Aug. 18
TEXAS:
Grand jury indicts man in death of baby girl
A 22-year-old Shamrock man was indicted Wednesday in the death of his baby
daughter.
Justin Wayne Womack was indicted by a Wheeler County grand jury on a
charge of capital murder.
He is accused of shaking 7-month-old Crystal Nicole Womack to death.
Womack was arrested in April shortly after Crystal died, and remains at
the Wheeler County Jail on a $250,000 bond.
According to the 31st District Attorney's Office, a decision has not been
made on whether to seek the death penalty.
2 other children were placed in foster care by the Texas Department of
Family and Protective Services when Womack was arrested.
Greg Cunningham, spokesman for the department, said the children still are
in protective care.
"We tend to be very careful in these circumstances about ensuring that
environment (they are returning to) is going to be safe for those kids,"
he said.
Cunningham said the investigation confirmed abuse by Womack, but did not
find any abuse on behalf of Crystal's mother, Heather Thomas.
No trial date has been set for Womack.
(source: The Amarillo Globe-News)
MISSOURI:
Appeals court lifts stay on executions
Condemned inmate Michael Taylor could soon face an execution date - even
as he plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case on the
constitutionality of Missouri's lethal injection method.
A ruling yesterday by a federal appeals court in St. Louis effectively
cleared the way for the Missouri Supreme Court to set execution dates for
Taylor and 9 other condemned inmates sought by Attorney General Jay Nixon.
The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' action effectively lifted a
federal district judge's stay on all Missouri executions that has been in
place since June 2006.
What is now in effect is a 3-judge appeals court panel decision in June
that said Missouri's execution procedure is not cruel and unusual
punishment. The full appeals court on Aug. 7 refused to take up Taylor's
case.
Taylor's attorney, Ginger Anders, said she will ask the U.S. Supreme Court
to review the appeals court's decision. But she acknowledged the Missouri
Supreme Court can act whenever it wants to set an execution date for her
client. The U.S. Supreme Court won't reconvene until the fall, but it
could consider an expedited review.
"We're looking at options," Anders said.
In June, Nixon asked the state Supreme Court to set execution dates for
Taylor and 9 other condemned inmates - more than 1/5 of the 44 inmates on
death row in the state.
That request still stands, Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said yesterday.
"We are prepared to defend against any additional attempts by Mr. Taylor
to stave off his sentence," Holste said.
Missouri Supreme Court spokeswoman Beth Riggert said she couldn't predict
how or when the judges might rule on Nixon's request to set execution
dates.
The Missouri Department of Corrections confirmed it doesn't have an
execution team in place yet.
Last year, the federal judge who imposed the execution moratorium, U.S.
District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr., said he wanted to be sure that the
3-drug injection method did not cause risk of pain and suffering.
Gaitan wanted the state to involve a doctor specializing in anesthesia,
but the state has been unable to find such a doctor willing to participate
in the executions.
The 3-judge panel on June 4 reversed Gaitan's ruling, saying the state's
execution protocol "is designed to ensure a quick, indeed a painless,
death," eliminating the need "for the continuing careful, watchful eye of
an anesthesiologist or one trained in anesthesiology."
Missouri hasn't executed an inmate since convicted killer Marlin Gray was
put to death in October 2005.
The debate centers on the administration of three drugs to accomplish the
execution. The argument is that if the initial anesthetic does not take
hold, a third drug that stops the heart can be excruciatingly painful. But
the inmate would not be able to communicate the pain because of a 2nd drug
that paralyzes him.
Missouri is among at least nine states that have put executions on hold as
they grapple with whether lethal injection is inhumane.
Taylor, convicted of killing 15-year-old Ann Harrison in 1989 in Kansas
City after kidnapping her from a school bus stop, was hours away from
being executed in February 2006 when the procedure was halted.
The appeals court yesterday also upheld the conviction and death sentence
of methamphetamine dealer John Middleton, who killed a meth dealer in 1995
in Harrison County.
He also faces the death penalty for killing 2 people in Mercer County.
