July 3
TEXAS:
Retired pastor saw 'destiny' in self-immolation
A retired United Methodist pastor fatally set himself on fire in a shopping
center parking lot in his hometown of Grand Saline, Texas, on June 23.
His death was a final act of protest against social injustice, according to
family members and the notes the pastor left behind.
The Rev. Charles R. Moore, 79, lived in Allen, Texas, near Dallas, but
apparently drove himself to Grand Saline, in east Texas, on June 23.
At about 5:30 p.m., he parked his car and walked to the parking lot, where he
doused himself with gasoline and started the blaze, said Chief Larry Compton of
the Grand Saline police.
Initially, Moore survived, thanks to bystanders who retrieved a store fire
extinguisher and put out the blaze.
He was taken by helicopter to Parkland Hospital in Dallas, and died there late
that night, Compton said.
Moore was a longtime elder in the Southwest Texas Annual (regional) Conference,
where in addition to serving churches he advocated for the abolition of the
death penalty and for gay rights within The United Methodist Church.
No indication toward suicide
Family members said he clearly remained deeply concerned about those issues and
others, including race relations, but gave no indication that he was
contemplating suicide in any form.
Church Teachings on Suicide
The Book of Discipline, the denomination's law book, says the following about
suicide.
We believe that suicide is not the way a human life should end. Often suicide
is the result of untreated depression, or untreated pain and suffering. The
church has an obligation to see that all persons have access to needed pastoral
and medical care and therapy in those circumstances that lead to loss of
self-worth, suicidal despair, and/or the desire to seek physician-assisted
suicide. We encourage the church to provide education to address the biblical,
theological, social, and ethical issues related to death and dying, including
suicide. United Methodist theological seminary courses should also focus on
issues of death and dying, including suicide.
A Christian perspective on suicide begins with an affirmation of faith that
nothing, including suicide, separates us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39).
Therefore, we deplore the condemnation of people who complete suicide, and we
consider unjust the stigma that so often falls on surviving family and friends.
We encourage pastors and faith communities to address this issue through
preaching and teaching. We urge pastors and faith communities to provide
pastoral care to those at risk, survivors, and their families, and to those
families who have lost loved ones to suicide, seeking always to remove the
oppressive stigma around suicide. The Church opposes assisted suicide and
euthanasia.
"It was a complete shock," said the Rev. Bill Renfro, also a retired United
Methodist pastor and a relative of Moore's by marriage.
The Tyler (Tex.) Morning Telegraph obtained from the Grand Saline police a copy
of a note Moore left on his car. In it, Moore laments past racism in Grand
Saline and beyond. He calls on the community to repent and says he's "giving my
body to be burned, with love in my heart" for lynching victims, for those who
lynched and for Grand Saline citizens, in hopes they will address current
racial issues.
Renfro provided United Methodist News Service with copies of other explanatory
statements Moore left, apparently written in the weeks before his suicide.
Family members found the notes in the study of the Allen home Moore shared with
his wife, Barbara, Renfro said.
The typed notes relay Moore's frustration over The United Methodist Church's
positions on homosexuality, over the death penalty, and over Southern Methodist
University's successful bid to be home to the George W. Bush Presidential
Center.
In one note, hand dated June 16, 2014, Moore wrote: "This decision to sacrifice
myself was not impulsive: I have struggled all my life (especially the last
several years) with what it means to take Dietrich Bonhoeffer's insistence that
Christ calls a person to come and die seriously. He was not advocating
self-immolation, but others have found this to be the necessary deed, as I have
myself for some time now: it has been a long Gethsemane, and excruciating to
keep my plans from my wife and other members of our family."
In another note, Moore said his mental and physical health was good, that he
was enjoying life and adored his wife, but that he also felt he was a
"paralyzed soul," unable to bring to fruition the social change he felt was
urgent. He declared it his "destiny" to give his life for a cause.
One note makes clear that Moore, who had degrees from SMU and SMU's Perkins
School of Theology, planned to do the self-immolation on the SMU campus, on
Juneteenth - the annual June 19 commemoration of the 1865 announcement to
slaves within Texas that they had been freed.
In another, much shorter note, dated June 20, Moore says "my courage failed" in
regard to the Juneteenth plan. In yet another, dated June 22, Moore clearly
still planned to take his life at SMU. "I know that some will judge me insane,"
he wrote, adding that he loved the school and felt his self-immolation there
would move people to care more about gay rights, the death penalty and better
treatment for African-Americans.
