June 19
TEXAS:
Soliz loses 1st appeal of death sentence in Johnson County slaying
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday upheld the death sentence of a
Fort Worth man convicted of killing a 61-year-old grandmother at her Johnson
County home in 2010.
Appellate lawyers for Mark Anthony Soliz, 32, argued that 18 errors were made
at his trial in Cleburne in 2012, including that the imposition of the death
penalty is unconstitutional because Soliz has partial fetal-alcohol syndrome
and his "cognitive and functional abilities are similar to the abilities of
someone suffering from mental retardation."
Psychologists, social workers and probation officers testified at Soliz's trial
that his was one of the worst cases of childhood neglect and abandonment they
had ever seen. All agreed that his mother drank while she was pregnant.
Appeals court Justice Lawrence Meyers, who wrote the opinion, noted that the
jury heard the testimony about Soliz's condition and still recommended a death
sentence. "This Court will not 2nd-guess the jury's determination," he wrote.
Soliz committed 13 crimes over 8 days in June 2010, including carjackings,
armed robberies, a holdup, a drive-by shooting and the fatal shooting of Ruben
Martinez, a deliveryman who happened to be unloading beer at a north Fort Worth
convenience store about 6 a.m. June 29, 2010.
A few hours later, Nancy Weatherly was killed when Soliz and co-defendant Jose
Ramos broke into her home in a rural area near Godley in Johnson County intent
on robbery and shot her with a gun stolen in an earlier burglary.
Tarrant County prosecutors have not tried Soliz in Martinez's slaying.
Ramos pleaded guilty in both cases and was sentenced to life in prison without
possibility of parole.
This was Soliz's 1st appeal and was automatic as with all death sentences. He
can appeal to federal courts. State District Judge William Bosworth has not set
his execution date.
(source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Prosecutors seek death penalty against Monroe County shooter
Prosecutors say they'll seek the death penalty against a Monroe County man
accused in a fatal shooting attack.
Garry Flyte is awaiting trial for the March shooting deaths of his neighbors,
54-year-old Jeffrey Place and Place's stepson Steven Powell.
The victims' dog was also killed in the attack in Eldred Township.
Police say Flyte told them he heard voices, telling him to shoot his neighbors.
Flyte's family says he has a history of drug use and paranoia.
(source: WFMZ news)
FLORIDA----execution
Florida execution is nation's 3rd in 24 hours
In the 3rd execution nationwide in less than 24 hours, a 3-time Florida
murderer was put to death by lethal injection Wednesday night.
The execution of John Ruthell Henry was the state's 13th since April 2013 and
the 18th since Gov. Rick Scott took office in 2011. The trio of executions
Tuesday and Wednesday were the 1st since the botched lethal injection of an
Oklahoma killer in April.
Henry, 63, was pronounced dead at 7:43 p.m. after being injected with 3 drugs
at the Florida State Prison in Starke.
He was convicted in the 1985 stabbing deaths of Suzanne Henry and her
5-year-old son near Tampa. 2 years earlier, he was paroled after serving 7
years for brutally stabbing his girlfriend, Patricia Roddy, in 1976.
Wednesday, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court
rejected Henry's pleas to delay the execution. His attorney argued he had a low
IQ, was mentally disabled and therefore should not be put to death under the
U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Henry becomes the 6th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Florida
and the 87th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1979. Only
Texas (515), Oklahoma (111), and Virginia (110) have executed more inmates
since the death penalty was re-legalized in the USA on July 2, 1976.
Henry becomes the 23rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA
and the 1382nd overall since the USA resumed executions on January 17, 1977.
(sources: USA Today & Rick Halperin)
********************
Florida Man Becomes 3rd Executed in US in 24 Hours
Florida has executed a man who fatally stabbed his wife and her young son in
1985.
It is the 3rd U.S. execution in less than 24 hours since a botched April lethal
injection in Oklahoma.
The governor's office says John Ruthell Henry was pronounced dead at 7:43 p.m.
Wednesday.
The 63-year-old was convicted and sentenced to death for fatally stabbing his
wife, Suzanne Henry.