(source: Associated Press)
US MILITARY:
Acquitted Soldier Faces Court-Martial
A Soldier acquitted of a triple slaying in civilian court 18 years ago
will face a court-martial for the same crimes, an Army general ordered
Friday.
The Army will try Master Sgt. Timothy Hennis on three counts of
premeditated murder in the May 1985 deaths of Kathryn Eastburn, 31, and 2
of her daughters - Kara Sue, 5, and Erin Nicole, 3.
"We're prepared to roll up our sleeves and work tirelessly to vindicate
the name and reputation of Timothy Hennis," said Hennis' attorney, Frank
Spinner.
Hennis was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1986, but the
state Supreme Court awarded him a new trial after finding his 1st trial
was run unfairly and with weak evidence. A second jury acquitted Hennis in
1989.
Hennis retired from the military in 2004, but was recalled to active duty
last year after a detective reviewing the case uncovered DNA evidence that
couldn't be tested using technology available in the mid-1980s.
State officials couldn't charge Hennis again, so the new evidence was
given to the Army, which then recalled Hennis and began an investigation
into the deaths. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
Jennifer Leyn, a special agent with the state Bureau of Investigation,
testified at a May hearing that the DNA sample she tested from a rape kit
was degraded but provided clear matches for Hennis and Kathryn Eastburn.
Spinner, however, questioned whether the DNA evidence was reliable because
of the sample's age and a broken chain of custody.
In ordering the court-martial, 18th Airborne Corps commander Lt. Gen.
Lloyd Austin dismissed a rape charge. In 1985, the military had a 3-year
statute of limitations on rape charges. The limit was changed in 1986, but
not made retroactive.
Hennis was first arrested shortly after Eastburn was found stabbed to
death in her home near Fort Bragg. Hennis had adopted the family's dog
several days before the murders.
Eastburn's husband, Air Force Capt. Gary Eastburn, was in Alabama at
squadron officers training school at the time. The couple's 3rd child,
22-month-old Jana Eastburn, was found unharmed in her crib.
(source: Associated Press)
*****************
Timothy Hennis gets his wish
Timothy Hennis' words of more than 18 years ago have come back to haunt
him.
"They should reopen the investigation," Hennis told Lorry Williams.
Williams, now an editor at the Observer, covered the trial in 1989 in
which Hennis was acquitted. "They should be hunting for the person who did
it," Hennis said.
Well, investigators are.
The Army master sergeant and former parachute rigger recently faced an
Article 32 hearing on Fort Bragg, where an official listened to evidence
to decide whether Hennis should be tried a third time for the crimes.
Hennis now is 49. He remains the only suspect in the May 9, 1985, murders
of Kathryn Eastburn, 31, and two of her three daughters - 5-year-old Kara
Sue and 3-year-old Erin Nicole - in their Summer Hill Road home. A
22-month-old was found alive in her crib.
Allow me to take you back again to Hennis' words from 1989.
"They should reopen the investigation. They should be hunting for the
person who did it."
Well, they are. They apparently didn't stop after 1989.
Robert Bittle, an investigator with the Cumberland County District
Attorney's Office, testified at the military hearing that DNA evidence
found on Mrs. Eastburn's body is that of Hennis. The evidence was turned
over to military authorities a year ago for possible federal prosecution.
Hennis cannot be tried again by the state for the crimes.
On Friday, the commander of Fort Bragg decided that Hennis should face a
court-martial. He could be sentenced to death.
May 12, 1985
The Summer Hill Road home was a gruesome sight 22 years ago.
Several newspapers on the lawn drew a neighbor's attention.
Kathryn Eastburn's automobile had not been moved in 3 days.
A crying baby alerted an inquisitive neighbor that something was amiss,
and when he called a sheriff's deputy to investigate, these tragic murders
were revealed.
The baby, Jana, was the youngest child born to Gary and Kathryn Eastburn.
Detective Sgt. William Toman Jr. testified in the first trial that he went
inside and saw the child standing in her crib crying, her diapers
unchanged.
