Sept. 12 LOUISIANA----new death sentence Bell sentenced to die for 5 slayings A state judge formally sentenced convicted mass murderer Anthony Bell on Thursday to die by lethal injection for killing his wife and 4 in-laws in a May 2006 shooting spree in Baton Rouge. District Judge Todd Hernandez followed a jury's April 17 recommendation that Bell be executed for fatally shooting 4 of his in-laws at the Ministry of Jesus Christ Church and then kidnapping his wife from the Dallas Drive church and shooting and killing her at an apartment complex. Bell did not react when Hernandez sentenced him. As deputies led him from the courtroom, the 27-year-old Bell dressed in an orange-and-white striped prison jumpsuit looked at family members in the audience and said, "I love you. Never stop fighting." Before sentencing Bell, Hernandez denied a motion filed by Bell to once again fire his court-appointed attorneys. The judge also denied a motion for a new trial filed by those attorneys. Bell, who fired public defenders Greg Rome and Margaret Lagattuta in February, represented himself in the guilt phase of his trial but asked Hernandez to reinstate the lawyers during the penalty phase. The judge allowed the lawyers to act as Bells standby counsel during the guilt phase of the trial. Before leaving court Thursday, Bell thanked Rome and Lagattuta for their assistance. Bell, who was found guilty April 11 on 5 counts of 1st-degree murder and 1 count of attempted 1st-degree murder for wounding his mother-in-law inside the church, received 5 death sentences from Hernandez and a 50-year prison term on the other conviction. Husband and wife Leonard Howard, 78, and Gloria Howard, 72, were shot and killed at the church May 21, 2006, along with Darlene Selvage, 47, and Doloris McGrew, 68. Claudia Brown the church pastor and Bell's mother-in-law was shot and injured at the church. She testified against Bell at his trial. Bell's 24-year-old wife, Erica Bell, was fatally shot in the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex later that day. Hernandez appointed the Louisiana Indigent Defender Assistance Board to handle Bell's capital appeal. (source: The Advocate) MASSACHUSETTS: Sullivan and Pereira's views on casino, death penalty differ The race for the 6th Bristol District pits an 11-year incumbent David B. Sullivan versus a popular city councilor Linda Pereira, vying for the chance to represent the North End of the city as the Democratic candidate on the November ballot. And while both candidates can claim extensive time in public office and Fall River roots, there are differences between them on issues such as the death penalty, in-state college rates for the children of illegal immigrants and casino gambling. Both agree, however, that bringing jobs to the region is a major issue of the race. "I think there has to be a bunch of different types of solutions to it. We need to cultivate an environment to help our small business grow into bigger employers," said Sullivan. "We need to have a diversity of types of businesses and jobs coming in. Biotech and life sciences is a good way to go for the area." Both believe that attracting businesses in renewable energy - building wind turbines and solar panels - is the way to go. Both also believe in retraining the current workforces to meet the needs of the future. Pereira says the city must upgrade its infrastructure to prepare itself for the jobs of the future. She said companies that would seek to relocate or locate to the city need several things to do so: land, labor, capital and infrastructure. "If you want Bio-Tech, computer technology and renewable energy companies to come to Fall River, we need to have the fiber optic infrastructure in place," said Pereira. Both candidates believe the city has the proper highway access to give companies an incentive to move here. Both see the possibilities of developing the waterfront more. However, Pereira wants to see the State Pier become a duty free zone. "The shipping that is now going to Providence and Boston could come to the city and that would spur economic growth," she said. Sullivan also sees the deep waters of the Taunton River flowing with opportunity. "I do see Fall River having enormous economic potential with its waterfront," he said. "I have for years identified our shipping opportunity for our state pier. I fought the delisting of the state pier. There are opportunities for short sea shipping as well as global shipping and marine transportation." Sullivan also believes the city must work on marketing itself better something he said state funds could assist in facilitating. "What we really need to do is get consultants in experts in shipping and marketing in that area, and have them on board to facilitate this economic engine, he said. Sullivan also favors enhancing the arts overlay district. Pereira for her part also wants to see the Route 79 redesign project completed to enhance the waterfront and allow for more space for business and other developments. It is on casino gambling that the two candidates vary widely in their views. While Sullivan is against having Indian gaming over granting sovereignty issues, Pereira is in favor of Indian gaming and opening a casino in Fall River. While she was against a bingo hall in the city - a debate from the late 1990's - she is in favor a full blown entity in the city. "We need to look at some type of casino complex in the city with a convention center and hotel," she said. "We need the jobs." She said she has had some informal discussions with members of the Wampanoag Tribe on what they would bring to Fall River, if they were to land a casino here. She says if an Indian gaming facility were to be proposed for the Spindle City, she would