"He changed his mind at the last," Renfro said. "He couldn't bring himself to
do it at SMU. It meant so much to him."
'He had done plenty'
Renfro said the family struggled with whether to release the notes and seek
news coverage of Moore's act. He said the family is grieving the loss of a
loved one, experiencing a range of emotions over the way Moore chose to end his
life, and feeling sorrow for those who witnessed the self-immolation.
But the family ultimately concluded that Moore's long commitment to social
justice should be recognized, and that his act should be seen as an extension
of that.
"Basically, we've decided that the word needs to get out as to why he did it
because it's more than deciding to take your life to get out of a bad situation
or out of depression," Renfro said.
In the notes, Moore sometimes criticizes himself harshly for not acting earlier
and more decisively on civil rights issues and other social justice matters.
"It would have been nice to have had some sort of counseling, somebody to point
out that his life had mattered, that he hadn't failed," Renfro said. "He had
done plenty."
Moore helped organize the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. He also
went on a hunger strike in 1995, hoping to persuade the Council of Bishops,
which was meeting in Austin, to push for changing the Book of Discipline's
language on homosexuality. He did mission work in Chicago and India.
Andy Smith of Dallas was active at Grace United Methodist Church in Austin,
which Moore served from 1990 to 2000. Smith recalled Moore as a consistently
strong advocate for LGBT causes, as well as a stirring preacher.
"His sermon about Lazarus coming out of the tomb has stayed with me for more
than 20 years and remains the single best sermon I've ever heard," Smith said.
"Charles was a good man who played a prominent role in my life. I'm sorry that
he didn't feel that he made a difference, because he did."
A hometown church's prayers
Moore is survived by his wife; his sons, Guy Moore and Steve Moore, and 2
grandchildren. A memorial service is to be held July 12 at Faith Presbyterian
Church in Austin.
In the note left on his car, Moore was critical of the First United Methodist
Church in Grand Saline, saying members had ostracized him in the 1950s when he
openly supported school desegregation, and had not reached out to him over the
years.
The church devoted its regular Wednesday Holy Communion service on July 2 to
prayers for Moore's family and the Grand Saline community, said the Rev. Don
Brown, pastor.
Brown said he had not known Moore, but had been impressed in learning recently
about his social justice work. Brown said he would have been glad to have
invited Moore to speak at the church, to hear his witness and give him a forum
that might have prevented the suicide.
"I would have been real happy to have introduced him to a socially active and
community-involved congregation, but it wasn't to be," he said.
(source: umc.org)
*******************
Family of minister who set himself on fire explains his final act
17-year-old Sarah Sheppard and her mother were getting dinner June 23 in Grand
Saline when a woman came in the restaurant and said there was "a man on fire."
"I heard it, but my mom didn't. So I turned around, and I saw him on the ground
on fire," said Sheppard, a student at Fruitvale High School.
The act, the man's family said Wednesday, was an act of sacrifice. Former
Methodist minister Charles Moore, 79, of Allen, drove to his hometown June 23,
parked his vehicle in a Dollar General parking lot in the 500 block of East
Garland Street in Grand Saline, doused himself in gasoline and committed
self-immolation, said police Chief Larry Compton.
Grand Saline officer Nick Haley was dispatched to the parking lot at 5:53 p.m.
June 23, according to his police report.
Witnesses told Haley that Moore kneeled down on a piece of foam, picked up a
red gas can and poured what appeared to be gasoline over his head and
shoulders. He then ignited the gas with a lighter and became covered in flames
from head to feet.
Haley wrote that he called the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office at about
2 a.m. June 24 and was told that Moore died from his injuries after being flown
to Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
According to a suicide letter attached to Moore's car, the man grew up in Grand
Saline and intended to sacrifice himself as an offering of repentance for the
past treatment of black people in the town.
"Many African Americans were lynched around here, probably some in Grand
Saline: hanged, decapitated and burned, some while still alive," Moore wrote.
"The vision of them haunts me greatly. So, at this late date, I have decided to
join them by giving my body to be burned, with love in my heart not only for
them but also for the perpetrators of such horror. But especially for the
citizens of Grand Saline, many of whom have been very kind to me and others who
may be moved to change the situation here."
Bill Renfro, 77, a retired Methodist minister and relative of Moore's by
marriage, wrote a letter in the wake of the man's death to explain why he
committed self-immolation.
