June 20
KENTUCKY: Death row inmate faces new trial----Capital kidnapping case to be in Hardin The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a death row inmate whose conviction was overturned can be tried a 2nd time on capital kidnapping charges stemming from a 1991 multistate crime spree. In a unanimous opinion, the court cleared the way for Michael D. St. Clair, 51, to be retried on charges of capital kidnapping, attempted murder, receiving stolen property and arson in Hardin County. The unsigned opinion said St. Clair could appeal any perceived error once the trial is over. St. Clair was twice sentenced to death -- once in Hardin County and once in Bullitt County -- for kidnapping and killing Frank Brady. He stole Brady's truck after escaping from an Oklahoma jail in 1991. The truck was later burned. The Hardin County conviction was overturned after the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that a judge improperly allowed St. Clair's former wife to testify against him. The court overturned his death sentence from Bullitt County in 2004. St. Clair sought to stop a retrial in Hardin County, saying it would violate his right to a speedy trial. The justices rejected that argument. "Here, other than generally pointing to the ordeal of being a defendant in a capital trial, petitioner offers nothing to show that he will suffer any injury that cannot be corrected on appeal if he is convicted erroneously," the court wrote. St. Clair is also under 2 sentences of life without parole for murders committed in Oklahoma. John Mills case In an unrelated death penalty case, the court ruled that inmate John Mills has the right to a hearing to determine whether the state should pay for expert assistance while he appeals his conviction. The justices also ordered Knox Circuit Court to hold a hearing on whether three out-of-state witnesses are necessary for a hearing in his case. Mills, 38, was sentenced to death October 18, 1996, for the stabbing death of Arthur Phipps at his residence in Smokey Creek. A jury found that Mills stabbed Phipps 29 times with a pocket knife and stole a small amount of money on Aug. 30, 1995. Police arrested Mills that day at a residence he rented from Phipps on the same property where the crime occurred. (source: Courier-Journal) ALABAMA: State inmate dies without new trial Justice delayed may be justice denied. But in the case of Alabama death row inmate Shep Wilson Jr., it's difficult to determine precisely who was denied justice -- Wilson or his victim's family, or both. Wilson was convicted of the 1986 murder and rape of a convenience store clerk, and he was sent to Alabama's death row to await execution. But in 1990 his case was overturned by the Alabama Supreme Court and he was granted the right to a new trial. Wilson, 50, died in an Alabama prison Thursday of natural causes, never having received that new trial. According to a story by The Associated Press, a series of events caused at least a dozen trail dates to come and go, with Wilson remaining on death row. According to some of Wilson's relatives, the inmate was denied justice because he never received that new trial. But according to family members of Monica Cook, the 19-year-old store clerk that Wilson was convicted of killing, the denial of justice came because Wilson was never executed for a heinous crime. Because a new trial was never held, it is impossible to say with absolute certainty which side is right. But clearly something is badly wrong when a case drags on for 18 years without ever being retried. Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, told the AP that most death penalty retrials take only 1 or 2 years to get to court. "18 years? I've never heard of anyone waiting that long," he said. Many of the delays are understandable -- the need for a mental examination and changes in district attorneys and judges. But 18 years? That's incredible. Even with those delays, Wilson was not even close to being the inmate who has been on Alabama's death row the longest. According to the Alabama Department of Corrections Web site, 16 current inmates were on death row longer than Wilson. The site lists Thomas Whisenhant as having been on death row the longest, having been moved there in May 1978. He was convicted of murdering 4 women in the 1960s and 1970s. Of the 203 inmates currently on death row in Alabama, about 1/2 have been there for more than 10 years. No one should be anxious to rush an execution. It is not reversible, and care must be taken to ensure that anyone sentenced to death has every reasonable opportunity -- and perhaps even a few not-so-reasonable ones -- to prove they do not deserve to be executed. But no matter how a person feels about the death penalty, there is something wrong with the process when it drags on for decades. The wheels of justice may grind slow, but that's too slow. (source: Montgomery Advertiser) CALIFORNIA: Why I Oppose the Death Penalty As an African American women living in Oakland, whose brother was murdered, I strongly oppose the death penalty. More than anything, I want to live in a safe communitya community where my six sons and my daughter are able to pursue all of theirs dreams without fear of becoming another number in the city homicide count. We live with the consistent threat that - this time - it will be one of them and not a friend or classmate that will become another Oakland victim. While I love my city, this is simply a reality faced by people of color in Oakland each day. I believe a vital step