Nov. 24
MARYLAND:
O'Malley, murder victims' daughter speak about death penalty
A Western Maryland woman whose parents were killed by a man on death row said
she urged Gov. Martin O'Malley in a phone conversation Monday afternoon not to
commute the man's sentence.
The conversation came days after The Baltimore Sun reported that O'Malley had
reached out to 2 relatives of people killed by men on death row - moves that
fueled speculation that, with two months left in office, the governor may be
poised to take action on the death penalty cases.
Mary Francis Moore, 71, whose father and his wife were killed in 1995 by Heath
William Burch, said O'Malley did not say what his plans were. They discussed
what might happen to Burch in light of another inmate's appeal. Attorney
General Douglas F. Gansler has joined the appeal, arguing Maryland no longer
has the authority to execute anyone.
"I said, 'Don't touch this [case], let it go back to court, let the judges
decide,'" Moore said. "He talked about the possibility that if it did go back
to court, that these guys would get out, that they would only get life" rather
than life without parole.
Moore said she concluded the conversation by asking O'Malley "to pray about
it." She said the governor told her, "I hope we meet some day."
A spokeswoman for the governor said he would have no comment about the
conversation.
O'Malley has largely refused to discuss the fate of the men who were already
sentenced to death when Maryland last year repealed the death penalty for
future cases. The law did not apply to the men already on death row. O'Malley
has said only that he would consider each case as requests for clemency reached
his desk.
A lawyer for Burch said he submitted such a petition earlier this year. Burch,
45, was sentenced to die in 1996 for killing Moore's father, Robert Davis, 72,
and her step-mother, Cleo Davis, 77, in their Capitol Heights home.
There are 4 men on Maryland's death row. Their status has been up in the air
since 2006 when the state's regulations for executions were thrown out by a
court and never replaced.
Lawyers from the Attorney General's office are scheduled to argue before a
state appellate court on Dec. 8 that the state can't issue new regulations for
how to carry out executions now that capital punishment has been abolished.
The appeal by inmate Jody Lee Miles faces an uncertain outcome in the courts.
But Gansler has noted that O'Malley has the ability to commute death sentences
to life without parole. Governors in Illinois and New Jersey commuted the
existing death sentences in their states after the repeal of capital
punishment.
Dorothy Atkinson, whose son was killed by Miles in 1996, said she, too, was
contacted by the governor's office about a meeting. And Baltimore County
State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger said gubernatorial aides also reached out
to his office, seeking contact information for relatives of the victims of the
other 2 men on death row, Vernon Evans and Anthony Grandison.
(source: Baltimore Sun)
OHIO:
Lethal injection drug bill clears Ohio House: How they voted
Legislation intended to help state officials obtain lethal injection drugs
before executions resume in Ohio cleared the Ohio House last week.
House Bill 663 would grant 20 years of anonymity to pharmacies creating lethal
injection drug combinations, protect physicians who advise the state on
executions and void contracts or agreements that prohibit the sale of lethal
injection drugs to the state.
The bill's sponsors, Republican Reps. Jim Buchy of Greenville and Matt Huffman
of Lima, said the changes will ensure that Ohio can continue to execute
convicted criminals once a federal court-imposed moratorium is lifted.
The bill was amended to allow courts to access drug pharmacy information for
"just cause" in legal proceedings and requires pharmacies to apply for
confidentiality.
Opponents of the bill said it granted too much secrecy to a process that is
already questionable to many.
The House passed the bill in a 62-27 vote on Thursday, and it now heads to the
Senate.
(source: cleveland.com)
INDIANA:
Mother reacts to news daughter's murderer is mentally unfit to be executed
It was not the news Shelby County resident Connie Sutton had hoped for.
A death row inmate convicted of raping and killing her daughter was found to be
too mentally ill to be executed last week.
St. Joseph County Judge Jane Woodward Miller ruled that Michael Dean
Overstreet, who was found guilty in the murder and rape of then 18-year-old
Kelly Eckart, suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, which prevents him from
rationally understanding why he is being executed.
"Overstreet does not have a rational understanding of the link between his
punishment and his crime. This court concludes Overstreet has proved, by a
preponderance of the evidence, that he is not presently competent to be
executed," Miller wrote in a 137-page decision.
