March 7 TEXAS: Inmate unable to outlive appeal----His attorneys accuse the state of delay tactics Death row inmate Anibal Rousseau believed that Texas criminal justice officials were waiting for him to die of natural causes so they wouldn't have to deal with the possibility of his getting a new trial. "And the way things are going, they might get their wish," Rousseau told the Houston Chronicle last year. In light of his death early Sunday, amid a protracted appeal focusing on ballistics evidence that was not turned over to the defense during his trial, his attorneys say they believe Rousseau was correct. "There's been a complete breakdown of the system, including the judiciary dragging its heels in a very malicious way," said appellate attorney James Rytting. "There was an innocent man on death row, and justice closed its eyes," said Philip H. Hilder, who also represented the inmate. Rousseau, 65, died at a prison hospital in Galveston, said a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The native of Cuba, who had a history of intravenous drug use, died from complications of hepatitis C, his lawyers said. Rousseau was convicted of capital murder in 1989 and sentenced to death for the October 1988 shooting of Environmental Protection Agency agent David Delitta during a robbery outside a Houston restaurant. Rousseau, who admitted he had been robbing banks to support his drug habit, was named the prime suspect. He surrendered a month later. Instrumental to his conviction was eyewitness testimony from one of the victim's co-workers, David Sullivan. Although the defense presented 2 witnesses who said Rousseau was not the man they saw shoot Delitta, Sullivan testified that Rousseau was the killer and that he had used a large-caliber shiny revolver. 12 years later, however, one of Rousseau's attorneys discovered that, about a month before his conviction, the Houston Police Department ballistics lab had determined that the bullet that killed Delitta had been fired from a gun that also was used in a murder after Rousseau was jailed. The man who later confessed to the 2nd murder was Juan Guerrero, a Dominican drug dealer who more closely resembled the description of Delitta's killer given at the trial by another eyewitness. Like Rousseau, Guerrero lived relatively near the restaurant where Delitta was killed. Also, instead of being shiny, the gun used in the 2nd killing was a black .38-caliber revolver. Neither police nor prosecutors informed Rousseau's lawyers about the conflicting evidence, as is required by law. It wasn't until 1999 that another of Rousseau's appellate attorneys discovered the discrepancy. Rousseau's attorneys based their appeals on the ballistics evidence. In 2002, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the trial court to review the allegations about that evidence. The case was assigned to retired Judge Michael McCormick, the appeals court's former chief justice. In October 2004, McCormick ruled against granting a new trial. It wasn't until December 2005, however, that he submitted his opinion to the Court of Criminal Appeals. At the time of Rousseau's death Sunday, his attorneys were still waiting on the court, Texas' highest criminal appeals court, to uphold or reject McCormick's opinion. Once a final ruling was issued at the state level, they said, they planned to take the case to the federal courts. McCormick did not return calls Monday. "The CCA knew they had a serious case with serious implications for the Harris County District Attorney's Office," said Rytting. "You'd think that would put things on the front burner if you are a court concerned with justice." District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal was, as an assistant district attorney, part of the team that prosecuted Rousseau in 1989. In 2001, Lorraine Parker, who had been the lead prosecutor in the case, called for a new trial after hearing about the ballistics evidence. Rosenthal, who opposed a new trial for Rousseau, was unavailable for comment Monday. He told the Chronicle in 2002, however, that he had not known about the ballistics evidence before or during the trial. On Monday, Assistant District Attorney Roe Wilson, the head of the office's appellate division, discounted the ballistics evidence and complaints of foot-dragging. "Justice wasn't affected by the fact that he died," he said. "If he had lived longer, he would have lived long enough to be executed." In 2005, 3 of the 12 jurors who convicted Rousseau said the ballistics evidence would have affected deliberations. One of them, Larry Youngblood, expressed surprise Monday that Rousseau had not yet been granted a new trial. (source: Houston Chronicle) *********** Confessed Killer Asks Jury For Death Sentence----Luna Requests Death, Forgiveness In San Antonio, capital murder defendant Joe Michael