June 19 ALABAMA: Supreme Court won't hear death row inmates' claim The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal Monday from several Alabama death row inmates who claimed they were not adequately represented by attorneys after their 1st round of appeals. The justices made no comment as they declined to hear the inmates' claim that Alabama is the only state that does not provide death row inmates with attorneys during what is known as their indirect appeal. Their attorney, Bryan Stevenson, said it's during the indirect round of appeals that inmates raise issues such as new evidence of innocence or lack of competent counsel at trial. State's attorneys have argued the inmates receive able legal help. Federal lawsuit The federal lawsuit was filed by death row inmate Christopher Barbour and several others. Barbour, convicted in 1992 of the rape and stabbing death of Thelma Bishop Roberts, 40, of Montgomery, came within 2 days of a scheduled execution in May 2001. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued a stay of execution after Barbour argued his appeal had been sidetracked because several lawyers had dropped out of his case. Stevenson said not having a good attorney during the indirect appeal makes it difficult for inmates to raise some issues that might win them new trials or reverse their death sentences. Stevenson said the appeals are often handled by attorneys, sometimes from outside Alabama, who volunteer to represent the inmate without charge. "We do not have a system that depends on volunteer judges or volunteer prosecutors," Stevenson said. "We should not have a system that depends on volunteer defense attorneys." The chief of the death penalty division of the Alabama attorney general's office, Clay Crenshaw, said most Alabama death row inmates are represented by highly competent attorneys and law firms. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled against the inmates and the case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The lawsuit asked the courts to put a moratorium on deadlines for filing appeals until the state provided a system for inmates to be represented during the appeals process. Representation A brief filed with the Supreme Court by former Alabama Solicitor General Kevin C. Newsom said it's not true that many Alabama death row inmates are underrepresented during the appeals process. "The reality is that, almost without fail, death-row inmates in fact have the assistance of superbly qualified counsel in preparing, presenting and litigating post-conviction challenges to their convictions and sentences," Newsom said in the brief. Stevenson said he was disappointed by the Supreme Court decision Monday, but said he expects inmates to continue to pursue the issue. "It's not over. They did not rule against us. They just declined to hear it at this time," Stevenson said. Besides Barbour, other inmates named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit were James Borden, Eugene Clemmons, Gary Hart, James Callahan, Glenn Holladay, Tony Barksdale and Anthony Tyson. Stevenson said Hart and Borden are no longer on death row Hart because of a Supreme Court ruling that juveniles can't be executed and Borden because of court rulings prohibiting execution of mentally retarded individuals. (source: Associated Press) COLORADO: District attorney decides not to pursue the death penalty The Larimer County District Attorney has decided he will not seek the death penalty in the case of Shawna Nelson, the woman accused of killing her ex-lover's wife. The office said it wanted to concentrate on the murder and not the death penalty. Nelson has admitted to an affair with Ignacio Garraus, a Greeley police officer. Nelson had Garraus's baby in 2006. On January 23, Garraus's wife, Heather, was shot and killed outside of a credit union in Greeley where she worked. Shawna Nelson was arrested for her murder. She pleaded not guilty during her preliminary hearing in Greeley on April 19. At the time, the Larimer County DA had 60 days to decide whether or not he would seek the death penalty for Nelson. Shawna Nelson was married to a former Weld County Sheriff's Deputy, Ken Nelson. He has since moved out of state with the couple's children. Monday, 9NEWS confirmed the Larimer County DA will not seek the death penalty for Shawna Nelson. (source: KUSA-TV) *************** Nelson won't face death penalty The Greeley woman accused of killing her former lover's wife earlier this year will not face the death penalty, the Larimer District Attorneys Office decided Tuesday. Instead, Shawna Nelson, 35, will face a life sentence if she is convicted of 1st-degree murder. Today was the deadline for the Larimer DA's office to decide whether to pursue the death penalty against Nelson. Nelson is accused of shooting Heather Garraus, 37, the wife of former Greeley police officer Ignacio Garraus. Nelson and Ignacio Garraus had a sexual relationship over the course of several years that resulted in a baby boy. Ignacio Garraus broke off the relationship before the 2006 holidays. Police allege that Nelson went to Heather Garraus' place of work in Greeley, waited for her to exit and shot her twice. (source: Greeley Tribune) NEW YORK: Death penalty bill stalls while another trooper is shot "When we heard this news, it's again," said NYS Troopers PBA Asst. VP Thomas Mungeer. The shooting of Trooper Amanda Reif reminded fellow troopers of the long list of shooting incidents scarring the State's Police Department. 