"Charles sacrificed his life in this manner as a statement that he was dying on
behalf of others to call attention to the plight of the powerless people
struggling to live who are being denied justice, equality, constitutional
rights, health and quality education," he wrote. "He gave his life on behalf of
the hungry, the poor, the imprisoned and the jobless as well."
Renfro said Moore was active in helping to establish the Texas Coalition to
Abolish the Death Penalty and spoke out against the discrimination of the gay
and lesbian community.
"In his view, he had not done enough, and he was trying to let his death bring
attention to these issues so maybe something could be done about it," he said.
Renfro's wife, Kathy, said her stepfather served as pastor of Grace United
Methodist Church in Austin from 1990 to 2000, and a memorial service is
scheduled at Faith Presbyterian Church in Austin later this month.
Bobigene Bratcher, 52, an employee of Means Home Center, said Wednesday that
she wishes Moore had not committed suicide.
"I wish I would have known him," she said. "I would have tried to stop him."
Bratcher said she moved to Grand Saline in 1972 and understands why Moore felt
like the town had been unkind to black residents in the past.
"A lot of people are scared to come here if they are black," she said. "Once
they get here, they are OK. But it is that initial feeling they have.
"When I moved here in 1972, one of the first things I heard about was the
racism. I don't believe in racism at all, but there are still some people who
are racist. Shame on them."
(source: Longview News-Journal)
**********************
Antoinette Martinez, Cameo Clines may get death in Texas ranch murder
Antoinette Martinez has confessed to her part in the murder of Xavier Cordero,
My Fox-Austin is reporting today. San Antonio police say that 20-year-old
Xavier Cordero was found dead on a Texas ranch on June 19, 2014. Antoinette
Martinez says she lured the man to the apartment by promising sex but robbed
him and killed him, instead. Cameo Marcus Clines aka Cameo Clines was also
arrested. Both Martinez and Clines have bonds set at $1 million for capital
murder. Cameo Clines was already on probation for burglary of a vehicle. The
capital murder charge makes them eligible for the death penalty.
Xavier Cordero was the son of a detective who worked for the SAPD. Friends and
family paid their respects to the beloved young man on June 26, 2014, with
Porter Loring Chapel presiding. The former basketball player was a funny person
who loved making others laugh. His devastated friends and family say they will
miss him dearly. Xavier Cordero attended NISD but graduated from Earl Warren
High.
Antoinette Martinez had previously confessed to a robbery that occurred at the
Burger King where she was employed. In that robbery Martinez had originally
stated that she was robbed at gunpoint by a man wearing all black, and that the
man took almost $800 in cash from the Burger King. Antoinette Martinez was also
connected to an additional robbery. While talking to police she confessed to
the murder of Xavier Cordero, according to KSAT-San Antonio.
The Bexar County Sheriff's office was called to a property located in the 17200
block of Donop Road in San Antonio. When detectives arrived they found the body
of a Hispanic male lying face down in a cow pasture on a private ranch, not far
from Braunig Lake, according to WOAI.
The body of the unidentified male was transported to the medical examiner's
office where they determined that the man was the victim of a homicide.
Examiners also found that the man had trauma to his chest and face. Police had
no suspects in the case until Antoinette Martinez confessed to the murder.
Cameo Clines is due in court July 31. Antoinette Martinez is due in court on
July 30, according to Bexar County Sheriff's records.
(source: The Examiner)
**********************
Houston Radio Show Helps Prisoners and Loved Ones
Every Friday evening a publicly-funded radio station in Houston broadcasts a
two-hour program aimed at prisoners and their loved ones. The show has also
attracted listeners interested in knowing more about prison issues and even has
international listeners who find it streaming on the Internet.
A main feature of the weekly "The Prison Show" is the call-in segment, where
people can address their imprisoned loved ones.
"Richard, I just want to say I love you and my birthday passed. I know your
birthday is coming up too, so I want to go see you for that," said one caller.
Many of the people working on the show are former convicts, including producer
David Collingsworth, who first listened to it in a prison cell.
"It showed me that somebody cared, somebody was actually out there who cared,"
said Collingsworth.
He said the show welcomes all callers, but there are often familiar voices on
the line.
"We can name all the regulars who call in, and we are a part of their lives,
and that is what really matters to us," he said.
In addition to the regular staff, "The Prison Show" counts on a number of
expert guests who discuss subjects like prison health care, legal issues and
the death penalty.
