March 17 TEXAS----stay of impending execution SA Girl's Killer Granted Stay Of Execution----Tommy Lynn On Death Row For Unrelated Murder There is new information on the man who admitted killing 9-year-old Mary Bea Perez 2 weeks after Fiesta 7 years ago. Serial killer Tommy Lynn sells was sentenced to die for an unrelated murder, with his execution slated for May 17. Now, word from the attorney general's office is that there has been a stay of execution, but it is unclear what the reason is for postponement. (source: KSAT News) ************* Court Says Yates Retrial Can Go Forward Rejecting double jeopardy claims, an appeals court cleared the way for Andrea Yates to be retried for the 2001 bathtub drownings of her children beginning next week. Thursday's ruling by the First Court of Appeals means Yates' murder retrial can begin as scheduled Monday. Attorney George Parnham had argued indictments against Yates should be dismissed and prosecution halted or delayed. He claimed prosecutorial misconduct in Yates' 1st trial should prevent a retrial. But the appeals court agreed with prosecutors' argument that Parham's case failed to show any misconduct, which must be proven for double jeopardy to be a concern. "We are hopeful that we can now finally place our complete focus upon going to trial," prosecutor Alan Curry said after the ruling. Parnham said his claims were made in good faith. "We believe that there was merit to the information presented," he said. Parnham and his co-counsel, Wendell Odom, claimed prosecutors should have known testimony about a nonexistent episode of the television drama "Law & Order" by their expert witness, forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz, was false. They say both prosecutors and Dietz had the necessary resources to determine whether the "Law & Order" episode existed. Last year, the appeals panel overturned Yates' convictions based on Dietz's testimony. Dietz said his testimony was a mistake. Jurors learned of the incorrect testimony after they convicted Yates, but before they sentenced her to life in prison. Yates, 41, who faces 2 capital murder charges, has again pleaded innocent by reason of insanity. Jurors in her 2002 trial rejected her insanity defense and sentenced her to life in prison in the deaths of the 5 children, who ranged in age from 6 months to 7 years. (source: Houston Chronicle) ************* Book explores effects of death penalty That statistics course you took in school? You'll need it to follow "Lethal Injection." Jon Sorensen and Rocky Leann Pilgrim adopt "the socio-scientific method" to explore capital punishment in Texas during the modern era, looking for answers to the basic questions. Does the death penalty deter others? Is it applied to the right people? Is its administration in Texas unbiased, reliable and cost-efficient? The modern era dates from 1964, when Joseph Johnson was the last Texas inmate electrocuted in "Old Sparky." Legal challenges postponed executions from the late 1960s to the late 1970s, but after the state implemented sentencing guidelines for capital murder, executions began anew by lethal injection. Longitudinal analyses, correlation analyses, studies by economists and criminologists, all "change dramatically with the slightest change in model specifications," and fail to yield robust data on the death penalty's power to deter. As attorney Fred A. Semaan explained, you can't measure something that doesn't happen. Kenneth McDuff, the paroled murderer who kidnapped and killed Coleen Reed, is the "poster child for those supporting capital punishment for its power to incapacitate." But a 2005 law mandating life without parole for capital murderers who do not get the death penalty prevents murderers from murdering again. Recent Supreme Court rulings on juveniles and the death penalty and an executive order regarding Mexican nationals "bring the United States in line with international standards on the imposition of the death penalty." A workable definition that would exclude the "mentally retarded" remains elusive in Texas. The authors conclude that the application of the death penalty has evolved over time, with a trend to "parity in death sentencing." Since most murders are intraracial, an unanticipated consequence is that "sentencing more defendants to death for killing minorities means that more minorities will be sentenced to death." Sorensen, professor of justice studies at Prairie View A&M, and Pilgrim, attorney and adjunct professor of criminal justice at the University of Houston, append an index, notes, references and tables. Conceding that they aren't likely to change anyone's mind about the death penalty, their goal is to "provide facts about the implementation of the death penalty ... in the nation's most active death penalty jurisdiction." That would be Texas. (source: Victoria Advocate - Reese Vaughn is the book reviewer for the Advocate) ************** Manipulated photo upsets local police officers One of the biggest issues incoming San Antonio police chief William McManus will have to face is the number of recent officer-involved shootings here in San Antonio. Now a controversial picture in response to those shootings has San Antonio police fuming. On the cover of the San Antonio Observer is an image of a San Antonio police officer