[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 28



TEXAS:

Death penalty foes target Harris County----200 march here because of high
use of sentence


Beating drums, playing music and talking over loudspeakers, about 200
opponents of the death penalty marched through Houston's Third Ward on
Saturday, chanting, "Texas says Death Row, we say 'hell, no!' "

Among them was Barbara Cowan,76, a Quaker, who regularly visits 2 of the
state's 371 condemned inmates, including one who has asked her to be
present when he is put to death.

"I know I will be the one person there for him, when he is executed,"
Cowan said. After her visits to the Polunsky Unit, Cowan said: "I am sad,
and I am grateful for the friendships we have formed. But I don't call it
a justice system, I call it a legal system."

The man's father was a pimp, his mother was a paranoid schizophrenic and
"he knows that if life hadn't been so rotten and he hadn't made such bad
choices in terms of drug and alcohol, well ... " Cowan said, looking away
as her voice trailed off. "Anyway, there's is no money for an appeal. He
knows he is going to die."

The eighth annual march, usually held in Austin, proceeded from
Emancipation Park to the Shape Community Center just northeast of
downtown. It was held in Houston this year because Harris County leads
Texas in the number of people sentenced to death.

Since executions were resumed 25 years ago, 102 convicts from Harris
County have been executed and 122 now reside on death row, according to
march organizer Gloria Ruback.

Texas leads the nation in the number of executions  405  since the death
penalty was reinstated.

2 exonerated former death row inmates  Clarence Brandley and Kerry Max
Cook  were scheduled to speak at the rally, but were unable to attend.

Cook had a scheduling conflict, and Brandley, who spent 10 years on death
row, is seriously ill with cancer, said his sisters, Margaret and Alice
Brandley.

The marchers said they opposed the death penalty for spiritual, political
or personal reasons. Several families of death row inmates carried
pictures of their brothers, husbands or sons.

Oscar Green, 37, said his brother, Travis Green, 39, was convicted in 2000
for murdering his former girlfriend. Green said his brother's only alibi
was that he was alone at home on the night she was murdered.

"The death penalty is just not the right thing to do," Green said. "God is
the judge, not us."

(source: Houston Chronicle)

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Jury to be seated in Hondo trial on 2003 retaliation killings


A jury is expected to be seated Monday in Hondo for the capital murder
trial of Raul X. Martinez, one of four men charged with killing 2 others
in Medina County on May 4, 2003. Prosecutor Jay Norton said Friday that
the death sentence is off the table in the trial of Martinez, 32, who's
been jailed since shortly after the slayings on $1.5 million bond.

Norton claims the defendant was among 2 triggermen who shot Cody Sellers,
20, and Reymundo Martinez, 26.

Testimony should begin Tuesday. The trial is expected to last about 2
weeks.

Investigators described the lethal attack as payback for a shooting at a
Natalia-area bar April 11, 2003, that killed Raymond Billalobos, 26, and
wounded 2 other men.

In that attack, Bobby J. Gallegos III was charged with murder but took a
manslaughter plea deal that called for a 6-year sentence for killing
Billalobos.

Gallegos had already been arrested when, the state says, Billalobos'
friends set a deadly trap outside Martinez's home on County Road 5710.

Sellers was dropping off Reymundo Martinez at the home outside Devine when
more than 30 shots were fired at them.

Gabriel Bernal, the 1st prosecuted for the killings, pleaded no contest to
murder in August and was given a life sentence.

Norton said such a last-minute plea appeared unlikely by Raul X. Martinez,
a Devine resident described as a close friend of victim Reymundo Martinez.

That personal bond suggests "an extra level of treachery" by the
defendant, Norton said.

Defense attorney Manuel Montez said Friday that Raul Martinez claimed no
role in the slayings. "My client says he didn't do any of it and he wasn't
around," Montez said.

Authorities say the suspects were gang members who killed as retribution
for the bar shooting. Montez said he didn't know if his client was in a
gang.

Also awaiting trial on capital murder charges in the case are Joe Miranda
Jr., of Devine; and Frank C. Serna Jr., of Atascosa County.

Before Bernal's conviction, Norton said, "We hope that by the end of the 4
trials, the Martinez and Sellers families have some justice, and that
justice being the four defendants are all serving life sentences."

