Sept. 11
TEXAS:
Court: Death row inmate can't be forcibly drugged
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that a convicted killer with a
history of mental illness cannot be forcibly medicated for the purpose of
making him competent for execution.
The court ruled Wednesday in favor of 51-year-old death row inmate Steven
Staley, who was convicted for the 1989 shooting death of a Fort Worth
restaurant manager during a botched robbery.
The same court in May 2012 granted a reprieve for Staley 2 days before he was
scheduled to die by lethal injection.
Prosecutors have argued Staley is competent for execution, but his attorneys
have countered that this was accomplished only because a state judge in Fort
Worth improperly ordered Staley be given drugs to make him competent so the
state of Texas could kill him.
(source: Associated Press)
UTAH:
Walker charged in officer's death; death penalty 'on the table,' D.A. says
The man accused of shooting and killing a Draper police officer was charged
Wednesday with aggravated murder.
The charge leaves open the possibility for the Salt Lake County District
Attorney's Office to seek the death penalty if Timothy Troy Walker, 35, is
convicted.
"Death is definitely on the table. It is not off the table. This is an
aggravated murder. The allegation is a police officer was murdered," District
Attorney Sim Gill said Wednesday.
Prosecutors say Walker had methamphetamine in his system when he fired several
shots through the open window of Draper Police Sgt. Derek Johnson's patrol car.
Walker was also charged in 3rd District Court with attempted murder, or an
alternative charge of discharging a firearm causing serious bodily injury, both
1st-degree felonies, for allegedly shooting his girlfriend. He was also charged
with 3 counts of illegally discharging a firearm and possession of a firearm by
a restricted person, 3rd-degree felonies.
Gill's office won't have to officially declare for some time whether it will
seek the death penalty. Such a declaration has to be made 60 days after an
official arraignment, which follows a preliminary hearing. That hearing could
be months away, if not longer. Gill could not say Wednesday whether he was
already leaning one way or the other. But he said the aggravating factors
needed for a capital case are present.
"The aggravator is a police officer shot in the line of duty. And that's
something our community, rightfully so, takes very seriously. It's something
this office takes very seriously. And we are not going to spare any resources
in the prosecution of this case and treat it with the seriousness it deserves,"
he said.
On Sept. 1, just before 6 a.m., Johnson was finishing his shift and driving
back to the police station. On the way, he came across a car in the road that
was broken down near 13200 S. Fort Street (850 East), according to charging
documents.
The Volvo that Walker and Traci Lee Vaillancourt, 34, were driving was involved
in a prior accident a few blocks away where Walker drove over a curb, a stop
sign, a large rock, and then drove through a fence at 933 E. 13800 South, the
charges state. When Johnson came across their vehicle, the front passenger tire
was flat and the vehicle had run out of gas.
"He rolled up and stopped to assist and had his passenger window down, and that
first bullet, which was the fatal bullet, came through the passenger side
window," Gill said. "From our perspective, we can't see the motive component
from it. What we are absolutely certain about is where that bullet came from
and the multiple shots that were fired at that marked police car as that
vehicle then tried to drive away."
After the 1st shot, which struck him in the chest, was fired into the open
passenger window of Johnson's car, Johnson hit his gas pedal and tried to speed
away, according to prosecutors. Walker fired at least 3 more shots, the charges
state. Johnson attempted to notify dispatchers of "shots fired" before losing
control of his vehicle and crashing into a wooded area about 2 blocks away.
A toxicology report showed that Walker had methamphetamine in his system at the
time, according to court documents.
At some point during the incident, Vaillancourt was shot in the back. Because
the sequence of events was still being investigated Wednesday, Gill said he
left open the option of attempted murder for allegedly shooting Vaillancourt,
or felony discharge of a firearm as an alternative.
Vaillancourt, who was released from the hospital over the weekend and booked
into the Salt Lake County Jail, was also charged Wednesday with 2 counts of
obstruction of justice.
Vaillancourt was interviewed 3 times at the hospital by Unified police
investigators. Her stories changed with each interview and her statements did
not match the physical evidence, according to police.
During an interview with officers on Sept. 4, she "stated that she never saw a
police officer, did not see who was shooting, and did not know who shot her,"
according to the charges. On Sept. 7, she "then admitted that she did see a
marked police vehicle pull up next to the Volvo and then heard several shots
fired in a quick succession, one of the shots hitting her."
Gill said Walker was expected to be released from Intermountain Medical Center
by the end of the day Wednesday and booked into the infirmary at the Salt Lake
County Jail. He vowed sparing no resources in prosecuting the man who is
accused of shooting Johnson.
"This is a young man who was doing his job honorably and professionally and
doing what he loved, and it's just a tragic loss to his family and friends and
Draper City."
(source: Deseret News)
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