to attack the United States than did Mr. Moussaoui," defense lawyers said in court papers. But the penalty trial could still be derailed if the government balks at turning over additional documents about its pre-Sept. 11 knowledge based on national-security concerns. In particular, the Department of Defense has refused any public airing of the controversial Able Danger intelligence program. Several officials connected to the program have been subpoenaed by defense lawyers to testify. If the matter can't be resolved, Brinkema could rule that the death penalty is off the table. (source: Richmond Times-Dispatch) CALIFORNIA: Appeals process drags on for years in death penalty cases A jury has already recommended the death penalty for Adrian George Camacho, who gunned down Oceanside police Officer Tony Zeppetella. Camacho will find out Tuesday whether the judge agrees. If she does, Camacho will be sent to California's death row at San Quentin State Prison within a few days. But it's safe to say the case will spend years on appeal. The appeals process is slow, it is complicated, and it happens whether the inmate wants it to or not. The average time spent on California's death row is 17.5 years; the average inmate is 49 years old at the time of execution, according to the California Department of Corrections. The last 5 executions took place after condemned inmates had spent more than 20 years on death row. When Stanley "Tookie" Williams was put to death in December, he had spent 24 years and 8 months on death row. Clarence Ray Allen, executed in January, moved onto death row in 1982. Of the 63 condemned California inmates who have died since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978, the number who were executed is 14 ---- and one of those men was executed in Missouri. More than double that number ---- 31---- have died of natural causes, according the state Department of Corrections. 'Execute me' In 1999, Wisconsin drifter Brandon Wilson pleaded guilty to slitting the throat of a 9-year-old boy in an Oceanside harbor bathroom a year earlier. According to what Superior Court Judge John Einhorn read into the court record in accepting Wilson's guilty plea, Wilson was wandering near the harbor when he saw Matthew Cecchi run from a crowded playground to a public restroom near the beach. Wilson sneaked along behind the boy, surprised him in the bathroom and slashed his throat. Wilson pleaded guilty, but also entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. It narrowed his future to three possibilities: a mental institution, life in prison, or the death penalty. Wilson faced a trial to determine his sentence, and at that time, he told the jury they had an obligation to vote for his death. He told them did not regret killing Cecchi, and would do it again because, "My whole purpose in life is to help destroy your society." "Execute me," Wilson told them. The jury recommended death. Einhorn agreed and handed down a death sentence. 5 days later, on Nov. 11, 1999, Brandon Wilson moved to San Quentin's death row. Nearly 6 years passed while the case ---- which under the law gets an automatic appeal to the California Supreme Court ---- stood completely still. No attorney had been appointed to represent him. Finally, in August 2005, an attorney was appointed to Wilson's case. Her opening brief to the state's high court is due in May. Too few attorneys Robert Reichman works for the California Supreme Court, in charge of appointing attorneys to represent death row inmates on their state appeal. Reichman explained last week that the long wait to starting the appeals process boils down to one reason: too many cases, too few qualified attorneys who are willing to be appointed. Reichman said that his office was at one point getting an average of about 3 death penalty judgements each month, 30 to 40 of them each year. Whenever someone is sentenced to death and sent to prison ---- San Quentin for men, the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla for women ---- the paperwork gets sent directly to Reichman's office, and the filings to start the appeal begin. And so does the wait. It is the very rare inmate who decides to ---- and, more importantly, can afford to ---- hire a private attorney to handle the appeal. The average wait to get a court-appointed appellate attorney for death judgments is 4 to 6 years, Reichman said. Reichman said his office is just now appointing attorneys for death judgments handed down in 2001. He hopes that by the end of the year, he will appoint attorneys for cases in 2002 as well. "We are eager to appoint attorneys as quickly as we can," Reichman said. "We have applicant attorneys who are not qualified to be appointed ---- and no one is more disappointed than me." Reichman notes that the state's public defenders office takes as many of the cases as it can. But there are not enough public defenders to handle all the work, and thus begins his search to find qualified attorneys in the private sector. Reichman's office has about 130 death penalty cases without attorneys to handle them. They continually look to recruit private attorneys to take the cases ---- cases that can last for years, and, at about $130 an hour for the attorney, can mean upward of $200,000 in fees for the appointed attorney. "Our justices have taken every opportunity to encourage attorneys to apply for appeals," Reichman said. "And my phone doesn't ring because qualified people are intentionally not calling me." There are several hundred California attorneys qualified to handle such cases, but Reichman points out that an attorney can only handle so many capital cases at a time. And some take one case, and decline to ever take another. Delays common Even once an attorney is appointed, delays are common. Take the case of LaTwon Reginald Weaver, convicted in the shooting death of Vista jeweler Michael Broome during a robbery May 1992. Sentenced to death in March 1993, Weaver's case is still on direct appeal at the state level. Weaver's attorneys have sought and obtained 21 extensions of time to file his opening brief. North County resident George Cullins said he has seen 45 requests for delays filed on behalf of Dean Phillip Carter, the man convicted of killing Cullins' daughter in her Pacific Beach home in 1984. Carter was also convicted of murdering three other women Los Angeles County during a crime spree in the summer of that year. Once Carter was sentenced to death, some 15 years and eight months passed before the state Supreme Court affirmed the death decree. Now Cullins, 82, and his wife must wait through the federal appeals