Oct. 9
FLORIDA:
Deliberations underway in death penalty phase of Gary Morales murder trial
The jury has begun deliberations in the penalty phase of the Gary Morales
murder trial. The judge gave instructions around 12 p.m., with the jury
breaking about 15 minutes later.
Eriese Tisdale, found guilty of the 1st-degree capital murder of St. Lucie
County deputy during a traffic stop in 2013, now faces life in prison or the
death penalty.
The jury that found Tisdale guilty must make the life-changing decision.
Prosecutors say Tisdale made a choice the day he chose to pick up a gun and
kill Morales.
"( Gary) knew it could be his last day and it was," said Tom Bakkedahl, an
Asst. State Attorney. "Gary Morales was a son, brother, a friend, a husband and
a dad. Gary Morales was human and now Gary is dead because one person made
choices."
Bakkedahl argues the death penalty is deserved in this case because the murder
of a law enforcement officer carries a greater weight for punishment.
"Each day when they pull someone over we know they are armed. They don't know
if we are armed," Bakkedahl said during closing arguments of the penalty phase
of the trial.
"I know I'm going home today safely. Those who wear the uniform and the badge,
it's different for them to walk out the door each and every day. They don't
know if they are coming back," said Bakkedahl.
"Do you know whose fault it is?" Bakkedahl asks the jury. "It's nobody's but
his," Bakkedahl said pointing directly at Tisdale in the courtroom.
Defense attorneys argued Tisdale's upbringing by a single mom in a poor
community factor into his crime.
"We are not comparing Eriese to the bad choice he made that day," Mary
Celidonio, Asst. Public Defender argued. "(Eriese) ended his life that
day--that minute and 48 seconds changed the lives for many."
"The fear inside Eriese is real. How he reacted that day is unreasonable,
irrational and senseless," Celidonio said before resting their case in closing
arguments.
(source: CBS news)
MISSISSIPPI----female will face death penalty
Bishop faces death penalty in May killing
A Tupelo woman was formally charged with capital murder Friday morning for the
May killing of her boyfriend.
Leah Bishop, 45, was arraigned in Lee County Circuit Court. Bishop did not
speak to Judge Paul Funderburk during the brief court session. She entered a
plea of not guilty through her attorney, Lori Basham.
Bishop is accused of killing Jessie Traylor, 65, on Sunday, May 17, and leaving
his body in the 1807 Rollingwood Drive home that police said the couple had
shared for about 2 weeks. Tupelo police discovered Traylor 3 days later after
getting a call from the Jones County Sheriff's Office, who found Bishop's
lengthy, handwritten manifesto in Laurel. She reportedly confessed in the
21-page document.
The same night Traylor was found, Bishop was arrested in Winnsboro, Louisiana,
after she was stopped at a roadblock for a suspended driver's license. She was
returned to Lee County days later and charged with capital murder.
She has remained in jail since May under a $1 million bond. Friday, Funderburk
ordered her held without bond on the recommendation of the state. Assistant
District Attorney Josh Wise said the state is seeking the death penalty in the
case. Officials said it could be up to 18 months before the case goes to trial.
(source: Mississippi Journal)
OHIO:
Death-penalty opponents marching from Lucasville to Columbus
Cars and trucks whizzed by about a dozen people walking on blistered feet on
Thursday along Rt. 23.
The group of death-penalty opponents were on day 4 of an 83-mile, weeklong
journey to Columbus, where they plan to hold a rally on Saturday near the
Statehouse.
Among those walking are a Texas-based Baptist minister, a previous death row
inmate exonerated a decade ago and the son of Dr. Sam Sheppard, the
Cleveland-area man convicted of killing his pregnant wife, whose case drew
national media attention in the 1950s.
With a start at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, the prison near
Lucasville where executions in the state are conducted, the group wants an end
to the death penalty after a bout of botched executions and questions about
lethal-injection drugs in Ohio and across the country.
"It's just wrong," said Derrick Jamison, 54, who served time on death row in
Ohio for 20 years starting in 1985. "Shouldn't nobody have the right to say who
should live or die."
Jamison considers himself a "survivor" of death row after he was exonerated for
the killing of a nightclub owner in Cincinnati. Oct. 25 marks both the day
Jamison was sent to and released from prison. As he celebrates 10 years since
his release, Jamison admits that while many inmates on death row are indeed
guilty, there are also innocent men.
"If you make a mistake with the death penalty, you can't go get a person out
the grave and say 'Oh, my bad,' and they're (the state) making too many
mistakes," he said.
Ohio's last execution was Jan. 16, 2014, when Dennis McGuire struggled and
gasped for several minutes before succumbing to a combination of drugs not used
before. The next execution is scheduled for January but as of August, the state
was still trying to find drugs to use.
While lawmakers passed and Gov. John Kasich signed a bill intended to make
getting execution drugs easier by keeping the source secret, a bipartisan House
bill introduced this past summer calls for an end to the death penalty in the
state.
"Ohio has an option, it's called life without parole," said Terry Collins,
former director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.
During his time with the department, Collins said he witnessed more than 30
executions. He now works to educate Ohioans about the death penalty and
advocates for its abolition.
"I think a nationwide discussion about the death penalty has certainly changed
whether, not just Ohio, but if the United States needs the death penalty," he
said.
Sam Reese Sheppard, whose father appealed a death-penalty conviction to the
U.S. Supreme Court, said despite peoples' mixed opinions on the issue, he said
Ohioans have been receptive to open conversation. "We've been on the road the
past few days, and even if people disagree with us they're usually not vengeful
or obnoxious about it."
