July 19 FLORIDA: Judge Rules Zephyrhills Man Can Face Death Penalty----Roy Phillip Ballard, 67, was convicted of his stepdaughter's Lakeland murder. A jury convicted the 67-year-old Zephyrhills man earlier this month of traveling to Lakeland to kill his stepdaughter, Autumn Marie Traub. Ballard's lawyer, Byron Hileman, filed motions Monday requesting that Circuit Judge Donald Jacobsen acquit his client or prohibit prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. Jacobsen denied the defense's motions. Traub, 33, disappeared Sept. 13, 2006, after meeting with Ballard. Her body has never been found. Prosecutors theorized that Ballard wanted to continue a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old female relative, and Traub was preventing him from regaining custody. Jurors are scheduled to begin hearing testimony Wednesday in the penalty phase of Ballard's trial. The jury that found Ballard guilty of 1st-degree murder will recommend whether he should face life in prison or the death penalty. Under Florida law, Jacobsen must give the jury's recommendation great weight. Possible witnesses during the penalty phase include doctors who have evaluated Ballard and perhaps Ballard's wife. Prosecutors are expected to argue that Traub's murder was "cold, calculated and premeditated" - an aggravating circumstance that can provide the legal basis for a death sentence. (source: The Lakeland Ledger) GEORGIA: Death penalty cases still pending The lives of 5 people accused of murder and facing the death penalty are each in the hands of 12 jurors they've never met. In fact, the jurors haven't been chosen. Only 1 of the 5, 22-year-old Damon Antwon Jolly, knows when his trial is scheduled to begin. The others can only wait in jail as their attorneys and prosecutors file mountains of legal paperwork in preparation for trial. Crystal Mae Wagner, 28, has been waiting the longest. She's spent more than 3 years behind bars since her arrest in February 2005 for allegedly killing her husband, cutting his body into 10 pieces and dumping the partially burned body in the woods in rural Twiggs County. In August, the case against 31-year-old Jomekia Dechelle Pope will reach the 3-year mark as will the one against 22-year-old Richard Brandon Parker this December. Jolly's and 23-year-old Antron Dawayne Fair's cases have been in the system since their arrest March 23, 2006, in the death of a Bibb County deputy on Atherton Street. While the wait has been a long one, Bibb County District Attorney Howard Simms said it's not unusual. Attorneys and prosecutors in death penalty cases often file more than a hundred motions that lead to hearings and arguments before a judge even before a jury is ever chosen. Then the hearings and rulings are reviewed by the Georgia Supreme Court to ensure legal matters that might be reversed upon appeal. "You end up spending more time on the front end of a death penalty case than any other kind," Simms said. "It's a real slow process." The Georgia Supreme Court returned its ruling this week on hearings and rulings conducted in Fair's and Jolly's cases. Fair and Jolly are accused in the death of deputy Joseph Whitehead, 36, as he and 11 others served a "no-knock" warrant at the Atherton Street house. Whitehead was shot 4 times, with a fatal shot to the head. Jury selection in Jolly's case is scheduled to begin Jan. 12, although the location of the trial has not been announced. Court records show the case will be heard outside Bibb County because of pre-trial publicity. A date for Fair's trial has not been announced. Parker is still waiting for a ruling from the Supreme Court, said his court appointed attorney Gladys Pollard. He is accused of stabbing a 72-year-old woman to death on Dec. 3, 2005. Authorities have said Parker did yard work for the woman, Mary Alice Stefano, for weeks before he allegedly stabbed her more than 2 dozen times in the chest and neck at her Clairmont Avenue home in Macon. Assistant Bibb County district attorney Nancy Scott Malcor said a trial date can not be set until the supreme court ruling is returned. For Pope, attorneys still are filing paperwork and awaiting rulings before the case can be sent to the high court for review. "We're wrapping up the motions so we can send it up," said Dorothy Hull, assistant Bibb County district attorney. Pope is accused of dousing his girlfriend, Latosha Taylor, with gasoline and setting her on fire on Aug. 7, 2005. Hull said a hearing has been scheduled in August on whether the testimony of a 911 emergency medical technician operator and a neighbor who called 911 will be admissable at trial. Court records show the defense has argued against the jury hearing from the operator and the neighbor about information the neighbor asked Taylor and relayed to 911 about where she lived and who caused her injuries. Simms said motions also are outstanding in Wagner's case. Authorities say Wagner's husband, Bobby Wagner, was stabbed in a Bibb County motel room where the couple and their friend, Shay Allen Morey, had been living for weeks. Morey pleaded guilty in 2006 to killing Bobby Wagner and chopping him up in the motel bath tub. He was sentenced to serve life in prison. While entering his plea in court, Morey said Wagner was involved in "virtually every stage of the crime." Crystal Wagner still faces a murder charge