July 2 CONNECTICUT: Suspect In 2 Killings Could Face Death Penalty Jokshan Bryant, the unemployed father of 5 accused of killing 2 men last month in a vacant Bristol trucking company, now could face the death penalty if convicted. During a brief court apperance this morning in Superior Court of New Britain, the state filed an additional charge of capital felony, which would make Bryant eligible for death row if found guilty of 2 murder charges and the new capital felony charges. Bryant, 29, of 48 Putnam St., New Britain, who was arrested shortly after the bodies of two men were found on 2 ramps of I-384, is due back in court on July 31. Police allege that Bryant killed Eric Kimberly, 37, of Torrington and Ronald F. Brown Jr, 42, of Bristol, around midnight on June 22 at the vacant SLS trucking company on Andrews Street in Bristol and dropped the bodies on I-384 ramps in Manchester and Bolton. Motorists noticed the bodies and called police. Bryant was charged a day later, arrested at a girlfriend's home in New Britain. He is being held with bail set at $5 million. Police are still investigating and more arrests are possible. Investigators have released few details about the case, so it's not clear what a motive might have been and how Bryant, Kimberly and Brown knew each other. (source: Hartford Courant) NORTH CAROLINA: USA: Guy LeGrande found incompetent for execution due to mental illness 2 July 2008 AI Index: AMR 51/072/2008 On 27 June 2008, a North Carolina judge found Guy Tobias LeGrande incompetent for execution due to his serious mental illness. The execution of a person who does not understand the reason for, or reality of his punishment, is unconstitutional in the USA. Guy LeGrande has been on death row in North Carolina for 12 years. He was sentenced to death in April 1996 for the murder of Ellen Munford on 27 July 1993. He had come within days of execution in late 2006 before the judge issued a stay for the purpose of assessing the condemned man's competence for execution. Amnesty International members had appealed at that time for the execution to be stopped and for clemency to be granted. Superior Court Judge Robert Bell held a hearing in 2007. Three psychiatrists testified that Guy LeGrande suffers from serious mental illness, including "thought disorder, psychosis and clinical paranoia." The judge found that "it is undisputed among the three testifying psychiatrists that psychosis is a serious mental illness whereby a person shows symptoms of being out of touch with reality either by virtue of having delusional thoughts, illogical thought processes and/or auditory or visual hallucinations." Judge Bell found in his own interaction with LeGrande that the prisoner's "answers at times were completely disconnected and illogical". LeGrande's delusional beliefs included that he "has been or is engaged in a romantic relationship with hip-hop artist Eve Jeffers", and that his lawyers, both past and current, were working for the state. As a result of this delusion, the prisoner believed that he had no choice but to represent himself (he has refused to cooperate with any lawyers since 1995). According to Judge Bell, the evidence showed also that LeGrande has "delusional beliefs that he will not be executed, will be pardoned and will receive a large financial settlement from the State". The judge found that while LeGrande had "a factual knowledge" that the state could set an execution date for the murder of Ellen Munford, LeGrande "lacks a rational understanding and awareness of this because he believes his execution will not occur due to his impending pardon, release and financial settlement". Judge Bell found that, due to Guy LeGrande's "major mental illness", he "does not rationally understand that he can actually be executed and does not comprehend his own situation in reference to the proceedings and he does not understand the nature and object of the proceedings against him. The gross delusions stemming from Mr LeGrande's severe mental disorder puts an awareness of the link between his crime and its punishment in a context so far removed from reality that the punishment can serve no proper purpose. Due to his delusional and psychotic thought process, Mr LeGrande cannot assist counsel in a rational or reasonable manner". In 1986, the US Supreme Court ruled in Ford v. Wainwright that the execution of people who are legally insane violates the US Constitution's prohibition on "cruel and unusual punishments". In reality, this has offered only minimal protection. In a 5-4 decision issued on 28 June 2007, the Supreme Court somewhat clarified its Ford ruling of 21 years earlier. Amnesty International expressed the hope at the time that the Panetti v. Quarterman decision, referred to by Judge Bell in his ruling on Guy LeGrande, would provide additional protection to death row inmates suffering from serious mental illness. As Amnesty International described in its major 2006 report on the use of the death penalty in the USA against offenders with mental illness, numerous seriously mentally ill defendants have been allowed to waive their right to a lawyer and have represented themselves. Some were sentenced to death after trials where they were clearly not representing