like to see an aquarium, and a partnership agreement that would stipulate benefits other than taxes that the city would be receiving. "We need to have a community member not just a tax contributor," she said. Sullivan for his part is against granting sovereignty to Indian tribes fearing that the control would be lost. "The Connecticut story is showing that entities outside of the country that backed recognition of the tribes have benefited more than the individual states it benefited outside nations which supported them," he said. "People are complaining about money leaving Massachusetts to spend money in Connecticut, but the money also went to South Africa and Malaysia. If we do move in this direction, it would have to be as transparent as possible. And it should be in areas outside of municipalities, not in a city like Fall River." ' Both candidates also differ on the death penalty. Sullivan has voted in favor while Pereira, an abuse investigator for the District Attorney's office, says she remains against the use of the option. Neither said their opinion was easy to decide upon. "There are some people who abuse kids I would love to wrap my hands around their necks, she said. "But at the end of the day in this country, if you have the money for a big time lawyer you never end up on death row." Sullivan explains his view this way. "I voted in favor of the death penalty in the past and it is one of the toughest issues I have had to deal with. I struggle with it all the time," he said. "There are legitimate issues on both sides. I make a judgment every time that issue comes up. I could not tell you how I would vote on it the next time." Both candidates also have a different view on gay marriage. Sullivan voted against a constitutional amendment outlawing it, but voted against putting it on the ballot for the residents to decide. Pereira says while she is not against gay marriage, she would have put it on the ballot for the people to decide. "It does not make a difference to me," she said. Interestingly, it will be more than the voters who will be anxious to see who wins, as both candidates have the support of the 2 of the biggest political power brokers in the city. Sullivan has the support of former Mayor Edward M. Lambert, Jr. while Pereira has the support of current Mayor Robert Correia. (source: O Jornal) CALIFORNIA: MURRIETA: DA opts not to seek death penalty in murder case ---- Instead, prosecutors will seek life sentence for Kelle Jarka, who allegedly killed his wife Riverside County prosecutors announced Thursday that they will not seek the death penalty in the murder case against Kelle Lee Jarka, a 40-year-old Murrieta man accused of killing his wife after buying life insurance to reap about $1 million from her death. Spokesman Michael Jeandron declined to say why Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco made that decision, but said a careful review of the case was conducted, which included discussions with the victim's family, defense attorneys and prosecutors. Seeking the death penalty was an option because prosecutors have filed a "special circumstance" charge alleging the murder was committed for financial gain. Instead, however, Pacheco's office will seek a sentence of life without possibility of parole, Jeandron said. Jarka has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and denied that he killed her for financial gain. He remains jailed without the possibility of bail. On April 28, Isabelle Jarka, 40, was found beaten to death in the master bedroom of the couple's eastern Murrieta home, police said. Authorities say an autopsy later found that she had been hit at least 11 times on the head with a blunt object. Police say Kelle Jarka called 911 about 8:45 a.m. on the day of the murder to report that he had returned home from the store to find that the house had been broken into and ransacked and that his wife was dead. Investigators, however, believe that account was a lie designed to cover up the fact that he committed the murder. Jarka told officers that he had been out getting baby formula for the couple's infant, but police said there was plenty of formula at the home. The couple also have an older child, but the children were not home that morning, police said. Prosecutors allege Jarka had recently taken out life insurance policies on his wife totaling about $1 million, listing himself as the beneficiary. They have also said they believe the couple were having domestic difficulties. The case is scheduled to return to court later this month so that a judge can determine whether there is enough evidence to order Jarka to trial. (source: North County Times) ******************* Ruling: Lying-in-wait justified death penalty----But victim laments: "Everyone knows he committed this crime... beyond any doubt. Why should this take this long?" It was one of the most senseless murders in the annals of Orange County crime. Thomas Francis Edwards, a gun nut and sharpshooter, spots two 12-year old girls walking inside the Blue Jay campground east of San Juan Capistrano, heading by themselves for a picnic in 1981. He follows them in his truck. He waits for them at a remote spot. He drives up along side, stops, and calls out "girls." And then he shoots them both in the head. Vanessa Iberri, a bubbly pre-teenager with long, brunette hair, is shot between the eyes and died three later. Her best friend, Kelly Cartier, turns her head at the last instant and is only grazed. Within seconds, Edwards, who was 37 at the time, flees. He was tracked down in his home state of Maryland nine days later. And then he confessed. "I don't know why I shot those 2 little girls," he told a jailer in Baltimore. "I am as guilty as sin." Edwards was sentenced to death in 1986 for committing a first-degree murder by '"lying-in-wait" for his victim, a special circumstance that allowed Orange County prosecutors to seek the ultimate penalty. His case has been slowly meandering through state and federal courts ever since. