Mar. 2 TEXAS: Texas court upholds death sentence The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has declined to throw out a convicted killer's death sentence -- that's despite a U-S Supreme Court ruling that his trial included flawed jury instructions. The Supreme Court in 2004 ordered the Texas court to revisit the case of LaRoyce Lathair Smith. He'd been convicted and sentenced to death for the 1991 murder of Dallas Taco Bell worker Jennifer Soto. But the top Texas criminal appeals court concluded yesterday that any problems with the jury instructions were harmless. Opinions were split on whether the action was defiant or reasonable. Smith's attorney, University of Texas law professor Jordan Steiker, says he thinks the ruling's "a form of defiance and civil disobedience." He says he'll appeal the case to the Supreme Court again. (source: San Antonio Express-News) ****************** Convicted killer painted as a victim, a sociopath----Jury will resume death penalty deliberations today Jurors determining the fate of convicted murderer Max Alexander Soffar are scheduled to resume deliberations this morning, deciding whether to send him to prison for life or to death row. Jurors spent the night at an area hotel, where they were sequestered after deliberating 6 hours Wednesday. Deliberations are scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. Soffar, 50, was convicted of capital murder for a shooting and robbery July 13, 1980, at a northwest Houston bowling alley that left dead Arden Alane Felsher, 17, Stephen Allen Sims, 25, and Tommy Lee Temple, 17. Gregory George Garner, then 18, was wounded. It is the second time Soffar has been convicted and faced the death penalty for the shooting. He spent about 25 years in prison after his 1st conviction, overturned on appeal in 2004. In closing arguments Wednesday, prosecutors argued that Soffar is a danger to society if he is not executed. Defense attorneys said Soffar deserves a life sentence because he has learned to live in prison without violating rules and because he was failed by his parents and the state as a child with mental health problems. His adoptive parents, defense attorneys argue, didn't offer him proper psychiatric care for childhood psychological and behavioral problems. He was placed in a state mental hospital for nearly 2 years when he was about 13 and given shock treatments, they said. "Who fried this boy's brain? The state of Texas did," defense attorney Kathryn Kase told the jury. "It's not too late to reach out and help Max Soffar." Prosecutors argued, however, that Soffar caused his own problems by choosing to abuse drugs. His parents, they said, tried to give their son the care he needed. They took him to psychiatrists, hospitals and family counseling. "He is a sociopath, a criminal," said prosecutor Denise Nassar. If Soffar is sentenced to life in prison, he would be eligible for parole in 20 years. But since he has served more than 20 years already, he could be eligible immediately, prosecutors said after the jury left the courtroom to begin deliberating. The state Board of Pardons and Paroles determines if an inmate is paroled, and he may not meet the qualifications. And because he was convicted for killing Felsher and robbing Sims, he could be prosecuted for the other 2 slayings, prosecutors added. (source: Houston Chronicle) DELAWARE----female death sentence is overturned Delaware Supreme Court overturns womans death sentence in killing of husband, ex-husbandLinda Lou Charbonneau 'very emotional' after ruling The conviction of a woman sentenced to death for masterminding the killings of her husband and former husband in 2001 was overturned today by the Delaware Supreme Court. In its 58-page decision, the Supreme Court said it overturned the conviction because a witness was not allowed to testify in Linda Lou Charbonneau's 2004 murder trial. Defense attorneys had complained that prevented them from pointing out inconsistencies in his testimony that could have helped Charbonneau's case. Charbonneau's attorneys said that if the witness - her son-in-law, Willie Brown - had testified, they planned to point out inconsistencies between his statements and the version of events presented by the state. Charbonneau, 58, was convicted by a Sussex County jury of masterminding the deaths of her former husband, John Charbonneau, 62, in September 2001, and her husband, William Sproates III, 45, in October 2001. An autopsy report showed Sproates had been buried alive. The jury convicted her of 1st-degree murder and Sussex County Superior Court Judge Richard F. Stokes sentenced her to death. Today's decision removes Charbonneau from Delaware's death row. Charbonneau's attorney, Craig A. Karsnitz, said his client was relieved at hearing todays news. "She was very emotional, as you can guess," Karsnitz said. "I'm heartened that she is no longer under a sentence of death." (source: News Journal) FLORIDA: Judge denies request to move Deltona murder trial----Troy Victorino's lawyers wanted trial moved to South Florida Circuit Judge William A. Parsons denied a motion to move the April 10 trial of the accused ringleader in the Deltona massacre to South Florida. In a motion expected heard by Judge Parsons today, Troy Victorino's attorneys said that ongoing and extensive media coverage of the case will prevent their client from receiving a fair trial just 20 miles from where the slayings occurred. Defense attorneys have long complained about pretrial publicity, but Parsons had said as recently as Monday that he intends to begin the trial in DeLand. Victorino's attorneys asked that the trial be moved to Dade, Broward or Palm Beach county. Victorino, 29, Michael Salas, 20, and Jerone Hunter, 19, each could face the death penalty if convicted on 14 felony charges for the Aug. 6, 2004, baseball-bat beating deaths in a Telford Lane home. The judge also is expected to hear motions today about mentioning gang membership during the trial and prohibiting witnesses from talking about their testimony. The hearing began at 1:30 p.m. at the Volusia County Justice Center in Daytona Beach. (source: Orlando Sentinel) PENNSYLVANIA: Legal challenges to lethal injections are actions against death penalty itself A wave of legal challenges to lethal injections is moving across the country, with the latest poised to begin in Bucks County. Attorneys