process, which Cullins has said he believes could stretch longer than a decade. Different people point to multiple factors when asked why the entire process takes so long. Stefanie Faucher, executive director of the San Francisco-based anti-death penalty organization Death Penalty Focus, said the lack of attorneys is just one of many bottlenecks. She argues that a lot of delay in death penalty cases comes in waiting for the Supreme Court to set hearing dates. She also argues that while the case is sitting around, there is no continuing investigation into it. She said that the federal court process moves quicker. But Senior Assistant Attorney General Gary Schons, who supervises the criminal division of the state attorney general's office in San Diego, said the federal appeals court is "where cases go to die." State and federal appeals The appeals process moves through two arenas: state and federal. The state comes first; courts requires inmates to exhaust their claims at that level before moving forward. Defendants who received the death penalty automatically get a direct appeal of their sentence, which addresses more of the technical issues from the trial itself. That appeal is made straight to the California Supreme Court. If the state high court affirms the death sentence, the defendant may then appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. But aside from that automatic appeal, defendants may also file a "habeas corpus" petition, which is based on claims outside of the trial record. It is there that condemned inmates make a variety of claims, such as calling into question any mistakes made by their trial attorney, or raising claims of new evidence in the case. Depending on what the claim is, defendants can file habeas corpus petitions in both federal and state courts. There are also opportunities to file 11th hour appeals. None of the 5 death row cases ever tried in state court in North County have neared that point, and no execution dates have been set yet. Another case with strong North County ties is that of David Westerfield, who was convicted of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam. Sentenced to death on Jan. 3, 2003, Westerfield has yet to have an appellate attorney appointed. If Reichman's projections stick, Westerfield could get an attorney inside the next 2 years. In Camacho's case, if he is sentenced to death Tuesday, his appeal may sit untouched for the next few years. ****************** Cases of death row inmates from North County moving through appeals process The appeals process is in varying stages for 6 death row inmates whose cases have strong North County ties. Trials for five of the six following death row inmates were held in North County. The sixth defendant, David Westerfield, was tried and convicted in a downtown San Diego courtroom. His victim, 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, lived in his Sabre Springs neighborhood. Defendants who receive the death penalty automatically get a direct appeal that addresses the technical issues of the trial. That appeal is made straight to the California Supreme Court. If the state's high court affirms the death sentence, the defendant may then appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Defendants may also file a "habeas corpus" petition based on claims outside of the trial record, such as calling into question any mistakes made by their trial attorney, or raising claims of new evidence. Defendants can file these petitions in both federal and state courts. Here is an update on where each of these cases is in the appeals process: - Kurt Michaels. Michaels was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend's mother, JoAnn Clemons, 41, of Escondido in 1988. Sentenced to death on July 31, 1990. Michaels' direct appeal was affirmed by the California Supreme Court in July 2002; the U.S. Supreme Court denied a review in May 2003. The state's high court denied his habeas corpus petition in December 2003. Michaels' federal petition has not been filed; he is awaiting appointment of counsel for the federal process. - Rudolph Jose Roybal. A Superior Court jury convicted Roybal on July 21, 1992, of first-degree murder in the stabbing and robbery of Yvonne Weden, 65, of Oceanside, who had hired him a few weeks earlier to do some gardening. Sentenced to death on Oct. 20, 1992. Roybal's direct appeal was affirmed by the California Supreme Court in November 1998; the U.S. Supreme Court denied a review in October 1999. Roybal has a habeas petition pending in federal court. - LaTwon Reginald Weaver. The son of a Baptist minister, Weaver was found guilty of murder in the shooting of Vista jeweler Michael Broome during a robbery May 1992. Sentenced to death in March 1993. Weaver's case is still on direct appeal at the state level. Weaver's attorneys have obtained 21 extensions to file his opening brief, which is now due to be filed this year. - Susan Dianne Eubanks. A Superior Court jury convicted Eubanks of four counts of first-degree murder for the Oct. 26, 1997, shooting of her four sons, ages 4 to 14, at their San Marcos home. Sentenced to death in October 1999. Eubanks' case is still on appeal at the state level.The opening brief is due Feb. 21. - Brandon H. Wilson. Wilson pleaded guilty to first-degree murder; a Superior Court jury found him legally sane when he killed 9-year-old Matthew Cecchi on Nov. 14, 1998, in an Oceanside Harbor bathroom. Telling the jury to "execute me," Wilson was sentenced to death on Nov. 4, 1999. Wilson's case is also on direct appeal, and he was appointed an appellate attorney only 5 months ago. His opening brief to the state Supreme Court is due May 11. - David Westerfield. A Superior Court jury convicted Westerfield of 1st-degree murder for the kidnapping and slaying of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam of Sabre Springs in February 2002. Sentenced to death on Jan. 3, 2003. Westerfield is awaiting appointment of an attorney to represent him on his direct appeal. No further dates have been set. (source for both: North County Times) INDIANA: Trial To Begin For Man Already On Death Row The man sitting on death row for killing a Hamilton County mother and daughter is scheduled to go on trial for rape Monday. A judge sentenced Fredrick Baer to death last summer for killing Corey Clark and her 4-year-old daughter Jenna in their Lapel home in February 2004. After the killings, investigators searched Baer's home and found evidence linking him to the alleged rape from the same month as the murders. Jury selection in Baer's rape trial begins Monday. (source: The IndyChannel)
