June 7
FLORIDA:
Florida's death penalty fix draws more scrutiny from justices
The Florida Supreme Court continued to wrestle Tuesday with effects stemming
from the state's death penalty system being declared unconstitutional by the
nation's high court.
Florida lawmakers attempted to fix flaws cited by the high court. But now state
justices are determining whether the Legislature's changes can be applied to
ongoing cases and also withstand any other constitutional challenges.
Chief Justice Jorge Labarga may have signaled the court's unease with the newly
crafted system. It requires at least 10 jurors to recommend a death sentence -
up from the simple majority, which could be overruled by a judge - that federal
jurists found violated a defendant's rights.
Labarga asked attorney Martin McClain, arguing on the side of defendant Larry
Darnell Perry, to trace how through Florida's history, unanimous jury verdicts
were needed to find an accused criminal guilty. But a lesser standard is
applied in capital cases.
"I think the court is clearly concerned about that," McClain said after
Tuesday's hearing.
Perry, of St. Cloud in Osceola County, is accused of murdering his 3-month-old
son in 2013. An appeals court has asked state justices to decide whether
prosecutors can use the newly redrawn death penalty law in his trial, scheduled
to begin in August.
(source: Palm Beach Post)
OHIO:
Man Indicted in Ohio Cop's Slaying, Could Face Death Penalty
A man accused of killing a police officer could face the death penalty if
convicted, according to a grand jury indictment Tuesday charging him with
aggravated murder and other crimes.
Authorities say Lincoln Rutledge shot Columbus SWAT officer Steven Smith in the
head April 10 while officers were trying to arrest Rutledge on an arson
warrant. Smith, 54, died 2 days later.
Ohio law includes killing a police officer as a factor prosecutors can use in
seeking a death sentence.
"Smith was an extremely dedicated officer and his death is a tremendous loss to
our community," Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said in announcing the
charges.
Messages seeking comment were left with the public defenders who have been
representing Rutledge.
Even if Rutledge was convicted and sentenced to death, an execution could be
decades off because of lengthy appeals and the state's current lack of lethal
injection drugs.
Smith was in the turret area of a SWAT vehicle when he was shot, part of a team
of officers trying to arrest Rutledge on an aggravated arson charge alleging he
tried to set his estranged wife's home on fire the day before.
Police records show the 44-year-old Rutledge, a computer network engineer at
Ohio State University, was having mental health problems before the shooting,
something that could affect whether he receives a death sentence if convicted.
Ohio State said Rutledge had not been at work since Feb. 1 when he requested
and was granted a leave of absence. His access to buildings was revoked March
23 "when he began to behave erratically while on leave," the university said.
Rutledge told a co-worker visiting him at his home in March that he was not
taking his medication, made a comment about "eating a Glock" and accused his
co-worker of being a federal agent, according to a March 22 report from the OSU
police department.
During the co-worker's visit, "it became apparent that Rutledge may have been
in the midst of a mental breakdown," the report said.
On March 28, Rutledge's wife told Columbus police he had been diagnosed with
depression and "lately has been 'increasingly detached from reality,'"
according to a Columbus police report.
A Franklin County judge had ordered that Rutledge receive mental health
treatment, the report said.
Smith was the 54th Columbus police officer killed in the line of duty.
(source: Associated Press)
**********************
Alleged killer of CPD officer Steve Smith will face death penalty
The man accused in the deadly shooting a Columbus police officer will now face
the death penalty. Franklin County prosecutor Ron O'Brien announced Tuesday a
grand jury returned an 11 count death penalty indictment against 44-year-old
Lincoln Rutledge in the murder of Officer Steve Smith.
Rutledge faces charges that include 2 counts aggravated murder, four attempted
murder, four felonious assault and one aggravated arson.
According to O'Brien, Rutledge is facing 2 murder charges because "under Ohio
law, there are different ways to commit the crime of aggravated murder, and it
is my (O'Brien's) practice to charge all ways that the crime was committed." He
also faces attempted murder charges for firing at 4 other SWAT officers.
Rutledge is accused of firing at officers when they approached in an armored
vehicle to serve a felony warrant on April 10. In a standoff that lasted
several hours, Smith was shot in the head and taken to Ohio State Wexner
Medical Center. 2 days later, he was pronounced dead.