Luna took the stand on Monday during the penalty phase of his trial and asked the jury to sentence him to death. "I've only been in this world 26 years of my life, but it's enough for me to honestly and truthfully say that I don't want to be a part of this world no more," Luna testified. Luna, 26, pleaded guilty to the slaying of Michael Paul Andrade, 21, in February 2005. Luna admitted to setting a fire after he killed the 21-year-old man during a burglary. In his testimony on Monday, Luna asked jurors to sentence him to die by lethal injection and asked his victim's family for forgiveness. "I can only ask for the victim's family to forgive somebody like me for it. It's in their individual minds to forgive someone," Luna said. "There was something about me that just ... It wasn't me. I'm not going to try and say that I was insane because I knew what I did was wrong. If I was on death row, I would be able to strengthen myself spiritually with God." The defense was scheduled to present more testimony in the penalty phase on Tuesday. The jury will then deliberate on Wednesday whether to sentence Luna to die by lethal injection or to life in prison. (source: KSAT) ********************** Greg Wilhoit, who spent time on death row in Oklahoma, will be speaking tomorrow (Wed.) night in Amarillo, at St. Thomas the Apostle Church; for more information, call the church at 806-358-2461. ******************* Wamsley wanted sister killed, too, inmate says While awaiting his capital murder trial in the death of his parents, Andrew Wamsley tried to hire a fellow inmate to kill his sister so that he wouldnt have to share his parents' $1.65 million estate with her, prosecutors said today. Wamsley was convicted Friday of organizing a group of friends to carry out the shooting and stabbing deaths of Suzanna and Rick Wamsley in their Mansfield home. Prosecutors outlined the jailhouse plot - though not when it occurred - during the sentencing phase of his trial, which continues before state District Judge George Gallagher. Wamsley, 21, faces the death penalty or life in prison. His former girlfriend, Chelsea Lea Richardson, also 21, was sentenced to death in May for her role in the Dec. 11, 2003, killings. This morning, prosecutors called three witnesses, including Tarrant County inmate William Wesley Bates. He testified that he turned down a $250,000 offer from Wamsley to kill Wamsley's sister. Bates sent a letter to the district attorneys office that read, "I by no means am a killer." Bates, who is jailed on unrelated theft charges, told the jury from the witness stand, "I'm a flim-flammer, short-changer and a thief. But I'll never take anyone's life for no amount of money." Bates also testified that Wamsley told him that Susana Toledano, an accomplice in the killings who has testified against Wamsley, "was the only person they had that could get him time." Toledano already has pleaded guilty to murder for her role in the killings. She has said she expects a reduced sentence in exchange for her testimony. Prosecutors have said if she does not cooperate, she also could face a death sentence. Prosecutors relied heavily on Toledano's testimony in their case against both Wamsley and Richardson. Prosecutors rested after Bates' testimony. Defense attorneys have called 2 witnesses, including a teacher from the Mansfield school district who knew Andrew Wamsley in high school. (source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram) ******************* Man who murdered wife sentenced to life in prison In Beaumont, Clifton Beatty, who pleaded guilty last month to murdering his estranged wife, was sentenced to life in prison Monday. Beatty, 38, broke into Carolyn Peace Beatty's home on Sunbird Lane in Beaumont about 4 a.m. Feb. 4, 2005, and beat and stabbed her to death. Assistant District Attorney John Ross said Beatty, in a confession, admitted to planning his wife's murder over a period of several weeks. "It was a brutal murder, and he never showed any remorse, even today," Ross said Monday. Hours after the murder, Beatty told the justice of the peace who formally charged him that he wanted to receive the death penalty for the crime, according to The Enterprise archives. Because the charge was murder, not capital murder, Beatty was ineligible for the death penalty. Criminal District Court Judge Charles Carver gave Beatty the maximum sentence of life in prison. He could be eligible for parole after 30 years. Beatty had previous convictions for robbery, burglary and theft. Carolyn Beatty, 37, was a nurse's assistant at China Community Clinic, according to The Enterprise archives. She had a daughter, now 11, and a close relationship with her mother, sister and other family members, according to The Enterprise archives. Her sister, Paulette Peace, spoke at Beatty's sentencing Monday. (source: The