[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MD., CALIF., KY.

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 23



MARYLAND:

O'Malley Taking His Time on Death Penalty----New Regulations That Would
Let Executions Go Forward Aren't Likely Soon


Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday that his administration is not likely
to issue regulations allowing executions to resume in Maryland until after
the General Assembly reconvenes next year and has another opportunity to
repeal the death penalty.

"That's what I'm inclined to do right now," O'Malley (D) told reporters,
saying he sensed "a lot of fluidity in the debate."

His comments echoed those in a June interview with The Washington Post, in
which O'Malley, a death penalty opponent, said his administration was
weighing whether it "should . . . promulgate regulations for a law that
may be on its way out."

Maryland has had a de facto moratorium on executions since December, when
the Court of Appeals ruled that the state's lethal injection procedures
had not been properly adopted. Executions could resume, the court said,
after the administration issued new regulations.

O'Malley took the unusual step during the last legislative session of
testifying in favor of a bill to replace the death penalty with life
without parole. That legislation failed by a single vote in a Senate
committee in March, ending its chances for the year.

O'Malley has since taken flak from some lawmakers and prosecutors for
effectively blocking executions when six inmates are on Maryland's death
row.

"I think it's a mistake," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr.
(D-Calvert). "The current law is people who commit heinous crimes can be
subject to the death penalty. This is a legal technicality. Criminals
should not be able to get off on a legal technicality."

House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell (R-Calvert) said that
O'Malley's "inaction is really a failure to carry out his oath of office.
That is very serious."

As an example of "fluidity" in the legislature, O'Malley cited his
forthcoming appointment to the Senate of Nancy J. King, currently a
Democratic delegate from Montgomery County, to fill a seat vacated by
former senator P.J. Hogan (D-Montgomery).

O'Malley said King is more likely to support the repeal of the death
penalty than Hogan. King confirmed yesterday that she is inclined to
support a repeal, saying: "I think there have been so many questions about
whether people are guilty or not that I don't want to take that chance."

But King's vote would be relevant only if a repeal bill reaches the Senate
floor.

Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery), chairman of the Judicial Proceedings
Committee, said that he doesn't believe the votes have changed on his
panel.

"I hope that somebody will change his or her mind, but I know the people
of Judicial Proceedings pretty well, and I think they're all pretty fixed
in their views," said Frosh, who opposes capital punishment.

Frosh said he would have no problem if O'Malley declines to issue
regulations for the remainder of his 4-year term.

"For those people who are opponents of the death penalty, they have a de
facto victory," said Sen. David R. Brinkley (R-Frederick). "I would
suspect he could slide by on this for the whole term."

(source: Washington Post)






CALIFORNIA:

Death penalty to be sought in Murrieta teen's slaying


San Diego County prosecutors will seek the death penalty for two men
charged with gunning down a Murrieta teenager and a San Diego-area
7-Eleven clerk, authorities said Wednesday.

Defendants Franco Bernal, 20, of El Cajon, and Samuel Thomas McCauley Jr.,
23, of La Mesa, will face the death penalty if convicted of murder,
attempted murder and other charges in connection with the November deaths
of Murrieta teenager Daunte Mercado-Bates and clerk Pedro Vargas
Hernandez.

"The cold-blooded nature" of the crimes was a factor in the decision to
seek the death penalty, prosecutor James Romo said by phone Wednesday.

The defendants shot the victims to enhance their own reputations and those
of their gang, San Diego County sheriff's Detective Jerry Hartman has
said.

Both men have pleaded not guilty.

Bernal's attorney George Osper said the trial could begin in fall 2008.

McCauley's attorney could not be reached for comment.

On Nov. 24, the 18-year-old Murrieta man was shot once in the heart while
walking along Whitewood Road, according to Murrieta police. A driver
spotted his body about 6:30 a.m., authorities said.

The same day, McCauley attended a party and reportedly bragged about the
Murrieta shooting, witnesses have testified. During a May hearing, Krysta
Martin testified that Bernal laughed as McCauley talked about the
shooting.

On Nov. 25, Andre Villaverde was shot while buying coffee at a Lemon Grove
7-Eleven convenience store. Villaverde testified in May that a gunman, who
he identified as Bernal, shot him and then Hernandez. Villaverde ran out
of the store and saw a man he identified as McCauley standing behind an
open car door, he testified.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department analyzed bullets used in both
shootings and determined they were an exact match, according to a
search-warrant affidavit filed in Riverside County Superior Court.

Riverside County prosecutors agreed several months ago to let San Diego
County prosecute the Murrieta slaying case.

Both defendants are expected in an El Cajon court on Oct. 23.

(source: The Press-Enterprise)






KENTUCKY:

Kentucky high court upholds death sentence


The state Supreme Court today unanimously upheld the death sentence of a
convicted murderer who wants to be executed.