He cradled her in his arms and handed her to the neighbor and his wife,
both standing outside the home.
Toman went back in.
He discovered Kathryn Eastburn's nearly nude body near her bed in the
master bedroom. Her face was partly covered with a pillow. He found the
body of a child on the other side of the bed, both stabbed to death.
Toman backpedaled out of the home.
He radioed for help.
He went back into the home, where he discovered the body of a second child
in another bed.
'I did not'
This tragic story began when Hennis inquired about a dog that Kathryn
Eastburn had wanted to give away because she and her husband were being
transferred overseas. Capt. Eastburn was in Alabama on special military
training.
Hennis, according to testimony, responded on May 7, 1986, to her newspaper
advertisement.
Hennis testified in 1989 that Mrs. Eastburn invited him inside the home
and explained that the children were in bed because she didn't want them
awake when Hennis took the family pet.
Hennis always has maintained his innocence.
The 1st jury didn't believe him.
He was convicted and spent more than 800 days on death row before winning
a 2nd trial because a court said prosecutors inflamed the jury with lurid
crime-scene photos.
Prosecutors were just as adamant at the second trial. "You went to the
Eastburn residence and tried to come on to Mrs. Eastburn?" John Dickson, a
prosecutor, asked Hennis.
"No sir," Hennis testified. "I did not."
"You killed her and 2 of her children?" Dickson countered.
"No sir," Hennis said. "I did not."
The jury believed him.
He was acquitted.
Hennis wept with one of his lawyers, Billy Richardson, when the verdicts
were read and later fell into the arms of his relieved father.
Haunting words
I don't know who killed Kathryn Eastburn.
I don't know who killed Kara Sue Eastburn or her sister.
I wasn't there.
All I know is that they are dead.
I do know this.
I know that Timothy Hennis' words have come back to haunt him.
"They should reopen the investigation. They should be hunting for the
person who did it."
Investigators are.
They still are after Timothy Hennis.
(source: The Fayetteville Observer)
TENNESSEE:
Speeding appeals will increase death errors
Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is again making headlines.
Because of a little-known provision in the Patriot Act reauthorized by
Congress last year, the Justice Department is currently preparing
regulations giving Gonzales new power to shorten the time death-row
inmates have to make appeals in federal court, an authority previously
held by federal judges.
But when it comes to the death penalty, our job is not to speed things up,
but to get things right. Since 1976, at least 124 people have been
sentenced to death, only later to be released from prison after evidence
emerged of their innocence. These 124 individuals spent an average of
eight years on death row. If we speed up the appellate process, how many
innocent people will we execute before they are able to prove their
innocence?
Paul House has spent 22 years on Tennessee's death row for a crime which
evidence increasingly shows he did not commit. In 1986, House was
convicted for the rape and murder of Carolyn Muncey. 15 years later, DNA
testing determined that Paul House did not rape Carolyn Muncey, the
state's whole motive for the crime. More evidence, including the
confession of Muncey's abusive husband to two people, points to House's
innocence. The U.S. Supreme Court stated in June 2006 that, given the new
evidence in the House case, "no reasonable juror would lack a reasonable
doubt."
Today, House sits on Tennessee's death row, waiting for a court to decide
his fate. Though the federal appeals process can be lengthy, if the
procedure was streamlined, House's claims of innocence would have never
been heard by a court, and he may well have already been executed.
Gonzales' record is poor
Gonzales' move to shorten the appeals process usurps the power of federal
judges to make decisions about the fairness and accuracy of death-penalty
cases. Instead, such power would be placed into the hands of one person
who, in this case, has an abysmal record on the death penalty.
According to a 2003 article by Alan Berlow in The Atlantic, as legal
counsel to then-Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, Gonzales prepared 57
death-penalty case summaries for Bush's review prior to executions,
routinely leaving out the most salient issues of the cases, such as
ineffective counsel, conflict of interest and, frighteningly, evidence of
actual innocence. As attorney general, Gonzales has faced criticism for
aggressively seeking the death penalty in states that have elected not to
have capital punishment and in jurisdictions where U.S. attorneys
themselves advised against it.