Rutledge eventually surrendered after much of the Clintonville apartment
building he was barricaded in went up in flames.
In April, his bond was denied, citing public safety concerns. The alleged cop
killer will be arraigned on June 10.
Days after Smith succumbed to his injuries, the city paused to remember the
fallen hero during an emotional Hero's Escort and processional throughout the
streets of Columbus.
(source: 10tv.com)
NEVADA:
A prosecutor says 3 men may face the death penalty in the shooting death of a
Las Vegas liquor store clerk who police said couldn't open a store safe
3 men in their 20s pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder and other charges, and
a prosecutor suggested they may face the death penalty in the shooting death of
a Las Vegas liquor store clerk who police said couldn't open a store safe.
Ray Charles Brown, Lee Murry Sykes and Lee Dominic Sykes are also charged with
kidnapping, conspiracy, robbery, burglary and coercion with a weapon in the
April 18 heist and slaying of Matthew Christensen.
Brown also pleaded not guilty to felony child endangerment and false
imprisonment for allegedly grabbing a child to shield himself when police SWAT
officers entered a Las Vegas home May 3 to arrest him.
Clark County District Court Judge Eric Johnson set a July 5 date to check the
status of the case after prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo said District Attorney Steve
Wolfson will determine in coming days whether to seek the death penalty.
The brazen robbery, during which security video showed men wielding handguns as
they rushed into a Lee's Discount Liquor store, shocked the Las Vegas community
and drew additional attention during a search for the suspects.
Police and prosecutors say silent security video shows the 24-year-old
Christensen standing at gunpoint with his hands raised in a store office -
shaking his head as if to say he can't open the safe - before he's shot.\
Wolfson has characterized the killing as an execution.
Christensen was memorialized as a hero for not revealing that a pregnant
manager also was in the store.
The decision whether to seek capital punishment will consider the defendants'
previous criminal records.
Brown, 22, was convicted in 2011 of felony coercion.
Lee Dominic Sykes, 21, was convicted in 2014, of felony conspiracy to commit
robbery. His middle name was spelled Dominique.
Lee Murry Sykes, 22, was convicted in July 2013 of misdemeanor unlawful taking
of a vehicle.
(source: Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA:
Act aims to end death penalty in California
A California organization is hoping to get an anti-death penalty initiative on
the state ballot in November. Death Penalty Focus is sponsoring the Justice
That Works Act of 2016.
"Under current law, California inmates sentenced to life without the
possibility of parole are required to work while in prison and pay 50 % of the
wages they earn to the families of the victims of their crimes," said Paula
Mitchell, board member of Death Penalty Focus. "But inmates on death row do not
work or pay any wages or 'restitution' to their victims' family members."
The anti-death penalty initiative proposes a change to that aspect.
"The Justice That Works Act is a ballot initiative to replace California's
broken death penalty system with life in prison without parole," said Matt
Cherry, executive director of Taxpayers for Sentencing Reform. "It requires
convicted killers to work and pay most of their wages to their victims'
families."
Cherry said the act had needed 365,880 valid signatures by mid-May to qualify
for the ballot in November.
"We collected and submitted more than 600,000 signatures ahead of schedule. It
will take until mid- to late June for all the counties to certify them, but we
are very confident of qualifying," Cherry told NCR.
This is not the first time California has taken up an initiative to end the
death penalty.
A similar initiative in 2012 "came within 250,000 votes of passing," said
Mitchell, also an adjunct law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
"It received 48 percent of the vote, so it failed to pass by only about 2 %.
More recent polling shows that support for the death penalty has decreased
significantly since 2012, so it seems voters may be poised to finally end
capital punishment in the state."
According to Elisabeth Semel, director of the Death Penalty Clinic at the
University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, the California Legislative
Analyst's Office estimates that the repeal of the death penalty in the state
will save $150 million per year.
"This contrasts sharply to the 'speed up executions' initiatives that death
penalty proponents are attempting to put on the November 2016 ballot," Semel
added.
However, Semel said the fiscal effects of the Justice That Works initiative are
subject to considerable uncertainty.
