[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA., OHIO, MO.

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 12



FLORIDA:

Attorneys: Not so fast lifting stay


Attorneys for a death row inmate asked the state Supreme Court on Tuesday
to send a case back to a lower court because a judge discussed the case
with the St. Petersburg Times.

Circuit Judge Carven Angel of Ocala told the newspaper Monday night that
the Department of Corrections addressed his concerns about its lethal
injection protocols. In July, Angel cited those concerns, including
qualifications of the executioner, in issuing a stay of execution for Ian
Deco Lightbourne.

But while Angel said in a telephone conversation that the concerns were
satisfied, his order on Monday that lifted the stay does not spell out
how, Lightbourne's attorneys argued in a motion to Tuesday.

They want the judge to explain his thinking.

Angel also told the newspaper that while he felt the concerns were
addressed, they are "real, legitimate concerns" that can't be ignored.

(source: St. Petersburg Times)






OHIO:

5 deputies in court in inmate's death


5 sheriff's deputies pleaded not guilty to criminal charges Tuesday in the
death of an inmate who was restrained and hit with pepper spray and a stun
gun during a struggle in the Summit County jail mental health unit.

The deputies, who surrendered Monday on charges returned in an indictment,
appeared in civilian clothes in Summit County Common Pleas Court in
northeast Ohio.

Deputy Stephen Kendrick, 34, was charged with murder; Sgt. Brett Hadley,
35, and Deputy Brian Pollinger, 33, were charged with reckless homicide;
and deputies Mark Mayer, 26, and Dominic Martucci, 30, were charged with
felonious assault.

They were indicted last week in the Aug. 20, 2006, death of Mark
McCullaugh Jr., 28, of Akron, who had been arrested by Akron police on
assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct charges.

The deputies were placed on unpaid leave.

Visiting Judge H.F. Inderlied Jr. of Geauga County presided at the
hearing, which was crowded with uniformed colleagues of the deputies and
relatives of both the deputies and McCullaugh.

Prosecutors asked for a $100,000 bond for Kendrick and bonds of $50,000
for each of the other defendants. Inderlied released them without
requiring them to put up bond money and ordered them to return to court
Oct. 18 for a pretrial hearing.

McCullaugh, whose death was ruled a homicide, had heart disease and died
from asphyxiation due to the "combined effects of chemical, mechanical and
electrical restraint," an autopsy report said.

Sheriff's officials said the 6-foot-2, 306-pound McCullaugh had repeatedly
injured himself in the jail and the officers had attempted to move him to
another cell.

McCullaugh's family said he had begun acting irrationally after a 2004
back injury, possibly because of a reaction to pain medication. "He just
began acting irrationally, like he lost touch with reality," said his
mother, Jennifer Fox.

Kendrick could face life in prison if convicted of murder, a first-degree
felony. Reckless homicide carries a possible 1- to 5-year sentence and
felonious assault carries a possible penalty of 2 years to 8 years in
prison.

Sheriff Drew Alexander said he was determined to provide McCullaugh's
family with the truth about what happened. Anyone who broke any laws in
the man's death will be held accountable, he said Monday.

To avoid a conflict of interest with Summit County prosecutors who work
with the sheriff's office, the case was presented to the grand jury by
prosecutors from Cuyahoga County. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason's
staff in Cleveland also will handle the trial duty.

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

Judge won't preside over Richey's 2nd trial


A northwest Ohio judge is stepping aside from taking part in the retrial
of a U.S.-British citizen in a death penalty case.

Judge Randall Basinger is making the move because he was the prosecutor at
Kenneth Richey's 1st trial.

Basinger has asked the Ohio Supreme Court Chief to appoint another judge
to handle the case.

Richey has been on death row since he was convicted of starting an
apartment fire in 1986 that killed a 2-year-old girl.

An appeal court threw out his death sentence earlier this year and now
prosecutors plan to try Richey again.

(source for both: Associated Press)






MISSOURI:

Police confirm remains are those of missing Porter children


Police confirmed Tuesday that they had found the remains of Sam and
Lindsey Porter, who vanished 3 years ago after their father took them for
a weekend visit.

