Jan. 13
TEXAS----impending execution
His son tried to kill him; now father tries to halt his execution
Thomas Whitaker is scheduled for execution on Feb. 22 for setting up the ambush
that killed his mom, brother.
His father survived the shooting and, after learning to forgive his son, is
asking state officials for mercy.
Thomas Whitaker is on Texas death row because he lured his family out to dinner
so a friend could slip into their Sugar Land home to gun down his mother,
father and brother when they returned.
Shot in the upper chest in the 2003 attack, Kent Whitaker barely survived the
ambush, but only after hearing the first 2 bullets that killed his youngest,
Kevin, a college sophomore, and wife Tricia, whose last sounds he heard were a
series of weak, wet coughs as blood filled her lungs.
His father, however, is making a last-ditch plea to spare his son's life
despite the heartache and suffering he has caused.
In a plea for clemency on the father's behalf, Austin lawyer Keith Hampton and
Houston lawyer James Rytting asked Gov. Greg Abbott to issue a rarely granted
30-day reprieve and for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend
that Abbott commute Thomas Whitaker's sentence to life in prison.
"I have seen too much killing already," Kent Whitaker told the
American-Statesman. "I don't want to see him executed right there in front of
my eyes. I know Tricia and Kevin would not want him to be executed. I can't
imagine seeing the last living part of my family executed by the state,
especially since all the victims didn't want that to happen in the first
place."
Whitaker said he, his immediate family and members of Tricia's family urged
Fort Bend County prosecutors to choose a life sentence instead of the death
penalty, but to no avail.
Now, he said, it's time for Abbott and the 7 parole board members to finally
listen.
"We're not asking them to set him free. We're not asking them to forgive him. I
mean, that's not their business, but what we are asking them to do is to
correct a legal overstep that never should've happened in the first place," he
said.
Urging Abbott and the board to pay particular attention to the desires of Kent
Whitaker, the crime's chief victim, the clemency petition posed a series of
stark questions:
-- "Is clemency warranted where execution might be justice for a wicked crime,
yet would also permanently compound the suffering and grief of the remaining
victim?"
-- "Is death still the right answer even when it will subject a victim to new
pain to be suffered in perpetuity?"
-- "Is killing Thomas Whitaker more important than sparing Kent Whitaker?"
The petition also noted that the shooter, Chris Brashear, was given a life
sentence after pleading guilty to murder, while the getaway driver, Steve
Champagne, agreed to a 15-year plea deal and testified against Whitaker.
Forgiveness
Kent Whitaker, 69, credits his Christian faith for helping him forgive Thomas -
a journey he chronicled in the book, "Murder by Family," billed in a subtitle
as the incredibly true story of a son's treachery and a father's forgiveness.
As he lay in the hospital, Whitaker recalled, he was sharply torn between
knowing that God wanted him to forgive the shooter and fantasizing about
repeatedly hurting the gunman - who he saw as a vague, ski-mask-wearing figure
inside his darkened home.
"All I could do was ask God for help. When I did that, the strangest thing that
ever happened in my life occurred. I felt a warm glow flow over me. It lasted
only a couple seconds, but when it left, all the desire for revenge, all the
hatred disappeared," he said. "I couldn't figure out why God would do that."
Police soon broke the news that his son - who had been shot in the left arm,
ostensibly while scuffling with the gunman - was suspected of arranging the
shootings. The need for forgiveness became suddenly clear, he said.
"If he was going to ever trust God, I realized that he needed to believe that
forgiveness was available to him, and if dad could forgive him, then maybe God
could forgive him," Kent Whitaker said.
Prosecutors argued that Thomas Whitaker was under the mistaken belief that he
would receive a $1 million inheritance, but Kent Whitaker believes his son was
suffering from unrecognized mental health issues.
"It was never about the money," Kent Whitaker said. "There wasn't that much to
start with. The prosecution always way over-exaggerated my wealth because that
played into their arguments."
Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey defended the decision to pursue
the death penalty and pushed back against the clemency petition, telling the
Houston Chronicle that Thomas Whitaker is "a master manipulator of reality,"
adding, "this approach doesn't surprise me at all."
In addition to seeking support for the father???s wishes, the clemency petition
argued that Thomas Whitaker has changed his life on death row in ways that
deserve attention, and the document included multiple letters from death row
inmates and others arguing on Whitaker's behalf.
