[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, N. DAK., IND., USA, OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 18



TEXAS:

2 men indicted in Putt-Putt slaying


2 Fort Worth man have been indicted on charges of capital murder in the
October killing of the assistant manager of Putt-Putt Golf and Games in
Hurst. Mark Dewayne Porter, 20, and Paul David Storey, 22, are accused of
fatally shooting Jonas Cherry during a robbery Oct. 16. If convicted, the
2 could face a death sentence. Another employee arriving for work found
Cherry dead in the office of the business. Porter and Storey were arrested
after police received a tip about a 2003 Ford Explorer whose image was
captured by a surveillance camera at the business on the morning of the
killing.

(source: Star-Telegram)






NORTH DAKOTA:

Killer rejected life-sentence plea bargain----2 months before Dru Sjodin's
body was found, Alfonso Rodriguez apparently weighed its worth as a
bargaining chip.


Gambling that Dru Sjodin's body would never be found, Alfonso Rodriguez
Jr. spurned an early plea deal that could have taken the death penalty off
the table, Sjodin family members say.

The proposed deal -- information on the body's location for a guarantee of
no death penalty -- was floated early in 2004 when Rodriguez still faced
only state charges, family members said. A defense attorney and U.S.
Attorney Drew Wrigley confirmed the talks.

After a historic U.S. District Court trial in Fargo, N.D., marked by the
ever-looming potential for a death penalty, Rodriguez, 53, was convicted
last year and sentenced to die for kidnapping and killing the 22-year-old
University of North Dakota student from Pequot Lakes, Minn.

Rodriguez was living in Crookston, Minn., after spending 23 years in
prison for attacks on women, when he abducted Sjodin in Grand Forks, N.D.,
on Nov. 22, 2003.

He was arrested on Dec. 1, 2003, as Sjodin's family and thousands of
volunteers searched for her.

Court records showed that Rodriguez and David Dusek, a Grand Forks
attorney appointed to represent him, met with federal prosecutors in
February 2004. Dusek was under a judge's order not to discuss the case,
and Wrigley also declined to comment then.

Wrigley confirmed that the plea discussion took place after Sjodin's
parents mentioned it recently on WDAY radio in Fargo. He didn't offer
specifics except to say that contact was initiated by the defense, and
that the family's account "fairly characterized what happened."

Federal prosecutors were conducting their own investigation in early 2004
and preparing to take over the case, making the federal death penalty
available. North Dakota has no death penalty.

The victim's mother, Linda Walker, said she and Dru's father, Allan Sjodin
of Minneapolis, were called to Wrigley's office in Fargo on Feb. 17, 2004.
Wrigley "told us that [Rodriguez] wanted to talk and tell us where Dru
was."

4 days earlier, the parents had appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" with
John Walsh of "America's Most Wanted," who urged Rodriguez's lawyer to
help. "How about this lawyer saying, 'You know what? Talk to police,
cooperate with them, and we'll get the best deal we can for you.' That's
the right thing to do," Walsh said.

Dusek declined to comment last week. But Robert Hoy, a West Fargo, N.D.,
attorney appointed to help with Rodriguez's defense when it appeared the
case might land in federal court, also confirmed a deal was discussed in
2004.

"I'm not at liberty to talk about Rodriguez's response," Hoy said. "But if
the government ... was willing at that time to not seek the death penalty
for what he did, then decided to seek the death penalty for what he did
not do -- not provide the location of the body -- that simply demonstrates
how arbitrarily it's being applied."

Making a deal would have been Wrigley's decision, but he wanted the
family's OK.

"We agreed," Walker said. "We never wanted to pursue the death penalty as
a vendetta. We wanted him to stand and admit what he had done.

"The anxiety of not knowing was tormenting us. We wanted to give her a
proper burial. We were so fearful that once the floods started, she might
be washed down a river."

Wrigley drove to Grand Forks after telling the family "not to put too much
hope in it," Walker said. Hours later, Wrigley called with disappointing
news. "He said [Rodriguez] is not willing to tell us," she said.

His cooperation then "might have given us some glimpse of remorse,"
Wrigley said. "But he had watched Dru's family and friends suffering, out
searching for her," and still chose to remain silent.

The family knew by then that Sjodin likely was dead. But the parents
wanted at least "the small solace" of recovering her remains, Wrigley
said.

"I felt it was important, too. I had a real concern that if we didn't find
Dru's body, this case would continue to haunt the region in a very big
way."

Her body was found in a ravine outside Crookston on April 17, 2004, nearly
five months after she disappeared. The case went to federal court, and
Wrigley announced that he would seek the death penalty.

