April 7
TEXAS:
U.S. Supreme Court denies Texas death row appeals
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear appeals from 2 men on Texas' death
row.
Arthur Brown
Attorneys for 44-year-old Arthur Brown went to the high court after lower
federal courts rejected arguments Brown should be provided $7,500 to pay for a
mitigation specialist to help with his clemency petition. The specialist
estimated the investigation would cost $20,000.
The justices, without comment, refused Monday to review his case.
Evidence showed Brown, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and known as "Squirt," was
part of a ring shuttling drugs between Texas and Alabama.
6 people were shot in June 1992, 4 fatally, in what was seen as an attempt to
eliminate a Houston couple as middlemen in the drug deals.
Clifton Williams
An East Texas man on death row for the slaying of a 93-year-old woman a decade
ago at her home in Tyler has lost an appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court. Clifton
Williams
The justices Monday, without comment, refused to review the case of 31-year-old
Clifton Lamar Williams.
Williams was condemned for the July 2005 beating, strangling and stabbing of
Cecelia Schneider. Her body was set on fire and her car and purse containing
$40 were stolen. DNA and fingerprint evidence linked the Tyler man to her
slaying.
Prosecutors said he used the money to buy crack cocaine.
Appeals lawyers contended Williams had deficient legal help at his 2006 Smith
County trial and that he was mentally impaired, making him ineligible for the
death penalty.
Williams doesn't yet have an execution date.
(source: KXAN news)
PENNSYLVANIA:
DA seeking death penalty in McKeesport fire that killed family
The Allegheny County district attorney's office said today it will seek the
death penalty against a McKeesport man accused of starting a fire that killed 6
people -- 4 children and 2 adults -- in October.
Ryan Williams, 25, is charged with homicide, arson, attempted homicide and
burglary in connection with the fire that killed Ronald Egenlauf, 55, who used
a wheelchair; Hope Jordan Egenlauf, 27; Dominic Jordan, 7; Autumn Jordan, 6;
Serenity Jakub, 3; and Victoria Jordan, 2.
In seeking the death penalty, District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. cited
the deaths of the 4 children and noted that Williams has a "significant history
of felony convictions" involving the use or threat of violence.
Williams was arrested in January, after county homicide detectives spoke with
several people who interacted with him in the hours and days after the fire.
One witness said Williams partially blamed Hope Egenlauf's husband, Keith
Egenlauf, who survived the fire, for his incarceration in a theft case,
according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Williams told 2 witnesses that he lit a roll of toilet paper on fire and tossed
it onto the couch at Mr. Egenlauf's home, starting the fatal blaze, police
said.
Last month, Williams waived a preliminary hearing on the charges. He's jailed
without bond.
(source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
FLORIDA:
Sentencing trial for Brevard man on death row delayed
The debate over Florida's death penalty is playing a major role in a death row
case in Brevard County.
Attorneys for Anthony Welch asked a judge Monday that Welch's sentencing trial
be delayed.
The 36-year-old was convicted of killing Kyoko and Rufus Johnson. The couple
was violently killed inside their Melbourne home in 2000.
Welch was sentenced to death, but the sentence was vacated by the Florida
Supreme Court because of an issue during jury selection.
Attorney Mike Pirolo told a judge on Monday that there could be another issue
if Welch's sentencing trial begins before the Florida Legislature addresses
pending bills that affect death penalty cases.
"What's before the Legislature now is whether or not aggravated circumstances
should be found. We are the only state in the country that doesn't do that,"
Pirolo said. "The 2nd prong to that is a recommendation for death would have to
be unanimous."
Prosecutors were ready to start the sentencing trial in 2 weeks, but the judge
granted the defense's motion for a continuance. Attorneys from both sides will
return to court in June to try to set a new sentencing trial date.
(source: WFTV.com)
*****************
FIU grant will train, educate lawyers representing Florida's prisoners with
death sentences
Florida International University's College of Law has received a grant to help
defense lawyers handling capital cases.
Over the next 2 years, the $620,000 grant will allow FIU professors to offer
consultations and train lawyers on how to properly represent someone facing the
death penalty including jury selection, when to plea and how to preserve the
record for appeal.
Florida is has one of the highest rates in the nation in both the number of
people sentenced to death and the number of executions.
FIU law students will learn first-hand how to manage capital punish cases and
work alongside lawyers on pleadings, motions and interviewing witnesses.
The grant is from the Themis Fund, which is working to abolish the death
penalty.
(source: Associated Press)
OHIO:
Man given more time to prepare for death penalty case
A man facing the death penalty in the beating death of a Uniopolis man last
year waived his right to a speedy trial Monday to give his defense team more
time to prepare his case.