and the death penalty. If convicted and sentenced to death, Wagner would be the 1st woman executed in Georgia since 1945, according to a Georgia Department of Corrections report. (source: Macon Telegraph) ***************************** Nichols side makes case for death penalty opponents on jury The effort to find a jury for Brian Nichols ended its eighth day Saturday with 57 potential jurors questioned and 24 qualified for the 100-member jury pool. At this rate, the pool should be completed by the last week of August. The recitations were the same before each person took a seat in the jury box and just before they left. Judge James Bodiford spoke first and last, giving the same explanations, the same questions and the same warning not to talk about the case, whether they are kept in the pool from which they would draw 12 jurors and six alternates to hear the Brian Nichols death penalty trial. In between, prospective jurors were asked about any hardships they would have if they had to serve for many months, what they know of the case, and their feelings about capital punishment. On Saturday, Nichols' attorneys asked in a filing that those opposed to capital punishment not necessarily be excused from the pool, even though they are already asked if they can set aside their feelings and follow the law. "Opposition to the death penalty - no matter how staunch - does not render a potential juror incapable of following the court's instructions and honoring the juror oath in a capital case," the attorneys wrote. Nichols is on trial for murder in the March 11, 2005 shooting deaths of a Fulton judge and 3 others. - Juror No. 12 had used the Brian Nichols case as a campaign issue when he ran for the Fulton County Commission in 2006. He criticized the judicial system because the case did not move fast enough to suit him. He also said that on the campaign trail he had talked about the crime and the lack of security at the Fulton County Courthouse, scene of 3 of the 4 killings. "That issue resonated with people," he said. "It was a home run. That became part of my campaign." And during that campaign, which he lost, "nobody told me this guy is innocent," the prospective juror added. Could he put those thoughts and feelings aside enough to fairly hear the case, defense attorney Henderson Hill asked? "I would do everything I could to put out of my mind the hundreds or thousands of comments I made as a Fulton County candidate," the prospective juror said. "I've stated in public forums he's guilty." Juror No. 12 was excused. -Juror No. 253 was chatty. And cold. While answering questions, she wrapped a sweater around her arms with the back of the sweater draped across her chest. When asked a question by the judge, her lips moved as she silently repeated it to herself. She would pause, think and then answer. She said that she would only consider a death sentence for the murder of a child, but in the Nichols case or any other she "would have to hear everything involved" before she decided. "I've tried not to have any immediate opinion." As the interview appeared to be ending, Juror No. 253 stopped them when she said there was something she probably needed to tell them. "My son was at Virginia Tech," she said. No, he wasn't in any of the buildings where the gunman killed 32 people last year but he was on campus, she said. Did that tragedy raise any feelings about the Nichols case? "That was a different situation," she answered. She was kept in the pool. - Juror No. 124 was questioned only for a few minutes when it became clear to the judge and the attorneys on each side what they should do about him. The single father of 2 children - 6 and 10 years old - said he was not opposed to the death penalty but he volunteered that something happened to him in November that changed the way he looked at things. His wife of 14 years died of breast cancer. One of the prosecutors and one of the defense attorneys stood in unison. Both nodded at the judge and Bodiford nodded back. Bodiford told juror No. 124 to go home and take care of his children. "We'll pray for you," Bodiford added. - Juror No. 61 wrote on his juror questionnaire that he had an "historic" view of the death penalty. Defense attorney Hill asked the 55-year-old man from Fairburn what he meant by that. "Human society has had a death penalty since, throughout human history," said the juror. "Didn't Christ die on the cross as a result of court? And weren't there many other instances in history where there was a death penalty? Probably cave man decided each other's fate." The juror used the analogy that the death penalty is like driving a motorcycle through a corner at 130 m.p.h. and crashing. Hill held a pen out in his hand. If he let go of the pen it, would fall to the floor automatically because of gravity, Hill said. Did the juror mean the death penalty is as automatic as gravity when somebody is convicted of murder? The juror, sort of smiling, sort of smirking, explained that no, the motorcycle driver could slow down, and the motorcycle is made of metal and it might scrape and not crash. So, of course it wasn't automatic. "It's more complex than that," he said, looking at the lawyer as though he were too dim to comprehend. Juror No. 61 joined the jury pool. - Juror No. 21 surprised the courtroom last week when she said she was fond of one of the