Beaumont Enterprise ) USA: Judge puts upcoming executions on hold 3 federal death row inmates who contend in a lawsuit that lethal injections are painful have been granted a stay of execution, court records show. U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle ordered a preliminary injunction Feb. 24, barring the Bureau of Prisons from executing James H. Roane Jr., Richard Tipton and Cory Johnson. The 3 co-defendants had been scheduled to die in May at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, home to the nation's federal death row. The trio were sentenced to die after being convicted in a string of drug-related murders in Richmond, Va. "Any news like this is good," said Stephen Northup, an attorney who represents Tipton. But "it's really just temporary relief." A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons confirmed the delay Monday, and declined further comment. This case marks at least the 6th since January in which executions have been delayed after inmates have raised legal challenges about the lethal injection process, according to information on Death Penalty Information Centers Web site. At least 6 other men, included one from Indiana, have been executed in the same time period. The injunction in the federal death case is indefinite, until further order of the court. In her ruling, Huvelle also stayed the three mens federal lawsuit on the constitutionality of lethal injections, pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in a Florida case. In that case, death row inmate Clarence Edward Hill is suing the state of Florida, alleging that lethal injection would violate his constitutional protection from cruel and unusual punishment. In a court document, Hills attorney claims that a succession of the three chemicals commonly used in used in lethal injection - sodium pentothal, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride - could inflict pain "contrary to the contemporary standards of decency." The document cites a study published last year in a British medical journal. In the study, which appeared in The Lancet, the authors found that toxicology reports of 49 executed inmates showed 43 had post-mortem concentrations of thiopental lower than required in surgery. In addition, 21 of the 49 inmates had concentrations consistent with awareness, according to the study. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Florida case, to determine whether Hills civil suit falls within federal appeals, as lower courts have ruled, or is a legitimate challenge to the conditions of a condemned inmates death sentence. Separately, attorneys for Roane, Tipton and Johnson also are alleging in a federal lawsuit that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. They filed the suit in December in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The defendants in the case are U.S. Attorney Alberto Gonzales, DEA Administrator Karen Tandy, Bureau of Prisons Director Harley Lappin, Bureau Medical Director Newton E. Kendig II, penitentiary Warden Mark Bezy, and penitentiary Clinical Director Dr. Thomas Webster. The list of defendants also includes "John Does I-V," a reference to the unknown people charged with carrying out the execution. In the complaint, attorneys for the 3 death row inmates claim while sodium pentothal "supposedly will render the plaintiffs insensible to the pain of their deaths, it in fact can and will merely cast a 'chemical veil' over this excruciating pain, leaving plaintiffs conscious but trapped in a paralyzed body wracked with the pain of suffocation and heart attack. "At the same time, this 'cocktail' will make it impossible for those observing the execution - including witnesses to it - to recognize and prevent the gratuitous pain and suffering being inflicted upon the plaintiffs." While the attorneys await the outcome of the Florida case, they have filed paperwork asking President Bush to grant clemency to their clients, Northup said. A look at the crimes --Richard Tipton, 35, Cory Johnson, 37, and James H. Roane Jr., 40, were gang leaders in a crack-cocaine ring in Richmond, Va. --The 3 were tied to nine slayings of suspected informants, competitors and underlings. One man was stabbed 84 times for mishandling a drug transaction, according to a U.S. Court of Appeals brief. 