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

[Rick Halperin]

August 22




TEXAS----state's 400th execution

Texas Carries Out 400th Execution Wednesday


Convicted killer Johnny Ray Conner, 32, became the 400th condemned inmate
Texas has put to death since executions resumed in 1982, 10 years after
the US Supreme Court voided every state death penalty.

The total is by far the highest among states with the death penalty.

Conner received a lethal injection just after 6 p.m. Wednesday in the
Texas death chamber in Huntsville.

Earlier Wednesday the US Supreme Court refused to block the execution.

Conner was sentenced to die for the 1998 shooting death of Houston
convenience store clerk Kathyanna Nguyen.

She was murdered during a robbery.

A customer also was shot, but survived, and helped identify Conner.

The Shreveport, La. native, had a history of assaults and drug offenses,
including cocaine possession when he was 12.

The execution came just days after the European Union asked Gov. Rick
Perry to halt executions and declare a moratorium on capital punishment in
the state.

Perry didnt heed the request.

Perrys spokesman Robert Black said while Texas "respects our friends in
Europe" the state would decline the call for a moratorium.

A US Supreme Court ruling in 1972 voided every state death penalty in the
US because it was unfairly and arbitrarily applied.

States including Texas went back to the drawing board and drafted new
statutes that ensured consistent application of capital punishment.

The Texas Legislature passed a new law in 1973, and 4 years later Texas
adopted lethal injection as the states means of execution.

Texas resumed executing inmatesusing lethal injectionon Dec. 7, 1982, when
Charlie Brooks, 40, was executed for the murder of a mechanic who was
kidnapped from a car lot, placed in the trunk of a car, driven to a motel
room and then shot in the head.

Conner becomes the 21st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
Texas; there are 3 more executions set for this month and 5 more in
September in Texas.

Conner becomes the 161st condemned inmate to be put to death since Rick
Perry became Governor of Texas in 2001. The figure represents the most
executions carried out during the tenure of any single state governor in
American history.

Conner becomes the 35th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
the USA and the 1092nd overall since the nation resumed executions on
January 17, 1977.

(sources: KWTX News & Rick Halperin)






FLORIDA:

Couey says he expects to be sentenced to death


The man who kidnapped, raped and buried alive 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford
told a relative recently that he expects to be sentenced to death,
according to a recording of a jailhouse conversation obtained by the St.
Petersburg Times.

John Couey, 49, talked to his aunt, Virginia Kloetzer, on Aug. 3 about his
upcoming sentencing by Circuit Judge Richard Howard. Excerpts were posted
on the Times Web site Wednesday.

"We all know what he's going to do," Couey said.

"Well, me too," his aunt replied. "But you know God's in control of
everything."

"I don't worry about it because it's in his hands," he said. "I don't let
it bother me."

He said he decided he wants to be cremated "when they finally do my
execution."

At another point in the conversation, his aunt talked about the impact of
the case on the family, and Couey expressed regret.

"It was stupid of me," Couey said.

"I kick myself in the butt a hundred times a day," Couey said at another
point. "Stupidity. I just keep asking myself, why were you so stupid?"

A Miami jury convicted Couey of taking Jessica in February 2005 from her
bedroom to his nearby trailer, where he raped her and buried her alive.
Despite a massive search, the 3rd-grader's body was found about 3 weeks
after she disappeared in a grave in Couey's yard, about 150 yards from her
own home in Homosassa.

The same jury brushed aside pleas for mercy and a life sentence from
defense lawyers based on claims that Couey is mentally retarded and
suffers from chronic mental illness.

Jurors recommended a death sentence by a vote of 10-2, but the final
decision belongs to Howard, who will sentence him Friday.

(source: Associated Press)

**********************

Florida Supreme Court lets defense inspect death chamber----Lawyers for a
death row inmate are allowed a behind-the-scenes look at a mock execution,
the Florida Supreme Court ordered on Monday.

The court rejected Attorney General Bill McCollum's attempt to thwart a
ruling by an Ocala judge granting the walk-through and inspection of the
execution chamber by lawyers for convicted killer Ian Daco Lightbourne.

In a brief order, the Supreme Court ruled that Lightbourne's lawyers
should be allowed to accompany corrections officials as they perform a
practice execution, which occurs at least every other week, according to
Department of Corrections records.

Corrections officials testified earlier this month that the mock
executions are held weekly when a death warrant has been signed, as is
currently the case.

Gov. Charlie Crist ordered a Nov. 15 execution for convicted pedophile and
murderer Mark Schwab, the first since predecessor Jeb Bush halted
executions in the aftermath of the botched execution of Angel Diaz.

Diaz required a 2nd dose of Florida's lethal drug cocktail and took more
than 30 minutes to die.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Nunnelley argued that Ocala Judge
Carven Angel overstepped his authority by ordering the executive branch to
allow the walk-through and that the exercise would expose the identities
of the execution team, who by law are kept secret.

Angel temporarily stopped the unscheduled execution of Lightbourne
because, he ruled, the state's execution procedures, revised since Diaz's
prolonged death, are still inadequate.

Lightbourne's attorneys are challenging whether Florida's lethal injection
is unconstitutional.

The Lightbourne trial resumes next week, raising questions about when and
if the granted walkthrough will actually take place, said Neal Dupree, one
of Lightbourne's attorneys.

The mock executions take place on Wednesdays, but the convict's lawyers
were not invited to participate in today's scheduled exercise, and would
be unable to do so next week because of the trial.

The Supreme Court also ruled that Lightbourne's attorneys can only attend
a walk-through if one is scheduled by Sept. 10.

(source: Palm Beach Post)