June 27
FLORIDA:
Attorney Raises ‘Judicial Activism’ in Key Death Penalty Case----The filing, in
the case of convicted murderer Duane Eugene Owen, comes as a revamped Supreme
Court is exploring whether to reverse course on decisions that allowed dozens
of convicted murderers to have their death sentences reconsidered.
Reversing the state’s retroactive consideration of certain death penalty cases
would amount to “the most egregious judicial activism in the history of
Florida,” a lawyer for a death row inmate argued in a brief filed with the
Florida Supreme Court.
The filing, in the case of convicted murderer Duane Eugene Owen, comes as a
revamped Supreme Court is exploring whether to reverse course on decisions that
allowed dozens of convicted murderers to have their death sentences
reconsidered.
The justices are looking at the issue after Gov. Ron DeSantis reshaped the
Supreme Court early this year, turning what had been widely viewed as a
liberal-leaning majority into a court dominated by conservative justices.
The issue stems, in large part, from rulings in 2016 by the U.S. Supreme Court
and the Florida Supreme Court about the state’s death penalty sentencing
system.
In the case of Hurst v. Florida, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state’s
death penalty sentencing system was unconstitutional because it gave too much
power to judges, instead of juries, in deciding whether defendants should be
sent to death row.
That ruling, premised on a 2002 decision in Ring v. Arizona, led to sentencing
changes, including requiring that juries be unanimous in finding necessary
facts and in recommending imposition of the death penalty.
In a pair of decisions in December 2016, the Florida Supreme Court decided that
the sentencing changes would apply retroactively to cases that became final
after the 2002 Ring ruling. Resentencing should only be an option for cases in
which jury recommendations for death were not unanimous, the court also
decided.
But the revamped Florida court in April ordered Owen’s lawyer and the state to
address the retroactivity issue. That prompted Attorney General Ashley Moody’s
office to urge the justices to make a relatively rare move of receding from the
previous retroactivity rulings in what are known as the Mosley and Asay cases.
Moody’s office said the Supreme Court should rule that the death penalty
sentencing changes should apply only to new cases, not retroactively to older
cases. Moody’s office also contended that “stare decisis,” the concept of
relying on court precedent, should not prevent the Supreme Court from
revisiting the issue.
“The decisions in Asay and Mosley were premised on ignoring long standing
existing precedent without justification,” the attorney general’s brief said.
“Consequently, neither should be protected by stare decisis.”
But the “presumption in favor of stare decisis is strong,” Owen’s lawyer, James
L. Driscoll, argued, relying on previous court rulings.
“The citizens have the right to rely on the death penalty being imposed or
maintained under a constitutional system in a fair and non-arbitrary manner.
Each pre-Hurst condemned individual was denied that,” Driscoll wrote in the
21-page reply brief Monday. “This court should never reverse stare decisis when
the result would be to take away the availability of a remedy for
constitutional violations that cause unfairness and unreliability.”
Roughly a third of the inmates resentenced since the 2016 retroactivity
decisions have received life sentences instead of the death penalty, according
to Driscoll.
The state “offers no compelling reason” for the court “to take the
extraordinary step of overturning its precedent,” he wrote.
“The state has invited this court to engage in the most egregious judicial
activism in the history of Florida,” Driscoll wrote. “If this court accepts the
state’s invitation, the ability of individuals to seek a remedy for state and
federal constitutional violations will be hindered for generations. … This
court should avoid judicial activism, maintain stare decisis and apply
Florida’s consistent and workable retroactivity framework.”
Owen, 58, has spent more than three decades on death row after being convicted
of the 1984 rape and murder of Georgianna Worden in Palm Beach County.
Driscoll also argued that retroactivity should apply to all of the state’s
death row inmates, not just those whose sentences were final by 2002. Cases
with resentencing since the Hurst decision “show that what previously produced
a death sentence would not necessarily do so now,” he argued.
(source: law.com)
**************************
State pushes hard for death penalty for Donald Davidson----1 witness remains
before judge sentences man for 2014 murder in Middleburg
The fact Donald Davidson pleaded guilty to killing 37-year-old Roseann Welsh in
her Middleburg home 5 years didn’t keep some of the horrifying details of the
crime from being revealed during his sentencing hearing.
The state pushed hard in its desire to have Davidson die by lethal injection by
telling Judge Donald Lester how the mother was killed. Davidson waived his
right to have a jury to recommend his sentence.
Davidson’s defense painted a picture of a man who was surrounded by other sex
offenders, being abused for years by an older cousin, having mental issues
created by his upbringing and drug abuse and a low IQ.
The trial was put on hold until Monday, July 1, when a final defense witness is
scheduled to testify. After that, it will be up to Lester to decide whether
Davidson goes to Florida’s death row or spends the rest of his life in prison.