"Good evening everyone, especially the men and women on Texas death row and
their families and friends who are listening in this evening.... As many of you
already know, Texas leads the nation with 550 executions since 1982," begins
one show.
Attorney Bill Habern informs listeners about civil and legal rights in the
prison system.
"We feed inmates information and we feed families information," said Habern.
When the show went on the air in Houston in 1980, it was the 1st of its kind,
but Habern said it has inspired many others.
"What this show has become has led to other shows in other parts of the country
adopting a similar format," said Habern.
The show sometimes features live music performed by former inmates like Dennis
Price.
His experience emerges in many of his songs, but Price says he wants to move
on.
"I want to be a good person for my son, but it is a chapter in my life and I
have learned from it, and I think that it has made me who I am," said Price.
Price and most other ex-convicts criticize the Texas prison system as abusive.
Habern said many Texans favor candidates who are, in his words, "tough on
crime," but that often changes when they have a close experience with the
system.
"It is the quickest way I know to make a liberal out of a conservative is to
have a member of your family go to prison," said Habern.
Habern said this program has pressed for reforms like prisoner telephone
privileges, which was enacted in 2007, but, he said, there are many other
issues for "The Prison Show" to address each week.
(source: Voice of America News)
NORTH CAROLINA:
Appeals court orders hearing for Randolph County death row inmate----Jason
Hurst convicted in 2002 homicide
A federal appeals court has ordered a hearing on whether a juror in a North
Carolina death penalty case was improperly influenced when her father suggested
she read a Bible verse. A 3-judge panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals on Wednesday unanimously reversed a judge's ruling denying a
hearing for Jason Wayne Hurst, who was sentenced to death for the 2002 shooting
death of an acquaintance in Asheboro.
Juror Christina Foster said in an affidavit that before sentencing, she asked
her father where she could find guidance in the Bible. Her father directed her
to a passage about "an eye for an eye." The juror said she slept better after
reading the passage. She voted for the death penalty the next day.
(source: WXII news)
GEORGIA:
Shedding some light: New evidence expected at Harris hearing today
Police are expected to reveal much more about what they know in the Justin Ross
Harris case today.
Harris, a Marietta man accused of leaving his 22-month-old son in a hot car for
7 hours, will appear before a judge today for the 2nd time since police charged
him with murder June 18.
Kenya Jackson, manager of the magistrate court's criminal division, said Judge
Frank Cox will hear testimony from the officers and detectives who issued the
warrant that night.
Officers will present all the evidence they're willing to share at this point,
Jackson said.
"Once the prosecutor gets done asking questions to the witness," she said,
clarifying that the witness, in this case, would be the law enforcement
officers, "then defense attorneys have the right to ask questions, and I'm sure
they'll have plenty, just to see if the police department had enough to have
warrants issued."
Jackson noted the judge could still decide prosecutors don't have enough
evidence and dismiss the case at today's hearing.
Harris, 33, told investigators he forgot to drop his son Cooper off at day care
that morning before heading into work at a Home Depot corporate office.
By the time he began his commute home that afternoon, Cooper was dead. Harris
claimed he only noticed his child was still in the back seat after he had
driven several miles, at which point he swerved into the Akers Mill shopping
center parking lot and begged bystanders there to help.
Harris was arrested and charged with felony murder and cruelty to children just
hours after arriving at the shopping center, prompting public outcry over law
enforcement's handling of a father who appeared to have made a horrible
mistake.
In the weeks since, support for Harris has waned as investigators have released
pieces of evidence that suggest Cooper's death was not an accident.
Hearing asked for by defense
Today's hearing is the result of a motion filed by defense attorney Maddox
Kilgore, according to a person from the magistrate court's office who asked not
to be named.
The hearing will determine whether officers had probable cause to issue Harris'
arrest warrants in the first place, the employee explained, as well as to
consider the issue of his bond.
Because the case is still in the warrant status, the court official said Harris
could wait 6 months to a year to be formally indicted.
If the judge feels detectives demonstrate they had probable cause to arrest
Harris on charges of felony murder and child cruelty, he will transfer the case
to Cobb Superior Court for prosecution, Jackson said.
Harris' attorneys will raise the issue of bond at today's hearing, another
source tells the MDJ.
Harris's attorneys will have the right to bring forth character witnesses who
can testify during the hearing as to why the defendant should be released on
bond, Jackson said.