Federal courts already are overburdened with cases. The proposed
regulations would make them more so. This is of particular concern to
Tennessee, whose death-penalty system has been found to be sorely lacking,
fully complying with only seven of the 93 American Bar Association
policies concerning the fair and accurate administration of the death
penalty.
Lives are at stake. It's not time to speed things up. It's time to get
things right.
******************
Change would turn capital cases into reckless affairs----Today's Topic:
Death appeals may go on fast track
If the Justice Department gets its way, U.S. Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales would get expanded power over death-penalty cases, including the
authority to shorten the time condemned inmates have to appeal convictions
to federal courts.
Amendments to last year's reauthorization of the Patriot Act took
decision-making away from federal courts and gave it to Gonzales, saying
in effect that, instead of asking a federal court to decide the time that
a death-row inmate has to appeal after conviction in state court, we're
going to let Gonzales decide. These "fast-track'' procedures are simply
terrible ideas and should not be implemented.
"The death penalty is the 'ultimate' punishment,'' said Nashville attorney
Bradley A. MacLean, who works with the Tennessee Justice Project, a
nonprofit group that works to educate about problems and possible
solutions in the criminal justice system. "It is unique. And,
consequently, until recently we have interpreted our Constitution to
require a heightened degree of reliability and due process in our
death-penalty system.
"The Patriot Act provisions and Attorney General Gonzales' regulations
would change all of that. ... This would mean that capital defendants will
have less access to the courts than other defendants. It would mean that
we are using fewer procedural protections in death-penalty cases than in
other criminal cases. It would mean that our judicial system would place
less importance on fairness and reliability in death-penalty cases than in
other criminal cases.''
There are many arguments against it. For example, "fast track," when it
was first proposed in the late 1980s, was designed as a reward to the
various states that set up effective counseling in post-conviction work.
Over the past 10 years, when states went to federal courts to request the
benefit of these accelerated proceedings and showed the courts what they
were doing post-conviction, they were told in almost every case that their
system wasn't good enough.
There's also concern about whether Gonzales is the right person to be in
charge of such expanded powers. As the nation's chief prosecutor, could he
really be unbiased and an objective decision maker when such an important
decision came to him?
And then we have to ask whether our state counsel system has gotten any
better over the past few years. Many of them still have a lot of problems,
including Tennessee's. Earlier this year, a report was released showing
that Tennessee's indigent defense system is in dire need of reform. The
report disclosed a wide disparity between the financial resources
available to those who defend the innocent vs. those who prosecute them.
Many of those who receive the death penalty happen to be among this group.
The real issue here is counsel. Under the proposal, if a state requested
it and Gonzales agreed, prosecutors could cut years off the time an inmate
has to appeal to federal courts after conviction in state court. If a
state's counsel system is inadequate, putting things in fast-forward
creates more problems.
Will we be able to protect people who are innocent because everything
would be moving so quickly? Will we be able to find the evidence that may
prove someone has been wrongfully convicted?
All citizens need to be seriously concerned about how our government is
eliminating the protections of our Constitution. If you, as this newspaper
does, feel strongly that this proposal by the Justice Department shouldn't
go forward, you should let your representatives in Congress know how you
feel by Sept. 23, the deadline set by the Justice Department for public
comment.
(source for both: Opinion, Robertson County Times)
USA:
Should the U.S. Justice Department 'fast-track' death-penalty appeals?
Congress should not allow Alberto Gonzales to ride roughshod over the U.S.
district attorneys as he has done in the past.
Some of the fired attorneys have said he pressured them to go for the
death penalty when they disagreed with his view. Now, he wants to play an
even bigger role in the appeals of death-penalty cases ("Rules could
shorten for death penalty appeals," Aug. 14).
His work for then-Gov. Bush in Texas should gain him the title "Hangman of
Texas" for his advice on death-penalty matters. With all his problems
before congressional committees and his flirting with perjury, obstruction
of justice and executive privilege abuses, he has no shame at all, and it
will be up to Congress to undo the improper policies he is attempting.
