Sept. 5 ALABAMA: Porter Plea would spare him the death penalty in brutal killing----Robert Holly Lofton Porter today faces 2 consecutive life sentences in the 2004 death of Scotty Joe Weaver A 2nd defendant will plead guilty to murder today -- a week before he was slated for trial -- in the slaying of Scotty Joe Weaver, the Bay Minette teenager who was killed partly because he was gay, court officials said. Robert Holly Lofton Porter is set to be sentenced to two consecutive life sentences -- on charges of murder and robbery -- in front of Baldwin County Circuit Court Judge Lang Floyd. "We just calculated the totality of everything and decided that would be appropriate," said Baldwin County District Attorney Judy Newcomb. Porter, 21, will be spared the death penalty in one of the most gruesome murders in Baldwin County's recent history. Lead defense attorney E.E. Ball declined to comment Tuesday on the plea agreement. "Whatever happens will happen tomorrow morning," he said. But another of Porter's attorneys, Liz Campbell, said Porter "gave confessions that he participated in the murder, so it's kind of hard for him to deny that." Even though his sentences are back to back, Porter would be eligible for parole in 15 years, according to Campbell. In May, Christopher Ryan Gaines, 23, pleaded guilty to capital murder in the 2004 slaying and also avoided capital punishment. Prosecutors hinted Tuesday at a plea agreement with a third defendant, Nichole Bryars Kelsay, 21, who is awaiting trial. In July 2004, Weaver was beaten, strangled, cut, burned and robbed of about $80. Prosecutors have alleged -- and Gaines has since told a reporter -- that he and Kelsay called upon Porter to help them kill Weaver. Newcomb called Porter "someone who is less culpable in that he didn't come up with the plan." Gaines and Kelsay, who had been dating at the time, shared an apartment with Weaver in the Pine Grove community. Authorities have said that the three attacked Weaver when he returned from working the graveyard shift at the Bay Minette Waffle House. His burned and decomposed body was found off of a rural dirt road, a few miles from his home southeast of Bay Minette. (source: Press Register) NEBRASKA: Court Considers Cruelty Of Electric Chair----High Court Hears Death Penalty Case Is Nebraska's electric chair cruel and unusual? That is the question now before the state's highest court. The Nebraska Supreme Court on Tuesday morning heard testimony on whether a man should be executed for the murder of his former girlfriend's 3-year-old son. Raymond Mata was sentenced to death for the crime in 1999 but his lawyers are raising constitutional questions about the electric chair. "When you have a process of lethal injection, nobody in a lethal injection has started on fire," Soucie said. Mata's attorney, Jerry Soucie, also claimed that there are problems with the state's sentencing laws. Soucie contends that Mata should have been sentenced to life in prison. Several justices wasted little time questioning state prosecutors over whether there's a risk that the electric chair -- the state's only form of execution -- is cruel and unusual. J. Kirk Brown of the Nebraska Attorney General's Office argued that there's no evidence an inmate feels extreme pain after the initial jolt of electricity. "I think the record firmly supports that unconsciousness occurs somewhere between instantaneously and within a matter of seconds," Brown said. Attorney General Jon Bruning said in a news release that the state argued that the U.S. Supreme Court has never found that any method of execution violates the Eighth Amendment. The state district court found Mata offered no convincing evidence that electrocution causes a death-sentenced prisoner "unnecessary pain." "Today, the state argued that electrocution does not violate the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment," said Bruning. "We asked the court to uphold the Nebraska Legislature's chosen method of execution and allow justice to move forward." The state also argued that the fact that Nebraska is the only state that authorizes electrocution as its sole method of execution is not relevant. Currently 12 state legislatures have approved electrocution as a method of enforcing death sentences. That number has remained stable over the last decade. "The problem with the death penalty is the length of time it takes to impose a sentence," Bruning said. "Victims sometimes wait 20 to 30 years until justice is served." The Mata case has already had an impact on Nebraska's death row. In May, the Supreme Court stayed the execution of Carey Dean Moore on a 4-3 vote. The court said it wanted to hear arguments in the Mata case before carrying out another execution. "Whether that's a predictor of how the case will resolve, there's no way to predict what the court will do," Soucie said. Alabama, Florida, South Carolina and Virginia all have the electric chair as an option in capital punishment cases. Nebraska remains the only state to use the chair as its only means of execution. (source: KETV News) ************************* A debate about the chair: Unnecessary pain or not? After 15 years of growing national criticism of the electric chair, the Nebraska Supreme Court considered evidence for the 1st time Tuesday on how much condemned prisoners suffer when electrocuted. Raymond Mata Jr. was sentenced to death twice for the 1999 kidnapping and murder of 3-year-old Adam Gomez of