Just before his execution, Henry asked for forgiveness and apologized for what
he'd done.
He also was convicted of fatally stabbing Suzanne Henry's 5-year-old son hours
after the woman's murder.
Henry previously had pleaded no contest to 2nd-degree murder for stabbing his
common-law wife, Patricia Roddy, in 1976. He served less than 8 years and was
released in 1983.
The U.S. Supreme Court turned down a last-second appeal.
(source: Associated Press)
***************************
5 things to know about Florida executions
THE HISTORY: The 1st person executed by lethal injection in Florida was Terry
Sims, who was convicted of the 1977 murder of a volunteer deputy sheriff during
a drugstore robbery near Orlando. Sims died proclaiming his innocence on Feb.
23, 2000.
THE METHOD: Florida uses a 3-drug mixture of midazolam hydrochloride,
vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. The drugs are administered
intravenously and are intended to induce unconsciousness, paralysis and cardiac
arrest. Midazolam, a sedative used before surgeries, has been used in the
3-drug mixture since 2013. Previously, sodium thiopental was used, but its U.S.
manufacturer stopped making it and Europe banned its manufacturers from
exporting it for executions.
A BOTCHED PROCEDURE: In 2006, Florida botched the execution of convicted
murderer Angel Diaz, who took more than 30 minutes to die instead of the usual
10. According to death penalty opponents and a report in The New Republic -
which printed autopsy photos - the executioner "pushed catheters through both
veins and into subcutaneous soft tissue." The chemicals went into Diaz' soft
tissue instead of his bloodstream, creating burns, the autopsy discovered.
Shortly after, then-Gov. Jeb Bush put a moratorium on executions, which was
lifted in 2007 by then-Gov. Charlie Crist. At the time, the Department of
Corrections said it had updated its lethal injection procedures after Diaz's
execution.
ELECTROCUTIONS: Before Sims' execution, Florida electrocuted its condemned
inmates. 44 inmates were executed in the electric chair between 1976, when
executions were resumed following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and 1999. A
total of 196 inmates were put to death in Florida between 1924 and 1964, all
electrocutions.
ABANDONING THE ELECTRIC CHAIR: Problematic executions led Florida to abandon
the electric chair. The last person Florida executed by electrocution was Allen
Lee "Tiny" Davis, in July 1999. The 54-year-old was put to death for the 1982
slayings of a pregnant Jacksonville woman and her 2 young daughters. It was the
1st use of a new electric chair designed to handle Davis' 350-pound frame. He
suffered a nose bleed that caused blood to appear on Davis' chest and spread to
about the size of a dinner plate, even seeping through the buckle holes on the
leather strap. On May 4, 1990, Jesse Tafero was executed for the slayings of 3
people, including a Florida Highway Patrol trooper. During the electrocution,
witnesses said 6-inch flames shot out of Tafero's head. State officials said
the flames were caused by the executioners failing to wet one of the sponges
placed on his head to conduct the current, and the sponge caught fire.
(source: Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA:
College Student Charged With Killing Parents Faces Death Penalty
A 19-year-old college student indicted for allegedly murdering his parents and
leaving his 8-year-old brother paralyzed in San Juan Capistrano is scheduled to
be arraigned today.
Ashton Colby Sachs was charged in March with killing his parents and attempting
to kill 2 of his siblings. But prosecutors took the case before a grand jury,
which indicted the defendant on Monday on 2 counts of murder, with special
circumstance allegations of multiple murders, and two counts of attempted
murder with premeditation and deliberation.
He also faces sentence-enhancing allegations of personal use of a firearm
causing death, personal use of a gun causing bodily injury and causing
paralysis.
Sachs is eligible for the death penalty if convicted, and at a minimum would
face life in prison without the possibility of parole. An indictment helps to
legally fast-track a case since prosecutors no longer have to get to trial
through a preliminary hearing.
Bradford Hans Sachs, 57, and his ex-wife, Andra Resa Sachs, 54, were found dead
and their 8-year-old son wounded about 2 a.m. Feb. 9 inside their home in the
32000 block of Peppertree Bend.
