Sept. 4
TEXAS:
DA considers whether to seek death penalty in Dean case
As the Bastrop County district attorney prepares to seek indictments for 2
suspects in the murder of Samantha Dean, he also has another consideration:
whether he will pursue the death penalty.
Court records indicate that former Austin Police Officer VonTrey Clark believes
he was the father of Dean's unborn child. Dean was found dead in Bastrop County
in February. After being in Indonesia for more than a month, federal agents
extradited Clark back to Texas Wednesday. He arrived in Austin after midnight.
Representatives from the Texas Highway Patrol, Texas Rangers, FBI, and Bastrop
County agencies gathered Thursday to announce Clark and his friend Kevin Watson
were both in custody for capital murder. However, grand juries have not
indicted either of the men and Clark's attorney denies the claims from
authorities about his client's involvement in Dean's killing.
"Capital murder is an offense in the state of Texas that can carry the death
penalty. The decision to seek the death penalty rests solely with me, my
office," said Bastrop County District Attorney Bryan Goertz. "While this is
still ongoing, that's a very complicated not only factual, but legal question.
[A decision] will have to be made in the coming months. It will be made before
trial. But I am not going to commit to when or what that decision is."
The decision about whether to pursue the death penalty has implications for not
only a suspect and his or her family, but for the length and cost of the legal
process, and how long the victim???s family must wait before reaching a
resolution in the case.
"[A death penalty case] is just a completely different ball game," said Keith
Hampton, an Austin criminal defense attorney who has been involved in capital
murder cases. "If you seek death, there won't be a resolution for at least 7
years. Because if you get death, he gets an automatic review.
Hampton and Austin attorney Mindy Montford say preparing for a death penalty
case is like preparing for 2 trials.
"You're going to have to prove that he is a future danger to the public and to
people. You're also going to have to say that there are no mitigating
circumstances at play," said Montford. "[A prosecutor has to show] he committed
this crime and there's nothing like abuse or any kind of mental or physical
condition that he has or he suffers from."
"[In death penalty cases lawyers prepare] a defense and a mitigation study,
which is basically deconstructing this person, going from before he was even
born leading right up to the day that he did what he did, if he's guilty." said
Hampton. "Then you have to prepare to present that to a jury. It is grueling,
horrific work. None of us like this stuff."
There is also a reason for the years it can take to see a death penalty case
through to its end.
"We make 2 promises to the public: that everybody gets a fair trial, everybody
no matter what they get a fair trial," said Hampton. "And 2, we get it right.
So that we do not execute another innocent person."
In the Dean case, the district attorney has yet to decide whether he will try
for the death penalty, if prosecutors secure indictments. The final decision of
whether to proceed in seeking the death penalty rests with the DA. However,
reaching that decision takes various forms across Texas. Montford and Hampton
say some DAs take votes from within their offices about how to move forward.
Still, each decision includes weighing a host of factors.
"The DA has got to weigh the evidence in the case, what the victim's family
wants to happen in this case, what the community probably wants in this case,"
said Montford.
The Bastrop County DA is also working with the Texas Attorney General's Office
for assistance in prosecuting the case.
(source: KXAN news)
NEW JERSEY:
Andrzejczak and Land Join Fiocchi in Supporting Death Penalty for Killings of
Police
Incumbent Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak (D-1) and running mate Bruce Land joined
their GOP rival Assemblyman Sam Fiocchi (R-1) in praising a bill that would
suspend New Jersey's 2007 ban on capital punishment in homicide cases where
police officers are killed.
Citing the recent killings of officers in Illinois and Texas, Fiocchi said
Wednesday that the bill would be necessary to ensure that those responsible in
such murders see retribution.
"Communities are in shock and families are emotionally scarred at the
indefensible actions of individuals with such little respect for life," said
Fiocchi in a statement. "These senseless acts must stop and reinstating capital
punishment for those found guilty will suffer the appropriate consequences
under this bill."
On Thursday, Andrzejczak and Land issued statements saying that they will also
be supporting the bill.
"The men and women who put on a badge every day to protect our communities need
to know our laws are squarely behind them. Any coward who would target and
murder a cop simply for wearing that badge should face the death penalty," said
Andrzejczak.