The walkers, sponsored by Ohioans to Stop Executions and other groups, will
hold a community dialogue at 7 p.m. today at 1021 E. Broad St. They also invite
people to join the end of their walk Saturday at 10 a.m. from 1500 S. 4th St.
The rally will take place at noon Saturday in front of Trinity Episcopal
Church, 125 E. Broad St.
(source: Columbus Dispatch)
************
Death row exonerees come to Cleveland to promote abolishing executions
After spending decades in prison and years on death row for a murder in
Cleveland that he did not commit, Kwame Ajamu has committed his life to
abolishing the death penalty.
Ajamu joined execution abolitionist groups and death row exonerees from across
the country who gathered in Cleveland Friday morning to press their message
ahead of Saturday's World Day Against the Death Penalty conference in North
Olmsted.
Kwame Ajamu speaks about abolishing death penaltyKwame Ajamu on Oct. 9, 2015
talks about life after prison following a press conference promoting the
abolition of the death penalty. He spent years on death row after being
wrongfully convicted of a Cleveland murder.
"We hope that we can end this atrocity today," Kwame said during a tearful
press conference. "We hope that tomorrow's newspapers would say that there's no
more death penalty. We know that this won't happen, but this is our goal."
Ajamu, who was known as Ronnie Bridgeman, was put on death row after being
wrongfully convicted in 1975 of murdering a money order salesman with his
brother and best friend.
The convictions of all three men were tossed after they collectively spent more
than 100 years behind bars.
"If there's anything that I would beg for this country, for this world to
listen to is the heartfelt cries and pleas of myself and fellow comrades who
have been exonerated from death," Ajamu said.
He stood with about 20 men and women who were once on death row and are now
members of Witness to Innocence, a national group of exonerees fighting to end
state-sponsored executions.
Too many innocent people have been put to death, said Ohioans to Stop
Executions Director Kevin Werner.
"If the legislature is bent on keeping the death penalty, they should at least
make sure there are no mistakes," Werner said.
He suggested reforming the justice system to prevent wrongful convictions and
setting higher standards for the execution process.
There are 24 people scheduled to be executed in Ohio in the next 4 years,
Werner said.
State Rep. Nickie Antonio, a Lakewood Democrat who also spoke at the press
conference, has introduced legislation that would do away with executions.
"The best reform is to abolish capital punishment and replace it with a
sentence of life without parole," Antonio said. "It is time to execute justice,
not to execute people."
Saturday's conference in North Olmsted is one of many events scheduled
worldwide for World Day Against the Death Penalty.
The public event will feature workshops and talks from Cuyahoga County Common
Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
President Elizabeth Zitrin and others.
The conference is set to begin at 9 a.m. at St. Clarence Church.
(source: cleveland.com)
*************
Death row survivors meet in downtown Cleveland
In a press conference at Trinity Cathedral in downtown Cleveland,
Representative Nickie Antonio, D-13, welcomed dozens of members of Witness to
Innocence, the national organization of wrongly convicted and exonerated death
row survivors.
Antonio joined with them in calling for an end to the death penalty in Ohio and
other reforms to prevent wrongful executions. She was introduced a bill with
bi-partisan sponsorship.
The event coincided with worldwide activities around the international World
Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10th.
Among others peaking was Kwame Ajamu who was formally exonerated of the 1975
murder for which he was convicted and sentenced to death in Cuyahoga County
Common Pleas Court.
Ajamu was 17 years old at the time he was placed on Ohio's death row, and said
he still harbors a lot of bitterness from 27 years of wrongful incarceration.
Ajamu has dedicated his life to ending capital punishment in Ohio.
Witness to Innocence, Ohioans to Stop Executions, death row exonerees and their
loved ones and supporters gathered earlier at St. Clarence Church in North
Olmsted, Ohio as part of their effort to increase support for abolition of
capital punishment.
(source: WTAM news)
USA:
Amnesty International USA Statement on 2015 World Day Against the Death Penalty
The 13th annual World Day Against the Death Penalty will take place on
Saturday, October 10th. Activists and organizations will hold events around the
globe to call for the universal abolition of capital punishment. In recognition
of the day, Steven W. Hawkins, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA,
released the following statement:
"In just the past few weeks, three people have been sent to the death chambers
in the United States. One of those executed did not commit the murder she was
sentenced to die for, and another showed strong signs of intellectual
disability.
"The tally nearly reached 4 executions in just over a week's time, but for the
bungling of an execution in Oklahoma. The state procured the wrong drug to kill
the prisoner, only realizing the mistake at the very last minute. Now the
state's Attorney General is investigating what went wrong.
"In fact, just about everything is wrong with the capital punishment system.
It's fundamentally broken and should be ended once and for all.
"Thankfully the death penalty is in decline in the United States and around the
world. Last year, executions in the United States were at a 20-year low, and
death sentences were at their lowest level since 1976. What's more, 19 states
plus the District of Columbia have banned capital
punishment, and 7 other states have not carried out an execution in 10 years.
"It's really just a handful of states that are still aggressively pursuing
executions. Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri, in particular, are moving further
and further away from national standards of decency. Globally, 140 countries
have abolished the death penalty in law or practice, and only 22 carried out
executions last year.
"The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The
United States cannot practice it and claim to be a human rights leader on the
global stage. Now is the time to end capital punishment for good."
(source: Amnesty International USA)
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