In 1997, Eckart went missing after leaving her job in Franklin. She was found
strangled in a ravine in Brown County. Three years later, a jury convicted
Overstreet and he was sentenced to death.
Sutton was informed of the decision last Wednesday and called those closest to
her to relay the news.
"Wednesday night was rough. Thursday was very rough and it is very hard to
understand and accept, but I've got to walk away from it. I have to leave him
behind me. I can't live it anymore. I fought as hard as I could for Kelly. We
tried hard, and I know she is resting in peace because of how hard we tried.
I've made up my mind that I am moving on," Sutton told The Shelbyville News
this week.
With the ruling, Overstreet will remain on death row for the rest of his life
but no execution date will be set.
"I still believe in and have faith in the system in Indiana. He will pay for
what he did when he dies. He will live his own hell in his mind on death row,"
Sutton said.
In her decision, Miller wrote that Overstreet has had mental health issues
since he was 17 years old. Three psychiatrists hired by the defense found he is
not competent, while one hired by the state said he was.
"Overstreet is routinely beset by voices, shadow figures and imposters. His
illness dictates how he behaves, what he believes and who he trusts. This court
finds those to be severe constraints on his life," Miller wrote.
Included in the decision were numerous attempts by Overstreet to establish his
competency, including a 2014 letter to Miller, where he wrote, "I would like to
clearly state that I'd provide no purpose for being present and that I am
completely and fully competent. I believe I can and would be able, if I haven't
already passed my competent test. I should NOT be treated ANY different then
anyone else..."
Overstreet said he was on death row because he killed an angel and told one
psychiatrist he was sentenced to death because he was "convicted of murder,
rape and confinement of Kelly Eckart of Franklin, Indiana."
Sutton said Overstreet did give her one thing she never expected - an admission
of guilt.
"I never expected that, and that was as close to an admission as I will get,"
she said.
As for whether or not she was surprised with the ruling, Sutton said not
really.
"I am not as surprised as I thought I would be. I spent four days in the
courtroom listening and seeing everything. I know he is very sick. I believe he
knows what it means to be executed. I believe that deep in my heart," Sutton
said.
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller can file an appeal, but his office has
not indicated whether or not that will happen.
"I'll go with whatever they decide," Sutton said.
However, for now, Sutton is ready to move on. While she doesn't call it
"closure," she does admit to being ready to close the chapter on Overstreet and
the horrific crimes he committed more than a decade ago.
"It's going to be hard. My life revolved around the legal system. Whenever my
phone rang, it was this attorney or that TV station for an interview. Now I can
ignore those calls. I've got to put him behind me and I have to do it for me
and my mental health. It hurts, but since I decided to walk away from him, it
feels like a hundred pounds has been removed from my shoulders," Sutton said.
(source: Shelby News)
**************************
Not guilty plea for man in Indiana teen's death
An ex-convict charged with killing a 15-year-old girl whose badly burned body
was found in an Indianapolis backyard made his initial court appearance Monday
before a gallery filled with the teen's relatives and friends.
A preliminary not guilty plea was entered for 46-year-old William Gholston on
the murder charge he faces in Dominique Allen's Aug. 31 death. A Marion County
judge granted his request for a public defender to be appointed and ordered
Gholston to remain jailed without bond.
The murder charge stems from DNA found on Allen's sandals and body that matched
samples from Gholston in the state inmate database, according to authorities.
Some of Allen's family members wore T-shirts to court Monday with her picture
and "Justice 4 Dominique" printed on them.
Shenika Poindexter said it was important to seek justice for her younger
sister's death.
"We are her family, we are her sisters and we are gonna go through this every
step of the way to make sure that whomever is responsible for this gets charged
and does their time," Poindexter told reporters after the hearing.
Investigators don't know of any connection between Allen and Gholston, who
wasn't a suspect until the DNA tests were completed, officials said.
An autopsy determined that Allen, a Ben Davis High School freshman, died from
asphyxiation. A coaxial cable was wrapped around her neck and ankles. Allen was
dead before her body was burned in a backyard on the city's near northwest
side, authorities said.
Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Mark Hollingsworth declined to comment about
whether authorities would seek the death penalty.
