Feb. 11 TEXAS: Court turns down murderer's claims of mental retardation----James Henderson to die for 1993 shooting death Texas' highest criminal appeals court has rejected a Red River County man's claim that he is mentally retarded in an effort to avoid the death penalty. In the recent ruling, the Court of Criminal Appeals backed a decision made by 102nd District Judge John F. Miller who found that James Lee Henderson is not mentally retarded. Henderson, 32, based his argument on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a person with an IQ less than 70 can be considered mentally retarded. Henderson had an IQ of 77 in 1994. When he arrived on death row, he was tested and scored 83. In 2004, he scored 66. Henderson had been scheduled for execution for the shooting death and robbery of 85-year-old Martha Lennox of Clarksville. She was a member of a wealthy pioneer Red River County family. Lennox's home, land and millions of dollars were placed in a foundation for charities in Red River and Lamar counties. The case dates back to Oct. 29, 1993, when Henderson and his co-denfendant, Willie Poindexter, each shot Lennox in her head and face. A small amount of money and Lennox's car were taken at the time of her death. Henderson and Poindexter were arrested in Dallas in Lennox's car. The trial was moved from Red River County to Bowie County because of excessive pretrial publicity. Henderson was convicted of capital murder on June 2, 1994. Henderson's unsuccessfully appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the federal district court and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Henderson's bid to take up the case on Jan. 26, 2004. (source: Texarkana Gazette) *************** Execution Of El Paso Man Delayed Tony Ford, an El Paso man scheduled for execution next month, has a little more time on his hands. District Court Judge William Moody abated the March order because DNA testing must be done on clothing that could clear Ford's name. The clothes will be sent to California in the next 2 weeks, and Judge Moody says results could be in by mid-March. Ford has always maintained his innocence in the 1991 shooting death of 17-year-old Armando Murillo. (source: KFOX TV News) CALIFORNIA: Forgery Is Alleged in Killer's Clemency Bid -- Prosecutors say 5 of 6 sworn statements of jurors seeking to halt execution were falsified. Sworn statements of 5 of 6 jurors urging clemency for death row inmate Michael Morales - a convicted murderer they recommended be executed - were forged documents, the San Joaquin County district attorney's office said Friday. Prosecutors and legal scholars predicted that the development would cast a pall over Morales' efforts to persuade Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to stop his Feb. 21 execution and commute his sentence to life in prison without parole. "Let's put it this way: It can't help him," San Joaquin County Deputy Dist. Atty. Charles Schultz said. "The affidavits were forged, complete works of fiction. Whoever wrote them broke the law. "It's amazing. If you wrote this up for a movie script, it'd be rejected because it's too far out." Late Friday, however, one of Morales' attorneys defended the documents. "We stand by the validity of our investigation and the information we provided the governor," David Senior said in a statement. Loyola University law professor Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor, said Morales now faces a difficult task in trying to salvage his clemency petition. "It's unbelievable. This just dooms the man's fate," she said. "Now, he's not just a killer, he's a liar and a cheat too. I think the governor will be outraged that someone was playing him for a fool. "But it's also a fraud on the legal system. Perhaps Morales and his defense lawyers can try to distance themselves. But they have a lot of explaining to do." The affidavits were submitted Tuesday - under seal - to Schwarzenegger on Morales' behalf by his high-profile defense team: Senior and former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr. Starr was unavailable for comment Friday. In a brief interview, Senior said, "I've heard that story from them before," referring to prosecutors' questions about the validity of the documents. "If they want a hearing, we can sort the whole thing out." But later, in a statement, Senior chastised prosecutors for failing to "contact either Mr. Starr or me regarding these provocative allegations." "It goes without saying we have seen nothing to back up their charges," he said, "which appear timed to grab headlines rather than elicit a considered response from Mr. Morales' lawyers." In legal arguments submitted to Schwarzenegger on Friday, prosecutors named Kathleen Culhane as the Morales investigator who "supposedly interviewed 5 of the 6 jurors" who allegedly had a change of heart. Culhane, they added, also said she had interviewed a key witness in the case, Patricia Felix. They said that in her own sworn declarations, Culhane said she had met with Felix several times in January at Felix's home in Stockton, Calif. Felix has not lived at the address Culhane cited since July 2005, prosecutors said. Similarly, the 5 jurors in question told prosecutors under oath this week that "they have never been contacted by anyone from the Morales team, that they have no idea who Kathleen Culhane is, that they did not sign declarations the Morales team