May 8 GEORGIA: Judge Throws Out Conviction Of Death Row Inmate A judge has ordered a new trial for a Georgia inmate who has spent 20 years on death row after being convicted of murdering a Wayne County restaurant owner, his wife and their teenage son. Superior Court Judge Gary McCorvey ruled prosecutors withheld evidence that key witnesses had lied, changed their stories and cut deals with authorities before testifying against Larry Lee of Savannah. McCorvey's order called the trial "fatally flawed" by "prosecutorial acts and omissions." The ruling also said Lee, 47, of Savannah had an inadequate defense at his trial, where he was represented by a lawyer who had little experience with death penalty cases. "Not only was the state's evidence in this case 'thin,'" McCorvey wrote in his April 28 order, "but what is more devastating is that trial counsel's preparation for and performance in the penalty phase is even 'thinner,' the investigation and preparation being nonexistent." District Attorney Stephen Kelley, who was in law school when Lee was prosecuted by his predecessor, criticized the court system for taking "entirely too long" with Lee's appeal. He noted 1 of 2 key prosecution witnesses is now dead. "There's something wrong with a system that takes 21 years to decide if a case needs to be retried," Kelley said. Kelley said he has asked the state attorney general to appeal the judge's ruling to the Georgia Supreme Court. He said he would hold a new trial if McCorvey's order stands. A Wayne County jury sentenced Lee to death in 1987 for the murders of a local restaurant owner, 48-year-old Clifford Jones, his wife, 47-year-old Nina Jones, and their 14-year-old son, Jerold. The three family members were shot to death in their rural southeast Georgia home early in the morning on April 26, 1986. They appeared to have been slain during a burglary. A money bag containing about $1,500 from their restaurant was stolen. No physical evidence tied Lee to the crime scene. Prosecutors based their case primarily on two witnesses - Lee's sister-in-law, who said she and her husband took part in the robbery with Lee, and a jailhouse snitch who testified Lee had confessed to the murders while they were jailed together in coastal Glynn County. David Morris, a convicted burglar, told jurors Lee threatened to kill him if he told anyone about the confession. Morris also identified a handwritten note on which he said he had scrawled Lee's threat verbatim after it was made. But prosecutors failed to disclose to Lee's lawyer, or to the trial jury, that Morris initially told investigators Lee himself had written the note containing the threat. The judge said defense lawyers could have used Morris' lie to undercut his credibility. Prosecutors also never disclosed that Morris had testified for them as an informant in other criminal trials, the ruling said, or that his cooperation in Lee's case won Morris a transfer from a state prison to a more comfortable county jail. Sherry Lee, the wife of Lee's brother, agreed to testify against him after a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent told her the GBI had learned they committed the crimes. McCorvey's ruling says Sherry Lee's initial statements to authorities differed in key respects to her testimony at Larry Lee's trial. Her prior statements were never made available to Larry Lee's lawyer, who could have used them to discredit her on cross-examination, the judge ruled. Part of Sherry Lee's testimony was that Larry Lee and her husband, Bruce Lee, stole guns - including an antique shotgun - from Clifford Jones' home. But prosecutors, the judge wrote, never disclosed to the defense or the jury that investigators found no guns missing from the home. All firearms Jones had listed on an insurance inventory were found in his house. Both Sherry Lee and her husband are dead. Bruce Lee was fatally shot after killing another man in a burglary before his brother's trial. The judge also ruled Larry Lee's trial attorney, Alex Zipperer of Savannah, provided an inadequate defense. Zipperer had tried only one other death penalty case, 12 years before Lee's. He was the only attorney representing Lee even though Georgia courts routinely appoint 2 defense lawyers to capital cases. The judge said Zipperer failed to prepare for the sentencing phase of Lee's trial. The only witness he called to persuade the jury to spare Lee's life was his sister, Lynn Grizzard. Zipperer asked her a total of 7 questions. Grizzard described Lee as "gentle" and "nonviolent," and said she'd never known him to hurt anyone. Michael Koval, the lead attorney handling Lee's appeal, declined to comment other than to say, "The judge issued a strong and clear order." (source: News4Jax) OHIO: Judge, prosecutor battle at Ohio lethal injection hearing A prosecutor accused a judge Tuesday of making arguments on behalf of 2 men challenging the state's method of executing prisoners. Ruben Rivera and Ronald McCloud, who are accused of separate murders and could receive death sentences if convicted, are disputing the state's lethal injection process, saying it doesn't provide the quick and painless death required by Ohio law. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge, who intends to make a ruling before July, held a hearing Tuesday to discuss testimony from 2 anesthesiologists who took the stand last month. When Burge began questioning language in Ohio's lethal injection statute, assistant county prosecutor Tony Cillo bristled, saying the judge was helping the American Civil Liberties Union make its case. "The court is now making arguments for the plaintiff and that is not the court's role," said Cillo, complaining that he could not prepare for arguments that the ACLU had not raised. "You're supposed to know all of them," Burge said. The disagreement started over a highly technical question. Burge raised the issue of whether the words "quickly and painlessly cause death" in the statue should be applied not only to the dosage of the lethal injection drugs, but to how they are administered. In an earlier hearing, Cillo questioned whether Burge already had formed an opinion on the death penalty, noting that the ex-defense attorney has a photo of former client James Filiaggi in his office. Filiaggi was executed last