June 12
TEXAS:
Texas death row inmate convicted of killing boy, 9, loses appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to review the appeal of a Houston man on
death row for the 1992 slaying of a 9-year-old boy.
The justices offered no comment Monday in rejecting the case of Perry Allen
Austin, 58.
Austin was serving a 30-year term for sexual assault on a child when he pleaded
guilty in April 2002 to capital murder for injecting David Kazmouz with a pain
killer and then slitting the boy's throat.
The boy's skeletal remains were found in Houston in 1993.
Austin confessed in 2001.
Attorneys have argued in appeals he wasn't mentally competent to plead guilty.
Prosecutors described Austin as a drug courier for a Houston street gang.
He volunteered for execution, then changed his mind a week before his scheduled
punishment in 2003.
(source: Associated Press)
PENNSYLVANIA:
'Death! I sentenced someone to DEATH!' - York County juror describes the
emotional toll
I did not take this lightly. None of us did. We carried this weight for 10 days
- and continue to carry this weight.
Recently, I was chosen to be on the jury of a high-profile homicide case in
York. Initially, I was intrigued and a bit excited at the thought of such an
interesting case. I was one in 16, of 100 people, selected to sit in on a trial
at which the death penalty was a possibility.
For someone who regularly watches criminal TV shows and documentaries, this was
incredible! I had NO idea what I was in for.
For 10 days, I listened to testimony and viewed evidence of the horrific
killing of a young woman and man. I saw pictures of their bodies. I listened to
the gruesome details of their deaths.
For 10 days, I watched as the young woman's family sat in the courtroom, on
edge and emotional as they listened to the details of their daughter's final
moments of life.
For 10 days, I watched the defendant's mom in the back of the courtroom as she
listened to the accusations against her son - her pride and joy. And then again
as she held her hands over her ears as the prosecution delivered their closing
arguments.
For 10 days, I watched a man, accused of heinous crimes, as he struggled to
declare his innocence.
But in the end, justice served or not, I now only hear silence.
Memories burned in my mind.
Pictures forever filed in my brain.
A 10-day experience that has and will continue to forever change me.
This was not an hour of "CSI," this was real life. 2 human beings were taken
from this earth and from their families at the hands of another. I had no idea
that I'd be affected in this way. No idea that days afterward, I'd still think
of the families - defendant and victims - and carry such a heavy burden for
all. That I would wonder what is truly going on in the mind of a man who is now
sentenced to death. And that I was 1 of 12 who deliberated and thought and
prayed about the task we were asked to carry through: To judge impartially, and
to uphold the law.
I did not take this lightly. None of us did. We carried this weight for 10 days
- and continue to carry this weight, even though it's all over. We lived it and
experienced it, as close to being there in the actual moment as we could be.
We reviewed the evidence and we reviewed the information that we were given. We
read the law, and we made a choice - death.
Death! I sentenced someone to DEATH!
I have heard it over and over in the last few days: I didn't do this to him, he
did it to himself. I didn't ruin the lives of his family members, he did. I
didn't take away the only daughter that Danielle's family had, he did. And I
didn't take Foday away from his family and loved ones either.
While they're absolutely right, it still doesn't ease the enormity of this
situation and experience. And sadly, for me, it doesn't change the hurt in my
heart.
Nobody wins. I'll say it again: Nobody. Wins.
Danielle and Foday aren't coming back. Their families cannot call them on the
phone or send them a letter. The 4 witnesses cannot erase the images and trauma
now engraved in their hearts and minds. And Mrs. Henry no longer has a son to
help her with life at home.
And last, but not least, is me - ME.
In 10 days, I went from an hour of "CSI" to real life. I went from restful
dreams to restless nights. I went from ignorance to overwhelming reality. This
is real life. These are real people. And this is the real me. A faith-filled
and caring person who was chosen to decide a man's fate. A fate that when
decided was death.
It has gripped me. And I continue to think of, and cry for, all those involved.
This has affected me more than I could ever have imagined. What started out as
intrigue has turned into pure heartbreak.
