Feb. 20
GEORGIA----stay of impending execution
Ga. court halts Cook execution
The Georgia Court of Appeals has temporarily halted Thursday's scheduled
execution of a Georgia inmate convicted of killing 2 college students.
Andrew Cook is 1 of 2 Georgia inmates who had been scheduled to die by
injection this week. Warren Lee Hill's execution was put on hold Tuesday, less
than an hour before he was set to die.
In a combined legal challenge before the court, attorneys for Cook and Hill
argue the state is violating the law by using pentobarbital in executions
without a prescription.
The state filed court motions on Wednesday asking the Court of Appeals to deny
Cook's request for a stay and lift the one granted in the Hill case. The state
argues the prescription challenge is frivolous and seeks to have the case moved
to the Georgia Supreme Court for an expedited review.
In its order, the court said it issued the stay so there would be time to
consider their appeal.
Earlier Wednesday, it appeared that Cook's legal avenues to block the execution
were narrowing, as the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request for a delay and the
state Board of Pardons and Parole denied his clemency request.
Attorneys for Cook had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene, arguing his
counsel was ineffective during the sentencing phase of the trial. In a
petition, Cook's attorneys argued the trial attorneys had failed to present
"any of the readily available mitigating evidence of their young client's
life-long history of serious mental illness."
But the U.S. Supreme Court said Cook's application for a stay had been denied
along with his petition for a rehearing.
Cook was convicted in the January 1995 slayings of Mercer University students
Grant Patrick Hendrickson and Michele Lee Cartagena, who were shot several
times as they sat in a car at Lake Juliette.
Authorities described the killings as random and said Cook had no interaction
with Hendrickson or Cartagena prior to the shooting.
Also Wednesday, the state Board of Pardons and Parole issued a statement saying
it had voted to deny clemency to Cook. Family and friends had appeared before
the board on Tuesday and declined comment after the hearing.
****************************
Court Halts Scheduled Execution
On Wednesday, the state asked the court to deny Cook's request for a stay and
lift the stay it granted for Hill. The state argues the challenge is
frivolous.The Georgia Court of Appeals has temporarily halted Thursday's
execution of death row inmate Andrew Cook.
Cook is 1 of 2 Georgia inmates scheduled for execution this week. Warren Lee
Hill's execution was put on hold Tuesday, less than an hour before he was to
die by lethal injection.
Cook and Hill argue the state is violating the law by using pentobarbital in
executions without a prescription.
On Wednesday, the state asked the court to deny Cook's request for a stay and
lift the stay it granted for Hill. The state argues the challenge is frivolous.
Earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Cook's request for a delay and the state
Board of Pardons and Parole denied his clemency request.
Cook was convicted of killing 2 Mercer University students in 1995.
(source for both: Associated Press)
***************************
The Shameful Spectacle Of Georgia's Death Penalty
Less than half an hour before he was to be put to death, and after he had taken
a sedative to prepare for his execution, Warren Hill was granted 2 simultaneous
stays of execution - by a state court on a challenge to the method of his
execution, and by the federal 11th circuit court of appeals on the substantive
issue of his "mental retardation."
Warren Hill has an IQ of 70 and has been declared by a state judge to be
"mentally retarded" by a preponderance of the evidence. In other states, that
would mean his execution would be an unconstitutionally cruel and unusual
punishment. But not in Georgia, where a prisoner must prove his "mental
retardation" beyond a reasonable doubt, a virtual impossibility given the
inexact science of measuring mental disability.
Add to this the fact that the victim's family and several of the jurors from
his trial now oppose his execution, and one wonders: why is the state of
Georgia - which is seeking to lift the stays - trying so hard to kill Warren
Hill? Who is this execution for?
Capital punishment is a degrading and shameful spectacle. The Warren Hill case,
including the cruelty of Hill's being brought to the brink of execution only to
be pulled back at the last minute, has made this crystal clear. The people of
Maryland should be glad they are on the verge of opting out of this ugly and
demeaning ritual. The people of Georgia will have more work to do, as their
state plans to execute Andrew Cook on Thursday.