Condemned inmate Keith Milam said Thomas Whitaker has a "special affinity of
helping guys with mental illness."
Inmate Faryion Wardrip said Whitaker inspired him and others to better
themselves and praised his "uncanny ability to calm others" on death row.
"He is one of the best liked inmates on this farm by the guards and other
inmates, and he has worked the hardest to rehabilitate himself. Killing him
would be a crime, because the system needs men like him out on the farms
keeping everyone calm and looking forward," inmate William Speer wrote.
"It is worth reminding that Thomas Whitaker is on death row in part because he
was believed to be a future danger to inmates. We know this to be untrue," the
clemency petition said.
Master's degree
Kent Whitaker said he is proud of the man his son became in prison and that
after remarrying, his wife, Tanya, also came to love Thomas during frequent
prison visits.
Thomas provides care packages to newly arrived inmates - a toothbrush, razor,
coffee packets, chips - because commissary privileges take a while to set up,
and he encouraged at least 2 inmates to get their high school GEDs, Kent said.
A Spanish speaker, Thomas wants to help teach English as a 2nd language to
fellow inmates if he is given a life sentence and placed in the general
population.
"He has taken a deeper appreciation of other people than he had when he was in
the free world," Kent Whitaker said.
Thomas received a bachelor's degree by mail and is close to earning a master's
degree in English literature from Cal State.
"His master's thesis is in committee. It won't be finished until well after
Feb. 22, but his adviser has assured both of us that regardless of what
happens, it will be approved and the master's of literature degree will be
bestowed to him," Kent said.
If that Feb. 22 execution date is not lifted, Kent Whitaker said he will be
there, behind the glass partition, at the Huntsville death chamber.
"As he goes to sleep, I want him to be able to look at me and see that I love
him. I really want him to know that I forgive him, that I love him," he said.
"Tanya be there too, and he'll see the same thing in her eyes.
"I don't want to see this. God, I don't want to see this. I've seen enough
killing. But I can't imagine letting him be in the room by himself without
anyone there with him."
But Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey defended the decision to
continue pursuing the state's harshest punishment and pushed back against
Whitaker's petition for clemency.
(source: Austin American-Statesman)
**********************
DA to seek death penalty against accused killer of SAPD Det. Marconi
Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood confirmed Friday that he will seek
the death penalty in the murder trial of the man accused of killing a veteran
San Antonio Police Department detective outside of public safety headquarters
in late 2016.
As recently as last November, which marked the one year anniversary of
Detective Ben Marconi's death, LaHood said he was reviewing the case to
determine whether or not to pursue the death penalty against Otis McKane, 32.
McKane is accused of shooting Marconi twice in the head on Nov. 20, 2016, as
the detective worked on paperwork inside a patrol cruiser downtown.
Surveillance video showed a car driven by McKane circle Marconi's patrol unit
twice before the ambush killing, investigators previously said.
McKane was arrested in East Bexar County the following day after a massive
manhunt.
He was indicted for capital murder of a police officer in February 2017, and
remains in custody at the Bexar County Jail.
McKane is tentatively scheduled to go to trial Feb. 28.
LaHood has previously said that he intends to try the case himself.
Marconi, 50, from Floresville, was a 20-year veteran of SAPD and a father of 2.
(source: KSAT news)
**************************
Sherin Mathews' father charged with capital murder in 3-year-old's death
The father of Sherin Mathews has been charged with capital murder in the
3-year-old's October death, court records show.
Sherin was killed with "homicidal violence" before her adoptive father, Wesley
Mathews hid her body in a Richardson culvert where it went undiscovered for
weeks.
A Dallas County grand jury indicted him on the capital murder charge this week.
The indictment says Mathews killed Sherin "by a manner and means unknown to the
grand jury," court records show.
If convicted, Mathews could face the death penalty, should prosecutors choose
to pursue it, or an automatic sentence of life without parole.
"We have not decided if we are actually going to seek death," Dallas County
District Attorney Faith Johnson said Friday.
Mathews, 37, was arrested in October on a felony injury to a child charge after
the girl's body was found Oct. 22. He originally said he put her outside Oct. 7
because she wouldn't drink her milk. He later changed that story to say that
the child choked on her milk.
