Sept. 12 TENNESSEE: Tennessee asks for execution date for death row inmate The state has asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to set an execution date for a death row inmate convicted of killing an elderly couple. The state's motion filed Friday would be the 1st request to move forward with an execution after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Kentucky's use of lethal injection executions in April. Steve Henley was convicted of the murder of Fred and Edna Stafford, 64 and 67, at their rural farm house near Gainesboro in 1986. He was also convicted of setting fire to the couple's home while Edna Stafford was still alive inside. The U.S. Supreme Court in June declined to hear his appeal based on ineffective counsel during the sentencing portion of his trial. Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper said Henley has completed his three-tier appeals process, which is required before an execution date can be set. (source: Associated Press) IOWA/USA----federal death sentence Death sentence upheld for Britt man who killed 5 people in 1993 The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the federal death sentence today for Dustin Honken for murdering 2 children and 3 adults in 1993. Honken, 40, of Britt, was convicted by a federal jury on Oct. 14, 2004 for five counts of murdering witnesses, 1 count of soliciting murder of additional witnesses, one count of conspiring to murder witnesses, 5 counts of murder in furtherance of a drug conspiracy and five counts of murder in a furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. Honken was sentenced to death on Oct. 11, 2005. He was the 1st person in Iowa in over 40 years to be sentenced to death, according to U.S. Attorney for Northern Iowa Matt Dummermuth. Honken and his girlfriend and accomplice, Angela Johnson, were convicted of killing 2 federal drug informants who once peddled methamphetamine produced by Honken. One of the informants, Greg Nicholson of Mason City, disappeared in June 1993 along with his girlfriend, Lori Duncan, also of Mason City, and her 2 daughters, Kandace Duncan, 10, and Amber Duncan, 6. The other informant, Terry DeGeus of Britt, disappeared months later. Their bodies were discovered in 2 graves outside of Mason City in 2000 after Johnson gave information about the locations of the graves to a jailhouse informant. Honken raised 11 issues on his appeal. The court affirmed his conviction and sentence "in all respects." The federal jury in 2004 determined Honken should die on the four counts involving the premeditated murders of the 2 girls and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of the 3 adults, according to court information. Johnson was tried and convicted of the murders on May 24, 2005, and was sentenced to death on Dec. 20, 2005. Johnson's death sentence was the 1st time in over 50 years a woman had been sentenced to death in any federal court. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Johnson's conviction and death sentence on July 30, 2007. She filed a petition with the United States Supreme Court and it is pending before the court. (source: The Gazette) GEORGIA: Convicted cop killer denied clemency----Troy Anthony Davis to be executed Sept. 23 The state Board of Pardons and Paroles on Friday refused to grant clemency to convicted cop killer Troy Anthony Davis even though 7 of the 9 witnesses against him have since recanted. For the 2nd time in a year, the 5-member board heard from both sides of the debate Davis' family, friends and attorneys Friday morning and prosecutors and the slain police officers family and prosecutors in the afternoon. A Chatham County jury convicted and condemned Davis in 1991 for murdering Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail 2 years earlier. The evidence against Davis came from eye witness accounts, including a man some witnesses now say was the killer. MacPhail, a 27-year-old husband and father of 2, was responding wails of a man being pistol-whipped in a Savannah Burger King parking lot late at night when he was shot by a man who then stood over the fallen officer and fired again and again. Since he was put on death row, 7 of the 9 key witnesses against him have recanted. 1 of the 2 who did not change their story, Sylvester "Redd" Coles, was at the scene and later told police Davis was the shooter. New witnesses now say Coles confessed to them that he killed MacPhail, and others say Coles had a gun immediately after the shooting - contrary to what Coles testified at trial. (source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution) ******************** Fate of convicted cop killer up for review today Typically when a condemned killer is strapped to the gurney on Georgia's death row and prepared for lethal injection, any doubt about his guilt has long since faded. But that is not the case with Troy Anthony Davis, his lawyers say. Today, for the 2nd time, Davis' attorneys will ask the state Board of Pardons and Paroles to commute his death sentence. Last summer, hours before Davis' scheduled execution, the board granted Davis a temporary reprieve. This time, Davis' attorneys again will argue there is substantial doubt as to whether their client committed the Aug. 19, 1989, slaying of Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail. Chatham County prosecutors, investigators and members of MacPhails family also will appear before the 5-member board. They will insist the scheduled Sept. 23 execution of Davis, 39, will be nothing more than justice for an unrepentant cop killer. Since Davis' 1991 trial, 7 key witnesses have recanted their testimony. Witness testimony formed the core of the prosecution's case because physical evidence was scant: no murder weapon, no fingerprints, no DNA. A few hundred people, many chanting "I am Troy Davis," and Innocence matters" attended a rally Thursday evening at the Capitol sponsored by Amnesty International and the NAACP. They got to hear from Davis himself from death row as his sister, Martina Correia, held a cellphone up to the microphone. "I am an innocent man," Davis said over the speaker phone to the raucous crowd. "Until I'm free, justice is not done." Davis' claims of innocence have attracted international attention, including a request from Pope Benedict XVI that Davis be resentenced to life without parole. Courts have repeatedly rejected Davis' efforts to win a new trial or, at least, a court hearing in which the recanted testimony can be presented and cross-examined. Atlanta lawyer Henry Walker, chairman of the State Bar of Georgia's indigent defense committee, said MacPhail's murder was the type of killing in which the death penalty should be considered. But he said Davis should be allowed to present his new evidence, granted a new trial or resentenced to life without parole. "It is important to the publics confidence in Georgia's criminal justice system that no person's life is taken by the state except in circumstances where their constitutional rights to a fair trial have been fully respected," he said. "With so