8 in the last 16 months. "Since March 1st of last year, this has become too commonplace," Mungeer said. The shooting of Trooper Reif has reignited the debate over the death penalty for cop killers. A bill doing just that has stalled in the Assembly, but members of the State Trooper PBA are optimistic that it will pass soon. Common, he said, because criminals know that New York State won't put them to death if they kill a trooper. "You look in the last year-and-a-half, some people think it is alright to shoot at cops, and it's not alright," Mungeer said. So, if there is another deterrent out there maybe to stop it, then yes, we are going to continue to push the death penalty. Lawmakers say this latest shooting has done little to spur action on the bill at the Capitol. The death penalty for cop killers was discussed after the tragic death of Trooper Joseph Longobardo last summer, and then again in April after the shooting death of Trooper David Brinkerhoff. Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno said it is time to stop talking and start acting. "We have to make sure that people, they will have the death penalty in the state. It's truly a deterrent," Senator Bruno said. I'm not sure how many of these deranged individuals would stop what they're doing if we had this law in effect, but at least the punishment would fit the crime, Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestreri said. Canestreri said although he believes in a narrowly defined death penalty, some of his colleagues in the Assembly have philosophical issues with the idea. The Governor has voiced support for the bill, but it hasn't made it to his desk. "We are split, and when that happens in our house, until a consensus develops, we wait and see what the public reaction is," Canestreri said. Canestreri said he's not confident the bill will be passed this session, but it may be on the table the next time around. Meanwhile, the PBA says every day it waits for lawmakers to take action on this issue is another day troopers will put their lives on the line. (source: Capital News 9) CALIFORNIA: Death row inmate gets second death sentence for killing 18-year-old A man already facing execution for killing an 8-year-old boy was formally sentenced to death today for raping and killing an 18-year-old San Leandro woman in 1984. Robert Rhoades, now 54, formerly of San Lorenzo, showed no visible reaction when Alameda County Superior Court Joseph Hurley pronounced the sentence in an Oakland courtroom in the rape-slaying of Julie Connell. Connell's family and the mother of Michael Lyons, the 8-year-old boy killed by Rhoades in 1996 in Sutter County, were present in court today. Also in attendance were most of the jurors who decided that Rhoades must die after they convicted him of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of rape in Connell's slaying. The judge denied a motion by the defense to sentence Rhoades to life in prison without parole, saying he had destroyed lives in committing a "cold, vicious murder" that bore many similarities -- including the nature of the wounds inflicted -- to Michael's murder. "The deadly wounds on that child and Julie Connell could have been interposed," Hurley said. The judge agreed with Rhoades' attorneys that the convicted murderer was smart, but said that Rhoades also was "selfish and incredibly arrogant." The judge asked Rhoades if he had anything to say. "No sir," he replied. Hurley then said, "It is the judgment of this court that you shall suffer the death penalty." Michael's mother, Sandra Fuller, smiled in triumph. Afterward, Connell's mother, Kathy Connell, said she wished Rhoades could be executed tomorrow. "I want him to just die," she said. The victim's sister, Patricia Connell, agreed, saying, "He needs to burn in hell for all eternity." Connell disappeared on April 20, 1984, after she went to a Hayward park to read a book. Her bruised body was found in an animal corral in Palomares Canyon near Castro Valley 5 days later. Her left wrist was wrapped 12 times with green twine in a "complicated knot," her right wrist was severely cut and her neck was slashed, prosecutor Angela Backers told jurors during the trial. "I'm so thrilled, absolutely 100 %," Fuller said. "I'm so glad Julie got her justice and the Connells get the death penalty." Fuller blasted Rhoades for his lack of remorse and called him "pure evil, sadistic." She agreed with the prosecutor that he was the "poster child for the death penalty." Albert Wax, an