[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., GA., MD., P. RICO

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 12



KENTUCKY----impending execution

Bishops fight death penalty


Kentucky's 4 Catholic bishops have asked the governor to commute the death
sentence of an inmate who has sought execution and is scheduled to die by
lethal injection on Nov. 21.

The bishops want Marco Allen Chapman's sentence commuted against the
inmate's wishes. Chapman pleaded guilty in 2004 and asked to be executed
for killing 2 young children and attacking their mother and older sibling.
Since then, Chapman has sought to fire his attorneys and waive all of his
appeals.

The 4 bishops, Ronald Gainer of Lexington, Joseph Kurtz of Louisville,
Roger Foys of Covington and John J. McRaith of Owensboro said in a written
statement that executing the 36-year-old Chapman is wrong because he is
"playing God with his life and inviting us to participate with him."

"His request, and the State's willingness to grant it, demeans all of us,
and makes us, perhaps unwittingly, participants in the suicidal ideations
of a man unwilling to take responsibility for his tragic decisions," the
bishops said. "For the State of Kentucky to help him in this delusion is
inappropriate and does not promote justice."

The group met with Gov. Steve Beshear in July and renewed their request on
Tuesday.

None of the 4 bishops was available Tuesday; all were attending the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C.

Jay Blanton, a spokesman for Beshear's office, declined to comment because
the governor might not have received the letter yet.

Chapman has been seeking execution since pleading guilty in December 2004
to attacking Carolyn Marksberry and her 3 children, Courtney, Cody and
Chelbi Sharon at their home in the northern Kentucky town of Warsaw.

It is a policy of The Associated Press not to name victims of sexual
assault in most cases; however, Marksberry has discussed her ordeal in
national television broadcasts.

Chapman, in multiple interviews with The Associated Press, has said he's
not suicidal. Instead, Chapman said, he just wants the sentence handed
down to be carried out.

"I am merely asking the state to carry out my sentence of death by lethal
injection so the Marksberry family can have the peace and justice they
deserve for the crimes I've committed against them," Chapman said on Oct.
28.

The state's public defenders have asked the Kentucky Supreme Court to halt
the execution while it considers a challenge to the lethal injection
protocol brought by 2 other inmates. The justices had not ruled on that
request as of Tuesday.

Kentucky has executed 2 people since the reinstatement of the death
penalty in 1976. Harold McQueen was electrocuted in 1997 for the shooting
death of a store clerk in Richmond. Eddie Lee Harper Jr., waived his
appeals and was executed by lethal injection in 1999 for killing his
adoptive parents.

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

Man Indicted in Murder of 3 Children


A western Kentucky man charged in the brutal slayings of 3 children has
been indicted on 3 counts of murder.

Commonwealth's Attorney G.L. Ovey says the grand jury in Trigg County also
indicted Kevin W. Dunlap on 1 count of attempted murder for the attack on
the childrens mother.

State police say she was raped by an assailant who stabbed her 3 children
-- a 17 and 14 year-old girl and a 5 year-old boy -- at their home in the
Roaring Spring community near the Fort Campbell Army post in southern
Kentucky.

Ovey says he plans to pursue the death penalty against Dunlap.

Dunlap's attorney, James Gibson, did not return a call Wednesday seeking
comment.

Dunlap, of Hopkinsville, was also indicted on 4 counts of kidnapping,
1st-degree rape, burglary and evidence tampering.

(source for both: Associated Press)






GEORGIA:

Prosecution: Nichols will always be dangerous


The prosecution told jurors Wednesday that Brian Nichols will never stop
plotting to escape, he will always be dangerous and that they need to
neutralize him by sentencing him to death.

Prosecutors began calling witnesses during the penalty phase of Nichols'
death-penalty trial in Superior Court, aiming to make the case that life
imprisonment is too risky a sentence to give a multiple killer with a
track record of escape attempts.

Lead prosecutor Kellie Hill talks to jurors Wednesday during Brian Nichols
trial.

Lead prosecutor Kellie Hill said jurors only have to read Nichols' own
words in letters to fellow plotters to realize that the risk of escape is
real. Nichols last known plot was at the beginning of jury selection for
this trial, when paperclips fashioned as handcuff keys were found in his
cell at the DeKalb County jail, where he was housed after his escape plots
were uncovered at the Fulton County jail, Hill said.

Also found in the cell were sharp pieces of broken tile that could be used
as a weapon, Hill said.

"His plots to escape are not fantasy  he is able to manipulate people
inside and outside the jail," Hill said. "He is still planning. He is
still dangerous He is someone who must be sentenced to death for the
safety of our society."

Hill read from one of Nichols' letters to a Fulton County jail inmate
where he talked about how he had bribed a guard and gave advice on how to
overpower guards for their escape. The guard in question was later fired.

"What better way to get a glimpse in to a mind of a cold-blooded killer
than to look at his own words," Hill said.

On Friday, the jury rejected Nichols' insanity defense and found him
guilty of 54 crimes, including 4 murders, on March 11, 2005. Now the jury
must decide whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison.