their best interests. Guy LeGrande was found competent to stand trial in 1996 and to represent himself after firing his court-appointed lawyers. At the trial, he displayed behaviour indicative of possible mental illness. LeGrande reportedly rambled incoherently during the trial. He called the jurors "Antichrists" and told them that "hell ain't deep enough for you people. But you remember when you arrive, say my name, Guy Tobias LeGrande. For I shall be waiting". According to a psychiatrist who reviewed the record, during the trial LeGrande "remained grandiose and paranoid, and adhered to a number of delusional beliefs". For example, he told his stand-by counsel that he was receiving messages through the television from Oprah Winfrey (TV personality) and Dan Rather (TV news anchor). His stand-by counsel filed a motion asking to he heard on the question of mental illness, but LeGrande, who was wearing a Superman T-shirt, responded by tearing the motion in half, and the trial was allowed to continue. He apparently believed that his attorneys and his family were assisting the prosecution. Guy LeGrande, who is African American, was sentenced to death by an all-white jury for the murder of Ellen Munford, who was also white. According to the state's evidence at the 1996 trial, the murder was the result of a conspiracy formulated and led by her estranged husband, Tommy Munford. He had taken out a life insurance policy of $50,000 on her, with himself as the sole beneficiary, and told numerous people that he wanted to "do [her] in". He had repeatedly harassed Ellen Munford and trespassed on the property where she was living with another man. Tommy Munford and Guy LeGrande worked at the same restaurant. Munford offered LeGrande $6,500 if he would commit the murder, and gave LeGrande a gun and ammunition to carry out the crime. On 27 July 1993, after dropping Guy LeGrande off in the woods next to Ellen Munford's home, Tommy Munford picked up their two children in order that she would be alone in the house. Driving away from the house, Tommy Munford blew the car horn to signal to LeGrande that Ellen Munford was alone. Guy LeGrande watched the house for several hours before entering the home and shooting Ellen Munford. Tommy Munford, who is white, was allowed to plead guilty to second-degree murder and, after testifying against Guy LeGrande, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases. The death penalty not only runs the risk of irrevocable error, it is also costly - to the public purse, as well as in social and psychological terms. It has not been proven to have a special deterrent effect. It tends to be marked by arbitrariness in its application, and to be applied discriminatorily on grounds of race and class. It denies the possibility of reconciliation and rehabilitation. It promotes simplistic responses to complex human problems, rather than pursuing explanations that could inform positive strategies. It prolongs the suffering of the murder victim's family, and extends that suffering to the loved ones of the condemned prisoner. It consumes resources that could be better used to work against violent crime and assist those affected by it. It is a symptom of a culture of violence, not a solution to it. It is an affront to human dignity. In 2002, in Atkins v. Virginia, the US Supreme Court prohibited the death penalty for people with mental retardation. The Court reasoned that the impairments of defendants with mental retardation diminish their personal culpability and their ability to understand consequences, rendering the death penalty unjustifiable on grounds of retribution or deterrence. Amnesty International believes that there is a profound inconsistency in exempting people with mental retardation from the death penalty while those with serious mental illness remain exposed to it. The same rationale of diminished culpability, greater vulnerability and limited capacity can apply to defendants afflicted with severe mental illness. Guy LeGrande's death sentence is not commuted by Judge Bell's ruling, and he remains on death row. Amnesty International urges the North Carolina authorities to commute his death sentence and to ensure that he receives all necessary and appropriate treatment for his serious mental illness. ~~~~ For further information, see USA: The execution of mentally ill offenders, January 2006, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/003/2006/en. (source: Amnesty International) ************************ Friends: Killer showed no guilt----2 men say they helped clean up after a slaying out of fear of Jakiem Wilson Jakiem Wilson thought his friends would help him get away with his wife's murder. They did help scrub blood off the walls and floors after Nneka Wilson, 24, was stabbed to death by her husband Feb. 12, 2007, as she left the shower. But Tuesday, Jamie Holder and Roderick Howell, both now 19, told a Wake County jury that their former friend had showed little remorse and even told them beforehand that he wanted his wife of three years dead. They helped him only because they feared he would also kill them, they said. " 'She nags, she [complains] too much,' " Howell said, repeating what Wilson told him that night. " 'She's going