He now faces 4 felony charges, including injury to a child and capital murder.
He is also charged with abandoning a child and tampering with physical
evidence.
The Dallas County district attorney's office plans to host a news conference
Friday afternoon on the case.
Sherin's disappearance and death attracted worldwide attention and fascination
to a little girl whose family appeared to favor their biological daughter to
Sherin, who was adopted from India in 2016. The family's Richardson house had
many but none of Sherin.
The Indian government suspended the U.S. adoption agency involved in placing
Sherin with the Mathews family.
Her adoptive mother, Sini Mathews, was arrested on a charge of child
abandonment or endangerment based on her husband's admission to investigators
that they went out to dinner and left Sherin alone the night before she died.
Sini Mathews is a registered nurse.
Autopsy results were pending for several months. The Dallas County medical
examiner's office said on Jan. 3 that Sherin's death had been ruled a homicide.
It did not offer many details on what may have caused Sherin's death.
The couple in also involved in a custody case for the surviving, biological
daughter.
A Dallas juvenile court judge, Cheryl Lee Shannon, has already blocked Wesley
and Sini Mathews from having contact with their surviving daughter. The girl is
living with relatives although the court has not yet decided on a permanent
solution and whether the Mathewses will retain their parental rights.
Sherin's death isn't the first time suspicions were raised.
A doctor contacted CPS after finding multiple fractures in various stages of
healing in March. Sherin suffered injuries to her upper-arm bones and fractures
in her leg bones that were in various stages of healing, according to court
testimony.
The doctor, Suzanne Dakil of the Referral and Evaluation of At Risk Children
Clinic, testified at a hearing involving custody of the couple's biological
daughter that she suspected Sherin had been injured at the hands of her
parents.
"I had no explanation other than this child had been physically abused," Dakil
testified.
(source: Dallas Morning News)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Jury selection in trial of alleged St. Clair Township cop killer delayed a
month
Jury selection in the capital murder trial of a New Florence man charged with
the murder of a St. Clair Township police officer in late 2015 will begin Feb.
5.
Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio set the new
trial date after the case against Ray Shetler Jr. was postponed one month for
scheduling issues.
Shetler, 33, is charged with 1st-degree murder for the Nov. 28, 2015, shooting
of St. Clair Township Officer Lloyd Reed. Reed, 54, was on duty and in uniform
when he was gunned down as he responded to a domestic call from Shelter's
girlfriend at her Ligonier Street home.
The judge also set Jan. 29 as the day when all pretrial motions will be argued.
All motions must be filed with the judge by Jan. 25, Bilik-DeFazio said.
County prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against Shelter if
they win a 1st-degree murder conviction.
District Attorney John Peck cited the fact that Reed was killed in the line of
duty was the aggravating circumstance needed for his decision to seek the death
penalty.
Defense attorney Mark Daffner in previous court hearings argued that Shetler
did not know that Reed was a police officer during the deadly gun fight.
Reed went to the St. Clair home of Shetler's girlfriend after she called for
help, claiming he was drunk and abusive.
Police said Shetler ignored Reed's commands to drop a .271-caliber hunting
rifle and fired at the officer 3 times in the front yard. Reed returned fire
with 6 shots. Reed was hit once in an area of his chest not protected by his
bulletproof vest. Shetler was wounded in the shoulder.
Shetler fled the scene. He hid his rife, ammunition and a bloody sweatshirt in
some brush and swam across the Conemaugh River, police said. He was arrested 6
hours later as he walked along a rural road.
(source: triblive.com)
********************
Wholaver death penalty appeal over 2002 murder of wife, 2 daughters in
Middletown is rejected
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday handed down a decision affirming the
death penalty convictions of Ernest Wholaver Jr. in the 2002 killings of his
wife and 2 daughters at their Middletown home.
The high court ruling "essentially ends" any further appeals by Wholaver at the
state level, said Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo, who prosecuted
the case against Wholaver when he was convicted in 2004.
"This is an important step in the process," Chardo said regarding the decision
in an email to the Press & Journal on Friday.
However, Wholaver can still pursue habeas corpus relief at the federal level
"and will undoubtably do so," Chardo added.
"This means he will file a petition in federal court, suing his jailer and
challenging his death sentences. The federal courts will have to give due
deference to the findings of the state courts in making their decisions."
