[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, CONN., MD., MISS., MINN., COLO., CALIF.
March 21 TEXAS: Court Ruling Could Affect Texas Death Row Cases Death row inmate Jesse Joe Hernandez, set to be executed next week for the 2001 death of a 10-month-old boy in Dallas, is hoping that a ruling Tuesday from the U.S. Supreme Court could give him another chance to prove that the tragedy was not entirely his fault. The nation’s highest court ruled that the failure of initial state habeas lawyers to argue that their client’s trial counsel was ineffective should not prevent the defendant from making that argument later on. Lawyers across the country, including those for at least 2 Texas death row inmates, were eagerly awaiting the court’s ruling in the Martinez v. Ryan case out of Arizona, which could expand appeals access for inmates. “A procedural default will not bar a federal habeas court from hearing those claims if, in the initial-review collateral proceeding, there was no counsel or counsel in the proceeding was ineffective,” the court majority held. Habeas lawyers investigate issues that could or should have been raised during a defendant’s original trial. Brad Levenson, director of the Texas Office of Capital Writs, filed a petition with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Tuesday afternoon on behalf of Hernandez, arguing that his March 28 execution should be stayed, in part, because of the court’s ruling. Although the ruling applies to federal courts, Levenson said, Texas’ highest criminal court should take its cue from the nation’s highest court and hear Hernandez’s claims. Hernandez was convicted in 2002 for the death of a child who lived in the home where he lived at the time. Hernandez admitted he hit the child, who was rushed to the hospital, where he was put into a medically induced coma and then died after he was removed from life support. In a writ filed Tuesday with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Hernandez argues that his actions did not directly cause the child’s death. Instead, an expert who recently reviewed the medical records concluded that the hospital gave the child a lethal dose of the drug pentobarbital and that he was pulled from life support too soon. “There’s no way to tell at end of day whether he would have survived,” Levenson said. “Our expert said there’s a very real probability the child could have lived.” Levenson said Hernandez’s trial lawyers and his initial appeals lawyers were ineffective because they failed to do further investigation and hire their own experts to find out why the child died. Levenson, who took the case only three weeks ago, hired a doctor who reviewed the medical records and determined that the little boy had not been diagnosed as brain-dead before he was removed from life support and that he was given toxic doses of pentobarbital. “It’s not to say that Mr. Hernandez is not guilty of a crime, but he’s not guilty of capital murder,” Levenson said. Current law, though, could prohibit Hernandez from arguing that because his original trial lawyers were ineffective by not further investigating the cause of death that he should get a new trial. Those kinds of claims must be raised from the beginning of the appeals process to be valid later on. And Hernandez’s previous habeas lawyers did not argue that he was inadequately represented. Levenson said that even though Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling applies to claims made in federal court — not state writs like the one he filed — the same principle ought to apply. “We’re saying the state courts should also take a look at these claims for the same reason the Supreme Court would take a look at them,” he said. The ruling could also be a boon for death row inmate Rob Will, who was convicted in 2002 of fatally shooting a Harris County sheriff’s deputy. Will says that the man he was with that night was the real shooter and that he is innocent. In January, U.S. District Court Judge Keith Ellison denied Will’s pleas for a new trial but wrote that he lamented doing so because of “disturbing uncertainties” raised about his guilt. Will is hoping the court’s ruling in Martinez will allow him to argue that he should get a new trial because both his trial lawyer and his state-appointed habeas lawyer were ineffective when they failed to track down several witnesses who have testified that the other man confessed to the killing. (source: Texas Tribune) CONNECTICUT: Death penalty repeal effort faces 1st vote A high-profile bill looking to abolish Connecticut's death penalty for all future cases and replace it with life imprisonment will face its 1st round of votes in the state legislature. Members of the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee will vote on the bill Wednesday morning at the Legislative Office Building. Democratic Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, of New Haven, who is a Vice Chair of the committee, said he is confident the bill will pass this hurdle. The proposed bill would not directly affect
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news:----CONNECTICUT----please help in a CT poll
Hi Friends, Please take a moment to vote in this Hartford Courant poll about repeal: http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-death-penalty-poll,0,6302,post.poll Sometime today the CT Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on the repeal bill (SB 280). We anticipate that the bill will be voted out of committee! You can watch the live streaming of the committee vote here: http://www.ctn.state.ct.us/ Last week the Judiciary Committee held a nearly 13 hour long public hearing and the support for repeal was overwhelming! Law enforcement, murder victims' family members, religious leaders, and dozens others came forward and testified beautifully about how the death penalty is failing the people of Connecticut. To read some of the coverage from the hearing please check out the CT murder victims' family members' blog: http://ctvictimvoices.org/ The blog's intrepid owner, Elizabeth has posted her testimony (it's awesome!) and will be sharing other people's testimonies in the days to come. All best, Colleen Cunningham Equal Justice USA___ DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/ ~~~ A free service of WashLaw http://washlaw.edu (785)670.1088 ~~~
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----DEL., CONN., US MIL., USA, MO., CALIF., TENN.
