August 15
TEXAS----stay of impending execution
Federal court stops execution of Dexter Johnson within 24 hours of his
scheduled death----In his recent appeals, Johnson has claimed he is
intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for the death penalty. He was
convicted of a double murder in Harris County that took place in 2006.
A federal appellate court halted the execution of Texas inmate Dexter Johnson
on Wednesday evening, less than 24 hours before he was set to die.
The court stayed his execution and sent the case back to the district court to
look into newly raised claims of intellectual disability.
Johnson, 31, was sentenced to death for his role in a double murder in 2006
days after he turned 18. Johnson and 4 other teens carjacked and robbed Maria
Aparece, 23, and Huy Ngo, 17, while they sat in her car outside Ngo's house.
According to court records, Johnson and the others took the young couple to a
secluded area where Johnson raped Aparece before he and another teen shot them
both, killing them.
The murders were part of what Harris County prosecutors have described as a
25-day crime spree by Johnson and others that also included 3 other slayings.
Johnson has been on death row since his conviction in 2007.
In recent appeals, Johnson has argued that he is intellectually disabled and
therefore ineligible for the death penalty under U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
Intellectual disability has become a main focus of Texas death penalty law
after years of back and forth between the U.S. Supreme Court and the Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals in the case of Bobby Moore. Ultimately, the high
court invalidated Texas’ method of determining the disability, and then, after
the state court still ruled Moore was not intellectually disabled, overruled
that decision in February and said he has shown that he is.
Johnson had already argued he was intellectually disabled in an April appeal
rejected by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, shortly before a May execution
date that a federal judge later postponed in an unrelated filing. But a new
attorney raised a similar claim this month in both state and federal court,
mentioning recent IQ and neuropsychological tests that put Johnson's IQ below
the threshold of intellectual disability. The attorney also noted severe
limitations in language skills and a “pronounced stutter.”
His attorney argued that the disability could be raised under new evidence
because medical standards on intellectual disability have changed since his
trial.
The state court again dismissed Johnson’s appeal Tuesday, but the federal
appellate court issued a stay of execution Wednesday evening. He was set to be
executed after 6 p.m. Thursday.
In deciding to stop the execution, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals listed
numerous deficits Johnson had, such as struggling to articulate words and not
being able to follow bus directions or manage money. The judges also noted that
an expert witness at trial who claimed Johnson was not intellectually disabled
said he would no longer testify to that.
But the stay of execution doesn't state that Johnson is ineligible for the
death penalty. The case goes back to the district court, which will look
further into the appeal.
Harris County, which argued for the Court of Criminal Appeals to lessen Moore’s
sentence, fought against Johnson’s claim of intellectual disability in recent
filings. Prosecutors said that at trial, Johnson raised not the issue of
intellectual disability, but of low intellectual functioning caused by
traumatic brain injury or mental illness, according to their filing. They also
cited slightly higher IQ scores from the time of his trial and stated Johnson
is "a man deserving of the ultimate punishment."
Johnson was set to be the 4th execution in Texas this year. A dozen more are
scheduled through December.
(source: Texas Tribune)
**********************************
Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----43
Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----561
Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #
44---------Aug. 21----------------Larry Swearingen--------562
45---------Sept. 4----------------Billy Crutsinger--------563
46---------Sept. 10---------------Mark Anthony Soliz------564
47---------Sept. 25---------------Robert Sparks-----------565
48---------Oct. 2-----------------Stephen Barbee----------566
49---------oct. 10----------------Randy Halprin-----------567
50---------Oct. 16----------------Randall Mays------------568
51---------Oct. 30----------------Ruben Gutierrez---------569
52---------Nov. 6-----------------Justen Hall-------------570
53---------Nov. 20----------------Rodney Reed-------------571
54---------Dec. 11---------------Travis Runnels-----------572
(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)
**************************
Death penalty sought in Oklahoma double murder case
Prosecutors in Texas say they will seek the death penalty for a professional
MMA fighter accused in the deaths of 2.
Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza said Monday his office has filed
formal notice to seek the death penalty against 45-year-old Cedric Marks.Marks
was indicted for the slayings of 28-year-old Jenna Scott and 32-year-old
Michael Swearingin.
