Dec. 1 NEBRASKA: High court upholds death sentence in Gering murder A Scotts Bluff County man convicted of raping and killing a 15-year-old girl in 2003 won't be leaving death row anytime soon. The state Supreme Court has denied an appeal from 29-year-old Jeff Hessler, who argued that the Scotts Bluff County District Court made 8 errors in the case that led to his death sentence. Hessler was sentenced to death more than 2 years ago for the February 2003 abduction, rape and murder of Heather Guerrero. The girl was delivering newspapers on her morning route in Gering. He also pleaded no contest in 2003 to 1st-degree sexual assault and was found guilty in the rape of another newspaper carrier in Scottsbluff 6 months before Guerrero's kidnapping and slaying. (source: Associated Press) CALIFORNIA: High Court Upholds Death Sentence for Mexican National----Alleged Denial of Consular Access Not Prejudicial, Justices Rule A convicted killer who is among more than 50 Mexican nationals awaiting execution in the United States whose rights to consular access under international law was denied by police, according to the International Court of Justice, suffered no prejudice as a result and is entitled to no relief from state courts, the California Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The justices unanimously rejected Martin Mendoza's challenge to his death sentence for the 1996 murders of his 2 stepchildren and niece. He was also convicted of the attempted murders of his brother-in-law and nephew and 2 sheriffs deputies, but the jury deadlocked on a charge that he attempted to murder his son. Prosecutors said Mendoza followed his wife and familyincluding his wife's 2 children from a previous relationship and the couple's 3 childrenafter they left the family home in Carson City, Nev. and went to her brother's home in the San Bernardino County community of Landers. There, he confronted his and his brother-in-laws families with a semi-automatic handgun during early morning hours as the children were preparing to go to school. Sheriffs deputies were summoned and a standoff ensued, resulting in an exchange of gunfire before Mendoza was apprehended trying to flee the house. When deputies entered, they found the victim's stepdaughter, Sandra Resendes, dead in a pool of blood. Wendy Cervantes, the defendant's niece, and Eric Resendes, his stepson, had been shot and died before emergency personnel arrived. Witnesses testified that Mendoza was upset that his wife left him, and that he blamed his 13-year-old stepdaughter. Mendoza had previously been arrested for domestic battery after Sandra said he hit her several times with a belt to punish her for not helping him wash his car. The defendants wife, Rocio Cervantes, testified that she left the defendant because Sandra said Mendoza had been molesting her. Mendoza's attorney argued that the death sentence should be overturned pursuant to the 2004 Avena decision of the International Court of Justice. The court found that the United States had violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by "failing to inform detained Mexican nationals of their rights" to have consular officer notified of their arrests and "to notify the Mexican consular post of the detention," and by breaching its obligation "to enable Mexican consular officers to communicate with and have access to their nationals, as well as its obligation...regarding the right of consular officers to visit their detained nationals." The court ruled that the United States was subject to the court's jurisdiction in the matter under an Optional Protocol that both the United States and Mexico had subscribed to. The United States subsequently withdrew from the protocol, but in 2005 President Bush notified the attorney general that the United States would implement the decision through state court review of each of the defendants death sentences. Justice Carlos Moreno, writing for a unanimous court, said that any violation of his rights under the treaty did not prejudice the defendant. He noted that Mendoza had, in 1997, moved for a new trial based on denial of consular access, and that the motion had been denied on the ground of lack of prejudice. San Bernardino Superior Court Judge James A. Edwards, who denied the motion and imposed the death sentence, was correct, Moreno said. Moreno cited a letter from the consulate, introduced in support of the new trial motion, asserting that had it been given notice and access to Moreno in custody, the consulate would have made certain that the defendant received timely assistance, in the Spanish language, including advice regarding his legal rights. The letter did not, the justice explained, contend that Mendoza had been denied such advice, nor did Mendoza claim that the did not receive timely advice of his legal rights in his native language. Thus, Moreno said, if the defendant was denied consular access, it could not have affected his conviction and sentence, based on the record. Mendoza may, however, seek to establish prejudice by presenting evidence outside the record in a habeas corpus proceeding, Moreno noted. The case is People v. Mendoza, 07 S.O.S. 6909. Metropolitan News Company) ******************* Prosecutor: Man accused of killing San Jose boy could face death penalty The man accused of stomping 6-year-old Oscar Jimenez Jr. to death in front of his mother is back in San Jose - and possibly facing the death penalty. Samuel Corona Jr., a felon newly arrived in Santa Clara County from the Arizona jail where he has been held since his arrest in September, made an appearance in Superior Court on Friday afternoon. He is expected back in court to be formally arraigned Thursday. Despite Corona's brief and relatively uneventful hearing, he has now been charged in such a way that - if convicted - he could be eligible for capital punishment. Will the district attorney seek it? "We are considering it," said prosecutor Jeff Rosen. A panel of prosecutors will decide within the next several months whether to seek the death penalty in the case. Rosen said he filed a separate charge of torture against Corona, because of the evidence of abuse to Oscar. Corona was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on Thursday after being extradited from Phoenix. He is charged with 4 felonies relating to the slaying of his girlfriend's son. Corona had fought extradition, arguing that authorities had the wrong man. It didn't fly. Oscar Jimenez wasn't there to see in person the man accused of beating to death his boy. "My anger surpasses everything else," Oscar Jimenez said. Kathryn