Feb. 11
SOUTH CAROLINA----female faces death sentence
Sentencing in death penalty case postponed for up to 3 months
The sentencing hearing for Samantha Morgan-Major scheduled to begin Monday
has been delayed for up to 3 months after Judge Roger Young granted a
continuance to the defense Friday, according to the judge's office.
Morgan-Major pleaded guilty in January to the 2004 beating death of Brett
Kinney, a physically disabled and brain damaged man.
Her defense lawyer, Sam Bauer, filed the motion for a 90-day continuance
Friday morning, and an over-the-phone hearing was held Friday afternoon
for the judge to approve it, 14th Circuit Court Solicitor Duffie Stone
said.
Morgan-Major faces the death penalty, and since she pleaded guilty, the
judge will decide her sentence.
Stone said he was disappointed the defense wasn't ready, and Kinney's
family said the continuance was frustrating, especially because 2 of his
siblings had planned to fly in this weekend for the hearing Monday.
"It would've been a relief to get it started," Kinney's sister Connie
Cormier said.
(source: Beaufort Gazette)
FLORIDA----re: foreign national on death row
Florida Reviews Case of German Death Row Inmate
Florida's Supreme Court is reviewing the case of a German, who was
sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend. Defense lawyers claim
to have new evidence that would exonerate the man.
Dieter Riechmann has spent the last 18 years on death row in Florida. In
November 1988, he was sentenced for the murder of his companion of 13
years, Kersten Kischnick.
The German has always maintained his innocence. Now, the state's supreme
court has begun discussions on whether to reopen the case, largely due to
flaws in the first trial.
"A lot of witnesses had lied and the main witness of the prosecution said
that he lied because he made a deal with the prosecution," said Sumit
Bhattacharyya, a US expert for the German division of Amnesty
International.
"Furthermore, there were some problems with testimonies of experts
concerning ballistics of the gun," he added. "Basically, the case was that
Riechmann's girlfriend was shot in the car. What was found in the car and
the prosecutor's perception of what had happened did not match."
A new witness comes forward
In addition, says Bhattacharyya, a fresh witness has come forward, who
claims to have seen who really murdered Kischnick.
On Oct. 25,1987, Kischnick, a German prostitute, was shot in the right
side of her head. Kischnick and Riechmann had spent the evening in a
cocktail bar, and were returning home.
Riechmann claimed that they had got lost in a Miami suburb and stopped to
ask a man on the street for directions. According to Riechmann, the man
then shot his companion, who was sitting in the passenger seat.
However, Riechmann's behavior following the incident was seen as
conspicuous by the jury. Apparently, he drove around looking for police
for half an hour after Kischnick was murdered.
In addition, a life insurance policy taken out by the couple awarded
Riechmann almost $2 million (1.67 million euros) in the event of
Kischnick's death. The events were suspicious enough for Riechmann to
receive the death penalty.
German government supports defense
But almost 20 years on, and after 2 appeals, Riechmann's defense team
contacted the German government, seeking support for a re-trial. A letter
was drafted by the German authorities sharply criticizing the verdict and
sent to the Supreme Court in Florida.
In the letter, the German foreign ministry made it clear that it found
there was insufficient evidence to sentence Riechmann to death. The
foreign office has also given hundreds of thousands of dollars for
Riechmann's defense.
The defense team is hoping the Supreme Court in Tallahassee will now find
enough reason to reopen the case. However, Sumit Bhattacharyya said it
could take a while before they make a decision.
"It might take a couple of years before a final decision is made," he
said, adding that it the court rejects the appeal, Riechmann might run out
of options in a very short time.
(source: Deutsche Welle)
*******************
He was on death row; now parole a possibility----In a plea bargain, a man
who was facing execution pleads guilty before his retrial and gets a life
sentence.
The bloody contract murders of 2 people in a Jacksonville Beach motel room
occurred more than a quarter century ago, and Barry Hoffman has spent most
of the time since on death row.