March 21 DELAWAREimpending execution//volunteer Del. Death Row Inmate Faces April 20 Execution A Delaware death row inmate who has waived his right to all further appeals of his conviction and death sentence has been sentenced to die by lethal injection. A Superior Court judge set an April 20 execution date for Shannon Johnson during a brief hearing Wednesday. Johnson waived his right to a requirement that the execution be held no sooner than 90 days from the sentencing date. Johnson was sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of a man whom he found sitting in a car with Johnson's former girlfriend. He later shot the former girlfriend, but she survived. After the state Supreme Court upheld his conviction and death sentence, Johnson said he did not want to pursue any further appeals. (source: Associated Press) CONNECTICUT: Please take a moment to vote in this Hartford Courant poll about repeal: http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-death-penalty-poll,0,6302,post.poll (source: Hartford Courant) US MILITARY: Death penalty for Staff Sgt. Bales? Not likely. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says the death penalty is possible if a U.S. military court finds an Army staff sergeant guilty of gunning down Afghan children and family members. But it isn't likely. History shows that the U.S. military system is slow to convict Americans, particularly service members, of alleged war crimes. And when a punishment is imposed, it can range anywhere from life in prison all the way down to house arrest. Other factors can seem to play more of a role than the crime itself. In the case of Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the suspect in the March 11 Kandahar shootings, legal experts say the 38-year-old married father of 2 young children could face a lengthy prison sentence if convicted of the crime, which has threatened U.S.-Afghan relations. But on his fourth combat tour and with a head injury on his record — the sergeant remembers little about that night, Bales' lawyer says — he might well be shown some leniency by the military jury, even if convicted. Political pressure is going to drive the push for the death penalty. Doesn't mean they're going to get it, said Charles Gittins, a Virginia-based defense attorney who represents service members and has handled capital cases. Of the long list of alleged U.S. atrocities — from prison massacres in World War II to the slaughter of civilians at My Lai in Vietnam — relatively few high-profile war crimes believed to involve Americans in the past century have resulted in convictions, let alone the death penalty. In the case of My Lai, President Richard Nixon reduced the only prison sentence given to three years of house arrest. In the 2005 Haditha shooting of Iraqi civilians, eight Marines were charged but plea deals and promises of immunity in exchange for testimony meant no prison sentences. Prosecution against Blackwater employees in the 2007 shootings in Baghdad's Nisoor Square similarly floundered as civilian prosecutors tried to assemble the case. Charges eventually were thrown out on the grounds that prosecutors mishandled evidence, although a federal appeals court last year resurrected the case. Legal experts say a big part of the challenge is assembling forensic evidence and eyewitness testimony from remote, often dangerous parts of the battlefield thousands of miles away from the United States. And there's an emotional component, too, in prosecuting U.S. citizens who have risked their lives in combat. Terms like 'fog of war' mean nothing legally, said Eugene Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale University. But there's a reluctance to invoke the full moral sanction of criminal justice in these cases. The military hasn't executed a service member since 1961. And like that case in 1961, in which an Army ammunition handler was hanged for raping an 11-year-old girl in Austria, none of the six men on death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., today were convicted for atrocities against foreign civilians. All of their crimes involved the killing of U.S. civilians or fellow service members. The military doesn't even have the equipment necessary to carry out an execution. If a service member were to be put to death, the military would rely on the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. Of note is that U.S. service members — as well as contractors supporting them in war zones — are subject to a different set of rules than civilians when it comes to capital punishment. Unlike in the civilian world, the president must personally agree to the death sentence of a service member. Gittins estimates that since 1961, more than half of the death penalty cases involving U.S. service members have been overturned by military appeals courts. He attributes that high percentage in part to the lack of experience that military judges and prosecutors have in pursuing capital cases. Inexperience
