Sept. 28 NORTH DAKOTA: U.S. attorney considering death penalty in drug case In Fargo, U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley says he has a Monday deadline to tell a federal judge whether his office will seek the death penalty in a drug-related killing. Michael Petzold, of Norfolk, Neb., is charged with murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. He is accused of killing Lee Avila, 28, of East Grand Forks, Minn. Petzold was indicted in January along with 5 others. Investigators said he was the leader of a drug ring that brought large amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana from Mexico to the Red River Valley over several years. His trial is scheduled for January. Wrigley has not announced whether he will seek the death penalty. He said earlier that it would be a first in North Dakota for a drug-related crime. The state does not have the death penalty, but it is allowed in federal cases. Police said they got a 911 call and found Avila shot to death in East Grand Forks on June 30, 2005. Authorities said Avila had earlier criminal convictions and his death was drug-related. (source: Associated Press) NEW JERSEY: Death penalty panel hears from 10 who oppose executions Bill Babbitt watched police put his younger brother in the patrol car and started to cry. It was 1980. Babbitt had read about the murder of an elderly woman in her home and suspected his younger brother, Manny, who had been acting erratically since coming home from Vietnam. Babbitt made a tough choice and turned Manny in to the police. David Kaczynski faced the same dilemma. After reading a manifesto published by the notorious Unabomber, Kaczynski suspected his bother, Theodore, was behind the bombing campaign that killed three people and wounded 23. David Kaczynski called the FBI. Theodore Kaczynski is serving a life term without parole. California executed Manny Babbitt by lethal injection in May 1999. "Our personal experiences are practically identical, except for one thing," Kaczynski said. "My brother is alive and Bill's brother was executed." Yesterday, Bill Babbitt and David Kaczynski told a state commission the effects of uneven capital sentencing extend beyond the condemned inmates. "My family was devastated," Babbitt said. "They became a whole new set of victims that night." He said some relatives "turned their back on me." Kaczynski said, "Ted's life wasn't spared because he's any sicker than 100 or so seriously mentally ill people that our government has executed since 1992. His life was spared because he had great lawyers." Babbitt lives in Elk Grove, Calif., and serves on the board of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights. Kaczynski is executive director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty. They were among 10 witnesses who testified before the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission. All opposed capital punishment. Several said the criminal justice system makes mistakes. Nate Walker, who spent 12 years in New Jersey prisons for a rape he did not commit, said he is "living proof" an innocent man can be convicted. With the help of Centurion Ministries, Walker was freed in 1986 after a blood test -- which his trial lawyer had failed to order -- showed he was not the rapist. Kirk Bloodsworth was sentenced to death for the 1984 rape and murder of a 9-year-old Maryland girl. He was freed in 1993 after a DNA comparison showed he was not the attacker. "In matters of life and death, one mistake is too many," Bloodsworth said. "I could just as easily be dead today had the right set of circumstances not come about to ensure that the truth came out." "I am one of 123 people exonerated from death row, and one of 176 people who have been exonerated by DNA. Clearly, this is a system that makes mistakes," Bloodsworth said. Jennifer Thompson of Winston Salem, N.C., said mistakes happen even when everyone in a case -- prosecutors, defense lawyers and victims -- acts with the best of intentions. Thompson was a 22-year-old college student when she was raped at knifepoint in 1984. She memorized her attacker's face and helped police construct a composite sketch, which she said then became etched in her memory. Shown a series of photographs, she picked the one that most resembled the sketch. Shown a lineup, she picked the man who most resembled the photo. He was Ronald Cotton. "I was certain that Ronald Cotton had raped me -- certain," Thompson said. Cotton was convicted in 1985. In June 1995, DNA tests showed another man, serial rapist Bobby Poole, was Thompson's real attacker. "The guilt was heavy," Thompson said, adding that she and Cotton have become friends since his release. She told the commissioners, "You can reduce, but you cannot eliminate, the risk of error in the death penalty system." Studies performed for the state Supreme Court have repeatedly shown defendants are not sentenced to death because of their race. But as capital sentences have been overturned, the complexion of New Jersey's death row has changed. 