[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, FLA.
Oct. 18 TEXAS: CAMPAIGN TO END THE DEATH PENALTYANNUAL CONFERENCE, in AUSTIN Register now for the CEDP's 11th Annual Convention! The Prison System is the New Jim Crow. Date: November 11, 2011 8:15 pm Location: Ventana Del Soul, Austin, Texas This November, the Campaign to End the Death Penalty is headed straight to the belly of the beast - Texas - for a weekend of struggle and organizing! The CEDP's 11th annual national convention will take up questions on how to build a movement that combats racism in the criminal justice system, supports resistance behind bars, aims to end mass incarceration and harsh punishment and makes the death penalty history. Session will feature discussions about some of our victories over the last year - abolition in Illinois, the release of the West Memphis free and the rise of prisoner organized activism behind bars. And we will also discuss our challenges - especially around the many important cases we are working on around the country, many of which which have exhausted legal avenues and are at critical phases. As always, our convention will be a chance for family members of prisoners, former prisoners, and activists to gather, share our stories and experiences, build our forces in Texas and everywhere, and strategize next steps forward for our organization and the cases we work on. Register now for the CEDP's 10th Annual Convention. November 11 - 13 Ventana Del Soul 1834 East Oltorf, Austin, Texas Convention registration: $60 with Saturday night dinner. $35 for family members, former prisoners and students. Friday night plenary is free to all convention attendees, otherwise $5 suggested donation. Click here to register. Or you can mail in your registration to: CEDP, P.O. Box 25730, Chicago, IL 60647, make Check out to: CEDP Hotel rooms available: We have reserved a block of rooms at the Clarion Inn at a special rate of $113.85 (includes tax). To make reservations, call 800-434-7378 and mention the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. The hotel offers a free breakfast and is within walking distance of the convention site. Check out the Clarion website to view pictures or get more information. For more info, call the CEDP’s national office at 773-955-4841. A limited amount of space will be available with CEDP members in Austin and will be worked out on a needs basis. The Costella Cannon Scholarship Fund: We have limited scholarship funds available to help cover the costs of travel for former prisoners and family members attending convention. To request a scholarship application or for more information please call our office at 773-955-4841.Please DONATE to the scholarship fund! Your generosity will help make it possible for those with financial hardship to make it to the convention. Click here to donate via PayPal right now! Or you can make a check or money order out to CEDP and mail to: P.O. Box 25730 Chicago, IL 60625: Ventana Del Soul - our convention site: The Campaign to End the Death Penalty is excited to be hosting our annual convention in Austin at Ventana Del Soul – a unique venue here. Ventana is a charitable organization that provides foodservice and culinary arts training to young people and adults who are undermployed – with a emphasis on reentry support for the formerly incarcerated. The Ventana Del Soul facility hosts a kitchen and café that is open daily, as well as a large space for special events and a group of smaller meeting rooms. The venue offers catering services as well. The folks involved in food preparation and working at the venue are part of Ventana's various training programs, often through scholarships provided by the organization. There are a few rules we need to follow at the venue – the first is no outside food or drinks can be brought into the venue. The café has a full coffee menu, smoothies and breakfast and lunch options. In addition we should be respectful of the space and the folks working there who will be setting up rooms and taking care of the coffe and water service throughout the day. This is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with a charitable mission the meshes nicely with the CEDP's commitment to fighting against the injustices in the system. We should do whatever we can over the weekend to talk with and support the folks at Ventana Del Soul. For more information check out http://ventanadelsoul.org/ Featured Speakers will include: Sandra Reed: Mother of Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed Mark Clements: Former police torture victim, sentenced as a juvenile and spent 28 years in prison Lawrence Hayes: Former Black Panther and New York death row prisoner Darby Tillis: Exonerated death row prisoner Lawrence Foster: Grandfather of Kenneth Foster whose death sentence was commuted to a life in 2007 Delia Perez Meyer:
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----CONN., N.C., GA., ORE., PENN.