In addition, the death penalty in Pennsylvania remains on hold, following a
moratorium that was put in place by Gov. Tom Wolf in February 2015.
Hunter Stuart Labovitz, identified in court records as the attorney
representing Wholaver, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wholaver, now 57, in 2004 was sentenced to death 3 times after being convicted
by a Dauphin County jury of the murders of his wife Jean and their 2 daughters,
Victoria, 20, and Elizabeth, 14 at their residence in Middletown on Christmas
Eve Day, 2002.
Wholaver in July 2002 had been charged with several sexual offenses for alleged
conduct involving his 2 daughters.
After those charges were filed, Jean Wholaver obtained a protection from abuse
order against Wholaver. Wholaver left the house and moved into the residence of
his mother, father and younger brother Scott in Cambria County.
Wholaver was to go on trial for the sexual offenses involving his daughters in
January 2003. Shortly after midnight on Dec. 24, 2002, Wholaver broke into his
former residence in Middletown and shot and killed Jean, Victoria and
Elizabeth.
Wholaver presented 16 separate issues as grounds for his appeal to the state
Supreme Court, including allegations a of prosecutorial and jury misconduct,
and ineffective legal counsel.
The high court in its 74-page opinion dismissed all the issues that were raised
by Wholaver as being without merit. The opinion can be downloaded by clicking
here.
Wholaver is incarcerated in State Correctional Institution Greene located near
Waynesburg in Greene County.
Wholaver is 1 of 169 death row inmates in Pennsylvania, which by state has the
5h highest number of death row inmates as of July, according to the Death
Penalty Information Center.
Pennsylvania has carried out 3 executions since 1976, all of them inmates who
waived their appeals. The last inmate executed in Pennsylvania was Gary
Heidnick in 1999, according to the center.
Gov. Tom Corbett had issued a death warrant scheduling the execution of
Terrance Williams for March 4, 2014. However, Wolf granted Williams a reprieve.
(source: Press & Journal)
FLORIDA:
Florida Supreme Court overturns one of Dontae Morris's death sentences
The Florida Supreme Court overturned Dontae Morris' death sentence on Thursday
for the murder of Derek Anderson because the jury that sentenced him did not
vote unanimously for the death penalty.
The jury in that case voted 10 to 2 for the death sentence. Morris shot and
killed Anderson, 21, outside his mother's Tampa apartment back in May of 2010.
Morris is already facing two death sentences for murdering Tampa Police
officers David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab in June of 2010. The jury was unanimous
in that case and last year the court upheld those sentences.
Defense attorney Kevin Hayslett, who's not connected to the case, said he
believes the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office may seek a new death sentence
for Morris as a matter of principle.
"For the law enforcement community, for the prosecutor's office, this case is
personal," he said. "You can only kill a person once. However ... if there's
ever a case where they say we don't care about the money, we care about the
principle, this is that case."
Hillsborough State Attorney???s Office communications director Rena Frazier
said they need to "make an analysis" before deciding whether to seek a new
death sentence for Morris. Hayslett said on average it takes about 15 to 20
years before a defendant is executed after being sentenced to death.
(source: baynews9.com)
LOUISIANA:
Supreme Court to hear case of lawyer who defied client in murder trial
On trial for his life, Robert McCoy claimed he was the innocent victim of a
police conspiracy - despite a mountain of evidence that he had killed 3 members
of his estranged wife's family in northwestern Louisiana.
But his lawyer, Larry English, saw the case as unwinnable, and decided to focus
on sparing McCoy from execution. English outlined his strategy: admit guilt
from the start, then ask the jury for mercy.
McCoy refused. English insisted. They argued, behind closed doors, before the
judge and in front of the jury. McCoy tried to fire English, but the judge said
it was too late. In August 2011, the jury convicted McCoy of 1st-degree murder,
and sentenced him to die.
More than 6 years later, McCoy sits on Louisiana's death row and is still
fighting. He wants a new trial, arguing that his constitutional rights as a
criminal defendant - specifically, the ability to mount his own defense - were
violated. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on the case,
which explores the boundaries of 2 tenets of the American justice system: the
adversarial relationship between the government and the accused, and a
defendant's ability to make decisions about his fate.