Gholston is eligible for the death penalty because he was on parole at the time
of the Allen's death after serving a prison sentence for 2006 convictions for
illegal gun possession and resisting arrest. Gholston had previously served
prison sentences for armed robbery and drug possession, according to Indiana
Department of Correction records.
(source: Associated Press)
MISSOURI:
Suspect in killings of 5 Kansas City residents pleads not guilty
A man previously charged with killing 3 residents in South Kansas City, has
pleaded not guilty to all charges he faces, including five counts of 1st-degree
murder.
With his public defender by his side, 34-year-old Brandon Howell entered his
plea in a Jackson County courtroom Monday morning.
Howell, dressed in street clothes, showed no emotion and had no visible
reaction to the charges. He also made no eye contact with the family and
friends who showed up in support of the victims.
A Jackson County grand jury on Friday handed up 2 1st-degree murder indictments
again Howell, according to online court records. A judge had to sign off on the
indictments, and Howell was served with the indictments this weekend. Once that
occurred, the public was notified about the indictments about 9 p.m. Sunday by
the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office.
The indictments replace earlier assault charges in connection with the attacks
on George and Ann Taylor in their South Kansas City home last September. The
Taylors were brutally assaulted and died some days later in a Kansas City
hospital. Initial assault charges were filed prior to the Taylors' passing.
The 5 residents were killed in the Woodbridge area of South Kansas City on
Sept. 2.
As a result of the grand jury's actions on Friday, Howell is now facing 12
felony counts in connection with the crimes: 5 counts of murder in the 1st
degree, one count each of 1st-degree burglary, stealing a motor vehicle and
unlawful possession of a firearm, and 4 counts of armed criminal action. The
grand jury issued indictments that supersede the charges originally filed by
the prosecutor's office.
Kansas City police found the Taylors beaten inside their home on Woodbridge
Lane. Officers also found 3 other victims in their yards or driveways at nearby
residences.
The horror began unfolding when Howell allegedly attempted to steal a Jaguar
owned by George and Ann Taylor, who officers found badly beaten in their
basement.
Lorene Hurst was killed along with her son, Darrel, who was making one of his
frequent visits to his mother when the tragic events unfolded. Also killed was
Susan Choucroun, 69. Prosecutors allege that some of those killed by Howell
witnessed his crime spree, and he sought to silence them.
Howell was arrested later on Interstate 29 near NW 72nd Street. He is suspected
of assaulting 3 motel guests.
Howell has an extensive juvenile and adult criminal record including 1st-degree
murder, kidnapping, robbery, assault and animal abuse charges in both Kansas
and Missouri. His 1st criminal conviction occurred when he was 12.
As an adult, he beheaded a cat named Toby during a home invasion robbery in
Johnson County that involved drugs. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for
those crimes.
He was previously accused of killing 2 people in 1998, but a Jackson County
jury acquitted him.
Prosecutors have not said publicly whether or not they will seek the death
penalty in the September killings. It typically takes Jackson County
prosecutors months to determine whether to seek the death penalty. Prosecutors
traditionally seek indictments by grand juries in potential death penalty
cases. The indictments also mean that a preliminary hearing on the charges
isn't necessary and prosecutors can hold back releasing some evidence until a
later date.
Prosecutors have requested Howell be held without bond. Howell's next court
appearance is scheduled for Dec. 11.
(source: cbs3springfield.com)
KANSAS:
Kansas man facing retrial on capital murder charge in women's deaths seeks to
change name
A Kansas man whose capital murder conviction was overturned because of an
ineffective attorney wants to change his name ahead of his retrial for the
deaths of 2 women more than a decade ago.
Phillip Delbert Cheatham Jr., 41, is charged with capital murder and is
scheduled to go to trial early next year. He was convicted by a jury of that
charge in 2005 and sentenced to death, but the Kansas Supreme Court overturned
the conviction last year and ordered a new trial.
The Topeka Capital-Journal (http://bit.ly/1vG0qOF ) reported that Cheatham is
seeking to change his name to "King Phillip Amman Reu-El," according to
documents he filed with the court.
The Shawnee County District Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting Cheatham in
the slayings, won't oppose the requested name change.
