July 27
KENTUCKY:
Prosecutor to seek death penalty in killing of pregnant jogger
The prosecutor in Russell County plans to seek the death penalty against a man
charged with killing a pregnant woman during her morning run last month.
Commonwealth's Attorney Matthew Leveridge filed a motion Thursday declaring his
intent to seek the death penalty against Christopher W. Allman if a jury
convicts him.
Allman, 28, is charged with strangling Sarah B. Hart to death on June 14 and
hiding her body at the edge of a field off U.S. 127 near Jamestown.
Hart, 31, had been on an early-morning run with her sister when she turned back
because she wasn't feeling well. Her sister continued running.
Allman, who often walked to work along the route, allegedly killed Hart during
an attempt to rob her.
He is charged with murder, kidnapping, robbery and tampering with physical
evidence — a charge that arises from the effort to hide Hart's body.
Hart, a pharmacist, was pregnant with her 4th child. Allman is charged in the
death of the unborn baby as well.
State law requires that a homicide include certain aggravating circumstances in
order for the death penalty to be an option.
One such circumstance is committing a robbery as part of a murder. A kidnapping
in which the victim is not released alive is another.
Those were among the aggravating circumstances listed in his notice in Allman's
case, Leveridge said.
Russell Circuit Clerk Tony Kerr said Leveridge also filed notice of intent to
use as evidence incriminating statements Allman made to police. The arrest
citation said Allman admitted killing Hart.
Allman has pleaded not guilty.
(source: Herald-Leader)
ARIZONA:
Death penalty upheld against Scott Nordstrom
The Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the death penalties imposed
against Scott Nordstrom for shooting deaths in connection with a pair of 1996
robberies in Tucson.
Justice Scott Bales, writing for the unanimous court, rejected a series of
arguments Nordstrom presented which he said should have allowed him to escape
being executed. These range from allegations of prosecutorial misconduct to
denial of his due process.
In Arizona, murder, by itself, does not permit someone to be sentenced to
death. But Bales said there were other circumstances which made the death
penalty appropriate in the case of 2 of the victims; he was sentenced to life
without possibility of parole in the other 4 deaths.
Nordstrom and Robert Jones were charged with killing 2 men while robbing the
Moon Smoke Shop. 2 weeks later, they shot and killed 4 people during a robbery
at the Firefighters' Union Hall, a social club.
Both had previously been sentenced to death.
In 2002, however, the U.S. Supreme Court, in another Arizona murder case, ruled
it was improper for a judge alone to impose the death penalty. The nation's
high court said defendants are entitled to make their case to a jury that there
is evidence they should be spared execution.
That gave Nordstrom a new chance to have his sentence reduced. But in 2009,
jurors concluded he should die.
In upholding the jury's decision, Bales said there was nothing wrong with
showing them pictures of the bodies. The justice rejected arguments that the
photos were designed only to inflame the jurors, saying they were entitled to
see the murder scene.
Both robberies were solved when Scott's brother, David Nordstrom, contacted
police. He had been the driver in the getaway vehicle.
Jones' death sentence imposed by a judge was upheld before that 2002 U.S.
Supreme Court ruling. He remains on death row.
(source: Arizona Daily Star)
CALIFORNIA:
DA considers adding torture count to murder charges in Orinda machete killing
The Contra Costa District Attorney's Office is considering adding torture
charges to the existing murder charges against an Orinda man accused of killing
his longtime girlfriend with a machete last month, a prosecutor said Thursday.
Such a charge would make 62-year-old James Collin, who faces a murder charge
with use of a 2 1/2-foot-long machete, eligible for a sentence of life in
prison. If torture was charged as a special circumstance to the murder charge,
Collin would be a candidate for the death penalty.
Crime scene photos show that Collin's girlfriend, 56-year-old Evangeline Cumbe
Devera, died with deep gashes on the back of her head and the front side of her
ankles. Her left hand was nearly severed, deputy District Attorney Mary Knox
said.
