June 12
PENNSYLVANIA:
Death Penalty Still Possible in Sawyer Murder Case
Judge Dan Brabender granted more money, but not more time to the James Duncan
defense team in the upcoming murder trial in the brutal killing of Nikkia
Sawyer.
Sawyer was found bound, gagged, sexually assaulted and stabbed in her Highpoint
Towers apartment.
Duncan's attorneys have already spent some 26,000 dollars on the case, but say
they can not authorize a battery of tests for Duncan both psychological and DNA
without more funding.
They attempted to remove the death penalty on the grounds of insufficient funds
and time but Judge Brabender granted the money but refused to grant a delay.
Those experts will help determine Duncan's exact IQ. The law prohibits putting
someone to death whose IQ is not high enough.
Based on those findings the defense is expected to revisit the death penalty
issue at a later date.
(source: erietvnews)
OHIO:
Ohio kidnapping suspect pleads not guilty----Ariel Castro, accused of keeping 3
women locked up for years, denies charges of kidnapping, rape and murder.
A man accused of holding three young women captive for a decade in the US state
of Ohio has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, rape and murder for
beating one pregnant captive until she miscarried.
Ariel Castro, 52, appeared in court on Wednesday and did not speak while his
lawyer entered the plea.
Castro could face the death penalty if convicted of the aggravated murder
charge, which is a capital offence in Ohio if it occurs in connection with a
kidnapping.
Kidnapping and rape are not capital offences.
The case came to light after Amanda Berry, 27, managed to escape with her
6-year-old daughter on May 6 by calling out to a neighbour for help through a
locked front door.
Police found 2 more women in the Cleveland house - Gina DeJesus, 23, and
Michelle Knight, 32.
All 3 had been snatched in separate incidents in 2002, 2003 and 2004 at the
ages of 14, 16 and 20 with the promise of a ride home.
Chained and raped
The 329-count indictment handed down last week only covers the 1st 5 years of
their captivity.
Knight, who was the 1st to be snatched, was allegedly chained to a post in the
basement, repeatedly raped and beaten and impregnated at least 4 times.
Berry reportedly tried to escape the night she was kidnapped but was
overwhelmed and then raped.
Her legs and mouth were bound with tape, she was chained to a pole in the
basement and Castro put a motorcycle helmet on her head, the indictment said.
At one point that night it is alleged that he wrapped a vacuum cord around her
neck.
DeJesus was also reportedly chained and bound with tape in the basement, beaten
and sexually assaulted on the night she was kidnapped.
Knight told police that Castro "would make her abort the baby," the police
report read.
"He starved her for at least 2 weeks and then repeatedly punched her in stomach
until she miscarried."
A DNA test has proved that Berry's child is Castro's daughter.
(source: Al Jazeera)
NORTH CAROLINA:
NC House tentatively OKs Racial Justice Act repeal
North Carolina lawmakers gave initial approval Tuesday to a measure that would
clear the way for executions to resume in the state.
The Republican-controlled House voted Tuesday to fully repeal a 4-year-old law
that allows convicted murderers to get a death sentence reduced to life in
prison if they can prove that race played a major role in their cases.
The bill has already passed the Senate. The provision repealing the Racial
Justice Act has generated heated debate between opponents who say it simply
delays justice and supporters who argued it acknowledges a proven problem in
the state.
The state hasn't carried out an execution since 2006 because of various legal
appeals.
In addition to repealing what remains of a law passed by the Legislature when
Democrats were in control, the measure would protect medical professionals from
disciplinary action from licensing boards for assisting in an execution.
When first enacted under then-Gov. Beverly Perdue, a Democrat, the law allowed
inmates to cite statistics in their appeals. However, Republicans who now
control the legislature repealed that provision last session. A Cumberland
County judge reduced the sentences of four convicted murderers on racial
grounds last year, ruling on 3 of the cases after the rollback of the act.
The judge first cited a Michigan State study of North Carolina that found
evidence of prosecutors striking black people from murder-trial juries at more
than twice the rate of others between 1990 and 2010. When the Cumberland judge
commuted the other sentences, he was relying on the prosecutor's notes, which
provided key anecdotal evidence that never saw the light of day before the act
was in place, said Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland.
Glazier called on the chamber to wait until after the state Supreme Court has
reviewed the Cumberland County case and another related to the Racial Justice
Act before moving to declare it broken. The evidence that turned up even after
multiple studies and the rollback of the law demands deeper consideration of
the law's intent, Glazier said.
"We remain in prison by the past as long as we continue to deny its existence,
and if instead of accepting the consequence of what we did and hoping and
ensuring it never happens again we just bury the evidence...we will never again
have the confidence of our full society and the fairness and accuracy of the
criminal justice system," he said.