(source: Brian Evans, Amnesty International USA blog)
***************************
Proposed bill makes gang membership reason for death penalty
Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, introduced House Bill 355 which adds gang
membership to the list of 12 "aggravating circumstances" juries can consider
during sentencing in a capital case. Other examples include kidnapping and
conspiracy.
Fleming said he also wants to add another circumstance in a future bill,
torture.
"When I went to the gang prosecutors of the state and asked them 'What changes
do you need to better protect us from gangs,' they gave me several things," he
said. "The easiest and most simple one was this to begin with."
The bill draws on a definition of gang membership contained in a law he helped
pass when he was in the House of Representatives earlier.
He believes the new bill will bring attention to a growing issue. He said
experts estimate that as much as 90 percent of crime is connected to gangs.
Fleming expects opposition to his bill, especially from death-penalty
opponents.
Larry Pellegrini, executive director of the Georgia Rural Urban Summit advocacy
group, is already taking a stance against Fleming's bill.
"Adding to the death penalty over the years has never been a solution to the
problems of violence in society, and this is another misguided effort to look
tough and feel tough and not do much," Pellegrini said.
Fleming is considering sponsoring another bill that Pellegrini and other
capital-punishment foes have opposed over the years. That bill would allow a
judge to impose the death penalty even if the jury is not unanimous.
Fleming sponsored similar bills that passed the House in 2007 and 2008 but died
in the Senate.
(source: Augusta Chronicle)
**********************************
Georgia Death Penalty Under Renewed Scrutiny After 11th-Hour Stay
A Georgia inmate's execution was halted Tuesday night with less than an hour to
go. Prison officials had already given Warren Lee Hill one of the drugs when a
federal appeals court stepped in.
Hill has an IQ of 70 and his attorneys have long claimed that he's mentally
impaired. His case is now raising questions about Georgia's law, which makes it
difficult for defendants to prove they should be exempt from execution.
The 52-year-old Hill is in prison for killing his girlfriend, whom he shot 11
times, in 1986. Then, while in prison in 1990, he used a wooden board with
nails to beat another inmate to death.
More than a decade ago, 3 state doctors that examined Hill said he was not what
was then called "mentally retarded." But all three have changed their opinion.
In affidavits, they say their initial evaluations were extremely and unusually
rushed. One said it was a close case back then, but after reviewing the record
he now believes Hill does meet the criteria for "mild mental retardation."
'Beyond A Reasonable Doubt'
"The question is, is Georgia violating the Constitution by basically allowing
people with mental retardation to be executed?" asks Richard Dieter, executive
director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes all executions.
The U.S. Supreme Court banned the execution of those who are mentally retarded,
now known as intellectually disabled, in 2002. Georgia was the first state to
ban executions of the mentally retarded, back in the '80s, but Dieter says
forcing defendants to prove their impairment beyond a reasonable doubt is
questionable - and the strictest standard in the country.
"Georgia is the only state that has such ... high criteria. Generally, if more
likely than not you have mental retardation, you're exempted," Dieter says. "So
the issue is, did Georgia define its law too narrowly to be keeping within due
process?"
Several groups in the state are working to change the standard, including the
Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities. Director Eric Jacobson is among
those who've lobbied for a stay of execution, and a long-term solution, to
change the Georgia standard.
"If Mr. Hill is executed, I think we send a message to our society that we're
not concerned about some of our most vulnerable citizens," Jacobson says.
"[That] we're not concerned about the people who probably need the law to stand
up for them ... more than anybody else."
State officials would not comment on the case, but in court papers they say
Hill held jobs, served in the military and acted as head of his family. The
state contends Hill failed to establish that he is mentally retarded.
Further, they say he brutally killed 2 people and should pay for his crimes.
The state attorney general is appealing Tuesday's stay, saying the execution
should move forward.
Joshua Marquis, a district attorney in Astoria, Ore., says he has seen
defendants change once they realize they're going to die, including Texas
inmate Oliver Cruz, who Marquis says tried to manipulate the system.