many witnesses recanting their testimony, there just seems to be too many doubts to move forward with this execution." Davis was within 24 hours of being put to death when the parole board temporarily stayed his execution on July 16, 2007. The board issued its decision after a 10-hour hearing in which it heard from a number of witnesses, including 4 who recanted their trial testimony. The board said in a statement it "will not allow an execution to proceed in this state unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused." Today, Davis' lawyers are expected to present more testimony to the parole board. The board does not like to second-guess a jurys verdict and is rarely ever presented with claims of innocence in a death-penalty case, said Jack Martin, an Atlanta criminal defense lawyer. "Most often, the parole board will be presented with information that the inmate has been rehabilitated, is a peacemaker in jail, has a serious mental illness, has shown good character, is remorseful, or even that the victim's family, for whatever reason, no longer wants the execution," Martin said. "But the Troy Davis case is different because so much has been learned since the trial about things the jury never heard." David Lock, Chatham County's chief assistant district attorney, said his office has no doubts that Davis killed MacPhail. "I think we've already shot them down," Lock said of the witnesses who recanted their trial testimony. "We're there to answer questions, reintegrate evidence or information thats been provided to the parole board." Members of MacPhail's family did not return phone calls seeking comment. In March, after the state Supreme Court rejected Davis' last appeal in a 4-3 ruling, the slain officer's mother, Anneliese MacPhail, expressed frustration that Davis has sat on death row so long. "There is no new evidence," she said. "No mother should go through what I have been through." Jason Ewart, one of Davis lawyers, said he is hopeful the parole board will halt Davis execution. "There's already some doubt," he said. "We think the evidence will show at least reasonable doubt here, and we're confident the board will find that he's innocent." MacPhail, a 27-year-old husband and father of 2, appeared in a Savannah Burger King parking lot late at night after hearing the wails of a man being pistol-whipped. Before he could draw his gun, MacPhail was shot by a man who then stood over the fallen officer and fired again and again. 2 years later, Davis went to trial and was sentenced to death. But as he aged on death row, 7 witnesses changed their stories. 2 key witnesses, though, have not changed their testimony. One, Sylvester "Redd" Coles, was at the scene and later told police Davis was the shooter. But new witnesses, found by Davis' lawyers, now say Coles confessed to them that he killed MacPhail. Other witnesses say Coles had a gun immediately after the shooting - contrary to what Coles testified at trial. In a prior interview, Coles declined to discuss the case. The 2nd witness, Stephen Sanders, was at the scene with his Air Force colleagues at the time of the shooting. Sanders initially told police he could not identify the gunman, but at trial, he testified he saw Davis fire the fatal shots. TIMELINE Aug. 19, 1989 - Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail, working off-duty as a security guard, is shot to death in a Burger King parking lot in Savannah. Aug. 30, 1991 - Davis is sentenced to death for MacPhail's murder. June 5, 2007 - Davis' execution is set for 7 p.m. on July 17, 2007. July 16, 2007 - After a 10-hour hearing, the state Board of Pardons and Paroles stays the execution. Aug. 3, 2007 - The Georgia Supreme Court agrees to hear Davis' appeal for a new trial or a court hearing to present new evidence. March 17 - By a 4-3 vote, the state Supreme Court upholds Davis' death sentence. Sept. 3 - Davis' execution is set for 7 p.m. on Sept. 23. Sept. 5 - The state parole board agrees to hear Davis' case on Sept. 12. (source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution) MISSISSIPPI: Death penalty sought in dismembered body case A Memphis man charged with killing and dismembering his girlfriend with a circular saw has been indicted by a grand jury, and the prosecutor in the case says he'll seek the death penalty. James Hawkins, 31, is charged in the slaying and dismemberment of Charlene Gaither, on Feb. 9 in their apartment. Her body was found 5 days later just south of Memphis in north Mississippi. The couple's 12-year-old daughter told authorities she witnessed her mother's murder and was forced to help dismember her body and dispose of the parts. She said her father threatened to kill her if she did not cooperate. Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons announced the indictment Friday. Gibbons also said his office filed notice to seek the death penalty because Hawkins has prior violent felony convictions and because of the grisly nature of the crime. (source: Associated Press) KENTUCKY: Church to host death penalty forum Holy Spirit Catholic Church and the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty will have a forum to discuss the death penalty at 10 a.m. Saturday at Holy Spirit. The Rev. Pat Delahanty, chair of the coalition, will give a presentation arguing that the punishment is unjust, unnecessary, expensive and ineffective. The coalition is a Louisville-based organization that lobbies for legislators to eliminate the death penalty in the state and advocates for the rights of inmates on death row. About 40 supporting partners, including the Kentucky Council of Churches and the Catholic Conference of Kentucky, along with individual members, support the coalition's efforts. Peggy Wright of Bowling Green is a member of the coalition, having visited inmates on death row. Wright points to cases in other states in which new evidence exonerates people who had been sentenced to death as a reason to abolish the death penalty. "There are people in prison who have not committed the crimes they were convicted of, and once we kill them, it's too late," Wright said. "The Empty Chair," a documentary focusing on the impact of families dealing with the murder of a loved one, will be shown during the forum. Kentucky was recently at the center of the issue of the death penalty's legality. Convicted murderer Ralph Baze sued the state Department of Corrections, arguing that the lethal injection method of execution constituted cruel and unusual punishment and violated the 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court in April upheld the Kentucky Supreme Court's ruling that lethal injection was constitutional. The Kentucky Department of Corrections lists 37 inmates on death row on its Web site. The forum will be open to the public and light refreshments will be served. (source: Bowling Green Daily News)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TENN., IOWA/USA, GA., MISS., KY.
Rick Halperin Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:41:44 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
