July 11
TEXAS----impending execution
Death Watch: Mental Illness Claims Fail; Death Awaits----After a 2005 murder,
Clifton Williams is set to be executed
East Texan Clifton Williams heads to the gurney next Thursday, July 16, after 9
years spent on death row for the murder of Cecelia Schneider.
Williams, 31, was 21 years old at the time of Schneider's murder, July 9, 2005.
Court records show that he broke into the 93-year-old's Tyler home, stabbed,
strangled, and beat her, then laid her body on her bed and set her bed on fire.
He left Schneider's house with her car and her purse, which contained $40. He
argued at trial that his friend, Jamarist Paxton, forced him to break into the
house with him, and coerced him into cutting his hand so as to leave his DNA
on-scene. But police weren't able to find any evidence that would substantiate
Williams' claims about accomplices, and Paxton denied involvement. In Oct.
2006, Williams was found guilty of capital murder (in addition to a number of
other offenses) and sentenced to death.
Williams' attorneys have argued in state and federal petitions for relief (as
well as a petition for a Certificate of Appealability) that Williams suffers
from a wide range of mental illnesses, including paranoid schizophrenia, with
which he was diagnosed when he was 20. They have tried to argue that his mother
suffered from mental illness, and that Williams had trouble functioning from an
early age. They also claim Williams was the victim of incompetent counsel, as
attorneys at trial failed both to establish Williams as the victim of mental
illness and to mitigate his standing as a future danger to society. Most
notably, his petitions for relief note, trial counsel erred by stating their
intent to establish mental illness before Williams received a court-ordered
psych exam, giving prosecutors the ability to refute counsel's claims without
any established medical standing.
Last September, attorneys Seth Kretzer and James Volberding presented Williams'
case to the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes that the Justices would hear Williams'
mental illness claims. Specifically, records note, they wanted to prove that
one ruling - ex parte Briseno, which lays out 3 basic conditions to determine
competence - blocks Williams from arguing mental retardation on the basis of
Atkins v. Virginia (which placed a categorical ban on executing the mentally
ill, and was previously rejected by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals). The
Supreme Court denied that petition in early April, however, without comment or
explanation. Williams' attorneys do not plan to file any last-minute appeals.
Williams will be the 10th Texan executed this year, and 528th since the state
reinstated the death penalty in 1976. However, his execution coincides with
emerging reports that indicate the number of Texans being sent to death row has
now significantly decreased. In fact, jurors around the state have yet to
sentence anyone to death in 2015. The last person to receive such a sentence
was former Kaufman County attorney Eric Williams (no relation), who shot and
killed Chief Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse on Jan. 31, 2013, before
killing County D.A. Michael McLelland and his wife Cynthia 2 months later. He
was sentenced to death last December. It's the 1st time in more than 20 years
that the state has made it to July without issuing a new death sentence.
(source: The Austin Chronicle)
PENNSYLVANIA:
New Jersey man charged with 7 murders in 'horrific' shooting spree
A 22-year-old New Jersey man has been charged with 7 murders and 1 attempted
murder in what authorities have called a "horrific" two-month-long shooting
spree that kept police in pursuit but always left them one step behind until
the end. They still don't have a motive.
Todd West, from Elizabeth, N.J., allegedly fired his 1st bullet in May in his
hometown and his last earlier this week some 80 miles away in Pennsylvania.
"This is an unprecedented, horrific event here in Union County," Union County
(N.J.) prosecutor Grace Park said earlier this week at a news conference,
according to U.S. News and World Report. "This doesn't appear to be part of
some gang warfare, retaliation or initiation."
Prosecutors said that on May 18 West shot and killed his 1st victim, his
cousin. A month later, he led police on a chase, killing 3 more, police said.
In the early morning on June 25 in Elizabeth, authorities said West shot
28-year-old Dennis Vega. By the time police arrived at the scene, Vega lay
dying from numerous gunshot wounds, according to the Associated Press.
Late that night while investigators were still trying to piece together the
details of Vega's death, authorities said, West allegedly struck again, fatally
shooting 29-year-old Jamil Payne in the same town. West's cousin and Payne were
the only 2 victims he knew, according to the New York Times.
Police swarmed the scene. While they were there, authorities said, West
allegedly shot and killed 32-year-old Kelvin Nelson about a mile away. Minutes
later, they said, he shot someone else, though the victim was expected to live.
By the time authorities were able to get a warrant for West's arrest in Payne's
death, he had fled to eastern Pennsylvania, according to the Morning Call.