3 other people were critically injured during the series of killings, which happened over a month in early 1992, court records show. --Tipton, Johnson and Roane were sentenced under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, which includes federal execution as a sentence. The 3 have exhausted all appeals. (source: Terre Haute Tribune Star) *********************** With God on Our Side? Casual observers of cable television news programming might be forgiven for assuming that Christianity is a religion characterized by a toxic combination of ignorant belligerence and whiny self-pity. Turn on Joe Scarborough's MSNBC show, and you are likely to be greeted by a lunatic named William Donohue, president of something called the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, who complains that "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular," and that "Hollywood likes anal sex." During the 2004 election campaign, he could be heard lamenting that John Kerry "never found an abortion he couldn't justify" and attacking the publishing industry for its cover-up of the "gay death style." In a more recent Scarborough appearance, Donohue returned to his favorite topic, explaining to viewers that many in "Hollywood"--which, remember, is controlled by you-know-who--love money so much they would happily "sodomize their own mother" onscreen. In a less flamboyant though more revealing episode last year, CNN's star anchor, Wolf Blitzer, questioned traitorous right-winger Robert Novak and liberal Paul Begala about the death of Pope John Paul II. Blitzer opened the segment by suggesting that while "I am sure Bob is a good Catholic, I am not so sure about Paul Begala." Novak converted from Judaism to an Opus Dei form of Catholicism, while Begala was raised in the faith, remains devout and even named his eldest child John Paul. When he asked Blitzer, "Well, now, who are you to pass moral judgment on my religion, Mr. Blitzer...on the day of my Holy Father's funeral?" adding, "I don't think anybody should presume that a liberal is not a good Catholic" and "The Holy Father is liberal.... The Holy Father bitterly opposed President Bush's war in Iraq. He came to St. Louis--and I was there--and he begged America to give up the death penalty. President Bush strongly supports it, as did President Clinton and others. Many of the Holy Father's views, my church's views, are extraordinarily liberal. I mean, the Pope talked about savage, unbridled capitalism, not Bob Novak's capitalism." The CNN anchor instructed Begala, "Don't be so sensitive," as if he had unflatteringly critiqued Begala's makeup. The moronic level of cable discourse notwithstanding, missing from almost all discussions of the role of religion in public life is what William James famously termed the "varieties of religious experience." The right-wing hijacking of religion's public role in our political discourse is as undeniable as it is inappropriate, and represents one of liberalism's most serious problems. In the 2005 election, Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine managed to win the governor's mansion only after the former Catholic missionary convinced skeptical voters that one can be both Christian and anti-death penalty. "My faith teaches me life is sacred," Kaine said, fighting off the accusation that he was a dreaded "liberal." At a valuable conference on liberals and religion organized by Columbia University's American studies program in mid-February, E.J. Dionne, a liberal and a devout Catholic, conceded that conservatives have a number of natural advantages when seeking to marry religious devotion to politics. They own the word "tradition," for one. And as Russell Kirk pointed out in his 1953 book The Conservative Mind, the canons of conservatism tend naturally to appeal to the faithful: Conservatives, he wrote, believe in "a transcendent order, or body of natural law, which rules society as well as conscience." Their attachment to "custom, convention and old prescription" provides a check on "man's anarchic impulse and upon the innovator's lust for power." Liberalism, on the other hand, arose in revolt against many of these same customs and conventions, particularly the oppressive power of the church. Moreover, as Christopher Lasch once noted, following the 1960s the left made the politically suicidal choice of cultural radicalism, which succeeded, over political and economic radicalism, which failed. Quoting Peter Steinfels, Dionne noted, "American liberalism has shifted its passion from issues of economic deprivation and concentration of power to issues of gender, sexuality, and personal choice.... Once trade unionism, regulation of the market, and various welfare measures were the litmus tests of secular liberalism. Later, desegregation and racial justice were the litmus tests. Today the litmus test is abortion." Liberals, as Michael Kazin put it, have morphed in the public imagination "from people who looked, dressed and sounded like Woody Guthrie to people who look, dress and sound like Woody Allen." This, in so religious a nation, is not only politically self-defeating but historically atypical. For contemporary liberal rationalists who feel discomfort with the spiritual realm, we have no less an authority than John Dewey, who termed the fundamentalist William Jennings Bryan "the backbone of philanthropic social