The plan English embraced is not uncommon in today's courtrooms. Defense
lawyers often choose to concede that their client is guilty to avoid a worse
outcome. It happens often in death penalty cases, when the defendant appears
likely to be convicted, and the same jury charged with deciding guilt also
chooses punishment. In those cases, the lawyer may decide that it would appear
insincere to argue in the first phase that the defendant didn't commit the
crime, then turn around and ask for leniency.
"The stakes get really high when what you're facing is a likely guilty verdict
with a likely death penalty, especially when you say 'I didn't do it,'" said
Ernie Lewis, executive director of the National Association for Public Defense.
Typically the client goes along with the plan.
McCoy, accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife's mother, stepfather and
teen-age son in May 2008, wanted nothing to do with it.
"Your Honor, this is unconstitutional for you to keep an attorney on my case
when this attorney is completely selling me out."
English, who had been hired by McCoy's parents and was not certified to try
capital cases, told the Bossier Parish jury in his opening statement that "Mr.
McCoy committed these crimes." English called his client "crazy" and argued for
a lighter verdict of 2nd-degree murder.
McCoy interrupted.
"Your Honor, this is unconstitutional for you to keep an attorney on my case
when this attorney is completely selling me out," he told the judge.
The trial continued. McCoy defied English and took the stand in his own
defense, testifying that he was out of state at the time of the murders and
blaming a police-led drug ring for committing them. Then English gave his
closing arguments, saying that McCoy was guilty, but only of 2nd-degree murder,
because of mental deficiencies.
Later, after McCoy was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to die,
English reflected on his decisions in an affidavit. He said he'd become
"convinced that the evidence against Robert McCoy was overwhelming" and that
his client was paranoid and delusional.
"I felt that as long as I was his attorney of record it was my ethical duty to
do what I thought was best to save his life even though what he wanted me to do
was to get him acquitted in the guilt phase," English said.
McCoy set about appealing his conviction, claiming he was denied his
constitutional rights to the assistance of counsel and due process. The
Louisiana Supreme Court ruled against him.
"Given the circumstances of this crime and the overwhelming evidence
incriminating the defendant, admitting guilt in an attempt to avoid the
imposition of the death penalty appears to constitute reasonable trial
strategy," the Louisiana justices ruled.
The Louisiana court relied in part on a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a
Florida case that permitted a concession of guilt when a defendant was
unresponsive to his lawyer's questions. But it did not address the situation in
which a defendant explicitly disagrees - a test of the limits of a defendant's
autonomy as outlined in the Constitution.
"A lawyer uses whatever strategies are available to them that are ethical and
what the law permits him to do."
"It is inconceivable that the framers intended that the assistance of counsel
should come at the price of defense counsel being authorized to tell the jury
that the accused is guilty, even over the accused's protestations of his own
innocence," Richard Bourke, director of the Louisiana Capital Assistance
Center, wrote in McCoy's petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The high court agreed in October to hear the case.
McCoy's new lawyers say the concept of attorneys going against their client???s
wishes by admitting guilt is rare, but less so in Louisiana, where courts have
accepted it. English said after the trial that he'd relied on a 2002 state
court ruling on a similar case, from adjacent Caddo Parish, that supported the
practice.
"This is really a Louisiana rule that grew out of Caddo Parish," Bourke said.
The Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (LACDL) complained in a
brief supporting McCoy that the local courts had turned the right to assistance
of counsel "into the state's cudgel." The LACDL said that "an uncomfortable
number of death sentences in Louisiana are the result of defendants
representing themselves or defendants expressly objecting to their lawyers'
concessions of guilt."
McCoy's ex-wife, Yolanda Colston, did not respond to requests for comment.
English, who left his full-time law practice to work in New York real estate
development, declined in a recent interview to talk about specifics of the
case. But he said he generally did not regret the way he represented clients,
saying he did his best to advocate their best interests.
"A lawyer uses whatever strategies are available to them that are ethical and
what the law permits him to do," English said.
11 states filed a joint brief in support of Louisiana, saying the case
"presents a textbook example of a reasonable strategic concession."
But many lawyers say English served McCoy poorly. Among the groups who have
filed briefs in support of McCoy are the the National Association of Criminal
Defense Lawyers, the American Bar Association, several prominent law professors
and Yale Law School's Ethics Bureau.
