July 24
TEXAS----new execution date----female
Execution Date Set For Texas Women's Death Row Inmate
State District Judge Mary Lou Keel has set a Feb. 5, 2014 execution date for
Suzanne Basso, 59, who's held on women's death row in Gatesville.
Basso was convicted of capital murder in the death in 1998 of Louis Musso, 59,
a mentally impaired man in Harris County who was beaten with belts, baseball
bats and hands and kicked with steel-toed boots.
He was also bathed in a solution of beach and pine cleaner and scrubbed with a
wire brush.
His body was unrecognizable after the attack, authorities said.
Basso led the group of 6 attackers, records show.
The motive for the murder was an insurance policy in which she was named the
beneficiary.
Evidence showed she had promised to marry Musso, convincing him to leave family
and friends in New Jersey and moving to Texas.
(source: KWTX news)
******************************
Executions under Rick Perry, 2001-present-----263
Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982-present----502
Perry #--------scheduled execution date-----name---------Tx. #
264-------------July 31-------------------Douglas Feldman-----503
265-------------Sept. 19------------------Robert Garza--------504
266-------------Sept. 26------------------Arturo Diaz--------505
267-------------Oct. 9---------------------Michael Yowell-----506
268------------Oct. 16--------------------Larry Hatten-------507
268------------Nov. 12---------------------Jamie McCoskey-----508
269------------Jan. 15---------------------Rigoberto Avila, Jr.----509
270-----------Feb. 5-----------------------Suzanne Basso-------510
(sources for both: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Harve Johnson seeks stay of execution
Scheduled for execution on Sept. 10, the man who killed 2-year-old Darisabel
Baez filed for a stay Tuesday in York County Common Pleas Court.
Harve Johnson, 32, was convicted of 1st-degree murder on Nov. 13, 2009 for the
fatal April 2008 beating of his girlfriend's daughter. Gov. Tom Corbett signed
his death warrant on July 18.
This is Johnson's 1st death warrant and avenues of appeal remain open to him.
This request for an emergency stay of execution also includes a motion for a
post-conviction review of his trial and death sentence. The motion does not
identify any alleged trial errors.
According to court documents, Johnson does not at this time have an attorney
but is requesting Michael Wiseman, a Philadelphia capital defense attorney, to
represent him.
Wiseman represented Johnson on his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court after the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and death sentence on April
26, 2012. Wiseman also signed the documents filed Tuesday in York County court.
Much of the filing requesting the stay of execution and a post-conviction
review is a boilerplate outline of a condemned inmate's constitutional rights.
A Post-Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) hearing focuses on the actions of the
defense leading up to and during trial, and challenges whether the defense
provided to the defendant was zealous and effective in its representation. A
finding of ineffectiveness of counsel results in a new trial.
In his concluding paragraph in the request for a stay, Wiseman states, "This
court should not allow Mr. Johnson to be executed without a meaningful
opportunity to investigate and develop claims for relief, and for those claims
to be fully and fairly heard."
Johnson's week-long trial ended with 2 hours of deliberation before the jury
found him guilty of 1st-degree murder.
The timeline
April 6, 2008 - York City Police officers rush to a second-floor apartment at
710 W. Philadelphia St. after county control sends out a dispatch for a
2-year-old in cardiac arrest.
April 7, 2008 - Darisabel Baez, 2, dies at Hershey Medical Center from multiple
blunt force trauma. Her mother's boyfriend, Harve Johnson, is arrested on
murder charges and jailed without bail.
Aug. 8, 2008 - The York County District Attorney's Office files an intent to
seek the death penalty.
Nov. 9, 2009 - Johnson is prosecuted for capital murder.
Nov. 13, 2009 - A jury convicts Johnson of 1st-degree murder.
Nov. 16, 2009 - The jury agrees on a sentence of death.
April. 26, 2012 - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirms Johnson's conviction
and death sentence on direct appeal.
July 18, 2013 - Gov. Tom Corbett signs Johnson's 1st death warrant, scheduling
execution for Sept. 10.
July 23, 2013 - Johnson, through an attorney not yet appointed to represent
him, files an emergency motion for a stay of execution and a post-conviction
relief hearing.