Mention jury duty to anyone within earshot, and guaranteed someone will mention
how boring and miserable it is. And yes, that's typically the case. What I
expected to be a week of reading a book turned into 3 weeks of intense and
exhausting emotions. Never would I have believed that I'd be here in this
position.
I did not choose this. I did not choose to be placed on that panel. But I know
it happened for a reason. I only hope and pray that some of that reason can
somehow turn into good, if that's even possible. I pray that this becomes more
than about a man who stormed into a house and took 2 lives.
I pray we remember the lives of the lost and their families. And the lives of
those who witnessed it and are now left to live without their friends and loved
ones. And lastly, I also pray for myself and the 14 other jurors/alternates
whose lives are forever changed as well.
(source: Elizabeth Enfield was a juror in the homicide trial of Paul Henry
III----York Daily Record)
FLORIDA:
Man accused of killing son will go to trial after 5-year wait
A man accused of killing his 5-year-old son in 2013 will got to trial next
week, a judge in Orange County ruled Monday.
Darell Avant Sr., now 31, is accused of beating Darell Avant Jr. to death
nearly 5 years ago. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
Avant was in court Monday when his attorneys asked Circuit Judge Jenifer Harris
for more time to prepare, talk to witnesses, and have a doctor evaluate the
older Avant for evidence of a brain injury. Harris denied the motion and said
jury selection will start June 18.
Defense attorneys particularly wanted to ask the child's mother and the medical
examiner in the case about possible older injuries on Darell Avant Jr.'s body,
which prosecutors may present to jurors as evidence of ongoing violence.
********************
Bessman Okafor defense tries to disqualify prosecutor, citing conflict of
interest in death penalty case
Convicted killer Bessman Okafor's attorney is trying to disqualify the
prosecutor in his death penalty re-sentencing because of a possible conflict of
interest - though Okafor said wanted to go back to prison instead of attending
the hearing about it.
Okafor has been working on an appeal in another case and wants access to a law
library, he wrote to Circuit Judge John Marshall Kest. The library in prison is
more comprehensive than the one he has access to when brought back to the
Orange County Jail for hearings, he wrote.
"Usually those are pretty severe, pretty significant motions," Kest told Okafor
in court Monday. "Generally you would want to be here. You don't have to be
here if you don't want to, but I would think that you might want to seriously
think about staying for that one hearing and then going back [to prison.]"
Okafor still said he wanted to return to the prison and let his defense
attorney, Dean Mosley, have the hearing without him. Kest said he was willing
to set the hearing for some time in the next to weeks so Okafor could attend,
then send him back to prison until his trial date gets closer.
Okafor was convicted in the 2012 murder of Alex Zaldivar, a 19-year-old who was
supposed to testify against him in a home invasion case. A jury recommended a
death sentence for Okafor over life in prison by a vote of 11-1, but that
verdict was overturned after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled death sentences must
come from unanimous juries. A new jury will decide whether Okafor should be
sentenced to death or life in prison in a trial scheduled for November.
Okafor's defense attorney filed a motion Monday arguing State Attorney Brad
King - that Ocala-based state attorney whose office is prosecuting the case -
should be removed from it. King also leads the state's Judicial Administrative
Commission, the board that funds the defense of some people facing the death
penalty who cannot afford their own attorneys.
The JAC board in May voted not to renew the contract of mitigation specialist
Cynthia O'Shea, who has been looking into Okafor's background and family
history to gather evidence meant to convince a jury not to sentence him to
death. The commissions auditor said O'Shea sometimes billed taxpayers for more
than 17 hours of work in a single day and sent duplicate bills.
"To have Brad King sit on a board that approves or denies funding to a death
penalty defendant is inherently a serious conflict," Mosley wrote. "The
interest are in direct opposition of each other. He would also know or be in a
position to glean from funding request the defense strategies of a defendant,
which would be in violation of a defendant's attorney client privilege."
An attorney for Markeith Loyd, whom King is prosecuting for charges of killing
his pregnant ex-girlfriend and an Orlando police officer, filed a similar
motion last week. O'Shea worked on Loyd's case as well. Chief Judge Frederick
Lauten will hear evidence in that case Tuesday morning.