"As a retired captain in the Department of Corrections who saw first-hand the
absolute disregard violent offenders hold for life, this issue strikes home. I
would not hesitate to support this measure as a means of protecting those who
protect the public's safety," said Land.
Although the nation's overall murder rate has seen an uptick this summer and 8
officers have been killed in the last 10 days, a group that tracks officer
deaths says that killings of officers have not increased.
The Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund's Steve Groeninger told the AP that
such murders were "down 13 % compared with the same January-to-September period
in 2014."
(source: politickernj.com)
SOUTH CAROLINA:
Prosecutor: Not all families agree with death
A South Carolina prosecutor says not all of the families of the 9 people
killed in June's shooting at a Charleston church want her to seek the
death penalty, but they accept her decision to try to put the suspect to
death.
Prosecutor Scarlett Wilson read a statement Thursday afternoon, just hours
after filing court papers saying she would pursue the death penalty
against 21-year-old Dylann Roof. She took no questions at a brief news
conference.
Wilson called Roof's actions "the ultimate crime that deserved the
ultimate punishment." Wilson says she understands the desire of some
victims' families to forgive Roof, but she says forgiveness doesn't
eliminate the consequences of Roof's actions.
Roof faces state charges including nine murder counts in the June 17
slayings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
(source: Associated Press)
FLORIDA:
Death Penalty Set to be Reviewed
Florida doesn't have any scheduled executions on the books and is in the midst
of its longest stretch without one since the Governor's 1st year in office.
Inmates on death row continue to appeal, with another death penalty debate
brewing.
A 2008 video from a St. Petersburg convenience store captured the murders of
two people at the hands of Khadafy Mullens. A judge sentenced Mullens to death
for the crimes in 2013. His lawyer made his appeal to Florida's Supreme Court
Thursday.
Mullens is 1 of 395 inmates on Florida's death row, 2nd only to California.
Charles Grover Brant is another. He admitted to killing his neighbor in
Hillsborough County and was sentenced to death in 2007. His appeals attorney
argued his previous counsel failed him.
"He was born with a bad brain because of lack of pre-natal care, and his
lawyers failed to investigate his case," said attorney Marie-Louise Samuels
Parmer.
The state hasn't carried out an execution since January. They were temporarily
on hold while a decision was made on the legality of lethal injection drugs.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the drugs use in June, and a circuit judge in
Florida did the same earlier this week. Brant's lawyer still says the death
penalty in the state needs a review.
"We have a huge death row population, it's a tremendous burden on the tax
dollars, it doesn't deter crime, and I think it's something that we really
should take a look at," she said.
Florida's current Governor is tied with Jeb Bush for most executions under a
Governor's watch since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
The United States Supreme Court will consider a case in its next term on
whether or not juries need to be unanimous when recommending a death sentence.
Currently, a unanimous decision is not required in Florida.
(source: WCTV news)
****************
Mesac Damas murder trial on hold amid state death penalty talks
The process deciding Mesac Damas' fate has been paused.
Collier Circuit Judge Fred Hardt filed an order Thursday staying the trial of
Damas, who has admitted he slaughtered his wife and 5 children in their North
Naples townhouse 2 weeks short of 6 years.
Hardt explained in his barely 3-page order that he is delaying the trial
without a timeline until the U.S. Supreme Court makes a decision of whether
Florida's means of sending people to death row is constitutional or not.
He wrote that the Supreme Court decision isn't expected until summer 2016.
The judge made this decision 6 days after reviewing the case and listening to
arguments from both sides.
The collection of killings is regarded as one of the most egregious crimes in
the history of Collier County, and it trial has been fraught with legal issues.
Damas is accused of binding his wife, Guerline Damas, 32, before slitting her
throat and then systematically slitting the throats of all 5 of their children:
Michzach, 9; Marven, 6; Maven, 5; Megan, 3; and Morgan, 11 months.
Prosecutors filed a notice seeking the death penalty Dec. 3, 2009.
Defense attorneys Kevin Clifford Shirley, of Punta Gorda, and James Anthony
Ermacora asked Hardt to hold off on the trial while the legality of case's next
steps are in flux.
They said that if the trial continued and the sentencing plan was found
unconstitutional, "the subsequent retrial would be a waste of judicial
resources," Hardt wrote. The judge found prosecutors' position to continue
inapplicable.
"A potential reversal and remand would raise double jeopardy issues," Hardt
wrote.