State Attorney Melissa Nelson’s opening was a powerful indictment of her
office’s determination that Davidson deserves to die for strangling, raping and
stabbing Welsh, then kidnapping and assaulting her 10-year-old daughter on Dec.
1, 2014.
“On behalf of the people of the State of Florida, we are seeking this Court
sentence Donald Davidson to death,” Nelson said.
“Our state’s highest Court has held that the penalty of death is reserved for
the worst of murders. This, Your Honor, fits the bill. This homicide indeed
qualifies as ‘the worst of murders.’ The aggravation in this case is
significant in both quantity and weight.
“When caught, he confessed. And we find ourselves here today because he has
pled guilty. Whatever credit he may be due for these decisions – and for which
his counsel will certainly argue-- simply cannot overcome the many inhumane and
cruel decisions he made before these. Penalty by death, Judge Lester, is what
Donald Davidson deserves.”
The victim’s son read a statement, telling the judge how it’s affected him.
“My mom will never see me graduate, or get married, or hold and play with her
grandkids. My mom had the kindest heart and I miss the talks we had every day.
I miss every day when I got up and she would say Good Morning and give me a
hug. But this was taken from me, and I wake up every day not wanting to get up,
because I know that my mother will never be there again. I have a large whole
in the heart and I just don’t understand why this happened to my family and
me,” he said.
The son found his mother’s body in a bathroom.
The defense didn’t refute the heinous nature of the crime. It, instead, focused
on Davidson’s past and how it kept him from fully appreciating his crime.
The defendant’s brother, James Earl, said Davidson was conceived during an
affair, and by the time he was 10, he was living with 2 uncles who were
registered sex offenders. Earl also said he and Davidson were molested by an
older cousin, but he didn’t tell anyone until the woman was killed in a DUI
accident.
Dr. Robert Ouaou also testified trauma during childhood may have affected the
development of his brain. He also said Davidson suffered with A.D.H.D. and an
IQ of 85.
(source:claytodayonline.com)
MISSOURI:
Execution date set for Mo. inmate with rare condition----His illness causes
blood-filled tumors to grow in his head, neck and throat and argues that a
throat tumor could burst during the execution, causing him to choke
A Missouri death row inmate who has received last-minute reprieves twice before
over concerns about a rare medical condition is now scheduled to die in
October.
The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday set an Oct. 1 execution date for Russell
Bucklew, who was convicted in the 1996 shooting death of a man who was living
with Bucklew's former girlfriend.
Bucklew narrowly escaped execution in 2014 and again in 2018. Each time, the
U.S. Supreme Court intervened moments before Bucklew was scheduled to be put to
death.
His ailment, cavernous hemangioma, causes blood-filled tumors to grow in his
head, neck and throat. Bucklew has argued that the throat tumor could burst
during the execution, causing him to choke on his own blood.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in April that the state could move ahead with
the execution. The court's 5 conservative justices rejected Bucklew's argument
that subjecting him to lethal injection would violate the Constitution's ban on
cruel and unusual punishment.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that Bucklew's claim "isn't supported by either the
law or the evidence."
Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in a dissenting opinion that his colleagues
acknowledged that the Constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibits states from
executing prisoners by "horrid modes of torture" such as burning at the stake.
"But the majority's decision permits a state to execute a prisoner who suffers
from a medical condition that would render his execution no less painful,"
Breyer wrote.
Bucklew's attorney, Cheryl Pilate, did not immediately respond to phone and
email messages seeking comment. She has said previously that Bucklew's
condition, in addition to the tumors, causes weakened and malformed blood
vessels and vein problems. Missouri uses an injection of the drug pentobarbital
for executions. Bucklew had proposed that the state execute him by having him
breathe pure nitrogen gas through a mask. Missouri officials said no state has
ever carried out an execution as Bucklew suggested.
Bucklew, now 51, was convicted of killing Michael Sanders. After entering a
trailer where Sanders and Bucklew's former girlfriend lived with their
children, Bucklew fatally shot Sanders and later raped his former girlfriend.
Bucklew was arrested after a car chase and shootout with police.
The execution would be the 1st in Missouri since Mark Christeson was put to
death in January 2017. None of the 20 inmates executed since Missouri began
using pentobarbital in 2013 have shown obvious signs of pain or suffering.
(source: Associated Press)
*****************
Execution date set for Missouri death row inmate convicted of 1996 murder
The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a warrant of execution for Russell
Bucklew, who was convicted of killing a southeast Missouri man in 1996 during a
crime rampage.
The state’s high court set Bucklew’s execution date for Oct. 1.
The warrant comes after the U.S. Supreme Court in April ruled against Bucklew’s
bid to halt his death by lethal injection. Attorneys for Bucklew, now 51,
argued his medical condition would lead to extreme suffering when put to death
by lethal injection.