attorney for Rhoades, said outside court, "My client still denies the offense. He hopes to be vindicated on appeal." The judge noted today that Rhoades also had been convicted of sexually molesting his 4-year-old step-granddaughter in 1993 and kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman at knifepoint in Yuba County in 1985, 16 months after Connell was killed. That victim described for jurors in the Connell trial how she escaped Rhoades by flinging herself out of his moving vehicle. "It was haunting to listen to her talk about how Mr. Rhoades destroyed evidence, telling her 'I'm smart' and that 'smart people are the ones who get away' " Hurley said. (source: San Francisco Chronicle) *************************** SF: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY IN PLEASANTON MURDER The California Supreme Court in San Francisco today unanimously upheld the death penalty of a Mountain View man who hired 2 killers to murder his business partner 20 years ago. Steven Bonilla, now 60, was convicted in Alameda County Superior Court in 1992 of the 1st-degree murder of Blackhawk resident Jerry Harris, 45, in a crime committed in Pleasanton in October 1987. The jury also found special circumstances of murder for financial gain and lying in wait, which made Bonilla eligible for the death penalty. The original jury deadlocked on a penalty, but a second jury decided on a death sentence in 1994. Bonilla was a partner with Harris in a Cupertino nightclub and also invested in a plant nursery, a rental company and other businesses Harris owned. According to evidence at the trial, Bonilla hired Bradley Keyes and William Nichols to kill Harris, telling them that Harris owed him more than $1 million and that Bonilla wanted to take over the businesses. Bonilla lured Harris to a vacant office park in Pleasanton, supposedly to look at potential business space. Keyes, disguised as a security guard, and Nichols, posing as a real estate agent, grabbed Harris, covered his head with duct tape and put him in the back of Bonilla's pickup truck, where he suffocated. Nichols and Keyes buried the body in a shallow grave in a remote location in Nevada, where it was found by a rock hunter in January 1988, and took Harris's car to the Sacramento airport, where it was discovered a month later. Keyes became the prosecution's chief witness and in a plea bargain received a 3-year sentence in exchange for his testimony. Nichols was convicted of the same charges as Harris and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The high court rejected a series of appeal arguments raised by Bonilla, including challenges to jury instructions, jury selection and the sufficiency of the evidence. Justice Kathryn Werdegar wrote for the court, "The evidence presented permitted the jury to conclude this case was a classic lying-in-wait special-circumstance murder." Today's ruling on Bonilla's direct appeal from the trial court was the 1st step in the lengthy death penalty appeals process in California. Bonilla also has a habeas corpus petition pending before the same court and if that is not successful can take his case to the federal courts. Lawyers in the case were not immediately available for comment. (source: CBS News) ************** Mother Of Slaying Victim Calls For Death Penalty----Jury Could Get Case Tuesday For the 1st time, family members of 32-year-old Robert Anthony McCamey are talking publicly. McCamey was shot and killed in Bay Terraces in October 2004. The man accused of killing him, Tecumseh Colbert, is now on trial in that slaying as well as that of a store clerk in Ocean Beach. During his closing argument Monday, Deputy District Attorney Robert Amador said Colbert killed McCamey because he thought the victim owed his friend money. "This has turned our lives upside down. This has broken us," Diane McCamey, the victim's mother, tearfully told NBC 7/39. "My baby, at 32 years old, was shot dead in the street like a dog. He didn't even have a chance to protect himself." According to prosecutors, Colbert and 2 other people went on a violent crime spree around San Diego during the fall of 2004 that included carjackings, robberies and murder. Monday, Amador also described the killing of Richard Hammes 2 weeks after McCamey was shot to death. That crime, during the robbery of an Ocean Beach liquor store, was caught on surveillance tape. Amador told the jury the gun that killed both Hammes and McCamey had Colbert's DNA on it. He said that the odds of a DNA match were one in 140 quadrillion. Colbert is the last of 3 people to face charges in the murder cases. Theron Peters pleaded guilty to 1st-degree murder, robbery and carjacking. He will be sentenced on Friday. Colbert's girlfriend, Tatiana Daniel, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and has not been sentenced. Colbert's defense attorney began his closing argument Monday and is expected to finish sometime Tuesday morning. The jury could get the case soon after. If convicted on all