The Legislative Analyst's Office "pointed to significant increases in the
workload of the state judicial system, an increase in number of attorneys
needed to implement that new law, which could translate into tens of millions
of dollars per year for several years," she told NCR.
Cherry said more and more Californians are realizing that it is time to replace
the death penalty with a system that works. In January, the Field Poll, a
nonpartisan public opinion poll, reported a 40 % swing against the death
penalty in California from 2011 to 2016.
Some of the influence in changing opinions is due to Pope Francis, according to
Cherry.
"I think that the outspoken opposition to the death penalty expressed by Pope
Francis has also moved public opinion in the U.S., and not just among
practicing Catholics," he said. "Although the church has long opposed the use
of the death penalty, I think it had a huge impact when Pope Francis stood
before the U.S. Congress and called for the abolition of the death penalty."
The California Catholic Conference supported the 2012 Proposition 34, but have
yet to issue a statement on the current initiative. "The bishops don't take
positions on initiatives until after they qualify for the ballot," said Steve
Pehanich, director of communications for the state conference.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, there were 743 death row
inmates as of May in California. There have been 13 executions since 1976.
The caseload in California includes 57 individuals who have no lawyers for
their direct appeals, according to Semel. "Another 298 have no attorneys for
habeas representation. The state does not have the funds for attorneys, nor,
quite frankly, do we have enough qualified capital defense lawyers to handle
the cases," she said.
"The California Supreme Court has about 350 direct appeals pending, and about
250 state habeas petitions pending," she said. "It simply cannot keep pace with
the caseload."
Semel said switching the system to life without the possibility of parole is
estimated to cost just over $11 million per year, as opposed to $150 million.
"That is an enormous difference in a state that has profound needs in the area
of education, housing and social services," she told NCR.
California is also considering a 1-barbiturate execution, which would replace a
series of 3 drugs used.
"Because of concerns about lethal injection protocols, it has been more than a
decade since California executed anyone. The state is, yet again, trying to
agree on new lethal injection procedures for executing prisoners," said Cherry.
"However, in the decade since California last put a prisoner to death, we have
seen a string of horrific botched executions around the country, with prisoners
suffering for more than an hour before dying."
Cherry said the debate about California's execution methods "will just remind
the public that the entire death penalty system is broken beyond repair."
(source: National Catholic Reporter)
USA:
Dylann Roof's federal trial set for Nov. 7
Prosecutors and defense attorneys for Dylann Roof gathered in a courtroom
Tuesday afternoon for the first time since federal authorities announced they
would pursue his execution.
At the 2 p.m. hearing Judge Richard Gergel in U.S. District Court in downtown
Charleston set the date for his trial for Nov. 7.
Gergel says the trial is happening far faster than most death penalty trials.
Only a "shot out of the dark" would delay Dylann Roof trial from the Nov. 7
date, he said.
This move by defense puts federal trial before state, which historically has
been more likely to execute people.
Accused of killing 9 worshippers last year at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church,
Roof is thought to be the 1st criminal defendant to face the death penalty in 2
separate courts at the same time. How the courts juggle the 2 cases could blaze
new legal ground.
The state's murder case against the 21-year-old Eastover man had been moving
along at a seemingly steady clip. State prosecutors announced early on that
they planned to pursue his execution, and a judge scheduled the trial for July.
But the date was later pushed back to January.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Loretta Lynch held back from announcing the federal
government's death penalty intentions until last month. Gergel expressed
frustration with the government during earlier hearings as he agreed to
postpone the case 4 times while awaiting the development.
But with Lynch's decision, Gergel finally set a date for Roof's trial on 33
federal charges, including hate crimes and religious rights violations.
Also is possible that Roof will be at trial in fed court while trial for
Michael Slager is ending in state court. The state trial is set for January but
solicitor had asked judge to set federal trial after hers. Today's move does
opposite.
The court is considering calling 1,200 to 1,500 potential jurors from across
South Carolina for the Roof trial. The jury selection is expected to last 3
weeks; guilt phase 2 weeks and then a break. Then penalty phase would probably
last another 2 weeks.
Without an agreement between the governments on which should prosecute Roof
1st, state and federal prosecutors have left such decisions with the judges
overseeing the cases.
(source: The Post and Courier)
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