wearing a computer-generated Ku Klux Klan-style hood. The image of the officer is paired with images of hate - the hood and a handgun. The San Antonio Observer is a paper that describes itself as a voice of the minority community. The Observer says the cover picture is there to prove a point. "The cover typifies the relationship between the minority and police department, historically, since the civil rights movement," Observer spokeswoman Ida Brown said. But police feel otherwise. "It's absolutely untrue," San Antonio Police Officers Association president Teddy Stewart said. "It makes my blood boil to see what professes (to be) a news organization put out something to inflame the public." The president of the association says the body in the photo is the real body of one of their officers, but everything else has been superimposed. "That officer in particular is one of the nicest around," Stewart said. "He's extremely upset. His badge number is visible and easily identifiable." "This is a picture we had in the file," Brown said, adding that she doesn't think anyone will be able to identify the officer from the photo. "I don't see anything inflammatory to this officer," she said. Regardless, the police association also says this unfairly categorizes their entire department as racist. "I don't think this gives the wrong image," Brown said. "There are actually police officers that dislike minorities." Said Brown: "No, we do not apologize for the picture at all." (source: KENS 5 Eyewitness News) ******************** Grand jury indicts capital murder defendant for 2nd robbery Already accused of capital murder in the alleged Nov. 10 dragging death of a Midland cab driver, 30-year-old Monica Ayala Palmer was indicted Thursday in the alleged Nov. 28, 2004, stabbing of a pizza deliveryman and theft of a vehicle belonging to the man's girlfriend. A 142nd District Court grand jury indicted Palmer for aggravated robbery in the alleged incident involving pizza deliveryman Kris Lange and for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in the alleged theft of a car belonging to Elizabeth Johnson. Facing the death penalty in the death of 57-year-old Richard Allen "Rich" Cullum, Palmer is charged with assaulting Lange, who wasn't critically injured, and taking his money in the same area where Cullum was assaulted -- the 1000 block of North Terrell Street. The cabbie fell out of the driver's side door of his car and became entangled in his seatbelt after being stabbed in the right shoulder, arm and hand, police said. He was dragged south 15 blocks to the 800 block of East Missouri Avenue. Palmer and her boyfriend, 23-year-old Ronnie Blanco Mendoza, were indicted for 2nd-degree felony robbery Nov. 17 in their alleged strong arm robbery of a clerk last Aug. 24 at the One Stop convenience store at 900 S. Dallas St. First Assistant District Attorney Teresa Clingman declined comment when asked if Thursday's indictments could affect the prosecution of the capital murder case, in which Palmer is represented by court-appointed Odessa attorney David Zavoda. "This is a separate case and it will be up to the judge as to who is appointed to represent her," said Clingman, referring to District Judge George Gilles. Palmer remained incarcerated Thursday in Midland County Central Detention Center in lieu of $370,550 in bonds. (source: Midland Reporter-Telegram) **************** "The State Vs. Reed" Examines Death Row Inmate's Case A major hearing takes place in two weeks for a man on death row. Rodney Reed was convicted and sentenced for the Bastrop County murder of 19-year-old Stacy Stites back in 1996. This death row inmate is now a major figure in the South By Southwest Film Festival, where a movie could help determine Reed's fate. The State Vs. Reed follows the case of Rodney Reed and brings to light evidence that the jury never heard. KXAN got an opportunity to speak with the filmmakers and with Reed's parents, all of whom hope this movie helps Reed get a retrial after 8 years on death row. We'll have to see if it goes that far. Meanwhile, the file has already caught the attention of SXSW by winning the Lone Star States film award at the festival, although Reed's parents are hoping for much more than accolades and honors. "Hopefully this will shed the light on what really happened, and they will catch the right person," said Sandra Reed, Rodney Reed's mother. In 2002, years after the murder case closed, KXAN investigated evidence not presented to the jury and talked to Rodney Reed on death row. "They need to know I'm an innocent man sitting on death row," Rodney Reed said in that 2002 interview. Reed again proclaims his innocence in the movie The State Vs. Reed, a project taken up by two local filmmakers who didn't know Reed but couldn't rest after what they had seen in the news. "When we started learning more and more about the case and the family and what a caring, loving family this is, it became hard for us to believe that the way they worked the case and the trial was accurate," filmmaker Frank Bustoz said. "I feel like there should be a new trial," said Ryan Polomski, who teamed with Bustoz to create The State Vs. Reed. "I feel like that new trial should be outside of Bastrop. We're not here to say if he's innocent or guilty. We just want to give the