"She was cut not in the position that she ultimately died in," Knox said.
Collin was arrested at the couple's Moraga Way home on June 26 after he
spontaneously admitted to police officers who were summoned to the house that
he killed Devera, police said.
Devera was found face down in the kitchen, with pools and smears of blood
around her. The coroner's office listed the official cause of death as "blunt
force and sharp force injury."
Collin made his latest appearance at the Martinez courthouse Thursday, and was
ordered to return on Aug. 2 to enter a plea. Collin's attorney, deputy public
defender Michael Kelly, declined comment on the case.
Court records show that in December 2006, Collin pleaded no contest in Contra
Costa County court to misdemeanor battery for attacking Devera -- a case that
previously did not show up in searches by Bay Area News Group because Collin's
name was misspelled in the court's computer system. He served three years
probation and completed a 52-hour anger management class as part of his
sentence.
That conviction stemmed from an Oct. 7, 2006 arrest, again at the Moraga Way
residence. Devera was trying to call 911 regarding a medical issue she was
having that day when Collin grabbed the phone from her hand and hit her in the
head with the receiver, Knox said. Collin was arrested when police, responding
to the 911 hang up, arrived and saw Devera bleeding from the scalp.
Collin has denied this newspaper's request for an interview from County Jail,
where he is being held on $1 million bail.
(source: Mercury News)
NORTH CAROLINA:
Wake death penalty case raises questions about jury selection
Should the jury selection process for death penalty cases in North Carolina be
different than non-capital murder cases?
It's a question up for debate among prosecutors acting on behalf of the public
and victims, defense attorneys working to be sure their clients get fair trials
and judges charged with the task of administering justice fairly and
efficiently.
In Wake County Superior Court on Thursday, defense attorneys for Armond Devega,
a Raleigh man possibly facing the death penalty for two shooting deaths in
2008, asked a judge to allow potential jurors to be questioned individually
when the case goes to trial, currently scheduled for Sept. 4.
Usually in jury selection – a process called voir dire – attorneys and judges
interview jurors in groups of 12.
Superior Court Judge Paul Gessner denied the defense motion, saying that the
circumstances of the case didn't warrant a special jury selection method.
Jurors in Wake County's most recent capital murder trial – the case involving
the death of North Carolina Board of Education member Kathy Taft – were
questioned individually, and voir dire took more than 5 weeks. The case had
been covered extensively in the media and dealt with sensitive subject matter
involving details of the defendant's past.
The current case hasn't had the same public exposure, Gessner said, and he is
concerned that questioning jurors individually would be inefficient,
time-consuming and costly.
"This has been a long-standing concern I've had about what's the most effective
and efficient way to administer justice," he said during Thursday's pre-trial
hearing.
Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby, who oversees the prosecution of
every case but isn’t directly involved in Devega’s, agrees with Gessner, saying
that streamlining jury selection is a way to cut the cost of death penalty
cases.
"I think, unless there's some overriding reason to individually question
people, we ought to be questioning people in groups of 12," Willoughby said. "I
mean, it's much more efficient. It saves time. It saves money. There really
aren't any issues that matter (in regard to jury selection) in most cases."
Devega's defense attorney, Terry Alford, however, raised concerns in court why
the prosecutors don't reach plea deals for life imprisonment if the state is
concerned about the cost and time of capital murder cases.
"We should be very selective in the cases that we try," Willoughby said.
"That's what the prosecutors in this state are doing. We only try 10, 12, 15,
20 death penalty cases a year out of 600 or 800 homicides (statewide) a year."
Local defense attorney Karl Knudsen, who is also not involved in Devega's case,
said individual voir dire helps protect defendants' rights and is much more
beneficial for the defense in death penalty cases.
"It allows for a freer exchange of information. It allows a person, in my
opinion, to more accurately tell you what their opinions really are," Knudsen
said. "Also, as the process goes on, it gives you more opportunity to judge
what your jury is looking like, what's likely to be coming up … and it allows
both sides to have a better opportunity to pick a jury."
