March 3 OREGON: Jury Decides On Death Penalty For Rogers In Oregon City, a jury recommended Friday that Oregon's most prolific serial killer be sent back to death row for a 3rd time on Friday. Dayton Leroy Rogers killed a total of 8 women in 1987 by binding them with dog collars and coat hangers, stabbing them repeatedly and mutilating them - possibly while some were still alive. The Clackamas County jury was unanimous in its sentences for six of those murders. 2 previous juries had sentenced Rogers to death but Oregon Supreme Court overturned the sentences, in one case ruling that the jury must be given the option of sentencing Rogers to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Judge Ron Thom said he would postpone formal sentencing until families of the victims could address the court. If he follows the jury recommendations an appeals process begins tht could take 15 years. (source: KATU news) CALIFORNIA: REVISED EXECUTION PROCEDURE TO BE PRESENTED TO U.S. JUDGE State attorneys disclosed today that California has "slightly revised" its execution protocol and that the modified procedure will be the one reviewed by a federal judge in San Jose at an evidentiary hearing in May. Senior Assistant California Attorney General Dane Gillette told U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel during a telephone conference that the state has changed "the manner and amount of drugs delivered." The telephone conference was in preparation for an evidentiary hearing before Fogel on May 2 and 3 on a civil rights lawsuit in which condemned murderer Michael Morales is challenging the state's lethal injection execution procedure. Fogel had asked state attorneys to let him know whether they would be presenting the previously used procedure or a modified procedure at the evidentiary hearing. Morales' scheduled execution was delayed indefinitely on Feb. 21 -- the Morales was to die -- after corrections officials decided they could not comply with Fogel's requirement that a trained anesthesiologist or other medically trained personnel assist with the procedure. Morales, 46, was sentenced to death for the 1981 murder of a 17-year-old Lodi girl. His lawsuit claims there is a risk that he could suffer extreme pain in violation of the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment if the first of three drugs used, the sedative sodium thiopental, fails to render him unconscious. The revised procedure still uses the same 3 drugs, but in different amounts. According to a three-page statement filed by state attorneys shortly before the telephone hearing, the sodium thiopental will initially be administered in a smaller dose -- 1.5 grams instead of 5 grams -- but the sedative will be continuously infused until death is pronounced. Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer, said the state does not concede that there were any problems with the previous procedure. But he said the "slightly revised" way of administering the sedative will address concerns that the previously used dose of 5 grams was so strong that a condemned inmate's body did not respond effectively to the 2nd and 3rd drugs. In addition, the amount of the 2nd drug, pancuronium bromide, a paralyzing agent, will be slightly smaller than before and the amount of the final drug, potassium chloride, which stops the heart, will be larger. Barankin said, "We think we've established (in previous cases) that there is no chance an inmate will experience pain. Lethal injection is the safest, most humane method of carrying out executions." Barankin said the revised procedure does not include any plans for medical personnel to participate in an execution. As in the past, a doctor will pronounce death after the execution is completed. Richard Steinken, an attorney for Morales, said this afternoon that the inmate's lawyers have not yet had a chance to study the revised procedure, but said it does not address all their concerns. Steinken said, "Our concerns go beyond the drug protocol. The concerns about the administration of the drugs are not addressed." Steinken said, "We've only had an hour" to look at the new procedure, and noted that a full description of the modification has not yet been made available to Morales' attorneys. Gillette told Fogel that state attorneys will file a more detailed statement by Wednesday. Morales' attorneys will then have a chance to revise the lawsuit in response to the changes in the protocol, the judge said. Fogel told the attorneys he is "strongly committed'' to keeping the hearing on the scheduled dates in May. (source: Bay City News) USA: The Death Penalty Is Not a Deterrent - DP Awareness Week Supporters of the death penalty cling to "deterrence" as a major reason for their support. The logic goes that the death penalty will give a killer pause before they take a life. But the claim is really built on sand. DEATH PENALTY AWARENESS WEEK -- February 27 to March 3 To view events happening across the country and how you can get involved, go to our website at http://www.nodeathpenalty.org _______ 5 REASONS TO OPPOSE THE DEATH PENALTY One of the Campaign's earliest brochures highlights 5 reasons to oppose the death penalty--it's racist, it targets the poor, it