facts to the people and let the people of Texas decide what should happen to this man." At Rodney Reed's hearing on March 23 and 24, a judge may decide just that. At least, that's what his parents are hoping. "Justice has not been served and that's what we're seeking," Sandra Reed said. Friday night marked the last showing of The State Vs. Reed during SXSW. But on March 25, after Rodney Reed's hearing, there will be a protest of the death penalty and another showing at the Bastrop Community Center at 4 p.m. (source: KXAN news) NORTH CAROLINA----execution Moody executed for 1994 shooting death Patrick Moody was executed early Friday morning for the 1994 shooting death of his girlfriend's husband. Moody, 39, was executed by injection at Central Prison for the Sept. 16, 1994, slaying of Donnie Robbins of Thomasville. Moody was having an affair with Robbins' wife Wanda, who persuaded Moody to shoot her husband so they could collect a $5,000 insurance policy. Moody was pronounced dead at 2:19 a.m., said Keith Acree, a spokesman for the state Correction Department. Moody gave a poem to the prison warden for his last statement. In a written statement, Robbins' sister, Peggy Robbins Smith, said she now knows that her brother can rest in peace and "now there is a closure to the loss of my brother, Donnie Robbins. "I will always have my memories and no one can take them away from me. I loved him and always will," Smith's statement said. The execution came after Gov. Mike Easley denied clemency for Moody and after both the U.S. Supreme Court and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused a motion to stop the execution. "Given the facts and circumstances of this case, I find no compelling reasons to invalidate the sentence recommended by the jury and affirmed by the courts," Easley said in a statement. Moody had argued to the courts that North Carolina's injection execution method could cause "unconstitutional pain and suffering." His federal appeals began with a U.S. District Court judge in Raleigh, who rejected the petition Tuesday. Earlier Thursday, Moody visited his mother, brothers and sisters at Central Prison. "He's a little more nervous today than he was yesterday. It's hitting pretty hard today," his brother, Rick Moody of Canton, Ohio, said Thursday. "I hugged him." It was the 1st visit for the condemned man during which he could touch relatives. The visitation sessions ran all day with meal breaks and were held in a small room in the presence of two corrections officers. Prior visits were made with the parties separated by bars and reinforced glass. Conversations were held through a rectangle of wire mesh. Rick Moody said he took a picture of his brother. "It made it more personal and easier to talk," the brother said. Challenges to lethal injection have had varied success around the nation. In a Florida case, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider whether drugs used in the process were cruel punishment, which is prohibited by the Constitution. A California judge agreed to review the state's capital punishment system after doctors and nurses refused to administer a fatal dose of barbiturate. In North Carolina, "appropriately trained personnel" administer fatal drug doses, according to the Department of Correction. Two intravenous lines - one in each arm - are fed with two sets of syringes of chemicals by executioners whose view of the condemned is blocked from view by a curtain. The 1st syringes are filled with at least 3000 milligrams of sodium pentothal to put him to sleep. Another set of syringes flushes the lines with saline and a 3rd set contains at least 40 milligrams of Pavulon, or pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes the inmate. A fourth set of syringes with at least 160 millequivalents of potassium chloride stops the heart. The inmate's father, Richard Moody, of Canton, Ohio, visited last week and in an interview denied defense contentions that he abused his son. The father said he supports capital punishment, but believes his son belongs in a mental institution. Richard Moody, 70, said his son was a disciplinary problem, something that a former special education teacher indicated in an affidavit. Patrick Moody interrupted his murder trial in 1995 to plead guilty to the slaying of Robbins. Wanda Robbins was sentenced to life in prison plus 65 years after she pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and insurance fraud. Moody's lawyers said in a clemency argument to the governor that the execution should be stopped because of questions about his mental capacity and because Robbins received a lighter sentence even though she planned the killing. In Florida, Moody tried a similar crime - attempting to kill a man at a woman's urging - and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Before the execution, about 15 people were arrested and charged with trespassing when they tried to enter the prison grounds about 10 p.m., Acree said. Moody becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in North Carolina and the 41st overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1984. Moody becomes the 10th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1014th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin) ************ 15 Arrested on St. Patrick's