attributed to them, and most importantly, they do not support clemency," prosecutors said in arguments presented to Schwarzenegger. One juror's name was misspelled on one of the documents described as fabricated. "I never would have signed a declaration under penalty of perjury that included a misspelling of my name without at least correcting the misspelling," said the juror, whose name was redacted from the new declaration. A 6th juror also submitted a sworn declaration, but it was not forged. In it, the juror left the decision on Morales' fate up to the governor. A spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger said he would review all clemency-related information submitted to him by attorneys on both sides of the case. In the meantime, on a separate legal front in the Morales case, a federal judge in San Jose is expected to rule by Tuesday on whether to block the execution long enough to determine whether lethal injection is unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment. Morales' team argues that a paralyzing agent in the lethal injection procedure masks whether the inmate is in extreme pain before death. U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel's ruling has the potential to block all executions in California until the matter is resolved. (source: Los Angeles Times) *********************** Jury Letters Asking to Save Morales Faked Lawyers for a death row inmate, including former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr, sent fake letters from jurors asking California's governor to spare the man's life, prosecutors said Friday. The jurors denied they thought Michael Morales deserved clemency because some of the testimony at his trial may have been fabricated, said Nathan Barankin, spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer. "We showed each person the declaration on their behalf and they all said they didn't say that," Barankin said. San Joaquin County prosecutor Charles Schultz also said the letters sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week were "untrue" and "pure fiction." Starr was not immediately available for comment, said a spokeswoman for the Pepperdine School of Law, where Starr is the dean. Morales' other clemency attorney, David Senior from Los Angeles, said he stood by the validity of the six sworn statements he and Starr sent to the governor. He suggested that the jurors might have gotten cold feet when they were contacted by prosecutors in the last 2 days. "When the D.A. and A.G. show up with badges and guns and say whatever, they can intimidate a lot of people and that's their game," Senior said. On Friday, the San Joaquin District Attorney's office sent Schwarzenegger a new batch of sworn statements from 5 of those jurors saying they not only still supported capital punishment for Morales, but had never spoken with the defense investigator who claimed to have secured their signatures. Kathleen Culhane, the San Francisco private investigator who Starr and Senior said had interviewed the jurors, declined to comment. None of the 5 jurors involved in the legal tug-of-war, whose names were blacked out of the competing clemency documents to protect their privacy, could immediately be reached for comment. Morales is scheduled to be executed Feb. 21 for the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl in San Joaquin County 25 years ago. Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson declined to address the dispute, saying only that the governor, when deciding on clemency, will consider "all the information that is provided to him when making the decision." (source: Associated Press) NORTH CAROLINA: Group asks DA not to lead probe----Possible conflict of interest cited A professional group of N.C. attorneys is urging a local prosecutor to recuse himself from a possible felony case against his former boss and a judge. The N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers sent a letter to Union County District Attorney Michael Parker on Thursday asking Parker to turn over the investigation to a special prosecutor or "other person with whom there would be no appearance of a potential conflict of interest." Parker announced last week he would be spending at least a month examining the N.C. State Bar's allegations against former Union County District Attorney Ken Honeycutt and District Judge Scott Brewer, who sits in the same district. The bar accused Honeycutt and Brewer of lying and hiding evidence during a death penalty case that put defendant Jonathan Hoffman on death row for seven years. The bar turned its case against the men over to Parker because Parker has jurisdiction. The bar said the 2,000 pages contain evidence of felony obstruction of justice and subornation of perjury by the men, who have denied the accusations. Honeycutt recommended that Parker, then his chief deputy, replace him when he retired and went into private practice in 2004. Brewer is now a judge in Parker's district. Parker's office is also preparing to retry the case at the center of the accusations -- Hoffman won a new trial in 2004, and is headed back to court this fall. Those are reasons the academy is asking for Parker to recuse himself. The academy says it doesn't doubt Parker's "integrity or ability," but it has "a deep concern about maintaining public confidence in our profession." Nearly 4,000 N.C. attorneys belong to the