"This is a guy that was claimed to be mentally retarded and his IQ was in the
upper 60s," Marquis says. "But his performance IQ when intaked into the
Department of Corrections was 106, which is high average. So, I'm sure death
row depresses people, but 40 points?"
Marquis says the 11th Circuit is taking another look because of the mental
impairment issue, but he says courts have already spent more than 2 decades
reviewing this case.
Georgia has dealt with a number of questions regarding its executions. In 2011,
Troy Davis was executed for the murder of an off-duty police officer, even
after nearly all of the witnesses recanted their testimony.
Now the case of Warren Hill raises new questions. Advocates for the disabled
say only 10 % of those with developmental disabilities are identified at trial
and that the diagnosis is not often made until defendants are in prison or on
death row.
(source: NPR)
*****************************
2 US executions temporarily halted
A US court has given a death row inmate a temporary last-minute reprieve
because doctors changed their minds and now believe he's mentally disabled, but
his legal battle to avoid lethal injection could be an uphill climb.
The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday issued a stay less than an hour
before Warren Lee Hill was set to die in the state of Georgia.
In a 2-1 decision, the judges said more review of the doctors' statements was
needed.
Hill was 1 of 2 Georgia inmates scheduled to die this week. The planned
Thursday execution of Andrew Cook was also halted.
Lawyers for both Cook and Hill argued in filings before the Georgia Court of
Appeals that the state would violate the law by using pentobarbital in
executions without a prescription. The government called the claim frivolous
and challenged both rulings.
Prosecutors also asked the US Supreme Court to vacate the 11th Circuit's order
halting Hill's execution on the mental disability claim.
Hill was sentenced to die for the 1990 beating death of fellow inmate Joseph
Handspike. Hill used a board studded with nails and bludgeoned Handspike while
he slept, authorities said. At the time, Hill was already serving a life
sentence for the 1986 slaying of his girlfriend, Myra Wright, who was shot 11
times.
Georgia passed a law in 1988 prohibiting the execution of mentally disabled
death row inmates, and the US Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that the execution of
mentally disabled offenders was unconstitutional. But Georgia also has the
strictest-in-the-nation standard for death row inmates seeking to avoid
execution, requiring them to prove their mental disability beyond a reasonable
doubt.
Most states that impose the death penalty have a lower threshold, while some
don't set standards at all.
Hill's lawyers have long claimed he's mentally disabled and therefore shouldn't
be executed.
Last week they released new sworn statements from the three doctors who
examined Hill in 2000 and previously testified he was not mentally disabled.
In their new statements, the doctors wrote they were rushed in their evaluation
at the time, they had acquired additional experience and there had been
scientific developments in the intervening 12 years. All 3 wrote they now
believe Hill is mentally disabled.
"In other words, all of the experts - both the state's and the petitioner's -
now appear to be in agreement that Hill is in fact mentally retarded," the 11th
Circuit judges in the majority wrote.
The state questioned the doctors' credibility, saying they hadn't seen Hill in
person since 2000. The government also cited IQ tests and argued that family
members described him as "the leader of the family" and "a father figure"
before his trial. He was not in special education classes and served in the
Navy, where he received promotions, the state argued.
The 11th Circuit set a period of up to 30 days for the 2 sides to spell out
their arguments.
Dieter said Hill has new evidence, but he's not contending that it proves his
innocence, but rather that he's mentally disabled.
"If you can prove that you're in a class that the Supreme Court has excluded
from the death penalty, it's like proving your innocence," Dieter said. "I
think one thing DNA and all the innocence cases have taught us is that
sometimes there just is new evidence that ought to trump procedural bars."
(source: Daily Telegraph)
FLORIDA----new death sentence
Jury Recommends Death for Paul Beasley Johnson
The jury hearing whether convicted murderer Paul Beasley Johnson should get
death or life in prison for killing 3 men in Polk County in 1981 today
recommended he be executed.
The jury voted 11 to 1 on each of the 3 counts for the death penalty.
