Jan. 27
TEXAS----impending female execution
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-kimberly-mccarthy
(source: change.org)
***************************
Documents offer look at killer David Leonard Wood's prison life
Recently filed court documents in convicted serial killer David Leonard Wood's
post-conviction appeal provide several insights into his life in prison.
Wood, now 54 years old, has been in and out of prison for sex offenses since he
was 19. In 1989, he was sentenced to death for the murders of 6 women in
Northeast El Paso.
Wood wrote extensively while in prison, corresponded with pen pals and took
part in prison riots, according to a recently filed court document titled,
"State's Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law," which was prepared
by the Texas Attorney General's Office.
"(Wood) is not reluctant to be assertive or even aggressive when the situation
calls for it, and has participated in several riots, including fighting with a
corrections officer," court documents state. "(In) numerous letters to pen
pals, the applicant (Wood) expresses his affection for them and addresses the
relationships he has with them. Indeed, one pen pal stated that she had
received 422 letters from (Wood) in 7 1/2 years."
Wood is asking the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to spare him from the death
penalty.
Since his stay of execution in 2009, Wood has been seeking to prove that he is
mentally retarded, and therefore should not be executed. He's also waiting on
the results of DNA tests of items collected as evidence for his trial in the
murders.
District Judge Bert Richardson, a visiting judge for the 171st District Court,
is expected to issue his final recommendation on the mental retardation issue
to the state appeals court next month.
According to court records, Wood belonged to a white supremacy organization
while in prison. "The Court finds that, notwithstanding (Wood's) denials, TDCJ
(Texas Department of Criminal Justice) records note that he was in fact an
admitted member of the Aryan Nation."
Court records also state that Wood "frequently uses the TDCJ library resources
since he developed an interest in reading," and also got in trouble during his
incarceration.
"TDCJ records reveal another prison inmate once considered (Wood) to be a
source of conflict and a threat because (Wood) wanted the inmate to participate
in smuggling narcotics into prison," court records state.
Wood was an artist and was handy with complex automotive tools, according to a
summary of Herbert Wilbanks' testimony included in the state's proposed order
document.
Wilbanks, who supervised inmates who worked in a facility known as the "bus
barn," said he saw Wood break down tools, including a pneumatic impact wrench
that has more than 40 parts.
Under Wilbanks, Wood earned the role of lead man in the tool shop at the bus
barn.
Court records say that Wood's history "reflects an ability to plan and
participate in leisure activities. He reads and makes art to pass the time. In
the free world (out of prison), he enjoyed hanging out with his biker friends
and interacting with others at parties and bars."
The state mentioned those things in the proposed order document to demonstrate
that Wood is not mentally retarded.
Wood "has been an avid reader of books and magazines while in prison. His
interests include books by Tom Clancy, Dean Koontz, the Twilight series, Bob
Ross's 'The Joy of Painting,' Smithsonian, Maxim, Reminisce, Vanity Fair,
Prison Legal News, National Geographic, and Car & Driver, among others," court
records state. "(He) also has an interest in magazines for young girls or with
pictures of young girls. His TCDJ records and mail show that he repeatedly
orders, asks for, and talks about books and magazines, although he is typically
denied some magazines pertaining to young women."
Before he was imprisoned in Huntsville, Texas, for the 1987 murders, Wood
married while he was at the El Paso County Jail and prepared his own divorce
later. According to the most recent court records, Wood was married "several
times," but the documents did not offer any details about the other marriages.
Another example of Wood's failure to exhibit mental retardation has been his
interest in the law, and his acting as a jailhouse lawyer for another inmate.
"(Death) row inmate, Jonathan Reed, requested a visit with (Wood) so that
(Wood) could help Reed with his federal habeas petition. The visit was
granted," court records state.
The state's proposed order document offered many examples that indicate that
Wood is not mentally retarded and is able to interact socially with others.