Now, instead of facing execution, Hoffman soon could be eligible for
parole. 5 years ago, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a new trial in the
1980 double-murder case after determining prosecutors withheld evidence
from Hoffman's lawyers.
Hoffman, now 58 and suffering from numerous health problems, pleaded
guilty Wednesday to 2 counts of 2nd-degree murder in exchange for a life
prison sentence.
"He should be eligible for parole consideration immediately under this
agreed-to sentence, and given his exemplary behavior in prison over the
years, it's my position he should be given favorable parole
consideration," said Hoffman's attorney, Thomas Bell.
But the prosecutor who engineered this week's plea bargain said the fact
that Hoffman murdered 2 people lessens the likelihood of parole. Assistant
State Attorney Stephen Bledsoe said Hoffman really wanted a deal that
would guarantee his release from prison in a few years, but Bledsoe
wouldn't go along.
The deal was worked out in a quiet Jacksonville courtroom outside the
media spotlight. But 25 years ago, the case had all the bombast of a
gangland slaying more reminiscent of Miami or New York than Jacksonville.
Hoffman and James R. White, 44, had been convicted of fatally stabbing and
slitting the throats of retired businessman Frank Ihlenfeld, 57, and Linda
Sue Parrish, 20, at the Jacksonville Beach Ramada Inn in September 1980.
According to testimony, the murders were committed for Jacksonville drug
dealer Lenny Mazzara because Ihlenfeld owed Mazzara's boss $10,000.
Hoffman was paid $5,000 by Rocco Marshall, who played in a rock band
Mazzara managed and whose wife also owed Mazzara's boss money for drugs.
White got paid $500 to be an accomplice. Hoffman initially confessed but
recanted during Mazzara's trial.
White and Mazzara are still serving life prison sentences for murder.
Marshall got immunity for testifying. Mazzara's boss, James Provost, died
of heart failure before trial. Hoffman was sentenced to death for
murdering Ihlenfeld and 100 years for murdering Parrish after jurors heard
about his previous confession and his fingerprints found on a cigarette
pack in the motel room.
But in 2001, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors in Hoffman's
1983 trial didn't disclose tests done on hairs found in Parrish's hands.
The hairs, from a white male, didn't match Hoffman, White or Ihlenfeld,
and the justices said that information could have swayed the jury had the
defense known about it.
The Supreme Court said prosecutors also erred by not disclosing that
another man named Bubba Jackson bragged to an informant that he had
stabbed Ihlenfeld. Florida discovery laws require prosecutors to share
potentially exculpatory evidence with defense lawyers.
Former prosecutor Michael Obringer, who tried Hoffman in 1983, deferred
comment until after Hoffman's April 4 re-sentencing. Prosecutors had
previously argued the hair could have come from anyone who had used the
motel room before Ihlenfeld and Parrish, and that Jackson was quickly
eliminated as a suspect by police.
Bell said he definitely would have used the hair evidence at Hoffman's
retrial, but that Jackson's statement would have been more difficult to
introduce because of rules against hearsay evidence.
In pleading guilty, Hoffman took responsibility for Ihlenfeld's murder and
admitted helping White kill Parrish, Bell said. He agreed to a life
sentence in Ihlenfeld's murder and a concurrent 50-year sentence in
Parrish's.
Relatives of the victims couldn't be located Friday, but Ihlenfeld's son
told the Times-Union in 2001 if prosecutors withheld evidence, there
should be a retrial.
Bledsoe said even if Hoffman had gone to trial and been convicted of
1st-degree murder, it's doubtful he ever would have been executed because
the appeals process would start over. He said the deal essentially mirrors
what Hoffman initially pleaded guilty to before recanting in 1983.
"It's not perfect justice," Bledsoe said. "We're 25 years down the road.
We have issues here that we didn't have before, so we think this is an
appropriate sentence."
******************
Investigation forces out DOC secretary
A massive state and federal investigation hit the top of the state
Department of Corrections on Friday, forcing Secretary James Crosby out of
office.