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
March 21 IRAN: Jail, exile and death for young Arab prisoners The Ahvaz Revolutionary Court has sentenced a number of Arab-minority political prisoners to death and imprisonment. Ahvaz human rights groups report that the prisoners faced “a year of detention and torture” before their sentencing. Teh Heydarian, 28; Nasser Heydarian, 21; Abbas Heydarian, 24, and Ali Sharifi, 25, all from the Mollashieh neighbourhood, were each sentenced to 10 years in jail and execution. Amir Moavi, 24, has been sentenced to 38 years in jail and Abbas Heydari, 26, to 18 years. Both Moavi and Heydari are also exiled to northern Province of Mazandaran for the duration of their jail term. The Mollashieh neighbourhood is located in the southernmost part of Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan Province in southwest Iran. A mainly Arab neighbourhood, Mollashieh is reportedly lacking in recreational, cultural and library facilities despite its high population of youth. The 6 convicted political prisoners were arrested last year after a peaceful demonstration in Ahvaz in protest against their “unfavourable and discriminatory situation” in Khuzestan province. The protests were met with state violence that left 12 dead, 20 wounded and scores arrested. In the past year, according to human rights reports, three political prisoners arrested in the Khuzestan protests have died from abuse and torture in prison. Reports indicate that another demonstration on January 13 was again met with government force, and Human Rights Watch reports that 65 people were arrested. (source: Radio Zamaneh) INDONESIA: Consulate hires lawyer to represent Indonesians charged with crimes carrying death penalty The Indonesian Consulate here has engaged its own lawyer to take up cases involving its citizens charged with offences that carry the death penalty. Indonesian Consul General Djoko Harjanto revealed to The Borneo Post this was to ensure that innocent suspects would not be forced to plead guilty to crimes they did not commit. “We cannot imagine when people, especially when they are our own citizens, are sent to the gallows for crimes they never committed. But we have reasons to believe that this has happened to some of our nationals here in the past. “So in our effort to protect our people we have engaged our own lawyer in the person of Rambir Singh to particularly handle cases involving our people charged with offences that carry mandatory death sentence upon conviction,” he said. He said even at present there were a few on-going cases involving Indonesians who were charged with murder and drug trafficking, where death penalty would be meted upon conviction. “We are not saying that all who were charged and tried in courts were innocent. There must be those who pleaded guilty to charges against them who really committed the crimes but we also believe that there were some convicted due to circumstances and this is what we don’t want to happen,” he said. In this regard, Djoko advised his countrymen working abroad to comply with the laws and regulations of the country they were in. “Each time I have the chance to meet with our people who are working in Malaysia I will remind them to respect the law here and stay away from any form of illegal activity. “Nevertheless, it is impossible for us to monitor them and see what they are doing round the clock but we are trying our best to ensure that our people don’t commit whatever crime when coming here to work or on vacation,” he said. He said the other factor which made it more difficult for the Indonesian Consulate here to monitor their people was that many could have entered the state illegally. “This is something that we cannot deny due to the porous borderline between Kalimantan and Sarawak. Probably the only way illegal entries can be effectively reduced if not stopped completely is when nobody dares to accept or hire illegal immigrants. “But for as long as the demand is there the influx of illegal immigrants will continue and there will be no end to it,” he said. He thus appreciated the move by the Immigration Department to register illegal immigrants under the amnesty programme (Program 6P). “This gives the opportunity to those who have entered Sarawak and searched for jobs without valid documents to register themselves and follow the right procedures. However, in this programme their employers also have to play a very important role. “They should come forward and register their workers and not hide their illegal immigrants just because they want to run away from paying the levy and what not,” he added. Earlier this month, state Immigration Department director Datu Robert Lian said the amnesty programme would expire end of this month and thereafter would not be further extended. (source: The Borneo Post) PHILIPPINES: PH seeks mercy for 77 Pinoys on death row The Philippines said on Tuesday