academy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan association that advocates for legal education and equal legal protection. Parker has declined comment about the possible conflict of interest. ******************* ---- female faces death penalty Death penalty sought in Midland house fire----Woman accused of setting the blaze that killed her 2 children Prosecutors with the Cabarrus County District Attorney's Office said Friday they will seek the death penalty against a Midland woman charged with setting the house fire that killed her 2 children. Lisa Louise Greene is charged with 2 counts of 1st-degree murder and 1 count of 1st-degree arson in the Jan. 10 fire on Candilara Lane in Midland. Greene is accused of starting the fire outside a bedroom where her children Addison, 8, and Daniel, 10, had been sleeping. She told investigators she tried but couldn't save them. She said she ran out of the house in Midland to get help from a neighbor but fell, twisting her ankle. A hearing to determine whether prosecutors will be allowed to seek the death penalty is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday. (source for both: Charlotte Observer) OREGON: No contest plea staves off death penalty ---- Confidential deal - Deniz Aydiner is sentenced to life in prison in the 2001 death of UP student Catherine Johnson Deniz C. Aydiner, a Turkish citizen linked by DNA to the 2001 sexual assault and killing of a University of Portland student, pleaded no contest Friday and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 37 years. Multnomah County Judge Keith Meisenheimer said the sentence was appropriate, given the "extreme cruelty and brutality" of the May 29, 2001, killing of Catherine Mary Helene Johnson. "It will consume most, if not all of the rest of his life," Meisenheimer said. "He will not have a family of his own." Aydiner, 32, also agreed to perform certain "obligations" under a confidential deal reached with Johnson's family and the family's attorney, John R. Potter of Vancouver. The details were sealed. Prosecutors said this clause was key to arriving at the plea deal but declined to discuss it. Yet several lawyers not involved in the case and a victim's advocate have said that it likely would require Aydiner to have a "sit down" with the victim's family or attorney and provide testimony that would support a future wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against the University of Portland. Johnson's family retained Potter to evaluate whether to pursue legal action against the university. So far, no civil action has been filed. The police investigation into Johnson's killing had revealed Aydiner had burglarized 3 other women's rooms in the same Mehling Hall dormitory where Johnson was killed during spring break 2001, more than two months before Johnson's death. A dormitory master key had been stolen. Public safety officers and resident assistants told investigators that the university had started changing locks on the interior dorm rooms but hadn't finished before Johnson's killing. Friends found Johnson, 21, sexually assaulted and strangled in a second-floor room of Mehling Hall. Her room was locked, and she was discovered lying on her back on the floor, unclothed. Medical examiners noticed a "railroad-track-pattern" injury around her wrists, suggesting she was restrained by handcuffs, court reports said. She had moved into the dormitory 2 weeks earlier to work as a residence hall monitor for summer session. Johnson's mother, Edie Rollison, speaking from the front row of the crowded courtroom Friday, said the family is glad to be spared a public trial and the lengthy appeals process. She addressed her remarks to Aydiner, who sat with his back to her, expressionless throughout the proceeding. "Perhaps someday you will come clean. I pray that someday you will be able to make a full confession," she said. "Today is a step, but not the end. Pleading no contest is just not enough . . . tell the truth." She recounted how she learned of her daughter's death. She was watching the TV news and heard the report on the university homicide. Although it did not mention the victim's name, Johnson's mother said she had a sinking feeling right away. "I knew immediately it was Kate," she said, "and at that moment my life as I knew it came to an end." Once the numbness of learning her daughter was killed eased, the mother said she vowed to be strong. Yet she said there were still times she wanted to die, and times of "gut-wrenching agony" that would come amid periods of intense pride and joy for all that her daughter was able to accomplish in her short lifetime. Kate Johnson, as she was known, was born in Hillsboro and grew up in Vancouver. She graduated at the top of her class at Evergreen High School. Her 1st college choice was Pacific Lutheran University, but financial incentives wooed her to the University of Portland, 17 miles from home. There, she was a music education major, student-taught to prepare herself for a job as a high school band teacher and volunteered for Habitat for Humanity. Edie Rollison told Aydiner he not only cut Kate's life short but tormented her relatives, namely her brother, 24-year-old Jason Johnson. "I see his pain, and I hurt all over again," she said. "You took his only sister, and that is just wrong." Search for a killer Johnson's high-profile and violent death -- the university's first on-campus homicide of a