Gov. Jeb Bush asked for Crosby's resignation and confirmed the
investigation led to the downfall of Crosby, a 30-year corrections veteran
whom Bush appointed secretary in 2003.
"I'm saddened and really disappointed, but I had to do it," Bush said in a
news release. "But as the details come out, it'll be clear that it was the
appropriate thing to do."
Until Friday, Bush had staunchly backed Crosby, saying the issues were not
systemic and he had confidence in Crosby to right the ship.
A dozen corrections officers have been indicted for running a steroids
ring and embezzling from a state-run recycling program in the past 2
years, but Crosby hadn't been publicly implicated.
Crosby did not return a message left at his home seeking comment.
Bush named retired Col. James R. McDonough interim secretary. McDonough
has been director of the Governor's Office of Drug Control since 1999.
Last fall, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement seized vehicles,
utility trailers and other equipment from six current and former officers,
including longtime Crosby protege Allen Clark, who resigned in August.
Investigators were looking for a leaf blower, a firewood rack and a ladder
from Crosby as part of the investigation, though warrants were never
issued.
Crosby promoted Clark five times since 2000, including the position Clark
had overseeing 14 prisons in the Panhandle when he resigned amid the
swirling investigation.
As negative publicity hovered over the department and corrections officers
were being arrested, Crosby managed to stay out of the mess -- until
Friday.
"I think something major has happened that we have yet to discover," said
state Rep. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, who serves on a juvenile justice
committee and has been outspoken about the corrections department.
Problems over the past two years include:
- 10 current and former officers facing steroids-related charges -- with 5
accused of selling the drugs to fellow officers and others. 4 have been
sentenced, though none has gotten any prison time.
- Former corrections officer Bryan Griffis, who ran a state-run recycling
program, pleading guilty last month to embezzling from the facility.
Griffis already had pleaded guilty for his role in the steroids ring and
had a trailer and chin-up bar seized from his Raiford home.
- Former inmate John Bowers provided more than a dozen sketches of
trailers and other equipment he was ordered to build for guards. Bowers
carved his initials into some of his work, which made the items
identifiable when FDLE investigators took them from corrections officers
last fall.
- 6 current and former female corrections officers filed a lawsuit
alleging constant demands for sex by male guards and supervisors and
repeated groping, leering and joking about female anatomy. The
department's attorney was sanctioned by a federal judge this week for not
providing all of the documents the plaintiffs requested.
- A former minor league baseball player was arrested on theft charges for
allegedly being hired to work in Apalachee Correctional Institution
library but not working there. Investigators accuse him of being paid
specifically to play softball, including a tournament in Jacksonville that
the ACI team won.
Crosby rarely addressed the incidents initially but changed course after a
November weekend brawl at a Starke bar where four corrections officers
were arrested. A few days later, Crosby launched a new policy to
automatically suspend anyone arrested for an "act of aggression."
A task force appointed by Crosby determined last month that behavioral
problems within the department were not systemic.
Crosby was warden at Florida State Prison when guards were accused of
beating inmate Frank Valdes to death. The guards were found not guilty,
but Crosby and the guards are still facing a civil suit.
Crosby, who grew up in Starke, started with the department in 1975.
(source for both: Florida Times-Union)
OHIO:
More family members should be able to see executions
There is a certain sense of justice when the killer is found guilty in a
courtroom.
But, the void which should be filled by a lovedone contains memories,
which are all too quickly fading into the past.
But not so the life of the person who killed your loved one. He gets to
live, even if it's behind bars. Would it give closure to be able to see
that individual, that animal, put to death? It's a question only someone
in the situation can answer. But a rule requiring only 3 members of a
victim's family be allowed to view an Ohio execution is being decried by
members of Trina Bowser's family. In 1986, Bowser, of Tallmadge, was raped
and murdered by Glenn L. Benner II, who was executed Tuesday at the
Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.
Benner also raped and killed Cynthia Sedgwick, 26, of Cleveland Heights,
after a concert in 1985.