The trial was scheduled for Nov. 9 and was slated to span several weeks if
everything went according to plan.
Hardt scheduled a case management conference for 9 a.m. Oct. 2 to set new dates
for discovery and other formalities.
(source: The News-Press)
LOUISIANA:
Man accused of killing state trooper, roommate to face death penalty
The Calcasieu District Attorney's Office said it intends to seek the death
penalty for a man accused of killing his roommate and a state trooper.
Kevin Daigle was indicted today on charges of first-degree murder,
second-degree murder in the deaths of Louisiana State Trooper Steven Vincent
and Blake Brewer, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
(source: KATC news)
OKLAHOMA----impending execution
Activist's petition seeks stay for death row inmate
Sister Helen Prejean delivered 270,000 signatures to Gov. Mary Fallin's office
Thursday, her 3rd trip to Oklahoma to plead for the life of death row inmate
Richard Glossip.
However, a spokesman for the governor said she will not take action in this
case.
Glossip is scheduled to die Sept. 16 for orchestrating the 1997 murder of his
boss, Barry Van Treese, at the Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma City.
Glossip was convicted largely on the testimony of Justin Sneed, who admitted to
killing Van Treese but said that Glossip put him up to the task. Glossip always
has maintained his innocence.
Prejean, a noted anti-death penalty advocate and Glossip's spiritual adviser,
said Sneed, a homeless teenager and drug addict at the time of the murder, told
police what he had to in order to save his own life. In exchange for his
testimony against Glossip, Sneed was given life without the possibility of
parole.
Prejean wrote the book "Dead Man Walking," her account of counseling a man on
death row. Actress Susan Sarandon won an Academy Award for her portrayal of
Prejean in the movie adaptation of the book. Sarandon also has publicly called
for Glossip's exoneration.
Prejean and her supporters, including members of the Oklahoma Coalition to
Abolish the Death Penalty, local clergy, and 2 of Glossip's daughters, are
asking Fallin to grant Glossip a 60-day stay of execution to give his attorneys
more time to prove his innocence.
"It's the people of Oklahoma that have to appeal to Governor Fallin in
particular," Prejean said.
Surrounded by supporters and members of the media in the cramped foyer of
Fallin's office on Thursday, Prejean delivered the signatures to Fallin's
spokesman, Alex Weintz, on a thumb drive.
Personal appeal
"I want to appeal personally to Governor Fallin. She's a good person. She's a
wonderful leader," Prejean said. "Governors have been given additional powers
exactly for cases like this, where there's a preponderance of doubt."
While Fallin does have the authority to grant Glossip a 60-day stay, because
the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied him clemency in October, she cannot
commute his sentence to life without parole.
Weintz noted that the majority of the signatures delivered by Prejean were from
out of state and that even if Fallin could commute Glossip's sentence, she
would not exercise that authority.
The governor is choosing not to in this case, he said, because she is satisfied
with the verdict that Glossip received.
Weintz questioned any new evidence Glossip's attorneys could have, calling the
movement behind the convicted murderer a public relations campaign for
anti-death penalty advocates.
"Richard Glossip was found guilty in court, his appeals are in courts, and this
is something that is not going to be decided in the court of public opinion,"
Weintz said. "It is a legal matter, and it is going to be decided by courts.
"The state of Oklahoma is prepared to hold him accountable for his crimes and
move forward with the scheduled execution."
(source: The Oklahoman)
***********************
Death Penalty Opponents Deliver Over 250,000 Petition Signatures To Gov. Fallin
Death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean delivered over 250,000 online
petition signatures to Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on Thursday morning,
requesting a 60-day stay of execution for Richard Glossip.
Glossip is scheduled to be executed on September 16.
Glossip was found guilty in the murder-for-hire scheme of Barry Van Treese in
1997. Prejean said Glossip's defense was ineffective and she believes he is
innocent. She said Glossip will die based on the testimony of Justin Sneed, the
maintenance worker who killed Van Treese. Sneed said Glossip hired him to do
it.
"There's not a fingerprint of Richard Glossip on the money," Prejean said.
"There's no forensic evidence to corroborate what Justin Sneed said. Solely on
his word, Richard is going to his death."