5 years ago it housed 10 whites and 7 blacks; now there are 6 blacks and 3 whites. "Although African-Americans comprise only 14.5 % of New Jersey's population, 2/3 of our death row prisoners are African-American," James Harris, president of the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP, said. He urged abolition of the death penalty. The 13-member commission has until Nov. 15 to submit a report to the Legislature and Gov. Jon Corzine. (source: Star-Ledger) ******************** Brother of Unabomber slams death penalty----Before a state panel, David Kaczynski and others called for an end to capital punishment. The brother of the Unabomber yesterday told a special New Jersey commission studying capital punishment that the death sentence should be abolished. David Kaczynski, who turned in Theodore Kaczynski to the FBI 10 years ago, spoke of his painful decision to go to authorities and his gratefulness that his brother's life was spared. He also pointed to his brother as an example of how the death penalty is not fairly imposed. "His life was spared because he had great lawyers," David Kaczynski told the panel. Acting on information from the family, FBI agents arrested Theodore Kaczynski at his Montana cabin in April 1996 for a string of package bombings that killed three people and injured 23 from 1978 to 1995. The panel also heard from the first death-row inmate to be exonerated by DNA evidence, Kirk Bloodsworth, who detailed the physical abuse he received in prison while branded a child-killer. "Prison life is worse than the death penalty," he told the panel. Bloodsworth was wrongly convicted twice of raping and bludgeoning a 9-year-old Maryland girl to death. He was cleared by DNA testing after spending nine years in prison, including two on death row. The panel has until Nov. 15 to submit its recommendations to Gov. Corzine and the New Jersey Legislature on what it believes should be done with the death penalty. The state has 9 men on death row, but the legislation that created the commission imposed a moratorium on executions until after the panel completes its work. New Jersey reinstated the death penalty in 1982, though it hasn't executed anyone since 1963. (source: Associated Press) ************* Death-penalty opponents press for ban Death penalty opponents again dominated the agenda of a state study commission deciding whether to keep the sentence on the books. Family members, rape victims, attorneys and other death penalty abolitionists today urged the state to repeal the unused 1982 law, as the commission weighed whether the sentence is handed down fairly to people charged with similar crimes. David Kaczynski, executive director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, and brother of "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski, spoke of his own experience with the criminal justice system. He said that many cases' outcomes are determined by outside variables and not the case's facts. "I began to see the criminal justice system for what it is: an imperfect system run by fallible human beings," said Kaczynski. "Who lives and who dies should not depend on one's wealth, one's given mental ability, one's ethnicity or race, or anyone else's personal whim or bias." Among other things, the commission's latest meeting was concerned with determining whether the reasons for sentencing could be arbitrary, unfair or discriminatory. Also, it sought to determine if the crime committed by those who received life sentences varied in severity compared to those who received the death penalty. Bill Babbitt, director of the Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, testified about how his mentally ill brother was improperly represented and sentenced to the death penalty. "I trusted that the system would work. Maybe I trusted the system too much," Babbitt said. The commission comes along at a time where many states are facing criticism about their use of the death penalty. In 2003, Illinois Gov. George Ryan commuted all of death row's sentences due to errors within their criminal system. This past month, a report from the American Bar Association found that Florida's application of the sentence violates many of the ABA's guidelines for fairness and accuracy. Eight lawyers from the state analyzed their findings and created proposals for the state. Along with ethical implications, the commission is evaluating the sentence from a economic standpoint. A 2005 study by New Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal nonprofit research group, found that since the law's conception 23 years ago, the state has spent an estimated $250 million on the capital punishment system. Jack Callahan, chairman of the New Jersey Governor's Advisory Council on Volunteerism and Community Service, began researching capital punishment in 1996 while he worked in the Legislature. After he retired, he continued to study capital punishment, its factors, and its social