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney noted it an earlier ruling on the case that the extended delays in the appellate process was "reminiscent of that described in Charles Dickens's Bleak House." Edwards had three trials in Orange County. The California Supreme Court affirmed his death sentence in 1991. One federal judge reviewing his case died in office. His federal appeals have lingered in the system for 17 years. It is one of the oldest active death penalty appeals on the books in Orange County. The prosecution's efforts to get an execution date for Edwards cleared a major hurdle this week when a three-judge panel of the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the death penalty, ruling among other things that the lying-in-wait special circumstance was valid. Edwards' attorneys can apply for a review by the full bench of the appellate court, but it is more likely that they are down to there last resort: appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court. But that final step could still take years before his case is either overturned, or he gets a date in the death chamber at San Quentin Prison. For Joe Iberri, Vanessa's father, the recent news was welcome. "It puts him one step closer," Iberri acknowledged. But he remained frustrated and angry over the slow pace of the appellate system. "This has been going on for 27 years," the father said. "This is outrageous, ludicrous. Everyone knows he committed this crime beyond a reasonable doubt, beyond any doubt. Why should this take this long?" Iberri, a painter and an antiques dealer who lives in Oceanside, has stayed active in Parents of Murdered Children, and he speaks out in favor of the death penalty whenever he gets the chance. He says he thinks about Vanessa his only child every day, and visits her gravesite twice a year: on her birthday and on the anniversary of when she was killed. Iberri desperately wants to live long enough to see Edwards put to death, and he says he definitely will be in attendance if that day ever comes. "I want to be there, sure," Iberri said. "I want to feel that all this energy has paid off and that Vanessa can look down at me and say, "Dad, you have done your best.' " But he also realizes that Edwards, who is 64 and suffering with diabetes, could die of natural causes long before he gets a date with the executioner. "I would feel cheated if that happened, absolutely," he said. "But if it does, I hope he has a slow, painful death. That's what I wish." Iberri said he has lived with the pain of his daughter's death every day for 27 years, and it never gets any easier. "The pain never, ever goes away," he said. "People ask me all the time, when will I be able to get on with or life, when will I have closure," Iberri said. "I have to tell them, there will never be any getting on with my life. There will never be any closure." (source: Orange County Register) *********************** If convicted, Banda may face death penalty----Lawyer plans to file claim to declare Banda mentally retarded Tulare County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Jorge Banda if he's convicted of the December murder of Tulare County Sheriff's Department Detective Kent Haws. David Alavezos, a supervising deputy district attorney, announced the decision Thursday morning during Banda's arraignment on charges of murder and of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Moments earlier, Banda, 21, of Ivanhoe had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His Tulare County public defender, Neal Pedowitz, has not denied that Banda killed Haws. But Pedowitz claims his client has heard voices for years and lacks the mental facility to remember what happened on Road 156 the afternoon of Haws' murder. Pedowitz argued during a competency hearing last month that Banda shouldn't be tried for the murder because he can't aid in his own defense. On Aug. 20, it took a jury less than two hours to rule him competent to stand trial. During Thursday's hearing at the Tulare County Courthouse in Visalia, Pedowitz told Superior Court Judge Darryl Ferguson that he would file a motion before the murder trial scheduled to begin Jan. 27 seeking to have his client declared mentally retarded. A hearing would be held without a jury, and Ferguson would make the ruling. The special allegation that the murder victim was a police officer makes Banda eligible for the death penalty. Also making him eligible: a claim by prosecutors that Banda killed Haws to further his standing in a Sureo street gang. District Attorney Phil Cline decided to seek the death penalty earlier this week after reviewing recommendations from six or seven of his senior attorneys. Pedowitz spoke to the group by phone in an effort to dissuade prosecutors, Assistant District Attorney Don Gallian said. Pedowitz said prosecutors gave him no indication what they might recommend but added he wasn't surprised by the decision. Banda, who is being held in jail without bail, showed no emotion as a Spanish interpreter whispered into his ear during the morning's proceedings. Witness testimony On Dec. 17, Haws was shot four times twice in the head on a rural road north of Ivanhoe after stopping to check on a man he had spotted walking alongside the road and then into an orange grove. Witnesses said that after Haws told the man to come out of the grove, he pulled out a gun and shot the deputy. Last month, during a preliminary hearing for Banda, Daniel Morales said he was