Feb. 19
NORTH CAROLINA:
Death penalty in Anderson case?
Prosecutors hope to announce within the next few weeks whether they will
seek the death penalty for Jerry Anderson, a 46-year-old Sawmills man
indicted Monday in the shooting death of his wife, Emily.
On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Beverly Beal ordered a pretrial
conference for Friday, when the judge will schedule another hearing.
At the later hearing, the district attorney's office will formally
announce whether it will seek the death penalty, Assistant District
Attorney Eric Bellas, the case's lead prosecutor, said Tuesday.
Prosecutors will ask the judge to set the hearing for March 6, Bellas
said.
Emily Anderson, 49, was found shot to death in the tool compartment of her
pickup truck on Jan. 7, nearly 10 days after her husband had reported her
missing. Caldwell County investigators are still looking into the case.
(source: Charlotte Observer)
*********************
Alone, he takes on executions----Cary man uses lawsuits in his crusade
against the death penalty
There are all sorts of people attacking the death penalty in North
Carolina.
There are the legal scholars, civil rights groups, some politicians,
religious organizations and lawyers who have honed their skills in state
and federal courts.
Then there is James Chapman French Jr., who tends to go his own way.
French, a Cary resident, was trained as a lawyer and has spent years
thinking about the death penalty. He has written an unproduced play about
it and spent hundreds of hours in the UNC-Chapel Hill law library
researching lethal injection.
Suing state officials for the second time in less than 3 years, French
claims that the manner in which North Carolina carries out death sentences
violates his rights as a Christian.
"I'm not looking to be an activist or be a newspaper story," he said in a
recent interview.
"This was all an exercise in finding the law," he said, explaining that he
is compelled to fight the state. In killing someone, French said, North
Carolina acts on his behalf even though he does not support the death
penalty.
But the latest suit against Gov. Mike Easley and many other officials
doesn't seek to stop executions. French, 52, said he wants to force the
state to change how capital punishment is carried out. That means ending
the "Last Supper" ritual for the condemned and forcing executions into the
light of day.
French points to the Bible's telling of the crucifixion of Jesus.
Before his trial and execution, Jesus gathered his 12 disciples for a
Passover meal. Christians commemorate the Last Supper during the Easter
season on what is called Holy Thursday.
Like today's condemned inmates, Jesus knew he would die the next day. The
crucifixion and death of Jesus are remembered on Good Friday.
When their time is up, North Carolina's death row inmates are offered a
meal on a Thursday evening and get a lethal injection at 2 a.m. Friday.
Suit claims mockery
"In modern times, in North Carolina, the defendant state ... attempts to
force the plaintiff and other similarly situated believing Methodists
among our people to accept the power of the state to do whatever it wills
by humiliating and mocking every condemned prisoner with taxpayer-funded
last suppers," the lawsuit says.
French espouses a position in line with his denomination, the United
Methodist Church, and its "social principles" that oppose the death
penalty.
French's 100-page lawsuit, filed in Wake County Superior Court, alleges
that state executions mock a "dignified" moment in the Christian
tradition.
"Can you explain it?" he said. "It goes back so far in time. They don't
know why they do it. They'll say they've always done it."
Executions are scheduled on Fridays mostly as a consideration to
employees, state Department of Correction spokesman Keith Acree said.
"A lot of them will work their regular shift in the prison, and then their
duties on the execution team keep them there until 2 or 3 in the morning,"
he said. "It gives them some time off afterward." He added that some get a
3-day weekend.
As for the lawsuit, Acree said, "There have been several challenges to the
method over the past several years, and the method still stands."
In 2003, French challenged in court the drug cocktail that kills the
condemned in North Carolina, claiming that lethal injection is inhumane
and that it is unethical for nurses and physicians to participate in the
procedure.
He filed that lawsuit on his own in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the
execution of William Quentin Jones, who was convicted of murder in Wake
County.
The suit, which named Central Prison warden Marvin Polk and state boards
that regulate medicine, pharmacy and nursing, was dismissed on the grounds
that French had no "genuine case or controversy" -- as a death row inmate
might have -- with Polk or prison medical personnel. The case also was
dismissed because it was in the public's interest to do so, the judge
wrote.
The latest lawsuit names more than two dozen people including Attorney
General Roy Cooper, Correction Secretary Theodis Beck, state prison
Director Boyd Bennett and warden Polk, as well as the penitentiary's
physician and surgeon.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs have filed court papers asking a judge to
dismiss French again.
Other religious people have mounted efforts against capital punishment,
namely People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, based in Carrboro, which
is pushing for a state moratorium until the death penalty it is studied
further by North Carolina.
Under cloak of night
Like many death penalty opponents, French said there is something shameful
about a state that handles executions at 2 a.m. -- under the cloak of
darkness, after the night's TV newscasts, while newspapers are printing
and most people are sleeping.
