Sept. 6 LOUISIANA: La. Supreme Court upholds death penalty in Metairie murder Race wasn't the reason that prosecutors removed blacks from the Jefferson Parish jury that sent a black man to death row in 1996, a narrow Louisiana Supreme Court majority ruled Wednesday. The 4-3 decision was the court's second on whether prosecutors unconstitutionally chose an all-white jury to hear the murder charge against Allen Snyder, convicted of stabbing his estranged wife 15 times and killing Harold Wilson, with whom she was talking. Chief Justice Pascal Calogero and Justices Catherine Kimball and Bernette Johnson disagreed with the majority, saying Snyder should get a new trial because a black juror who already had been accepted was removed with a "back strike." They said the prosecutor's prejudice was shown by 2 comparisons he made between Snyder's case and that of O.J. Simpson, who had been acquitted in 1995 of killing his ex-wife and a friend of hers. The U.S. Supreme Court had ordered Louisiana's justices last year to reconsider their original ruling in light of a decision it had handed down 2 weeks earlier, overturning a Texas death sentence. In the Texas case, a black man was sentenced by a jury that included one black, but prosecutors struck 9 other black potential jurors who had been found qualified. In Snyder's case, prosecutors used peremptory challenges to remove 5 black prospective jurors. One had said at first that she could never consider the death penalty, and later said she could consider it only in the murder of a child. The majority ruling, by Justice John Weimer, said defense lawyers never brought up the question of race for two others during the jury selection, so cannot bring it up now. The reasons given for striking the remaining two blacks from the jury pool were that Elaine Scott was "very weak on her ability to consider the imposition of the death penalty" and that Jeffrey Brooks, a student teacher, seemed nervous and, worried about missing work, might choose a lesser verdict than 1st-degree murder to avoid the penalty phase of trial. It was Brooks on whom the dissenters focused. The majority noted that the same sorts of questions asked of Brooks also were asked of whites, including single mother of a school-aged child. And, while prosecutors accepted two white men who said they were worried about missing work, there was a big difference, Weimer wrote. "We note that both of these men were employed and apparently already had established careers; Brooks, on the other hand, was attempting to complete his college courses in order to begin a career in teaching." Brooks asked to talk to the judge about it, indicating greater concern than the other 2 men, said Weimer, who was joined by Justices Jeanette Knoll, Chet Traylor and Jeffrey Victory. The prosecutor didn't ask in any detail about his student teaching concerns, and Brooks said "OK" when told that the college dean had told the judge's clerk he could miss a few days without a problem, wrote Kimball, who was joined by Calogero. The prosecutor referred to the O.J. Simpson case during a pretrial hearing, but then said he would not do so again, or while evidence was being presented. However, she wrote, the fact that he did refer to Simpson during the penalty phase made the earlier statements "appear disingenuous." The prosecutor was comparing Simpson's testimony about feeling suicidal after Nicole Brown's murder with testimony that a police officer had found Snyder suicidal, curled in a fetal position, and repeating, "They're coming to get me." The pretrial comment was about allegations of domestic violence common to both cases, and the later one "referred to the fact that Simpson feigned suicidal intent," the majority said. "Neither remark referred to Simpson's or Snyder's race." It said the prosecutor's reasons for striking Brooks and Scott were plausible. Kimball disagreed. "Considering this injection of racial issues, and the fact that the prejudicial arguments were made to an all-white jury, I believe it is only reasonable to conclude that Mr. Brooks was peremptorily challenged by the State on the basis of his race when the entirety of the facts is considered," she wrote. Johnson quoted her earlier opinion: "The prosecutor had no need to make reference to this defendant not getting away with murder during the penalty phase of the trial. At this point, the defendant had already been convicted of the crime, so there was nothing for him to 'get away with.' The prosecutor utilized the O.J. Simpson verdict to racially inflame the jury's passion to sentence this defendant to death." The majority ruling said the justices don't consider the Supreme Court's order to reconsider the 1999 ruling as a rejection of their original analysis. "We view the remand as a mere expansion of our review," it said. (source: Associated Press) NORTH DAKOTA: Deliberating if Rodriguez Eligible for Death Penalty Jurors in Fargo continue to deliberate over whether Alfonso Rodriguez Junior is eligible for the death penalty. If jurors decide the Crookston, Minnesota, man is eligible for the death penalty, they'll return to decide if he should then be sentenced to death for the kidnapping and killing of Dru Sjodin, a University of North Dakota student from Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. The jury began deliberating shortly before noon. This afternoon, the jurors asked Judge Ralph Erickson to clarify a couple of questions. They asked whether the intent of the crime had to be formed before or during the time it was committed. Erickson said it didn't matter. The jurors also asked for a definition of "protracted loss" in referring to serious injuries. Then they resumed deliberations. (source: Associated Press) CALIFORNIA: Death penalty sought for 2 men charged in yacht killings In Santa Ana, prosecutors said Wednesday they will seek the death penalty for 2 men charged with killing a retired couple for their yacht by tying them to an anchor and pitching them overboard. Skylar Julius Deleon, 27, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 41, were arrested in January 2005. Their trial has been scheduled for early next year. In announcing his decision to seek the death penalty, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said Thomas and Jackie Hawks of Prescott, Arizona, were murdered "in the most cold-blooded way tied together to an anchor, thrown into the deep, frigid ocean, the pressure rapidly filling their lungs." A message left for Deleon's attorney was not immediately returned. Kennedy's lawyer, Winston McKesson, said he was not surprised by the district attorney's decision, although he reiterated his client's innocence. "He didn't do it. He wasn't there," McKesson said, adding there was no evidence connecting Kennedy to the crime scene. The Hawks were last seen Nov. 15, 2004. Prosecutors allege Deleon approached the couple with an offer to buy their 55-foot (16.5-meter) yacht "Well Deserved." During a test cruise off Newport Beach, Deleon, Kennedy and another man overpowered the couple, who were murdered after they signed over the yacht's title and control of more than $1 million (780,000) in assets, authorities said. "This couple literally watched their dreams float away as they were drowning to death," Rackauckas said. Their bodies were never found. Rackauckas said Deleon planned the murder and used his wife and infant to gain the couple's trust. If convicted, Deleon's 25-year-old wife, Jennifer Henderson Deleon, could face life in prison without parole. Also charged in the case were Alonso Machain, 22, of Pico Rivera, and Myron Gardner Sr., 43, of Long Beach. Deleon is also awaiting trial in the 2003 death of John Jarvi, 45, of Anaheim. Authorities allege Deleon met Jarvi while the 2 were on a jail work-furlough program and killed him during a trip to Mexico to steal $50,000 (39,100). In a 3rd case, Deleon has been charged with soliciting the murder of his father and cousin. Both are expected to be witnesses at his trial. (source: Associated Press)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----LA., N. DAK., CALIF.
Rick Halperin Wed, 6 Sep 2006 21:09:03 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)