kills the innocent, it is not a deterrent, and it's cruel and unusual punishment. During this national week of action, our CEDP list serve will highlight one reason for each day--and highlight events held by our CEDP chapters. _______ DETERRENCE AND THE DEATH PENALTY "I feel morally and intellectually obligated simply to concede that the death penalty experiment has failed." -- Justice Harry Blackmun, 1994 Supporters of the death penalty cling to "deterrence" as a major reason for their support. The logic goes that the death penalty will give a killer pause before they take a life. But the claim is really built on sand. Recent statistics show that in 76 percent of murders, the offenders were known to the victims. Recent studies also show that most murders are precipitated by an argument. A few studies done since 1995 claim to conclude that capital punishment has a deterrent effect. But researchers who have looked at how these studies were conducted have concluded that their methods were dubious, and their outcomes unconvincing. Other Western countries do not have the death penalty, and their level of homicides are far lower. Within the U.S., states that have the death penalty--especially Texas, the state that uses it more than any other--have higher murder rates than those that don't have capital punishment. Politicians offer a false solution when they clamor for the use of the death penalty, pretending that it will have a deterrent effect. The death penalty does not deter. All it does is make more victims. It's time to recognize that "the death penalty experiment has failed," as Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun put it. We aim to get rid of the death penalty, and as we fight to do so, we want to challenge elected officials to alleviate the effects of poverty, racism and alienation. Clarence Darrow, one of the great lawyers of all time, gave a speech to Cook County prisoners in 1902, in which he said, "I will guarantee to take from this jail, or any jail in the world, five hundred men who have been the worst criminals and lawbreakers who ever got into jail, and I will go down to our lowest streets and take five hundred of the most abandoned prostitutes, and go out somewhere where there is plenty of land, and will give them a chance to make a living, and they will be as good people as the average in the community. "There is a remedy for the sort of condition we see here. The world never finds it out, or when it does find it out, it does not enforce it. You may pass a law punishing every person with death for burglary, and it will make no difference. Men will commit it just the same. In England there was a time when one hundred different offenses were punishable with death, and it made no difference. The English people strangely found out that so fast as they repealed the severe penalties, and so fast as they did away with punishing men by death, crime decreased instead of increased; that the smaller the penalty the fewer the crimes. "Hanging men in our country jails does not prevent murder. It makes murderers. "And this has been the history of the world. It's easy to see how to do away with what we call crime. It is not so easy to do it. I will tell you how to do it. It can be done by giving the people a chance to live-- by destroying special privileges...Make fair conditions of life. Give men a chance to live." Darrow's speech is available in a small book titled, "Crime and Criminals." It can be purchased for $7 from the CEDP. To get a copy, send a request to Julien at [email protected] _______ THOSE WITHOUT THE CAPITAL GET THE PUNNISHMENT Another grim reality of the death penalty is that it is almost exclusively reserved for the most disenfranchised in our society. As Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas wrote, "One searches our chronicles in vain for the execution of any member of the affluent strata in this society." If a defendant can afford a good lawyer and pay for experts, mitigators and investigators, the likelihood is great if convicted that the sentence will be less than death. Those who can't afford their own lawyers are at the mercy of a court-appointed attorney who may have very little experience in trying capital cases. Often, these attorneys are overworked and underpaid, and unlikely to have the funds to afford to hire any investigators or experts. Take the case of Gary Nelson. According to the Southern Center on Human Rights, Gary Nelson was represented at his capital trial by a lawyer who had never tried a capital case before. The case against Nelson was entirely circumstantial, based on the questionable opinion of a prosecution expert that a hair found on the victim's body came from Nelson. Nevertheless, the appointed lawyer was not provided funds for an investigator, and knowing that a request would be denied, did not seek funds for an expert witness. The lawyer's closing argument was only 225 words long. He was later disbarred for other reasons. Gary was released from death row after 11 years when he was lucky enough to have pro bono lawyers take up his case. But many are not as fortunate as Nelson, and such errors are never discovered. When prosecutors decide to seek the death penalty against a