2 daughters were in the residence, but they were unable to identify the killer
the night of the shootings, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney
Ebrahim Baytieh. One of the attempted murder counts involves Sachs' 17-year-old
sister, who he allegedly fired on, but missed, Baytieh said.
The parents' business background complicated the investigation, according to
Justin Montano, the primary detective on the case. The couple had extensive
real estate holdings, and investigators early on looked into whether their
deaths were related to their business dealings, he said.
Phone records, witness statements and other evidence ultimately pointed to the
defendant, Baytieh said. The prosecutor alleged that Sachs appeared to have
planned the ambush over a long period of time. The North Seattle Community
College student purchased the alleged murder weapon, which investigators
recovered, according to Baytieh.
The prosecutor previously said the defendant's parents had been "supportive" of
their son. But Orange County Superior Court records pertaining to the couple's
divorce in 2000 shed a little light about some of the rancor between the 2 that
also involved their 3 biological children.
Their 8-year-old son and another daughter were adopted later.
Brad Sachs was arrested by Newport Beach police in March 2000 following a
custody exchange of the couple's children Myles, Ashton and Alexis. Myles was 8
at the time, the defendant was 6, and Alexis was 3.
Andra Sachs requested a restraining order, alleging her then-estranged husband
assaulted her as he was picking up the three children for visitation, according
to court records. She alleged he opened a car door that slammed into her
stomach before his vehicle collided with hers.
As Andra Sachs went to check on the children in her car, she alleged their
father "came after me and threw me onto the pavement, where I hit my head and,
for a brief moment, blacked out. I received injuries to my head, left thigh,
knee and ankle."
Andra Sachs also alleged that her husband had introduced his girlfriend to the
three children a week after he moved out. Their son, Myles, "told me that, 'I
saw Daddy sexing Sheri,"' Andra Sachs said in the restraining order
declaration. "Myles has also told me he has seen Daddy and Sheri naked."
On March 28, 2000, a judge issued an order prohibiting the father's girlfriend
from staying over during visitations with the children. Custody exchanges were
to be done at a neutral location and the couple was ordered to enroll in
parenting and anger management classes as well as participate in individual
therapy, according to court records.
There are no other records of discord between the 2 in the divorce.
(source: myfoxla.com)
*****************************
Can we afford the death penalty?
One item that has always been open for debate in these parts - especially
because a death chamber is housed in Marin - is capital punishment.
Society's homage to the biblical "eye for an eye" theory, the death penalty has
been a constant controversy since Caryl Chessman's execution in 1960.
Executions in California are currently on indefinite hold by court order for a
variety of reasons. But this inconvenient fact hasn't stopped citizens groups
from trying to resume them - and at a far faster rate.
An initiative requiring more than 800,000 signatures to make the ballot this
fall has been terminated - executed, if you will - by its proponents. Why?
Because they couldn't muster anything close to that number. They barely got a
1/4 of the signatures.
Instead, they plan to roll out the initiative in 2016, using the extra time to
gather enough citizens who support executing folks who have been "convicted" of
murder.
Here's where it gets uncomfortable.
Every day, it seems, another condemned prisoner is proven wrongly convicted and
subsequently released. Since 1977, 144 condemned people have been proven
wrongfully convicted of murder and subsequently released. Some of these
innocent folks had to spend decades on death row, many getting within days of
execution before being exonerated.
If that isn't cause enough for concern, see if this fits. In May, the National
Academy of Sciences published a study estimating, conservatively, that at least
300 innocent people have been sentenced to death. As of now, less than half
have been released.
How about documented, wrongful executions? During the late 1940s in England, a
documented killer named Reg Christie was executed for multiple murders. The
problem in his case: the husband and father of two of his victims went to the
gallows first, with Christie as chief prosecution witness.
Now, I recognize that's not Marin. But are we certain we can't make similar
mistakes?
