Feb. 23 FLORIDA: 26th Wrongly Convicted Florida Death Row Inmate to be Freed Florida death row prisoner John Robert Ballard was acquitted today by a unanimous decision of the Florida Supreme Court, which ordered his conviction overturned due to a lack of evidence connecting him to the crime. Ballard is not expected to be immediately released because the state attorney general's office has 15 days to ask the court to reconsider. After serving more than 3 years on death row for a crime he did not commit, Ballard will very soon become the 26th person to be exonerated and released from Florida's death row since 1972. "The only thing new in this case is the name of the person who was wrongly convicted," said Abe Bonowitz, director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "The important question is this: How many of these cases must be exposed before Governor Jeb Bush admits that the death penalty system in this state is flawed? Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) again demands an immediate "time-out" on executions until the public can be guaranteed that Florida's criminal justice system is both fair and accurate." FADP reminds the public that the State of Florida will give Mr. Ballard a paltry $100 in cash when they free him after more than 3 years of incarceration. In order to assist Mr. Ballard and others like him, FADP has established an "Exonerated Prisoner Relief Fund." Details are available at http://www.fadp.org/relief_fund.html or by calling 800-973-6548. TECHNICAL NOTE: FADP's count is 26 exonerees, however the national count maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center does not include William Jent, Ernest Miller, Joe Spaziano and Sonia Jacobs, who were all released from death row with substantial evidence of their innocence. Their convictions were overturned and they reluctantly entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge because of the threat of possibly receiving another death sentence. In all of these cases, FADP believes that no responsible jury would find them guilty. For more information, please see http://www.fadp.org (source: Christian Wire Service) **************** Fla. Supreme Court acquits condemned man The Florida Supreme Court unanimously ordered the acquittal of a death row inmate Thursday, saying prosecutors had not proved he killed 2 neighbors. John Robert Ballard, 37, has served nearly 3 years for the 1999 murders of his friends Jennifer Jones and Willie Ray Patin Jr., whose skulls were smashed at their apartment. "It's music to my ears," said Michael Orlando, Ballard's lawyer. "It's taken a long journey, but it was well worth the wait for this particular result." Ballard will not be released from death row immediately because prosecutors have 15 days to ask the court to reconsider. Chere Avery, a spokeswoman for the Collier County state attorney's office, said only that prosecutors were disappointed. The only evidence tying Ballard to the crime was a fingerprint on a bed frame and an arm hair found in Jones' hand, the high court said. But the court noted the possibility that Ballard left the fingerprint and hair during one of his many visits. Jones was a marijuana dealer, and gang members had shot into the apartment a week before the killings, the court said. But prosecutors never presented evidence ruling out the gang members as the killers. Also, prosecutors believe the killer's motive was robbery - Jones kept large amounts of money in the apartment - but there was no evidence Ballard had such money after the killings, the court said. (source: Associated Press) IOWA: House panel votes 12-8 in favor of death penalty for "child killers" A committee in the Iowa House has endorsed a bill that would impose the death penalty on those who kidnap, rape and murder children. Representative James Van Fossen, a Republican from Davenport, says if the bill had been law last month, Roger Bentley -- the man convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering 10-year-old Jetseta Gage of Cedar Rapids last spring -- could have been sentenced to death. "I've listened to constituents at forums. I've listened to people on the radio. I've read editorials," Van Fossen says. "I think the majority of Iowans want to see us debate this issue." Representative Vicki Lensing, a Democrat from Iowa City, says life in prison is "just" punishment and the state should not "meet violence with violence." "No one should ever be killed, not even by the state," Lensing says. After a half-hour-long debate, the House Judiciary Committee voted 12-to-8 in favor of the death penalty bill. Representative Dwayne Alons, a Republican from Hull, was one of the "yes" votes. "If we look back across history...all the nations of the world have had the death penalty on their law books throughout most of their recorded history," Alons says. "The death penalty remains on the statute books of about half the nations of the world today." Representative Kurt Swaim, a Democrat from Bloomfield, says 80 % of the executions in the world are performed in the U-S, China, Iran and Vietnam, and that's "pretty uncomfortable" company. "The issue for me is not whether the person deserves the death penalty. I believe as a matter of personal conviction, as a matter of my personal faith, that those persons will get what they deserve. The issue for me is who will infliect the punishment," Swaim says. "The issue for me is what is does to us as a society if we serve as the executioner." Representative Joe Hutter, a Republican from Bettendorf, is a retired cop who says he's among the few who have ever seen the body of a murdered child, and he says those child-murderers should be put to death. "There are some people in this world -- maybe they're called human beings -- but most of you know, as I do, there are some people who don't deserve to be human beings," Hutter says. Representative Ro Foege, a Democrat from Mount Vernon, was one of the "no" votes. "I believe it is wrong for the state to sanction murder and that's what the death penalty by the state would be: state-sanctioned murder," Foege says. "I think that the state sanctioning murder...moves us toward a more barbaric society rather toward a move civil society." Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, a Democrat from Ames, says she is morally opposed to the death penalty. "Frankly, I will not play God," Wessel-Kroeschell says. "I will not choose when, where and how someone should die no matter how dispicable I find that individual." Representative Danny Carroll, a Republican from Grinnell, says the Bible tells him of the need for government to administer justice. "Think about what the word justice means," Carroll says. "It is not often pleasant and it is very often not easy, but for me justice requires at least the possibility of giving one's own life if one knowingly and maliciously takes the life of another." It is unclear when or even if House leaders will bring the bill up for debate in the full, 100-member House. (source: Des Moines Register) **************** Death penalty backers win initial approval A bill to reinstate Iowa's death penalty is still alive after getting approval today from the House Judiciary Committee. The committee approved the measure on a 12-to-8 vote, making it eligible for debate in the full House. Representative James Van Fossen, a Republican from Davenport, says the measure he's pushing is very limited. It only calls for the death sentence in cases where a child is kidnapped, raped and killed. House Speaker Chris Rants says he hasn't decided whether to schedule debate in the full House. If it does go, he says the debate will likely last 3 days. And some lawmakers say it doesn't have a good chance of passing. House Democratic Leader Pat Murphy, of Dubuque, says the Senate isn't going to take it up and the governor wouldn't sign it into law. (source: Associated Press)
