Jan. 10
OKLAHOMA:
Execution date sought for Oklahoma death row inmate who killed his wife ----
Timothy Shaun Stemple was convicted of beating his wife with a baseball bat
before running her over with a pickup in 1996. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday
rejected Stemple's final appeal, and Attorney General Scott Pruitt asked for an
execution date.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt on Monday requested an execution date
for death row inmate Timothy Shaun Stemple, who was convicted of killing his
wife in 1996, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Stemple's final appeal.
Without comment, the high court let stand a decision from the 10th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals that Stemple's right to a fair trial was not violated by the
admission of an incriminating taped interview with Tulsa police before he was
officially under arrest.
Stemple, now 46, and an accomplice beat Stemple's wife — Trisha, who was 30 —
with a baseball bat and then ran her over several times with a pickup on U.S.
75 outside of Tulsa.
Pruitt asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to set an execution date in
60 days or the earliest date the court deems fit.
“Timothy Shaun Stemple has exhausted all of his appeals in a court of law,”
Pruitt said. “After an in-depth review of this case, my office has found it is
appropriate to proceed with requesting an execution date, and that the
execution of Timothy Shaun Stemple should be carried out.”
Oklahoma death row inmate Gary Roland Welch was executed last week.
(source: The Oklahoman)
***************
Death penalty sought in 1996 murder
There are new developments in a murder case that shocked the Tulsa area.
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied the last appeal of a Jenks man convicted of
killing his wife.
Now State Attorney General Scott Pruitt wants the court to set an execution
date for 46-year-old Timothy Stemple.
In October of 1996, the body of Trisha Stemple was found along Highway 75, not
far from her disabled car.
At first investigators thought it was a hit and run.
They later determined that Timothy Stemple and a teenaged accomplice had beaten
her with a bat and then ran over her repeatedly with his truck.
They believed Stemple was after $950,000 in life insurance money.
Pruitt has asked the court to set the execution date for early March since
Stemple has exhausted all his appeals.
(source: KJRH News)
NEBRASKA:
Bruning criticizes ‘sideshow' on death drug
Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning called efforts to cast doubt on the
legitimacy of the state's death drug a "circus sideshow" that attempts to stall
the executions of 2 of the state's death-row inmates.
The attorney general filed documents Monday with the Nebraska Supreme Court
attempting to prove that the state legitimately obtained its latest supply of
sodium thiopental, 1 of 3 drugs in Nebraska's lethal injection protocol. The
filing contains copies of a canceled check and a bank statement from an Indian
drug broker showing that the broker paid for the sodium thiopental he then sold
to Nebraska.
"I think it's outrageous that the conversation continues to be about the method
of execution as opposed to the brutal murders committed by Michael Ryan and
Carey Dean Moore," Bruning said.
A filing last week by Ryan's attorney included shipping documents that labeled
the sodium thiopental samples "not for sale." The Swiss manufacturer has
maintained it gave the drug to a broker in India on the condition he use it to
develop a market in Africa.
The Calcutta broker, Chris Harris, sold the two samples of the drug to the
Nebraska Department of Correctional Services for $5,411. The department
announced it had obtained the drug Nov. 3, the same day the attorney general
asked the Supreme Court to set Ryan's execution date.
The dispute surfaced several weeks later when the chief executive officer of
the Swiss company asked Nebraska officials to return the sodium thiopental they
purchased from Harris. CEO Prithi Kochhar said they never intended for the drug
to be used for executions.
Sodium thiopental is still widely used as a medical anesthetic in the
developing world.
Because sodium thiopental is no longer manufactured in the United States,
Nebraska officials must obtain it abroad. But anti-death penalty groups have
pressured many European pharmaceutical companies not to sell the drug for
executions.
Bruning suggested Monday that bad publicity from the anti-death penalty lobby
could be behind the company's letter asking for the drug's return. He also
questioned the credibility of the "not for sale" documents that showed up last
week.
Bruning said he submitted Monday's court filing because he wanted to prove to
the high court judges and to Nebraska citizens that the drug was obtained
aboveboard. He expects the Supreme Court to soon set Ryan's execution date.
Jerry Soucie, who represents Ryan and Moore, said Monday he requested
documentation Nov. 30 about the state's purchase of the drug from the attorney
general and the Corrections Department, but they offered nothing.
The records included in the attorney general's filing were recently obtained by
the Corrections Department, Bruning responded.
It's the 2nd time Soucie has tried to stop Ryan's execution based on how the
state obtained the drug. On Dec. 21, the high court rejected Soucie's argument
as "unpersuasive and without merit."
The fight over the legitimacy of the drug involves the case of one of
Nebraska's most notorious killers. Ryan, 63, is the former leader of a
religious cult near Rulo, Neb., convicted of the sadistic torture and
1st-degree murder of one of his followers, James Thimm. He also was convicted
of 2nd-degree murder for killing 5-year-old Luke Stice, a son of a cult member.
Questions about how Nebraska obtained a previous supply of sodium thiopental
led to a stay of execution last summer for Moore. Soucie, with the Nebraska
Commission on Public Advocacy, discovered that the state lacked the proper
permits to import the previous supply.
Moore, covicted of the 1979 killings of Omaha cabdrivers Reuel Van Ness and
Maynard Helgeland, is now pursuing related legal issues in Douglas County
District Court.
Nebraska has not used the death penalty since Robert Williams died in the
electric chair in 1997. The state adopted lethal injection as its method of
execution in 2009 after the courts ruled electrocution cruel and unusual
punishment.
(source: Lexch.com)
GEORGIA:
Anti-death penalty advocates call on Ga. lawmakers to abolish death penalty
Anti-death penalty advocates, religious leaders and the NAACP rallied against
the death penalty in front of the state capitol Monday.
Although anti-death penalty legislation has been introduced in the past, those
attending the rally are optimistic that the recent execution of Troy Davis will
prompt lawmakers to finally end the death penalty in Georgia. Edward DuBose is
president of the Georgia state conference of the NAACP.
"We're certainly hoping that the lawmakers of Georgia will understand through
the death of Troy Davis that it's time for us to have a real conversation about
ending the death penalty."
It's an effort that a handful lawmakers like Representative Tyrone Brooks say
they're already behind.
"We've got to say we're opposed to killing anytime, all the time, no matter who
it is. That's only we're going to ever lay the foundation to stop the killing."
Troy Davis was convicted in 1991 in the shooting death of Savannah police
officer Mark MacPhail. But several key witnesses in the case recanted their
testimony and number of celebrities, civil rights organizations and people
around the world believed Davis was innocent. Meanwhile, MacPhail's family
believes Davis committed the murder and justice was done with his execution.
(source: WABE News)
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