Wood was convicted in the slayings of Desiree Wheatley, Angelica Frausto,
Susanna Ivy Williams, Rosa Maria Casio, Karen Baker and Dawn Smith. Their
bodies were found buried in shallow graves in the Northeast El Paso desert,
near the present Painted Dunes Golf Course.
El Paso police also suspect him in the 1987 disappearances of 3 other teenage
girls and a young woman, who have never been heard from or seen since then.
From the beginning, Wood has denied killing anyone.
"I am hoping that the court will come to the same conclusion as I have," said
Marcia Fulton, Wheatley's mother. "I sat in on the hearings, and I listened to
all the testimony. Wood is not mentally retarded, and that means he should be
put to death. That will give my daughter justice."
(source: El Paso Times)
ALABAMA:
see:
http://www.openbama.org/bills/index?chambers%5B%5D=senate&chambers%5B%5D=house&session=1061&type=all
&status=all&sponsor=118&subject=0&tag=0
(source: openbama.org)
KENTUCKY:
Death penalty policy changes for Jefferson County----Prosecutor to pick, choose
more
For more than 15 years, the policy in the Jefferson County prosecutor's office
was fairly simple: Seek the death penalty in every murder case that qualified
for it, unless there was a compelling reason not to.
Now, that policy - which defense attorneys argued was often a waste of time and
money - is changing.
Newly elected Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Wine said he is implementing a more
"intense selection" process and additional criteria for choosing capital cases
- including the likelihood of jurors recommending the death sentence, given the
evidence in the case.
Wine said he also may try something done in federal court in which prosecutors
meet first with defense attorneys who want to present evidence and mitigating
factors as to why they shouldn???t seek the death penalty. "I feel like I'm
given a certain amount of discretion, and I plan to exercise that discretion,"
Wine said in an interview.
Attorneys who for years have prepared defenses for death-penalty cases only to
see the charges reduced before trial welcome the shift.
"You ought to make sure the guy deserves it and you think there is a reasonable
chance the jury would actually do it," said public defender Mike Lemke, noting
that it has been years since a Jefferson Circuit Court jury has handed down the
sentence.
Wine's predecessor, Dave Stengel, said in an interview that his policy -
seeking the death penalty in every case in which it's allowed, barring a
compelling reason not to - followed state law.
The law allows the death penalty when a murder is committed in combination with
one of a number of so-called aggravators such as kidnapping or robbery.
However, Wine, a judge since 1992, said the office has prosecuted dozens of
death-penalty cases over the years, but he could not remember the last time a
Jefferson County jury handed down a death sentence.
In fact, the last such sentence recommended by a Jefferson Circuit Court jury
was in December 2004 when Sherman Noble received 2 death sentences and a life
sentence for the March 1987 murders of 3 men. Even then, defense attorneys
consider it a bit of an anomaly because Noble, who died on death row in 2007,
represented himself during much of the trial.
While no one keeps stats on how many times prosecutors in Jefferson County have
sought the death penalty over the years, Chief Jefferson County public defender
Dan Goyette said it is "dozens upon dozens," and he called that a "colossal
waste of the limited resources available to the courts." He argued that some of
the cases in which prosecutors sought the death penalty were so weak, the
defendants were eventually acquitted or found not guilty.
The cost of prosecuting death-penalty cases statewide is as much as $10 million
annually, according to the state Department of Public Advocacy. State Public
Advocate Ed Monahan said death-penalty cases are costly because they require 2
public defenders, mental health experts, more filings and motions to the court
and extra preparation while requiring a larger panel of potential jurors. And
because each potential juror must be questioned individually about the death
penalty, jury selection can take at least a week.
"You've really put a lot of cost into cases with death as a potential sentence
that wind up resolving before trial," he said, adding that the state has spent
millions on capital punishment since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 -
all of which has resulted in only three executions in that time period.