Johnson had been sentenced to death twice previously, but both sentences were
overturned. In the most recent ruling, the Florida Supreme Court mandated a new
sentencing hearing after finding that a jailhouse informant admitted to lying
during Johnson's murder trial.
Johnson's lawyers argued that brain damage from years of drug abuse left
Johnson nearly powerless to control his emotions the night he murdered 3 Polk
County men in January 1981, including Polk County Sheriff's Deputy T.A.
Burnham.
Prosecutors argued that Johnson deserved the same punishment he was given the
1st 2 times.
The jury's decision is a recommendation. Circuit Judge Donald Jacobsen will
make the final decision.
(source: Lakeland Ledger)
****************************
A fool for a client: 7 who acted as their own attorney
This week in a Pinellas courtroom, convicted rapist William Chad Routenberg is
representing himself at his murder trial. Routenberg has no legal experience
and has been preparing to defend himself for six days. He fired his attorney
late last week.
In 2011, authorities say, Routenberg murdered his girlfriend, 24-year-old
Shanessa Lynn Chappie and buried her body in the backyard. On Tuesday,
Routenberg helped select the six-person jury that will decide his fate. He
faces up to life in prison.
This prompted our researchers to find some other cases of defendants in serious
trials who decided to represent themselves. Here are those cases in which the
defendant acted as their own attorney, also known as pro se, a Latin term that
means "for oneself" or "on one's own behalf." There's an old saying, familiar
to lawyers, that anyone who represents himself has a fool for a client and an
idiot for a lawyer.
Rapist to represent himself at murder trial Rapist being tried for murder
offers opening statement Robert Glenn Temple found guilty of 1st-degree murder
of his wife in Belleair Notorious Pinellas sex offender killed girlfriend then
buried body in back yard, authorities say Tampa Bay area has a long history of
violent, heinous crimes
- January 2013: Khalid Ali Pasha, 69, is found guilty of stabbing and
bludgeoning his wife and stepdaughter to death during a retrial. In 2010, the
Supreme Court of Florida reversed first-degree murder convictions and vacated
death sentences for Pasha, who wanted to defend himself at his trial in 2007
but wasn't allowed. Pasha was convicted of killing Robin Canaday, 43, and her
daughter, Ranesha Singleton, 20, in 2002. The jury returned their verdict in
less than an hour, 35 minutes more quickly than the original trial. Circuit
Judge Kimberly Fernandez admonished Pasha several times during the trial for
making statements about his case while witnesses were on the stand. For the
sentencing phase of his second trial, Pasha got an lawyer. The jury recommended
the death penalty.
- January 2011: Luis Munuzuri-Harris, 31, is convicted of posing as a police
officer to rob and rape a 28-year-old woman along Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa.
He complained when his public defenders said they needed more time to prepare
his case, opting to represent himself. Harris cross-examined his own victim and
got yanked out of the courtroom after he began to blurt out things about the
victim not admitted into the trial. After jurors watched him struggle for 3
days, Harris asked for a lawyer, calling his attempt at self-representation a
"tremendous error in judgment." He received a life sentence.
- July 2011: Robert Glenn Temple, 61, is convicted of stabbing his wife,
Rosemary Christensen, to death and burying her in a makeshift grave along the
Suwannee River in 1999. Temple declared he would rather be "captain of my own
ship" than rely on a public defender. He changed his mind as the trial opened,
but when his standby counsel said she would need more time to prepare, Temple
changed his mind again, and said he wanted to represent himself after all.
Temple vaguely blamed his girlfriend, Lesley L. Stewart, 34, a key prosecution
witness. However, during his 2-hour cross-examination of Stewart his questions
seemed random and focused on trivial matters. Delivering his own closing
argument, Temple said he thought jurors would not be so "unintelligent" as to
believe the state's claims against him and the testimony of Stewart. Temple was
sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors had not sought the death penalty.
- April 2006: Michael Glenn, 24, is convicted of 1st-degree murder, attempted
robbery with a firearm and robbery with a firearm. Glenn was charged with death
of Antonio Powell, 25, during a robbery in 2003. Glenn fired a string of
lawyers to represent himself and took the stand to tell his story to the jury.