to put me on child support. I work too hard for my money.' " Wilson is on trial for his own life. Wake prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in a trial that began Monday. Nneka Wilson, a 2001 Enloe High School graduate, had married Jakiem Wilson months after the couple met and she became pregnant with their son. Problems and violence were evident to family members, and Wilson had been sent to prison for violating his probation when their daughter was born. Wilson's attorneys have already told jurors that Wilson killed his wife but have also suggested that the killing came as the result of a fit of rage and not the plan that prosecutors described. On the stand, Howell described how Wilson handed him a rag soaked in the victim's blood and asked the teen to paint a gang sign on the bedroom wall of Wilson's son, Mathias, then 2. The defendant wanted to make it look as if a Bloods gang member had killed the young mother in retaliation for Wilson's affiliation with a rival gang. "I couldn't," Howell said. He made part of the sign with the blood and left when he saw the toddler. The child's 7-month-old sister was in her room nearby. Both children were unharmed but were left unattended for several hours later that morning as Wilson slept in a Selma home in a failed attempt to create an alibi, according to testimony from both Holder and Howell. Wilson never checked on the 2 children, Howell said. Wilson, in the midst of cleaning up his wife's blood, cried once and told Howell he loved his wife. But then the defendant again brought up the possibility of paying child support as justification for the killing, Howell said. Jurors also learned more about Wilson's lifestyle. Both Holder and Howell said the trio, along with a 4th man, had formed their own gang dubbed the 74 Gangsta Disciples. The young men took their cues and tips on how to be gangster -- what to wear and how to display gang signs -- from a book Holder provided and used to teach the group. Leadership by trick Holder was the leader of the small posse after the Garner native tricked the others into thinking he was from Chicago and had been immersed in the big city's gang life. On the contrary, Holder had been placed in foster care at age 8 and remained there until he aged out at 18, he testified. At the time of Nneka Wilson's killing, Holder was homeless, bouncing from house to house and crashing on couches of friends and relatives. He has been in solitary custody in the Wake County jail since, not able to leave his cell for more than an hour a day. Wilson's attorneys suggested that Holder may have embellished his testimony, hoping to strike a deal with prosecutors about his own pending charge of being an accessory after a murder. Wilson worked at a graphics company and would frequently invite friends and members of his small gang to his house. But both Howell and Holder said they'd never been formally introduced to Nneka Wilson, despite spending time recording music in the couple's Wendell home. Jurors also heard about several missteps in the attempt to cover up the crime. Wilson had Holder dump out bloody water from a vacuum off the back porch of the home and discard socks and rags used to clean up the crime nearby, according to testimony. The defendant also nearly forgot to take something from the house to make it look like a robbery until Howell mentioned the oversight. (source: The News & Observer) FLORIDA: Local residents condone death penalty, Schwab execution Lee County residents say the execution of Mark Schwab for the rape and murder of an 11-year-old boy 17 years ago was long overdue. Schwab was executed through lethal injection Tuesday around 6 p.m. He was sentenced to death in 1991 after kidnapping, raping and killing Junny Rios-Martinez in Cocoa Beach. Al Vanderlaan, of Pine Island, said Schwab was "absolutely" deserving of the death penalty for his crime. "I think it's fine," said Vanderlaan, 80. "I just think it takes too long." He said keeping prison inmates on death row for so many years is "cruel and inhumane" not only to the inmate, but to the victim's family as well. Terre James, of North Fort Myers, said Schwab's actions warranted the death penalty, assuming it's the worst possible punishment. "I know if it was my child, I would want them dead," said James, 52. However, she said the death-row waiting game is "ridiculous." "It's a huge waste of taxpayers' money, and it's too good for them," James said, adding that they don't deserve to have meals handed to them and a roof over their heads. Kenneth Williams, 21, of Cape Coral, said although two wrongs don't make a right, the rape and murder of a child justifies the death penalty. Still, Williams said he doesn't understand why so much time passes between the sentencing and the execution. "You might as well just give them life in prison," he said. Rich Ramsey, 66, of Fort Myers, said life in prison would have been a more appropriate punishment. "I don't believe in (the dealth penalty)," said Ramsey. "When we do that, we're all murderers, too." (source: News-Press)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----CONN., N.C., FLA.
Rick Halperin Wed, 2 Jul 2008 23:50:34 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
