[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, WYO.
Sept. 10 TEXASexecution Houston man executed in deaths of estranged lover, her brother Willie Tyrone Trottie, condemned for the murder of his estranged wife and her brother, went to his death in Texas' execution chamber Wednesday offering apologies to his victims' family. As relatives of Barbara Canada and Titus Canada embraced and sobbed, Trottie smiled faintly, called their names and said, "I hope this brings you some closure. Stay strong. I am going home to be with the Lord. "Find it in your hearts to forgive me. I'm sorry," he continued. "Jesus take me home." Trottie, 45, was declared dead at 6:35 p.m. - 30 minutes after the lethal injection of pentobarbital began flowing. Later, relatives of the victims issued a statement saying they were "glad to see justice finally served all these years later. It is time for our family to end this chapter and move on." Trottie's case gained national attention earlier this year when he shared his views concerning his crime, death row and capital punishment with the online publication, gawker.com. In his letter, Trottie denounced his pending execution as a "murdercution." The former Houston security guard's death sentence grew out a romantic relationship that ended on May 3, 1993 in a bloody shootout at the Canada family home. Trottie insisted that he had fired his 9 mm semi-automatic "in the heat of passion," only after he had been wounded by shots fired by his estranged lover's brother. Trottie said he had gone to the residence to borrow a car. Accounts of the fatal night included in court documents, though, indicate Trottie's appearance at the Canada home came after repeated threats that he would murder Barbara Canada if she failed to return to him. "Bitch, I told you I was going to kill you," he said as he pumped 11 bullets into the 24-year-old woman's body. Titus Canada, 29, was shot twice in the head, and the pair's mother and sister also were wounded. Trial witnesses testified that Trottie frequently telephoned his former lover at home and work and that, on one occasion, he bumped her car with his vehicle at highway speeds. In response to the threats and harassment, Barbara Canada obtained a restraining order barring further contact. In state and federal appeals filed days before the scheduled execution, Trottie's lawyers argued that Canada - mother of Trottie's young son - continued their intimate relationship despite the court order. Arguing that Trottie had suffered from ineffective representation, they said that jurors in their client's first trial never heard such testimony - testimony that might have lent credence to his claims of passion and self-defense. 16 years passed, they told appeals courts, before prosecutors told Trottie's legal team that a trial witness had privately conceded that Canada "probably had messed with (Trottie's) mind." According to court documents, Trottie and Canada began dating in 1989, later living together in a common-law marriage. They separated 3 years later. In an 11th-hour filing Tuesday with the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Trottie's lawyers questioned whether state prison officials were truthful when they asserted pentobarbital to be used in the execution would remain potent and pure. Lawyers asked the court to issue a stay and schedule oral arguments concerning the compounding pharmacy-produced drug. Trottie becomes the 8th condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas this year, and the 516th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on december 7, 1982. Trottie becomes the 277th condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas since Rick Perry became Governor in 2001. Trottie becomes the 29th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1388th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin) *** Executions under Rick Perry, 2001-present-277 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982-present516 Perry #scheduled execution date-name-Tx. # 278Sept. 17--Lisa Coleman-517 279Oct. 15--Larry Hatten--518 280Oct. 28--Miguel Paredes519 281Jan. 14--Rodney Reed---520 282Jan. 21---Arnold Prieto521 283Jan. 28---Garcia White-522 284Feb. 4Donald Newbury---523 285Feb. 10---Les Bower, Jr.---524 286Mar. 18---Randall Mays-525 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) WYOMING: Wyoming should retain death penalty Wyoming has the death penalty and needs to use it to punish killers. It's the right thing to do. There is a sense of urgency for the good people of Wyoming to shout loud on
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C.