Prosecutors will also have the chance to cross-examine these witnesses, whose
testimony will be limited to reasons why Harris deserves a chance to bond out
of jail while he awaits trial.
Kim Isaza, spokesperson for the district attorney's office, said assistant
district attorney Chuck Boring will present evidence today on behalf of the
state.
A 'snapshot'
Joel Pugh, a partner in the Pugh, Barrett, Canale and Leslie law firm located
just off the Marietta Square, said the hearing will give Kilgore a "snapshot"
of the prosecution's case.
"Defense attorneys file for these hearings in cases where the client doesn't
have a bond and it gives them a chance to prepare their defense ahead of time,"
Pugh said.
Though Harris probably won't be indicted for another 6 months to a year, Pugh
said the prosecution will at least have to present enough evidence to convince
the judge not to grant bond.
Harris is charged with 2nd degree cruelty to children and felony murder.
Reynolds has said felony murder does not necessarily involve intent. However,
Pugh said he wouldn't be surprised if there are different charges by the end of
the day, which could include malice murder.
"What happens (today) depends on where the state believes it will head with the
case," Pugh said. "I've said from the beginning this is a malice case. If the
state believes he did it intentionally - that he planned this and they charge
him with malice murder - at that point they'll have a decision to make about
whether to seek the death penalty."
He said the key for the prosecution will be to keep Harris behind bars without
showing the entire case to the defense team.
"If I was prosecuting, I'd put up enough evidence to convince the judge not to
give bond and I'd shut it down at that point," he said.
Because hearsay is allowable in probable cause hearings, Pugh said 1 or 2
police officers will likely provide testimony of what evidence they've seen.
Direct evidence such as surveillance camera footage is not likely to be brought
forth, according to Pugh.
Pugh described himself as a close friend of Cobb District Attorney Vic
Reynolds.
"If this were truly an accident, I believe I know (Reynolds) well enough that a
consent bond would have been worked out," Pugh said.
Pugh has his suspicions about Harris' story, saying there would have been a
strong smell in the car when Harris left work.
"Whatever evidence they choose, I think it will be shocking to people," he
said. "I've always felt like there is more to the case."
Bond possible
Daniel Matalon, owner of A 2nd Chance Bail Bonds off Powder Springs Road near
County Services Parkway, said he was certain Harris' attorney would push for
bond in today's hearing.
But whether a judge will grant one in such a case is anything but certain, he
said.
"Harris may not get a bond," Matalon said. "Honestly, my gut tells me he's
going to have a hard time."
That decision will be left up to the district attorney's office, the judge and
numerous other factors, Matalon said.
The key element in a judge's decision to grant or deny bond is flight risk, he
explained.
"The purpose of the bond is not whether he's guilty or not guilty," Matalon
said. "Nobody is saying he did or didn't do it. The bond is about guaranteeing
his appearance every single time the judge asks him to appear."
Matalon said the bonding process is much like applying for a loan at a bank.
Defendants must have a co-signer to guarantee the bond, he said, and put down a
chunk of the total bond amount in order to walk out of the jail.
"It's actually interesting, because the law actually just changed yesterday,"
he said Wednesday, referring to a state law that went into effect July 1.
Under the new rules, Matalon said defendants must post 15 % of the face value
of their bond regardless of its amount.
The previous law required defendants to post 12 % of any bond under $10,000 and
up to 15 % of any bond over that amount.
He said the law is still so new that the sheriff's office and law enforcement
needs to create awareness of its existence so people understand what sort of
fees they could come up against.
"A bond like this, I would say, is going to be in the neighborhood of $100,000
to $250,000 if they gave him a bond right away," Matalon said.
He noted the judge could deem Harris too much of a risk given the case's high
profile and decline to set a bond at all.
As the case has attracted increasing national attention, police have remained
mostly quiet about the evidence they hold against Harris.
Chief John Houser, head of Cobb's police department, issued a letter to the
media June 25 urging the public not to "make conclusions based on rumor or
suspicions."
Houser said police "cannot share specific details of the investigation with the
public," though he said his department would release additional information at
different points during the process.
In the 2 weeks since the incident, police have published warrants and
statements that shed some light on why they say they believe Cooper's death was
the result of more than "simple negligence," but they're expected to present a
fuller case against Harris in court today.
Most recently, investigators released search warrants that revealed Harris
admitted to searching the Internet for information on child deaths inside hot
cars and "what temperature it needs to be for that to occur."