Eve at Execution Protest For the 2nd time this year and the 3rd time in just over 3 months, 15 local death penalty opponents were arrested for attempting to physically and peacefully halt an execution Central Prison, where Patrick Moody was poisoned to death by prison staff in the morning of St. Patrick's Day, March 17. At 10:36 p.m., less than 4 hours before Moodys execution, 15 members of the "St. Patricks Affinity Group" were arrested for trespassing at Central Prison. The group solemnly processed from the sidewalk candlelight vigil, crossed the street, and attempted to walk down the driveway towards the death house where Moody's family members were saying their final goodbyes. When stopped by State Capitol Police in the driveway, members of the group, who were wearing ashes on their foreheads in observance of the Christian Lenten season, knelt down, and proceeded to carry out a service of song and prayer. After refusing to leave, police began making arrests, while the crowd of approximately 50 death penalty opponents looked on and sang songs of support and encouragement. The group consisted of residents from Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Silk Hope who are opposed to the death penalty. There are also a significantly strong number of Duke Divinity School students among the group. Eric Getty, who was arrested, is one of those students and is a resident of Rutba House. He is opposed to the execution principally on religious grounds. "We kill to show society that killing is wrong, and we falsely believe that by doing so we are making ourselves more secure. I believe that, rather than making ourselves safer, we are actually destroying ourselves," said Getty. The group has taken action for the third time in as many months, where 48 arrests have been made since December 2005. Participants willingly and peacefully trespass on to Central Prison grounds to stop the execution and face the risk of arrest by police in doing so. "We intend[ed] to approach Central Prison nonviolently to try to stop the execution of Patrick Moody," said Leah Wilson-Hartgrove, another member of the Rutba House in Durham, "When standing outside a building where I know a murder is going to take place, I have no choice but to use my body, non-violently, to stop that murder." Members of the St. Patrick Affinity Group had expressed hope that actions would be taken by officials beforehand to stop Patrick Moody's execution. "The affinity group hoped that Governor Easley would grant relief for Patrick through clemency," said Scott Langley, a member of the Raleigh Catholic Worker. "We also had hoped that the courts would stay the execution or that the prison doctors would refuse to oversee the injection of poison into Patrick's veins, just as the doctors did in California last month. But because they all failed to act, we had no choice but to act ourselves." Patrick Moody was sentenced to death for the 1994 murder of Donnie Robbins. However, opponents cite Moodys low IQ, his childhood neglect and abuse, and the unfair sentencing of his co-defendant, Wanda Robbins, who received life in prison as opposed to the death penalty for her compliance in the murder. Robbins allegedly tricked Moody into murdering her husband so she could collect on his life insurance; despite this premeditation, the state still allowed Robbins to plead 2nd-degree murder. (source: North Carolina Independent Media Center) *********************** Man put to death for '94 murder----He shot husband of his girlfriend Patrick Moody was executed today for the 1994 murder of his girlfriend's husband in Thomasville. The victim's sister, Peggy Robbins Smith, planned to watch Moody's death by lethal injection at Raleigh's Central Prison so she could keep a promise to her brother, Donnie Robbins. "I made my brother a promise when I was with him at the casket," said Smith, 47, of Thomasville. "I promised him that I would see justice done. I feel like this will be a way to fulfill my promise." Smith said she thinks Moody, 39, of Davidson County, deserves to die because he chose to proceed with the plot to kill her brother. Moody conspired with his girlfriend, Wanda Robbins, to kill her husband so the pair could split a $5,000 insurance policy. On Sept. 16, 1994, Moody pretended to be interested in purchasing a car owned by Donnie Robbins and shot him in the back of the head. At 5:30 a.m. on the day after the murder, Wanda Robbins called the life insurance company seeking payment. Wanda Robbins is serving life in prison for her role in the murder. This was not the 1st time that Moody had plotted with a woman to kill somebody. He spent 5 years in a Florida prison for a similar scheme that failed. Moody spent Wednesday and Thursday visiting with his mother, siblings and other relatives from Canton, Ohio, where he grew up. At 5 p.m. Thursday, Moody took a break from his 1st contact visits with family in 10 years to eat his last meal. At 6:15 p.m. Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt the execution so Moody could legally challenge the state's method of lethal injection. A similar lawsuit derailed a California inmate's execution last month, and 4 other inmates across the country have seen their executions delayed on the same basis. The litigation questions whether the drugs used in lethal injection adequately sedate an inmate before the lethal dose is administered or whether inmates are experiencing excruciatingly painful deaths, which might be unconstitutional. 