to help end this tide of fear is to end the use of the death penalty. Why the death penalty? The death penalty is very hurtful to the minority community in Alameda County and the entire state. One reason for this is due to the tremendous cost associated with the death penalty that is draining the county budget. Every death penalty trial costs local counties $1.1 million more than a trial ending in permanent imprisonment. Every person already on death row costs state tax payers hundreds of thousands. In total, we are paying $139 million each and every year more, for a broken death penalty system, than we would pay for those individuals condemned to permanent imprisonment instead. And now we know that rebuilding death row at San Quentin will cost nearly $400 million, plus over $1 billion to operate the facility for 20 years. While we are spending all this money on people on death row most of them end up dying of natural causes before their long delayed sentences are carried out. At this time of fiscal crisis, when every state program is being cut, just imagine what that money could buy. For example, our children in Oakland could greatly benefit from more afterschool programs, playgrounds, and other activities that can lead them to a more productive life. People of color, specifically African-Americans and Latinos, are much more likely to be victims of murder than our white neighbors. Yet, the death penalty is reserved almost exclusively for cases where the victim is white. A statewide study by Professors Michael Radelet and Glenn Pierce on race and the death penalty found people convicted of killing a white person are 3 times more likely to be sentenced to death than someone convicted of killing an African-American. If the victim is Latino, the disparity grows to four times. I don't know what causes the disparity, but it may have a lot to do with the fact that homicides of people of color are less likely to be solved than homicides of white victims. In Alameda County, where I live, only 26% of homicides were solved in 2005. Given that we can keep those on death row from returning to the streets without executions, the millions spent on death row could be better spent for more detectives to solve the many cold cases. That could begin to make those in Oakland feel a bite more safe. But perhaps more disturbing, at least to me, that same study found that counties that are predominately white are more likely to send people to death row than counties that are diverse. Death sentencing in California is based on geography, not on a structured, evenhanded formula. Only 10 counties account for 85% of death sentences since 2000 and Alameda County is one of them. The vast majority of California counties rarely or never send anyone to death row. We should also ask how many of the 670 people on death row are in fact innocent? Thank God for DNA testing and for those that have been exonerated in the past; but have mercy on those that did not escape the clutches of a broken and unfair system. DNA evidence is only available in a small number of cases. We will never know how many innocent people we have already executed in this country, let alone how many innocent people are growing old on death row all the while praying that someone will help them. My hope is that more people will understand how unjust the death penalty is and will call for a halt to all death penalty trials. In the meantime, the money now spent on death penalty facilities, and all monies directed towards new death penalty cases should be funneled towards resources that will strengthen our communities. The best way to do that is through funding education. Fight Crime, Invest in Kidsa law enforcement organizationfound that increasing California's high school graduation rate by 10% would prevent 500 homicides per year. They found the impact would be greatest in schools that are predominantly African-American and Latino, schools were the majority of students now do not graduate. Educating our children is not only smart policy in and of itself, it is also the most effective violence prevention program we have. Please don't surmise that I don't sympathize with all the families that are victims of murder, being one myself, I certainly care. However, I would not have wanted to relive my brother's murder over and over again, trial after trial, as happens in death penalty cases. A discovery I made in the wake of my brothers murder is that hating or failing to forgive the perpetrator allows more than one grave to be dug. The stress, pain and hurt that could riddle my body and mind just does not serve me nor honor my brother's memory. I feel that as long as the perpetrator is permanently locked away, they will serve time in hell here on earth. My heart is with each family that has ever had to face the devastating pain of losing a loved one to a senseless crime. We are only as strong as our weakest link. Marginalizing communities based on the color of ones skin needs to become a thing of the past - ASAP. We will come closer to that goal if we replace the death penalty with permanent imprisonment and invest the money saved in educating all our children. (source: California Progress Report----Delane Sims is the owner of a nail spa in Oakland but is a social justice activist at heart. She volunteers as chair of a senior group she founded in San Leandro, is a commissioner on Aging in Alameda County, a student at Berkeley City College and is now the Death Penalty Outreach Coordinator for the ACLU of Northern California)
