Dec. 11 PENNSYLVANIA: Accused Shickshinny man won't face death penalty A Shickshinny man will face trial for murder, but no longer faces the death penalty. George Harold Fink Sr., 52, agreed Monday to give up his right to a trial by jury. Fink is accused of the January suffocation death of Charlene Kim DeWitt, his former girlfriend. DeWitt was found dead inside her Union Township residence. Police allege Fink suffocated her with a pillow. The trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 5 before Luzerne County Judge Joseph Augello. Members of DeWitt's family agreed to no longer seek the death penalty, said Luzerne County District Attorney David Lupas. "They wanted to expedite the case being heard," Lupas said. "They weren't overly concerned with there being a death penalty. They just want the case to go to trial." In the interim, Luzerne County Judge Michael Toole is scheduled to hear arguments on the suppression of evidence in the case, including statements Fink gave to police, on Dec. 18 at 1:30 p.m. (source: Citizens Voice) NEW MEXICO: Death penalty hearing underway for Clovis dentist A Clovis dentist was expected to be in court Monday for what is scheduled to be a 3-day hearing on whether he should face the death penalty in his upcoming trial. Police say that 37-year-old James Smith raped and murdered 30-year-old Laura McNaughton last December. The single mothers body was found by hunters on December 10th in a ditch in Curry County. She had worked as a waitress at a restaurant where Smith frequently ate. According to court records, Smith told officials that McNaughton died during a "very physical embrace." An autopsy showed that she had been strangled and hit in the head. Smith is charged with 1st-degree murder, kidnapping, 1st-degree criminal sexual penetration and 3 counts of tampering with evidence. District Attorney Matt Chandler has said that he will seek the death penalty based on aggravated circumstances, including kidnapping. (source: KOB TV News) OREGON: Death penalty isnt working A group based in Portland wants to abolish the death penalty in Oregon. Maybe they would get more public attention if we had the death penalty in fact as well as in law, and if there was an execution now and then. Oregon voters reinstated the death penalty twice in the last generation. The 2nd time, in 1984, we did it right, and the courts did not strike down the law. Instead, the courts did something else. They strung out the appeals so that in the 22 years since the voters acted, not a single person condemned to death has been executed if he didn't want to be. The only 2 executions that did take place involved convicts who refused to appeal their sentences beyond the mandatory reviews by the state Supreme Court. They evidently realized they were better off dead than spending the rest of their lives in prison. More than 30 men are on "death row" at the Oregon State Penitentiary. One of them has been there since 1991. No executions are foreseen in the next 5 years. It's not as though we don't have worthy candidates for capital punishment. Most (though not all) of the condemned men have been convicted not just of aggravated murder but other crimes as well, ranging from assault and burglary to kidnapping and rape. But while these men deserve to die before their time, there are uncounted others in the prison system who deserve the same fate but are not getting it. Ward Weaver is just one example. He killed 2 girls in Oregon City in 2002. But then he avoided any death sentence by pleading guilty to murder. Now we're taking care of him in prison, and will do so the rest of his natural life. Besides the lack of even-handedness, one of the other arguments against the death penalty is that someone may be convicted unjustly, and an execution in that case would irreparably compound a miscarriage of justice. Judging by the Oregon cases on death row, it hasn't happened here, but the possibility exists. The way Oregon has been dealing with this statute by showing no urgency at all in at least trying to expedite decisions on appeals it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the death penalty here is a pointless law. If were not going to apply this law, then getting rid of it would be the less expensive course. (source: Albany Democrat-Herald) ARIZONA: Death-penalty resentencing delayed in Moon Smoke Shop case A death-penalty resentencing trial for six slayings during 1996 robberies at the Moon Smoke Shop and Firefighters Union Hall has been moved from January to July. Judge Michael Cruikshank of Pima County Superior Court today moved the resentencing trial for Scott Douglas Nordstrom, 39, from Jan. 16 to July 10. Nordstrom's attorney, David Alan Darby, asked for the delay because he still is collecting mitigating evidence to present in seeking a life sentence. Darby also asked for the delay to accommodate motions he has and will file. Deputy County Attorney Rick Unklesbay agreed to the delay. Nordstrom's 6 death sentences were overturned when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juries, not judges, must decide whether a death sentence would be imposed. Because the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that defendants can challenge aggravating factors that made them eligible for the death penalty, Nordstrom must be resentenced before a jury as if he had not been previously. His convictions still stand, though he maintains it was his brother, David, who was responsible for the fatal robberies at the smoke shop, 120 W. Grant Road, and union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway. Over the course of the case, Darby has requested a change of judge several times. The case was originally assigned to Judge John S. Leonardo and given to Cruikshank. Leonardo, as presiding judge, recently rejected another motion to assign another judge. Darby objected to Leonardo making that decision because he originally had the case. Darby said today he will ask Leonardo to reconsider his motion and anticipates taking the matter to the Arizona Court of Appeals. Nordstrom and Robert Glen Jones Jr. were convicted and sentenced to death for the six murders. David Nordstrom was a key witness for the prosecution and testified in exchange for a four-year sentence for armed robbery. Jones, 36, who remains on death row, is appealing his conviction in U.S. District Court. His attorney has filed motions requesting dismissal alleging prosecutorial misconduct, as Darby has filed in Nordstrom's case. Nordstrom and Jones were tried separately and prosecuted by David White. In another case involving White, Carolyn Peak's conviction in the 1998 death of her husband, Wyett, was dismissed in 2003 because White failed to disclose documents favoring Peak. Though the Pima County Attorney's Office has said no other cases were affected, several local defense attorneys are seeking State Bar complaints against White and other documents to question the fairness of other cases. (source: Tucson Citizen)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., N. MEX., ORE., ARIZ.
Rick Halperin Mon, 11 Dec 2006 17:16:36 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