(source: San Antonio Express-News)

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

Who's watching the children?----The Cases


Quionna Jones, 6 months old, died April 11 at Northwest Texas Hospital
after an ambulance took her there the day she stopped breathing. Medical
personnel admitted Jones to the pediatric intensive care unit. She was
later placed on life support, but was pronounced dead at 9 a.m. April 11.
The girl was examined and doctors reportedly found she had suffered from
physical and sexual abuse, police said. Police arrested Devon Royal Jones,
21, of Amarillo, the same day his daughter died. He was indicted Sept. 26
and now faces capital murder charges in the death. He remains in the
Randall County Jail on a $1 million bond. Randall County Criminal District
Attorney James Farren said he would seek the death penalty, if Jones is
convicted.

Crystal Nicole Womack, 7 months old, died April 17 at Northwest Texas
Hospital after she was airlifted from Shamrock General Hospital with
severe internal injuries. Heather Thomas, Crystal Womack's mother, took
the child to Shamrock General Hospital on April 15, according to
authorities. An autopsy listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma.
The father, Justin Wayne Womack, 22, is charged with capital murder in
connection with the child's death and was indicted in August. A Wheeler
County grand jury indicted him Aug. 15. He is in the Wheeler County Jail
on a bond of $250,000.

Evyn William Vaughn, 14 months old, died April 22 from blunt force
injuries to his head, according to a preliminary autopsy. Vaughn was found
not breathing April 21 when emergency personnel responded to his home in
Spring Terrace Apartments, 2600 S. Spring St. The child was taken to
Northwest Texas Hospital where he died at 12:10 p.m. on April 22.
According to a complaint filed against Michael Wayne Garrard, 32, the
suspect had called the boy's mother to tell her the child was spitting up
blood and his eyes were rolling back. Vaughn was in the care of Garrard at
the time. He is charged with two counts of injury to a child in Vaughn's
death. An autopsy later revealed an injury to the inside of Evyn's mouth,
numerous bruises on his back and left leg along with recent bruising to
his ears, scalp and fourth rib, according to a criminal complaint. Garrard
was indicted Wednesday. He has so far failed to post a $100,000 bond and
remains in the Potter County Jail.

Jayda Capree Ash, 20 months old, died May 20 from injuries she received
from hot water May 15. Ash was taken to Baptist St. Anthony's Hospital
about 11 p.m. Thursday but later was moved to the burn unit at the
University Medical Center in Lubbock. The girl suffered burns to about 60
percent of her body. An initial investigation indicated Ash's burns were
caused by "extremely hot water" while taking a bath in a home on the 8400
block of San Antonio Drive, police said. Initial tests indicated the young
girl was in water hotter than 135 degrees, police said. Mario Lee Torres,
33, of Amarillo, was charged with murder and felony injury to a child in
connection with Ash's death. An indictment was returned against him Aug.
29. Torres remains in the Randall County Jail. His bond was initially set
at $350,000, with a provision allowing him to post $35,000 - or 10 % - to
be freed. A judge on Sept. 26 lowered the bond amount to $50,000, but
ordered the entire amount be paid in cash for him to get out of jail.
Prosecutors have said they view Torres as a flight risk because he has
family in Mexico. Kenzee Renae Bolin, 6 weeks old, died May 21 at the
Pampa Regional Medical Center after having breathing problems. Paramedics
and police officers attempted life-saving measures on the girl for about
an hour, but she was pronounced dead. An autopsy conducted later showed
Kenzee died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to a statement
by Pampa police. A Gray County grand jury indicted Kenzee's 27-year-old
mother Mary Lee Bolin in her death. She was arrested June 8. Bolin was
freed after posting a $100,000 bond and indicted June 28.

Joseph Scott Diehl-Hart, 2 months old, died Sept. 20. Eleven days earlier,
police were sent to the 4400 block of East Interstate 40 on a report of a
baby not breathing. He was taken to a hospital in Amarillo Sept. 9 and
later taken to one in Lubbock, where he died. A preliminary investigation
revealed the infant's injuries were not medical and may have been
inflicted by another person. The boy's father, Joshua Scott Diehl, 19, was
arrested Sept. 9 on a felony charge of injury to a child. Potter County
Jail records say Diehl remains in custody. Bond was set at $100,000.
Source: Globe-News files, various court records.

(source: The Amarillo Globe-News)

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

Crime down, but don't tell the candidates----Issue resonates, even though
rate of major offenses in city has fallen


Fewer serious crimes

QUOTABLE

A sampling of Houston City Council candidates' statements about the issue
of crime from their Web sites and public statements:

 Michael "Griff" Griffin: "People are scared out there," he said recently.
"I want to change that"

 Roy Morales: "We must protect our families and neighborhoods from
escalating crime rate," his site reads.

 Zaf Tahir: "Rising crime and lawlessness throughout the city and the
region and the inability of the system to meet this growing challenge is
one of the biggest impediments to Houstonians' desire to become a truly
global player," according to his site.