But officers remained tight-lipped about whether the children's father,
Dan Porter, told authorities where the 2 were buried or how they died.

Sam and Lindsey were 7 and 8 when they disappeared in June 2004 after
their father picked them up at their Independence home, not far from where
their remains were found.

At a news conference, authorities said that dental records helped them
identify the bones discovered Sunday in a shallow grave in a heavily
wooded area along Cement City Road in Sugar Creek.

"We sent some of those bones out to forensics experts," said Independence
Police Department Public Information Officer Tom Gentry.

"We did get word yesterday from the medical examiner's office that they
were able to utilize dental records to make a determination  that those
bones did belong to Sam and Lindsey Porter."

Authorities also disclosed that late Monday afternoon they took the
children's mother, Tina Porter, to the site where the remains were found.
She reportedly was in seclusion.

"The commander of our investigations division was with her and took her
down there, and she had time," Gentry said.

The commander, Maj. Gregg Wilkinson, said searchers were "quiet and very
respectful" when the remains of the children were found. "We were all
hoping the children were alive," he said.

The site is on private property about 50 yards off Cement City Road in a
flood-prone depression near the Missouri River. A canopy of mature trees
completely obscures the area from the air, and thick underbrush along the
2-lane road shields it from the road.

Wilkinson said that investigators still had much work to do in preparing
the case for possible charges. A spokesman for the Jackson County
prosecutor's office said Tuesday that he could not estimate when a case
would be presented.

Dan Porter, 44, was convicted in February 2006 of parental kidnapping with
the intent to terrorize his ex-wife and sentenced to 38 years in prison.

He is in "administrative segregation" at Crossroads Correctional Center in
Cameron, Mo., said Missouri Department of Corrections spokesman Brian
Hauswirth.

"He's isolated from the general population," Hauswirth said. "We put
people in there for a variety of reasons."

Hauswirth said corrections officials had been cooperating with the
Independence Police Department and had "been sharing information and
providing information to them. What's in that information we cannot get
into."

Dan Porter's attorney could not be reached for comment.

Kent Desselle, attorney for the Sam and Lindsey Support Center, said he
was told that Dan Porter made a deal with authorities to tell them where
the children were because he was afraid of being moved from segregation to
the general prison population.

Desselle called Porter "the epitome of cowardice."

"If ever there was a death penalty situation, this has to be it," he said.

"You have all the premeditation because of all the planning involved, all
of the aggravated circumstances, the vulnerability of the victims, the
atrocity itself  these things are all probably present here."

Desselle said he had read dozens of letters that Porter had written from
prison and was disgusted at how he continued to torment his ex-wife.

"I've never seen anybody that gets as much of a kick out of
psychologically torturing someone," he said. "He takes delight in it."

After his arrest on the kidnapping charges, Porter told authorities
several stories about what he had done with his children, including that
he had cut them up, strangled them or sold them. But he also told friends,
relatives and The Kansas City Star that the children were alive and living
with another family.

The property where the remains were found had been of interest to
authorities because the land is near the Porters' home and was where Dan
Porter used to poach deer.

Authorities also had focused on the area because just before noon on the
day Dan Porter took the children, he called Tina Porter and asked her to
meet him on Cement City Road to exchange vehicles with him. He told Tina
Porter that he wanted their pickup because he had just bought some
furniture at an estate sale in Liberty.

Tina Porter said she met Dan Porter and became concerned because Sam and
Lindsey were not with him. When he told her he had left them at the estate
sale, she told her husband she would drive with him to Liberty.

She said that as they drove along Cement City Road, Dan Porter kept
looking around nervously as if he was searching for something, and then
told her to stop at a narrow path and drive the pickup into the woods.
Tina Porter said he told her that he had stashed $50,000 there and wanted
to go get it, but she refused.

Porters former supervisor and sometime hunting partner, Billy Bloss, said
he was not surprised that the remains were found along Cement City Road.
He had accompanied investigators and a Star reporter on several searches
of the area.