interest, of social reform through political action, of pacifism, of popular education." As Kazin notes in his brilliant new biography of the Great Commoner, Bryan "transformed his party from a bulwark of conservatism...into a bastion of anticorporate Progressivism." Indeed, he notes, "American progressive reform has never advanced without a moral awakening entangled with notions about what the Lord would have us do." And luckily we happen to have Christianity's deity on our side. Dionne offered just a few of the texts that liberal politicians and pundits might wish to commit to memory. There is the Gospel that explains, "He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty!" There's the prophet Isaiah, who commands us to "undo the heavy burdens...let the oppressed go free." Martin Luther King Jr. frequently drew on Amos to insist, "We will not be satisfied until 'justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.'" Jesus demanded we feed the hungry and clothe the naked and tells us we will be judged by how we treat the "least of these my brethren." If only somebody could tell Scarborough and Blitzer... (source: The Nation) OHIO: Democrat for Senate: Kill practicing 'gays'----Candidate says incumbent Republican not advocating biblical values enough A Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Ohio wants to make homosexual behavior a capital crime punishable by the death penalty. Merrill Keiser Jr. is a trucker with no political experience, but he hopes to beat fellow Democrat Rep. Sherrod Brown in the May primary. The winner will try to unseat Republican incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine, assuming he wins the GOP primary. "Just like we have laws against murder, we have laws against stealing, we have laws against taking drugs - we should have laws against immoral conduct," Keiser told WTOL-TV in Toledo. Keiser, 61, says he's running as a Democrat because that's how he was registered the last time he voted. The trucker, who hails from Fremont, Ohio, says there needs to be more adherence to biblical values in government, business and education - something he claims DeWine is not promoting. "I believe that the United States has been moved in a Godless direction by the courts," he told the Sandusky Register. "To get good men on the court, we need good senators." Some of Keiser's other positions include defense of the Second Amendment, securing U.S. borders, lower taxes to stimulate the economy, support of Israel and prayer in public schools. Keiser told the Register the United States should make conversion to Christianity part of the war on terror to teach Muslims the error of their choice in religion. The candidate also decries evolution, saying it is contrary to the Declaration of Independence. "The teaching of evolution works against the liberties we have in the United States," he told the paper. If a person believe in evolution, he or she "has no rights," he's quoted saying. He also opposes the United Nations, abortion on demand and thinks so-called global warming is a false concern. Liberal blogger Deborah White was less than thrilled with Keiser's candidacy and the media's response to it. "What if this hate-filled moron called for the execution of all blacks or all Jews?" she asked. "Would the public outcry be similarly subdued? Would the press still report it as a cute curiosity or merely an alternative viewpoint? Where is moral outrage in 2006?" White speculated Keiser was planted by the GOP. "He must be a Republican plant," she wrote. "Please ... someone tell me I'm correct." (source: WorldNetDaily.com US MILITARY: Article 32 hearing set in slaying of airman at NAS Keflavik -- Airman 1st Class Ashley Turner was killed in August 2005 An Article 32 hearing has been set for a 56th Rescue Squadron airman charged with killing another airmen last year at Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland. The hearing - similar to a civilian grand jury - for Airman Calvin Hill will take place May 8 in Iceland, said Tech Sgt. Renee Kirkland from the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, England. The 48th Fighter Wing will prosecute the case as the parent command of the 56th Rescue Squadron, Kirkland said. Hill was charged last month in the August 2005 slaying of Airman 1st Class Ashley Turner, 20, who was found stabbed and beaten to death in her dorm building at NAS Keflavik. Hill has been in custody since the night of Turners death. Air Force prosecutors allege that in early 2005, Hill repeatedly stole money from Turner by making unauthorized withdrawals on her bank card. Officials say that Hill killed Turner so she wouldn't be able to testify against him in the larceny case. For that, he also is charged with obstruction of justice. Other charges against Hill include an allegation of being absent without leave