In Texas a few years ago, Cameron Willingham was tried, sentenced and executed
for the killing of his three children by arson. Subsequent investigation by a
scientist/fire investigator showed the evidence used to convict Willingham was
erroneous and that he was likely innocent. Requests for clemency to Texas
Governor Rick Perry were ignored and ridiculed by the governor, and Willingham
was executed.
5 years after the execution, the state re-examined the case and its forensic
science commission found that "a finding of arson could not be sustained." The
only problem: our boy Cameron was already cold in the ground for 5 years. He
received no benefit from the investigation and, had he been alive, he could
have picked up whatever remained of his life and moved on.
Now, I'm not implying that most folks on death row at San Quentin are innocent
of the crimes that got them there. I'm merely suggesting the risk of wrongfully
executing even one of them is too big a risk to just shrug our collective
shoulders over.
If the execution proponents were to get their way, here's what would result.
There would be at least 2 executions a week for the next 10 years, as the
proposed law would require execution of all on death row within 10 years of
sentencing. Appeals would also be severely limited in number and scope.
This would be accomplished by drastically reducing the time allotted to make an
appeal, and dramatically liberalizing qualifications for capital defense
attorneys. In other words, less qualified counsel would be deemed permissible
for defendants.
Lower qualifications, more executions. This would be like going to Vegas and
stacking the deck against bettors.
Another issue is cost of the system. Initiative proponents argue their proposed
law would dramatically cut costs by the aforementioned limits on appeals and by
less cost of housing condemned inmates due to the accelerated rate of
executions. However, if you were one of the condemned, would you support a
limit on your opportunities for legitimate appeal?
Furthermore, should this proposed law pass, the cost to the state in defending
the multitude of lawsuits that would immediately be filed to stop its
enforcement would far exceed the claimed savings the bill could possibly
produce. Since capital punishment has been re-instated in California, the
cumulative cost to the state has been an extra $4 billion.
Every year the system remains in force, according to Death Penalty Focus, an
additional $184 million is added to the total. That's money that could better
be spent on "insignificant" things - schools, health care and public safety.
The very things too many of us take for granted.
Wouldn't that be better than just throwing it down a rat hole or, worse,
killing an innocent person?
(source: Opinion, Peter Richmond, Mill Valley Herald)
USA:
How the Supreme Court handles death cases ---- There is less mystery to the
high court process than one might think
Supreme Court decisions to allow inmates to be put to death or to grant a rare
reprieve often come at the last minute, and sometimes after the appointed hour
of execution has come and gone.
That was the case Tuesday night in Georgia, where Marcus Wellons was pronounced
dead just before midnight, nearly five hours after he was scheduled to be
executed.
But there is less mystery to the high court process than one might think:
THE "DEATH CLERK"
The justices and their clerks know well in advance when executions are
scheduled and where. A court official informally known as the death clerk sends
around a weekly update and is in frequent contact with lawyers forinmates and
the states as the date of execution nears.
As lawyers for condemned inmates press the case for delay in state and lower
federal courts, the Supreme Court receives information about developments and,
eventually, copies of those decisions.
LATE FILINGS
Very often those lawyers bring those arguments or similar ones the highest
court in the country in a final attempt to save their clients' lives. On
Tuesday, for instance, lawyers for Wellons and the state of Georgia were filing
legal papers at the Supreme Court well into the evening.
The justices' rejection of Wellons' various appeals was issued roughly an hour
after the last filing was submitted. And Wellons was executed just over an hour
later.
FATEFUL DECISIONS
When an emergency appeal reaches the Supreme Court, it is directed to the
justice who oversees the state in which the execution is scheduled. But death
penalty appeals almost always are referred to the entire court.
The justices typically do not meet in person to discuss these cases, but confer
by phone, and sometimes through their law clerks, according to the court's
guide to emergency applications.
It takes 5 justices, a majority of the court, to issue a stay. The overwhelming
bulk of last-minute appeals are denied, and often without comment.
Occasionally, 1 or more justices will dissent from the decision to let the
execution take place. Even more rarely, a justice will explain why.
*********************
Lawyers seek to move trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect to Washington
Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have asked to
move his upcoming trial from Boston, proposing Washington, D.C., as the new
location.