3 hours later, Gov. Mike Easley declined a request to commute Moody's sentence to life in prison. Moody's attorneys say he had very limited mental skills and was manipulated by Wanda Robbins. Though evidence at trial showed Moody had an IQ of 81, his attorneys say he had scored in the mid-60s on previous tests. That would exempt him from the death penalty under state law. Easley has granted clemency only twice. Moody's sister-in-law, Sandy Moody, thought the governor should have granted clemency because Moody's poor mental skills made him less culpable. "How do you hold a retarded person accountable for this?" she asked. (source: The News & Observer) *********** Faith and executions While James Chapman French of Cary's latest suit against the state for its method of carrying out executions has been dismissed by the Superior Court on the grounds that he lacked standing (news story, March 16), the 2 points he's tried to make on religious grounds are important ones. The supporting legal arguments are complicated and difficult for non-lawyers to follow, but his two points are basically simple and readily understood: First, that the traditional, well-publicized last supper served inmates at Central Prison on the eve of their execution should be eliminated as a humiliating mockery of Christ's Last Supper; and second, that executions, if continued, should be held at midday rather than at 2 o'clock in the morning. The present practice implies that the state is shielding its citizens from the reality of what is being carried out in their name. Taking a human life is such a profound act that it should require those responsible to be completely open. To do otherwise distorts the moral judgment of us all. As a Unitarian Universalist minister who opposes the death penalty, I feel that if the penalty is to continue, those who take religion seriously should press hard for the changes French has been advocating. Rev. Dr. Charles A. Howe----Raleigh (source: Letter to the Editor, News & Observer) VIRGINIA----new execution date Court sets date for execution of man who killed girlfriend A court has set the execution date for a Suffolk man convicted of killing his former girlfriend. The Department of Corrections says 42-year-old Dexter Lee Vinson is to be executed on April 27th. Vinson has been on death row since he was convicted in 1999 of capital murder, carjacking, abduction with intent to defile and sexual penetration with an inanimate object. Prosecutors said 25-year-old Angela Felton was abducted and taken to the back yard of a vacant house, where a witness heard her plead with Vinson to leave her alone. She was cut on her forearms, neck, trunk and buttocks and suffered massive lacerations to her genital area. She also was choked with a rope, and a car door was slammed on her head. The execution date was set by Portsmouth Circuit Court Judge Johnny Morrison. (source: WAVY News) ******************* Lawyer denies acting alone on Moussaoui----Case gutted by alleged witness tampering Embattled government attorney Carla Martin suggested Thursday she did not act alone in allegedly tampering with government witnesses in the sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. Martin, speaking for the 1st time through a statement by her attorney, did not address the accusation by prosecutors and the presiding judge in the case that she had violated a court order by aggressively coaching government aviation officials about how to testify in the trial. But her Washington lawyer, Roscoe Howard, said that when the time comes to explain her actions, "her response will show a very different, full picture of her intentions, her conduct and her tireless dedication to a fair trial." Meanwhile, the Transportation Security Administration said Martin, 51, has been placed on paid administrative leave until her legal situation is resolved. She faces possible civil or criminal contempt charges for providing trial transcripts to prospective witnesses in Moussaoui's trial, criticizing the prosecutors' opening statements and aggressively coaching them on what to say, in violation of a court order. Disclosure of her actions Monday prompted U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema to ban all aviation testimony from the trial, all but gutting the prosecution's case. The trial is being held to determine whether Moussaoui, who was in jail at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks but has pleaded guilty to conspiring with the hijackers, should face the death penalty or spend life in prison. Howard, in his statement Thursday, said Martin had been "viciously vilified" by prosecutors who "had asserted that she had acted entirely alone." Prosecutors, seeking to distance themselves from Martin's actions, castigated her as a "lone miscreant" and said she acted "essentially as outside counsel" in coaching the witnesses. But Moussaoui's lawyers, in legal papers filed Thursday, said Martin had worked closely with prosecutors. Prospective trial witnesses described Martin as a zealous lawyer--perhaps too zealous. "She was taking up quite a bit of our time," said Claudio Manno, deputy assistant administrator for security at the Federal Aviation Administration. "Ms. Martin sometimes had a tendency to go off on tangents that, that really were not all that relevant." Martin, a former flight attendant who finished law school at 36, is "really completely torn up," said her mother, Jean Martin Lay. "How could it happen?" Even before she began to practice, she worked for the FAA. There, her mother said, she was involved in two of the most prominent terrorist cases: the suit brought by the families of Pan Am Flight 103, which blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, and the prosecution of Richard Reid, who tried to blow up a jumbo jet with a bomb in his shoe over the Atlantic in December 2001. Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Martin went to work for the new TSA. Prosecutors have urged Brinkema to reverse or narrow her order banning aviation-related testimony. They argued that six of the FAA witnesses coached by Martin represented the heart of their case, which is that the government could have prevented the attacks if Moussaoui had cooperated with the FBI. (source: Chicago Tribune) ****************** Judge accepts compromise deal on Moussaoui The federal judge in the death penalty trial of al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui accepted a government compromise Friday that will allow prosecutors to present new witnesses about aviation security. Judge Leonie Brinkema in a written order said prosecutors could present exhibits and a witness or witnesses if they are untainted by contact with Transportation Security Administration lawyer Carla J. Martin, cited by Brinkema for misconduct earlier this week when the judge decided to exclude all aviation security evidence. "The government's proposed alternative remedy of allowing it to call untainted aviation witnesses or otherwise produce evidence not tainted by Ms. Martin has merit," Brinkema wrote. Her partial reversal of an earlier order was a boon to prosecutors who had said it would be a waste of time to continue the case if they were not allowed to present some evidence about possible defensive aviation security measures the government might have taken to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Defense lawyers had argued Thursday that Brinkema was fully justified in concluding that evidence about U.S. aviation security was tainted beyond repair. Moussaoui's lawyers also had said that there was no reason for her to agree to a request by prosecutors on Wednesday that she revoke her order or at least impose less severe penalties on the government. Brinkema has sent the jury home until Monday while she decides what to do. The only person charged in this country in the Sept. 11 attacks, Moussaoui pleaded guilty in April to conspiring with al-Qaida. But he says he had nothing to do with 9/11 and was training for a possible later attack. To obtain a death penalty, prosecutors must prove that Moussaoui's actions - his lies, in this case - led directly to at least 1 death on Sept. 11, 2001. Martin's lawyer, Roscoe Howard, said Thursday she had been "viciously vilified by assertions from the prosecution" and is preparing a response he said "will show a very different, full picture of her intentions, her conduct and her tireless dedication to a fair trial." Meanwhile, in New York, lawyers representing plaintiffs in a liability lawsuit stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks have asked a judge there to conduct an inquiry into whether Martin, or any other TSA lawyers, engaged in witness tampering or other acts to favor American Airlines and United Airlines, defendants in the case. "We are particularly concerned that TSA may not have acted with the total impartiality required of that Agency in decisions it has made that affect our cases," lawyers Marc S. Moller and Beth E. Goldman wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who is overseeing the civil lawsuit over property damages that resulted from the terrorist attacks. *********** Moussaoui's Fate May Hinge on Next Ruling Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree the fate of al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui could hinge on whether a federal judge sticks to her ruling that the government contaminated half its case by coaching witnesses and lying to the defense. Defense lawyers argued Thursday that U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema was fully justified in concluding that evidence about U.S. aviation security was tainted beyond repair by the misconduct of a federal lawyer and cannot be used in Moussaoui's sentencing trial. Moussaoui's lawyers said there was no reason for her to agree to a request by prosecutors on Wednesday that she revoke her order or at least impose less severe penalties on the government. Prosecutors have said it would be waste of time to proceed with the trial to determine whether Moussaoui is executed or imprisoned for life unless they are allowed to present some aviation evidence. If the trial ended, he would get the life sentence. There was no indication when Brinkema would respond. Brinkema has sent the jury home until Monday while she decides what to do. Earlier this week, Brinkema found that Transportation Security Administration lawyer Carla J. Martin violated