The warrants, published last weekend, indicate Harris' wife Leanna also
admitted to performing similar searches online.
(source: The Marietta Daily Journal)
*****************
Dad Charged with Toddler's Hot Car Death Was Sexting Says Cop, Could Face Death
Penalty
The Georgia dad charged with killing his toddler son by leaving the boy in a
hot car all day was exchanging graphic texts with a woman and a teenage girl in
the hours before he found the boy dead, a detective testified Thursday at a
probable cause court hearing.
At the end of the hearing, a judge determined that Justin Ross Harris, 33,
could face the death penalty. He was also denied bond.
The prosecutor said that he brought up the sexting messages during the court
hearing because it "goes to the state of mind" of the defendant, Justin Ross
Harris.
"He wanted to live a child-free life," the prosecutor said.
Detective Phil Stoddard also told the court that the boy, Cooper Harris,
endured a "painful death."
Cobb County Police Department Detective Phil Stoddard told the court that
before little Cooper Harris died, his father took him to a Chik-fil-A
restaurant for breakfast and while buckling the boy back into his car seat,
"Cooper gives him a kiss and he [Harris] gave him a kiss back."
Harris, 33, sat impassively in an orange jail jumpsuit during the hearing.
Harris, who faces child cruelty and murder charges, has insisted he forgot his
son was in the car and that the boy's death was accident.
Stoddard testified that before the boy died, Harris had visited the website
Reddit to search for articles on life without children, and viewed videos on
Reddit that showed people dying - by suicide or execution, in some cases.
Harris had also twice viewed a video that shows the painful death of animals
left in hot cars, and had searched for how to survive in prison, according to
searches of his laptop, Stoddard said.
The detective said both Harris and his wife, Leanna Harris, seemed unemotional
after learning their son died. Harris never called 911 after finding the boy
unresponsive in his SUV on June 18, Stoddard said.
The detective told the court that Cooper suffered a "painful death." He said
the temperature that day 88 degrees.
But Harris told his wife the boy "looked peaceful ... his eyes and his mouth
were closed," Stoddard recalled of the pair meeting at the police station. The
detective added under questioning, however, that photos taken by police show
that the boy's eyes and mouth were not closed.
At one point, Harris told his wife: "I dreaded how he looked," according to
Stoddard's testimony.
And Leanna Harris asked her husband, "Did you say too much?" during police
questioning, Stoddard said.
The detective also raised some points about the wife's behavior in his
testimony. He said that employees at the day care center said that when she
went to pick up her son and was told her husband hadn't drop off Cooper that
morning, she said moments later, "Ross must have left him in the car."
The officer also said that he clearly heard a phone call between Leanna Harris
and her mother in which Cooper's grandmother was distraught over the news of
the boy's death and asked her daughter, "Why aren't you crying." Leanna Harris
replied, "I must be in shock," Stoddard said.
There were also marks on Cooper's face and abrasions on the back of his head,
the officer said.
Harris and his wife had 2 insurance policies on their son, one worth $2,000
through Home Depot, where Harris worked, and a 2nd policy worth $25,000 the
couple took out in November 2012, Stoddard said.
Police noticed a "foul stench or odor" coming from the vehicle and hour and a
half after Cooper was removed, Stoddard said, suggesting Harris would have also
realized the smell.
"It smelled like decomposition, or death," Stoddard said.
When asked if thought that Harris was a flight risk, the detective said he did
think Harris was a flight risk in part because "he has a whole 2nd life."
Witnesses who testified on Harris' behalf painted him as a loving dad.
Leonard Madden, who had lunch near the parking lot where Harris pulled in after
he said he realized his son was dead and in the back of his SUV, said his
reaction to finding the boy was "definitely genuine."
Madden contradicted the detective's testimony that Harris never shed a tear.
"He was saying 'Oh my God, oh my God, my son is dead," Madden said. "He was
crying, he was sobbing."
Another witness, James Alex Hall, Harris' coworker and friend from college,
said he planned to go to the movies with his pal the day Cooper died. Nothing
was unusual about Harris' behavior that day, Hall said in court.
"He said he loved his son all the time," Hall added. "He said his son was very
important to him."
(source: KABC news)
FLORIDA:
Editorial: Deadly distinction
Florida might not be No. 1 in job creation, but we're giving Texas a run for
its money in executions.
It's not exactly the re-election slogan that Gov. Rick Scott had in mind. Scott
1st ran for office on a platform of job creation, never contemplating the
legacy that he would earn with the death penalty during his 1st term.