 Tom Nixon: "Houston used to be safer," a radio ad states. "I didn't use
to look over my shoulder every time I went to the store"

 Jack Christie: "Our once quiet neighborhoods have become featured crime
spots headlining the nightly news," he states online.

To understand how crime has emerged as a top issue in this fall's City
Council elections, one need only hear from the candidates.

"Houston used to be safer," says the voiceover in a new radio ad produced
for At-Large 5 candidate Tom Nixon, a former police officer. "I didn't use
to look over my shoulder every time I went to the store."

One of his opponents, Zaf Tahir, warns on his Web site about "rising crime
and lawlessness throughout the city."

And Michael "Griff" Griffin, a candidate in the At-Large 2 race, recently
stated, "People are scared out there."

The question is: Should they be?

Public safety always is a top issue in Houston elections.

But a review of Houston Police Department statistics shows the rate of
major crimes reported each year to the FBI has dropped since the 1990s.

Even with the much-publicized police shortage and an influx of Louisiana
residents after Hurricane Katrina, the downward trend largely continued in
2006 and the first 9 months of 2007.

Consider:

The murder rate per 100,000 residents has dropped more than 50 % from 1990
to 2006, though it increased slightly last year over 2005. It's down 13 %
during the first 9 months of this year, compared to the same period in
2006.

The rate of all violent crimes  murders, rapes, aggravated assaults and
robberies  decreased 20 % from 1990 to 2006. The drop in the nonviolent
crime rate, such as burglaries, thefts and stolen vehicles, is even more
dramatic: about 42 %.

The overall crime rate in 2006 decreased more than 5 % from the previous
year. The overall average crime rate was lower during the first 3 years of
Mayor Bill White's tenure  as it was during the second half of Lee Brown's
6 years leading Houston.

So, why has crime emerged as the issue in the 2007 campaign?

First, the public believes it is important. Crime eclipsed traffic and the
economy when people were asked to name the biggest problem facing the
region for the last 2 years, according to the Houston Area Survey produced
by Rice sociology professor Stephen Klineberg.

Burglaries increasing

Local political observers also point to a variety of factors, chief among
them the heavy media coverage amid a spike in criminal activity in the 1st
half of 2006, as the police struggled with Katrina-related turf battles,
drug and gang activity and homicides.

"Crime is hotter than it has been certainly in the last 3 cycles," said
Allen Blakemore, a well-known local political consultant.

"We certainly find candidates coming back from their door-knocking, and
saying, 'Gosh, it's No. 1.' "

Some say there also is a sense that petty crimes  car burglaries, thefts,
graffiti  are increasing, even if police statistics do not always track
with public opinion.

The rate of violent crimes is down more than 3 % from January to September
over the same period in 2006, but the rate of nonviolent incidents is up 1
%.

Burglaries, particularly, are an increasing problem, with the rate
increasing nearly 10 % during that 9-month period.

So, too, are thefts, which include auto burglaries.

Petty crimes fuel concern

Though homicides, particularly the random variety, get more media
attention, the petty offenses also can fuel concern about the crime issue
overall, candidates say.

"That affects a neighborhood," said Councilwoman Sue Lovell, whose home
was burglarized last year.

Police brass acknowledge the perception and say they are working to combat
it.

"Whether the numbers are real or just a perception, you have to devote as
much time dealing with that perception  or fear  of crime as you do with
the actual fighting of crime itself on the streets," Chief Harold Hurtt
said.

Concern about police presence also is a constant theme in the race, with
candidates, including White, stating they want more officers on the force.

There are about 4,800 officers now, compared with a high of 5,400 in the
late 1990s.

The mayor, already trying to hire aggressively, recently announced a plan
to spend additional property tax revenues to hire 500 cadets by 2010 and
spend more on overtime to keep more officers patrolling meantime.

That was welcome news to District C Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck, who
faces two poorly financed contenders for her Southwest Houston seat.

"The more officers you have, the easier it is to try and crack down on the
lesser crimes," she said.

Clutterbuck, who has faced off with Hurtt in committee hearings about
police staffing in the crime-plagued Fondren area of her district, said
she often reviews crime statistics before meeting with constituents.

She said she tries to educate them that the situation, according to the
data, largely is improving.

Candidates talk about crime because, generally, it resonates, said Joe
Householder, a local political observer who works for Austin-based
consulting firm Public Strategies.

"People's primary focus is what's going on in their lives, as it should
be," he said.

"Sometimes there is a bit of a time lag between reality and perception."

(source: Houston Chronicle)