(source for both: Orlando Sentinel)
OHIO:
Court to Hear Case of Ohio Man Who Killed 88-Year-Old Woman
The Ohio Supreme Court plans to hear arguments in the case of a condemned
killer convicted of fatally beating and stabbing an 88-year-old woman during a
robbery.
Death row inmate James Goff was sentenced to death in the 1994 slaying of
Myrtle Rutledge in her Wilmington home in southwestern Ohio. He was found
guilty by a jury the following year.
A federal appeals court ruled in 2010 that Goff received poor legal help during
his appeals. He went before a judge in 2015 for a new sentencing and again
received the death penalty.
The 43-year-old Goff argues he was wrongly prevented from presenting a
psychological update and evidence of his good behavior in prison at his
resentencing.
The Supreme Court planned oral arguments Tuesday morning.
(source: Associated Press)
****************
A retired warden supports clemency for death-row inmate Ray Tibbetts
The Ohio Parole Board will hear the case of Ray Tibbetts on Thursday.
I spent almost 30 years of my life working in the Ohio prison system, beginning
as a chaplain at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. I later worked in a
number of other positions, eventually serving as warden at Madison, London and
Pickaway correctional institutions. My time working directly with inmates
showed me what my faith had always taught me was true: All life has value, even
those who have committed horrible and despicable acts and that change and
rehabilitation are possible.
Based on my experience, I believe that Ray Tibbetts' death sentence should be
commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In February, Gov. John Kasich asked the Ohio Parole Board to take another look
at Tibbetts' case because of a highly unusual circumstance: A juror, Ross
Geiger, came forward to ask for mercy for Tibbetts.
In a letter to the governor, the juror said that if he had heard the detailed
evidence about the brutality and abuse Tibbetts suffered as a child and other
strong mitigating evidence that wasn't presented at trial, he would have voted
for a sentence of life without parole. Under our rules in Ohio, if 1 juror - in
this case, Geiger - had voted for life without parole, Tibbetts would not have
ended up on death row.
As Geiger explained in his letter, Tibbetts' trial attorneys utterly failed to
present compelling evidence that would have caused him to spare Tibbetts' life.
Tibbetts was severely abused and repeatedly abandoned throughout his childhood.
When he was age 2, Tibbetts and his siblings were placed in foster care. Even
though the prosecutor at trial told the jury that foster care was the best
thing that ever happened to Tibbetts, he and his siblings were malnourished,
routinely beaten and humiliated.
Tibbetts and his siblings endured a variety of cruel punishments such as being
tied in their beds, lying in their own urine all night, being forced to stand
until they collapsed and being denied food but forced, as they cried from
hunger, to watch their foster family eat.
All of the siblings were deeply scarred by their upbringing with one committing
suicide and others suffering with mental illness, addiction, homelessness and
incarceration. For Tibbetts, his abusive childhood resulted in serious drug and
alcohol addiction as an adult.
Backgrounds like Tibbetts' are all too common for people who enter our prison
system. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction recognizes this,
and like the department???s name suggests, is dedicated to not only protecting
the public, but also offering rehabilitative opportunities to the incarcerated.
Considering all that Tibbetts went through as a child, his ability to overcome
and find success and sobriety as an adult inmate is a credit to the department.
I understand Tibbetts' life has been transformed through his Christian faith
and serves as a spiritual resource to other incarcerated men. He is active in a
prison ministry and provides messages of hope, support and redemption through
correspondence with others who are incarcerated. He is no longer the troubled
criminal, addicted to drugs and alcohol, as he was when he entered death row 20
years ago. He is remorseful, reflective and reformed.
To be sure, Tibbetts must be held accountable for his actions, but executing a
changed man who committed a terrible deed does not make our justice system
just. There is nothing redemptive about the death penalty. It not only removes
the offender, no matter how far removed from the original offense, but it also
affects those who carry out the execution.
Correctional personnel, from corrections officers up through the ranks to
wardens and above, also carry the lingering weight of taking a life, a burden
no one should have to carry.
