April 24
APRIL 24, 2018:
TEXAS----impending execution
Death row inmate slated for execution Wednesday denied clemency
A Fort Worth man on Texas death row was denied clemency and a late-stage
federal appeal on Monday, barely 48 hours before he is scheduled for execution
in the Huntsville death chamber.
Erick Davila was convicted of killing a rival gang member's mother and a
5-year-old girl at a Hannah Montana-themed children's birthday party in 2008.
He was sentenced to death in 2009 but his lawyers have since argued that
Annette and Queshawn Stevenson were not his intended victims, according to
court filings. Instead, attorney Seth Kretzer alleged that Davila was high at
the time of the slayings, and also that he only meant to one person, rival gang
member Jerry Stevenson. Killing one person is not necessarily a death-eligible
crime.
"The jury never learned that at the time of the shooting Davila was heavily
intoxicated, likely to the degree that it would have rendered him temporarily
insane," Kretzer wrote in a court filing earlier this month.
Kretzer said prosecutors of withheld knowledge that Davila was on a combination
of PCP, ecstasy and marijuana - an alleged oversight that he said would violate
a Supreme Court decision known as Brady v. Maryland, which requires prosecutors
to turn over evidence favorable to the defense.
But the U.S. Fifth Circuit, in a Monday decision, wrote that defense lawyers
could have already known about Davila's heavy drug use the night of the crime.
"We are unpersuaded that his counsel was not also reasonably on notice about
the relation between drugs and the events of the shooting," the court wrote.
Now, Davila's lawyer is pursuing his claims in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Davila is scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday at 6 p.m. If
everything continues as planned, he will be the 5th Texas inmate to be executed
in 2018.
(source: Houston Chronicle)
**********************
Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----31
Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----549
Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #
32----------Apr. 25----------------Erick Davila-----------550
33----------May 16-----------------Juan Castillo----------551
34---------June 21----------------Clifton Williams--------552
35---------June 27----------------Danny Bible-------------553
36---------July 17----------------Christopher Young-------554
37---------Sept. 12---------------Ruben Gutierrez---------555
(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Banning death penalty the right thing to do
Senate Bill 593 has passed in the N.H. Senate and will soon be considered by
the House. Gov. Sununu has said he will veto the bill unless there is sizable
support for it.
There are many solid reasons to support this bill. Our judicial system is not
infallible and innocent people have been put to death because of mistaken
eyewitness identification, incompetent lawyers, coerced confessions and bias.
Since 1973, 160 people on death row in this country have been exonerated
despite judges, juries and prosecutors being certain of their guilt. Execution
teams suffer after taking part in an execution.
No sentence should be irreversibly administered. The death penalty is a cruel
and unusual punishment. A life sentence offers a chance for rehabilitation and
reflection as well as for the consideration of new evidence.
It is wrong for the state to murder in our name. Ask your elected
representatives to support this bill.
Sandy Swinburne
(source: Letter to the Editor, Keene Sentinel)
OHIO:
Sentencing in dirt-bike shooting death case, hearing on death penalty motions
in fatal fire case
A Streetsboro man convicted of shooting and killing an unarmed Akron man in a
dispute over a dirt bike will be sentenced Monday and an Akron man accused of
setting fires that left nine people dead will have a hearing on death-penalty
motions Tuesday.
Here's more on these cases:
Sentencing for dirt-bike shooting death
William Knight, 64, was convicted by a Summit County jury April 10 of 2 counts
each of murder and felonious assault.
He faces 18 years to life in prison when he is sentenced at 9 a.m. Monday by
Summit County Common Pleas Judge Tammy O'Brien.
Knight shot and killed Keith Johnson, 24, on March 20, 2017, outside of an
Akron home.
Knight claimed self-defense, saying he shot Johnson because he was fearful for
his safety and that of his daughter and son-in-law, who confronted Johnson
about a stolen dirt bike being sold on the internet. The dirt bike belonged to
Knight's grand son.
Prosecutors, however, said Knight, who had a concealed-carry permit for only a
few weeks, overreacted and shot Johnson unnecessarily. They said Johnson, who
was unarmed, posed no real threat as he drove the dirt bike.
The case drew national interest, with the week-long trial live-streamed by the
Law & Crime Network.
Family members of both Knight and Johnson attended the trial.
Knight is represented by attorneys Kerry O'Brien and Jaclyn Palumbo, who were
appointed to the case.
Hearing on death penalty issues in fatal fire case
Stanley Ford, 59, was indicted last July on 29 charges, including 22 counts of
aggravated murder for 9 fire deaths. The murder charges involve different parts
of the law under which Ford was charged.