"They were pretty much where I said they were," said Bloss, who has had
nothing to do with Porter since his arrest three years ago. "I kept
telling them that they had to be there. That's where Dan was always
hanging out."

Sugar Creek Police Chief Herb Soule said Tuesday that he had been on at
least a dozen searches for the children in a 10-mile area along the
Missouri River, including where the remains were found.

"We've had bloodhounds down there; we've had experienced trackers down
there; we've tried every method known to mankind," Soule said. "Each time
we went out, we dreaded what we might find, but still hoped at that same
time that we could bring it to closure."

Soule, a great-grandfather, said that when he learned Monday that the
remains were those of Sam and Lindsey, he felt "a mixture of sorrow and
relief."

"I think any responsible adult looks at a child and feels an urge to
protect," he said. "And we can't understand why somebody else doesn't feel
the same way. You just don't understand why anyone would commit a horrible
crime against a child."

Mike Hart, a longtime friend of Dan and Tina Porter who has kept in
regular contact with Porter since his arrest, said he could not believe
Tuesday's news.

"I know he seems like a monster, but I just wish you could have seen him
in action earlier in life," Hart said. "He was a whole other person who
had a good outlook on life and a fairly good future until he got caught up
in the drug thing and everything went terribly wrong from there.

"It was something he always seemed to be able to control until at some
point he lost it and the drugs took over his mind and he simply melted
down. And I'm sure the dramatic and horrific childhood he had didn't help
matters at all."

(source: Kansas City Star)

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

Missouri Plan is best process----Choice of new high judge shows its
effectiveness


Congratulations to Judge Patricia Breckenridge of Nevada, Missouri's
newest Supreme Court judge.

Breckenridge survived perhaps the most scrutiny and political maneuvering
of any Supreme Court nominee in recent history. She was caught in the
middle of an Appellate Judicial Commission that nominated 3 experienced
Appeals Court judges and an executive branch that views the state's method
of choosing judges with skepticism.

In the end, Gov. Matt Blunt made the best choice available to him. He
selected the most experienced of the three judges sent to him. Blunt
should be commended for not listening to the most extreme members of his
party who wanted him to not choose a judge and force a constitutional
showdown that would have done a disservice to the state's judicial system.

Unfortunately, Blunt's selection of Breckenridge did little to quell the
rancorous debate over the Missouri Plan, which allows a bipartisan body of
legal experts to suggest three finalists for Appeals Court and Supreme
Court openings from which the governor makes the final choice. Indeed,
even in his selection of Breckenridge, the governor took a swipe at
outgoing Supreme Court Justice Ronnie White, calling him one of the most
liberal members of the bench, and he chided the Appellate Judicial
Commission for not providing him 3 clones of Supreme Court Justice John
Roberts.

Indeed, the problem with the debate in Missouri over the way in which we
choose our judges is that too many politicians are using divisive and
politically charged language to demean the judiciary rather than focusing
on the facts related to the judges that have been chosen through
Missouri's nonpartisan process.

For example, in a letter chiding Blunt for his selection of Breckenridge,
3 national conservative groups attempt to paint the newest member of
Missouri's highest court as a liberal who's anti-death penalty. But in the
case they cite, the state vs. Steven Rios, Breckenridge merely followed
established Missouri case law in ordering a new trial for the former
Columbia police officer accused of murder. In that case, the prosecutor
used heresay evidence to provide motive for the murder, and previous case
law in Missouri established the precedent that such evidence isn't
allowed. So in this case, Breckenridge followed the example of Roberts and
other conservatives who believe that precedent matters. Those who opposed
her aren't interested in the law, they merely seek more political power,
and that's precisely what the Missouri Plan was and is intended to thwart.

As we've stated in this space previously, we're believe the Missouri Plan
can be improved by making it a more open process. But beyond that, we
oppose those who seek to dismantle it in the name of consolidating
political power into one party. In the end, Blunt did the right thing by
appointing Breckenridge to the court. We encourage him to continue to
distance himself from those who seek to damage the state's judiciary
rather than preserve its independence.

(source: Opinion, News-Leader)