Authorities began a manhunt. Investigators had linked him to a white Buick
LaCrosse that had traveled to each scene as well as a .38-caliber revolver.
On Sunday, the killings continued. Authorities said he shot and killed
22-year-old Kory Ketrow early in the morning in Easton, Pa. Less than an hour
later, police found the body of 32-year-old Francine Ramos, who had been shot
numerous times in neighboring Allentown. Trevor Davanta Hall Gray, 21, had also
been shot and was found leaning against a parked car. He was treated by
paramedics at the scene and died a short time later.
The 7 killings appear to be random and unconnected, police said.
On Monday, Allentown police arrested West and two accomplices, 23-year-old
Kareem Mitchell from Newark, N.J., and 20-year-old Robert Jourdain from Easton,
Pa. Police said evidence led them to the suspects and, after a foot chase, they
apprehended the men. Authorities did not go into detail about the arrests,
saying that the case was an ongoing investigation.
Police told the Associated Press West confessed to the Pennsylvania killings.
Mitchell allegedly drove a Mercedes the men used and Jourdain allegedly
provided ammunition, according to court papers cited by LehighValleyLive.
On Tuesday, West was charged with criminal homicide and conspiracy and the
others were charged in connection with the killings, according to NJ.com. West
and Jourdain were also charged with robbery, according to WFMZ-TV.
West is also facing charges as a New Jersey fugitive, according to the station.
If convicted, the men could face life in prison or the death penalty, PIX11
said.
(source: The Hamilton Spectator)
FLORIDA:
Florida's 1st Death Row Exonoree Who Recently Passed Away Is Remembered
The memorial service for David Keaton is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. at
New Bethel AME Church in Quincy. He's Florida's 1st death row exonoree in the
modern era who recently passed away - who's also known as the nation's 1st man
to be exonerated from death row.
"I was afraid. I mean they would go in there and beat you up, mess you up, hang
you up ...no one would ever hear anything about you again. And, I said okay, to
prevent all that, I'm going go ahead and confess to the crime. I know I'm
telling the truth," said actor Danny Glover, quoting a line from "The
Exonerated."
"The Exonerated" is a movie that also has a play adaption about 6 death row
inmates who were later found to be innocent of the crimes they were convicted
of committing. Glover played the role of David Keaton, who after several days
of interrogation confessed to a crime he didn't commit.
At the age of 18, Keaton was arrested and convicted of killing an off-duty law
enforcement officer during a robbery at a convenience store. The real Keaton
says he ended up spending two years on death row, before prosecutors realized
the mistake.
"I didn't spend as much time as a lot of guys on death row because back in the
early 1970s, I was like only 19 when I went to prison and was sentenced to
death for a crime I didn't commit," said Keaton. "It was pretty hard because I
couldn't believe the police officers and everybody, the district attorney,
didn't really delve into my case to find out if I was really innocent. But, I
couldn't believe that they would sentence an innocent man to prison."
Keaton is speaking in a youtube video in 2011 on the Witness to Innocence page.
It's an organization he helped found and he was heavily involved that brings
together those exonerated all over the nation to help put an end to the death
penalty.
"And, it didn't really dawn on me until much later that I was actually on death
row, and that's when I broke out in tears," added Keaton. "A grown man crying
...I mean, men don't cry, but I actually broke down and started crying that I
was crying. I probably wouldn't see my family anymore - even though they came
down to visit - it was just the fact that one day, I'm going to die for
something that I didn't do."
He said he knows what it's like to be on death row, and feel hopeless.
"It was a horrible experience," continued Keaton. "Locked up 24 hours a day.
Sometimes in the afternoon, I used to crumble in the corner of my cell trying
to get the last glimpse of sunlight because we would never go out in the yard,
maybe once a month. It was something that I had to try and get myself used to."
And, he said it was his faith in God and the encouragement from his family that
kept hope alive for him.
"It was definitely hard, but eventually everything came out okay," concluded
Keaton. "I was eventually exonerated on that charge. That was the greatest
feeling that I had to come out of prison."
On July 3rd, at the age of 63, Keaton died in his Quincy home. He'd had some
health problems in the last years of his life.
Mark Elliott says Keaton should have never been in prison in the first place.
Elliott, the Director of the Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty,
has also worked with Keaton in the past. Elliott says he remembers Keaton as a
soft-spoken, gentle, and nice man.