Scott has presided over 18 executions, the most carried out by any Florida
governor in a single term since the death penalty was reinstituted in the
1970s, according to a story this week from Halifax Media Services.
With another execution scheduled for next week, Florida will have carried out 7
executions this year - the same number as Texas, notorious for its zeal for
executions.
Texas has another 5 executions scheduled this year, so is likely to again pass
Florida. But that might change in the years ahead due to Florida's furious pace
in issuing death sentences. Florida has sentenced more prisoners to death than
Texas in every year since 2004.
Supporters of the death penalty might tout this as good news. House Criminal
Justice Chairman Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, links Florida's role as a
death penalty state to a 42-year low in the crime rate - despite research
showing that the murder rate in states without the death penalty has
historically been much lower those that have it.
Gaetz was the sponsor of the Timely Justice Act, a measure he claimed would
speed up executions. The Florida Supreme Court last month upheld the
constitutionality law, finding that it actually did little to alter the
executive clemency process under the control of the governor.
Rather than tinkering that makes headlines but changes little, Florida
lawmakers should address real problems with the death penalty.
The biggest problem is the possibility of wrongfully executing someone who is
innocent. Florida leads the nation with two dozen death-row exonerations since
1979, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Just last week, the Florida Supreme Court overturned the death sentence and
conviction of Paul Hildwin. He has spent the last 28 years in prison for
allegedly strangling a woman to death in Hernando County.
DNA evidence found at the murder scene was in recent years discovered to match
a former boyfriend of the victim rather than Hildwin.
One way to lessen the chances of wrongful convictions is changing the state's
sentencing system. Florida is 1 of 2 states where just a majority jury vote can
recommend death.
A 2006 report from the American Bar Association found problems with the
fairness, impartiality and accuracy of Florida's death penalty process. The
Board of Governors of the Florida Bar Association last year called for a
comprehensive review of that process.
Gov. Scott didn't run on a platform of increasing the number of death
sentences, but that is exactly what is happening under his watch.
Rather than racing toward the national lead for executions, the state should
work toward no longer having the disgraceful distinction of leading the nation
in wrongful death sentences.
(source: Editorial, Gainesville Sun)
******************
Justices Revamp Rules For Death Penalty Appeals
The Florida Supreme Court approved a series of changes Thursday aimed at
improving the death-penalty appeals process.
The changes include revising requirements for attorneys handling cases.
Justices last year formed a subcommittee to look at the appeals system, a move
that came as the Legislature targeted delays in carrying out the death penalty
by passing a bill dubbed the "Timely Justice Act."
The Supreme Court largely approved a series of rule changes that were proposed
by the subcommittee and that deal with what are known as "post-conviction"
appeals in death-penalty cases. The subcommittee took input from groups such as
judges, prosecutors, public defenders and the governor's office.
"The subcommittee indicates that the overwhelming consensus from these groups
is that the existing rules governing the capital post-conviction process
generally work well, and that a complete overhaul of those rules is not
necessary,??? the court said in an opinion releasing the changes.
As an example of the revisions, justices approved additional requirements for
lead attorneys in post-conviction appeals. Those attorneys, in part, will be
required to have at least three years of experience in post-conviction
litigation and also meet criteria for experience in handling capital cases.
Chief Justice Jorge Labarga and justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, Peggy
Quince and James E.C. Perry agreed on the rule decisions.
Justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston dissented on 2 issues, including a
rule change that will prevent defendants from representing themselves in
post-conviction proceedings.
(source: CBS Miami)
MISSISSIPPI:
Jordan continues appeals of 1976 death sentence
At 68, Richard Gerald Jordan is the oldest inmate on Mississippi's death row.
He is also the longest-serving death row inmate at 37 years.
Jordan was convicted of capital murder committed in the course of a kidnapping
and was sentenced to death on 4 separate occasions. Following the first 3
convictions, Jordan challenged his death sentence successfully, was retried,
and was again resentenced to death.
Jordan was convicted of kidnapping and killing Edwina Marta in Harrison County
on Jan. 13, 1976. He was accused of collecting a $25,000 ransom from Marta's
husband, then taking the woman to a wooded area in north Harrison County and
shooting her in the back of the head.
In 1991, after a 3rd successful challenge to his sentence, Jordan entered into
an agreement with the prosecution to serve a sentence of life imprisonment
without parole in exchange for not further contesting his sentence.