Fulton County juries seldom impose death sentences in capital-murder
trials. In the Nichols case, the man who became the jury foreman said he
would be reluctant to impose the death penalty unless he was convinced the
defendant still posed a danger.

Prosecutors plan a lengthy penalty phase to give the foreman and the other
11 jurors with the evidence  including much testimony to show Nichols
remains a threat  to give the ultimate punishment.

"The evidence will show that his past actions have earned a sentence of
death, his current actions deserve a sentence of death and his future
dangerousness requires a sentence of death," Hill told jurors Wednesday
before the testimony began in the penalty phase.

Nichols' 26-hour crime spree, known at the Fulton Courthouse shootings,
began when he escaped from a holding cell before his rape trial was to
resume. He beat his guard, leaving her brain-damaged, took her gun and
went to the courtroom and murdered the judge who was presiding over his
rape trial and the court reporter. He murdered a sheriff's deputy who
pursued him when he fled the courthouse and, that night, he murdered an
off-duty federal agent during a robbery. He claimed a delusional
compulsion that he was leading a "slave rebellion" against an unjust
justice system caused him to commit the crimes.

Lead defense lawyer Henderson Hill (no relationship to the prosecutor)
told jurors not to simply look at Nichols' crimes but also to look at his
background and the man Nichols was before the rape of his longtime
girlfriend in August 2004 and the courthouse shooting.

Nichols, 36, had been a successful, middle-class, church-going man,
earning $80,000 a year as an UNIX system administrator for UPS. His life
began to fall apart when Nichols impregnated another woman, causing his
girlfriend of 7 years to end their relationship.

Henderson Hill attacked the prosecutor's plea to jurors that they focus on
who Nichols is today. The defense lawyer asked jurors to also focus on
Nichols' past  including the sexual abuse Nichols claimed to suffer as a
child.

"YES, YES, YES, it is a question of who he was before," Hill said. "You
can't start the clock in August 2004."

The defense lawyer urged jurors not to put too much credibility in
Nichols' letters, suggesting that they were still the product of a
diseased mind  regardless of whether jurors thought he was insane.

In his plea to spare Nichols, Hill reminded jurors that his client had a
bleak future, regardless of whether they selected death by lethal
injection, life without parole, or life with the possibility of parole.

"Are we in a situation where we throw up our hands and say the only way
the community can protect itself is to kill Brian Gene Nichols?" he asked.
"Accountability is not a question. He will be held accountable in the most
severe way. Only the most severe punishments are available."

(source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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

Jury considers death penalty for courthouse gunman


Prosecutors are urging jurors to recommend the death sentence for the
gunman convicted of killing a judge and 3 others in an Atlanta courthouse
shooting spree.

Brian Nichols in March 2005 was being taken to a courtroom when he beat a
deputy guarding him, stole her gun and went on the rampage.

Prosecutor Kellie Hill told jurors Wednesday that the 36-year-old would
try to again escape and kill if they sentenced him to life in prison.

The defense urged jurors to probe his background to determine whether
execution is the right punishment. Nichols had pleaded not guilty by
reason of insanity.

Instead, the same jury last week convicted him of 54 counts including
murder. The sentencing phase could last until Thanksgiving.

Authorities say Nichols has already been plotting to break out of jail.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Death penalty phase begins in Nichols case


The death penalty phase is under way in the case of a gunman found guilty
of killing 4 people in a shooting spree that began at a downtown Atlanta
courthouse.

Brian Nichols was found guilty Friday in the fatal shootings of a judge, a
court reporter, a deputy and a federal agent in the 2005 rampage.

The 36-year-old Nichols pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. But a
jury rejected his claims, finding him guilty of all 54 counts against him,
including murder and aggravated assault.

The sentencing phase was to begin on Monday, but Nichols' lawyers won a
2-day delay to prepare for another round of witnesses.

(source: Fort Mill Times)






MARYLAND:

Panel recommends abolishing death penalty in Md.


A state commission has voted to recommend abolishing the death penalty in
Maryland.

The Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment voted 13-7 to make the
recommendation in its report to lawmakers and the governor next month.

The vote came after the failure of a proposed amendment to keep the death
penalty for people who kill correctional officers or police officers.

The report to the General Assembly is due Dec. 15.

(source: Associated Press)






PUERTO RICO:

Death penalty debated in PR murder-for-hire scheme


The attorney for a widow accused of hiring someone to kill her Canadian
husband in Puerto Rico is asking whether prosecutors will seek the death
penalty.

Nicolas Nogueras says he needs to know so he can prepare his client's
defense. Aurea Vazquez Rijos is living in Italy and authorities are
seeking her extradition. Italy does not extradite suspects who face the
death penalty.

Vazquez is accused of promising a man $3 million to kill her former
husband, Canadian businessman Adam Anhang.

Lymarie Llovet is a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office in San
Juan. She said Tuesday that prosecutors will soon announce their decision.

Police say Anhang was beaten to death in September 2005.

(source: Associated Press)