Given that state-ordered budget cuts are, at the same time, impairing other
aspects of the judicial branch of government, he said, "the question to ask
(is), 'Is that the best way to use our limited resources?'"
Lemke, the public defender, used as an example a 2009 case in which he spent 15
months preparing to defend Andrew Cochran against a death sentence in the
murder of Jamar Payne in an August 2007 home invasion in which a man
accompanying Cochran shot Payne. But the case was settled during jury selection
- with Cochran agreeing to accept a sentence of the 3 years he had already
served and be released that day.
"One minute, this person is so dangerous, you are asking potential jurors if
they are willing to give him the death penalty, then all of a sudden, he can go
home," Lemke said. "They would have had a heck of a time getting a conviction,
much less the death penalty."
Stengel said that if defense attorneys have a complaint, it's with the
legislature and the law stipulating which cases are eligible for the death
penalty, not with prosecutors.
Prosecutors have said filing a notice that they would seek the death penalty
doesn't mean the case will ever make it to trial and is a good negotiating tool
to get defendants to plead guilty and accept long prison terms. This, they
argue, saves time and money and keeps trials from backing up the court system.
"If you were facing the death penalty, wouldn't you think awfully hard about
accepting a plea?" Stengel asked in the interview.
Ernest Jasmin, who was Jefferson commonwealth???s attorney from 1988 to 1992,
had an announced policy of pursuing the death penalty in every possible case so
he would not be accused of bias in applying it.
Ray Larson, commonwealth's attorney in Fayette County, said he takes a similar
approach, and if a murder case has the necessary aggravators, his office seeks
the death penalty and "lets juries decide."
In 2011, an American Bar Association panel found that while some Kentucky
prosecutors seek the death penalty in every eligible case, others use their
discretion, with no mechanism for assuring that it is applied in an evenhanded
fashion.
"Kentucky prosecutors have filed notice of intent to seek the death penalty in
cases which ultimately resulted in acquittal or convictions for lesser crimes,
such as manslaughter or robbery," according to the report, filed by a team of
lawyers, professors and retired judges.
Seeking the penalty sought so often, but imposing it so rarely, "raises an
issue as to whether current charging practices ensure the fair, efficient, and
effective enforcement of criminal law."
The panel recommended the state adopt guidelines governing prosecutors'
discretion. The attorney general's office said no state guidelines have been
adopted.
While praising Wine's changes, Goyette said a review of all current capital
cases also is warranted.
Wine said he is working to formalize his policy and said it is very unlikely
the office is going "to go back and review cases where a decision has already
been made."
(source: The Courier-Journal)
NEBRASKA:
24 years later, Ord murder trial begins Monday
The trial will start Monday for a former Ord man accused of killing an
acquaintance nearly 24 years ago.
John Oldson, 46, was the last person seen with Cathy Beard on May 31, 1989. She
left her keys, cigarettes and jacket at the Some Place Else Tavern where she
was a part-time waitress.
Oldson was arrested Jan. 26, 2012, and charged with 1st-degree murder, which
carries a penalty of death or life in prison. Oldson has been held in the
Valley County Jail since his arrest.
Jury selection will begin Monday in Howard County District Court. District
Judge Karin Noakes agreed to a change of venue from Valley County, in part
because the Some Place Else Tavern is across the street from the Valley County
Courthouse and is visible from the courtroom.
Beard went missing in 1989 and in April of 1992 a body that was eventually
determined to be hers was found in a Valley County pasture.
During Oldson's preliminary hearing in April 2012, retired State Patrol
investigator Larry Karschner said when the remains were found it was mostly a
skeleton with clothes matching the description of what Beard was wearing the
night she disappeared.
An autopsy on Beard, performed shortly after her body was found in 1992, showed
that besides severe blunt force trauma to her head, there were marks indicating
blunt force trauma to her ribs and cuts to the abdominal region of the spine
and vertebrae.
Oldson was interviewed in 1989. He was not arrested for the crime at the time,
but rather treated as a witness.