crime victims, Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, because he had treated her kindly when she was arrested for buying heroin a few years ago. The Atlanta Police Red Dog unit had arrested the woman at The Bluff, a well-known drug market in Vine City. She said her son, an addict, had directed her to the "pharmacy" when he went into withdrawal. Barnes let her off as long as she didn't buy heroin again. "I found him a very wise and a very smart judge," she said, adding that the day of the courthouse shooting "was a very painful day for me." "I thought of all the judges, why that one? Because he was such a good judge." The woman said that while she opposed the death penalty, she could possibly impose it if she found that the killer lacked all conscience. Bodiford let her on the jury pool. -Juror No. 43 said she absolutely could not impose the death penalty. "I don't have it in me to say 'Yes' to that," she said. That was until defense lawyer Josh Moore stepped in. He told her the law would never require her to impose the death penalty, only that she be willing to discuss it with other jurors. She said she could "consider" the death penalty. Prosecutor Kellie Hill then got the woman, a special education teacher, to revert to her former position. Moore argued to the judge the woman was squeamish, not unqualified. "It was clear that she would be troubled by condemning another human being to death," Moore said. "The state is not entitled to a jury that will not have any problem voting for the death penalty" Bodiford wasn't buying it. "She was straight down the line," the judge said. "Now, after being questioned by our silver-tongued experts here, it becomes more confusing." The judge booted her from the jury pool. (source: Atlanta Journal Constitution) ******************* Death penalty expert to testify at Harper-Reynolds case An expert witness will likely dominate two days of scheduled motion hearings in the death penalty case of Richard Scott Harper and Michelle Sullins Reynolds on Monday. The testimony in superior court before Judge J. Bryant Durham is from a representative of the Capital Jury Project. The university-based group conducts research in the decision making processes of jurors in death penalty cases and determine if jurors make decisions based on the facts of the case rather than on whim or prejudices. Harper and Reynolds face murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery charges in connection with the stabbing death of Reynolds husband, Thad Reynolds, on July 5, 2004. The trial, previously scheduled for September, has been removed from the trial calendar this year because a number of motions will be sent to the Supreme Court for review before the trial can begin. (source: Rome News-Tribune) CALIFORNIA: Outrage over prisoners' right to blog----Marc Klaas leads charge against death row inmates' online posts It used to be that a death row sentence meant being cut off from the outside world, preventing all but those receiving the occasional call or letter from ever hearing from prisoners. But the Internet has changed all that, ushering in what one expert calls a "democratization" of communication. Aided by groups opposed to the death penalty, such inmates as Richard Allen Davis, the killer of Polly Klaas, and Scott Peterson, convicted of killing his wife and unborn baby, have been sharing thoughts, interests, even art with the outside world on public Web pages. It's legal, and controversial. "Greetings with a smile," writes Davis in an ad for pen pals on one Web site. "I was just wondering could there be someone out in the world who would be with an open mind." He continued: "Could there be anyone who could take the time to see for themselves, just who I really am." Marc Klaas, father of the 12-year-old Petaluma girl Davis murdered, said he knows full well who Davis is. He's angered by blog-style prisoner sites devoted to spreading the words of inmates. "It's a travesty. It's an embarrassment. It's outrageous," Klaas said. "Every victim family that says it opens up old wounds is absolutely correct." Beyond bars Klaas wants to restrict the ability of prisoners to communicate through the Web. But it's an unlikely result, considering death row inmates are already denied computer access and the postings are made indirectly by "flying a kite," as many prisoners refer to mailing a letter. The basic policy within the California Department of Corrections is that "as long as they're not 'revictimizing' society, we don't have the right to interfere with their freedom to communicate," said Lt. Sam Robinson, a spokesman for San Quentin Prison, where Davis and Peterson are on death row. The law does not extend to the emotional harm Klaas said he experiences when he sees writing and photos of the shirtless and tattooed Davis posted by supporters on Davis' Web page. "At some point, you just gotta stop giving these guys access, rights and ability to influence society," Klaas said. "Society has to extend their punishment to taking away that ability." The abduction and murder of Polly Klaas triggered nationwide changes, including helping to bring to California the Amber Alert system and lengthier prison sentences for repeat offenders -- the "3 strikes" law. Similar laws were enacted in at least 25 states. But behind bars, free speech cannot be curtailed. It's