Oct. 18 CONNECTICUT: Conn. man convicted in deadly ‘07 home invasion A Connecticut jury that convicted a paroled burglar Thursday of murdering a woman and her two daughters during a gruesome 2007 home invasion will now decide whether he should be put to death for a crime so unsettling it bolstered efforts to keep the death penalty in the state. Joshua Komisarjevsky, whose accomplice is already on death row, was convicted of all 17 charges he faced, including capital felony killing, kidnapping, arson and sexual assault. During the crime in an affluent suburb, family members were tied up, molested, doused in gasoline and left to die in a fire. The same jury will now decide whether Komnisarjevsky should get life in prison or the death penalty. The penalty phase starts Oct. 24 and could last up to 2 months. Connecticut's death penalty has only been implemented once in the past 51 years, when serial killer Michael Ross was executed in 2005. One of Komisarjevsky's attorneys, Walter Bansley III, said they have confidence in the jury system as they shift their attention to sparing their client from the death penalty. We have no doubt the jury will view the evidence with compassion and mercy, he said. Komisarjevsky was sexually abused as a child and suffered multiple concussions and later turned to drugs, according to defense lawyers. That history will be a focus of defense efforts to convince the jury to spare the 31-year-old man's life. After the verdict was read Thursday, Komidsarjevsky sat back in his chair, rocked slightly back and forth and glanced briefly at the jury. He yawned as he was led out of the courtroom. The only survivor of the attack, Dr. William Petit, bit his lip and closed his eyes as the verdict was read. I thought from the beginning that he was a lying sociopathic personality and probably at this moment he doesn't think he is guilty of anything, he told reporters outside the courthouse. The New Haven Superior Court jury deliberated for about 8 hours over 2 days before delivering the verdict in a case that unsettled suburban dwellers across the country. Co-defendant Steven Hayes was sentenced to death last year after he was convicted of raping and strangling Jennifer Hawke-Petit and killing her daughters, 11-year-old Michaela and 17-year-old Hayley, who died of smoke inhalation. The jury heard evidence that Komisarjevsky spotted Hawke-Petit and her youngest daughter at a grocery store on July 22, 2007, and followed them back to the house and returned later with Hayes, that they beat husband and father, William Petit, with a baseball bat and tied him up and his wife and daughters. The night of terror drew comparisons to Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, which documented the brutal murders of a Kansas farmer and his family. Hayes forced Hawke-Petit to withdraw money from a bank before he raped and strangled her in the family's Cheshire home, prosecutors said. The girls, who had pillowcases placed over their heads, died after the house was doused with gasoline and set on fire. During more than 2 weeks of testimony, prosecutors played an audiotaped confession in which Komisarjevsky spoke matter-of-factly and laughed occasionally. He admitted beating Petit and molesting his younger daughter and taking photos of her, but insisted Hayes wanted to kill the family because he was worried about his DNA at the scene. Prosecutor Gary Nicholson said in his closing argument that Komisarjevsky was motivated not just by money but by his interest in 11-year-old Michaela. He was convicted of sexually assaulting her. Michaela Petit, he was interested in her from the moment he saw her, Nicholson said. Petit said he always felt the case was partly about sexual predation upon women, and the focus on Michaela made Komisarjevsky's trial particularly difficult. I thought a thousand times what would have been different if I had 2 sons instead of 2 daughters, he said. He said he was sickened by claims Komisarjevksy made in his confession to police that he had a kind of connection with Michaela. She was incredibly shy around men, Petit said. To hear a statement that they locked eyes and there was some kind of bond was really nauseating and beyond the pale. Komisarjevsky said Hayes poured the gas and lit the fire, but test results showed Komisarjevsky had gas on his clothes. They also showed the girl he molested had bleach on her clothes, undermining his claim that only Hayes was worried about DNA. Jurors saw grim evidence, including charred beds, rope used to tie up the family and autopsy photos. Gas was poured on Hayley's bed and on her sister, according to testimony. Jurors also heard testimony that Hayley likely took up to several minutes to die and it was unclear if burns found on her body occurred before or after she died. William Petit left the courtroom for some parts of the testimony but took the stand to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide----LATVIA, TANZANIA, SOMALIA, INDIA