in April 2005 and a charge of making false official statements to investigators. The "with premeditation" murder charge against Hill can carry the death penalty or life in prison if he is found guilty, according to Article 118 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. An Article 32 is an evidentiary proceeding in the court-martial process that is normally the 1st public proceeding against a suspect. (source: Stars & Stripes) FLORIDA: Eaglin admits to killing officer, inmate Last week, a jury recommended inmate Dwight Eaglin be sentenced to death for murdering corrections officer Darla Lathrem and inmate Charles Fuston during an escape attempt at the Charlotte Correctional Institution in June of 2003. Since then, many questions have not been answered - until now. The Charlotte County Jail is in high security lockdown whenever its most dangerous inmate moves anywhere. Convicted murderer Dwight Eaglin never moves without several guards by his side. In the interview, he makes it clear from the start he's not doing it for sympathy. "I don't want the things I'm going to tell you to seem as if I'm trying to mitigate my circumstance. That's not my purpose. The only reason is because there's nobody else to tell it," Eaglin said. In February, Eaglin was convicted of brutally murdering Corrections Officer Darla Lathrem and inmate Charles Fuston. He has never admitted to the crime - until this interview. David Karsh: Only you know the answer to this, and I'll give you the respect of asking you. Did you kill Darla? Eaglin: Yes I did. Karsh: Why? Eaglin: I was trying to escape from prison. Lathrem was killed shortly before 10 pm on Wednesday June 11th, 2003. Lathrem was supervising Eaglin and 4 other inmates as they were renovating a dorm at the prison. It was the opportunity Eaglin had been waiting for. Karsh: Did you kill Darla first or did you kill Charlie first? Eaglin: Charlie, upstairs in a cell, yes. Karsh: There was a thought, a theory that he was trying to protect Darla and that's why he was killed. Eaglin: No man, that's [expletive deleted]. No that didn't happen. Karsh: Why was he killed? Eaglin: Because he's a snitch. Eaglin claims Fuston reported him for an altercation with other inmates. Eaglin was placed in solitary confinement where he waited for revenge. The night of the escape attempt, he chose a sledgehammer as his weapon. Dwight: I just know that Charlie died because he couldn't mind his own business. He killed Fuston for retribution. For Lathrem, it was different. Eaglin: I wasn't trying to kill her. But how do you administer a sledge hammer to somebody's head, you know, just do it right so that they won't die? Karsh: You knew she was going to die. Eaglin: Have you ever been in a fight? Karsh: When I was younger, sure. Eaglin: When you punch somebody do you know that they can die? Karsh: But you were a boxer, man. A sledge hammer? That's heavy. Eaglin: Yeah it doesn't make any sense to you, right? At the time it felt like I needed to get it done. Needed to get it taken care of because I had to build a ladder and do this. With no one standing in his way, Eaglin built a makeshift ladder which was found later near the prison's outer fence. Karsh: How close were you to getting out that night- to actually making the escape? Eaglin: Oh man. That fence! The ladder was, it just wasn't going to work. The ladder was too short to get Eaglin over the fence to freedom. A close look into Eaglin's eyes reveals the anger that drove him to kill. He traces it back to the reason he's in prison in the first place - the 1998 murder of a man named John Nichols in St. Petersburg, Florida. To this day Eaglin maintains he was defending himself and should never have been sent to prison. He admits to waiting for the perfect chance to make a break. Lathrem was the only one standing between life in prison and freedom. Eaglin: Nobody said that she had to die, that wasn't the issue. Know what I'm saying? That wasn't the main plot. That's what they said in trial. My plot was to kill, build, and escape. My whole plan was to escape. One of the lasting images of Eaglin's trial is his smile. Even as disturbing crime scene photos were being shown, he didn't wipe a perplexing grin off his face, making one wonder if he feels any remorse. Eaglin: That's irrelevant. I'm not the type of person to say I'm sorry after the fact. Sorry doesn't feed the bulldog, you know. Karsh: Do you want the death penalty? Eaglin: We all got to die sometime. I'm not running from it. To say that I want the death penalty, do I deserve it? Yes. I deserve to die. Because I didn't have any mercy to those I hurt. Eaglin will find out his fate on March 31st, when a Charlotte County judge will have the final say on whether or not Eaglin will be sentenced to death. Eaglin is expecting the death penalty. (source: NBC2 News)