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----CONN., VA., US MIL., PENN. (fwd)
March 21 CONNECTICUT: Conn. committee passes death penalty repeal bill A bill that would abolish the state's death penalty for all future cases and replace the punishment with life imprisonment has passed its 1st round of votes in the General Assembly despite a recent poll's findings that repeal is unpopular with a majority of voters. Members of the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee voted 24-19 in favor of the bill on Wednesday. Now, the vote awaits further legislative action by the state's Senate. The vote on the bill came shortly after a new Quinnipiac University poll showed 62 percent of Connecticut residents do not support repealing the death penalty. The poll, released Wednesday, surveyed 1,622 registered voters on an array of issues. The margin of sampling error for the poll was 2.4 % points. Despite the findings of the poll, state lawmakers on both sides of the issue have raised concerns on what the poll is actually reflecting. Mike Lawlor, the undersecretary of Criminal Justice Policy for the Office of Policy and Management, said despite the lack of public support shown in the poll Gov. Dannel P. Malloy would sign legislation on the issue. If we had polled civil rights in 1962, we would still be operating largely under Jim Crow laws, Malloy said. So I think I'll stick with my position, and that is, that matters of conscience, people should be driven by their own conscience. The Quinnipiac University poll director, Doug Schwartz, said the poll found about 2 to 1 were against abolishing the death penalty. Of those surveyed, more than 80 % of Republicans said they believe abolishing the death penalty is a bad idea, compared to 44 % of Democrats. According to the poll, Connecticut men are more likely to oppose death penalty repeal than women. Additionally, more than half of state residents polled said they think death row inmates should still be executed if the penalty is abolished. While repealing the state's death penalty remains unpopular among voters, the percentage of Connecticut residents who said they oppose abolishing the punishment has dropped 5 % since last year. Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, D-New Haven, who is an outspoken supporter of repealing the death penalty, said the poll's recent findings on the death penalty are misleading. Holder-Winfield, the committee's vice chair, criticized the poll for not asking residents if they support life imprisonment in place of capital punishment, as it has in previous years. In March 2011, Quinnipiac released a poll that surveyed nearly 1,700 state voters on issues including the death penalty. The poll asked multiple questions on the subject and found that just under half the residents surveyed said they preferred a sentence of life in prison without parole over the death penalty. It's cool if you want to obfuscate and talk about something we're not talking about, except that on something this serious, you should talk about the issue before the state, he said. Similar to Holder-Winfield, death penalty opponent Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, said the poll is not reflective of the population that would support repeal with certain caveats, like life imprisonment without parole or solitary confinement. Kissel, a bill opponent, said the poll does point out that most state voters do not want death penalty repeal. For those of my colleagues who feel they know better, I would say the people of Connecticut are pretty darn smart, Kissel said. In the committee's lengthy discussion before the vote, Kissel raised a bill amendment that would give certain egregious offenders sentences that include isolation. Although the amendment failed, Kissel said he will continue to raise the issue. In 2009, a death penalty repeal bill passed the legislature but was vetoed by then-Gov. Jodi Rell. Last year, a similar effort failed in the Senate due largely to the ongoing death penalty trial in a fatal Cheshire home invasion case. There are 11 inmates sitting on death row in Connecticut. The state has carried out only 1 execution in 51 years, when serial killer Michael Ross was administered lethal injection in 2005. (source: Associated Press) VIRGINIA: Local filmmaker screens death penalty doc Working for a Virginia law firm that specialized in defending death penalty cases, Jeff Reynolds spent two years immersed in the world of capital punishment. At first, the Oconee native balanced the fence of the issue, he said. “But when I got the job at the law firm, I saw firsthand how our justice system works and the problems that arise when punishments are final.” Over the course of his employment at the law firm, Reynolds met a lot of death row inmates in person, including a few he felt were innocent. He also learned that overturning a death penalty conviction is next to impossible, he said, because the wheels of justice turn very slowly. “When it works, everybody is