Marco Allen Chapman filed an affidavit with the high court in May, saying
he wants to be put to death for the murders of 2 children and an attack on
2 other people in Northern Kentucky in 2002. Chapman pleaded guilty to the
attacks in 2004.

Chief Justice Joseph Lambert said Chapman's stance played no part in his
decision to uphold the death sentence.

The wishes of a defendant, whether motivated by sincere remorse, desire to
escape life imprisonment or to assert control should play no part in a
death penalty determination, Lambert wrote in a concurring opinion.

Chapman, 35, admitted to killing 6-year-old Cody Sharon and 7-year-old
Chelbi Sharon, and attacking their mother, Carolyn Marksberry, and their
sister, Courtney Sharon. Chapman said he deserved to die for the Aug. 23,
2002, attack at Marksberrys home in Gallatin County.

The trial judge, Tony Frohlich, said at the time that he could find no
legal reason not to grant Chapmans request.

Chapman's court-appointed attorneys, Donna Boyce and Randall Wheeler,
argued before the Supreme Court that Frohlich shouldnt have gone along
with Chapmans request for a death sentence.

They also argued that Chapman's plea should be set aside and that he
should be treated for depression before a new plea hearing is held.

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

Fletcher signs death warrant amid debate


Gov. Ernie Fletcher signed a death warrant yesterday for an Eastern
Kentucky man convicted of murdering a sheriff and his deputy, generating
criticism from capital punishment opponents who questioned the timing.

Fletcher, who is in the midst of a re-election campaign, set a Sept. 25
execution date -- 6 weeks before the general election -- for Ralph Stevens
Baze.

Baze, condemned to death in 1993 for killing Powell County Sheriff Steve
Bennett and Deputy Arthur Briscoe, would be the 1st inmate executed in the
state since 1999. Critics said they were alarmed that Fletcher, Kentucky's
1st Republican governor in more than 30 years, set the execution so close
to the Nov. 6 election.

"I would question the motives and the timing," said state Rep. Jim Wayne,
a Louisville Democrat and an outspoken death penalty opponent. "The death
penalty is used by politicians all the time to secure their political
careers. The timing is in the middle of a gubernatorial election when the
governor is fighting for his political life."

Fletcher confirmed during a campaign stop in Pikeville that he had signed
the death warrant.

"It's a very clear-cut case," Fletcher said. "There's no question of
guilt.

The crime warrants capital punishment."

Attorney General Greg Stumbo, a Democrat, asked Fletcher last week to
schedule an execution for Baze. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Baze's
final appeal in July, clearing the way for Stumbo to make the request.

Stumbo had asked for a Sept. 18 execution date. Fletcher's chief legal
adviser, David Fleenor, said some members of the state Supreme Court had
planned to be out of the country at that time and wouldn't have been
available to deal with last-minute appeals. That's why the governor set
the date a week later.

Fleenor vehemently denied that politics entered into the selection of the
execution date.

"We are trying to be as unpolitical as we can on this," Fleenor said.
"There are factors outside our control that affect the timing of when we
set the execution date."

Fletcher spokeswoman Jodi Whitaker said the governor decided to sign the
warrant after reviewing the Baze file and receiving a full briefing from
Fleenor.

Fletcher's Democratic challenger, Steve Beshear, avoided the debate over
the Baze case.

"I support the death penalty for certain specific crimes, and I will sign
a death warrant under the appropriate circumstances," Beshear said in a
statement. "Because we're not privy to the specifics of this case, I have
no comment."

Patrick Delahanty, a Catholic priest and chairman of the Kentucky
Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said "there's no way to say for
sure" if Fletcher chose a death date on political grounds.

"People have so many doubts about the death penalty," Delahanty said.
"This isn't the best thing to do to win votes."

Anti-death penalty lobbyist Carl Wedekind of Louisville said the timing
raises questions in his mind.

"I wouldn't accuse the governor of doing it for politics," he said, "but a
rational being could sure come to that conclusion."

Anne Pruitt, co-founder of Kentuckians' Voice for Crime Victims in
Louisville, said she disagrees with death penalty opponents who contend
Fletcher is trying to improve his chances for re-election.

Pruitt said a jury sentenced Baze to death and appeals court judges have
upheld the sentence.

"He's carrying out the law," Pruitt said.

Baze was being sought on 5 warrants from Ohio when he shot Bennett and
Briscoe as they searched for him in Eastern Kentucky. Bennett was shot 3
times in the back, and Briscoe was shot twice in the back and once in the
head.

Baze's public defender, David Barron, filed a motion with the state
Supreme Court late yesterday asking for a stay of execution.

"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human
history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to
improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends
forth a tiny ripple of hope, and ...those ripples build a current which
can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." Robert
F. Kennedy, June 6, 1967, Cape Town, SA

(source for both:  Associated Press)