During those interviews, Karschner said, Oldson told him that he had talked to
Beard in the bar the night she disappeared and "tried to get her to go outside
for, in his words, 'a little touchy-feely.'"
He said Oldson told him that Beard pulled away from him, he got into his pickup
and watched Beard get into a dark-colored pickup with an 88-county, or Loup
County, license plate that was driven by a man with longer blonde hair and a
mustache. Oldson told the officer in 1989 that once he left the alley the night
Beard disappeared, he went home, took a shower, took a couple phone calls and
then went to the laundromat to wash clothes.
Other testimony from interviews conducted with witnesses contradicted some of
Oldson's statements.
A list filed by Valley County prosecutors shows that potential witnesses who
could be called for the trial include Oldson's former wife, Beard's boyfriend
at the time of her disappearance, several acquaintances of Oldson and Beard, as
well as several current and former law enforcement officers who investigated
Beard's death either in 1989 or more recently.
Oldson's attorneys filed a statement that they plan to present as evidence
several interviews with people now deceased, such as Oldson's father, and
others who said they saw what happened in the alley of the bar that night.
They also plan to present a copy of a diary, supposedly written by an Ord
woman, discussing her involvement in the abduction and murder of 4 women, 1 of
whom defense attorneys believe fits a description of Beard.
Witness subpoenas note that the trial is expected to last up to 2 weeks.
(source: The Independent)
ILLINOIS:
Illinois law would make it harder to pass bills during lame duck sessions
A Republican lawmaker filed legislation this week aimed at discouraging the use
of "lame duck sessions" that quickly pass controversial measures by relying on
votes from outgoing legislators.
The proposal, sponsored by Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, would raise the
number of votes necessary to approve certain measures in a narrow window that
occurs every January in odd-numbered years.
Several legislators said they liked the proposal, but Durkin isn't sure
Democratic leaders will allow the measure to get to a committee or to a floor
debate.
Under current Illinois law, members of the House and Senate who are retiring or
who have lost their re-election bids can vote on legislation during a short
window of time in January before a new General Assembly is sworn in.
With no reason to worry about the impact of their votes on the next election,
these "lame ducks" are often relied upon to cast votes on controversial
measures.
In January 2011, 3 major provisions were approved in the lame duck window - a
67 % temporary increase in the state income tax, repeal of Illinois' death
penalty, and the civil unions law.
This year, the lame duck session "was relatively relaxed," Durkin said, "but
there was a push to do a few things - same-sex marriage, pension reform and gun
reform."
"It's just becoming more of a standard practice - that controversial issues are
being pushed off" until this lame duck period and rushed to passage without
public imput or airing of issues, he said.
"I don't think that's the right way to run the state, operating at the 11th
hour," Durkin said. "It really cheapens the process."
"This is not just a criticism of the Democratic Party," Durkin said, referring
to times Republicans used the lame duck session in a similar way. "Both parties
share the blame."
Durkin's proposal would require legislation approved in the lame duck session
to have the support of 3/5 of the House and Senate in odd-numbered years,
rather than just a simple majority.
Some legislators say they support Durkin's proposal.
"I think it's a good idea," Sen. David Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, said. "It
makes for good government."
Since a 3/5 vote is required when the same legislators vote in the veto
session, Luechtefeld said, Durkin's proposal "just makes sense."
"My 1st reaction was it won't get called for a vote," Luechtefeld said. But he
plans to talk with his staff about the possibility of introducing an identical
bill in the Senate.
"In recent years, extremely controversial legislation has passed only with the
support of these lame duck legislators," Sen. Jason Barickman, R- Bloomington,
wrote in an email Friday. "We have to do something to begin to regain the
public's trust in the accountability of those they elect to represent them in
Springfield, and this is a good 1st step."
Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, said that "in theory" he supported the proposal
because potentially it could reduce the tendency for legislation on "major
issues to be held to wait for a lame duck session where the voting may be quite
different."
Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, also supports Durkin's proposal. "It would make
it more difficult to pass major pieces of legislation such as tax increases
with a simple majority of the legislative body, some of whom won't be coming
back," Mitchell said in an email.
One Democratic lawmaker said he is interested in the idea, but needs to
consider it more.
"I believe that the lame duck session can be problematic for voters - the lame
duck legislators no longer have to answer to their constituents. I'd like to
take a closer look at the bill," Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, said in an
email.
The proposal is House Bill 195.
(source: Quad Cities Times)
IOWA:
Lawmaker says he'll introduce death penalty bill
A Republican lawmaker was backed by the parents of children slain or missing as
he called Friday for the reinstatement of Iowa's death penalty.
Milo Sen. Kent Sorenson announced he would introduce a measure that would
establish capital punishment for the 1st time since the 1960s. The death
penalty would be limited to people convicted of 1st-degree murder in which a
victim was kidnapped or sexually abused or if the victim was a child.
"This is something we need to enact to protect the children of our state,"
Sorenson said.
The bill will go to the Senate Judiciary Committee, but Chairman Rob Hogg said
the panel won't take up the proposal. Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, said life in prison
is a severe penalty and that the state should "focus all our resources instead
on training law enforcement to solve the over 150 unsolved murders we have in
Iowa."
Among the 6 parents standing with Sorenson were Heather and Drew Collins, whose
daughter Elizabeth was killed after disappearing last July with her cousin,
Lyric Cook. Their bodies were found in a wooded area in December.
Asked about the likelihood that no action will be taken on the death penalty
bill, Drew Collins said, "It makes me sick that this is not open for debate."
Sorenson said he hasn't given up on the bill, arguing there is bipartisan
support for the proposal and that he would urge House and Senate leaders to
allow public hearings.
Iowa repealed capital punishment in 1965. State law allows life sentences for
convictions of murder and the most serious cases of sexual assault and
kidnapping.
The last concerted effort to reinstate the death penalty came as part of Gov.
Terry Branstad's campaign platform in his 1994 run for governor. The House
approved a capital punishment bill but it died in the Democrat-controlled
Senate.
Branstad spokesman Tim Albrecht said the governor still supports the death
penalty in limited cases and will give Sorenson's bill consideration should it
reach his desk.
Parents at the news conference said Iowa's current law doesn't give criminals a
reason to keep their victims alive. They said a death penalty could make people
think twice before killing someone.
"Will this stop abductions? No. But it may stop someone from killing a child,"
said Noreen Gosch.
Her son, Johnny, disappeared in 1982 while delivering newspapers in West Des
Moines and has never been found.
Adonis Hill, whose 13-year-old daughter Donnisha was killed in 2006, demanded
change in the death penalty law. Donnisha stepped off her school bus at the
wrong stop, then was taken to Illinois and killed.
"These perpetrators need to be done away with," Hill said. "Change is now. It's
not yesterday. It's not tomorrow. We need to get this bill passed."
Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, said statistics have indicated capital
punishment doesn't deter killings, and he argued Iowa's current law is as tough
as the death penalty.
"Iowa has a death penalty," Danielson said. "It's called life in prison without
parole."
The cost of prosecuting death penalty cases makes them difficult for
governments, said Andrea Lyon, an Illinois death penalty defense lawyer. She
noted that one reason Illinois abolished capital punishment 2 years ago was
because it cost the state so much to prosecute.
"The cost to try, convict and imprison someone for life is a quarter of what it
costs to give them the death penalty," she said.
(source: Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA:
Grisly crime makes the case for reforming California death penalty
What is it going to take to revive the death penalty in California and to begin
exacting punishment on those who deserve the ultimate sentence?
It was a question that cried out of a Sacramento courtroom Friday as Richard
Hirschfield - yet another murderer devoid of humanity - was sentenced to
receive a lethal injection no one believed would ever be administered. Not in a
state where capital punishment has been suspended since 2006.