"Mr. English acted in clear violation of his ethical obligations as a lawyer as
well as Mr. McCoy's constitutional rights," the professors and Ethics Bureau
said in a joint brief.
Peter Joy, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, agreed.
"If the strategy doesn't work, it's the client who is held responsible," Joy
told NBC News. "The lawyer goes home. The client goes to prison or death row."
(source: NBC News)
OHIO:
Death penalty indictment filed against man accused of killing woman, 4-year-old
daughter
The man accused of killing his young daughter and the mother of his child could
face the death penalty, if he's convicted.
The Franklin County Prosecutor's Office filed a death penalty indictment
against 24-year-old Kristofer Garrett for the January 5th murders of Christina
Duckson, 4, and Nicole Duckson, 34.
Poilce said Garrett waited at their home in the 2000 block of Fleet Road in
southeast Columbus and brutally stabbed both victims when they exited the house
that morning. Duckson was supposed to pick up a co-worker that morning, and
when she didn't arrive, the co-worker went to Nicole's residence to check on
her, only to find both bodies in the backyard of the house. Police and medics
were dispatched to the scene where both victims were pronounced dead.
"This man waited in the early morning hours for a mother and daughter to come
out of their home, only to viciously stab them to death," said Franklin County
Prosecutor Ron O'Brien.
Garrett was charged with three counts of aggravated murder, including one
charge for a victim under the age of 13, and tampering with evidence.
Arraignment for this death penalty case is set for Wednesday, January 17th,
2018, at 1:30 pm in courtroom 2B at 345 South High Street in downtown Columbus.
(source: WSYX news)
ARKANSAS:
Judge won't recuse himself from Arkansas judge's lawsuit
A federal judge is refusing to recuse himself from a lawsuit filed by a former
colleague against Arkansas Supreme Court justices who disqualified him from
death row cases.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell
Griffen asked U.S. District Court Judge James Moody Jr. to step aside from the
case. Moody refused on Thursday.
Griffen's lawsuit accuses the 7 justices of violating state and federal laws by
disqualifying him in April from presiding over cases involving the death
penalty or Arkansas' lethal-injection protocol.
The disqualification came after Griffen attended a prayer vigil outside the
governor's mansion to oppose executions.
Griffen says Moody should recuse himself from the case because they once worked
alongside each other. Moody maintains he'll preside over the case "fairly and
impartially."
(source: Associated Press)
INDIANA:
US appeals court throws out Madison County death sentence
A federal court has thrown out the death sentence of a man convicted of killing
a central Indiana woman and her 4-year-old daughter.
The 7h U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals remanded the case of Frederick Baer back
to Madison County on Thursday for resentencing.
The Herald Bulletin reports the court cited ineffective legal counsel for
failing to object to instructions that kept the jury from considering
mitigating circumstances and failing to object to instances of prosecutorial
misconduct. It also criticized the trial court and the Indiana Supreme Court's
denying Baer's appeal on similar grounds.
The 46-year-old Indianapolis man was convicted of the February 2004 slayings of
26-year-old Cory Clark and her 4-year-old daughter Jenna at their rural Madison
County home near Lapel, about 25 miles northeast of Indianapolis.
(source: tribtown.com)
ARIZONA:
Court reverses death sentence in brutal Mohave County triple murder
A federal appeals court Friday overturned the death sentence in a brutal 1996
triple murder near Kingman, saying Arizona courts did not give enough weight to
the killer's troubled childhood and mental health issues.
The ruling by a 3-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the
Arizona Supreme Court improperly dismissed mitigating circumstances in Robert
Poyson's case because there was no direct link - or "causal nexus" - between
those circumstances and the crime.
The appeals court said that violated Poyson's Eighth Amendment protection
against cruel and unusual punishment. It came in "the midst of the 15-year
period during which that court consistently applied an unconstitutional causal
nexus test" to evidence in capital sentencings, the federal court said.
Attorneys for the state and for Poyson did not return requests for comment
Friday.
Poyson was 19 and homeless in April 1996 when he met Leta Kagen, who invited
him to stay in her Golden Valley trailer with her son Robert Delahunt, 15, and
Roland Wear. In August, Kagen met Frank Anderson, 48, and his girlfriend
Kimberly Lane, 14, and also gave them a place to stay, according to court
records.