By all accounts, by the grace of God, Tibbetts has experienced a radical
transformation. I understand he is a model inmate, a positive influence inside
the cellblock as he shares his story. If Tibbetts is granted clemency, he will
never return to free society. He will be able to continue functioning as an
example of a changed life and a redeemed person, an asset though limited by his
confinement.
For Tibbetts, court appeals are over. But the parole board, with its
recommendation, and Gov. Kasich, with his ultimate decision, can fix this
injustice. I pray that they find the strength to do what is right, affirming
truth and acknowledging the value of a changed life, and spare the life of Ray
Tibbetts.
(source: George D. Alexander served as one of the first chaplains at Southern
Ohio Correctional Facility and in several administrative positions there. He
also is a former warden of the Madison, London, and Pickaway correctional
institutions. He resides in Delaware, Ohio---- Opinion; Akron Beacon Journal)
INDIANA:
Judge rejects Gary man's claims of ineffective counsel in 2013 death penalty
case
A criminal court judge denied a petition for post-conviction relief filed on
behalf of Kevin Isom, a Gary man sentenced to death for the murders in 2007 of
his wife and 2 stepchildren.
Judge Samuel L. Cappas and Magistrate Judge Natalie Bokota determined in a
ruling issued Friday that Isom failed to establish in his petition that he
suffered from ineffective counsel at his murder trial or during the appeals
process.
Isom, 52, was convicted in 2013 at trial of 3 counts each of murder for the
shooting deaths in August 2007 of his wife and 2 stepchildren at their
apartment in the 5700 block of Hemlock Avenue in Gary. The victims were
Cassandra Isom, 40; Michael Moore, 16; and Andria Cole, 13.
The jury determined during the penalty phase of the trial Isom should be put to
death for the crimes.
Isom was initially represented by defense attorney Nick Thiros and other
members of the law firm Thiros & Thiros. After Thiros' death from cancer in
October 2010, Isom fired his defense team and was appointed attorneys Herbert
Shaps and Casey McCloskey of the Lake County Public Defender's Office, who
represented Isom at his murder trial.
The judges note in their opinion both Shaps and McCloskey had decades of law
experience. Shaps, who served as lead counsel, had litigated more than 300 jury
trials, including 76 murder trials.
Both attorneys testified at an evidentiary hearing in March that Isom
maintained his innocence throughout their representation.
Shaps testified Isom, "unequivocally wanted a trial," despite signing a written
confession to the crimes and barricading himself in his apartment with his dead
family during an hours-long SWAT team standoff.
The defense attorneys complied with Isom's wishes and argued at trial an
unknown perpetrator broke into the Isom family apartment, killed Isom's wife
and stepchildren, injured Isom and left him in the apartment.
The judges noted in their opinion the U.S. Supreme Court recently issued an
opinion supporting the decision by McCloskey and Shaps to comply with Isom's
wishes to maintain his innocence.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an opinion issued May 14 that Robert McCoy, a
Louisiana resident convicted in 2011 of murdering three members of his
estranged wife's family, should be granted a new trial because his defense
attorney admitted his client was guilty at trial, despite McCoy's wishes to
maintain his innocence.
The attorney admitted his client's guilt during trial because he hoped to
obtain a life-in-prison sentence during the penalty phase of the trial. Instead
the jury sentenced McCoy to the death penalty.
The U.S. Supreme Court determined McCoy had a constitutional right to choose
the objective of his defense and to insist that his counsel refrain from
admitting guilt over his objections.
"Despite McCoy's insistence that he was innocent, his attorney conceded his
guilt at trial and did what it appears Isom's post-conviction counsel would
have Shaps and McCloskey do at the penalty phase: counsel "urged mercy in view
of McCoy's 'serious mental and emotional issues,'" the judges wrote.
Counsel for Isom filed their petition for post-conviction relief Jan. 12, 2016.
Though the petition was initially denied by Cappas because Isom refused to sign
the documents, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in January 2017 the petition
could be filed in Lake Superior Court regardless of whether Isom signed the
documents.
The petition for post-conviction relief is the final opportunity for state
court consideration of Isom's case. The case will likely advance to federal
court following Cappas' decision Friday.
(source: nwitimes.com)
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