In a motion filed in U.S. District Court late Wednesday, Tsarnaev's public
defenders said a survey of potential jurors in Boston, Springfield, New York
City and Washington suggests the nation's capital would be a more suitable
location for a trial.
The lawyers, who cautioned that they still need more time to study the issue,
said Boston residents were the "most prejudiced" on a number of critical
measures, based on the May survey's preliminary findings.
Among Boston respondents aware of the case, they said, nearly 58 % "definitely"
believed Tsarnaev was guilty and 37 % believed that if convicted he deserved
the death penalty. More than 50 % of Boston respondents said they or someone
they knew had participated in or attended last year's marathon, at which three
people were killed and more than 260 others were injured.
About 37 % of Washington residents surveyed "definitely" believed Tsarnaev was
guilty, 19 % said he deserved the death penalty and about 12 % said they or
someone they knew had participated in or attended the marathon.
Prosecutors say Tsarnaev and his brother planted 2 bombs that exploded near the
finish line of the 2013 marathon. His brother died following a shootout with
police several days later.
Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to 30 federal charges. His trial is expected to
begin in November.
Tsarnaev's lawyers said their motion has precedent: They noted that "tremendous
local impact and galvanizing community reaction" prompted the trial of Oklahoma
City bomber Timothy McVeigh to be transferred to Denver in 1996.
The lawyers argue that the marathon bombings present an even greater impact to
the Boston-area community.
They pointed to the "trauma" of the 4-day police search, capped by the dramatic
final day, on which thousands of Boston-area residents were ordered to shelter
in place until Tsarnaev was found.
Defense lawyers also noted the intense and sustained media coverage after the
bombings and the ever-present "Boston Strong" billboards, T-shirts and other
paraphernalia.
The request to change trial venues capped a busy day in the case.
Earlier, U.S. District Court Judge George O'Toole ruled that "betrayal of the
United States" should not be among the factors prosecutors cite when arguing
whether Tsarnaev, who lived in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan and in
Russia before moving to the U.S., gets the death penalty if convicted.
The judge said it was "highly inappropriate" for prosecutors to draw a
distinction between a "naturalized" and a "natural-born" U.S. citizen.
Federal prosecutors have argued, in part, that Tsarnaev, 20, deserves the death
penalty because he betrayed his allegiance to the country that granted him
asylum and later citizenship.
Tsarnaev's attorneys have said the argument is unprecedented in death penalty
cases.
The judge on Wednesday also denied a request by Tsarnaev's lawyers to allow
them to meet with their client and his sisters in prison without federal agents
present. Instead, prosecutors agreed to have an FBI agent or other federal
official not assigned to the case monitor the meetings, for security purposes.
And the judge issued a stern warning to prosecutors about former or current
members of their team speaking to the media. The warning came after the defense
objected to interviews retired FBI agents gave around the April anniversary of
the bombings. Prosecutors said the interviews contained information already
public.
(source for both: Associated Press)
*******************
A death penalty is morally bankrupt
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Florida's definition of intellectual
disability with regard to capital offense is unconstitutional. While this
ruling brings a small measure of justice in an eminently flawed Florida system,
it does not address the larger issue. The concept of a death penalty is
unacceptable at every level. It is economically inefficient. It is not an
effective deterrent. Innocent people are executed, and most important, capital
punishment is morally bankrupt.
Vengeance is the disposition that fuels support for the death penalty. When a
society accepts state sanctioned vengeance as the resolution of humanity's most
basic principle; life or death, we become equivalent to the perpetrator of the
crime we seek to avenge. Those who commit heinous crimes must be punished
severely. Capital punishment, however, is societal barbarism.
While most countries have banned the death penalty, Japan, Taiwan and the
United States are the only developed nations to sanction this practice. Iowa to
its credit joins 17 other states that have outlawed capital punishment. The
challenge for all citizens is to enact a national ban. The human rights and
civil liberties embedded in our Constitution and Bill of Rights provide the
moral foundation for rejection the death penalty.
Phil George, The Villages, Fla.
(source: Letter to the Editor, Des Moines Register)
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