Bucklew’s medical condition, cavernous hemangioma, causes weakened and
malformed blood vessels, and tumors in his nose and throat could rupture and
bleed.
“The Eighth Amendment has never been understood to guarantee a condemned inmate
a painless death,” Justice Neil Gorsuch said in April. “That’s a luxury not
guaranteed to many people, including most victims of capital crimes.”
Bucklew’s execution has been delayed numerous times in the 22 years since he
was convicted of 1st-degree murder.
In 1997, a Boone County jury recommended the death penalty for Bucklew after
convicting him of killing Michael Sanders, 27, the boyfriend of Bucklew’s
ex-girlfriend.
(source: stltoday.com)
*********************
A look at Missouri’s death penalty laws, history
After more than 2 decades of appeals, the Missouri Supreme Court has set an
execution date for Russell Bucklew, a man convicted of 1st-degree murder in
1997.
The court ordered Bucklew’s execution for October 1. Should the state carry out
the execution in 3 months, Bucklew will be the 89th person to be put to death
in Missouri since the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the use of capital
punishment in 1976.
After his girlfriend left him in 1996, Bucklew reportedly stalked, kidnapped,
beat, and raped her. During the abduction, Bucklew fatally shot her new
boyfriend and opened fire at his 6-year-old son, missing him.
Bucklew had appealed just how he would be sentenced to death. He said because
of a rare medical condition, a lethal injection could cause a tumor in his
throat to burst, thus causing extreme pain. The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed
his argument in a 5-4 ruling in April.
Missouri’s capital punishment law
Missouri allows the death penalty — by lethal injection or gas — which is
overseen by the Department of Corrections. The death penalty can be imposed on
invidiuals who are at least 18 years old and found to have deliberately
committed first-degree murder, a class A felony.
The law instructs jurors to consider certain evidence, including the
perpetrator’s past record, when considering the death penalty.
Individuals who are found to have a mental disease or inability to “understand
the nature and purpose of the punishment about to be imposed upon him or
matters in extenuation, arguments for clemency or reasons why the sentence
should not be carried out,” should not be executed, according to state law.
Death sentence history in the state
As of today, there are 23 capital punishment offenders in Missouri as of
Wednesday, according to a Department of Corrections spokeswoman. All are men.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty did not violate the Eighth
or Fourteenth Amendments, Missouri has executed 88 people. But since capital
punishment was first issued in the state (in 1810), Missouri has put to death
hundreds of people, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC).
In fact, the state executed 285 people from 1810 until 1965, according to the
DPIC. Until 1936, when the state began to use lethal gas, Missouri hanged those
who were sentenced to death. Lethal injections began to be used in 1987.
Only one woman has been executed in Missouri history: Bonnie Heady. Along with
her boyfriend, Heady was convicted of kidnapping and killing a young boy in
1953. The pair was executed together in December of that same year.
Legislative reforms
A few bills modifying Missouri’s death penalty guidelines were brought up
during the 2019 session — but none made it very far:
SB 288 from Republican Sen. Paul Wieland would remove the option of the death
penalty if all jurors could not unanimously agree to such a punishment. It did
not make it past a Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence
Committee.
SB 462 from Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Democrat, would eliminate the option of the
death penalty for convicted felons who are found to have been suffering from a
serious mental illness at the time the crime was committed. The option for life
in prison without parole would still be available, but the bill also did not
make it out of the Senate’s judiciary committee.
HB 630 would require the state to perform executions in a way that would allow
for inmates to donate his or her organs if so desired. The bill, from
Republican Rep. Jim Neely, was referred to the House Corrections and Public
Institutions Committee where it stalled.
HB 811, from Republican Rep. Shamed Dogan, had identical language to that of
Wieland’s bill. It passed out of the House Rules – Administrative Oversight
Committee but didn’t go further.
(source: The Missouri Times)
OKLAHOMA:
DA may seek death penalty for Hernandez
A Marble City man who is charged with 2 counts of 1st degree murder after
setting fire to his mother and grandmother on June 5 may face the death
penalty, according to Sequoyah County District Attorney Jack Thorp.
Joseph Allen Hernandez, 31, faces 2 counts of 1st degree murder-deliberate
intent, and 2 counts of 1st-degree arson for allegedly dousing his mother and
grandmother with gasoline and then catching their mobile home and the 2 women
on fire, according to earlier reports. His mother, Audrey Hernandez, 62, and
his grandmother, Francis Wright, 79, who was in a wheelchair, both died after
suffering serious burns and smoke inhalation from the incident, investigators
reported. Thorp said he is working with the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s office to
put together a case to seek the death penalty for Hernandez.