poor defendant, the scales of justice are tilted against the defendant. While the defense has little money, the state on the other hand has essentially unlimited access to experts and investigative assistance. This grossly unfair system of "justice" has continued over the 30 years since the death penalty was reinstated in this country. Frances Newton was very unfortunate to be assigned Ronald Mock as her lawyer at trial in Texas. Mock called no witnesses to testify at Newton's trial and conducted no investigation. Frances Newton's mom Jewel Nelms said, "He smelled of booze and marijuana every day he was in the courtroom." Ron Mock was so inept that he was barred for life from trying death penalty cases (and from practicing law at all until 2007). On September 14, 2005, the state of Texas executed Frances Newton. "We can't call it a justice system," explains Jewel Nelms, mother of Frances Newton, "it's just a system. Because there's no justice in what they did to my daughter. There's no justice when you know you're doing something wrong. There's no justice when you just continue doing it." The Campaign to End the Death Penalty works to abolish the death penalty. There is nothing redeemable about the death penalty. It cannot be fixed, and we shouldn't waste time trying. Money, time and energy should instead be put into preventing the "causes of crime." A good place to start is programs to alleviate poverty, provide better health care for the mentally ill, and fund foster care and other social services. These are things are political leaders should support--and stop hiding beside a faade that using the death penalty ever does any good (except to advance their careers). Please consider getting involved with the Campaign to End the Death Penalty--we need more people, more voices in order for our message to be heard: ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY! HIGHLIGHTED EVENTS FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 3 ** CHICAGO: Film screening of "The End of the Nightstick," a documentary exposing police torture in Chicago. With an introduction by director Peter Kuttner and special guest Madison Hobley, former death row police torture victim and current CEDP board member. At 6 p.m., at the University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration Room V-1, 969 E. 60th St. at Ellis. For more information, contact Julien at [email protected] ** AUSTIN, Texas: Party and fundraiser for CEDP. At 9 p.m. at 21st Coop. Music and refreshments for a small donation. ** MORAGA, California: Theme of the day's tabling is "The death penalty is not a deterrent." From 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at Dante Quad. For a complete listing of Death Penalty Awareness Week events, go to http://www.nodeathpenalty.org/events.html (source: CEDP) ALABAMA: Appeals court upholds death sentences A state appeals court on Friday upheld the death sentence given to an Ozark man for the robbery, kidnapping and murder of a 77-year-old woman. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the death sentence given to Emanuel Gissendanner for the June 22, 2001, death of Margaret Snellgrove, who died from severe neck and head injuries. Gissendanner had done yard work at Snellgrove's house. The Court of Criminal Appeals also upheld the death sentences given to Richard Eugene Gaddy from Jefferson County, James Matthew Hyde from Marshall County and Jimmy Davis Jr. from Calhoun County. In the appeal of his conviction and death sentence, Gissendanner raised a number of issues including that prosecutors removed prospective jurors from his trial because they were black, without sufficient reason. Gissendanner also argued that during the sentencing phase of the trial, jurors were prejudiced by the testimony of Snellgrove's niece, who talked about the victim's life. The appeals court ruled 5-0 that Gissendanner's death sentence was supported by the evidence presented during the trial. In the other three death penalty cases decided Friday, the appeals court had previously upheld the death sentences. The defendants were on their 2nd round of appeals through the court system. In one of those cases, the Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the death sentence that Gaddy received for the Dec. 9, 1989, stabbing death and robbery of Huffman High School teacher James Caldwell at his Birmingham apartment. The appeals court rejected Gaddy's arguments that he had inadequate representation from his attorneys during his trial. In another case, the court denied an appeal from Hyde, who was convicted in the 1995 shooting death of Albertville police officer Ernest Andrew Whitten. Whitten was shot before he was scheduled to testify at the theft trial of a third man, according to court records. Hyde argued in his appeal that he received ineffective assistance from his attorneys. The appeals court also upheld the death sentence of Davis, convicted in the March 1993 fatal shooting of Johnny Hazel, an assistant manager at an Anniston service station. Prosecutors said Davis demanded money from Hazel and then shot Hazel in the face. Davis also argued in his appeal that he received ineffective assistance from his attorneys. (source: Associated Press)
