[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----PENN., FLA.

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 12



PENNSYLVANIA:

Fayette man to face death penalty in retrial


A Fayette County judge ruled this week that a man scheduled to be retried
on a 24-year-old double homicide will face the death penalty, despite his
attorneys' claims in a suppression hearing that prosecutors waited too
long to seek the punishment.

Statements made by Joseph George Nara to a state trooper will be
permissible, as will statements made by Nara's then-3-year-old daughter at
the scene of the shootings, Judge Steve Leskinen ruled.

Nara, 56, was sentenced in 1984 to life in prison after pleading guilty to
the shooting deaths of his common-law wife, DeLorean Churby, 23, and
mother-in-law, Virginia Ruth Churby, 61, at a mobile home in Georges.

In May 2007, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's
finding that Nara's federal due process rights were violated because he
was mentally incompetent when he entered the pleas.

Nara, an auto body worker with a 7th-grade education, is scheduled to be
tried again in October.

Prosecutors last year gave notice of intent to seek the death penalty.

Defense attorneys Sam Davis and Mark Mehalov last week asked Leskinen to
suppress some witnesses' statements.

Leskinen said the statement of Nara's daughter to George Kuzilla Jr., a
former trooper at Uniontown and a first responder to the scene Jan. 28,
1984, that "Daddy did this" is allowable in court. It was reasonable to
conclude, Leskinen wrote, that the girl had personal knowledge of the
event, and she would have heard the events even if she did not see them.

The time between the shootings and her statement was very short, and there
would have been no one there to make any suggestion or to assist her in
contriving anything other than a spontaneous response, Leskinen wrote.

A similar statement allegedly made by the child the same evening to her
aunt, Jacquelyn Churby, occurred in an undefined time frame with too many
possibilities of suggestion between the shootings and her statement, and
was ruled inadmissible.

Leskinen addressed the prosecution's request to admit testimony from a
paralegal who said he delivered a Protection From Abuse document in the
name of DeLorean Churby, dated Jan. 26, 1984, to Nara's father and spoke
with Nara on the phone.

Although somewhat relevant in supporting a motive for the killing of
DeLorean Churby, Leskinen expressed concern that the "Protection From
Abuse" phrase was "strongly prejudicial," and based on an allegation, with
no hearing or judicial finding of support. He ruled that any testimony
will be limited to notice of a hearing in a "domestic relations case," and
that DeLorean Churby was the plaintiff and Nara was the defendant.

The court will permit statements Nara allegedly made to now-retired
Trooper Leonard Maharowski. Maharowski testified Nara was a confidential
informant for him and called him at the police barracks several times
after the shootings.

During one conversation, Maharowski stated, Nara told him, "This is Joe. I
shot Dee, and I shot her mother."

"It is clear that the defendant was under emotional stress at the time he
made the admissions, and it is clear that he viewed Maharowski as a
friend," Leskinen wrote.

"On the other hand, Nara was not in custody, and he initiated the phone
calls himself," the opinion read. "He had enough presence of mind to
comment, accurately, that the police were attempting to trace the calls.
He terminated the calls on his own, and refused to disclose the location
he was calling from."

Those statements, therefore, were made voluntarily, Leskinen ruled.

In denying the request to quash the death penalty, Leskinen said the
defense did not present all available mitigation evidence to the court,
including Nara's mental state at the time of the killings and potential
testimony from his two children, "who see some good in him and do not wish
to see him executed."

(source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

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Series Focuses on "The Morality of the Death Penalty"


Penn State York's "Today's Ethical Issues free lecture/discussion series
focusing on the critical ethical issues of today us is under way in York.
The program takes place in five locations in York County, with 4 to 6
sessions at each location. A complete listing of times and locations can
be found at the end of the story. All sessions are open to the public.

Leonard J. Berkowitz, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy at Penn
State York and an award-winning instructor, continues his highly
successful lecture and discussion series focusing on current ethical
issues. Each year "Today's Ethical Issues" focuses on 1 major ethical
issue. Last years issue was war and morality. The focus for this year is
the morality of the death penalty.

A faculty member at Penn State York since 1972, Berkowitz earned a
bachelor's degree in psychology from Duke University and a masters and
doctorate in philosophy from the Johns Hopkins University. He teaches
courses in philosophy at the campus, including critical thinking, symbolic
logic, ethics and social issues, and medical and health care ethics.

The 1st 4 sessions at each location will focus on the death penalty, the
first on legal issues and the others on the morality of the death penalty.
All the major arguments for and against capital punishment will be
discussed, including whether murderers deserve to die and whether the
death penalty is an especially effective deterrent that helps prevent
murders. There will be time for full analysis and discussion of all the
major issues.

In the final 2 sessions, "Today's Ethical Issues" will cover other
important ethical issues. The additional topics for this year remain to be
decided but may include our moral obligation to address world hunger,
animal rights, or homosexuality and gay marriage.

(source: Penn State York)






FLORIDA:

Death Penalty Trial Has Jury


A jury was selected Thursday for the death penalty trial of Reggie
Williams.

He is accused of fatally shooting Thomas Grammer, 36, during a May 7,
2004, robbery at Grammer's Lenox Street apartment in Lakeland.

Opening statements are expected to begin Monday. Williams, 35, of
Lakeland, faces charges of armed burglary, armed robbery and 1st-degree
murder.

Jason Seawright, 31, faces similar charges in the Grammer slaying and has
not yet gone to trial.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Williams, who has
previously been convicted of murder.

In 2006, a jury found Williams guilty in the 2005 fatal shooting of
Terrence Underwood, 32, of Lakeland. Underwood had gone to visit his
ex-girlfriend, a woman Williams was dating, and Williams shot Underwood to
death as he sat in his truck outside her Morgan Avenue home.

Williams was sentenced to life in prison.

(source: The Lakeland Ledger)