Oct. 1 IOWA: Bring death penalty back to Iowa law Again another shooting and killing in Des Moines. A woman shot to death, allegedly by another woman. A few days earlier, we had a woman shot and killed while driving in her car. About a month earlier, we had two women killed, allegedly by a boyfriend. One of those women stopped to help, and she was shot. When will the people of Iowa get mad enough to demand the return of the death penalty? Are we going to stand by and feed, clothe and shelter these heartless murderers for life, while the victims' families are separated from their loved ones because of these savage killings? Iowans are sensible and fair-minded. It's time to return the death penalty to Iowa. - Jerry DeGan, Des Moines (source: Letter to the Editor, Des Moines Register) MARYLAND: Spying may have started earlier than police said A Maryland State Police agent may have used an undercover alias to infiltrate a leftist Mount Vernon cooperative in January 2005 - 2 months before police say their secret monitoring of death-penalty activists began - according to documents released yesterday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland. Red Emma's, a cooperatively run bookstore and coffee shop, is one of 32 organizations that filed records requests yesterday with state and local law enforcement agencies, wanting to know if they have been under surveillance. The requests were coordinated by the ACLU of Maryland as part of its broadening investigation into spying activity by state police. Police officials have acknowledged surveillance of death penalty activists in 2005 and 2006, saying the efforts were legal. They said they have cooperated with a separate review panel commissioned by Gov. Martin O'Malley after revelations of the spying this summer sparked concern in Annapolis and Washington. A report on the official probe, led by former Attorney General Stephen H. Sachs, is scheduled to be released today. But David Rocah, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Maryland, says new records indicating police may have spied on Red Emma's in January 2005 belie statements made by Col. Terrence B. Sheridan, state police superintendent, that his agency's surveillance activity began in March of that year and ended 14 months later. Police spokesman Gregory Shipley said he was unaware of any police interest in Red Emma's, a bohemian redoubt offering radical literature and vegan food. Shipley said that the agency would comply with the ACLU's public records requests to the extent required by the law. Rocah said the suspected Red Emma's infiltration was discovered because state officials failed to redact, in documents made public this year, the alias used by a police agent while she spied in 2005 on the Committee to Save Vernon Evans, a death row inmate. "They were just incompetent," Rocah said. "They meant to redact it, and they goofed." In the police document, an agent using the name "Lucy Shoup" is described as having covertly attended a meeting at the American Friends Service Hall in North Baltimore. A member of the Red Emma's cooperative who scoured the released police documents checked that name against an e-mail list maintained by the cooperative and surmised that "Lucy Shoup" could be the same person as an "Ann Shoup" on the list, said Mike McGuire, another Red Emma's member. What Red Emma's found: On Jan. 4, 2005, "Ann Shoup" sent a message to the cooperative expressing interest in an upcoming lecture by Bernardine Dohrn, a juvenile justice activist, ex-fugitive and former member of the Weather Underground, the violent, late 1960s radical group. "Hi! I would love to come to the event on Feb 6th," wrote "Ann." Seven months later, "Ann" wrote back to Red Emma's, asking that her e-mail be switched from ann_378 at hotmail.com to shoupy_shoup at yahoo.com. In a July 2008 article in The Progressive magazine, Baltimore activist Max Obuszewski - one of the anti-death-penalty spying targets - indicates that "Lucy Shoup" also sent him a message notifying him that her new e-mail address was shoupy_shoup at yahoo.com. McGuire said after discovering the connection, Red Emma's contacted the ACLU of Maryland and asked for their help. "We're appalled by this," he said. "We want to find out the extent of their investigation. ... This is a clear indication that police were being used politically." The artfully disheveled store, in an English basement on St. Paul Street, features left-leaning zines, free Internet and "Zapatista" coffee. The book section does not have a copy of the infamous Anarchist Cookbook, which has instructions for making explosives, though Red Emma's customers can purchase an actual cookbook by the same name. Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader is scheduled to speak this evening. With the exception of Red Emma's, the other entities that filed records requests yesterday are traditional activist groups, ranging from anti-abortion to anti-war protesters. Among them are the Humane League of Baltimore, the Maryland Coalition Against State Executions, Christian Peace Witness for Iraq and the Algebra Project. Rocah said the ACLU was coordinating the mass public records request in order to understand the extent of the police's spying activity. "It will be interesting to see whether ... these groups were spied on as well, or whether they weren't spied on, in which case the [Maryland State Police] has some explaining to do about how they choose which groups to spy on." Sheridan, the police superintendent, has said that he was "troubled" by the previously acknowledged surveillance but that police monitored death penalty activists out of concern that protests around two planned executions in 2005 might get violent. According to records obtained by the ACLU, police agents secretly joined the Baltimore Pledge of Resistance, a peace group; the Baltimore Coalition Against the Death Penalty; and the Committee to Save Vernon Evans. Rocah said it was necessary to file individual records-requests for each of the additional 32 groups because when "you're seeking a document that is about you ... you have a greater right of access than general public does." Under Maryland's public information law, the state police have 30 days to respond to the requests. Though ACLU officials said they had no information that police spying continued after 2006, several activists who are now ACLU clients said revelations of police surveillance on political activists could have a chilling effect on free speech in Maryland. "If people are spied on, they'll become intimidated," said Jack Ames of Defend Life, a Baltimore-based anti-abortion group. "We have a constitutional right to oppose government policy," said Jean Athey of Peace Action Montgomery, an anti-war group. "Illegal government spying is a very serious threat to democracy." Also yesterday, ACLU of Maryland lobbyist Cindy Boersma said she has been talking to lawmakers about proposed legislation that would "prohibit spying and the compilation of ... intelligence dossiers on Marylanders." The ACLU bills, drafts of which are currently being circulated among members of the General Assembly, would prohibit law enforcement officials from investigating "lawful First Amendment activities" or keeping records of people's political and social beliefs, Boersma said. She said the ACLU was waiting to see Sachs' report before approaching Gov. Martin O'Malley for his support. O'Malley administration officials had considered postponing today's release of the report because of the recent Medevac crash that killed two state troopers, but Sheridan preferred to dispense with the matter as soon as possible, Sachs said. (source: Baltimore Sun) NORTH CAROLINA: U.S. could seek death penalty in Eve Carson murder case Federal authorities are considering charges that could result in a federal death sentence for a man accused of killing UNC-Chapel Hill student leader Eve Carson. A committee in the U.S. Justice Department met Monday to review the case, a spokesman confirmed. However, the spokesman, Erik Ablin, declined to comment further. The committee's recommendation will go to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey. Demario Atwater, 22, and Laurence Lovette, 17, are accused of shooting Carson on a residential street after a robbery and kidnapping near the campus March 5. Their trials are expected to take place next summer at the earliest. Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall has said he will seek the death penalty in state court for Atwater; Lovette is not subject to capital punishment because of his age. Woodall's office said he was away this week and not available for comment on federal authorities' plans. It was not immediately clear what federal charges could be involved, and Ablin declined to explain why the U.S. attorney has jurisdiction in the Carson case, saying, ``The internal deliberations on a particular case are confidential.'' Nearly 50 federal crimes can trigger a federal capital case. Several could apply in the Carson case: first-degree murder, shooting with a weapon of mass destruction such as a sawed-off shotgun or murder during a kidnapping, carjacking or other crime of violence. WRAL-TV of Raleigh reported that federal authorities were considering a carjacking charge, but the station did not name its source for the information. No Orange County jury has sent a man to death row since 1973. A federal charge could increase the chances of a death sentence for Atwater if he is convicted in a separate trial in federal court. To seek the death penalty against a defendant in federal court, a local U.S. attorney must submit the case to advance review by the Justice Department. The Review Committee on Capital Cases, which met Monday in the Carson case, considers the request and then makes a recommendation to the attorney general. (source: Burlington Times News) ****************** U.S. could seek death penalty for Atwater Federal authorities are considering charges that could result in a federal death sentence for a man accused of killing UNC-Chapel Hill student leader Eve Carson. A committee in the U.S. Justice Department met Monday to review the case, a spokesman confirmed. However, the spokesman, Erik Ablin, declined to comment further. The committee's recommendation will go to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey. Demario Atwater, 22, and Laurence Lovette, 17, are accused of shooting Carson on a residential street after a robbery and kidnapping near the campus March 5. Their trials are expected to take place next summer at the earliest. Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall has said he will seek the death penalty in state court for Atwater; Lovette is not subject to capital punishment because of his age. Woodall's office said he was away this week and not available for comment on federal authorities' plans. It was not immediately clear what federal charges could be involved, and Ablin declined to explain why the U.S. attorney has jurisdiction in the Carson case, saying, "The internal deliberations on a particular case are confidential." Nearly 50 federal crimes can trigger a federal capital case. Several could apply in the Carson case: first-degree murder, shooting with a weapon of mass destruction such as a sawed-off shotgun or murder during a kidnapping, carjacking or other crime of violence. WRAL-TV of Raleigh reported that federal authorities were considering a carjacking charge, but the station did not name its source for the information. No Orange County jury has sent a man to death row since 1973. A federal charge could increase the chances of a death sentence for Atwater if he is convicted in a separate trial in federal court. To seek the death penalty against a defendant in federal court, a local U.S. attorney must submit the case to advance review by the Justice Department. The Review Committee on Capital Cases, which met Monday in the Carson case, considers the request and then makes a recommendation to the attorney general. (source: News & Observer) NEW YORK: Death Row Survivor Kerry Max Cook To Discuss The American Legal System During Upcoming Visit To Ithaca College Kerry Max Cook, who spent more than 2 decades awaiting execution in Texas before DNA evidence proved him innocent, will visit Ithaca College on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10 and 11, to talk about the American legal system. 19 years old when he was falsely accused of rape and murder, Cook endured 3 trials, countless prison rapes, and 2 suicide attempts during his time on death row. Free and open to the public, Cooks Ithaca College appearances will be held in conjunction with the Ithaca College Theatre production of "The Exonerated." Written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, the play dramatizes Cooks story, along with the experiences of 5 other people who were wrongfully accused of capital crimes and eventually released. On Friday, Oct. 10, Cook will speak on the American legal system at 3:30 p.m. in Textor 101. On Saturday, Oct. 11, at 12:30 p.m. in the Dillingham Center lobby, Cook will sign copies of his book, "Chasing Justice," which details his struggle to prove his innocence. (The book signing will precede the 2 p.m. matinee performance of "The Exonerated.") Also on Oct. 11, at 9:45 p.m., following the evening performance of "The Exonerated," Cook will conduct a talk-back session in Clark Theatre, Dillingham Center. Performances of "The Exonerated" will be held in the Clark Theatre at 8 p.m. on Oct. 7, Oct. 9 and Oct. 11, with 2 p.m. matinees offered Oct. 11 and 12. Intended for mature audiences, "The Exonerated" will run approximately 90 minutes without an intermission. Tickets range from $4.50 to $10 and can be purchased from the Ithaca College Theatre ticket office in Dillingham Center or by calling (607) 274-3224. Tickets are also available at the Ticket Center at (607) 273-4497 or online at www.ithacaevents.com. Cooks visit is sponsored by the deans office in the School of Humanities and Sciences with additional support from the Center for the Study of Race Culture and Ethnicity, Holiday Inn Ithaca, and The Tower Club. (source: Ithaca College News) MISSISSIPPI: Mississippi man on death row asks high court for new trial Condemned inmate Anthony Doss deserves a new trial because a jury didn't hear about his troubled childhood or evidence that he is mentally disabled, his attorney told the Mississippi Supreme Court on Tuesday. Doss has been on death row since 1993. In 2004, the Mississippi Supreme Court said Doss could pursue a new trial based on those claims. A judge in Grenada County refused to grant the new trial in 2006, setting the stage for Tuesday's Supreme Court hearing. A Grenada County jury sentenced Doss to death in 1993 for his role in the armed robbery of a store and the killing of clerk Robert Bell. At trial, Doss said he never shot Bell but admitted he was armed during the robbery and the resulting murder. He claimed Freddie Bell, no relation to the store clerk, was the triggerman. Doss' attorney, Robert McDuff of Jackson, told the justices Doss was represented during the sentencing phase of his trial by an attorney inexperienced in death penalty cases. The lawyer failed to pursue testimony about Doss' mental problems and troubled childhood, McDuff said. Instead, McDuff said the defense relied on disjointed testimony from Doss' mother and other relatives. McDuff said Doss' childhood history of abuse and violence and new testing that showed he was mentally disabled surfaced after he was convicted. "It is so important for jurors to hear these things ... to hear it before they impose punishment," McDuff said. Assistant Attorney General Sonny White said nothing came from the post-conviction hearing that would support a new trial for Doss. "There's not a reasonable probability that the jury result would have been different," White said. According to the court record, Doss was examined in 2003 and was found to have an intelligence quotient of 71. A 1988 report also suggested Doss was mentally disabled. White said there was another test that showed Doss with an IQ of 80. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Doss' appeal of his death sentence in 1999, but in 2002 the high court ruled in a Virginia case that it's illegal to execute people who are mentally disabled. The court said it would be a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment" to execute anyone with an IQ of 75 or lower. That protection was not extended to those with mental illness. An IQ of 100 is said to represent normal intelligence. An IQ lower than 75 is said to reflect mental retardation. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that even an inmate with an IQ of 76 could be executed. White said the Mississippi court had adopted those guidelines as its own. However, Justice Michael Randolph said the Mississippi court might need to clarify what constitutes a mental disability. (source: Jackson Clarion Ledger) LOUISIANA: How much of Connick's legacy on ballot? It is hardly news that, when Harry Connick was DA in New Orleans, plenty of his assistants knew just what to do with evidence indicating they were putting the wrong man on trial. Make it disappear, and chalk up another long prison sentence or, even better, a death sentence. Appellate courts have been throwing out New Orleans convictions for years on grounds of prosecutorial skulduggery, and there is a distinct feeling of old hat about the issue. Still, though Connick's 30-year stint as Mr. Law and Order ended in 2003, we are obliged to give him one last kick. The misdeeds of yesteryear are relevant today, because three of the four candidates for DA on Saturday's ballot -- Ralph Capitelli, Leon Cannizzaro and Linda Bizzarro -- boast of their experience as Connick assistants. Capitelli, indeed, has his old boss's endorsement. While none of them is known to have played hide-the-evidence, none has seemed in the least perturbed about the gross miscarriages of justice that everyone has known about for years. The fourth candidate, Jason Williams, never prosecuted a case for Connick, or any one else. A just-released Innocence Project study demonstrates that rogue prosecutors are not only a menace to the suckers they railroad. They also cost taxpayers a packet, while exacerbating and prolonging the distress of victims and their families. The real perps must think it all a grand joke. The Innocence Project took a look at court rulings in the 36 cases that led to a death sentence in the Connick years, and at 25 non-capital cases where defendants alleged exculpatory evidence had been suppressed. The numbers they came up with are almost certainly too low, because only defendants facing execution have the right to court-appointed counsel after conviction. By the time case files became public in 1991, one of the death sentences had been carried out and 11 others had been commuted to life so there was no subsequent examination of the fairness of proceedings. The non-capital cases in the Innocence Project were that small minority where defendants could afford to hire attorneys. The study may understate the abuses, but the numbers still suggest justice can be hard to come by. Evidence was withheld in nine cases that led to a death sentence, and 4 of the defendants were later declared innocent. In the non capital cases, 10 retrials were ordered, resulting in 4 acquittals. The study concludes that "at least eight innocent men spent a total of 113 years in Angola " at a cost to the taxpayer of more than $17 million. And that doesn't count the millions spent on retrials and appeals. No matter who is our next DA, it is only natural that prosecutors should see conviction rates as the only measure of their success. In theory a prosecutor is supposed to serve the cause of even-handed justice, but in the halls of Tulane and Broad a win for our side can be what matters most. The state Supreme Court, which is always prompt to clamp down on errant defense attorneys, has long been happy to give cowboy prosecutors a free ride. Just before Katrina, however, the court did finally discipline one of Connick's old assistants, Roger Jordan, for deep-sixing evidence in a murder case. The penalty -- a 3-month suspension, promptly waived -- was not exactly draconian. Still, at least the court has signaled that prosecutors are not inviolate. But we do not need to rely on the court to keep New Orleans prosecutors honest. Although they are required to disclose information that is "exculpatory," they have always reserved the right to decide what meets that definition. So long as they have that discretion, their lexical standards will incline to the unconstitutional. The solution is obvious. If the DA's files in New Orleans were open to defense counsel, errors or frame-ups would be pretty much out the window. That system works well in other jurisdictions. Indeed, New Orleans prosecutors need look no further than Jefferson Parish, where first assistant DA Steve Wimberly explains the rationale for his open-file policy thus: "If it helps them, they're entitled to it. If it doesn't, it makes no difference." Think of the misery and expense such a simple precept might have saved New Orleans. (source: The Times-Picayune)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----IOWA, MD., N.C., N.Y., MISS., LA.
Rick Halperin Wed, 1 Oct 2008 10:23:22 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