a First Amendment issue, Robinson said. While the movements of death row inmates are more restricted than other prisoners, they have the same legal right to communicate, he said. Their letters and phone calls are monitored by prison officials, who look for communication that would be "a direct threat to society as a whole," Robinson said. Officials look for criminal activity such as threatening witnesses, or orchestrating crimes such as putting out a hit on someone through coded messages. Since his daughter's death, Klaas has led efforts to find missing children, formed the Klaas Kids foundation and pushed for legislation restricting inmates' ability to operate businesses from behind bars. This week, he's fielded calls because of news reports sparked by an article in the Los Angeles Times' technology section on death row "bloggers." Most reports have focused on Peterson's page, which features photos of him with his late wife, Laci, whom he was found guilty of killing and dumping into San Francisco Bay while she was pregnant. His page was created for free by the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty, a Toronto-based nonprofit that publishes pages and pen-pal ads for more than 100 California death row inmates. Repeated efforts to contact the group were unsuccessful. Prisoners' blogs On its Web site, the group's organizers said many of the prisoners for whom they have set up pages were "wrongly convicted, have issues in their cases, were juveniles at the time of the offense, are victims of endemic racism and or corruption in the judicial system." Peterson's page links viewers to his family's support site, where he has a June 6 blog posting explaining why they wanted to have "better communication" with his supporters. "It has been suggested that we do a blog," Peterson wrote, referring later in his entry to his "wrongful conviction." Such an ability is unprecedented and speaks to the "entire democratization of media," said Jesse Drew, director of Technocultural Studies at UC Davis. "It's allowing pretty much anybody to communicate to a mass audience." Gallery shows featuring art by prisoners and books with their writings have been used to reach a wider audience. But never "to the extent where you have a Listserv of a million people. That changes the scale of things dramatically," he said. Social creatures It's an inmate's right to reach out, and it's encouraged by the Corrections Department, said spokeswoman Terry Thornton. "There's nothing inherently wrong with that. People are human and we are social creatures and there is this need to connect with other human beings," Thornton said, "and if an inmate is busy writing to someone, that's time not spent making a shank." But Thornton warned that those who assist prisoners also must understand who they may be dealing with. Last year, Missouri adopted a rule similar to one in Florida that prohibits inmates from soliciting pen pals on the Internet because several were scamming them. Similar cases have been reported to prisons in California, Thornton said. At San Quentin, officials have received calls about identity theft and manipulation of people's sympathies to gain funds running in the hundreds of thousands, Robinson said. "These are convicted felons," he said. "Just because they're behind our walls doesn't mean they don't have the ability to continue committing crime." For Klaas, the issue will remain personal. He said seeing images of Davis' page this week "really, truly turns my stomach." "I lose sleep over it, it drives me to drink. I saw a picture of the guy's naked torso, the same thing probably that my daughter saw before he choked the life out of her," he said. "It's just absolutely unbelievable." (source: Press-Democrat) MISSISSIPPI----impending execution Bishop execution set for Wednesday Death row inmate Dale Leo Bishop, who was convicted of participating in the claw hammer murder of a friend, is just days away from the execution he asked for 8 years ago. Bishop is scheduled to die Wednesday for his role in the killing of Marcus James Gentry, who was bludgeoned to death Dec. 10, 1998. Prosecutors say Gentry was hit with a hammer 23 times before the tool lodged in his throat. He was left for dead in bushes along a dirt road near Saltillo in north Mississippi. There have been some discrepancies about how the slaying occurred and why. Bishop's attorneys acknowledged he participated in the crime but said another man is the real killer. During the sentencing phase of his trial in 2000, Bishop apologized to the victim's father. He said Gentry needed a beating, but he didn't know an accomplice would "go all out like that." "I ain't never gonna ask God to forgive me. So you ain't got to worry about me ever seeing Mark," Bishop said according to the court record. "I ain't going to heaven; I won't allow it. For what I did, I deserve to die." Bishop later told the judge: "I want you to sentence me to death." "Mr. Bishop, I'm gonna grant your wish," said Lee County Circuit Judge Frank Russell. "Thank you," Bishop replied. Bishop's lawyers are now fighting to block the scheduled execution. He now says he had requested a death sentence in 2000 because he has bipolar disorder and was depressed at the time that his ex-wife was planning to marry someone else and move to Oklahoma with his 2 children. After getting on