The bodies were found in a shallow grace in Clearview, Oklahoma.
Investigators say the two friends were killed Jan. 3 at a residence in Killeen,
Texas.
Marks, Scott's ex-boyfriend, has pleaded not guilty.
His current girlfriend, Maya Maxwell, also faces charges in the case.
(source: KRMG news)
ALABAMA:
Alabama AG’s office silent on new execution method
Attorney General Steve Marshall has denied AL.com’s request to see a contract
Marshall’s office entered related to the development of a new method of
execution using nitrogen gas, the latest move in a policy of secrecy regarding
how the state puts prisoners to death.
In July, Marshall’s office hired a Tennessee company, FDR Safety, and Joseph
Wolfsberger, an industrial hygienist for the firm.
Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, who chairs the contract review committee, said
it was his understanding that the contract was to provide expert testimony in
case of litigation over the new execution method, which has never been used in
any state.
FDR Safety declined to say what the contract involved, citing client
confidentiality. The company’s website says providing expert witnesses is one
of the services it offers.
AL.com requested a copy of the contract in July, when the contract went before
the Legislature’s contract review committee. On Tuesday, Marshall’s office
notified AL.com that it would not provide the contract.
The state’s open records law requires state agencies to make contracts and
other records available to the public. Marshall’s office said it does not have
to disclose the contract with FDR Safety because it falls under exceptions in
the open records law regarding security and the best interests of the public.
The contract will pay FDR Safety at the rate of $300 an hour up to an amount of
$25,000. The contract runs through June 2021.
That’s a relatively small state contract. But the denial follows the refusal of
Marshall’s office to provide any information about the development of the
nitrogen execution method. His office declined to respond to a series of
questions, including how the method might work, whether it would involve a gas
mask or gas chamber, whether Alabama is collaborating with other states, and
what was the purpose of the FDR Safety contract.
The Alabama Legislature passed a bill allowing inmates to opt for execution by
nitrogen hypoxia last year. The method would be an alternative to lethal
injection.
The concept for nitrogen executions is believed to be that the inmate would die
by breathing only nitrogen, with no oxygen.
Oklahoma and Mississippi have also passed laws authorizing the method.
Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center,
which tracks state execution methods and policies, said the states that
intended to offer nitrogen executions are encountering problems they did not
anticipate. For example, he said Oklahoma has indicated it was having
difficulty finding companies to sell the state any materials that would be
needed. States had previously run into the same problems obtaining the drugs
used in lethal injections.
“There’s still a lot we don’t know about executions with nitrogen,” Dunham
said. “And I think the amount of time it’s taking states to come up with
protocols shows us just how little we knew. It’s never been done before. It’s
experimental. And we still don’t know how it’s going to work or if it’s going
to work.”
The lack of public information on development of the nitrogen execution method
follows a battle between Alabama officials and news organizations over access
to the state’s lethal injection protocol.
The protocol became an issue in a lawsuit filed by death row inmate Doyle Lee
Hamm. The state attempted to execute Hamm in February 2018 but called the
procedure off after medical personnel were unable to find a usable vein.
Alabama Media Group, which includes AL.com, along with the Associated Press and
The Montgomery Advertiser, filed a motion in Hamm’s case seeking release of the
protocol.
U.S. Chief District Judge Karon O. Bowdre ruled in favor of the news
organizations, citing the public’s "common law right of access to the sealed
records relating to Alabama’s lethal injection protocol.” The U.S. 11th Circuit
Court of Appeals upheld Bowdre’s decision.
It’s unclear whether the state will appeal.
(source: al.com)
LOUISIANA:
Louisiana seeks death penalty for mom accused in baby’s burning death
Louisiana is seeking the death penalty for a woman charged with 1st-degree
murder in the death of her 6-month-old son.
The Alexandria Town Talk reports the state has filed notice to seek death for
Hanna Nicole Barker over the July death of Levi Cole Ellerbe.
Barker was arrested last month about a week after she reported Levi had been
kidnapped by men who pepper-sprayed her. A motorist reported a fire nearby
Barker’s home about an hour later and Levi was found at scene with 3rd- and
2nd-degree burns covering 90% of his body. He died the next day.