"The name he goes by doesn't matter to us," chief deputy district attorney
Jacqie Spradling said this week. Spradling is the prosecutor in the retrial of
Cheatham.
The name change must be published once a week for three consecutive weeks in a
newspaper in the county where the name-change petition is filed, according to
Kansas statute.
Cheatham's name change was published as a classified ad in The Capital-Journal
on Nov. 5.
"The changing of my name to King Phillip Amman Reu-El represents the subjection
of my will, the submitting of my will, the tuning of my will to the will of the
King of Kings who dwells in the kingdom which is not far away," Cheatham wrote
in court documents.
Cheatham is accused of fatally shooting Annette Roberson, 38, and Gloria A.
Jones, 42, at a Topeka home on Dec. 13, 2003. He also is facing 2 alternative
counts of premeditated 1st-degree murder of Roberson and Jones; attempted
1st-degree murder of Annetta D. Thomas; aggravated battery of Thomas; and
criminal possession of a firearm.
Thomas survived 19 bullet wounds to identify Cheatham as 1 of 2 shooters in the
deaths of Jones and Roberson.
The Supreme Court ruled Cheatham didn't get a fair trial because his attorney,
Dennis Hawver of Ozawkie, spent only 200 hours preparing for the case, which
the court called "appallingly low for a death penalty defense and even more
stunning when all but 60 of those hours, as Hawver testified, were spent in
trial."
Cheatham new defense attorneys have filed a number of motions that seek to have
the retrial dismissed. His lawyers also have challenged the death penalty and
other aspects of the case.
(source: Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA:
Jury gives death penalty again to man convicted in 1983 Garden Grove rape,
murder
A convicted killer whose original death penalty sentence was overturned on
appeal should return to death row, a jury decided on Monday.
In 1983, Richard Raymond Ramirez met Kimberly Gonzalez at Mr. Barry's Bar on
Westminster Avenue, played pool and danced with her, kissed her and then walked
with her to an alley behind the business, where he attacked her and stabbed her
more than 20 times.
Ramirez's attorney's argued that he should remain behind bars for the rest of
his life, not put to death. They told the jury about his dysfunctional
childhood in a household dominated by a violent and alcoholic father, and his
drug abuse beginning in his teen years.
Ramirez was tried as a juvenile for the rape of another woman. The rape and
killing of Gonzalez occurred shortly after Ramirez was released from the
California Youth Authority.
A jury in 1985 convicted Ramirez of rape, sodomy and murder, and he was sent to
San Quentin. The conviction was overturned in 2008, however, when a federal
judge determined that the jury foreman had lied about his job status, not
telling the court that he was a candidate for a job with the FBI, a position he
later attained.
Prosecutors decided to re-try the case. Ramirez was convicted for a 2nd time in
2013. But a jury that same year deadlocked on whether he should receive the
death penalty, leading the judge to declare a mistrial.
(source: Orange County Register)
******************
Death penalty recommended for man who raped, killed woman in Garden Grove
A jury on Monday recommended the death penalty for a man who raped and killed a
young woman in Garden Grove 3 decades ago.
It was the 2nd penalty phase trial within a year for Richard Raymond Ramirez,
55. The panel that convicted him of 1st-degree murder and rape in a May 2013
retrial deadlocked on what punishment to recommend, splitting 7-5 in favor of a
death sentence.
Ramirez was initially convicted in March 1985 of 1st-degree murder and sex
counts, with jurors finding true special circumstance allegations of killing
during a rape and sodomy, in the Nov. 21, 1983, killing of 22-year-old Kim
Gonzalez. Ramirez was 1st sentenced to death in July 1985.
A federal judge overturned the 1st conviction because the jury foreman failed
to notify the court that he had applied for a job with the FBI - a position for
which he was hired months after the trial.
Before Ramirez killed Gonzalez, he was prosecuted as a juvenile for raping a
single mother in her home, although he was 18 at the time of the crime. Ramirez
was sent to the California Youth Authority for raping the victim multiple times
in her apartment in Merced in October 1977 while her baby slept in the next
room, Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin said.
At knifepoint, Ramirez raped her 3 times and sexually assaulted her with a
plastic bottle, Yellin said.