representing death row inmates - attorneys who oppose the death penalty are asking judges to rule that death by injection is unconstitutional because it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. It's an ironic argument because the victims of many persons on death row generally suffered cruelly themselves before they died. Yet, the court challenges deserve close attention because every state that has capital punishment uses lethal injection, with the exception of Nebraska, which uses the electric chair. The resolution of some of the cases could have an impact in other states. Further, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering a related, though more narrow issue: whether inmates can bring last-minute civil rights challenges to lethal injection. The high court could even opt to broaden its review and address the contention that the drug cocktail used in most states causes pain that can be defined as cruel and unusual punishment. On Monday, two public defenders representing Robert Flor, 38, asked Bucks County Judge Alan M. Rubenstein to rule that death by injection is cruel and unusual punishment. Judge Rubenstein ruled against the motion. But he gave the attorneys reason to hope by saying that if they want to raise the issue again and present testimony from medical experts, "This court will hear it." This is an interesting turn of events, in part because Judge Rubenstein previously served as the county's district attorney and he argued for the death penalty in some major homicide cases, though not always successfully. The Bucks case is believed to be the only constitutional challenge to lethal injection in Pennsylvania, Sue McNaughton, a spokeswoman for the state Corrections Department, told The Morning Call for a story Tuesday. Mr. Flor, of Bedminster Township, Upper Bucks, is accused of the murder of a Newtown police officer on Sept. 29 at St. Mary's Hospital in Middletown Township, Lower Bucks. When Mr. Flor was taken to the emergency room for a blood test after a drunken-driving arrest, he allegedly grabbed another police officer's gun and used it to shoot officer Brian Gregg. States began adopting lethal injection in 1977, believing it to be more humane than the electric chair, which had replaced hanging for the same reason. Legal battles are under way in 14 other states. A separate issue is the role of physicians; certifying an inmate's death usually is considered more acceptable than giving the injection. Pennsylvania uses a drug cocktail that sedates, stops breathing and then the heart. A total of 225 inmates await execution on death row here. As long as this state has the death penalty by lethal injection, it must find a medical technique that meets constitutional muster. (source: Morning Call) NORTH CAROLINA: Condemned N.C. killer's case now resting on clemency appeal As of Wednesday, only Gov. Mike Easley could stop the execution of Patrick Moody for the 1994 slaying of his girlfriend's husband. Defense lawyer Charlotte Blake said she and her colleagues haven't decided whether to file any additional legal challenges on Moody's behalf, although she argues the sentence was unfair since Moody's girlfriend got a life sentence and says there are questions about whether Moody is mentally retarded. Both issues are suitable for Easley to consider when he's deciding whether to grant clemency, she said. Moody is scheduled to be executed by injection March 17 at 2 a.m. Moody, 39, was sent to death row in 1995 after interrupting his murder trial to plead guilty to the Sept. 16, 1994, slaying of Donnie Robbins in Thomasville. Moody had been having an affair for several months with Robbins' wife, Wanda. She persuaded Moody to shoot her husband so they could have proceeds of a $5,000 insurance policy. "He actually pulled the trigger," Blake said. "This was her scheme and her plan. Moody has very limited skills." Wanda Robbins was sentenced to life plus 65 years after pleading guilty to 2nd-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and insurance fraud. But she was as much to blame as Moody and even called the insurance company seeking a payment at 5:30 a.m. the day after her husband was killed, Blake said. Prosecutors counter that Moody tried to commit a similar crime - killing a person for a woman - in Florida before he came to North Carolina and that he planned to profit from the death of Donnie Robbins. In the Florida case, Moody was sentenced to 5 years in prison for attempted murder and conspiracy. Davidson County prosecutor Garry Franks said that crime showed prior felonious conduct and justified a death sentence under North Carolina law. Gene Morris, who prosecuted Moody in Davidson County 11 years ago, said the crime was well-planned. Moody, who came to the area with a Christian motorcyclists' ministry, used a false name and lured the victim away from his home on the pretense of wanting to buy an old car. Moody shot Donnie Robbins in the head when he leaned over the hood to measure the vehicle. "They had discussed a lot of ways to kill him," Morris said. "I remember telling the jury you'd have to have a flow chart to keep up with the ways. They talked about battery acid, putting mercury in his beer." Moody was susceptible to manipulation by women because of his marginal intelligence, Blake said. Although evidence at his trial showed he had an IQ of 81, he had scored in the mid-60s on previous tests, low enough to qualify for exemption from the death penalty, she said. Moody also suffered from an abusive father, who once hit him in the face with a shovel, Blake said. Wanda Robbins used Moody's aversion to physical abuse to lure him into her scheme by telling him her husband hit her. She painted fake bruises on her body and tore her clothes, the lawyer said. Blake said Moody didn't have decent legal help and waited six months in jail until he met with a defense lawyer. Blake said she and co-counsel Don Willey also are considering whether to challenge the state's method of execution. Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider in a Florida case if the drugs used during injection executions resulted in unconstitutionally cruel punishment. In California last week, a judge agreed to review the state's death penalty system after no doctor or nurse would agree to administer a fatal dose of barbiturate. (source: Associated Press)