Authorities say Barker asked her girlfriend Felicia Marie-Nicole Smith to kill
Levi. Smith is also charged with first-degree murder and has a hearing later
this month.
Barker’s trial is set for January.
(source: Associated Press)
OHIO:
Parma Heights man convicted in prison pen-pal murders sentenced to death vows
‘it’s not over’
A Cuyahoga County Judge on Tuesday imposed the death sentence on a man who
stabbed 2 people in their Parma Heights home and then tried to hire a man to
burn their bodies in a failed cover-up in 2017.
Common Pleas Court Judge Deena Calabrese announced her sentence of Thomas Knuff
Jr., convicted in the May 2017 killings of John Mann and Regina Copabianco.
Jurors recommended last month that Knuff be executed, and Calabrese accepted
their recommendation.
“As a defendant in my courtroom, I’ve never seen someone with as little remorse
as you,” she told Knuff.
Knuff, dressed in slacks and a dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves exposing his
tattooed forearms, vowed that his case was not over.
“When you show emotion and say you’re sorry, they say you’re lying. When you
don’t, you’re a psychopath," Knuff said.
Knuff said Cuyahoga County Prosecutors and Parma Heights police officers lied
during his trial to secure his conviction, and vowed that they would one day
have to answer to those lies.
“I’m going to pursue every avenue to get the truth out,” Knuff said.
Knuff later shook his head and stared at Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor
Anna Faraglia as she told Calabrese that the prosecutor’s office does not
“railroad people."
Faraglia began to tell Knuff that he could stare at her, just like he did
during the eight weeks of trial in May, June and July.
Knuff blurted out “because you lied for 8 weeks."
Knuff, who also broke into two hair salons before his arrest and plotting a
jailbreak after he was taken into custody, became the third person this year to
be condemned to death row from a Cuyahoga County courtroom.
Mann’s son Jonathan Mann, who lives in Columbus and did not attend the trial,
spoke after Calabrese announced the death sentence. He said he personally had
wanted Knuff to die for what he did to his father, and that he deserved no
mercy from the court. But the younger Mann told Calabrese he did not want Knuff
to be executed, citing the high cost of death-penalty appeals.
“I want you all to hear it from a man who wanted him dead,” he said.
Capobianco’s sister, Toni Bender, told Calabrese that she was glad Knuff was
sentenced to the death penalty.
“I hope you die in prison a lonely, lonely man,” she said. “Your death cannot
come soon enough for me.”
Knuff befriended Capobianco through an inmate-to-inmate pen-pal program in the
2000s and moved in with her and Mann on Nelwood Road in Parma Heights in April
2017 when he was released on parole, after serving 15 years for an aggravated
robbery conviction.
Capobianco’s and Knuff’s convictions meant they could not live with each other
while on parole. An argument over which one was going to stay with Mann ensued
and escalated until Knuff stabbed them both, prosecutors said.
Capobianco was stabbed 6 times, and Mann was stabbed 15 times, a pathologist
from the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office testified.
Knuff left the pair’s bodies in the bedroom for more than 2 months, as he
concocted a series of lies to conceal his deeds. He then solicited the help of
his girlfriend, a former social worker at the state prison where Knuff was
housed, and a man named Robert DeLugo to dispose of the bodies.
After police arrested Knuff in break-ins at two beauty salons, Knuff penned a
letter from jail to DeLugo asking him to burn the bodies. He directed DeLugo in
the letter to go to the bedroom, where “the most incriminating s--t" was, a
reference to Mann’s and Capobianco’s bodies, and to use kerosene because it
“burns hotter."
DeLugo did not carry out the deed.
Capobianco’s family reported her missing in the days after the killings and
police visited the home, but did not try to go inside.
Officers eventually went back into the house on June 21 and a detective
discovered Capobianco’s skull buried under debris in the bedroom, prosecutors
said. Authorities then found Mann’s body within minutes, and launched a
homicide investigation.
Knuff’s lawyers maintained at trial that Knuff walked into the house and
discovered Capobianco fatally stabbing Mann, and stabbed her in self-defense
when she turned the knife on him. They criticized Parma Heights police’s
investigation of the crime.
Knuff sought to cover up the killings because he feared he would go back to
prison for a parole violation, even though he acted in self-defense, his
lawyers said.