trial rules when she sent trial transcripts to seven aviation witnesses, coached them on how to deflect defense attacks and lied to defense lawyers to prevent them from interviewing witnesses they wanted to call . Federal rules of evidence prohibit witnesses from hearing or reading trial testimony so they can't alter their testimony based on what they learn. As a result, Brinkema decided Tuesday the government cannot present any testimony about aviation security steps it might have taken to counter the threat posed by Moussaoui and his al-Qaida co-conspirators, who were training to hijack aircraft and fly them into U.S. buildings. The plans culminated in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Prosecutors say they need this testimony to make their case. They argue that if Moussaoui had revealed his al-Qaida membership and his terrorist plans when arrested in August 2001, the FBI could have identified some of the hijackers and aviation officials could have taken security steps to prevent at least one of the nearly 3,000 deaths on 9/11. The defense argues the 5th Amendment gave Moussaoui the right not to incriminate himself. They say prosecutors must show that his lies prevented federal officials from taking steps they would have taken if he had exercised his constitutional right to remain silent under questioning. The only person charged in this country in the Sept. 11 attacks, Moussaoui pleaded guilty in April to conspiring with al-Qaida. But he says he had nothing to do with 9/11 and was training for a possible later attack. To obtain a death penalty, prosecutors must prove that Moussaoui's actions -- his lies, in this case -- led directly to at least one death on Sept. 11, 2001. Prosecutors argue the federal aviation officials who dealt with Martin should be allowed to testify because 6 of the 7 swore that her exhortations would not affect their testimony. At the very least, prosecutors asked the judge to allow a new witness -- not exposed to Martin -- to testify in place of the barred witnesses. But defense lawyers said a substitution would be unfair since federal law requires prosecutors to disclose all their witnesses 3 days before trial so the defense can prepare. Defense lawyers added that substitute witness would almost surely also be tainted -- not by Martin but by exposure to news accounts of trial testimony. The defense also argued that the full extent of Martin's misconduct is not known. Martin, who has been placed on administrative leave by TSA, declined to testify at a special hearing Tuesday. Martin's lawyer, Roscoe Howard, said Thursday she had been "viciously vilified by assertions from the prosecution'' and is preparing a response he said "will show a very different, full picture of her intentions, her conduct and her tireless dedication to a fair trial." On the Net: Court's Moussaoui site: http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/notablecases/moussaoui/index.html (source for both: Associated Press) CALIFORNIA: Judge to tour execution ward----San Quentin visit precedes lethal injection debate A federal judge at the center of the debate over California's death penalty will tour San Quentin State Prison's execution chamber March 30, a spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer said Thursday. U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel will then hold a closed hearing at San Quentin that same day with state prosecutors, attorneys for condemned Stockton man Michael Angelo Morales and prison staffers who carry out executions. Fogel's visit will come about one month before a hearing in his San Jose courtroom to settle a debate over California's use of lethal injection that ignited Feb. 21, when Morales' execution was indefinitely delayed. The state's attempt to execute Morales for the 1981 rape and murder of Stockton teen Terri Lynn Winchell was stymied when two doctors hired under Fogel's order declined to monitor the execution because they could've been required to take a more active role in the execution. The doctors said later in a statement that taking a more active role would breach their ethical limits. The doctors left the prison grounds. And a quick search for another medical professional to stand in and the proposal to alter the combination of lethal drugs also met obstacles, ultimately delaying the execution. State prosecutors initiated Fogel's visit to San Quentin so the judge and Morales' attorneys can inspect for themselves the chamber and its instruments, Lockyer spokesman Nathan Barankin said. "We don't have anything to hide," Barankin said. "(We want them to) see firsthand how the system's set up." State prosecutors and officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation have proposed a modified combination of lethal drugs for Fogel to consider in the May hearing. They want to use the same 3 drugs but in adjusted amounts, Barankin said. "One of the concerns the state had about prior executions is that inmates were rendered too unconscious," Barankin said. The heavy doses used before caused the body to slow down and prevented the drugs from efficiently rendering death. Morales' lead attorney, David Senior of Los Angeles, said the state has abandoned its vigorous defense of the previous method and proposed a new one, making a "substantial