Feb. 9 ARKANSAS: High court denies appeal of longest-serving man on Ark. death row In Little Rock, the Arkansas Supreme Court has denied a request by the state's longest serving death row prisoner to reconsider his 1989 murder conviction for the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl. Roger Lewis Coulter was convicted by an Ashley County jury in October 1989 of slaying the daughter of a woman he lived with in Warren. Coulter asked for the case to be sent to a lower court to determine whether he is mentally retarded, which would prevent his execution. Authorities found the child's partially nude body stuffed in a hollow tree, covered with leaves and branches. Coulter was arrested 5 weeks later in California. Coulter became the longest serving death row inmate last year when Darrel Wayne Hill, sentenced to death for a 1980 killing, died from natural causes at age 65. (source: Associated Press) MISSISSIPPI: Miss. high court upholds death sentence in Adams Co. case The Mississippi Supreme Court has rejected arguments from death row inmate Jeffery Keith Havard that his attorney should have done a better job. The court upheld his capital murder conviction for the killing of a 6-month-old girl in Adams County. Havard was convicted in 2002 of capital murder in the death of Chloe Madison Britt of Ferriday, La., the daughter of his girlfriend. Prosecutors contended that the infant's injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome, but she also had suffered from sexual abuse. Havard and the girlfriend, identified as Rebecca J. Britt of Ferriday, La., brought the baby to Natchez Community Hospital's emergency room on Feb. 21, 2002, according to court documents. In testimony at the trial, doctors who treated the baby said they tried unsuccessfully to revive her. In his appeal, Havard argued several errors deprived him of a fair trial. Most of them dealt with what Havard believed were shortcomings by his attorney. The Supreme Court rejected them all. Justice George C. Carlson Jr., writing Thursday for the court, said Havard's appeal centered on defense issues that appeared to be courtroom strategy. Carlson said the court record showed the defense counsel was active in the selection of the jury. "The record reveals several instances of juror challenges where defense counsel struck for cause certain jurors who felt they could not be fair," Carlson wrote. Carlson said the defense attorney also declined to repeat questions asked by prosecutors or the judge during jury selection. "From the record, we are simply unable to find defense counsel's decision not to repeat these same questions rises to the level of ineffective assistance of counsel," he said. Havard also complained that his attorneys had developed a defense strategy for the trial and then didn't stick with it. Specifically, Havard said the defense didn't hire a DNA expert to refute the sexual penetration evidence. Carlson said the defense elicited testimony that a sexual assault kit administered to the girl came back negative. "It is apparent from the record that defense counsel's strategy was to attack the weakness of the state's case, and for reasons discussed ... such a defense strategy is not per se ineffective assistance," Carlson said. (source: Associated Press) US MILITARY: Bush's OK sought for executions----Convicted killers await their fate at Fort Leavenworth President Bush has been asked to authorize the executions of 2 men who have been on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth for a combined 35 years. Not since President John F. Kennedy was in office has the military presented the commander in chief with such a request. The military's recommendation is a significant step in the cases against Ronald A. Gray and Dwight J. Loving, because an inmate cannot be executed without the president's consent. "The president has the discretion on when and if he wants to sign the documents. There's no timeline that the president has to follow. It can be carried out in this administration or it can be transferred to the next," said Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, an Army spokes-woman at the Pentagon. Loving arrived on death row in 1989. He had been convicted of killing two taxicab drivers while he was an Army private at Fort Hood, Texas. Gray has been on death row since April 1988, Fort Leavenworth officials said. He was convicted of rape, sodomy and multiple murders while stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. 7 death row inmates are housed at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth. John A. Bennett was the last military inmate executed at Fort Leavenworth. He was hanged in 1961 after being convicted of the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old Austrian girl. The Army has long executed military inmates at Fort Leavenworth. However, recent military changes open the door for the executions at other federal facilities. A new Disciplinary Barracks was opened at Fort Leavenworth in 2002. Although Army officials constructed a space for an execution chamber, they stopped short of equipping and laying out the area for the military's present method of execution, lethal injection. (source: Kansas City Star) CALIFORNIA: Michael Morales Scheduled to Be Executed on February 21st----REMORSEFUL MAN TO BE KILLED BY STATE OF CALIFORNIA Michael Morales is scheduled to be executed by the state of California at 12:01am on February 21st. Two men were responsible for the 1981 rape and murder of a woman named Terri Winchell. Only Michael Morales, who is Latino, received a sentence of death. In the 25 years since, he has continued to accept responsibility, seek atonement for his actions, and affirm his sincere and unquestioned remorse for the anguish he caused the victim and her family. The jury was misled by an informant, and now even the judge who ruled in Morales's case is opposed to executing Morales. People who are opposed to the death penalty are once again calling on Governor Schwarzenegger to grant clemency to a man who is on death row. A Press Conference, Rally, and "Die-In" to protest the scheduled execution of Michael Morales will be held on Monday, February 13th at 4:00pm at the California State Building in San Francisco. Flyer On Monday, February 20th, the day before the scheduled execution, there will be a walk for abolition starting at 6:45am. The march will end at 6:00pm at San Quentin State Prison. That night there will be a protest at San Quentin, beginning at 8:00pm. There will also be protests that day in San Rafael, San Jose, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Redwood City, Palo Alto, Modesto, Fresno, El Cerrito, and Alameda on the 20th. (source: Indybay) ***************** Judge may be willing to postpone state's next execution A San Jose federal judge on Thursday suggested he may be willing to postpone California's next scheduled execution later this month so he can hold a full-blown evidentiary hearing to consider a constitutional challenge to the state's lethal injection procedure. U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel did not rule on convicted killer Michael Morales' bid to delay his Feb. 21 execution date, but said he would issue a decision by next Tuesday on whether his legal challenge to lethal injection deserves more thorough consideration. Morales' lawyers argue the state's lethal injection method amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Noting that similar challenges have been filed on the eve of other recent executions, Fogel indicated the time may be ripe to address the central issues. "It seems to me that peoples' confidence in the integrity of this process may be assisted by some sort of evidentiary proceeding,'' Fogel said. ``There is a window of opportunity here." If Fogel holds a hearing to consider expert testimony and other evidence related to the constitutionality of lethal injection, it could be no more than a temporary reprieve for Morales. The judge said he believed he could hold such a hearing within 60 to 90 days, so if Morales loses, he could face another execution date later this year. Assistant Attorney General Dane Gillette, who opposes any delay, said the state would appeal a stay. Morales was sentenced to die for the 1981 rape and murder of a 17-year-old Lodi girl. He is one of many death row inmates around the nation who argue that the progression of drugs used in executions masks pain and suffering that would violate the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Most legal experts doubt the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually ban the use of lethal injection, but it could be a year or more before the issue is resolved in the lower courts. Morales' lawyers hope to use medical and eyewitness evidence from other California executions to prove problems in the process, one of the reasons the judge is considering the need for testimony and more detailed information. State prosecutors and death penalty supporters say there is no evidence inmates suffer in lethal injection executions. Meanwhile, Morales' lawyers on Thursday asked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to hold a hearing to consider his request for clemency. Morales has backing from the judge who sentenced him to die, as well as 6 jurors at his 1983 trial. San Joaquin County prosecutors oppose clemency, saying Morales' crime was particularly brutal. (source: Mercury News)