13 members of Bowser's family were at the prison to show support for their
lost loved one and to, maybe, reach a little bit of closure over her death
at the hands of someone thought to be a family friend.
If it means renovations to the death house itself, the rules should be
changed and money should be spent. If outfitting a room in which families
can gather to watch the executions via short-circuit television is an
option, it should be explored. If they need to have that sort of closure,
the state should provide for that -breaking down a few walls and adding
some chairs shouldn't break the state budget too much.
While the death penalty should be used only after all appeals are
exhausted or waived, the final thoughts should be of the victims' families
and their comforts. They already suffer more than their share of
heartaches.
(source: Opinion, Chillicothe Gazette)
*****************
Luebrecht pleads guilty to drowning son
Michael Luebrecht handed the paperwork back to his attorneys, nodded his
head and closed his eyes Friday.
The Fort Jennings man signed the legal documents admitting to drowning his
13-month-old son in May. His supportive wife said it was an act that was
"not just out of character for him; it was against his character" for a
man battling mental illness.
"We really didn't have much choice today but to plead guilty," a tearful
Amy Luebrecht said minutes after her husband agreed to a potential
sentence of life in prison with a possibility of parole in 20 to 30 years.
"Even though Mike was not himself and hadn't been for almost a year before
it happened, because of Ohio's state laws he was not left with any
choice."
Michael Luebrecht, 36, answered Judge Randall Basinger's questions with a
respectful "yes sir." The Putnam County Common Pleas Court judge asked if
the facts recited by Prosecutor Gary Lammers about the aggravated murder
charge were correct. Michael Luebrecht repeated the response when Basinger
asked him if he caused the death of his son, and he said "yes sir" again
when asked if the cause of death was drowning.
Michael Luebrecht agreed to the plea after Lammers agreed to withdraw the
death-penalty specification from the case.
"It was specifically mentioned that the death-penalty specification in
this matter would be withdrawn by the state," said William Kluge,
Luebrecht's defense attorney along with John Sabol.
Amy Luebrecht, in an exclusive interview following the change of plea,
said her husband didn't make a voluntary decision to kill their
13-month-old son at their home at 140 W. First St. in Fort Jennings. He
called 911 at 2:25 p.m. May 23 and told the dispatcher he drowned the
couple's youngest son. She said he was a troubled man who couldn't fight
off a compulsion.
"We're not talking about someone who comes up with an excuse why he
committed a crime," she said. "His psychiatric and medical files are
inches thick, from his hospitalization and trying different medicines to
help him get through his life. He was trying to live a normal life, and he
required help."
Lammers said removing the death penalty could lead to some peace for the
victim's family, who steadfastly supported Michael Luebrecht in the 10
months since the May 23 drowning.
"I'm glad for the family. Maybe they can put things to rest as much as
they can now," Lammers said. "It's been a tragic ordeal for them. Our
hearts go out to them. To finally put the criminal case somewhat to a
result, although we have sentencing yet, may help facilitate some degree
of closure on that."
Lammers requested Luebrecht face life in prison with a possibility for
parole after 30 years. Kluge requested a possibility for parole after 20
years and plans to introduce witnesses during the sentencing at 9 a.m.
March 6.
Michael Luebrecht appeared more alert in court Friday than he had in most
of his other appearances, especially early ones in which he appeared
dazed.
Basinger read a list of 4 medications currently prescribed to Michael
Luebrecht. Effexor and Wellbutrin are both considered antidepressants.
Doctors use Ativan to relieve anxiety, and Zyprexa is an antipsychotic
medication.
Amy Luebrecht declined to discuss the specific mental illness her husband
suffers, but she said testimony would explain it during the sentencing.
She said her husband hasn't resumed his regular demeanor and mood yet.
During visits with him at the jail, sometimes he returns to his regular
form, but often he's more quiet and reserved. She said his mood Friday
seemed to fall in the middle.
"He is a shell of the person he used to be," she said. "He is more aware
right now, but I think it's just acceptance that he has no choice in his
life anymore, so he'll just go on."