Joseph Furry, 30, of Van Wert, waived his speedy trial rights through March 31.
Judge Frederick Pepple of Auglaize County Common Pleas Court told Furry his
intent was to hold the trial before that date.
The judge also gave Furry's legal team until May 8 to file pretrial motions.
Furry's lead attorney, Bill Kluge, said he has not filed any motions but will
start and added it's not uncommon to file more than 100 motions in a death
penalty case.
Furry is 1 of 3 men charged in the June 9 death of Charles Hicks, 54. Hicks was
found beaten to death inside his apartment at 2 Main St. in Uniopolis. A
possible motive was identified in court records that Hicks was killed to
prevent him from testifying as a witness in a criminal case.
James Dinsmore, 28, and Aaron Dietrich, 26, of Wapakoneta, also are facing the
death penalty in connection with Hicks' death.
The men are charged with 2 counts of aggravated murder and 1 count each of
aggravated burglary, kidnapping and intimidation of a witness.
(source: limaohio.com)
UTAH:
Blizzard of Lovell execution appeals could take decades
The execution of convicted killer Doug Lovell likely won't come sooner than 5
years and could be 30 years away, according to the lawyers who battled over his
fate for virtually all of the month of March.
Lovell, 57, was sentenced to death by a 12-member 2nd District Court jury
Wednesday after a 7-day sentencing hearing after conviction at a trial that
began March 9. The trial was a formality, Lovell having admitted to the murder
of 39-year-old Joyce Yost of South Ogden in 1985 to keep her from testifying to
his rape of her.
For Lovell's lead public defender, you can add the word "if" to the question of
execution.
"He's probably going to die alone, in his cell, of natural causes waiting on
his appeals," said Mike Bouwhuis, estimating the appeals track on Lovell's
death sentence could take 20 to 30 years. "And that's a slow death, which is
probably worse than execution."
But Deputy Weber County Attorney Gary Heward feels it's possible Lovell's
appeals could be exhausted in 5 to 10 years.
Of the prospect of Lovell dying in his cell, Heward said, "I would certainly
hope not. I'm just thrilled he's going to be in the maximum security wing of
the prison forever and won't be able to ever hurt anyone again."
Heward's retirement kicked in for real the day after the death penalty came
down, ending his 30 years in the county attorney's office. He retired effective
Jan. 15, but kept the Lovell case. His first month on the job, April 1985, was
the month Lovell raped Yost. "His case has spanned my entire career."
But he knows he's not done with Lovell. He will be assisting the Utah Attorney
General's Office, which defends all criminal appeals, as an adviser, and could
conceivably testify, he said, during the appellate proceedings, and plans on
attending Lovell's 1st hearings before the Utah Supreme Court.
That 1st appeal to the Utah justices is automatic, by statute, and funded by
Weber County. Bouwhuis, also the coordinator of the public defenders contracted
with the county, said Sam Newton, the appeals public defender, will be filing a
notice of appeal within 30 days of the jury's death sentence.
"Actually, he's probably going to have to file first for an extension of the 30
days," Bouwhuis said. "It's going to take longer than 30 days to identify all
the issues on appeal."
Bouwhuis wasn't pointing to any possible errors at trial, with none identified
as yet, as much as referring to pre-trial motions. "We filed 50 or 60 motions,"
he said. "All those would be part of the appeal."
They include failed suppression motions on Lovell's incriminating statements
over the years, and fine-line legal arguments on such things as spousal
privilege regarding his ex-wife's damning testimony, possibly even blood
atonement questions brought up in jury selection, and the constitutional
challenges to the death penalty that come with any capital case.
Heward said he has no worries about the appeal. "I think the state appeals will
take a few years. But the federal appeals track moves at an incredibly slow
pace and I couldn't tell you why."
"But we tried a very clean case from an evidentiary standpoint," Heward said.
"We created a very strong record. We had no real objections from the other side
throughout."
Bouwhuis talks more in terms of Lovell's hopes tied to the constitutionality of
the death penalty. "There is a momentum against it across the country," he
said. "More states are dropping it and none of them are picking it up again. My
prediction is it will be gone in 15-20 years."
Some say the U.S. Supreme Court is one vote away from abolishing capital
punishment, he said.
Talking with Newton about Lovell's appeal Wednesday, the day of the jury's
thumbs down decision, Bouwhuis said because the high court is so close on
executions, some of the justices are holding off on retiring. They wait to see
if the next U.S. president is more conservative, he said, therefore more likely
to fill a vacancy with a death penalty supporter than President Obama would be.
"I do not believe that is accurate," Heward said of any close divide on the
high court on the capital question. "I haven't seen any decisions lending
themselves to that interpretation. It sounds like pure speculation to me."
