Sept. 27
TEXAS:
Letters to death row: Ines Aubert reveals why she writes to prisoners like
Robert Pruett
His story inspired a hit documentary and won him a raft of supporters.
But long before Life and Death Row made him famous, convicted murderer Robert
Pruett already had an anti-death penalty campaigner on his side - Ines Aubert.
The Swiss mother-of-3, who began writing to the 35-year-old more than 12 years
ago, said no one deserved the death penalty, and everyone needed human contact.
The pair have met several times and Mrs Aubert is an avid anti-death penalty
campaigner who has also written to 3 other inmates and even met their victims.
Mrs Aubert, who has met Pruett several times, became his pen pal after becoming
involved with Swiss organisation Lifespark which arranges pen pal-ships to US
inmates on death row.
The special needs teacher told news.com.au that she became involved in the
organisation not only because she is against the death penalty but because she
felt she wanted to give back to those who were so much worse off than herself.
The 53-year-old also said she wanted a challenge when she began writing to
Pruett and her focus wasn't just on the offenders, but in the best case and if
possible, also meeting their victims and helping them heal.
"Robert is very dear to me," she said.
"His story is not unique as far as his bad childhood goes. There are so many
who seem to never have had a real chance to succeed in life. Robert could
easily have gone unnoticed by the world like most death row prisoners do. They
live and die without anyone noticing it."
Pruett was originally sentenced to life in prison, or 99 years, when he was
just 15 years old, over the murder of neighbour Ray Yarborough, who was killed
by his father.
The then teenager was said to be present at the killing, but his father
testified that he had no part in the killing, The Express reported.
The gurney where death row prisoners are strapped down for lethal injection in
Hunstville, Texas. Source: Supplied
But it was the killing of prison guard Daniel Nagle in 1999 - attributed to
Robert - that saw him given the death penalty, which was set for May last year.
University student Kelly Hickman tried to get him a stay of execution as part
of her volunteering work at the University of Houston's death row clinic, and
it was her story which formed the basis of the BBC documentary.
His supporters claim there is a lack of evidence.
Mrs Aubert doesn't believe he deserves to die, and not only maintains a website
for him, but passes on letters and emails, and is his window to the world.
She said she's always had a strong interest in humanity, having volunteered
with organisations for disabled people, and other causes since her teenage
years.
It was this interest which saw her get involved in Lifespark.
"I feel very grateful for everything that worked out well in my life and for
the gifts I was given," she said.
"I grew up in a safe country and in a safe environment and family. I didn't
meet most of the difficult situations our pen pals on death row tell us about,"
she said, adding she felt a lot of solidarity with those who weren???t so
lucky.
But it hasn'tt always been rosy with her pen pal.
"When I got to know him, Robert had some racial ideologies that I actually
found disgusting," she said.
"So, I considered it a challenge to deal with a young man with opinions so
different from mine.
"Robert was 22 years old when I got to know him. He had just arrived on death
row and so I could watch him grow into the man he is today. We had a lot of ups
and downs, but we never stopped writing, very often and very regularly."
She also visits his father who is also in prison, and sometimes his mother and
brother Steven, who has a life sentence like his father, too.
Mrs Aubert remains committed to the Lifespark project which she said was so
important.
"Our pen pals confirm every day how precious the pen pal-ships are to them,"
she said.
"The analogy "window to the world" is often used. Through our letters we bring
the world into their cells. Also, by recognising them as human beings and as
worthy to be considered a friend we give them back some humanity."
And she also realises if Pruett was in the real world, the pair wouldn't be
friends and would have a very different relationship.
"People can feel very close only through exchanging letters but I'm very aware
that the relationship is not 'street-proof' meaning it will never have to pass
the test in the free world," she said.
"Would the inmates really choose us as their friends if they had a choice? I
doubt it."
She said forgiveness remains important and she has even met Pruett's victims,
who while they don't agree with her, they remained constructive.
"In the case of another pen pal of mine - he died of cancer 4 years ago - I met
a woman who he had kidnapped and raped when she was a girl. She was happy to
hear that he had friends like myself and that he had matured a lot and found
peace," she said.
Mrs Aubert said while she never agreed with the death penalty she did agree
with prison but that there should always remain the option of rehabilitation
and growth, something she said Pruett has developed.
"To me, life is a row of lessons and its purpose is that we grow and mature.
This happens through self-examination and through the exchange with other
people, books, programs etc," she said.
"Even those in prison can continue to grow and mature like the example of
Robert shows."
