Feb. 6 TEXAS----new execution date A judge set a May 17 execution date Monday for death row inmate Tommy Lynn Sells in the 1999 rape and murder of a 13-year-old Del Rio girl. Sells, a drifter who worked as a barber, mechanic, laborer and carnival roustabout, has confessed to more than a dozen murders. He is suspected in dozens more across the country. He was convicted of the Dec. 31, 1999, death of Kaylene Harris. Sells admitted killing her after breaking into her family's mobile home in Del Rio. Sells also cut the neck of an 11-year-old girl who was spending the night with Harris. The girl walked about a quarter mile to a neighbor's house to get help and later identified Sells. Senior Judge George M. Thurmond set the execution date during an afternoon court hearing. (source: Associated Press) *************************** Convict gets second trial 25 years laterTriple murder from 1980 revisited in court He was convicted and sentenced to death for killing 3 people at a Houston-area bowling alley in 1980. But now Max Soffar is back in court and facing a second murder trial. It's never easy to retry a case 25 years after the crime. Witnesses in this case have died, evidence has been misplaced, but they are trying again. Max Soffar was a drug user and petty criminal in 1980 when he confessed to this triple murder. Back then he was the only person tried and convicted of these crimes. It was very high profile at the time, and police had very few suspects before he confessed. He was sent to Texas' death row and spent 24 years there. He has maintained for a long time that these confessions were made up. They do have problems between the confession and the actual crime -- including the number of people who were involved, the number of shots fired and the way the shootings happened late that night. But still those confessions will be the key piece of evidence in front of this jury. Prosecutor Lyn McClellan told the jury, "In that statement he admits that on July 13, 1980 in Harris County, Texas that he intentionally shot Elaine Felcher." "The evidence will show that the stories that Max Soffar told did not match the facts," promised defense attorney Kathryn Kase. "Max Soffar is not guilty." While lawyers spent a great deal of time in their opening statements talking about those confessions, they are not the only pieces of evidence this jury will see. They will hear from an eyewitness -- a victim of this shooting who survived. He is expected to testify later this week about what happened that night, although he could not identify Max Soffar in a police lineup just weeks after the crime. (source: KTRK-TV) MARYLAND: State aims to reinstate Borchardt death sentence----He was convicted in 1998 murder of Baltimore County couple The state asked Maryland's highest court today to reinstate the death sentence of Lawrence Borchardt for killing an elderly Baltimore County couple in their home. A lower court judge overturned the death penalty and ordered a new sentencing hearing last May, ruling that Borchardt did not have effective counsel at his sentencing hearing. Borchardt was convicted of the murder of Joseph and Bernice Ohler, an elderly couple, who were stabbed to death on Thanksgiving Day, 1998. A heroin addict, he went door to door asking for money for his wife, who he claimed had cancer and needed treatment. The Ohlers had given him money twice, but were killed when they said they didn't have any more cash to give him. Judge Pamela L. North of Anne Arundel County Circuit Court ruled that William W. Kanwisher, Borchardt's attorney, should have put a social worker and a psychologist on the stand to testify about his upbringing and should not have agreed with prosecutors to limit the testimony of a neurologist who had examined Borchardt. Anabelle Lisic, an assistant attorney general, defended Kanwisher's performance, saying he was an experienced attorney whose decisions were based on a fear of what the witnesses might say under cross examination from prosecutors. She said Kanwisher had experience in a previous death penalty case involving John Thanos, who was later executed, when cross examination of a defense witness elicited "devastating testimony that completely tore apart the defense." Lisic said Borchardt had bragged to a social worker that he had killed 2 other people. "Mr. Kanwisher very much wanted to keep that out," she said. Brian Murphy, one of Borchardt's lawyers, said his client was being tried for "a nearly unmentionable crime." "For that reason, you should not shy away from rebutting and fighting with everything you have," Murphy said. "Our contention is that there was a wealth of mitigating evidence that he not only did not present, but that he didn't know about" because of the failure to properly investigate the case, Murphy said. (source: Associated Press) OHIO: Taft denies clemency to Benner Gov. Bob Taft denied Glenn L. Benner II clemency today, likely ensuring that Benner will be executed Tuesday morning. Benner is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection at 10 a.m. at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville. Benner, 43, formerly of Springfield Township, was sentenced to death for the rapes and murders of Trina