Glossip's execution gained international attention after Prejean and actress
Susan Sarandon called on Fallin to halt his death. Sarandon portrayed Prejean
in the 1995 film "Dead Man Walking."
Prejean called Gov. Fallin "a wonderful person" and appealed to her to review
Glossip's case.
"When there is a question, even though it's been through the court system, all
these questions that enough people are concerned," Prejean said. "You do not
want the shadow of the doubt. The Supreme Court has said death is different.
You have to make sure it is beyond the shadow of the doubt."
Fallin spokesperson Alex Weintz said the execution will go forward. He said 2
juries found Glossip guilty and both sentenced him to death. Fallin won't
2nd-guess them.
"He was given multiple appeals in state and federal court, including the
Supreme Court of the United States," Wentz said. "He made his argument before
the Pardon and Parole Board. And those were the arguments we heard today from
Sister Prejean and others."
Weintz said the governor's powers are limited in this situation. The most she
can do is issue a 60-day stay. She cannot call off the execution, and she
cannot grant clemency without a recommendation from the Pardon and Parole
Board.
Richard Glossip's daughter, Christina Glossip-Hodge, said she last saw her
father on Wednesday and described his mental state as "positive."
"He hasn't gotten down. He's got faith. He's got a lot of faith. He's at a
peace that I haven't seen anyone at in my entire life," Glossip-Hodge said.
Glossip will be the 1st inmate to be executed in Oklahoma after the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled the use of midazolam in executions does not constitute
cruel and unusual punishment.
(source: KGOU news)
CALIFORNIA:
Death Penalty Sought for Double Shooting----Elias Carmona Lopez, 29, faces 2
counts of 1st-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Erineo Perez and Martin
Garcia in 2004.
Final trial preparations continued Thursday in the trial of an Indio gang
member accused in the execution-style murders of 2 men more than a decade ago.
Elias Carmona Lopez, 29, faces 2 counts of 1st-degree murder and 2 felony
counts of participating in a street gang in the shooting deaths of Erineo Perez
and Martin Garcia on Oct. 10 and Oct. 26, 2004.
Both victims were shot several times in the face, authorities said.
Lopez faces 11 sentence-enhancing allegations, including special- circumstances
of lying in wait, committing multiple murders and murder in furtherance of a
criminal street gang.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Lopez.
During the hearing at the Larson Justice Center, prosecution and defense
attorneys debated a number of pretrial motions -- a process that began Tuesday
and was expected to continue through September.
A month-long jury selection procedure was expected to begin in October, with
opening statements and testimony scheduled for Nov. 2.
Perez was found in the front seat of his vehicle near Indio City Hall and
Garcia was found in an Indio alley, authorities said.
Lopez was an early suspect in both killings, but there was insufficient
evidence to prosecute the case until July 2008, county prosecutors said in
2010, declining to reveal what additional evidence came to light.
Lopez was brought in 2008 to Riverside County from Arizona, where he was
imprisoned for armed robbery.
(source: patch.com)
WASHINGTON:
Last Rights: Ethics Of The Death Penalty In Washington State
Since 1976, 1,413 people have been executed in the United States. That number
rose steadily through 1999, when 98 people were executed. Last year, 35 people
were put to death.
Can there be justice in the imposition of capital punishment? Humanities
Washington hosted a deeper discussion of issues surrounding the death penalty
at The Royal Room in Columbia City on May 27, 2015.
In a study published in 2014, University of Washington professor Katherine
Beckett found that "jurors in Washington are 3 times more likely to recommend a
death sentence for a black defendant than for a white defendant in a similar
case."
Soon after the study was published, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that
he would not carry out any death penalty sentence, but instead issue a reprieve
in all capital cases brought before him. Inslee justified his decision this
way:
"Equal justice under the law is the state's primary responsibility. And in
death penalty cases, I'm not convinced equal justice is being served. The use
of the death penalty in this state is unequally applied, sometimes dependent on
the budget of the county where the crime occurred."
Inslee also referred to doubts that the death penalty was a deterrent and to
his hope that his decision would prompt a deeper discussion of capital
punishment in the state.
The Humanities Washington Think & Drink event was moderated by KUOW's Ross
Reynolds. Featured guests were Dorothy Van Soest, a writer and former dean at
the University of Washington, and David E. Smith, professor of philosophy at
the University of Washington.
(source: kuow.org)
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