"But the expense, in terms of time and money, may, in some people's minds,
offset that," he added.
Defense attorneys say the best way to cut costs is to make plea deals or
eliminate the death penalty.
"It's never made sense, financially. The cost of fully litigating a capital
case over the average 10 or 15 year life span of the case … far outweighs, in
my opinion, the benefit to society," Knudsen said. "I mean, if you can lock
someone up – and they're going to die in prison anyway – why do we want to
spend $1 million or more trying to set an artificial date as to when that
happens?"
Willoughby, however, says he believes group voir dire can be fair in death
penalty cases.
"I don't think people are embarrassed about their views, whether they're
supportive or against the death penalty," he said. "I think, either way, people
are fairly comfortable in talking about that."
Devega is charged with 2 counts of murder, 1 count of attempted murder and 9
counts of robbery in a series of robberies between January and October 2008.
Investigators say he shot and killed Anthony Dwayne Scarborough, 32, on Feb.
13, 2008, and Stephanie Powell Anderson, 39, on April 10, 2008, and injured
Modesta Fernandez Lucas on Sept. 10, 2008.
Authorities have said that Devega and Scarborough knew each other while they
were imprisoned at the Johnston Correctional Center and that Devega might have
held a grudge against Scarborough.
Anderson, a store clerk at a Wilco-Hess gas station on Trawick Road in Raleigh,
was ambushed as she arrived at work and was shot when she was unable to open
the store’s safe, investigators have said.
Fernandez-Lucas, a clerk at the last robbery location, was shot several times
but survived.
(source: WRAL News)
ARKANSAS:
Ark. man convicted of capital murder for fatally shooting police officer during
traffic stop
An Arkansas man was convicted of capital murder Thursday for killing a police
officer who begged him not to shoot.
After deliberating for less than an hour, a jury found Jerry Lard, 38, guilty
of killing Trumann police officer Jonathan Schmidt during a traffic stop in
April 2011.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Lard. The sentencing phase is
scheduled to begin Friday morning in Paragould, about 35 miles north of
Trumann. The trial was moved at the request of Lard's defense attorneys.
Members of Schmidt's family, including his widow Andrea and his parents,
embraced in the courtroom.
Donald Schmidt Sr., the slain officer's father, told reporters afterward he
realizes the case is not over and declined to comment on the verdict.
"I don't want to say anything that could hurt the case," he said.
During the sentencing phase, the jury will hear from Officer Schmidt's family
about how his death has affected their lives. Jurors also will hear from Lard's
family as the defense tries to persuade the panel to spare his life.
Lard's lawyers didn't dispute that he shot Schmidt, but they argued their
client suffers from a mental disease or defect.
"This is not a case of whodunit," defense attorney Jacqueline Wright said in
opening statements.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, said Lard knew what he was doing when he shot Schmidt.
The jury also found Lard guilty of attempted capital murder for shooting at
Schmidt's partner, Sgt. Corey Overstreet.
Overstreet testified that he showed up as backup after Schmidt pulled over a
car in which Lard was a passenger.
At one point, Schmidt asked Lard his name and birthday, and radioed the
information back. Schmidt walked to Lard's side of the car.
"When he opened the door, a hand reached out and started shooting Jonathan,"
Overstreet said.
Overstreet went to reach for his gun, but he said Lard pointed his weapon at
him, so he scrambled between the vehicles. He heard gunshots.
Video taken the night of the shooting from dashboard cameras in the police cars
showed Schmidt helping Overstreet back onto his feet after he fell, The
Jonesboro Sun reported.
Lard swore and shot at Schmidt, who said, "Please, don't shoot me again."
A medical examiner told the jury Schmidt was shot four times — once each in the
chin, neck, right wrist and chest. A protective vest blocked the chest shot.
Prosecutor Scott Ellington and defense attorney Katherine Streett declined to
comment to The Associated Press after the jury reached its verdict because the
judge issued a gag order in the case.
(soruce: Associated Press)
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