Rep. Paul Stam, R-Wake, said Democrats ignored warnings in 2009 that the law
was flawed and would allow even white inmates to appeal their convictions from
white juries. The law added another 6 years to a review process that includes
some 45 judges on average, Stam said, and nearly all of the state's 156
death-row inmates have appealed their sentences when plenty of avenues already
exist.
"No one wants actual racial discrimination, but we also don't want race to be
used as a pretext to stop the death penalty," Stam said.
He and other Republicans asserted repeatedly - as they have in the past - that
the law is a way for Democrats with moral objections to capital punishment to
put a de-facto freeze on its practice.
Democrats, particularly African-American members of the caucus, bristled at the
suggestion.
Rep. Mickey Michaux, D-Durham, said the claims come from people who can't fully
appreciate racial prejudice, and a life sentence is no reprieve from
punishment.
"RJA is not about the death penalty," he said. "It is about an individual
getting a free trial - a trial free of any prejudice at all."
The bill passed 77-40, but Democrats objected to a final vote. The bill will
likely return for a final vote in the House Wednesday.
(source: Associated Press)
********************
NC Legislature Passes Bill Allowing Executions To Resume
Gov. McCrory could sign a bill as soon as this week that would allow death
penalty executions to resume in the state of North Carolina. That bill would
repeal a measure called the Racial Justice Act, which permitted death row
inmates to appeal their sentences if they believed racial bias was a factor in
the imposing of that maximum sentence.
Once the Senate agrees on the House of Representatives' changes to the
Senate-sponsored SB 306, expected to happen Wednesday, it will go to the
governor to sign or veto within 10 days.
The Racial Justice Act was passed in 2009 by the then-Democrat majority
legislature. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, four death row
inmates were successful in using this act to get their death sentences commuted
to life in prison. But, the act caused nearly all death row inmates in North
Carolina to appeal their sentences, which virtually halted death penalties in
the state.
That's why now supporters of the senate bill that would repeal the act claim
the measure unnecessarily has delayed justice for victims' family members and
has wasted state resources in allowing these appeals to be heard.
According the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, of the counties in
WFMY News 2's viewing area, those with the highest number of death row inmates
convicted in that county are Forsyth with 13, Randolph with eight, Guilford
with four (five, including a man also sentenced to death for a murder in High
point, according to the Guilford County DA's office) and Davidson with three.
The racial makeup of the 153 inmates currently on death row in North Carolina,
according to the Department of Public Safety includes 62 inmates - 60 men and 2
women - who are white, 80-79 men and 1 woman - who are African American, 7 men
who are Indian and 4 men categorized in the "other" category.
Soon, one more African American man could be added to this list: 33-year-old
Mario McNeill from Fayetteville. 2 weeks ago, a jury found him guilty of
kidnapping and murdering 5-year-old Shaniya Davis. He maintained his innocence
during the trial and rejected a plea deal that would have spared him a possible
death penalty sentence. After his conviction, McNeill told a Superior Court
judge that he wants no one to testify on his behalf during sentencing.
Forsyth County Assistant District Attorney Mike Silver has been involved in
several Racial Justice Act litigations in both Forsyth County and statewide,
including three of the four cases in which death row inmates did successfully
have their death penalty sentences commuted to life in prison by using Racial
Justice Act-based appeals.
Silver said the appeals that already have been filed for litigation but not yet
reviewed by the Superior Court Judge or North Carolina Supreme Court will not
be affected by the repeal of the Racial Justice Act. Attorney General Roy
Cooper has not returned WFMY News 2's calls requesting confirmation of that
information.
Proponents of the repeal of the Racial Justice Act, like Silver, argue the act
has delayed justice for victims' families and has caused many of them to
relive, during the litigation hearings, painful memories. Silver also said even
if the Racial Justice Act is repealed, death row inmates still can appeal their
sentences using a variety other options.
Opponents of the repeal, including Guilford County criminal defense attorney
Locke Clifford, say the disparity in racial makeup of the inmates on death row
affirms that racial bias of judges and jurors can and does influence the
imposition of sentences.
According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety Communications
officer Keith Acree, the cost to house a death row inmate for a year is
approximately $33,000. The cost of incarcerating a non-death row inmate for a
year is about $27,572.
(source: digtriad.com)
GEORGIA:
Mental health experts ask court to stop execution
Mental disability experts have filed a brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to
prevent the execution of a Georgia death row inmate whose lawyers have long
claimed he's mentally disabled.
The document was filed Monday by 6 experts and the American Association on
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. It supports a request filed last
month by Warren Hill's lawyers asking the high court to intervene.
Hill's lawyers in February presented statements from three doctors who had
testified in 2000 that Hill wasn't mentally disabled and now believe he is. In
the new court filing, the experts urge the high court to ensure that new
testimony those experts be considered.