student -- stunned the community and frustrated detectives. Police had not identified a suspect more than a year after her death. Initially, they began taking oral swabs from staff and others who had access to her dorm to compare DNA with crime scene evidence. By early 2003, with no firm leads, a team of 4 detectives widened their scope, seeking oral swabs for DNA evidence from others who had contact with Johnson and were on campus at the time. In February 2003, Aydiner, a former university student who had been an acquaintance of Johnson, fell within that group and police said he voluntarily agreed to have detectives take a swab. DNA evidence obtained from a stain on a pillowcase in Johnson's room and from a swab taken from her right wrist matched Aydiner's DNA profile. By then, Aydiner had left the country and was in Turkey; his U.S. business visa also had expired. Federal agencies assisted police to make sure Aydiner obtained the necessary visa to return to the United States. He was arrested Jan.16, 2004, at the airport. Under the 24-page agreement hashed out after days of intense negotiations, Aydiner pleaded no contest to 10 counts of aggravated murder, 1 count of 1st-degree sex abuse, 1 count of attempted rape; 2 counts of 1st-degree sodomy and 4 counts of burglary. 3 of the burglary charges stem from break-ins to 3 other students' dorm rooms in Mehling Hall during spring break 2001. Police recovered stolen women's necklaces and earrings in the North Portland home Aydiner shared with his wife. All interests served? Judge Meisenheimer said the death penalty was not warranted in Aydiner's case because he had no prior criminal record. Yet he said the crime demanded the "most serious of consequences." "A more horrendous crime is difficult to imagine," the judge said. Given 2 years credit for time already served in jail, Aydiner will be eligible for parole in 35 years, or at age 67. He will be eligible to petition for parole only if he adheres to all terms of the plea deal and shows good behavior in prison. If paroled, he will be immediately deported to Turkey and can never become a U.S. citizen. He will also have to register as a sex offender and remain on post-prison supervision the rest of his life. "Mr. Aydiner will never be free to threaten this community," Meisenheimer said. Prosecutors Don Rees and Norm Frink said the plea and sentence served the family's and the state's interests. Another factor that led to the plea agreement was the potential that the DNA evidence could have been thrown out at trial. "The prosecution could not have prevailed without DNA evidence," Frink said. Stephen Houze, Aydiner's defense attorney, had argued that Aydiner did not knowingly and voluntarily provide an oral swab for DNA purposes because police were not forthright on how it could impact his immigration status. In a tape-recorded phone call with a Portland detective, Aydiner expressed concerns about his immigration status and the police said the request for his DNA had nothing to do with that. Houze argues that while police were seeking it for a criminal case, it clearly could affect his immigration, according to court records. Houze will continue to argue before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that law enforcement violated international law by luring Aydiner back from Turkey in 2004 to arrest him. But the state, buoyed by opinions from Multnomah County circuit, appeals and state Supreme Court judges who rejected Houze's argument, are confident that his appeal will fail. Mother's last words Friends of the Johnson family, another victim who had her dorm room burglarized by Aydiner, police detectives and a university pastor attended Friday's hearing. In a prepared statement, the Rev. E. William Beauchamp, university president, thanked police for their work and said he was grateful to the justice system for helping to resolve Johnson's tragic loss. Rollison was the only family member to speak in court. When she spoke, tears flowed from the victim's father, Russell Johnson, and Kate's brother hung his head between his hands. The mother said she's forgiven Aydiner and doesn't harbor anger but much sadness for him. "No one can ever take away our memories of the past," Edie Rollison said. "Not even murder can separate us from Kate." Aydiner didn't move. "You have not and will not destroy my life," she said. "I am strong. I am a child of God, and Kate's mother forever." (source: The Oregonian) USA: End death penalty The death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. Sentencing a convict to the death penalty for murder means the state is committing murder as well. 12 states prohibit the death penalty. I believe all states should prohibit this cruel act. The death penalty isn't preventing murders. All it is doing is taking one more life. The death penalty has been applied in a racist and unfair way, with more black and poor people than other convicts receiving the death penalty for similar crimes. We also need to pay attention to murderers with mental illnesses. If a person with a mental illness kills a person without knowing what he or she is doing, should the person be put to death? Researchers have found at least 23 cases where an innocent person was executed. The execution of an innocent person is a crime that should not be forgiven. MEGHAN O'BRIEN - Mount Laurel (source: Letter to the Editor, Cherry Hill (N.J.) Courier Post)