Knuff will be shipped to death row at the at a time when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine
has halted executions statewide after a federal judge questioned whether the
state’s lethal injection process was constitutional. DeWine ordered a review of
the execution process and asked legislators to research a possible alternative
method.
(source: cleveland.com)
******************
Jury recommends death penalty for man who killed 4-year-old daughter, her
mother
A jury has recommended the death penalty for a man who stabbed to death his
ex-girlfriend and their 4-year-old daughter.
The Franklin County jury began deliberating the fate of Kristofer Garrett
Tuesday afternoon.
Garrett stabbed to death his 4-year-old daughter Christina Duckson and her
mother, Nicole Duckson.
Garrett waited outside the Southeast Columbus home of Nicole Duckson and
attacked her as she left the morning of January 5, 2018.
Family shares memories of mother & 4-year-old girl murdered in southeast
Columbus
Then he chased down and stabbed their 4-year-old daughter to death. He told
detectives he killed her because she witnessed him kill her mother.
Tuesday his attorneys argued Garrett was mentally ill, and the product of an
abusive, neglectful childhood.
Several witnesses testified that he had never been in trouble before, and aside
from these crimes, had never been violent.
"I did it and I'm sorry,” Garrett said. “I want to say I'm sorry to the family,
to Mr. Duckson, especially to the parents and to the Duckson family. And I'm
sorry to my family because they lost a family member as well. This is going to
live with me for the rest of my life."
"The only appropriate sentence, in this case, is a death sentence,” said
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien.
“You have the ability- each and every one of you- you have the ability to take
away Kristofer's life- to take it away- without taking his life,” said defense
attorney Mark Hunt. “You can take away his life without taking his life."
The jury had a range of possible sentences:
From life with no chance of parole for 25 years to life with no possibility of
parole ever, to the death penalty.
Judge Chris Brown will make the final decision based on their recommendation.
He will impose sentence in a separate hearing set for Aug. 22.
(source: WBNS news)
***************
Prosecutors pursue death penalty in case of Parma father accused of stabbing
infant son to death to spite boy’s mother
A Parma father charged last year in the stabbing death of his infant son amid a
custody dispute with the boy’s mother is now eligible to face the death penalty
if he is convicted.
A county grand jury on Wednesday handed up an indictment charging Jason Shorter
with multiple counts of aggravated murder that carry a potential death sentence
in the killing of his 1-year-old son, Nicholas.
Shorter, who has pleaded not guilty, has been held in Cuyahoga County Jail on
$1 million bond since his May 2018 arrest. He is set for an Aug. 20 arraignment
on the new charges.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said last summer that Shorter
stabbed the boy “apparently to spite his mother,” and that his office was
considering pursuing the death penalty. A spokesman did not immediately respond
to questions asking why prosecutors are pursuing the charges now.
Court records show Shorter was found competent to stand trial in May, and his
attorneys and prosecutors accepted the findings at a July 24 pretrial.
Shorter showed up at the Parma Police Department on May 12, 2018. He was
bleeding from cuts on his wrists and said he wanted to turn himself in for
attempted murder and suicide, according to prosecutors. He also told officers
he had hurt his son, who was outside in his car, prosecutors said.
Officers searched the inside the car but did not find the boy, prosecutors
said. Shorter told them the boy was in the trunk, and police popped the trunk
and found Nicholas’s body lying face-up with two stab wounds to his chest,
prosecutors said. The boy was not breathing and had no pulse, prosecutors said.
The incident came 5 days after Shorter and the boy’s mother reached a custody
agreement in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court.
Shorter petitioned for custody of his son months after his 2016 birth,
according to court records. The case dragged on for over a year before a
settlement gave Nicholas’ mother custody of the boy 6 days a week.
Shorter was supposed to pick up Nicholas at the mother’s home in Euclid at 6
p.m. each Friday night and return the boy by 7:30 p.m. every Saturday night,
the agreement says.
The day the boy died was Shorter’s 1st day of custody under the new
arrangement, police said. His mother called police when Shorter did not return
home on time, and officers showed up at Shorter’s house after he left to go to
the Parma police department, police said.
(source: cleveland.com)
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