The execution of mentally disabled offenders is prohibited by state law and a
2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
(source: The Associated Press)
MISSOURI:
New Sentencing Hearing Ordered for Missouri Man on Death Row
A man has served nearly 15 years of a life sentence, and of a death sentence.
However, the Supreme Court now says his sentencing hearing was unfair.
Terrance Anderson was sentenced to death for shooting to death his
ex-girlfriend's mother in Poplar Bluff. He was also sentenced to life without
parole for shooting to death his ex-girlfriend's father.
Anderson's attorney, William Swift, argued to the Supreme Court that Judge
William Sylar talked about the case extensively as it was ongoing with the jury
foreperson. Swift tells the Supreme Court Syler was unable to fairly serve
because of those conversations, and the Supreme Court agrees.
Had these conversations not occurred, Swift said, it "could have tipped the
scales in favor of life." He added that Syler was "unable to fairly serve; and
the overall appearance to a reasonable person was that he could not serve."
"Certainly if we had actual bias, that would determine the issue," he said.
The Supreme Court has remanded the case back to the Cape Girardeau Circuit
Court for a new sentencing hearing, with a new jury, and a new judge. It has
ordered that Syler recuse himself from the penalty portion of the case. The
murder convictions stay.
The Supreme Court's summary says that, "A man convicted of murder and sentenced
to death appeals the circuit court's denial of his request for post-conviction
relief. In a 6-0 decision written by Judge Patricia Breckenridge, the Supreme
Court of Missouri reverses the judgment.
Based on the circuit court's statements throughout the proceedings below, a
reasonable person would have factual grounds to find an appearance of
impropriety. As such, recusal is required. The case is remanded (sent back) for
the court to sustain the man's motion for disqualification and for further
proceedings."
BACKGROUND
On the night of July 25, 1997, Terrance Anderson went to the Poplar Bluff home
of his girlfriend, Abbey Rainwater, with a gun. Earlier in the day, she had
told him that she had gotten a restraining order to keep him away from her and
their 3-month-old daughter and that visitation would be arranged through the
court.
Anderson kicked in the door, and Abbey's mother, Debbie, told her to run.
Debbie, who was holding the child, got on her knees and begged for her life,
but Anderson placed the gun against the back of Debbie's head and fired it,
killing Debbie instantly. Anderson subsequently took the child and went into
the front yard. He pointed the gun at the baby's head and yelled that he would
shoot if Abbey did not come out.
After Abbey's father, Stephen, came home, Anderson approached Stephen, began
talking to him, and shot Stephen in the forehead, killing him. Anderson still
was holding the child at the time.
Anderson was charged with 2 counts of 1st-degree murder and was tried in Cape
Girardeau County on a change of venue from Butler County.
The jury found him guilty of both counts and recommended that he be sentenced
to death for killing Debbie Rainwater and to life in prison without the
possibility of probation or parole for killing Stephen Rainwater.
(source: Ozarks First)
***************
Death penalty case from Cole Camp is being tried in Clay County
Robert B. Blurton had a bad reputation, even among his relatives and others who
said they loved him.
And when Blurton's aunt and uncle and their granddaughter were found shot to
death in their Cole Camp home on June 9, 2009, several relatives identified him
as a primary suspect, his lawyers said Tuesday in Clay County Circuit Court.
Blurton, 48, of Garnett, Kan., faces 3 counts of 1st degree murder in the
deaths of 64-year-old Donnie Luetjen, 61-year-old Sharon Luetjen and their
15-year-old granddaughter, Taron Luetjen. Authorities are seeking the death
penalty in the case, which is being tried in Liberty and prosecuted by the
Missouri attorney general's office.
Blurton, who has pleaded not guilty, was granted a change of venue from Benton
County.
The slayings occurred 2 days before the bodies were discovered. Each victim had
been bound and shot once. Blurton was arrested about three weeks later.
Authorities said emergency dispatchers received a 911 call from the residence
at 10:16 p.m. June 7, the day of the killings, but the operator wasn't able to
determine what was said before the call disconnected.
Money and arrowhead stones were missing, Assistant Attorney General Kevin
Zoellner said during opening statements.
Blurton's DNA was found on a coffee cup at the house. Fingerprints and other
evidence pointed to Blurton, Zoellner said.
Blurton's lawyer, public defender Charles Moreland, said his client has an
extensive criminal record but did not commit the murders. Moreland said the
Luetjens often helped Blurton, such as by co-signing for a car loan and giving
him a place to live after he left prison. Blurton is the son of Sharon
Luetjen's sister.
After the slayings, Blurton contacted police, told them about his criminal past
and offered his assistance, Moreland said.
"When the family members found out, other relatives began to circulate his
(Blurton's) name as a suspect," he said. "Robbie Blurton was not who shot his
family."
They jury is being sequestered during the trial, which is expected to last
about 2 weeks.
(source: Kansas City Star)
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