Jimenez, the boy's mother, is already facing up to 7 years in prison for her part in the killing that happened in her apartment Feb. 18. The boy's mother, who pleaded guilty to a set of felony charges, including being an accessory to murder, will be sentenced in January. After the boy's death, authorities contend, the couple drove to Arizona, where they buried the body in a shallow grave behind an empty apartment. Authorities say they sealed the grave with quick-drying cement and left him there. In the months that followed, Kathryn Jimenez lied to relatives and a district attorney's investigator who was trying to help the boy's father locate his son. Jimenez tearfully blurted out the story of the boy's death in court in August, facing a charge of depriving the boy's father of his right to visit him. In an unexpected outburst, she told authorities that Corona had become angry when the boy said something about harming Corona's 1-year-old child. Corona, the mother recounted, said to Oscar: "Say goodbye to your mother, because you are not going to see her again." She eventually told what happened under a grant of partial immunity, in which authorities promised not to use her statement against her. Authorities have said there is no evidence she actively participated in the killing, but they have other evidence that she failed to protect her son from previous abuse, and that her false statements helped cover up the boy's death. Kathryn Jimenez decided to plead guilty because she felt remorse for not doing more to prevent her son's death, according to her lawyer, Ken Mandel. (source: San Jose Mercury News) ARIZONA: Murder plot against witness in death-penalty case suspected A woman working with defense attorneys in her boyfriend's death-penalty case may have used her position to help him in a plot to kill key figures in the case, including a witness, court records indicate. The suspected plot, uncovered through taped jailhouse conversations, prompted a judge to dismiss the entire defense team representing Donald Delahanty, 21, who is accused of gunning down Phoenix police Officer David Uribe, a 22-year veteran of the force, during a traffic stop on May 10, 2005. Delahanty was conspiring to kill a witness, the witness' mother, and a deputy county attorney, according to Maricopa County Superior Court records released Friday. advertisement Judge Joseph Heilman's ruling removed defense attorneys Bob Storrs and Joey Hamby from the case because their relationship with Delahanty and his girlfriend created a conflict of interest in light of the suspected plot. The rest of the defense team, including the investigator and a mitigation specialist, also were removed. The identity of the girlfriend was not disclosed. Court records indicate Delahanty's girlfriend had unrestricted access to the case file while working in Storrs' law office on a voluntary basis. Records also show the defense counsel allowed her to take "legal calls" from Delahanty, which are typically not recorded by jail staff. Based on the taped jailhouse conversations, authorities served a search warrant and found written correspondence that included plot details and the name of an inmate who could provide a weapon. The girlfriend purchased a weapon for use in the crime, court documents show. It was not clear how long she had been working for the law office or in what capacity. In a message Friday, Storrs said that the ruling was "pretty cut and dry" but offered no further comment. Sgt. Andy Hill, a Phoenix police spokesman, said the girlfriend is considered an investigative lead. An investigation is ongoing and any additional charges would be submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office later this month, Hill added. Delahanty's trial was set to begin Tuesday, but court officials say that it now could be delayed for at least a year. (source: Arizona Republic) IDAHO: Duncan to plead guilty on Monday Joseph Edward Duncan III, who has been charged with kidnapping 2 North Idaho children in 2005 and killing one of them, is scheduled to enter a guilty plea on Monday in federal court. Court documents filed late Friday do not detail exactly which charges Duncan is pleading to. But the penalty phase of his case is due to begin Jan. 28. There was no indication that the government had taken the death penalty off the table; a gag order prevents the lawyers involved from speaking with reporters. Duncan has been charged with kidnapping, kidnapping resulting in death and sexual abuse of a minor and related charges in the abduction of young Shasta and Dylan Groene from their Coeur d'Alene-area home and Dylan's subsequent death in Montana. Duncan has already pleaded guilty in Idaho state court to killing other members of the Groene family at their home in May 2005. Shasta's and Dylan's mother, Brenda Groene, her fianc, Mark McKenzie, and her 13-year-old son, Slade Groene, were bound and bludgeoned to death with a hammer. Prosecutors alleged that Duncan killed the three so he could kidnap the younger children for sex. (source: Associated Press) TENNESSEE: Man In First Local Federal Death Penalty Case Faces New Charges----Rejon Taylor, Mother Charged In Attempted Jail Escape The man charged in the 1st death penalty case in Federal Court in Chattanooga is facing a new charge. Rejon Taylor, along with his mother, Reba Taylor, was indicted by a federal grand jury for an escape attempt at the Hamilton County Jail. Also charged in the conspiracy case are Joey Montrez Marshall, Adijah Ashanti Uhuru and Steven Szabo. Marshall was charged along with Taylor and Sir Jack Matthews in the murder of Atlanta restaurant operator Guy Luck in Collegedale. Marshall and Matthews have pleaded guilty and are expected to testify against Taylor at his trial that is set to begin April 7. The new indictment says in December 2005 that Rejon Taylor was the ringleader in a planned jail break. It says the group met several times to plan the escape, which was later foiled. The indictment says the group made a rope out of sheets and hid it in the ceiling of the jail and that Rejon Taylor traded candy to another inmate for "shanks" to be used as weapons. It says he arranged for his mother to travel to Chattanooga from Atlanta and provide transportation for those trying to escape. It says she rented a van on April 14, 2006, and drove to Chattanooga. It says the escape try was made that day. (source: The Chattanoogan)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----NEB., CALIF., ARIZ., IDAHO, TENN.
Rick Halperin Sat, 1 Dec 2007 11:32:18 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