In March 2006, Rodriguez offered to plead guilty in return for a life
sentence. Wrigley again consulted Sjodin's family, then rejected the
offer, which wasn't made public until late in the trial when defense
attorneys cited it as a factor mitigating against a death sentence.

"2 years after the body was found, after the case has been litigated to
the hilt, then you try to pick the penalty?" Wrigley said. "That's not
what remorse looks like."

A jury found Rodriguez guilty and, based on the "heinous" nature of the
crime and his history of violence against women, ordered his death.

(source: Minneapolis Star Tribune)






INDIANA:

Death penalty is a just punishment


The murder of a child, dismemberment of bodies, torture, multiple murders,
the intentional killing of a police officer . . . some crimes are so
reprehensible that the imposition of the ultimate penalty of death is the
appropriate sanction. Often, the defendants in these cases have extensive
criminal histories. Although given multiple attempts to rehabilitate, they
instead choose to commit a heinous crime.

The decision to seek the death penalty is not made in a vacuum and is not
appropriate for every murder case. As a society, we have the right to
define some crimes as so despicable that those who commit them deserve the
ultimate punishment. We punish certain acts because they go against the
sensibility and morality of our society. In the same vein, the punishment
itself should reflect the sentiments and beliefs of our society as a
whole. The vast majority of Hoosiers and Americans believe the death
penalty is a fair, just and moral punishment. As a republic, we empower
elected officials to determine what punishments are acceptable in our
community.

Not once has the Indiana General Assembly passed a law outlawing use of
the death penalty. As long as Indiana citizens consider the death penalty
to be moral and just, it should be preserved as an option for the worst
offenders.

While many opponents will cite its great cost, it is important to remember
that the majority of the cost goes to ensuring that defendants receive a
fair trial. Defendants who face the possibility of death are guaranteed 2
death penalty-certified attorneys who are paid $100 an hour by the state
to defend their client. The state also pays for the defense to hire expert
witnesses and investigators, along with other expenses that assist in
preparation of the defense.

Finally, the defendants are granted an extensive appeals process that
often takes more than a decade to complete. Because of the seriousness of
the punishment, it is imperative that we give these cases more scrutiny.

Doing away with the death penalty will make life without the possibility
of parole the most severe punishment an offender can receive. Many
defendants, when faced with the possibility of the death penalty, choose
to accept responsibility for their crimes and serve a life sentence
without the possibility of parole. Without the death penalty, life without
possibility of parole would become the highest available punishment, and
few would be willing to admit their guilt and accept that sentence. No
matter how we feel individually, we must not lose focus that the families
of the victims are the ones most affected by these crimes. Our thoughts
should always return to their loss and to the memory of their loved one.
It would be wrong for us to underestimate the pain they experience and it
is important that their concerns play a central role in this debate. Some
acts of violence are so evil that they demand the ultimate punishment. For
those crimes the death penalty is an option that should be preserved.

(source: Column, Indianapolis Star; Carl Brizzi is Marion County
prosecutor)






USA A substantial shift in support for execution


We may be witnessing a substantial shift in public support for capital
punishment in the United States. Nearly 100 prisoners were executed in
1999 and dozens of prisoners have been executed each year since then.
However, a number of states now question whether they should employ the
death penalty. Governors or courts in California, Illinois, Maryland and
other states have imposed moratoriums on the use of capital punishment,
and a blue ribbon commission in New Jersey has recommended its abolition.
Several important reasons underlie the growing opposition to execution:

- Unfortunately, juries sometimes convict innocent persons. DNA testing
has resulted in exoneration of more than 180 people, and 14 of whom had
been sentenced to death. Other prisoners have been exonerated when
eyewitness testimony proved to be inaccurate or confessions were found to
be false.

- Many people support executions as a punishment for the most heinous
murderers. But the death penalty is not reserved for the most egregious
criminals. Indeed, some states, including Indiana, permit it even when the
defendant did not actually kill the victim.

- Unfair in other ways. When two people commit the same kind of murder,
one may receive a death sentence while the other is sentenced to life in
prison

-- or less. In some states, the race of the defendant and victim affects
the likelihood a prosecutor will seek and the jury will impose a death
sentence. One study of capital punishment in Georgia demonstrated that
even after taking into account other relevant factors, defendants who
killed whites were 4 times as likely to receive a death sentence as
defendants who killed blacks.

- Inhumane executions. Capital punishment continues to be plagued by
serious examples of suffering. In Florida in December, the execution of
Angel Nieves Diaz took more than half an hour, and required a 2nd dose of
lethal chemicals when prison officials botched the insertion of needles
into his arm. And 24 minutes into the execution, Diaz was making movements
suggestive of pain. Later that week, Gov. Jeb Bush suspended all
executions in Florida.