“In any murder case, we can seek the death penalty. We are currently gathering
up information and we will know more about filing a bill of particulars after
the preliminary hearing. Until then, he is presumed innocent until found
guilty,” Thorp said. Hernandez remains in the Sequoyah County Jail with no
bond.
He reportedly was released from prison on May 28 for assault and
battery-related charges.
(source: Sequoyah County Times)
KANSAS:
Man pleads guilty to murdering Overland Park woman
A 25-year-old Kansas man pleaded guilty Tuesday to murdering an Overland Park
woman in 2016.
Korrey Rinke, of Ottawa, Kansas, is guilty of 1st degree murder and aggravated
kidnapping in the August 2016 killing of Julianna Pappas, according to a news
release from the Johnson County District Attorney.
Pappas was reported missing by her roommate on Aug. 22, 2016. Her body was
found Aug. 31, 2016 in a wooded area south of W. 115th between Switzer Road and
Indian Creek Parkway in Overland Park.
According to court documents, Rinke was seen tampering with an electronic
bicycle that belonged to Pappas.
When police first spoke to Rinke they claim he seemed nervous and denied that
Pappas was in his car, then admitted she was in his car.
In a follow-up interview with Rinke, police say they read him his Miranda
rights and he agreed to tell them about Pappas. Police say he told them that he
and Pappas had been driving around together and purchased alcohol. According to
the affidavit, he told police they were going to have sex but when she learned
he did not have a condom, she said no.
Rinke reportedly then admitted to police that he forced her to have sex. Police
say he admitted punching her and believed he broke her arm when he assaulted
her. He said he left her in the park, injured and described her as ‘gurgling’
from her injuries. Police say Rinke told them he did not believe she would
survive her injuries.
According to police, Rinke went back to the area four days later to make sure
she was dead, but could not find her.
Sentencing for Rinke is scheduled to take place at 11 a.m. on September 12 in
Johnson County.
The case was investigated by Overland Park police and the Johnson County
Criminalistics Laboratory.
(source: Fox News)
USA:
U of I killer Brendt Christensen would join exclusive federal death penalty
fraternity----Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang was murdered by Brendt Christensen
in 2017. His death penalty hearing begins on July 8.
It is a club so exclusive that Illinois has had only 2 members in the entire
history of the state.
Brendt Christensen would become just the 3rd recipient of the federal death
penalty in Illinois.
Christensen was found guilty yesterday in the kidnap/killing of Yingying Zhang,
a Chinese scholar at University of Illinois' flagship campus.
U.S. prosecutors will soon ask a jury to impose the death penalty on
Christensen, 29, for the 2017 torture-murder that received widespread news
coverage in China.
Even though Illinois banished capital punishment in 2011, because U.S.
kidnapping laws allow for the death penalty and Christensen was prosecuted
federally, authorities are seeking his execution.
Such punishment is exceedingly rare.
There are currently 62 federal inmates on death row. Only 3 prisoners have been
executed since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988 after a 16-year
moratorium.
The last Illinois inmate to be executed by the United States was on July 14,
1938.
Right now just 1 federal inmate in Illinois is on death row: Ronald Mikos was
sentenced in 2005. Mikos was an MD who murdered one of his patients, a disabled
church employee who was to testify against him in a million dollar Medicare
fraud case.
Likewise, Indiana currently has just one inmate on federal death row. Odell
"Nasih Khalil" Corley was convicted in 2004 of murdering 2 tellers while trying
to rob the First State Bank of Porter.
Brendt Christensen's death penalty hearing is set to begin July 8th and
expected to last at least 1 week.
"The U.S. Attorney's office considering asking for death penalty they did
consult with the family" said Zhi Dong Wang, an attorney for the parents of
Yingying Zhang. "The family's input was a consideration. The family did ask the
prosecutors to consider and to request for death penalty."
Even if he is sentenced to die, Christensen would not be executed in an
Illinois facility.
Federal capital punishment is carried out at the U.S. penitentiary in Terre
Haute, Indiana. The last such execution, of Gulf War veteran and
murderer/rapist Louis Jones Jr, occurred at the Terre Haute prison in 2003.
Death sentences under federal law are by lethal injection and there is an
execution chamber at Terre Haute outfitted with chemical lines for
administering deadly IV fluids.
While the Justice Department tagged Christensen's case as a death penalty
prosecution, data show he is more likely to receive a life sentence once the
decision comes down. According to statistics collected by the Death Penalty
Information Center, juries select life in prison in about 70% of all capital
cases.
If a jury votes for execution, in federal cases the trial judge may overrule
the decision and convert the sentence to life behind bars.
In Christensen's case, the prospect of being executed weighed on him even
before he was arrested. On FBI undercover recordings of conversations that he
had with his girlfriend, Christensen is heard saying that he could be killed
for his conduct.
(source: ABC News)
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