medication in prison, Bishop said his outlook changed. "I feel very sorry for what happened, but I also want to live for my sons," Bishop said in an affidavit in June. "They mean everything to me." Bishop's accomplice, Jessie Johnson, acknowledged striking the lethal blows, but said he was too high on drugs and alcohol to remember some details of the attack. Johnson was tried separately and sentenced to life without parole. David Voisin, one of Bishop's attorneys, said it's "extraordinarily rare" in the United States for a participant in a murder to be executed when someone else admits they caused the death. Attorney General Jim Hood would not specifically discuss Bishop's role in the killing. "Dale Leo Bishop was convicted of murder and sentenced to die in accordance with the laws of the state of Mississippi," Hood said. "Our job is not to retry this case in the media, but to ensure that Mr. Bishop's sentence is carried out in full, that he is executed and that justice is served." Prosecutors say the men attacked Gentry in his car on a rural road in Lee County because they believed he "narced" on Johnson's brother. "(Gentry) and Dale Bishop was arguing and Dale grabbed him around the throat and pulled him down and told me to hit him," Johnson testified. Johnson pulled a 28-ounce framing hammer off the floorboard and hit Gentry "between the eyes," according to court records. The car coasted to a stop. Bishop and Johnson pushed Gentry out of the driver's seat and drove down an isolated logging road. When they stopped, Gentry tried to run but Bishop chased him down. Matt Steffey, a law professor at Mississippi College's school of law, said Bishop is "legally culpable" in the death. "He was instrumental in causing his death," Steffey said. "Distinguishing between the person who swung the hammer and the person who held him in the headlock is a distinction without a difference." Johnson also testified that at one point, Bishop took the hammer and hit Gentry 5 or 6 times. Bishop's attorneys, however, say another man who was at the scene disputed that. That man, Ricky Myhand, reported the killing to police after being dropped off at his apartment. He led investigators to the body and was not charged in the case. Bishop is the only person sentenced to die in the case, likely because he had instructed his previous attorneys not to fight the death penalty. His new attorneys have argued that the inmate was not capable of making a rational decision about his case because of his mental problems. Those attorneys also claim that the last lawyer who represented Bishop on appeal intentionally sabotaged his case and suppressed evidence of his bipolar disorder. Whatever the case, the courts have rejected several appeals, though Bishop's attorneys are still trying to stop the execution. Bishop, 34, would be the youngest person executed in Mississippi since 1987, when 27-year-old Connie Ray Evans was put to death in the gas chamber. Bishop would be the 2nd man executed in Mississippi this year. Gentry's family did not respond to a message left by The Associated Press. Mississippi Department of Corrections officials said the family does not want to be interviewed. (source: Clarion Ledger) ************************** Bishop Execution Nears Days away from his scheduled execution, an attorney for convicted murderer Dale Leo Bishop continues to plead his case. Bishop is scheduled to be executed by the state Wednesday. His attorney is trying to stop the execution, even though his client asked for the death penalty during sentencing 8 years ago. The attorney says Bishop requested death because he was suffering from bipolar disorder. And now that he is medicated his client wants to live. Earlier this month the state supreme court refused Bishop's stay of execution. He and Jesse Johnson were convicted of killing Marcus James Gentry in 1998. Gentry was bludgeoned to death with a claw hammer. Bishop admits to participating in the beating, but claims his accomplice is the killer. (source: WLBT News) ***************** 8 years after asking for death, Bishop scheduled for execution Mississippi death row inmate Dale Leo Bishop is just days away from the execution he asked for 8 years ago. Bishop is scheduled to die Wednesday for his role in the killing of Marcus James Gentry, who was bludgeoned to death in December 1998. Prosecutors say Gentry was hit with a hammer 23 times before the tool lodged in his throat. He was left for dead in bushes along a dirt road near Saltillo in north Mississippi. Bishop's attorneys acknowledged he participated in the crime but said another man is the real killer. During the sentencing phase of his trial in 2000, Bishop apologized to the victim's father. He said Gentry needed a beating, but he didn't know an accomplice would "go all out like that." It was then that Bishop asked for - and received - the death penalty. Now, Bishop's attorneys says he was suffering from bipolar disorder at the time. After getting on medication, Bishop says his outlook has changed - and wants to live for his 2 sons. Bishop's accomplice - Jessie Johnson - is serving a life sentence. (source: Associated Press)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA., GA., CALIF., MISS.
Rick Halperin Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:40:18 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