Once there, Anderson told Poyson he had organized crime connections in Chicago,
leading those 2 and Lane to conspire to kill their hosts and steal Wear's for
the trip.
On Aug. 13, 1996, Lane lured Delahunt to a small isolated trailer, presumably
for sex, but they were met instead by Anderson, who slit the boy's throat with
a bread knife. When Delahunt did not die, Poyson rushed in and began hitting
the boy's head, bashing it against the floor and pounding it with a rock.
At one point, the court said, Poyson took the knife and shoved it so far into
Delahunt's ear that it came out his nose - but still did not kill him. He
continued slamming Delahunt's head on the floor in an attack that lasted about
45 minutes before the boy died of massive head trauma.
The trio cleaned themselves up and found Wear's .22-caliber rifle, but needed
to borrow ammunition from a neighbor. Poyson spent 5 minutes testing the rifle
while waiting for Wear and Kagen to fall asleep, then cut the telephone line to
the trailer so they could not call for help.
Poyson shot Kagen in the head, killing her in her sleep, then reloaded and shot
Wear, but only hit him in the jaw. The ensuing struggle spilled outside the
trailer, where Anderson threw a cinderblock into Wear's back, knocking him to
the ground. Poyson kicked Wear and threw the cinderblock repeatedly at the
victim's head, until he stopped moving.
The 3 concealed Wear's body with debris from the yard, took his wallet and keys
and left in his truck for Illinois, where they were arrested several days
later.
Poyson was convicted for the triple murders in March 1998, after a 6-day trial.
At sentencing, the defense cited Poyson's history of drug and alcohol abuse,
his drug-addicted mother and abusive stepfathers, and a diagnosed personality
disorder as some of the many mitigating circumstances that should have argued
against imposition of the death penalty.
But the trial court said those did not outweigh the 3 aggravating factors:
multiple deaths, financial gain and the "especially cruel, heinous or depraved"
nature of the killings.
The state Supreme Court upheld the sentence in 2000, noting that Poyson had
presented evidence of many problems in his past but adding that none appeared
to have "rendered him unable to control his conduct" on the night of the
murders.
The same 9th Circuit panel that ruled Friday upheld Poyson's sentence in 2013.
But the panel reversed itself - and Poyson's death sentence - on Friday, saying
rulings by the 9th Circuit and by the U.S. Supreme Court in the intervening
years ruled that Arizona courts' policy of giving no weight to mitigating
circumstance that don't have a direct link to the crime was unconstitutional.
In a grudging concurrence, Circuit Judge Sandra Ikuta said the intervening
rulings were incorrect and Poyson should not get another hearing. But the panel
is still bound by those "erroneous" decisions, she said, "reluctantly" agreeing
with the panel's ruling Friday.
(source: azpbs.org)
WASHINGTON:
Lewis County Prosecutor Opposes Bill to Abolish Washington Death Penalty
While 9 Washington state senators have joined together to introduce a bill to
abolish the death penalty in Washington at the request of the state Attorney
General's Office, Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer told The Chronicle
this week he is opposed to the effort.
"As prosecutors we have been very careful about cases involving the death
penalty," he said. "We're not just going to go and seek the death penalty just
because we can."
Meyer said he plans to attend a future public hearing on the bill in the state
Legislature.
He said prosecutors in Washington have only rarely and thoughtfully pursued the
death penalty, rather than life imprisonment, in cases of aggravated 1st-degree
murder.
Meyer said he's not aware of any cases in which a person was sentenced to death
in Lewis County in recent memory.
Senate Bill 6052, officially introduced on Monday, proposes to reduce criminal
justice expenses by eliminating the death penalty and instead sentence those
convicted of 1st-degree aggravated murder to life in prison without possibility
of release under any circumstances.
Under the bill's current language, a person between 16 and 18 years old
convicted of 1st-degree aggravated murder must be sentenced to a minimum of 25
years to a maximum of life in prison.
Washington has convicted murderers currently on death row, but Gov. Jay Inslee
signed an executive order in 2015 suspending the death penalty.
An unanswered question, Meyer said, is whether the change would be retroactive
- commuting the sentences of people currently awaiting execution to life in
prison or a sentence with a possibility of release.
If the death penalty is abolished in the state, Meyer said he believes it
should be through a vote of Washington residents.
(source: The Chronicle)
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