(source: News.com)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Failing to understand death penalty----How can we be against killing and then
kill in the name of law?
It is obvious: Michael Ballard didn't mind the deaths of the 4 people he killed
so why should he mind his own death?.
I was a member of a group that visits prisons for more than 45 years. I'm 81
now and have been retired for a few years. I have been against the death
penalty all my life. How can we be against killing and then kill in the name of
law? I will never understand.
Jeanette Slaw
Lehighton
(source: Letter to the Editor, Morning Call)
FLORIDA:
Jeffries Gets Death Penalty in Eldery Man's Murder Case
Life in prison or the death penalty, that was the question as convicted
murderer 29 year old Kevin Jeffries learned his sentence in a Bay County
courtroom Friday morning.
Jeffries was found guilty in the murder of 90 year old Wallace Scott.
Circuit Judge Brantley Clark sentenced Kevin Jeffries to death for the murder
of Wallace Scott, plus 2 consecutive life sentences for armed burglary and
armed robbery.
Jeffries along with his cousin 29 year old David Ian Challender broke into
Scott's house planning to rob him back in April 2013.
The 2 tortured and beat Scott trying to get the pin number from his ATM card,
eventually strangling him to death.
When Jeffries took the stand in August he blamed Challender for coming up with
the idea of robbing Scott.
Jeffries testified in August that he was under the influence of drugs at the
time of the murder.
Challender was charged with life in prison earlier this month for his role in
the crimes.
Of all 3 suspects in the murder case, Jeffries received the toughest
sentencing, the death penalty followed by 2 consecutive life sentences.
With the death penalty it's an automatic appeal to the state Supreme Court. The
average stay on death row is around 20 years. Ashley Griffin, the third suspect
in the crime, was sentenced following Jeffries this morning.
She received 20 years concurrent for all 3 charges. This means she will serve
no more than 20 years in prison.
(source: WJHG news)
OHIO:
Prosecution: Austin Myers led duo in the slaying of Justin Back----Officials:
Tim Mosley could take stand Friday
Testimony in the Austin Myers capital murder trial continued Thursday in
Lebanon.
The courtroom was packed. Many of those in the gallery were family and friends
of the victim, 18-year-old Justin Back.
Warren County sheriff's deputies who were first called to Back's Wayne Township
home on Jan. 28 took the stand Thursday.
The deputies told jurors that rugs were missing, chairs moved and jewelry
boxes, a gun and a safe were gone from the home.
They said they also noticed drops of blood around the house.
"Once I started to remove the carpet and I removed the top layer, I seen that
it had been saturated through the padding," said Deputy John Smith.
A closer look showed chemicals had been used to try to clean the carpet, Smith
said.
"The concern kind of shifted to where Justin was," said Deputy Jason Roberts.
Investigators said they spoke to neighbors and they quickly learned Austin
Myers and Tim Mosley had been at Back's home that day and the day before.
Investigators said within a day of speaking with the neighbors, they found
Back's body near the Cry Baby Bridge in Preble County.
On Thursday, the prosecution began retracing Myers' and Mosley's steps.
"Did you send detectives to a Lowe's store in the Dayton area?" asked Assistant
Prosecutor John Arnold.
Detective Brian Hounshell answered, "We did."
Investigators previously said Myers and Mosley bought items at Lowe's to make a
choking device that one investigator said the pair used on Back before stabbing
him.
During Thursday's testimony, prosecutors showed surveillance video of other
stops the 2 made, including a market in Waynesville.
"The 2 came in and wanted to buy stuff: Three boxes of cold medicine and bug
wash," said the cashier Donna Hubbs.
Prosecutors said they also stopped at a pharmacy in Waynesville.
"He asked if we had any syringes," said pharmacy clerk Juanita Jones.
During each stop, prosecutors said Myers was the leader, the one doing the
talking and the one trying to buy the items.
Co-defendant Mosley has agreed to testify against Myers in exchange for
prosecutors dropping the death penalty in his case. Officials said he could
take the stand Friday.
(source: wlwt.com)
ARIZONA:
Jodi Arias' penalty phase retrial begins Monday
Jury selection for Jodi Arias' penalty phase begins on Monday, but this time
there are lots of changes when it comes to media coverage.
Court video is embargoed until after the verdict is read.
Jury selection begins at 10:30 a.m. Monday in downtown Phoenix.
Arias recently recused herself from self-representation and as the jury
selection gets underway, there is speculation that finding jurors who haven't
been exposed to any trial coverage will be like finding a needle in a haystack.