Bowser of Tallmadge and Cynthia Sedgwick of Cleveland Heights during a five-month period in 1985 and 1986. The Ohio Parole Board unanimously recommended to Taft last week that Benner's execution go forward. Taft has granted clemency to a death row inmate only once during his 7 years in office. That inmate's sentence was commuted to life in prison. In a letter, Benner waived his clemency hearing but the state was required to have one anyway. Benner said he didn't think the state would consider how he has changed and he didn't want to cause additional pain to the Bowser and Sedgwick families. Benner was also convicted of attacking three other Northeast Ohio women. (source: Akron Beacon Journal) ********************** Taft won't block execution of man who raped, killed 2 women Gov. Bob Taft denied clemency Monday to an Akron man to be executed Tuesday for raping and killing two northeastern Ohio women 20 years ago. Taft's ruling leaves nothing in the way of Glenn L. Benner II's execution by injection. He has no pending court requests to stop it, his lawyer, Kate McGarry, said Monday. He refused to seek clemency from the governor, saying the process didn't factor in whether an inmate has changed in prison. Taft said he found no reason to disagree with the unanimous recommendation against clemency by the Ohio Parole Board. Benner, 43, was convicted was convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering Cynthia Sedgwick, 26, in August 1985 in woods at the Blossom Music Center near Akron where she had attended a concert. He also was convicted of raping and murdering a friend, 21-year-old Trina Bowser, in Akron in January 1986. Benner also was convicted of raping and trying to kill two other women in the months between the killings, but he was not sentenced to death in those crimes. Benner's defense attorney attacked the recollection of key witnesses and disputed any link between the crimes. But Benner has admitted committing horrific crimes while under the influence of drugs. Benner arrived Monday morning at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, where the execution was to take place, said Andrea Dean, spokeswoman for the state prisons agency. He was the 1st inmate to make the 250-mile trip to the Lucasville prison since death row was moved in October from Mansfield farther north to the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown. He said he would address the Bowser and Sedgwick families at his execution. (source: Associated Press) FLORIDA: Florida considers changes in death penalty Executions in Florida are on hold following stays for 2 killers by the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court ruled that both inmates should be given a chance to argue that death by lethal injection is cruel and unusual. The appeals are based on a study that determined that the procedure may be painful. Some state officials say that the Florida capital punishment law needs an overhaul on other grounds, the Palm Beach Post reported. Florida is the only state where a judge can overrule a jury's finding that a life sentence is appropriate and the only state where a death sentence needs a jury majority, not unanimity. "Florida's all alone out here. That's something that usually gets the Supreme Court's attention," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. "Sometimes you want to pre-empt that and change your own law before the Supreme Court steps in and you have no law." A number of bills before the Legislature would change the jury procedure. When the Supreme Court ruled in an Arizona case that juries must decide on aggravating factors -- in effect allowing the judge to hand down a death penalty -- four states had judges involved in the process. The other three have since changed their laws. (source: United Press International) CALIFORNIA: Mall murder suspect may face death penalty The teenager suspected of shooting another teen at Valley Plaza Mall in December was in court Monday and is being held without bail. Now, the District Attorneys Office will decide whether to prosecute this as a death penalty case. During the court hearing, 19-year-old Andre Ball pleaded not guilty to 1st-degree-murder, a gang enhancement, use of a weapon and conspiracy. He is suspected of shooting 19-year-old Deondre Marzette at Valley Plaza on Dec. 27. Ball was extradited to Bakersfield from Texas last week. Since he is considered a flight risk, he is being held without bail. Defense Attorney Randall B. Dickow said, "This case is charged as a capital homicide which means there's a special circumstance which provides for only two penalties, life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty." "Many cases are charged that way, many cases have the death penalty itself waived and it makes a difference on how we prepare a case," he adds. "It has an impact on how a case is funded, actual death penalty cases have 2 attorneys," Dickow said. So far, the D.A.'s office has not decided whether to waive the death penalty. 