Scottsbluff. Prosecutors say Mata fed part of the boy's body to a dog.The case the judges heard, that of death row inmate Raymond Mata Jr., appears to be the one they have chosen to decide the constitutionality of the electric chair in Nebraska, the only state still using electrocution as its sole means of execution. But regardless of what the court decides, Attorney General Jon Bruning said the length of time it takes to carry out a death sentence is a bigger problem than use of the electric chair. "Real victims are not getting justice," he said after Tuesday's arguments. "We need to reform our system so it doesn't take 30 years for an execution to be carried out." Nebraska adopted the electric chair in 1913 and has used it for 15 executions, most recently in 1997. The State Supreme Court in May halted the execution of another inmate, Carey Dean Moore. The court said it could not permit Moore's execution before it decided the electric chair issue raised in Tuesday's case. The Supreme Court did not issue an immediate ruling. It could be weeks or months before it hands down a decision. State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, a longtime opponent of the death penalty, said he thinks the electric chair will fall. "I believe this is a historic occasion," Chambers said after listening to the arguments. "I don't believe the electric chair will survive this scrutiny." But there is no guarantee that the high court will make a final decision. For one thing, Nebraska requires agreement of five judges before a statute can be ruled unconstitutional. So even if four of the seven judges conclude that the electric chair violates the 8th Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, the electric chair would remain in place. Mata's defense attorney also gave the high court an alternative if it cannot reach agreement about the electric chair. The full 15 minutes of Jerry Soucie's opening arguments were spent on whether Mata's death sentence should be overturned based upon a 2002 change in Nebraska's death sentencing procedures. Mata was sentenced to death twice for the 1999 kidnapping and murder of 3-year-old Adam Gomez of Scottsbluff. Prosecutors say Mata fed part of the boy's body to a dog. Soucie did not even mention the electric chair until his rebuttal arguments after J. Kirk Brown of the Attorney General's Office discussed nothing but the electric chair during his 20-minute argument. And the Supreme Court judges clearly were focused on the electric chair. 2 judges, Michael McCormack and Chief Justice Michael Heavican, were silent. The 5 others peppered Brown with detailed questions about the case and its history. Citing findings from the lower court judge, who conducted two hearings on the subject before Mata was sentenced to death, Brown said the electric chair renders a person unconscious within seconds, if not instantaneously, with the application of electricity. Several Supreme Court judges showed that they were fully familiar with the findings made by Judge Robert Hippe of the Scotts Bluff County District Court. Judges William Connolly and Kenneth Stephan challenged Brown, saying Hippe had concluded that the electric chair caused pain in some cases. Connolly noted that the federal courts have said the electric chair is cruel and unusual if it has "a significant and unnecessary risk that a person will suffer gratuitous and unnecessary infliction of pain." Stephan said Hippe found that there's "no question that the electric chair is unique and outdated, and there's no question that there's the unnecessary infliction of pain for some, but not all." "Isn't that a classic definition of wanton infliction of pain?" Stephan asked. Responded Brown: "We're looking for the method with the least amount of pain, it's not the absence of pain, but unnecessary pain. Some amount of pain is inherent." Soucie said he couldn't "imagine anything more macabre" than killing someone in the electric chair. "Nobody in a lethal injection has ever started on fire," Soucie said, referring to botched electrocutions in other states, including 2 in Florida where flames shot from the prisoners' heads. Florida abandoned its electric chair after those incidents. (source: Omaha World-Herald) OHIO: Tri-State Man Faces The Death Penalty For Murdering Girlfriend's Son----Lamont Hunter Found Guilty Of Murder, Rape Of Child A Tri-State man could get the death penalty for murdering and raping his girlfriend's three year old boy. Lamont Hunter's sentencing is scheduled for later this morning at the Hamilton County Courthouse. Lamont Hunter murdered little Trustin Blue back in January. In June, Hunter was found guilty of murder, rape and child endangering. Hunter's trial lasted 5 days, in front of a 3 judge panel, who eventually found him guilty. During the emotional trial, forensic experts say they believed the little boy's head trauma came from being swung like a bat against a hard object. A beating that took place while Hunter was trusted to babysit the little boy. Hunter's sentencing is set for 10:30 a.m. in Judge Norbert Nadel's courtroom at the Hamilton County Courthouse. (source: E.W. Scripps Co.) CALIFORNIA: [MY NOTE-----this item is being posted to highlight how inaccurate,emotional and inflammatory headlines can be---it is clear from the content of the story that the suspect is NOT ELIGIBLE for the death penalty due to the fact he was under 18 at the time of the offense] ** Teen could get death penalty in slaying