Feb. 16 MISSOURI----federal death penalty rejected Gang leader spared death penalty by jury in Joplin killings A reputed gang leader from Oklahoma convicted in the killings of 2 Joplin residents faces 3 life sentences after a federal jury could not unanimously agree to give him the death penalty. Federal statutes require the life sentence for each killing because the jury could not reach a decision after deliberating six hours yesterday and part of today. 33-year-old Thomas "Mad Dog" Smith faces a 3rd life sentence after he pleaded guilty to a related drug trafficking charge. Smith was found guilty last week of conspiracy to commit murder. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after an investigation by the US Probation Office. Prosecutors say Smith led a cell of Bloods gang members from Tulsa. He was charged in the 1999 execution-style slayings of Paris Harbin and Chandy Plumb in a Joplin apartment house. (source: Associated Press) MISSISSIPPI: Death row inmate to get mental retardation hearing The Mississippi Supreme Court has ordered a mental retardation hearing for death row inmate Leroy Lynch. Lynch was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1998 for his role in the shooting death of 74-year-old Richard Lee outside Lees home in Boyle. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction in 2004. Lynch returned to the court with a post-conviction petition, in which he claimed new evidence was found that might win him a new trial. The 2 main issues raised by Lynch were that he is mentally retarded and that his attorney should have done a better job. The Supreme Court sent the case back to Bolivar County Circuit Court for hearings on both claims. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 in a Virginia case that its illegal to execute people who are mentally retarded. The court said it would be a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment to execute anyone with a combined IQ of 75 or lower. In dispensing with dozens of mental retardation claims from Mississippis death row, the Mississippi Supreme Court has required the inmates to produce an expert opinion that the defendant possessed an IQ of 75 or below and that further testing showed the inmate was not malingering. Chief Justice Jim Smith, writing in Thursdays decision, said prosecutors did not concede that Lynch is mentally retarded but they agreed Lynch is entitled to a hearing. (source: Associated Press) ILLINOIS----new death sentence Stepdad gets death penalty in slaying----16-year-old girl had accused him of rape Laurence Lovejoy was sentenced to death Thursday night for the brutal murder of his stepdaughter in 2004, becoming the 1st person sent to death row in DuPage County since then-Gov. George Ryan offered mass commutations to 167 condemned state prisoners in 2003. Lovejoy, 40, showed no reaction as the DuPage jury handed down its verdict about 7 p.m. Lovejoy was convicted Feb. 6 of killing Erin Justice, his 16-year-old stepdaughter, on March 27, 2004, in order to keep her from pursuing a rape case against him. After listening to 4 days of evidence specifically on the death sentence, the jury deliberated for almost 4 hours Thursday. "The evidence was overwhelming, very emotional, very difficult for us," said the 44-year old jury foreman from Downers Grove who asked not to be identified. "We wanted to find a way to help both families through this, but the decision was very clear." The victim's mother, Valerie Lovejoy, said: "I've been waiting a long time, but we got justice. It doesn't bring my daughter back. She didn't deserve this; she was a good person." Erin Justice, a Waubonsie Valley High School sophomore, was killed in her mother's Aurora town home. "Lovejoy deserves the ultimate sanction," said State's Atty. Joseph Birkett. "The evidence was crystal-clear, and the jury reached a true and just verdict. "Lovejoy was the judge, jury and executioner of a young girl, and this would be the proper decision anywhere in this country." DuPage County Public Defender Robert Miller said: "We were hopeful for a verdict other than death, but I applaud the jury for their attentiveness for 6 weeks." Miller said defense attorneys will prepare post-trial motions, including those asking for a new trial. Birkett also took the occasion of Thursday's decision to press Gov. Rod Blagojevich "to lift the shallow veil of [Illinois'] moratorium on death-penalty sentences," which was imposed by Ryan in 2000. "I call upon him to lift his head out of the sand," said Birkett, who lost his race for lieutenant governor on a ticket with running mate Judy Baar Topinka, who lost to Blagojevich in November. "This is a message from the community that the moratorium is a huge mistake. It should never be easy for the death penalty to be imposed, but this jury helped us to prove everything." Blagojevich has said that although he opposes the abolition of the death penalty, he would not lift the moratorium anytime soon. He said he would need evidence to show that reforms enacted by the state are working. If the jury had decided against the death penalty for Lovejoy, Judge Kathryn Creswell would have had the option of sentencing him to life in prison. "I am proudly begging for mercy," Stephen Richards, a defense attorney for Lovejoy, said to the jury in closing arguments Thursday. "Saving a life is a great thing to do. You have already rendered justice for the crime with the conviction; you are now allowed to consider mercy." But Birkett, his voice rising, told the jury in closing: "Show mercy to him who shows it and deserves it. Hold him responsible to the fullest extent of the law. You have seen no evidence of mercy in his life." After a 2-week criminal trial, the jury found Lovejoy guilty of beating, poisoning, stabbing and drowning his stepdaughter. Prosecutors alleged that the defendant wanted to prevent the teenager from pursuing her claim that he raped her March 3, 2004, 2 days after her 16th birthday. They said he had a history of violence against women and served 2 previous prison sentences for residential burglary. Defense attorneys contended that Lovejoy had a dysfunctional childhood. This argument was supported by mental health experts' claims that the man remained immature and antisocial, even at age 40. Richards reiterated to jurors "only one person has to say no to avoid the death penalty. If you feel death isn't appropriate, you have an obligation to vote no." Assistant State's Atty. Robert Berlin told the jury: "You have the power to be a just voice for society, a society that cares about children. No human being should have to suffer the kind of death that Erin did. Don't forget what she had to go through and what the defendant did." Edreick Justice, the victim's father, held back tears after the verdict. "Now we can put this behind us. Laurence Lovejoy has his own hell to deal with," he said. "I was sitting in my car just before this decision, praying for the right thing to happen." (source: Chicago Tribune) ***************** Supreme Court upholds serial killer's death sentence A confessed serial killer is headed back to Illinois' death row. The Illinois Supreme Court today upheld the conviction of 42-year-old Andrew Urdiales and reinstated his death sentence. The court also set a date for his execution but Governor Rod Blagojevich is continuing a moratorium on Illinois' death penalty. Urdiales was convicted and sentenced to die in 2004 for the 1996 shooting and stabbing of an Indiana woman. He also has confessed to killing 7 other women in Illinois and California between 1988 and 1996. He was sentenced to die for killing 2 Chicago-area women, but that sentence was commuted when former Governor George Ryan cleared Illinois' death row in 2003. Urdiales argued he should have been allowed to plead guilty but mentally ill. The court found he had suffered no fundamental injustice. (source: Associated Press)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MO., MISS., ILL.
Rick Halperin Fri, 16 Feb 2007 10:44:05 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