She expressed her wish that Ohio accepted "diminished capacity" when it
came to pleas of insanity, instead of requiring a person to always be sane
or always be insane.
Lammers said the complexities of mental illness made it difficult.
"It's not like you can go to the doctor, put a splint on (the mind) and it
heals itself," Lammers said. "You just never know what's causing those
emotions and those thoughts. Maybe that's why diminished capacity is maybe
not utilized or recognized in Ohio, because of that uncertainty of the
mental health diagnosis."
Amy Luebrecht expressed her gratitude for the Fort Jennings community and
Putnam County as her family trudged through the unfortunate ordeal. She
noted people often dropped off groceries for her, and donors brought
Christmas gifts to her 2 surviving children.
"Everyone we've seen has been very supportive. They'd all say Mike was a
really nice guy who they never saw get mad," Amy Luebrecht said. "It
wasn't that he disliked Joel; it was just the obsessive thoughts that were
in his head that made this happen."
(source: Lima News)
****************
Death-penalty foes don't consider killers' victims
In response to Regina Brett's Feb. 3 column regarding Ohio's death
penalty, in which she posits that it's not a deterrent to killings:
Picture this: A mother going to bed one night and looking forward to a
peaceful night and maybe some pleasant dreams. Instead, she's awoken at
1:20 a.m. by the doorbell. She looks out of the door and sees 2 policemen.
She opens the door, and they have her son's ID in their hands. They inform
the mother that her son has been shot and that they will drive her to the
hospital. Upon arriving at the hospital, she is told that her son is dead.
I was that mother, and this happened on July 11, 1994. My son, Chris, 22
years old, was walking home from work when 3 men tried to rob him, and
they shot him twice in the back.
For the past 12 years, 4 children - April, Jonquez, Keyanna, Chrishon -
grew up without their father. My daughter, Quiana, did not have her
brother around to share secrets and laughter, and her children, DeTrell
and Chyna, never had a chance to meet their uncle.
Everyday, Chris is greatly missed, and the pain never goes away. His
killers are currently in prison.
The death sentence may not be a deterrent to murder, but as a mother who
lost her 1st-born and only son to a senseless and heinous crime, I believe
that sometimes vengeance is all there is. On Tuesday, I didn't think about
Glenn Benner's execution. My mind was on my son - a victim.
Melaine M. Wesby -- Warrensville Heights
***********
Our esteemed new member of the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Samuel Alito,
deemed it proper to block the right of the state of Missouri to execute a
tried and convicted murderer of a 15-year-old girl ("Alito sides with
death-row inmate," Feb. 2).
A majority of the court has sided with this murderer who claims that
execution by lethal injection is a "cruel and unusual punishment." Since
when do criminals have so many rights, especially when they took away all
the rights of their victims without giving them a "chance to appeal"?
It baffles me that "justice" bends over backwards for the criminals:
giving them their "constitutional rights," suppressing evidence or
stopping trials on "technicalities." There is never any thought given to
the victims.
Execution is just punishment for murderers. To all the bleeding hearts who
claim otherwise - that it's government-sanctioned murder of our fellow
humans - I say, cancer cells are human cells, but they're removed by
doctors and destroyed.
Irmgard Mokos----Parma
(source: Letter to the Editor, Cleveland Plain Dealer)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Executions carried out in Centre County
Terry Chamberlain and John Koehler, convicted of 2 separate Bradford
County murders, have also received the death penalty in past years and are
now housed at State Correctional Institute Greene in Waynesburg.
Gary Heidnik was the last person executed in the state, on July 6, 1999.
He was executed by lethal injection. He was convicted and given 2 death
sentences in July 1988 for the savage murder of 2 women he kept as
prisoners in his home.
The 1st person in the state executed by lethal injection was Keith
Zettlemoyer, on May 2, 1995. He was executed for murdering a friend in
1980. Charles DeVetsco was slated to testify against him in a robbery
trial.
The last execution by electrocution in the state occurred on April 2,
1962. Elmo Smith was put to death for the rape and slaying of a Montgomery
County woman. The electric chair wasn't used again.