driving by on Road 156 and saw Haws lying on the pavement. A man with a gun stood over him, the witness said. "He fired one last shot, and the officer stopped moving," Morales testified. Another witness, Emma Toscano of Ivanhoe, spoke with Haws moments before the shooting. She identified Banda as the gunman. Sheriff's officials have said they found Banda walking along 156 after the shooting. In his pocket was the gun believed to have been used in the killing, they said. Haws was a married father of 3. His wife, Frances, was at Thursday's hearing, but she declined to comment on the morning's events. Banda's sister also was there, but Pedowitz said the family would not discuss the case. Pedowitz told Ferguson that he would need at least half a year to prepare expert witnesses for the trial. The January trial date gives him 5 months. That trial could take four weeks, about half that time just for jury selection, Alavezos said. Pedowitz told the court he probably would seek to have Banda tried outside of Tulare County. In the past, he has said heavy news coverage of the case might affect Banda's ability to get a fair trial here. Ferguson said allowing a change of venue would depend on whether the first attempt to impanel a jury is successful. "With this kind of case," he said, "I think you're going to have the same kind of difficulty wherever you go." If Banda is found guilty, a penalty phase could take a week or two, Alavezos said. But even if Banda is sentenced to death or life in prison, Pedowitz said, the sentence might not stand. Because he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, a sanity hearing would occur after the penalty phase. Attorneys for both sides would argue whether Banda was sane at the time of the killing "whether he knew right or wrong, basically," Gallian said. If the jury rules that Banda wasn't sane, he could end up in a psychiatric facility rather than in prison or on death row. (source: Visalia Times-Delta) ALABAMA: A new study found another arbitrary element that seems to play a role in who gets executed in America: the inmate's level of education THE ISSUE: A new study found another arbitrary element that seems to play a role in who gets executed in America: The inmate's level of education. One of the chief problems with the death penalty is it is applied so randomly. Many more people are convicted of capital crimes than sentenced to death. Fewer still are executed. If the outcomes could be traced back to sound, legal reasons, that might be OK. But they're not. Past research has shown, for instance, that the race of the victim is a key factor in whether a defendant is sentenced to death. Even when adjusted to account for the scary particulars of the crime and the defendant, the victims' skin color played a role in which defendants were sent to death row. Now comes a new study that offers more evidence of arbitrary factors affecting who lives and who dies in our system of justice. Researchers at Texas A&M University designed an artificial intelligence computer system to try to predict who among those sentenced to Death Row would actually be put to death. The results were curious, and disturbing. The study used profiles from 2,000 Death Row inmates, including such information as race, gender, age, type of offense and criminal history. Gender was the biggest predictor of who would be put to death; women make up only a tiny fraction of Death Row and are seldom executed. Otherwise, the chief factor was how many years defendants had spent in high school. Granted, the data don't include some pretty relevant information, like whether the defendants had good legal representation at their trials or DNA testing of evidence. But the frightening fact remains, the computer can predict who on death row will be executed - with more than 90 % accuracy - based on facts so arbitrary as the defendant's level of education. Those who are inclined can try to come up with theories about why Death Row inmates with less education would be more likely to be executed. But it's hard to imagine hitting on a theory that would attest to our justice system's fundamental fairness. Professors Stamos Karamouzis and Dee Wood Harper, who conducted the Texas A&M study, certainly didn't think so. "The results pose a serious challenge to the fairness of the administration of the death penalty," they wrote. Life and death decisions in our court system should at the very least be based on relevant facts, such as the horror of a particular crime and the guilt of a particular defendant. Instead, they seem to boil down to such irrelevancies as race, wealth, gender and, yes, education. That's just wrong. You can call it whatever you want. But it's not justice. (source: Birmingham News) NORTH CAROLINA: Death penalty sought in Swain murders Prosecutors in October will present their case for seeking the death penalty against suspects in the August double murders in Swain County. The hearing, which could provide new details about the slayings of James David Scott Wiggins, 33, and Michael Heath Compton, 34, will be Oct. 3. Prosecutors in North Carolina must prove at least one of 11 aggravating factors for a death sentence. Those can include multiple victims, a prior conviction for a violent felony or that the defendant was responsible for an "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel" crime. Wiggins and Compton were shot to death on Aug. 8 in the home they shared on John Henderson Drive. 6 people have been charged in the killings. source: Ashville Citizen-Times)
[Deathpenalty] [POSSIBLE SPAM] death penalty news----LA., MASS., CALIF., ALA., N.C.
Rick Halperin Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:44:12 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