News reports described him during the trial as plodding, stammering and --
often -- objecting unsuccessfully. But he scored some points on
cross-examinations. Glenn was sentenced to life in prison.
- June 2006: Christopher Lunz, 39, is convicted in the 2003 robbery and shotgun
slaying of his father, David Lunz of Palm Harbor. Lunz ordered his housemate
and best friend, William Westerman, 26, to shoot David Lunz with a sawed-off
shotgun in a plot to inherit his father's money. Westerman testified against
Lunz. Jurors heard Lunz say during closing arguments that he had no alibi,
speculate whether the victim was even his father and emphasize that no physical
evidence linked him to the crime scene. Lunz was sentenced to life in prison.
He killed himself in 2009.
- December 2004: Emory Carter is convicted of murder in a trial in which he
cursed the judge, frightened the jury and berated the victim's family. Carter
brutally murdered Mike Kelley during a robbery in St. Petersburg in 2000.
Carter, who had a history of mental illness but was found competent to stand
trial, actually did pretty well at first, according to William Bennett, a
defense attorney appointed to assist him. Carter pointed out inconsistencies in
testimony and evidence. But he made key errors, especially during closing
arguments, when he rambled and didn't stick to the evidence. His case drew
headlines after Judge Brandt Downey ordered bailiffs to duct-tape Carter's
mouth during sentencing the next month. Downey sent him to prison for life.
- January 2002: After 2 trials with attorneys that ended with hung juries,
Ernest Spann got what he wanted by representing himself: acquittal. Spann was
accused of killing 25-year-old Brenda McKenzie in her College Hill home in
1991. Spann, 35, did not go free because he was serving a sentence on federal
drug charges. In September, Circuit Judge J. Rogers Padgett had urged Spann not
to dismiss his lawyer. "This is one of the best criminal defense lawyers in
Tampa," Padgett told Spann. "He got you a hung jury. What do you want - an
acquittal?" "Yeah," Spann replied. "I want an acquittal."
(source: Tampa Bay Times)
ALABAMA:
Colbert Co. murder suspect could face death penalty
An accused killer in the Shoals, Derek Burt, could face the death penalty.
He is accused in a deadly Muscle Shoals home invasion back in 2008.
After he was arrested in 2012, police said he sent a letter to friends, trying
to get them to kill potential witnesses.
Burt was supposed to be arraigned on the solicitation charges Wednesday
afternoon, but there was a mix-up in which of his attorneys would represent him
on that case, causing it to be continued.
However, there was an announcement that the district attorney is planning to
seek the death penalty if Burt is convicted of capital murder.
Before court went into session, the judge met with Burt's attorneys and the DA
to discuss scheduling and hearing dates.
He assured Burt nothing said behind closed doors pertained to information other
than dates and times.
A trial date has not been set.
(source: WAFF)
ARKANSAS:
Ark. governor signs lethal injection legislation
Arkansas has a new lethal injection law.
Gov. Mike Beebe's office said Wednesday that he signed legislation that
rewrites the state's lethal injection law, despite his misgivings about the
death penalty.
The new law spells out in greater detail the procedures the state must follow
in carrying out executions. It says the state must use a lethal dose of a
barbiturate but leaves it up to the Department of Correction to determine which
one.
The legislation came up after the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down the
state's 2009 lethal injection law last year.
The new law means Arkansas could potentially resume capital punishment, but
court challenges may further delay the state from executing a prisoner for the
1st time since 2005.
(source: Associated Press)
*****************************
Arkansas House panel advances lethal injection bill
Arkansas is 1 step closer to resuming executions after a legislative panel last
Thursday approved a proposal to rewrite a lethal injection law that the state's
top court struck down last year.
The new measure sailed through the House Judiciary Committee, despite fears
that it fails to address issues that led the Arkansas Supreme Court to side
with a group of death row inmates and overturn the state's 2009 execution law.
In June, the court deemed it unconstitutional, saying the Legislature had given
the Department of Correction "unfettered discretion" to figure out the protocol
and procedures for executions, including the chemicals to be used.