impact. "All of the studies have led me to one conclusion: There is no rational basis for the death penalty as a matter of public policy," said Callahan. The commission will continue to hear testimony until it must submit its findings and recommendations by Nov. 15 to the Legislature and Gov. Jon S. Corzine. (source: Cherry Hill Courier Post) ALABAMA----new death sentence Jury Recommends Death Penalty For Mashburn A Calhoun County jury decided the man who killed his grandparents should get the death penalty. Ellis Louis Mashburn Jr. pleaded guilty to beating, stabbing and killing his 80-year-old grandmother and 85-year-old grandfather. Prosecutors said robbery was the motive behind the slayings. The judge must now decide whether to accept the jurys recommendation or give Mashburn life in prison without parole. Mashburns sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 10. (source: NBC News) NEW YORK: Sperr case brings up death penalty issue in New York State Andrew Sperr's father says part of "moving on" will mean activism on the issue of the death penalty. The father of fallen trooper, Andrew Sperr, says his next step after the trial will be shaped by the words of his son's murderer. "If the death penalty had been on the books, AJ might still be alive," said Sperr. Last week, co-defendant Brian Adams testified that accused triggerman Anthony Horton told him that Horton was going to kill a cop because New York State doesn't have the death penalty. Sperr says the death penalty could protect other troopers like his son. Monroe County's District Attorney agrees. "There are a few murders out there where there is no other penalty that adequately addresses the nature of the crime that they commit." But Green doesn't believe Sperr's quest will be met with open arms, even though both leading candidates for governor support the death penalty, including front-runner Elliot Spitzer. Clare Regan has spent most of her life fighting the death penalty, even after it was declared unconstitutional in 2004. "I've talked to Spitzer about this, and he said there's no way it's going to pass." She says the state's new charge of aggravated murder, carrying a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole, is a more just way to punish hardened criminals. (source: WHEC TV News) PENNSYLVANIA: Man Could Still Face Death Penalty In Pa. A man whose death sentence was thrown out in one state is about to be tried in Pennsylvania for killing 2 college students 7 years ago. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that Terrell Yarbrough's conviction wasn't valid because the killings happened in Pennsylvania. The court ruled that a Pennsylvania court should hear the case. The judge ruled that there's enough evidence to send Yarbrough to trial in Pennsylvania. Once again, hell face the prospect of the death penalty. "I have at this point in time 5 people on death row," said Washington County prosecutor John Pettit. "I don't take any great pleasure in that, but I do what my job calls for me to do." Yarbroughs preliminary hearing revealed conflicting versions of who shot Franciscan University students Brian Muha and Aaron Land after they were kidnapped from their apartment in Steubenville, Ohio in 1999. A Steubenville police officer testified that Yarbrough told him both victims were pistol whipped in the apartment by defendant Nathan Herring, who has yet to come to trial in Pennsylvania. Yarbrough told the officer that herring chose the 2 victims claiming they owed him money. They were allegedly forced to commit a sex act with each other on the ride to a wooded hillside. Yarbrough said Herring shot both in the head. However, inmate Shawn Dudley - a friend of Herring's - testified that Yarbrough confessed to him that he pulled the trigger. (source: KDKA News) WISCONSIN: Majority Of Those Polled Support The Death Penalty----Amendment Would Not Automatically Reinstate Death Penalty A majority of those polled in a new survey released Wednesday said they support an advisory referendum on the November ballot to bring back the death penalty in Wisconsin for certain cases. The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute survey found that 54 % of respondents favored the amendment with 37 % against it. 9 % are undecided. The amendment is advisory only and would not automatically reinstate the death penalty. It asks voters if the death penalty should be reinstated in murder convictions supported by DNA evidence. Death penalty supporters hope to use results of the Nov. 7 vote to bolster their case to push the Legislature to reinstate the penalty as early as next year. The statewide poll of 600 likely voters was conducted Sept. 20 and Sept. 21 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 % points. (source: Associated Press)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----N. DAK., N.J., N.Y., PENN., WIS.
Rick Halperin Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:16:12 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