That's because the trial was on every station every day for months.
The biggest hardship will be bringing you the day's testimony and the play by
play. Judge Sherry Stephens will not allow stations to air any video on the
case until after a verdict is read.
"Ironically, I think this order will make the coverage more chaotic," media
attorney David Bodney said.
Bodney represented all five local television stations, including CBS 5, in a
recent effort to get Judge Stephens to allow video of the trial to air 30
minutes after the day's end, but Stephens denied it.
"The defendant claims that her mitigation witnesses were told there would be a
camera and they might not participate if they had to suffer the harassment that
stems from a camera being in the courtroom," Bodney said.
Now the media circus may be even bigger. You can count on Twitter as a way to
communicate what's happening inside the courtroom.
Arias could get the death penalty or life in prison. The trial is expected to
last until December.
(source: KPHO news)
USA:
Federal prosecutors blast filings from murderer's lawyers
Prosecutors blasted an argument Friday against the federal death penalty by
lawyers for admitted killer Gary Lee Sampson that maintains that delays in the
legal process for a possible execution amount to "cruel and unusual
punishment."
In a court document, federal prosecutors used strong language in responding to
motions that Sampson's attorneys have filed in US District Court in Boston
challenging the constitutionality of the death penalty.
Among the motions was a defense filing saying the time lag between Sampson's
crimes and a possible execution violates his constitutional rights.
"Sampson finally asserts that 'waiting in the shadow of death' itself
constitutes cruel and unusual punishment," prosecutors wrote. "This is a
particularly galling claim coming from Sampson, who undoubtedly invoked
unimaginable terror in his 3 innocent victims in the final moments of their
lives."
The anxiety "of waiting for an execution date cannot be avoided in a system of
capital punishment," prosecutors said. ". . . Infliction of such inevitable
anxieties does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment."
Although Massachusetts does not have a death penalty, Sampson could be executed
in another state if he is sentenced to death in a Boston court under the
federal statute.
In the initial defense motion, which Sampson's lawyers filed in August, they
noted that a prior death sentence handed down against him stood for several
years before it was thrown out and that if he is sentenced to death again, he
will probably spend at least another decade on death row.
In that scenario, more than 20 years would have passed between his crimes and
his execution date, the motion stated.
The lawyers also wrote that capital punishment in the federal system "entails
years of waiting in the shadow of execution that are themselves cruel and
unusual punishment."
They also wrote: "The conditions of death row confinement are equivalent to
solitary confinement, but for years on end. This exacts a toll on those so
incarcerated that cannot be understated."
Sampson, 54, formerly of Abington, pleaded guilty in 2003 to the carjacking
murders of Philip McCloskey and Jonathan Rizzo in Massachusetts in 2001, and he
later admitted to killing Robert "Eli" Whitney in New Hampshire. He was
sentenced to death in 2004.
But that sentence was officially vacated in May 2012, after a judge found that
a juror had lied during a screening process. Prosecutors are again seeking the
death penalty. A sentencing retrial is scheduled for February.
(source: Boston Globe)
***************************
Legally dead man gets death in Vegas girl's slaying
A Las Vegas man who was believed to have died 20 years ago was given the death
penalty in the slaying of a 12-year-old girl who was found in a wooded area of
Louisiana in 2010.
Thomas Sanders, 57, was found guilty earlier this month on counts of kidnapping
resulting in death and using a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in
death.
On Friday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana
announced a federal jury's sentence for Sanders in the slaying of Lexis
Roberts.
According to federal prosecutors, evidence was presented during trial that
Sanders met Lexis Roberts' mother, 31-year-old Suellen Roberts, during the
summer of 2010 at a storage complex that Sanders was employed at.
Sanders and Suellen Roberts developed a relationship and later all took a trip
to the Grand Canyon over Labor Day weekend, prosecutors said. Evidence showed
Suellen Roberts was shot and killed during the trip back to Las Vegas and
Sanders forced Lexis Roberts to accompany him across the country.
Prosecutors said Sanders drove to a wooded area in Catahoula Parish, LA, where
he shot the 12-year-old 4 times, cut her throat and left her body there. Her
body was found on Oct. 8, 2010. Sanders was later found in Mississippi in
November 2010.
The U.S. Attorney's office said a recording of Sanders admitting to the mother
and daughter's slayings was presented as evidence during trial.
At the time of his manhunt, the FBI revealed Sanders was declared legally dead
in 1994 after walking out on his family in 1987.
(source: Fox news)
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