The new proposal says correction officials are to carry out death sentences
using a class of drug known as a barbiturate, but it doesn't specify which one.
The Department of Correction would still have the discretion to choose.
"Don't you think that brings about the possibility of other constitutional
challenges as well?" Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, asked during last
Thursday's committee meeting.
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel acknowledged the likelihood of continuing
legal challenges, but he said the measure addresses the Supreme Court's
concerns.
"We're going to be sued no matter what bill we pass," McDaniel said.
Arkansas, which has 37 men on death row and no pending executions, is not alone
in dealing with lethal injection issues. Other death penalty states have
changed the chemicals they use, in part because of a shortage of such drugs.
And despite concerns about a lack of specificity in the new lethal injection
proposal, some say legislators can't spell out too much. If the law were to
list a drug that became unavailable in between legislative sessions,
corrections officials fear they would have to wait for the next session for the
law to be changed.
The current proposal, much like the 2009 law, would allow the state to revert
to electrocution in certain cases, though that option doesn't seem likely. An
Arkansas history museum had the state's two electric chairs in storage as of
last year.
The measure heads to the full House for a vote this week. Gov. Mike Beebe has
said he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk, despite his own reservations
about the death penalty.
If the proposal becomes law, Arkansas could resume capital punishment, although
additional litigation would likely further delay the state from carrying out
its first execution since 2005.
Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Washington-based Death Penalty
Information Center, said challenges likely won't focus so much on the
theoretical, but on the details of putting someone to death.
"I think the challenge will be: We want more details about exactly which drug
is going to be used," Dieter said.
Department of Correction spokeswoman Dina Tyler said the agency has not decided
which drug it would likely use in lethal injections, but she said the
department will disclose the drug and dosage.
Still, Rita Sklar, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties
Union, asked why the proposal would keep parts of the procedure in the dark,
exempt from the state's public records laws.
"We just want to know, if you're going to kill somebody in the name of the
people, how you're going to do it," Sklar said.
(source: Little River News)
VIRGINIA:
Puckett: Mental health expert reports made Death Penalty verdict unlikely
Mental health experts were a critical factor in the Commonwealth's decision to
accept a plea agreement with mass murderer Christopher Bryan Speight on Friday.
Throughout the past 3 years, Appomattox County Commonwealth's Attorney Darrel
W. Puckett would not say whether or not he would seek the death penalty against
Speight.
Defense attorneys, however, were preparing to defend against a potential death
penalty prosecution.
All of that became moot on Friday, when a Circuit Court judge accepted a plea
agreement that called for Speight to serve 5 life sentences plus 18 years for
killing 8 victims on Jan. 17-19, 2010.
On Friday, approximately 30 minutes after Speight was sentenced, Puckett read a
prepared statement to members of the media, explaining why he agreed to the
plea.
"All of the mental health experts for both the defense and the prosecution
deemed (Speight) to be insane at the time of the offenses, thus, rendering a
death sentence highly unlikely," Puckett said.
Instead, Puckett appeared satisfied that the Commonwealth was able to ensure
that Speight would be behind bars for the rest of his life.
"It is of paramount importance that this community be protected from
individuals who pose an imminent threat to the safety of its citizens," Puckett
read. "This conviction and sentence of life without the possibility of parole
provides that protection and assures the man responsible for this tragic loss
will never be released from prison."
Puckett's statement also expressed thanks for those involved with the
investigation and prosecution of Speight.
"This sentence imposed today," Puckett continued, "is the collective result of
local, state and federal law enforcement officers combined with personnel from
the Office of the Attorney General, who worked tirelessly from the day of these
horrific offenses and have continued to contribute throughout this laborious
court process. To each of you that have assisted to bring the defendant to
justice, I say, 'Thank you.'"
Puckett concluded his written statement by thanking the victims and family
members for their continued support.
"As we move forward, our thoughts and prayers remain with the victims and their
family members as we remember those lost," Puckett said. "I ask each of you to
remember them, also."
Puckett did not accept questions from members of the media.
(source: Times-Virginian)
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