Jordan appealed to the Supreme Court, saying he had agreed to the sentence but
it was invalid under state law.
The Supreme Court in 1997 agreed, ruling life without parole as a sentencing
option did not exist until July 1, 1994. The justices said the only sentences
available to Jordan were death or life imprisonment with parole. The justices
ordered a new sentencing hearing.
Thereafter, Jordan sought a life with parole sentence.
The prosecutor refused.
The prosecutor said that, because Jordan "violated" the 1st agreement by asking
the court to change his earlier sentence, the prosecutor would not again enter
into a plea agreement with Jordan for a life sentence. The prosecutor instead
successfully sought the death penalty for the 4th time in a 1998 sentencing
trial.
In a post-conviction appeal denied in June, 2 members of a 3-judge panel of the
5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Jordan's arguments of prosecutorial
vindictiveness and ineffective assistance of counsel.
A 3rd judge, James L. Dennis, said Jordan should get to appeal the issue of
vindictiveness.
"The prosecutor had a 'considerable stake' in Jordan accepting his
life-without-parole sentence without challenge and, when Jordan did lodge a
challenge, the prosecutor 'upped the ante' by deciding that a life sentence of
any sort was no longer acceptable and only death would now suffice," Dennis
said.
The 2 other judges said Jordan did not present any evidence of prosecutorial
vindictiveness.
Jordan's options now are to ask the full 5th Circuit to review his petition or
file a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court.
(source: Clarion-Ledger)
TENNESSEE:
5 things to know about Tennessee's electric chair
Tennessee A law took effect this week in Tennessee making it the 2st U.S. state
to have the option of executing death row inmates with the electric chair if
drugs for lethal injections are not available. Billy Ray Irick, who was
convicted of murder in the death of a 7-year-old girl he was babysitting in
1985, is the next Tennessee death row inmate scheduled to be executed, on Oct.
7. Corrections officials have said they have no lethal injection drugs on hand
but are confident they can obtain them when needed. Here are 5 things to know
about the state's electric chair:
THE RETURN OF 'OLD SPARKY'
Tennessee is one of several states to nickname its electric chair 'Old Sparky.'
The chair was built out of the gallows used by the state before it abolished
hangings in 1913. A replacement chair was built in 1989, but it kept the old
wooden back legs. The original chair that was retired after 125 electrocutions
is now on display at the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum in Gatlinburg, while
the new chair is stored in the state's execution chamber in Nashville alongside
the lethal injection equipment.
CHAIR REVISIONS
Fred Leuchter, the Massachusetts man who rebuilt Tennessee's electric chair in
1989, has taken issue with subsequent decreases in the voltage and duration of
the jolts, arguing that they make it more likely for the inmate to feel pain
and to "cook the executee and boil his blood." But Leuchter said his concerns
have been ignored because of statements he's made in the past claiming
historians have inflated the number of Holocaust victims during World War II.
MOST RECENT ELECTROCUTION
The last person to be electrocuted in Tennessee was convicted child killer
Daryl Holton, who in 2007 chose to die via the electric chair. The state's
medical examiner later found that Holton suffered minor burns on his head and
legs, but had no signs of severe burning, disfigurement or other major injuries
like those that had occurred in some other electrocutions around the country.
Under previous law, death row inmates convicted before lethal injection was
introduced in 1999 could choose to die by electrocution.
PREPARATIONS AND TESTING
Correction Commissioner Derrick Schofield has expressed confidence that
procedures and testing on the electric chair have been sufficient to put it
back into regular use. Records obtained by The Associated Press show that an
electrician - whose identity is redacted under state law - tests the chair each
year to confirm that "the equipment will execute an inmate." The testing is
meant to confirm the chair will deliver 1,750 volts at 7 amps over 20 seconds,
disengage for 15 seconds, and then re-engage for another 15 seconds.
PREVIOUS PROBLEMS
Tennessee's death penalty procedures came under scrutiny in 2007 when its
100-page "Manual of Execution" turned out to be a jumble of conflicting
instructions that mixed up guidelines for lethal injections and the electric
chair. For example, the document instructed executioners to shave a prisoner's
head before a lethal injection, and to have a fire extinguisher nearby.
Executions were put on hold while the state re-wrote the manual.
(source: Associated Press)
_______________________________________________
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A free service of WashLaw
http://washlaw.edu
(785)670.1088
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