"And, everybody who met him and interacted with him said what a nice man," said
Elliott. "What a nice human being. He was very creative. He struggled
financially. The state of Florida never paid him 1 dime for the years he spent
on death row for a crime he did not commit. So, he essentially lived in
poverty, struggled mowing lawns and doing odd jobs and so forth to survive, and
he eventually became disabled."
An opponent of Florida's executions, Elliott says there's a component of the
death penalty that people never talk about that relates to Keaton's situation.
"There has never been a white person executed for the killing of an African
American in the history of our state, going back to territorial days," added
Elliott. "And, that really speaks volumes about what the truth is behind how
the death penalty is applied and to whom it???s applied to. Of the 25 people
exonerated off of Florida's death row, 80 % are people of color. That again
speaks to the reality behind it, the discrimination, the lack of fairness, and
the equanimity of how it's applied."
In Keaton's case, Elliott says he was sentenced to death by an all-white jury.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that 1 of the 3 drugs used in
Oklahoma Executions called midazolam is not "cruel and unusual punishment," as
lawyers representing death row inmates had claimed. It's the same drug used in
Florida executions - which caused the process to be halted. But, last month,
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi recently asked the Florida Supreme Court to
vacate the stay in the case of Jerry Correll, whose slated to be the next death
row inmate put to death.
"You know the number of executions nationally has fallen to its lowest level in
decades, and yet in Florida, it's speeded up," said Elliott. "It's at a record
setting pace now ... it???s ... For some reason, Florida is taking a different
direction."
If the stay is vacated, Correll could be the 22nd inmate executed under
Governor Rick Scott - 1 more than the 21 that occurred under former Governor
Jeb Bush's 2 terms in office. Bush's 21 death warrants has been the all-time
record for a Florida Governor.
(source: WFSU news)
*******************
Florida governor orders more prison reforms
2 days after the release of a grand jury report assailing the Florida
Department of Corrections in connection with an inmate's beating death, Gov.
Rick Scott on Thursday issued an executive order calling for an independent
audit of the besieged agency.
The audit, to be conducted by the National Institute of Corrections and the
Association of State Correctional Administrators, will focus on staffing and
organization - and ways to improve safety, security and rehabilitation, Scott
said.
It will allow the agency "to better identify what works and what doesn't work,
and apply lessons learned across the state's entire correctional system," the
governor said in a news release.
The order seeks to empower the agency to better address the needs of inmates
with mentally ill inmates. It designates 2 state prisons - Lake Correctional
Institution and Liberty Correctional, neither in South Florida - to be used as
"prototypes" for the agency's reforms.
The move comes just two days after a grand jury issued a scathing rebuke of the
agency for "numerous and disturbing deficiencies???" by DOC staff leading up to
and following the April 2014 death of 45-year-old Matthew Walker at Charlotte
Correctional Institution.
Calling Walker's death "tragic, senseless and avoidable," the panel said
corrections officers beat Walker so severely that they crushed his larynx and
broke several of his ribs, then tampered with evidence, making a proper
investigation difficult. Walker's death was attributed to asphyxiation, and it
was ruled a homicide.
While it didn't issue an indictment, the Charlotte County grand jury said the
actions of the officers were so abhorrent that it called into question whether
the officers - and other DOC staff - were fit to serve the citizens of Florida.
Scott did not address the grand jury report.
The measures outlined by the governor on Thursday "expand" upon reforms already
being implemented by Department of Corrections Secretary Julie Jones, the
governor said. He said the agency will continue to work to serve the mental
health needs of its prison population, which, at 101,000, is the 3rd largest in
the nation.
The agency has been under fire for more than a year, accused by civil rights
groups and others of fostering a culture in which corrections officers have
been able to abuse, torture and medically neglect inmates at will. Last year,
the agency recorded 345 inmate deaths, the highest number in its history.
Reports involving use of force by staff have doubled over the past 5 years.
Prison reform advocates said Scott's proposals are commendable, but don't go
far enough. Among other issues, the governor still hasn't addressed the need
for independent oversight, they say.
"This system is deeply broken," said a statement by the Project on Accountable
Justice, a Florida State University think tank that collects and analyzes data
on criminal justice issues.
"Nothing short of structural change, ensuring ongoing oversight of a system
that is its most dysfunctional in hidden places, will ensure the deep cultural
change needed."
Jones, in a statement, said the governor's directives show the state is
committed to improving the agency.
"I applaud Governor Scott's leadership and look forward to continuing to work
together to transform the Florida Department of Corrections," she said.