Investigators say Ford set 3 fires in his neighborhood, with 2 people killed in
1 fire and 7 perishing in the other, including 5 children. The 3rd was a car
fire with no injuries.
The last time Ford was in court, Summit County Common Pleas Judge Christine
Croce heard arguments from the attorneys on defense motions to suppress
statements Ford made to police.
In the latest hearing, Croce will take up death-penalty motions in the case.
This involves issues raised in every capital case and doesn't include defense
arguments about alleged racial bias in Ford's case. This issue may be taken up
in a future hearing.
Ford is represented by attorneys Joseph Gorman and Scott Rilley.
(source: Akron Beacon Journal)
MISSOURI:
Death row inmate who killed former St. Louis reporter waits for review on
clemency
It's been 8 months since Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens halted the execution of a
man convicted of murdering a former Post-Dispatch reporter.
In doing so, Greitens appointed a special panel of former judges to review
whether Marcellus Williams should be granted clemency in the case involving the
death in 1998 of Lisha Gayle.
For Williams, time has stopped in his death row cell in a prison 75 miles south
of the site of the University City murder scene.
"He's just Marcellus. He's living day by day. He thinks whatever happens is
God's will," Williams??? attorney Kent Gipson said.
Williams was 29 when he was charged with murdering Gayle. At the time, he had
been convicted of burglary and was later convicted of an unrelated armed
robbery at a restaurant.
While Williams awaits his fate in the Potosi Correctional Center, the panel of
retired judges is in the midst of a rare review of his controversial case, one
that could result in his avoiding lethal injection for the 2nd time.
In a recent interview, former U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson told the
Post-Dispatch that the special board of judges had met twice since it was
formed. The 1st meeting was held in November, when the jurists received
transcripts of Williams' trial, information on DNA testing that was done in
2016 and other background information on Williams' case, including opinions
from various state and federal appeals.
The 2nd meeting came in March.
"We had quite a lot of material to review. The trial transcript was over 3,000
pages long," said Jackson, who was chosen to be chairwoman of the panel after
Greitens called off the scheduled execution of Williams amid claims by his
attorneys that recent DNA tests could prove their client's innocence.
Other members of the panel include former 22nd Circuit Judge Michael David,
former Circuit Judge Peggy Fenner of Jackson County, former Missouri Court of
Appeals Western District Judge Paul Spinden and former Circuit Judge Ellen
Roper of Boone County.
Williams was convicted of murdering Gayle at her home in University City.
Prosecutors said Williams was burglarizing the home when Gayle, who had been
taking a shower, surprised him. The former reporter, who left the paper in
1992, fought for her life as she was stabbed repeatedly.
Williams was convicted in 2001.
The Missouri Supreme Court in 2015 postponed Williams' execution to allow time
for the DNA tests. Using technology that was not available at the time of the
killing, those tests show that DNA found on the knife matched that of an
unknown male. Williams' DNA was not found on the knife.
Despite that finding, the state's high court denied his petition to stop the
execution and either appoint a special master to hear his innocence claim or
vacate the death sentence and order his sentence commuted to life in prison.
With the clock ticking on Williams' scheduled execution by injection, Greitens
invoked a rarely used state law giving him discretion to appoint a panel of
judges to gather information and report back on whether a person condemned to
death should be executed.
The judges have the power to subpoena witnesses and evidence. Jackson said the
next meeting in June would include discussions with attorneys for Williams and
the state.
Gipson, of Kansas City, said he was unsure how the meeting would go. He would
like to present Williams' entire case to the panel, but he believes the session
may be more limited.
"What we're wanting to do is to be able to present testimony like in a trial,"
Gipson said. "We don't know exactly what is going to happen."
Greitens' legal counsel, Lucinda Luetkemeyer, said the information collected by
the panel would help the governor decide his next move. She said the governor
had put no deadline on the work of the board.
"The governor's office wants the Board of Inquiry to take as much time as it
wants to complete a fair and thorough report. There really is no time frame,"
Luetkemeyer said. "The governor has complete confidence in the committee and
the progress they've made thus far."
Jackson said the June meeting could help the board focus on writing their
report to the governor.
"I think all of us have questions about the information that we've received,"
Jackson said. "We just really want to get some clarification from them and give
them the opportunity to present their best case to us."
Although she said the panel had not been given a deadline to submit a report,
the group is not moving slowly.
"We are mindful of the interest in having this issue resolved as expeditiously
as possible," Jackson said. "We are all committed to working as quickly as we
can."
As for any early conclusions about Williams' fate, Jackson said, "I think it's
safe to say we are all keeping an open mind at this point. We really haven't
had a chance to discuss all of the evidence together in any great detail."
(source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
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