If they are going to continue, French said he thinks executions should
happen during business hours, but never on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays,
Sundays or any religious holiday.
He was among the crowd of protesters outside Central Prison last month in
the chilly night air as a Thursday faded into a Friday morning -- the day
Perrie D. Simpson was executed. Simpson, 43, was sentenced to death for
the 1984 strangulation and robbery of an elderly minister in Rockingham
County.
For his last supper, Simpson requested a McRib sandwich from McDonald's, a
double cheeseburger from Wendy's, macaroni and cheese, cheesecake and a
Pepsi.
North Carolina's next execution is scheduled for March 17. Early that
Friday, Patrick Lane Moody, 39, is scheduled to die for the 1994 murder of
Donnie Ray Robbins in Davidson County.
(source: The News & Observer)
OKLAHOMA:
BUSKEN TRIAL: Killer Sanchez gets death penalty; Judge follows jury's call
on man, 27, convicted in Benton woman's 1996 murder
After almost 9 hours of deliberations Friday, a Cleveland County jury in
Norman, Okla., recommended that Anthony Castillo Sanchez die for the 1996
slaying of University of Oklahoma dance student Jewell "Juli" Busken of
Benton.
Jurors, several of them fighting back tears, returned the decision at 9
p.m. to a courtroom filled with spectators and ringed with sheriff's
deputies and police officers.
Sanchez, convicted Wednesday of 1st-degree murder, rape and sodomy,
remained calm when the decision was read.
Members of Sanchez's family left the courtroom crying.
An angry grandmother, Ernestine Fox, yelled, "Silas Lyman should not have
a license to practice law!"
Lyman and co-defense attorney Diane Box said nothing to Sanchez when the
jury's decision was read.
Sanchez has repeatedly told the judge he wanted his defense counsel fired.
After embracing each other, Bud and Mary Jean Busken were escorted by
deputies from the courtroom.
A tearful Bud Busken told reporters, "I am sad that any of this had to
happen. 2 lives have been lost because someone made a bad choice."
Mary Jean Busken said the couple would return to Benton and go on with
their lives.
Bud Busken said, "Juli was a sweet girl. She wouldn't be happy, either. We
feel for Anthony's family."
Sharon Fox, Sanchez's sister, sobbed on the courthouse steps and screamed,
"He didn't do it! I will die for Anthony. Let me die for Anthony."
Megan Hulitt, who was a dance student at OU and close friend of
21-year-old Juli Busken, was the last of her friends to see her when
Busken dropped Hulitt off at Will Rogers World Airport early Dec. 20,
1996.
Hulitt traveled from out of state with her husband for the 2-week trial.
"I'm glad it's over for all of Juli's family and friends," Hulitt said
outside the courtroom. "I'm kind of in shock right now. I just hope this
gives Juli's family some peace."
Mary Margaret Holt, OU school of dance director, knew Juli Busken for 4
years while she was a student.
"I don't think I believe in closure in a case like this because Juli is
gone," Holt said.
She said the OU community was not the same in the years after her death.
"We're going to miss her forever and regret her death forever."
The jury began to deliberate punishment shortly before 11 a.m.
About 5 p.m., the jury sent a note to the judge that said they were at an
impasse.
District Judge Bill Hetherington told jurors to return to deliberate "as
long as you are still having meaningful dialogue."
Sanchez's father, Glynn Sanchez, had to be supported by relatives and
helped out of the courthouse.
District Attorney Tim Kuykendall said Friday's icy weather was "as cold as
the day Juli died."
The jury's decision ended a case that dates back more than 9 years. Busken
disappeared from her Norman apartment complex, then was found dead on the
shore of Lake Stanley Draper in Oklahoma City.
For several years, police did not have a firm suspect. A DNA profile was
eventually made from semen stains found on Busken's clothing.
In 2004, state investigators found a match between the profile and a
profile taken from Sanchez after he entered the prison system on a
burglary conviction. Oklahoma law mandates that all violent offenders and
convicted burglars submit a blood sample so their DNA profiles can be
entered into a statewide database.
Sanchez had been charged with rape in connection with the burglary, but
the charge was dismissed during a negotiated plea.
During closing arguments of the penalty phase of the trial, prosecutors
urged jurors to give Sanchez a death sentence.
"There are things people do to other people, so evil, so depraved, that
they forfeit their right to walk among us," prosecutor Richard Sitzman
said. Sitzman urged jurors to assess the death penalty to "end this evil
here and now, stop it dead in its tracks."
Lyman asked jurors to show mercy and compassion to Sanchez.
"The death penalty eliminates evil," Lyman said. "But it also eliminates
the good."
Sanchez is "not the sum total of one day," Lyman said. "Anthony Sanchez is
not all evil."
Kuykendall asked the jury, "Compassion? What compassion did Anthony
Sanchez show Juli Busken? What chance did he give her?"