Friends and family of Shawn Kimbell were at the Hayward Hall of Justice on Tuesday to witness the arraignment of 17-year-old Derek Baddie, who was charged with Kimbell's slaying. He was also charged with special circumstances of committing murder during a robbery. Judge Henry Ramsey denied Baddie bail after informing him that a murder charge with special circumstances makes him eligible for the death penalty. Baddie, who will be tried as an adult, is expected to enter a plea Thursday. Baddie was 16 when the 22-year-old Kimbell was killed. Kimbell was driving his late-model Mercedes in downtown Hayward shortly after midnight on Oct. 8, 2006, when a single, fatal gunshot was fired. A female passenger was in the car with Kimbell that night. Police said she was a key witness in the investigation. According to police, Kimbell had stopped his car after being waved down on Alice Street. Two males in hooded sweatshirts then tried to pull Kimbell out of his vehicle, the passenger told police. As Kimbell drove away, a shot was fired, striking Kimbell in the torso. A patrol officer found Kimbell and his passenger at 12:50 a.m. near the intersection of D Street and Grand Avenue. Kimbell was slumped over the steering wheel of his stalled vehicle. Baddie was in custody on a juvenile probation matter when detectives tied him to Kimbell's slaying after a yearlong investigation. The passenger who was with Kimbell identified herself only by her nickname, Faerie. She was at the arraignment Tuesday. She said she made eye contact with Baddie several times during the arraignment. "He's grown," she said. "He's gotten taller. It was hard to keep silent. It was emotional." Also present at the arraignment was Byph Rogers, who said Kimbell had visited him at his home about an hour before his death. "I'm here because my best friend was murdered," Rogers said. "I was very happy because the special circumstances were added." Jane Holt, an ex-partner of Kimbell's mother, said she helped raise Kimbell and thought of him as her son. "He was my world," Holt said. "I want to thank the detectives for not giving up." Kimbell was a graduate of Castro Valley High School and was in the medical assistant program at Chabot College when he was killed. (source: Inside Bay Area News) ILLINOIS: Vaughn prosecutors near decision on death penalty Christopher Vaughn, the Oswego man accused of killing his wife and 3 children, will learn this month whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty if he is convicted. "This is the most grave decision [with] which a prosecutor is charged," Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow said Tuesday. "We are taking our time to review all of the statutory criteria relative to that decision." Minutes earlier, during a brief court hearing, Glasgow asked Judge Daniel Rozak for a Sept. 20 status date, "at which time the state will file its decision in regard to the death penalty." Vaughn appeared in court dressed in navy-blue jail garb, with a white T-shirt underneath. He looked thinner than when arrested June 23 and had a new, closely cropped haircut. His parents attended the hearing, during which Vaughn did not speak. Under state law, Glasgow does not have to make the death-penalty decision until Oct. 30, which is 120 days after Vaughn was extradited to Illinois, but he can make it earlier. Glasgow criticized his predecessor, Jeff Tomczak, for taking less than 24 hours to announce he would seek the death penalty in the case of Kevin Fox, the Wilmington man accused in October 2004 of the sexual assault and murder of his daughter, 3-year-old Riley. Nearly 8 months after Fox's arrest, Glasgow dropped the charges when lab testing showed DNA evidence did not match her father. Vaughn, 32, was arrested in Missouri as he showed up for the funeral of his family. He is charged with 4 counts of 1st-degree murder in the June 14 shootings of his wife, Kimberly, 34, and their three children: Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8. In Illinois, the death penalty can be imposed on a defendant found guilty of killing more than one person, killing someone under 12 or committing a murder "in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner pursuant to a preconceived plan." Mitigating factors must be considered. Vaughn's lack of previous criminal activity would be a mitigating factor, according to death-penalty law. Both legal and political factors are typically considered when determining whether to seek the death penalty, said Richard Kling, a defense attorney and clinical professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law. "The quality of the evidence," the high cost of pursuing a capital case and "whether there will be an insanity defense" are among the issues, he said. In the nearly 15 years Glasgow has served as the county's top prosecutor, with a four-year hiatus during Tomczak's term, the death sentence has been sought at least four times and has been handed down in each case. One was returned for resentencing and, with the attorney general prosecuting the case, the defendant pleaded guilty in exchange for a life sentence. 3 were commuted by former Gov. George Ryan, who cleared death row in 2002 before imposing an execution moratorium that's still in place. (source: Chicago Tribune)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALA., NEB., OHIO, CALIF., ILL.
Rick Halperin Wed, 5 Sep 2007 17:54:56 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