In November 1990, Pennsylvania's method of execution was changed by Gov.
Robert P. Casey from electrocution to lethal injection.
At SCI Rockview in Bellefonte , 350 people, including 2 women, were
executed in the electric chair between 1915 and 1962. Before legislation
in 1913 making electrocution the state's method of execution, hanging was
used in the state to execute people. In 1834, Pennsylvania was the 1st
state that went to private executions in county prisons and jails rather
than public hangings.
The electric chair, and associated equipment, were taken out of the
execution chamber of SCI Rockview in December 1990 and is now owned by the
Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission.
Executions are now conducted in a former field hospital outside the
perimeter of SCI Rockview. It's on the prison grounds and is now a
maximum-security building housing capital cases shortly before execution.
The renovated 2-story building includes 3 cells, cell furniture, an
electronic monitoring system, phones, floor covering, a new
climate-control system and locking mechanisms.
Individuals who are technically competent with training or experience are
used by the state Department of Corrections to do lethal injections.
Executions are scheduled for 7 p.m. on the day designated by the
governor's warrant. While at SCI Rockview, the inmate to be executed eats
the same food that is eaten by the rest of the inmate population, but the
individual is allowed to request one special meal from a menu of available
items.
An open phone line between SCI Rockview and the Governor's Office is kept
to receive word of last-minute reprieves.
(source: Daily and Sunday Review)
US MILITARY:
Military asks Bush to OK executions at Ft. Leavenworth
Kansas could see its 1st legal execution in 4 decades if President Bush
approves a military request to put to death 2 inmates at Fort Leavenworths
U.S. Disciplinary Barracks.
If approved, the lethal-injection executions of Ronald A. Gray and Dwight
J. Loving would be the first at Leavenworth since an Army private was
hanged in 1961 for rape and attempted murder - and the 1st in the state
since George York and James Latham were hanged by the state for murder in
1965.
"The process is a long way from coming to fruition," said Lt. Col. Pamela
Hart, an Army spokeswoman in Washington, D.C. "The president is under no
timeline (to approve execution) whatsoever."
When asked why the Army is now moving to resume executions after 45 years,
Hart said, "I don't have that answer."
Gray has been on the military prison's death row since April 1988 for
convictions for rape, sodomy and multiple murders while stationed with the
Army at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Loving arrived on death row the next year after being convicted of killing
2 taxicab drivers while he was an Army private at Fort Hood, Texas.
Fort Leavenworth has been home to the military prison, which houses
inmates from all service branches, since the 1870s. A new facility that
opened in 2002 includes space for an execution chamber, but it has not
been equipped.
Virgil Dean, a historian at the Kansas State Historical Society, said that
Leavenworth executions were once quite common. And the 1st legal execution
after Kansas became a state, he said, was a military execution.
"There were quite a number of executions at Leavenworth prior to 1961,"
Dean said. "About 1/2 the number of executions carried out in Kansas were
carried out at the federal facility."
Modern-day executions at the fort will draw opposition.
"Of course, we oppose the death penalty whether it's at the state or
federal level," said Bill Lucero, with the Kansas Coalition Against the
Death Penalty. "It doesn't make us any safer, thats the bottom line."
But Jeffrey Jackson, a Washburn University law professor who once served
as the Kansas Supreme Court's staff attorney on the death penalty matter,
said he didnt believe federal executions would have any effect on the
state debate over the issue.
"I'm not sure that it makes us more likely to be pro-death penalty or
anti-death penalty, just because it's happening on Kansas soil," Jackson
said. "I think it'd be different for a crime committed in Kansas."
The state debate is unresolved. In December 2004, the Kansas Supreme Court
declared the state's death penalty unconstitutional, vacating the death
penalty for 6 men facing execution. The ruling said the death penalty
statute was unconstitutional because of how juries weigh arguments for and
against the death penalty during sentencing.
The case is now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.
(source: Lawrence Journal World)