(source: York Daily Record)
*********************
Court denies killer's appeal in North Hanover triple slaying
An admitted killer, who fatally shot three people in their North Hanover
trailer in 2002, lost his latest bid to have his conviction and life sentences
overturned.
In a decision released Wednesday, the Appellate Division of state Superior
Court upheld a trial court judge???s decision rejecting Brian Tykot???s claims
of ineffective assistance of counsel.
In 2003, Tykot, in an effort to avoid the death penalty, pleaded guilty to
three counts of felony murders for the deaths of brothers Gary and Edward
Nevius and Jill Fort on Jan. 5, 2002 at the California Village Trailer. He was
sentenced to 3 life sentences and is now serving his time at the
maximum-security New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.
Tykot, now 46, sought to have his conviction overturned, arguing that his
confession to authorities should have been thrown out. At one point, Tykot told
investigators that he was "tired and wanted to take the 5th."
They stopped questioning him and arrested him on unrelated charges. Some 36
hours later, after finding other evidence against Tykot, they asked him to
clarify his statement, specifically asking if he wanted to talk to detectives
again or wanted an attorney. He told them he only stopped talking because he
was tired and would answer their questions without an attorney, according to
the appellate decision.
Investigators then read him his Miranda rights again and proceeded to question
him.
Tykot and his attorneys have argued the statements after he claimed he "wanted
to take the 5th" should be suppressed and in his most recent appeal contend his
1st appeals attorney should have brought it to the court's attention on direct
appeal.
The 2-court appeals panel rejected the argument, finding the investigators were
allowed to clarify his earlier statement and after getting Tykot's response
appropriately continued their questioning.
"He unequivocally expressed his willingness to speak to the detectives without
counsel. Thus, the statement he gave to the police was not made in violation of
his Miranda rights," the decision reads.
When the former Monroe Township man pleaded guilty, he admitted he killed all 3
victims with a shotgun and stabbed Fort and Edward Nevius during a robbery that
authorities said netted him $1,000 in cash and collectibles.
Investigators linked Tykot to the murder through a personalized gun case found
at the murder scene and a knife and jeans that had blood on them. The knife and
jeans were found near the house Tykot shared with his former girlfriend.
The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office won the conviction in 2003 and
opposed the post-conviction relief motion and his appeal.
The judges Tuesday also opined that they were not convinced the inclusion of
the statement as part of the overwhelming evidence against him prejudiced Tykot
and his decision to plead.
"Consequently, we are satisfied that defendant has not established that it
would have been rational, even if his 2nd statement to the police had been
suppressed, to reject the plea, proceed to trial, and risk receiving the death
penalty," the opinion reads.
New Jersey has since abolished the death penalty and those on death row have
had their sentences commuted to life in prison with no chance of parole.
(source: phillyburbs.com)
FLORIDA:
Appellate court grants hearing for convicted Lake Worth gangland shooter;
Patrick Thompkins wants to withdraw 2009 guilty plea
A man serving a 25-year prison sentence for his role in a 2007 gangland
shooting massacre in Lake Worth is entitled to a hearing over his desire to
rescind his guilty plea, an appellate court ruled Wednesday.
But his does so at his own peril - the judges warned he ultimately could wind
up with an even longer punishment or perhaps the death penalty.
Patrick Thompkins made a valid claim he received "misadvice" from his public
defender in December 2009 before pleading guilty to 3 counts of 2nd-degree
murder with a firearm, the 4th District Court of Appeal wrote in its opinion.
Representing himself in the appeal, Thompkins, 29, argued he took a plea deal
in Palm Beach County Circuit Court only because he was told that if he would be
sentenced to death if he lost his case at trial on 3 counts of 1st-degree
murder.
At the time, it was the 1st conviction for the March 27, 2007 attack in the
backyard of a house in the 1400 block of South B Street. Masked shooters toting
AK-47 assault weapons and other firepower ambushed men playing dominoes, and
authorities quickly blamed it on gang warfare.
(source: Sun-Sentinel)
ALABAMA:
Formerly condemned to death, Fairfield man sentenced to life in prison for
police officer's slaying
A man sentenced to death in the shooting of a Fairfield police officer will
instead spend life in prison without parole, a Jefferson County judge ruled on
Friday.
