May 10
OHIO:
Jury selection set to begin for 3rd time in Akron quadruple murder case
Prosecutors and defense attorneys on Monday will begin selecting a jury for the
3rd time in a quadruple murder case delayed by accusations of judicial and
prosecutorial misconduct.
Deshanon Haywood's case is set to begin Monday in front of Summit County Common
Pleas Judge Paul Gallagher. Haywood, 23, could face the death penalty if
convicted of the aggravated murder of 4 people in a heroin-theft related case
in 2013.
The jury selection process is expected to take about 2 weeks. Testimony is
expected to begin on May 26.
Haywood's 1st trial began 10 months ago, when Summit County prosecutors accused
Summit County Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands of being biased against the death
penalty in the case. Rowlands presided over the trial of Haywood's co-defendant
Derrick Brantley, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without
parole eligibility.
Prosecutors said Rowlands urged them to pursue a plea that would include a life
sentence instead of pursuing the death penalty during Haywood's trial. Rowlands
denied the allegations and eventually recused herself from the case, which was
transferred to Gallagher.
A 2-week jury trial ended Oct. 1 with Haywood's conviction on the aggravated
murder charges.
The case never reached the penalty phase, in which the jury determines whether
to recommend execution or prison time.
Defense attorneys Joe Gorman and Brian Pierce argued that prosecutors
purposefully withheld information about deals they made with two men who
testified against Haywood in exchange for being released from prison early.
Prosecutors eventually agreed to re-try the case "in the interest of justice"
but never said it had anything to do with prosecutorial misconduct. Gallagher
vacated the convictions.
Summit County prosecutors recused themselves from the case and Gallagher
appointed Cuyahoga County prosecutors to handle the trial.
Hawyood is accused of killing Ronald Roberts, 24, Kem Delaney, 23, Maria Nash,
19, and Kiana Welch, 19 on April 18, 2013 at the Kimlyn Circle apartment
complex.
(source: cleveland.com)
INDIANA:
Joseph Oberhansley Facing Murder, Cannibalism Charges and Now Rape Charges
Joseph Oberhansley, a man from southern Indiana, was previously charged with
killing his ex-girlfriend and eating part of her body in an act of cannibalism,
and he is now being charged with raping her as well, according to a statement
made on Tuesday by the defendant???s attorney. This charge, according to WTHR,
is meant to help the prosecution???s case for the death penalty.
Oberhansley, who is 34, was charged last September for allegedly breaking into
the home of Tammy Jo Blanton, who was his ex-girlfriend. He was also charged
with murdering her and cannibalizing parts of her corpse. Oberhansley pleaded
not guilty to the charge. The article went on to say that Judge Vicki
Carmichael approved the charge on Monday at the request of Jeremy Mull. who is
the prosecutor of Clark County. The rape charged was supposedly added because
the other charges were not sufficient enough to warrant the death penalty.
Oberhansley's trial is scheduled for August 2016. The prosecution wants to
ensure they have adequate time to prepare the case. WTHR stated that
Oberhansley is currently in solitary confinement and his lawyer is worried
about prolonged confinement. Court records revealed that the defendant
initially confessed to murdering Blanton by stabbing her. He also said that he
removed her organs and ate them. Following his initial confession, he went on
to say that he was innocent and maintains that to this day, according to WLKY.
After Blanton was killed, an autopsy was performed as well as an examination to
determine if the victim had been raped. The rape test results just came back,
so they were unable to charge Oberhansley with this charge until now. The
evidence found on Blanton indicated that a sexual assault had occurred. Mull
stated that the victim's family was not surprised by the rape charge and they
are devastated by all that has happened.
The prosecutors are pressing hard for the death penalty and have said that some
of the factors in this case could earn the death penalty for Oberhansley. The
1st factor that could make the death penalty a possibility is the intentional
murder and burglary. The 2nd factor that could pave the way for the death
penalty is the fact that the body was dismembered. The 3rd factor involved is
the rape of Blanton.
It is also public record that Oberhansley was previously convicted of killing
his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend in Utah. He also shot himself and his mother
after killing his ex. In 2012, he was released from prison and moved to
southern Indiana shortly after that. He had spent 14 years in prison for these
crimes. Blanton even posted a $500 bond in July 2014 to help Oberhansley. In
2014, he was arrested on charges of criminal recklessness and resisting arrest.
Apparently, Oberhansley attempted to run from the police and was arrested when
they caught up with him.
The Inquisitr reported that Oberhansley said that he was too attractive to be a
rapist and also that this case is based on lies and deceit. The article also
said that he became angry after hearing about the rape charge, and accused the
court of falsifying documents to make him look guilty. The article also added
that a motive behind the killing and subsequent cannibalism has not yet been
determined. Oberhansley now faces up to 23 hours a day of confinement in a
maximum security cell and this will continue until an official decision has
been made regarding his fate. His lawyer requested that he be removed from
solitary confinement, but the request was denied by Carmichael.
(source: guardianlv.com)
KENTUCKY:
Judge right on death penalty case
Congratulations to Circuit Judge Pamela Goodwine on striking a blow for common
sense and conserving public resources.
Her order last week excluding the death penalty as a sentencing option in a
case before her has been hailed and condemned as a stand against the death
penalty.
While Goodwine, whose own mother was murdered, has stated she's opposed to the
death penalty, that wasn't the basis for her order.
She knows that's not her job, that eliminating the death penalty can only be
done through legislation.
It is her job, though, to decide whether it's appropriate to seek the death
penalty.
Her carefully written order noted that the facts of the case - a single murder
related to a dispute over drugs and money - "are not unique." But, she writes,
"not one time in this Commonwealth has a death sentence been recommended by a
jury and upheld on appeal in a case involving actual or suspected drug
trafficking."
Goodwine has presided over more death penalty cases than any judge in Kentucky.
Her experience and research tell her - and us - that juries in Fayette County,
indeed in Kentucky, will only condemn someone to death who has committed the
most egregious, horrific crimes. And often not then.
To understand what's at stake, it's important to know that in trials where
capital punishment is an option the jury must be what's called "death
qualified."
Only those who convince the judge and attorneys they are willing to impose the
death penalty can serve. So, more prospective jurors must be called and
examined more rigorously, eating up resources of the courts, prosecutors,
defense attorneys and those in the jury pool.
Why expend resources and inconvenience prospective jurors, their families and
employers when it's obvious a death verdict will never be returned?
Consider some recent trials where the lives lost were much greater.
It took almost 2 months and 1,350 potential jurors to seat a jury in the trial
of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the Boston Marathon bombing that resulted in three
deaths and at least 250 injured.
For James Holmes, accused of opening fire in a Colorado movie theater, killing
12 and wounding 70 in 2012, it took from Jan. 20 to April 14 this year to seat
a jury, from a pool of 9,000, willing to consider the death penalty.
Even after the jury is seated, a capital punishment case takes longer and costs
more - calculations range as high as an added $1 million for the entire process
- than prosecuting a murder where death isn't a penalty option.
Prosecutors have the discretion to seek the death penalty, or not, depending
upon the facts of a case. But, to avoid the appearance of bias or selective
prosecution, Fayette County Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Larson seeks it in
every case where it's an option, Goodwine wrote.
Despite this, no one has been sentenced to death by a jury in Fayette County
since 2000.
That case involved not a drug deal gone bad but bludgeoning a 73-year-old woman
to death then dumping her body in her car and setting it on fire.
Goodwine deserves praise for her order saving the judicial system enormous
expense by acknowledging what juries have made clear for decades.
(source: Editorial, Lexington Herald-Leader)
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