Sanchez was also given a 40-year sentence for the rape conviction and a
20-year sentence for sodomy.
Busken disappeared from her Norman apartment complex early that morning
after taking Hulitt to the airport and later was found dead on the shore
of Lake Stanley Draper in far southeast Oklahoma City.
It was several years before a DNA profile was made from semen stains found
on Busken's clothing.
In 2004, state investigators found a match between the profile and a newer
profile taken from Sanchez when he entered the prison system on a burglary
conviction.
State law requires all violent offenders and convicted burglars to submit
a blood sample so their DNA profiles can be entered into a statewide
database.
*************************
Bud Busken: 'I have new respect for the system'
Shortly before leaving Norman, Okla., today, Benton resident Bud Busken
told the Benton Courier he and wife Mary Jean were "ready to go out of
here and get back home."
"The verdict was what we hoped for," he said. "We were good with the
penalty either way - death or life without parole because he wasn't going
to see daylight again."
Bud Busken was referring to the trial of Anthony Castillo Sanchez, who was
convicted of rape, sodomy and first-degree murder for the Dec. 20, 1996,
death of the Buskens' daughter, Juli Busken. A jury of 9 women and 3 men
recommended the death penalty at the close of the trial Friday night.
Juli Busken had just completed requirements for a fine arts degree in
dance when she was killed. She had planned to return to Benton that day
and was already enrolled at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville to
take coursework related to her plans to open a dance studio.
"It was a somber experience hearing the jury's decision," Bud Busken said.
"It was not a happy moment. I feel for his family. It's not their fault,
it's not our fault, but 2 lives are going to be lost because he (Sanchez)
made a bad decision.
"It's a sad, sad situation," Busken added.
"After we heard (Wednesday) that he had been convicted, we were thankful
for that. This death penalty decision is a little different. There was no
high-fiving or anything like that. It was somber."
Busken said he has "great respect for the jurors" and "a new respect for
the [judicial] system."
"I talked to the defense attorneys and told them we understood that they
had a job to do and they did it well. They did it with class. Our side did
a great job. It was their job to prosecute, and they had their ducks lined
up and got it done."
Referring to his statement regarding "faith in the system," he said
Sanchez "was innocent till proven guilty, but our side proved he was
guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt."
"I don't think there's a question about it," Busken added. "I learned more
about courtrooms than I ever wanted to know. The prosecutors had
aggravating circumstances lined up and all three of those circumstances
were right on target. The judge even said that he concurred that they had
proven the three aggravating circumstances."
Busken explained those "aggravating circumstances - as the facts that "he
kidnapped, raped and sodomized her, then murdered her to keep from being
prosecuted for rape and sodomy. The third one had to do with cruelty and
malice aforethought."
"We feel greatly relieved that this is over," Busken said. "We were short
of rooms last night at the motel and one of our relatives who was staying
in our room said she heard Mary Jean sighing most of the night.
"We're ready to get home and ready to see other friends who couldn't
attend the trial and see others to thank them for their thoughts and
prayers. There are lots of good friends who wanted to let us know they
were thinking of us. At times we had over 50 people in courtroom,
including people from 8 states. "It made all the difference in the world
to have all those people around you. Some were family, but many were not.
"The police escorted us everywhere after the conviction as a precaution,
which we appreciated," Busken said. "And we appreciate the media coverage,
both in Arkansas and Oklahoma. They have treated us fairly and have kept
this before the people, which only helped.
"The story was as much in the public's eyes here as it was shortly after
it (Juli Busken's murder) happened.
"There were people from Norman and the whole state, including lots of OU
people, who came up to us and offered support. Today when we were having
breaking, a couple from Amarillo, Texas, commended us for our strength.
They said their son lives around here and they have kept up with this for
9 years.
"Of course, it's been foremost in our thoughts, but it's amazing how so
many other people could continue to keep this in their thoughts," Busken
said.
Barry Switzer, a former Arkansan and former University of Oklahoma and
Dallas Cowboys coach, attended the trial nearly every day, Busken said.
"On the first day he spoke to us in the courthouse and I asked him, are
you here for the trial?'
"He said yes, because this has affected us, our whole community.' He told
us he'd be here to support you guys.'
"We're so thankful for things like this," Busken added. "The people of
Oklahoma have been so gracious to us and we have not had a chance to tell
them until now."
As both he and his wife have done many times previously, Bud Busken
referred to their faith. "Our faith is what it ultimately comes back to.
This is where we draw our strength.
"People had prayer chains from Florida to California. People came up to us
to tell us 'we're in a prayer group and we've got entire congregations
praying for you guys.'
"That's what is helping us deal with the death penalty," he said. "We
chose not to get involved with that. However it turned out, we were not
going to get crossways with the prosecution and that's [death penalty]
what they wanted."
Busken concluded by saying that "justice has been served. It truly was
'Justice for Juli.'"
(source for both: The Benton (Ark.) Courier)