year. "The court's role is to presume it's constitutional," Cillo said Tuesday. "I do," Burge said. Burge then held a long recess. Earlier in the hearing, ACLU attorney Jeff Gamso acknowledged that Ohio's lethal injection method provides a quick and painless death if the procedure goes as intended. "Things can go wrong, and when things go wrong there is at least the possibility that lethal injection will not be free of extraordinary pain," Gamso said. Cillo responded: "Under any circumstance you could make an argument that something could go wrong." Gamso countered that the state could reduce that risk if it only used the anesthetic sodium thiopental and eliminated the other 2 drugs administered pancuronium bromide, which causes paralysis, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart. Gregory Trout, chief legal counsel for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said the state is always interested in improving its execution procedure but that no other state uses just sodium thiopental and that such a change would invite more legal challenges. Last month, 1 anesthesiologist testified that Ohio's execution procedure is humane and includes enough anesthetic to knock out an average inmate for 2 hours. The other said the procedure was unfit for even dogs and cats. Both testified that sodium thiopental would be enough to kill the inmate and that the last two drugs increase the risk of suffering. Burge's decision could determine the fate of the state's process for executing condemned inmates, although his ruling will likely be appealed to the state Supreme Court. The case carries even greater weight for death penalty opponents following last months U.S. Supreme Court ruling that turned back a constitutional challenge to the lethal injection procedure in Kentucky. The court ruled that it didnt constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Burge's ruling will determine whether Ohio's execution protocol is consistent with state law, not the U.S. Constitution. Difficulties in recent years with 2 executions, in which the execution team struggled to find suitable veins in inmates' arms, brought complaints that the method is unconstitutionally cruel and unusual. Ohio officials stand by the procedure. Ohio has executed 26 inmates since it resumed putting prisoners to death in 1999. (source: Tribune-Chronicle) ***************** Summit seeks execution date ---- Prosecutors file motion with Ohio Supreme Court in Richard Cooey case Summit County prosecutors Wednesday filed papers urging the Ohio Supreme Court to set an execution date for Richard Wade Cooey, who has been on death row for 21 years. It is unclear when the court would rule on the request. The motion comes after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the execution method used in Kentucky. Ohio's procedure is considered similar. Cooey has sued the state claiming the procedure constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The last person executed in the state was Christopher J. Newton on May 24, 2007. Ohio and most other states have been under an unofficial moratorium awaiting the court ruling on lethal injection in response to the lawsuits. Cooey, 40, is on death row for the murders of Wendy Offredo, 21, of Bath Township, and University of Akron classmate Dawn McCreery, 20, of Akron. The 2 women were abducted, raped and murdered by Cooey and an accomplice in September 1986. The women were returning home when Offredo's car was disabled by a rock thrown from the Stoner Street bridge over Interstate 77 in West Akron. Cooey and Clint Dickens, who had thrown the rock, came to their aid and drove them to a pay phone, where Offredo called her mother. Cooey and Dickens were supposed to drive the women back to the disabled car, but instead abducted, robbed and raped them. Cooey has claimed that Dickens was responsible for the murders. Cooey was 19 and Dickens was 17. A 3-judge panel convicted Cooey of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault and kidnapping. As a juvenile, Dickens could not be sentenced to death. He is serving a life sentence. Summit County prosecutors Wednesday filed papers urging the Ohio Supreme Court to set an execution date for Richard Wade Cooey, who has been on death row for 21 years. < It is unclear when the court would rule on the request. The motion comes after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the execution method used in Kentucky. Ohio's procedure is considered similar. Cooey has sued the state claiming the procedure constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The last person executed in the state was Christopher J. Newton on May 24, 2007. Ohio and most other states have been under an unofficial moratorium awaiting the court ruling on lethal injection in response to the lawsuits. Cooey, 40, is on death row for the murders of Wendy Offredo, 21, of Bath Township, and University of Akron classmate Dawn McCreery, 20, of Akron. The 2 women were abducted, raped and murdered by Cooey and an accomplice in September 1986. The women were returning home when Offredo's car was disabled by a rock thrown from the Stoner Street bridge over Interstate 77 in West Akron. Cooey and Clint Dickens, who had thrown the rock, came to their aid and drove them to a pay phone, where Offredo called her mother. Cooey and Dickens were supposed to drive the women back to the disabled car, but instead abducted, robbed and raped them. Cooey has claimed that Dickens was responsible for the murders. Cooey was 19 and Dickens was 17. A 3-judge panel convicted Cooey of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault and kidnapping. As a juvenile, Dickens could not be sentenced to death. He is serving a life sentence. (source: Akron Beacon Journal) COLORADO: Jury To Decide On Death Penalty In Murder Trial Closing arguments are set to start Thursday in the death penalty trial of Sir Mario Owens in Arapahoe County District Court. Owens is accused of killing a key witness in another murder case. The trial has been under a gag order and extra security was assigned because of the publicity surrounding the trial. Owens is already serving a life sentence after his conviction in the other murder case. Javad Marshall-Fields was supposed to testify in that case. He and his fiance, Vivian