Oct. 18 LATVIA: Latvia abolishes the death penalty in martial law as well. Latvia abolished the death penalty in civil law in 1999 but up to now it was still possible to sentence someone to death under certain circumstances in martial law. On Oct. 13th the Latvian parliament voted 77:4 to join the Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances. (source: Baltische-Rundschau) TANZANIA: Former Convict Recounts His Wait for the Hangman's Noose He might be leading a very difficult life now with no guarantee for food and shelter, but to Tete Kafunja this is better compared to what he endured for nearly 2 decades while on the death row. Mr Kafunja is one of the people who live under lots of disillusionment now after spending 18 years behind bars waiting to be hanged for a crime he maintains he did not commit. He first entered Keko Prison in 1990 as a suspect accused of murder. Someone had been killed in the Kawe suburb in Dar es Salaam and though he was not aware of what happened, he found himself among six men who were arrested in connection with the murder. According to him, he had not known, leave alone met, the victim before. Born in Mbeya, Mr Kafunja, 53, arrived in the city with prospects of getting a good job. But instead of finding such a job, he found himself engaged in casual labour to sustain his life. But his life took a U-turn on October 1, 1990 when he was arrested at Manzese and taken to Kawe and later Osyterbay police stations. There was no identification parade and so I, with other suspects, spent a fortnight in remand before we appeared at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court where we were accused of murder. Because the investigation was not yet completed, we were taken to Keko Remand Prison until 1994 when we appeared before the High Court judge, said Mr Kifunja last week during a meeting organised to press for the abolition of the capital punishment. However, it was not until 1999 when the hearing started... you know our courts, he told the gathering at Millenium Towers Hotel. He said though he was not aware of the crime, on December 14, 2001 he was found guilty of murder, alongside three others, and sentenced to death by hanging. Mr Kafunja and his co-convicts were later taken to Ukonga Prison to wait for their day. I was terrified, he told the attentive audience at the commemoration of the world's Anti-Death Penalty Day in Dar es Salaam. According to him, they were later transferred to the notorious Isanga Prison in Dodoma, a place reserved for death row prisoners. While we were there, we could not sleep, he said. For every time the prison officer opened a door, everybody would be thinking 'oh, it is my turn'... luckily, that turn did not come for me, he said. He says the prison warders were never friendly either, for they made jokes to the effect that the convicts were nothing but people waiting to die. It was the worst time of my life... we were living in mental torture... everyone kept praying that their day comes as early as possible, he said, noting that they it reached a point where they looked at death as a welcome alternative to the hard life they were leading. Mr Kafunja who said he did not know the whereabouts of his wife and two children he had left behind when he was arrested and later convicted of murder. After spending 15 years waiting for the 'final day,' in 1999 they were told that their case was being reviewed and so they were taken back to Dar es Salam. This was good news for me because I knew I might be freed. Some advocates were working on our case, he said. On September 10, 2009, we went back to court and the registrar, after a few proceedings, told us that we were free. I could not believe it until the next day when each one of us was given Sh1, 000 by Ukonga Prison authorities and allowed to leave, he added. Mr Kafunja who says his post-prison days have since been difficult because he has nowhere to start from, found the city completely new. On reaching Kimara where he left his family before the arrest, he found no one, he adds. Currently I live with a Pastor while contemplating to file a suit for compensation, he said. Having spent 18 years in jail and later escaping the rope by a whisker, Mr Kafunja calls for the abolishment of the capital punishment and the improvement of investigation systems within the Police Force. I was innocent but was subjected to the death penalty because there were no proper investigations. But I thank God I'm free today, he said. (source: All Africa News) SOMALIA: Puntland Executes Al Shabaab Related Suspect The high court of Somalia's semi-autonomous state of Puntland on Monday conducted death penalty against a man accused of committing murders and having links with Al shabaab. Abdullahi Abdi Iman, the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS
Oct. 18 TEXAS: Inmate loses appeal in '07 Henderson shootout An East Texas man sent to death row for a 2007 shootout that left 2 Henderson County sheriff's deputies dead and a 3rd wounded has lost an appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court. The justice refused Monday to review a petition from Randall Wayne Mays, 52, of Payne Spprings, about 50 miles southeast of Dallas. An attorney argued that Mays had poor legal help and was mentally imparied. Mays has other appeals. (source: Dallas Morning News) ** Ex-Inmate Shares Stories of Stint as a death row Chef Last month, Texas prison officials decided to end the tradition of special meals for inmates facing execution after Lawrence Russell Brewer, 44, requested a large dinner before his Sept. 21 lethal injection. Mr. Brewer, a white supremacist gang member, had been convicted of chaining James Byrd, Jr., a 49-year-old black man, to a pickup truck and dragging him along a road until he died. As his final meal, Mr. Brewer had requested a pound of barbecue with half a loaf of white bread; three fajitas “with fixings”; a cheese omelet with “ground beef, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and jalapenos”; two chicken fried steaks “smothered in gravy with sliced onions”; a “triple meat” bacon cheeseburger with “fixings on the side”; a “large bowl” of fried okra; a “meat lovers” pizza; a pint of vanilla ice cream; a “slab” of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts; and three root beers. He was given some of the items, in smaller portions, but ate nothing. After the state’s decision, Brian D. Price, 60, a former inmate who as jailhouse chef cooked last meals for 218 prisoners on death row in Huntsville, Tex., offered to prepare meals for the condemned for free. Texas said thanks but no thanks. Mr. Price discusses: QUESTION How did you get started cooking last meals for death row inmates? ANSWER In 1989, I was sent to prison for assaulting my ex-wife and kidnapping my brother-in-law. I was sentenced to 15 years, and when I first arrived at the prison at the Walls Unit, they asked what I was doing in the free world as a profession. I was a professional bass player in rock bands and a professional photographer. When I relayed that to them, they just laughed. They said, “Well, there’s nothing like that here, boy.” So the warden looked over at the head of the steward’s department and said, “Put him in the kitchen.” And that’s how I got in the kitchen. On the dinner shift, or supper — which is what we call it down this way — we’re the ones who prepared the last meals because executions took place there at the Walls Unit. My friend, a four-star chef who was doing last meals at the time, didn’t want to do them any more. He wanted me to take over. I didn’t have any desire to do so at that point in time. But about a year later, my friend, Terry, the four-star chef, he wasn’t around, so I told the sarge that I’d do it, so I went ahead and did it to the best of my ability at what we had at our means. And so, the next day sarge called me into his office and said, “Hey Price, that guy they killed last night sent a word of thanks to the chaplain over here and said he appreciated what you did. He really liked it.” That blew me away. I went back to my cell that night, and I really reflected upon it and that was probably the last thanks that guy gave anyone before he left this world. And so the next day I went back in and told Terry, “I’ll do the last meals if you want to go ahead and back out.” Q. Do prisoners actually get what they request? A. The Texas Department of Corrections has a policy that no matter what the request, it has to be prepared from items that’s in the prison kitchen commissary. And, like if they requested lobster, they’d get a piece of frozen pollock. Just like they would normally get on a Friday, but what I’d do is wash the breading off, cut it diagonally and dip it in a batter so that it looked something like at Long John Silver’s — something from the free world, something they thought they were getting, but it wasn’t. They quit serving steaks in 1994, so whenever anyone would request a steak, I would do a hamburger steak with brown gravy and grilled onions, you know, stuff like that. The press would get it as they requested it, but I would get their handwritten last meal request about three days ahead of time and I’d take it to my captain and say, “Well, what do you want me to do?” And she’d lay it out for me. I tried to do the best I could with what I had. Amazingly, we did pretty well with what we did have. They are served two hours before they are executed and it is no longer a burger and fries or a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich or whatever they requested. All it is, two hours later, is stomach content on an autopsy report. Q. What do you think about the decision to do away with special last meal requests? A. It’s politically motivated. They waited for a heinous
[Deathpenalty] [POSSIBLE SPAM] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., OHIO, NEB., USA