3 other teenagers have already been arraigned on murder charges including, 18-year-old Tobias Robertson, 15-year-old Denzel Washington, and 17-year-old Tremmell Edwards. They have all pleaded not guilty. Ball is scheduled for a pre-preliminary hearing on Thursday. (source: KGET News) ******************* Clemency opposed in San Joaquin death penalty case Michael Morales should be put to death this month for the rape and murder of a 17-year-old Lodi girl even though he's sorry for it now, San Joaquin County prosecutors are telling Governor Schwarzenegger. The San Joaquin District Attorney's office says Morales planned the 1981 murder of Terri Lynn Winchell in advance - despite questions now raised by the trial judge over testimony by a key government witness. Nor should Morales protestations that he was in a psychotic state prompted by P-C-P and alcohol be enough to spare him, prosecutors say. They're opposing a clemency petition on Morales' behalf by former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr. Morales is set to be put to death at February 21 at San Quentin State Prison. (source: Associated Press) USA: Death row inmate's request to end appeals sent to federal court South Carolina's top federal prosecutor said Monday he has forwarded an inmate's request to drop all his appeals and be executed to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. U.S. Attorney Johnny Gasser said the court should have a copy of the letter since 28-year-old Chadrick Fulks' appeal is currently before it. Fulks, who was sentenced to death in 2002 for kidnapping and murdering a Galivants Ferry woman, asks in the letter that his appeals be dropped and his execution carried out. "I do not wish to live like this any longer," Fulks wrote in the letter, which he says he would also send to his appellate attorney, John Blume, as well as federal public defender Bill Nettles and Charleston, W.Va., attorney Matthew Rawlins. Fulks, of Lewisburg, Ky., also offered to help authorities locate the bodies of two women he and 23-year-old Brandon Basham, of Madisonville, Ky., were convicted of killing. Fulks has maintained his innocence in both instances and now says he is "no longer afraid to die like this because I know God knows the truth." Fulks sent the letter from a federal prison in Indiana, where he is awaiting execution. Fulks and Basham received the death penalty for the kidnapping and murder of 44-year Alice Donovan, taken from a Conway parking lot in December 2002. Her body has never been found. Both men had escaped from the Hopkins County (Ky.) Jail several days before. Fulks and Basham also pleaded guilty in the disappearance of 19-year-old West Virginia college student Samantha Burns, and were sentenced to life in prison. Police found Burns' car, which had been set on fire, but never found her body. In his letter, Fulks wrote he would like to give the victims families peace by helping authorities search for the women's bodies. "I know all I can do now to help ease there pain is to help theme locate there loved ones and to give theme my life the way they want to see it took," Fulks wrote. Gasser said his office will go along with whatever the 4th Circuit decides, adding that Oklahoma bombing conspirator Timothy McVeigh was executed after asking that his appeals be waived. (source: Associated Press) ************* HARD TO PLACE - A crime of alcohol----A NEW BOOK BY KATHERINE NORGARD Kathy Norgard's Hard to Place: A Crime of Alcohol, is a uniquepersonal account about the difficulties faced by a family when a loved one is charged with a capital crime. It reveals the fine line between what seems like a clear case of guilt while leaving the reader with doubts as to whether justice is served given the legal versus medical/psychological perspectives of the crime and the complicated issue of fault. Dr. Norgard, a psychologist, author of a children's book, Gregory's Day the Montessori Way, and co-author of Child Abuse and Neglect: Sharing Responsibility, offers compelling insight into the quicksand which occurs when medical disorders and legal consequences meet. She draws the reader into her riveting story of a devoted mother fighting to save her son's life after an incomprehensible tragedy strikes and she embarks on the most painful journey of her life. Sister Helen Prejean, widely acclaimed author of Dead Man Walking, writes the foreword to Norgard's book. She describes Kathy as a dear friend who allows us into her soul in her un-flinchingly transparent story about her experience with her son. This book is a must read, offering a glimpse of unspoken problems with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, the justice system, death penalty, medical/psychological diagnoses, and the victimization of the families of those convicted of crimes. Now available on Amazon.com<>P> To order your copy of Kathy Norgard's HARD TO PLACE - A crime of alcohol, please provide the following information and mail with $14.95 plus $3.95 shipping & handling to: Recovery Resources Press P.O. Box 13593 Tucson, AZ 85711 Contact the author at: [email protected] ORDERING INFORMATION Name____________________________________________________________________ Address_____________________________________________________________________ ____ ________________________________________________________________________ ___________ City _________________________________________ State ____________ Zip ________________