(source: Miami Herald)
ALABAMA:
Fool for a client? Carlos Kennedy may represent himself in murder trial after
death penalty reversed
Carlos Edward Kennedy, who was sentenced to death for raping and then beating a
69-year-old grandmother to death with a claw hammer in June 2010, has new life.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the sentence of former Mobile
County Circuit Court Judge Joseph "Rusty" Johnston on Friday, stating that he
overstepped his judicial authority.
"Accordingly, the totality of the circumstances in this case indicates that
Kennedy knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his right to counsel
and that the circuit court abused its discretion when it revoked Kennedy's
right of self-representation and appointed counsel to him," the ruling states.
Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich said she was waiting to hear if the
Alabama Attorney General's office, which was unavailable for immediate comment,
planned to appeal the ruling to the Alabama Supreme Court.
If not, her office would retry the case in circuit court and Kennedy, who
remains in custody, would represent himself, according to the ruling.
"It was a horrific, horrific crime and he deserves the death penalty and we
will stop at nothing to make sure he gets it," Rich said.
2 years ago, Johnston sentenced Kennedy to death by lethal injection for the
crime, stating that it was "unimaginable that a human being could have
committed such an atrocity."
In December 2011, Kennedy appeared without an attorney in Mobile County Circuit
Court. He said he was "fine with defending myself," despite Johnston's
objection that it was a "suicide mission" because it was a capital murder
trial.
Subsequently, Kennedy was allowed to take himself as a client, but the court
denied his motion to appoint his nonlawyer sister,Verlisa, as co-counsel.
10 months later, Johnston reversed course and appointed Jason Darley and Art
Powell as Kennedy's attorneys.
"After dealing with [Kennedy] for 10 months it is the Court's opinion that
[Kennedy] was either being deceptive, a good actor or has suffered mental
deterioration while incarcerated," Johnston ruled. "[Kennedy] has no capacity
to defend himself and has no idea what needs to be done in order to prepare for
trial.
"As this is a Capital Murder case in which forensics may be a critical factor,
[Kennedy] is totally oblivious of what needs to be done regarding retaining
experts, having samples tested, and preparing cross-examination. As to
mitigation, if necessary, [Kennedy], once again seems to take the attitude that
he will take care of that later."
Nevertheless, Kennedy refused to cooperate with his attorneys, telling a judge
that "... if I can't do it myself, then I don't want it done."
But Rich claimed that Johnston, who retired from the bench in April, was
"trying to do the right thing" by giving Kennedy adequate representation. She
called it a "waste of judicial resources" to allow Kennedy to represent
himself.
Kennedy was convicted of attacking White inside her home. Police found blood
with DNA matching Kennedy, along with a palm print and a fingerprint.
Investigators also found seminal fluid during an autopsy of White, although it
lacked sperm and, therefore, did not contain DNA.
White had a successful real estate career before becoming active in politics.
She volunteered on the gubernatorial campaign of Bob Riley and later joined his
administration at the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.
(source: al.com)
*******************
Carlos Kennedy capital murder conviction, death sentence overturned
A state appeals court is overturning the capital murder conviction and death
sentence of a man accused of killing a woman during a burglary in Mobile
County.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Friday that a judge should have let
Carlos Edward Kennedy represent himself during his trial in the 2010 slaying of
Zoa White.
Judge Rusty Johnston initially let Kennedy act has his own lawyer, but reversed
himself before the case went to trial. Kennedy was convicted in May 2013. Judge
Johnston accepted the jury's recommendation for the death penalty in September
2013.
White, a well-known realtor, was beaten to death with a claw hammer inside her
Springhill Avenue home. Kennedy's fingerprints and palm print, as well as blood
samples matching his DNA, were found inside the house. Mobile County District
Attorney Ashley Rich credited good police work with finding the eight blood
samples on the scene that matched Kennedy.
The judge described the crime scene photos as the worst he's seen in his 17
years on the bench. Throughout the trial, Kennedy showed no emotion.
"It was a most horrendous crime. The judge pointed that our quite clearly, set
forth the factors that should apply legally, and Carlos Kennedy was sentenced
to death... as he deserved to be," said Assistant District Attorney JoBeth
Murphree.
"He was certainly an uncooperative client. Let's put it that way. And yeah, I'm
very glad it's over," said defense attorney Art Powell.
White's daughter was tearful following the sentencing.
"Right now, I'm too emotional to think about anything. I remember her every
day. I remember her with the weddings that come that she's not going to be
there for, the graduations for my children, the holidays that she's not there
that I wish she was there," said Laurie Miller, White's daughter.
The death penalty carries an automatic appeal.
(source: Associated Press)
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