Wolfe, were shot and killed in their care in June of 2005 at an intersection in Aurora. Legal experts said killing a witness is considered an aggravating factor when trying to impose the death penalty. The jury will have to decide on a murder conviction and the death penalty for it to be imposed. "It's not just beyond a reasonable doubt anymore, in terms of the actual guilt or innocence, it's beyond all doubt," said Karen Steinhauser, adjunct professor of law at the University of Denver. Steinhauser, a former prosecutor, said don't expect the death penalty to be executed any time soon if the jury votes for that sentence. "The attorneys who are seeking to have a sentence of death overturned are going to most likely go to every possible court," said Steinhauser. If sentenced to death, Owens would be one of two people on Colorado's death row. Nathan Dunlap is currently the only inmate there. He was sentenced to death in 1996 for the Chuck E. Cheese killings in Aurora in 1993. (source: CBS News) TENNESSEE: New trial for House a waste of money, defense lawyer says An East Tennessee district attorney's decision to retry death row inmate Paul House is "personal" and a waste of taxpayer money, House's federal public defender says. Stephen Kissinger says he will ask a federal judge not to give prosecutors more time to try House again for the 1985 murder of a Union County woman. Judge Harry Mattice Jr. ruled in December that the inmate should be released or retried based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a jury should have heard testimony that might have exonerated House. On Monday an appeal of the judge's ruling was rejected by a 3-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Union County District Attorney General William Paul Phillips has 180 days from Monday to retry House, who has been in prison for more than 20 years. Phillips said he has enough evidence to try the case again and intends to handle the prosecution himself. Kissinger said the trial would cost more than $100,000. "You really have to be mystified, perplexed about that decision," he said. "It doesn't make sense. How can you justify that kind of money when you have the Supreme Courts decision? "This is pointless. It's become a personal issue." Mattice scheduled a May 28 hearing to set the conditions of House's release. Kissinger said that hearing is still on but it's unknown whether it will be held in Nashville or in East Tennessee. House, who has multiple sclerosis and must use a wheelchair, would be released into the care of his mother at her Crossville home. House was convicted of murder in the July 1985 slaying of Carolyn Muncey, whose bludgeoned body was body was found at the bottom of an embankment. He says he did not kill her. In its 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that questions about DNA evidence from semen collected from Muncey's nightgown and underwear, along with excluded testimony from other witnesses, were strong enough to raise doubt for a jury about House's guilt. Phillips said he plans to use some old evidence from the 1st trial, but added he has new evidence too that would be presented at a possible new trial. He didn't describe or say what that evidence is. Phillips said if Mattices order does not change, he planned to start a new trial against House sometime within 180 days of the appeals court ruling. "I would think that's a reasonable period of time and I also think we can be ready," Phillips said. "We have proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. House is guilty or we would not be re-prosecuting him." Kissinger said Wednesday he wants the judge to reconsider giving prosecutors more time to retry his client because he believes they've already had enough. He said evidence in House's case didn't stand up in the 1st trial and won't the 2nd time around either. "They (prosecutors) shouldn't be rewarded for pursuing an appeal so clearly without merit it was decided in 3 days," he said, referring to the appeals court decision Monday. (source: The Tennessean) CALIFORNIA: Death penalty possible for Michael Cook----Jury rules man convicted in deaths of 2 women is not mentally retarded A Riverside County Superior Court jury decided Wednesday that a Cathedral City man, convicted of killing 2 elderly women in a violent crime spree a decade ago, is not mentally retarded and is therefore eligible for the death penalty. Michael Cook, 36, who was convicted last month, will begin the penalty phase of his trial May 19, officials said. "I'm very uncomfortable with (the jury's decision)," said defense attorney John Hemmer. "I thought it was totally inappropriate, but the jury has spoken, and I can't second-guess that." The prosecution was less vocal about Wednesday's decision. "Because we are still in trial, we want to reserve comment until the trial is completely over," said Ingrid Wyatt, public information officer for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. Cook now faces the death penalty as a possible sentence for 14 counts of various offenses he committed 10 years ago during a string of arsons and burglaries 10 years ago in Cathedral City, Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage. Anyone who is considered mentally retarded cannot be put to death. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2002 that executing mentally retarded criminals constitutes "cruel and unusual" punishment prohibited under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A person is considered mentally retarded if he meets the clinical definition of having not only sub-average intellectual functioning, but also significant limitations in adaptive skills - such as communication, self-care and self-direction before age 18, according to the U.S. Department of State. In April, authorities testified that from Jan. 17, 1998, to April 22, 1998, Cook had a pattern of going into mobile home parks, setting fire to trailers and burglarizing neighboring homes. On separate occasions in 1998, 2 women were burned alive in their mobile homes, Cathedral City police Sgt. Paul Herrera has said. (source: The Desert Sun)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., OHIO, COLO., TENN., CALIF.
Rick Halperin Thu, 8 May 2008 10:21:39 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