Rove is gone; now, why won't Gonzales do the right thing?
David Grubbs----Murfreesboro 37128
--
Anything within the legal system to fast-track the trip to the lethal
injection room would be a positive thing for our country.
The advent of DNA technology virtually removes any doubt with regard to
innocence. Odds of 1 in 3 trillion are pretty conclusive. Appeals to
infinity make a mockery of the justice system. Why can a convicted
murderer who has been sentenced to death be allowed to appeal through the
state system, and then start all over through the federal system?
There are several hundred convicts on death row in California. When will
justice be served? When will it be served in Tennessee? Three in the last
7 years is a snail's pace.
Allow the U.S. attorney general rather than the federal courts to decide
if adequate counsel is being provided.
Let's start a procession of ambulances hauling the bodies away from our
prisons. A good place to start would be with Paul Dennis Reid in
Tennessee.
Steve Moore----Cookeville 38501
--
The U.S. Justice Department should have nothing to do with death-penalty
appeals unless they are the prosecutors. However, on the whole,
death-penalty appeals should be fast-tracked, as should the entire trial
process.
The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to a speedy trial. Our current
system, where it can take up to two years for someone to come to trial,
does a disservice to both criminal and the victim.
On the other hand, the death penalty is so unfairly applied, it should be
eliminated completely. This would not only eliminate the need for
death-penalty appeals, it would bring us more in line with the rest of the
civilized world.
Knowledge is the foundation upon which imagination builds castles.
A.L. Hubbard----Madison 37115
--
The U.S. Justice Department should slow-track death penalty appeals.
Unlike other civil and criminal judgments, society cannot undo the death
of someone. Once done, there is no reversal of someone's death, except
through divine intervention, if you choose to believe in that.
In analyzing issues, I'm likely to start by asking "what's the purpose?"
In this case, it appears to be more trampling of the rights that we're so
proud of that we want to impose them in such places as Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Under the proposed rules, if a state requested it and the U.S. attorney
general agreed, prosecutors could use fast-track procedures. Where are the
offender's rights in this scenario? Where are the crime victims' rights in
this scenario?
I don't like 2 foxes with a vested interest in perpetuating the death
penalty guarding the henhouse of death-penalty appeals. Surely, we can do
better. Perhaps a dedicated death-penalty circuit in our appeals system?
Perhaps the whole court hearing all matters instead of a 3-judge panel,
which adds another layer of action? Perhaps abolishment of the death
penalty?
Todd M. Liebergen----Madison 37115
(source: Letters to the Editor, The Tennessean)
ARKANSAS:
Death Row Inmate Makes Plea For Freedom Before Board
A death row inmate who is to be executed Sept. 18 asked the state parole
board to block his execution Friday morning during an executive clemency
hearing.
Lawyers for Terrick Nooner say that new analysis of that videotape of the
slaying and new evidence that Nooner has mental illness should warrant
postponement of the execution.
An expert hired by the defense says the killer on the videotape was 5'-6,"
not 5'-9," as is Nooner. Public defender Julie Brain says Nooner's former
co-defendant in the killing, Robert Rocket, is 5'-6", and he has already
confessed in writing to the crime. Rocket is serving a life sentence.
Nooner appeared before the board shackled and handcuffed with guards
standing by. Nooner told the board that he did not kill Scot Stobaugh, 22.
He said he didn't remember whether he was with Rocket the night of the
killing.
Nooner told the board that he has been attacked in prison and fears for
his safety because nothing has been done about it. He added that he
dropped his appeals because of this.
Board chairman LeRoy Brownlee says they should have a decision later
today. Stobaugh's family has the opportunity to go before the board at 2
p.m.
Alyson Courtney is following this story and will have the latest today on
Today's THV and todaysthv.com.
Stobaugh attended the university in Little Rock and was doing laundry when
he was shot and killed in 1993.
(sources: THV & The Associated Press)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, MO., US MIL., TENN., USA, ARK.
Rick Halperin Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:13:13 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