Demetrius Avery Jackson Jr., 28, was convicted of capital murder in the Oct.
23, 2006, fatal shooting of Fairfield police officer Mary Smith, who was
investigating a suspicious persons report.
He also was sentenced to life in prison for the attempted murder of Officer
Erick Burpo.
Jackson had been on Alabama's death row since 2008, when Jefferson County
Circuit Judge Teresa Petelos overrode a Bessemer Cutoff jury's recommendation
that he be sentenced to life without parole.
Smith had just retired from the Birmingham Police Department and taken the job
in Fairfield when she was killed.
On March 29, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals remanded the case to
Jefferson County, asking that the judge reconsider the sentence after
reweighing aggravating and mitigating circumstances.
According to an amended sentencing order filed Friday, Jefferson County Circuit
Judge David Carpenter cited negative influence from Jackson's father and
testimony from Smith's family members as contributing factors in his decision
to amend the sentence.
Officer Smith's sister and her god-sister, both testifying on the family's
behalf, did not request the death penalty, nor did Smith's mother and another
sister in letters read in court.
State Rep. John Rogers and then-Fairfield police Chief Pat Mardis urged the
jury to recommend Jackson be put to death.
The jury's 10-2 vote for life imprisonment is considered "overwhelming support"
by law and warranted significant consideration in sentencing, the ruling said.
"Needless to say, we're upset about it," Fairfield Police Chief Leon Davis
said. Fairfield officers can draw some comfort from the fact that he will
remain in prison for the rest of his life, he added, but they are concerned
about the message the amended sentence could send.
"She was a good person and a good officer whose life was ended for no reason,"
Davis said. "We just wanted to make sure he got the full extent of punishment
under the law."
Jackson was represented on appeal by attorneys with the Equal Justice
Initiative, a Montgomery nonprofit that focuses on disparities in the Alabama
legal system.
"We were pleased that the judge followed the recommendation of the jury," EJI
Executive Director Bryan Stevenson said. "Alabama is really the only state in
the country where the death sentence that was imposed on Mr. Jackson was even
legally possible. Almost every state gives the jury discretion, and in this
case the jury believed the proper punishment was life in prison without
parole."
During the penalty phase of a capital case, prosecutors highlight aggravating
factors, such as whether a defendant has previous felony convictions for
violent crimes. The defense addresses any mitigating factors, such as evidence
that an offense was committed under extreme mental or emotional disturbance.
During Jackson's trial, the state presented 2 aggravating circumstances - that
the shooting occurred while Jackson was on probation for previous felony
convictions and that he caused Smith's death while trying to hinder the
enforcement of laws.
The defense countered with testimony from Jackson's mother, who described his
family's dynamics throughout his childhood. Evidence was also presented
indicating Jackson was abused as a child.
(source: al.com)
ARKANSAS:
Arkansas Legislative Committee Meets on Death Penalty
KUAR-FM, Arkansas Public Radio, reports, "Arkansas Committee to Discuss Parole
and the Death Penalty," by Jacob Kauffman.
Arkansas lawmakers are holding a Joint Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday to
discuss the parole system and the death penalty.
And:
The committee will also hear testimony from Attorney General Dustin McDaniel on
the death penalty. McDaniel recently said he believes the use of lethal
injection is a broken system but that other methods like the gas chamber and
firing squad may be too barbaric. McDaniel suggested the possibility of the
legislature or voters choosing to abolish the death penalty, but stopped short
of advocating that.
"State lawmakers to meet over death penalty," is the AP coverage, via the
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The head of Arkansas' prison system is expected to meet with legislators to
talk about executions after the state's top lawyer said the current death
penalty system is broken.
Department of Correction Director Ray Hobbs is to appear before the House and
Senate Judiciary Committees on Wednesday.
The state hasn't executed an inmate since 2005 and Attorney General Dustin
McDaniel said earlier this month that he doesn't expect that to change anytime
soon. His recent remarks come as Arkansas grapples with legal challenges and a
shortage of drugs used in lethal injections.
(source: StandDown)
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