concession" that the execution procedure used on 11 others was flawed, Senior said. "If they had their way, they'd still be using it on California inmates," he said. The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, which opposes the death penalty, has filed a lawsuit with Fogel asking to join Morales' litigation. The attorney general's office opposes the request, which Fogel will consider at a March 21 hearing. The ACLU argues that the second drug - pancuronium bromide - that executioners use only has the purpose of shutting down the body's voluntary muscles and prevents the inmates from shouting out or otherwise showing any pain. This violates the constitutional right to free press because the drug acts as a "curtain," concealing pain from members of the press who observe the execution and report to the public. "It really prevents the public from seeing what's going on with this obviously very, very important issue," said ACLU staff attorney Michael Risher." (source: The Record) **************** New execution protocol released----Rules skirt issues that delayed Morales' lethal injection, critics say. California made public Thursday a 32-page version of its latest lethal injection protocol, dissecting the process down to the "department-approved leather restraints, handcuffs and leg irons" and "three (3) flashlights w/batteries" that must be on hand.But the state left major questions unanswered, including what appears to be the key legal issue: What will be done to monitor whether the prisoner is unconscious and not subjected to extreme pain? The newly filed public document mentions only heart-monitoring equipment, which will be used by a state physician to determine when a prisoner is alive and when he's dead.Nathan Barankin, chief spokesman for the attorney general's office, confirmed that "there is no anesthesiologist" reflected in either the public version or the full protocol, which his office submitted under seal to a federal judge last week. Because of security concerns, the unredacted document is never to be disclosed to the public, the press or lawyers representing Michael Angelo Morales, the next inmate scheduled for execution. Barankin says he was "unable to say" whether the full document provides for other clinical personnel or monitoring equipment to determine Morales' level of consciousness. Barankin said he could not say how much was deleted in the redacted version. The monitoring question "is not an issue this protocol seems to resolve," said John Grele, a member of Morales' legal team. Grele said another "glaring" omission is whether less of a barbiturate will be used under the new procedure than under the one it replaced. The old procedure was blocked by a federal judge last month until safeguards could be added or constitutional questions resolved. Morales' execution had been scheduled for Feb. 21. A hearing, which now will focus on the new procedure, has been set for May 2 and 3 in the San Jose courtroom of U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel. Much of the disclosed procedure describes steps that have little bearing on actually ending a prisoner's life: for example, stocking the execution chamber kitchen with "six (6) towels." Description of the execution process starts on Page 29 with preparation of seven syringes - two containing the barbiturate sodium pentothal, one with a saline solution, one with the paralytic agent pancuronium bromide and three with potassium chloride, which stops the heart. 2 intravenous injection lines are set up. "A person qualified, trained or otherwise authorized by law" to insert them does so, finding a usable vein. Barankin said his understanding was that a prison staffer equivalent to an emergency medical technician would be used. Once the IV is started, team members leave the chamber. The door is sealed. The procedure protects the "total anonymity of the team members," forbidding addressing them by name or requiring them to speak. Team members wear no jewelry and cover their arms to hide "any identifiable marks, tattoos or scars." At the warden's signal, the syringe numbered 1, containing the barbiturate, is locked onto the IV running to the prisoner's right arm. The contents are injected. Next, syringe 2 is locked on to the left IV, to deliver 75 drips of the barbiturate per minute throughout the execution. A syringe marked "flush" is then emptied into the right IV, to be followed with syringe 3, containing pancuronium bromide, and then syringes 4, 5 and 6, all containing potassium chloride. "Upon completion of the injections, or at such earlier time as may be appropriate, the physician shall pronounce death. ... (T)he body shall be removed with care and dignity and placed in a body bag." In a memo to reporters Thursday, Barankin said Fogel will hold a hearing March 30 at San Quentin State Prison to tour the execution chamber and take testimony from "relevant witnesses." Barankin also said the state is objecting to a related lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The suit challenges the use of pancuronium bromide on grounds that paralyzing an inmate masks "aspects of the dying process about which the public is entitled to know." Fogel has set a hearing Tuesday on whether to consolidate the ACLU suit with Morales' challenge. (source: Sacramento Bee)