charges, Colbert could be sentenced to death. "They all 3 should get the electric chair, and I wouldn't even feel sorry," Diane McCamey said. (source: NBC News San Diego) NEW MEXICO: Death penalty phase planned A dozen Albuquerque jurors found Stanley Bedford guilty last week of killing Odis and Doris Newman of Portales. The same jury will reconvene Thursday in Albuquerque to determine whether Bedford should die as punishment. The death penalty phase is unlike any other trial in New Mexico, District Attorney Matt Chandler said. "This is the only instance where a jury hands down the sentence," Chandler said. "Their choice is whether to impose the 120-year sentence (given by Judge Stephen Quinn) or to impose the death penalty." The prison sentence will apply unless the jury unanimously opts for the death penalty. Bedford would be the 3rd person on death row in New Mexico if given the death sentence. He was convicted Thursday of 2 counts each of murder and kidnapping in the March 3, 2005, deaths of the Newmans. The couple's bodies were found in the trunk of a burned car outside of Portales. Jerry Fuller, a nephew of the Newmans, pleaded guilty to his role in their deaths and testified against Bedford in the criminal trial. Defense attorney Gary Mitchell said he believes Bedford is innocent. He said even a guilty Bedford should receive no more of a penalty than the 127-year sentence given to Fuller, who admitted to setting the Newmans' car on fire by himself. The penalty phase is like 2 miniature trials, Mitchell said. In the first part, Mitchell said, the jury must agree there is an aggravating circumstance. A murder committed during the course of a kidnapping is one such circumstance. Mitchell figured since the jury already convicted Bedford of kidnapping, they'd reach a decision on aggravation quickly. Chandler didnt want to assume that, and said the procedure applies regardless of the criminal trial results. "In the sentencing stage, they must determine whether the murder took place in the commission of the kidnapping," Chandler said. "We believe we've proven that, but the question must be asked." Should the jury make a finding of an aggravating circumstance, the next phase will begin. The defense is allowed to give mitigating evidence, which may include the defendants character and role in any crimes. The prosecution then responds to the mitigating evidence and may use impact statements from friends and family as part of its case. (source: Clovis News Journal) NEW JERSEY: Date set in Evesham death-penalty case In Mount Holly, a Burlington County judge decided Monday to adhere to a Sept. 25 trial date in the capital murder case against Christopher Kornberger of Evesham. The judge also set a pretrial hearing for Aug. 31 on an ongoing issue involving handwriting found in Kornberger's home. Superior Court Judge Thomas Smith Jr. announced his intention to conduct the trial in September even though one of Kornberger's defense lawyers faces a scheduling conflict because of the upcoming federal trial in the alleged terrorist plot to kill soldiers at Fort Dix. Kornberger, 22, already has been sentenced in Camden County to state prison for the attack and attempted rape of a Waterford woman. He recently was convicted but remains in Burlington County Jail. In Burlington County, Kornberger faces the death penalty if convicted of the 2003 murder of Krista DeFrancesco of Evesham. Defense lawyer Michael Riley is representing Kornberger in the Burlington County murder case and is the lawyer for Shain Duka, one of the defendants in the Fort Dix terrorist case. The latter case also is scheduled to start in September before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler. Riley said he would like to see this case tried 1st because his client has been in jail for 4 years awaiting trial. He said he said expects that trial to last 2 months. The Fort Dix case also may be a lengthy trial. "The matter of which trial takes precedence will be up to the judges to work out," said James Ronca, deputy first assistant Burlington County prosecutor. Kugler was made aware of the potential conflict last week, Riley said. "Judge Kugler asked me to advise him in writing if we had any conflicts and I plan on contacting him today," Riley said Monday. DeFrancesco, 24, was found slain outside her home in the early morning hours after arriving home from a local restaurant. Kornberger, who also will be tried for alleged attacks on 2 other women in Evesham when he is tried for the murder, has maintained his innocence, but authorities say he is a serial rapist. Regarding the pretrial issue, Ronca said he believes four alleged writing samples of Kornberger's found in his home are relevant to the defendant's state of mind at the time of the DeFrancesco murder. (source: Cherry Hill Courier Post)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALA., COLO., N.Y., CALIF., N.MEX., N.J.
Rick Halperin Tue, 19 Jun 2007 23:23:42 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