Oct. 18 TEXAS: Evidentiary Hearing Granted to Evaluate New Evidence Regarding the Actual Innocence of Robert Gene Will FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE On October 19, 2011 a limited evidentiary hearing will take place for Robert Will who has resided on Death Row for 9 years. Robert Will has always maintained his innocence and instead declared another man shot Deputy Hill,the police officer Robert Will was sentenced to die for killing in 2002. Now a new witness has joined the voices of 3 others who support Robert Will’s innocence claim and have provided affidavits to the courts. This witness will give testimony to the courts on October 19ththat they saw the real killer shortly after the shooting with blood on him. The police never investigated the real shooter because he is the son of a police officer. Dawn Bremer, the spokesperson for the Robert Will Defense Committee commented on the importance of the developments in the case, “This hearing can open the door to letting the truth finally be brought to light and justice being served not only for Mr. Will, but for Deputy Hill’s family by clearing an innocent man and putting the focus on the real murder.” Robert Will’s case is not unique and is in fact very similar to Troy Davis’, the death row prisoner who was murdered by the state of Georgia on the night of September 21, 2011. Davis also proclaimed his innocence until the very end and hundreds of thousands of people rallied to his side, here in the United States and around the world. Seven of the nine original witnesses recanted their testimony and no actual evidence exits to tie Davis to the murder of the police officer he was convicted and sentenced to death for killing. Since 1976 over 130 people have been exonerated from death row in the United States despite strict regulations around petitioning for new factual evidence to be reviewed by a jury and judge. The family of Deputy Barry Hill was devastated by the loss of Mr. Hill. Robert Will’s family, a young son Robert Will hasn't seen since his incarceration in 2000 should not have to suffer that same fate. Someone killed Deputy Hill on December 4th, 2000. Robert Will is not that guy. (source: TDPAM) PENNSYLVANIA: Washington County DA to seek death penalty in elderly woman's death Washington County District Attorney Steve Toprani's office will seek the death penalty against one of three California family members charged in connection with the stabbing death of a 92-year-old woman in her home in July. Assistant District Attorney Michael Lucas gave formal notice Tuesday that the office will seek the death penalty against David A. McClelland, 56, who is charged with murdering his neighbor, Evelyn Stepko, on July 18. We filed notice with the court and the defendant this morning that we believe there were aggravating factors in the homicide case against David A. McClelland in as far as the death was deliberately committed in the commission of another felony, said Toprani's chief of staff, Steven Fisher. The elder McClelland, his wife, Diane, 48, and his son, David J. McClelland, 36, a former part-time Washington Township police officer, are awaiting trial on charges related to Stepko's murder and for stealing money from her over the past 2 years. The three were formally arraigned before Washington Judge Paul Pozonsky this morning. Diane McClelland does not face homicide charges, but is accused of benefitting from the proceeds of the multiple burglaries at Stepko's home. State police allege McClelland and his wife filed for personal bankruptcy before the 1st burglary on Aug. 4, 2009. After that, they started going on gambling sprees at Meadows Racetrack Casino and bought expensive vehicles. The elder McClelland worked as a handyman for Stepko up until she was murdered, according to state police at Belle Vernon. Stepko was found at the bottom of her basement stairs. She died of 2 stab wounds to her neck and blunt-force trauma to her chest, authorities said. Police said David A. McClelland was receiving $1,000 a month in disability benefits, and his wife was making about $22,000 a year as a grocery store clerk. Last year, police allege, she paid $43,844 in cash for a 2009 Lincoln Navigator and later paid $11,750 in cash for a Grand Am for her stepson. McClelland and his son have admitted their roles in Stepko's murder, according to police. When police questioned Diane McClelland, she maintained that she was unaware her husband and stepson allegedly were burglarizing Stepko's home. She said the money spent at the casino and on the vehicles came from winnings from a private, illegal lottery and a $9,000 income-tax refund. Her stepson told police she knew about the burglaries, according to the affidavit of probable cause. Fischer said it is premature to say whether Diane McClelland and David J. McClelland will testify for the prosecution at trial against the elder
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----worldwide