When he was finished, he went looking in the room where the baby was sleeping
for money to steal from the victim, who told him she only had food stamps to
take, Yellin said.
"She had a decision to make, so she ran, naked, hysterical, calling for help
from her neighbors," Yellin told jurors.
As she waited for police, she wondered if her baby had been killed, Yellin
said. The infant was unhurt.
Ramirez was caught hours later because the woman recognized him from an
encounter a day or 2 earlier, when he "bummed" a cigarette from her in the
apartment complex, Yellin said.
Gonzalez lived in Cerritos but enjoyed going out with her friends in Orange
County at places such as Mr. Barry's in Garden Grove. On the night of her
murder, she went there alone and met Ramirez, Yellin said.
The 2 spent time together dancing, playing pool and kissing until they left
together, Yellin said. Her body was found the next morning "in this dirty,
filthy walkway," he said, pointing to a crime-scene photograph.
"She's nearly naked, bloody and dead," he said.
The principal evidence against Ramirez in the first trial was a matching
fingerprint on a Budweiser bottle left in the alley. Ramirez, in the 1st trial,
testified he did not kill the victim. But in last year???s trial, his guilt was
conceded by attorneys who acknowledged that new technology allowed
investigators to make a DNA match between the defendant and Gonzalez.
"The story of Richard Ramirez is the story of his affinity for knives and his
hatred toward women," Yellen told jurors in the penalty phase retrial.
Mick Hill of the Orange County Public Defender's Office told jurors there was
no excuse for his client's crimes.
"He's spent the past 31 years in a jail cell," Hill said. "We're not telling
you he deserves to be anywhere else."
But Hill asked jurors to consider Ramirez's dysfunctional upbringing at the
hands of his alcoholic, combat-scarred father, a Korean War veteran who saw
action on the front lines as a "radio man."
Sonny Ramirez, who died in 1973, would have been diagnosed as having
post-traumatic stress disorder today, Hill said, telling jurors that his
client's upbringing in a violent household shaped him.
Sonny Ramirez met his son's mother when she was 15, and by her next birthday
she was pregnant, Hill said, adding that the next 15 years of the marriage were
"pure hell."
Jane Ramirez was regularly beaten by her husband, even while she was pregnant,
Hill said. After some beatings, Sonny Ramirez would rape his wife, Hill said.
On the weekends, Sonny Ramirez would put his 4 kids in the car and drive around
with a 12-pack of beer in the front seat as he downed 1 can at a time,
according to Hill. He started feeding the defendant and his brother beer when
they were 4 years old, and when they were older, he would subject them to
"human cockfighting" with other neighborhood children. If they lost, he would
beat them for shaming the family, Hill said.
Ramirez dropped out of school in the 8th grade because he could not read, got
hooked on heroin at 13 and then started sniffing glue, Hill said.
He has behaved well behind bars, his attorney said. A former San Quentin prison
warden is expected to testify that the defendant, who has kidney disease, has
been a "model prisoner," Hill said.
(source: mynewsla.com)
PUERTO RICO:
Puerto Rico governor against reinstituting death penalty
Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said Monday that the death penalty is
a "social aberration" and he came out against using capital punishment on the
island, where it has been prohibited for decades.
"The death penalty is a social aberration that should be eradicated from
humanity," said Garcia Padilla in response to requests that the punishment be
reinstituted for the multiple murder a week ago of a family of four in their
home in the upscale Guaynabo neighborhood, in the outskirts of San Juan.
Murdered in the home were the father, his wife and her daughter - both of whom
were Peruvians - and the couple's 15-year-old son.
The couple's other son, 13, survived after witnessing the murderers dispatching
his other family members and being stabbed, strangled and thrown off a bridge.
The boy's testimony has outraged the vast majority of Puerto Rican society,
which is more accustomed to the murders of young men involved with drug
trafficking or gangs.
Garcia Padilla said that using the death penalty as a punishment runs the risk
of "executing innocents."
Puerto Rico carried out its last execution in 1926 and in 1929 it abolished
capital punishment, a move ratified by the island's constitution in 1952
whereby, despite the fact that it is legal elsewhere on U.S. territory, it may
not be used on the island, which is a U.S. commonwealth
(source: Fox news)
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