That is not justice considering the details of Hirschfield's abduction and
murder of a teenage couple in unspeakable ways that cannot be fully described
in a family newspaper. It is not justice considering that a majority of
Californians support the death penalty and voted two months ago to defeat a
well-funded initiative to repeal it.
It is not justice considering that Hirschfield's judgment day came a full 32
years after he killed Sabrina Marie Gonsalves and John Harold Riggins. Both
were 18 and students at UC Davis in 1980 when their innocent lives intersected
with Hirschfield on a foggy night that has haunted their loved ones ever since.
Words cannot fully account for the physical, spiritual and psychological damage
Hirschfield's crimes exacted on the families of two young people forever dubbed
"The Davis Sweethearts" in media stories stretching across 6 U.S. presidencies.
Some loved ones in this case stopped celebrating Christmas. The murders - on
Dec 20, 1980 - took place on the wedding anniversary of John Riggins' mom and
dad - an occasion they stopped celebrating after their son was found in a muddy
Folsom ditch near the body of his beloved girlfriend.
Both kids had been bound and gagged in duct tape, their throats slashed.
Hirschfield sexually assaulted Gonsalves and these two poor souls undoubtedly
experienced pain and terror in their final moments that no one would want to
imagine in a nightmare - let alone in real life.
There are things Hirschfield did to their bodies that I can't convey to you.
Frankly, that's part of the problem with the death penalty in California.
The details of death penalty cases are so unspeakable they are rarely
disseminated in mainstream media. Instead, they are papered over with neutral
words that blunt the full impact. This makes it easier for death penalty
opponents to rationalize their feelings and base their arguments on abstract
notions of justice - devoid of facts that haunt families and law enforcement
officers.
Who wants to read about such depravity at any time of day, let alone as you
drink your coffee and try to enjoy your paper on a Sunday morning?
But by not being explicit, we distort the truth. In the "Davis Sweethearts"
case, evil stripped good, decent people of everything they were and everything
they believed was true about life and justice.
It ingrained fear in the hearts of previously happy families and scarred even
members of these families who weren't yet born when Hirschfield overpowered and
abducted 2 kids in acting out some perverse fantasy.
So what can be done?
It's hard to imagine the state Legislature will ever work to reform the death
penalty and speed up endless delay tactics. Liberal Democrats run the table in
California and Republicans are irrelevant.
For years, a stream of death penalty reform bills died in the Senate Public
Safety Committee.
The ACLU is certain to take another run at repealing the death penalty. The
chief justice of California's Supreme Court has predicted it could take three
more years to sort out lawsuits that stopped implementation of the death
penalty in California in 2006.
But given that voters rejected a death penalty repeal effort, there is another
debate worth having: Should the death penalty be reformed so that it can be
used again?
McGregor Scott, the former U.S. attorney in Sacramento, said the way to do that
would be for voters to approve using a single drug - a "1-drug protocol" - for
executions. The federal judge who halted the state's executions in 2006 ruled
that using multiple drugs could cause death row inmates to suffer inhumanely.
Scott said he and other death penalty supporters would spend 2013 raising money
with the hope of putting death penalty reform before California voters next
year.
Scott said the U.S. federal courts have already upheld the use of one drug for
executions in Arizona.
"One of the commitments we made was if we prevailed last November that we would
come back in 2014 with a package to reform the death penalty," said Scott, who
worked against the repeal effort.
It's the other side of the argument from those who first create endless legal
delays and then try to push for repeal because the delays are too expensive.
How about reforming the death penalty?
An honest death penalty debate is well worth having because evil lives in our
world, whether we care to know about it or not.
(source: Opinion, Marcos Breton, Sacramento Bee)
_______________________________________________
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A free service of WashLaw
http://washlaw.edu
(785)670.1088
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