- Inadequate legal representation. Defendants to murder charges often
cannot afford to pay for a lawyer, and court-appointed attorneys are
typically underpaid and overworked. Some defendants may get a death
sentence simply because of their lawyers' incompetence.

- Lack of deterrence. The best evidence to date does not support the
conclusion that the death penalty deters crime -- in part because only 2
to 3 % of murderers receive a death sentence.

Although there might be a role for capital punishment in theory, unfair
implementation disqualifies its use in a just system of law.

(source: Indianapolis Star (Orentlicher, District 86 state representative,
is a law professor and co-director of the Center for Law and Health at
Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis.)


OHIO:

Messages ask Strickland to abolish death penalty----In 1st months of term,
residents' letters, e-mails overwhelmingly want governor to alter system


In one of the nation's busiest death-penalty states, letters to Gov. Ted
Strickland are running almost 5 to 1 in favor of ending capital punishment
or temporarily stopping it to study the system.

Strickland supports the death penalty, but after taking office, he delayed
the executions of three condemned killers while he reviewed their cases.
The decision resonated in Ohio, where former Gov. Bob Taft let 24
executions proceed with little hesitation.

An Associated Press review of correspondence Strickland received since his
election and running through Feb. 15 found 125 letters or e-mails from
death-penalty opponents. That number does not include letters asking for
specific killers to be freed without reference to the writer's position on
the death penalty.

"Killing people is wrong. Please end the death penalty in Ohio,'' Gerald
and Andrea Breen of Cincinnati said in a handwritten note on Jan. 20.

"I firmly believe that human life is given by God as sacred and that only
He has jurisdiction over each person's life and death,'' wrote Sister Rose
Clement Stalter of Columbus, one of several nuns who wrote Strickland
opposing capital punishment.

Another 27 letters urged Strickland to keep the state's death penalty in
place.

"Please don't mess with the death penalty,'' Gene Metz, a warehouse clerk
in Harrison, challenged Strickland in a Jan. 28 e-mail. ``It is the only
tool that we have left to deal with killers.''

That opponents' figure does not include about three dozen letters
specifically urging the execution of individual inmates, 27 of them from
relatives and friends of Tami Engstrom, murdered by Kenneth Biros in 1991.

Strickland, the 1st Democratic governor in Ohio in 16 years, indicated
shortly after being sworn in last month that he was worried about having
enough time to review the case files for upcoming executions. On Jan. 19
he officially delayed the executions of Biros and 2 other inmates.

Supporters and opponents of capital punishment interpreted Strickland's
actions as the possible first step toward a moratorium. But Strickland
says people shouldn't assume anything.

"If I were to decide I was going to have a moratorium on executions, I
would just say so,'' Strickland said. "People are reading between the
lines, and there's nothing written there.''

Ohio executed 5 people last year, second highest in the country after
Texas with 24. From 2002 through 2006 Ohio executed 22 people, a tie for
third with North Carolina and behind Texas and Oklahoma.

After Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine took office last year, his office received
hundreds of letters regarding the 1st execution he oversaw in April 2006.
Spokesman Kevin Hall attributed the unusually high number to Kaine's
well-known personal opposition to the death penalty.

Death-penalty opponents "in particular had some expectation that they
might have more of an impact by making contact,'' said Hall.

But Kaine, a Democrat, also said he would uphold the law, and he let that
execution go on, along with 3 of 4 other cases.

In Florida, newly elected Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican and
death-penalty supporter, has received only 22 letters and e-mails split
evenly between backers of capital punishment and opponents.

"I wouldn't say we felt like it was high or low,'' Crist spokeswoman Kathy
Torian said.

Florida executed 21 inmates under Crist's predecessor, Republican Jeb
Bush. The state has a temporary moratorium on executions while a
commission studies whether changes are needed in the way the state carries
out the death penalty.

Bush created the commission after December's botched execution of Angel
Nieves Diaz, who survived for more than a half hour after being given 2
doses of the lethal injection drugs.

A Feb. 1 poll by Quinnipiac University found that 60 % of Ohio voters
supported Strickland's decision.

The governor granted Biros a reprieve until March 20. He also delayed the
executions of James J. Filiaggi until April 24 and Christopher J. Newton
until May 24.

Some of the most heartfelt letters Strickland received came from relatives
of Engstrom, a 22-year-old woman who was stabbed 91 times by Biros on Feb.
7, 1991, in Trumbull County, then strangled and dismembered.

"Sorry for Kenneth Biros I will never be,'' Engstrom's father, James
Heiss, wrote in a December letter. "I think he has been kept alive way
beyond the years he deserves as my Tami was snuffed out of her life at
such a young age and was not given a choice on living or dying.''

(source: Associated Press)