Oct. 18 ISRAEL: Israel must have a death penalty for terrorists No Jew, and indeed no decent person in whom there beats a human heart, could fail to be moved to tears by the reunion of Gilad Shalit and his family in Israel. Looking pale from years of being held in a cell and deprived of sunlight, and extremely shy due to years of being denied virtually all human contact, Israel welcomed home a hero for whom they had traded 1000 murderers, terrorists, and criminals committed to its destruction to keep true to its promise, that no soldier is ever forgotten or left behind. As Hamas and the Palestinians ululated and celebrated the return to their society of killers who had taken the lives of so many innocent men, women and children guilty of no other sin than going about their daily business, Israel cheered at the restoration of one of its sons who was kidnapped while trying to protect these innocent lives. The conflicting values systems of the two opposing camps – one dedicated to the life and the other, tragically, having been overtaken for decades by a culture of death – could not have been draw in more stark terms than watching our Palestinian brothers and sisters welcoming terrorists home with parades while Israel reembraced a soldier whose first words to the world media, after having been treated like a caged animal for five years, were his hopes for lasting peace. It also goes without saying that when Israel is prepared to trade a thousand predators for 1 lonely soldier it is because of Israel’s commitment to the infinite value of human life. Still, the question remains whether the deal was worth it. Much comment has been made both pro and con, so I will here limit myself to a different angle of the story entirely, one that would obviate the need to trade killers for captured soldiers in the future. It is high time that Israel finally instituted a death penalty for terrorists. In the United States Timothy McVeigh, who murdered 160 people in Oklahoma in April, 1995, was dispatched after a fair trial and an appeal with no public outcry whatsoever. No man who takes that many lives may be permitted to live. So why would Israel lock up the most rancid, heartless, and cold-blooded mass murderers in its jails just so that they can serve as a lure for Israelis to be kidnapped in order that these killers be paroled? A very partial of terrorists now released by Israel, and who were previously fed three warm meals a day in an Israeli prison for years, includes Ibrahim Jundiya, who was serving multiple life sentences for carrying out an attack that killed 12 people and wounded 50. There is Amina Mona, an accomplice to the murder of 16-year-old Ofir Rachum. She lured him over the internet to a meeting where terrorists were waiting to kill him. Jihad Yaghmur and Yehia Sanwar were involved in the abduction and murder of Nachshon Wachsman which also led to the murder of Matkal Unit member, Nir Poraz, head of the rescue mission sent to save him. I am an acquaintance of Nachson’s mother and can only imagine her pain at seeing her son’s killers celebrated as returning conquerors. Also released are Ahlam Tamimi, the 20-year-old student accomplice to the Sbarros restaurant bombing in 2001 that left fifteen dead and 130 wounded, Aziz Salha who was famously photographed displaying his bloodied hands for the mob crowd below after beating an Israeli soldier to death, and Nasser Yataima who planned the 2002 Passover massacre that killed 30 and wounded 140. The question this despicable list of the murderers being released begs is this: why were they still alive in the first place? Why were they not given fair and impartial trials and the right to appeal, and if found guilty of murder and especially mass murder, executed by the State? Some will argue that this will only invite the Arab terror organizations to execute the Israeli prisoners they hold. It is therefore worth recalling that this is what the Palestinian terror organizations do overwhelmingly anyway and that Gilad Shalit is the first living soldier to be returned to Israel in more than a quarter century. In July, 2008, Israel arranged another prisoner exchange in order to obtain the release of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, captured two years earlier, sparking Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, only to tragically discover they had been dead all along. Others, especially Europeans, will argue that the death penalty is cruel and Israel is more humane for banning it. I disagree. While there is a robust debate here in the United States related to the death penalty over individual acts of murder, there should be no such debate whatsoever when it comes to premeditated mass murder and terrorism. The Europeans powers like Britain and France participated in the execution of Nazi leaders in the Nuremberg trials of 1945-1946, with no compunction whatsoever in mandating state-sponsored executions of mass