(source: Standard-Examiner)
WASHINGTON:
Killer tells jury ex-girlfriend turned 'me into an attack dog' ---- In a bid to
avoid the death penalty, Joseph McEnroe, convicted last month in the 2007
murders of 6 family members in Carnation, testified his former girlfriend
persuaded him to participate in a plan to kill her relatives.
Taking the witness stand for a second day, Joseph McEnroe sought Monday to
persuade a King County Superior Court jury to spare his life, saying he was a
victim of former girlfriend and co-defendant Michele Anderson.
McEnroe, convicted last month of aggravated murder in the 2007 Christmas Eve
slaughter of 6 members of Anderson's family in Carnation, talked about being
bullied by Anderson and literally cowering in a ball while she screamed at him.
He said Anderson convinced him that her family had wronged her and that they
were out to get them, so they had to be murdered.
Seated a few feet from jurors, McEnroe talked excitedly about the former couple
buying guns, about their extreme paranoia before the Dec. 24, 2007, shootings
and about Michele Anderson???s obsession with getting even with her family.
McEnroe, 36, said that in the weeks leading up to the slayings of Anderson's
father and mother, Wayne and Judy Anderson, as well as her brother, Scott
Anderson, and sister-in-law, Erica Anderson, and their 2 children, Olivia 5,
and Nathan, 3, all Michele Anderson could talk about was killing the victims.
"She did everything she could, every angle and every way to convince me,"
McEnroe testified.
The same jury that found McEnroe guilty is now being asked to determine whether
he should be condemned to death or be given a sentence of life in prison
without the possibility of release. Anderson is to be tried later on the same
capital charges.
McEnroe said he tried to talk Michele Anderson out of the plan. He said she was
convinced there was an apocalyptic event coming and that her role was to murder
people who wronged her.
Michele Anderson told him, "I will show them people should not mess with me,"
McEnroe recalled.
Asked by defense attorney William Prestia about why he didn't leave Michele
Anderson, why he didn't kill himself or why he didn't go to the police, McEnroe
said "my only motive was to protect Michele. I did this because I thought she
was in danger."
"If I could have killed myself and it would have kept them alive I would have,"
McEnroe said. "She was very emotionally fragile. She had a hard time. She
really felt she had to lash out at these people."
Recounting the day of the murders, McEnroe said that shortly after 12:30 p.m.
Michele Anderson called her parents' house to find out what the family's plan
was that day. Anderson asked if she could come and wrap presents; McEnroe said
he brought "a decoy" box to fool her family.
With the plan set in motion, McEnroe said he showered, shaved, put on clean
clothes and armed himself with a handful of bullets and Anderson with 15
bullets. He said he was convinced he, too, would die.
"I was only armed as a backup. I was only there to make sure she was safe,"
McEnroe said.
McEnroe said he watched TV with Wayne Anderson, and Michele went into the
kitchen to help her mother make a green-bean casserole.
When Wayne Anderson asked them to move their truck for Scott Anderson's
soon-to-arrive vehicle, McEnroe said he cornered his girlfriend and suggested
they leave if they weren't going to kill her family.
"She said I'm going to do this," McEnroe recalled.
McEnroe said he then went with Judy Anderson to her craft room to wrap gifts
and then he heard a gunshot in the living room. He and Judy Anderson ran out
and saw Michele Anderson with a gun pointed at her father.
"I rushed forward. At this point Wayne is charging. I shoot at him; he falls
down to the ground. I shot him in the head," McEnroe said. "I then turned
immediately to my right and there was Judy, I fired upon her."
McEnroe said he remembered Judy Anderson saying "no" before she died. McEnroe
said he apologized to Judy Anderson after she died.
As he told jurors of killing Judy Anderson, McEnroe burst into tears and
wrapped his arms around his head, jerking around and slamming into the
microphone in front of him.
McEnroe said Michele Anderson kept vanishing on him, leaving him to clean up
the scene and carry the victims to a woodshed. The 2 took some money out of
Judy Anderson's wallet and waited for Scott Anderson's family to arrive, he
said.
"If you hate me, I hate me too. I hate me so much I can't handle being with
myself sometimes," McEnroe said, with his head in his hands.
McEnroe said that his one consolation was that the victims, who prosecutors say
died of close-range gunshots, died peacefully. He told the jury Monday that he
killed Olivia and Nathan, the 2 children, because "if they weren't already
corrupted they would be by this [witnessing the murders]. The only decent thing
to do was to free them."
"At least they didn't suffer," he said, adding that Anderson turned "me into an
attack dog."
(source: Seattle Times)
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