Sept. 10 TEXASimminent execution High court rejects condemned Texas inmate appeals The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected last-minute appeals from a Texas death row inmate. It clears the way for Willie Trottie's execution more than two decades after he was convicted of slaying his former common-law wife and her brother. Trottie, who turned 45 on Monday, has acknowledged shooting 24-year-old Barbara Canada and her 28-year-old brother, Titus, at their parents' Houston home. Trottie said the 1993 shootings were accidental and in self-defense. Canada had a protective order against Trottie. About an hour before Trottie's lethal injection scheduled for Wednesday, the high court turned down two appeals. One contended Trottie's lawyers at his 1993 trial were deficient. The other argued the pentobarbital to be used to execute him was past its effectiveness date and could subject Trottie to unconstitutional "tortuous" pain. (source: Associated Press) NORTH CAROLINA: NC prosecutor weighs reopening infamous 1983 case The prosecutor who cleared the way for North Carolina's longest-serving death-row inmate and his half brother to walk free says the case disproved his previous public comments that no innocent men were on the state's death row. Robeson County District Attorney Johnson Britt said in an interview that he hasn't made up his mind on whether to reopen the case on Sabrina Buie's 1983 slaying after new DNA evidence freed Henry McCollum from death row and Leon Brown from a life sentence. The DNA evidence points to another man serving life in prison for similar killing, and Britt is considering whether to pursue charges against that inmate. A judge's decision last week to free McCollum and Brown hinged largely on Britt's conclusion that new DNA evidence negated the case put forward at their trials in Buie's slaying. The new DNA evidence lifted from a cigarette butt was disclosed in June to Britt. "I was stunned," said the prosecutor, who was a 1st-year law student when one of his predecessors first tried Brown and McCollum. Several years ago, Britt said during a televised forum that there were no innocent men on death row. Now, he says: "I stand corrected." The inmate whose DNA was found on the butt left near Buie is serving life in prison for the rape and murder of an 18-year-woman about a month after Buie's death. The Associated Press has not named the inmate because he hasn't been charged. A sheriff's deputy who questioned Brown was the lead investigator on the Brockman case, and there were several similarities between the 2 killings. "It's hard to fathom that they didn't make the connection," Britt said. Britt said he would meet with Buie's family and consider their wishes before re-opening the case. "They were very shocked by last week's hearing and the outcome. Understandably so. They've been through 3 trials," he said. Relatives of Sabrina Buie didn't return messages left earlier this week seeking comment on the case. Britt, who previously served as the president of the state Conference of District Attorneys, said the case has heightened his concerns about the costs of death penalty litigation, noting that the Innocence Inquiry Commission spent more than $100,000 investigating Brown and McCollum's claim. He said he's not opposed to the death penalty and that his office has even been criticized for pursuing too many capital cases. Not long after becoming district attorney in 1994, Britt sought death sentences for the 2 men who killed Michael Jordan's father, but both were given life in prison by a jury. But he said he has concerns about the expense of capital punishment and whether it deters would-be criminals. He said the state legislature should re-examine the death penalty. "Take the political philosophies out of it. What's the cost of it? What benefit does it serve? It's not a deterrent. It never has been a deterrent. The only person the death penalty deters is the person who was sentenced," Britt said. (source: Associated Press) ___ 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----worldwide
Sept. 10 SAUDI ARABIAexecution Saudi carries out new beheading after UN appeal for halt Saudi authorities beheaded a national for murder today, the interior ministry said, a day after a UN appeal for an immediate moratorium on their use of the death penalty. Hussein Daghriri was executed in the southwestern province of Jizan after being sentenced to death for fatally stabbing fellow tribesman Nayef Daghriri in a dispute, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency. His beheading brought to 49 the number of executions carried out in the desert kingdom this year, according to an AFP tally. It came after UN independent experts called on Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to implement an immediate moratorium. "Despite several calls by human rights bodies, Saudi Arabia continues to execute individuals with appalling regularity and in flagrant disregard of international law standards," said Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. "The trials are by all accounts grossly unfair. Defendants are often not allowed a lawyer and death sentences were imposed following confessions obtained under torture." Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of Islamic sharia law. (source: The Malaysian Insider) ___ 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----TEXAS, N.C., KAN., ARIZ., USA
Sept. 10 TEXASimpending execution Texas appeals court rejects inmate's lawsuit over expired execution drugs A highly debated execution is set to move forward today in Texas. Willie Trottie, 45, is facing execution for the 1993 shooting deaths of his estranged common-law wife, Barbara Canada, 24, and her brother, Titus, 28, at their home. He would be 8th Texas prisoner executed this year. His attorneys alleged in a federal lawsuit the sedative intended for his lethal injection is expired and its use could cause him unconstitutionally "torturous" pain. The lawsuit, rejected by a federal judge in Houston and before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, was merely another attempt to force Texas prison officials to reveal its drug provider, they said. State lawyers argued the pentobarbital planned for Trottie was effective through the end of this month. Texas, like several other states with capital punishment, has addressed the refusal by mainstream drug companies to sell drugs for executions by turning to compounding pharmacies, which operate under less stringent supervision. Also like some other death penalty states, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has refused to identify its supplier, a practice the courts so far have upheld. Maurie Levin, the lead attorney for the drug lawsuit, said the pentobarbital for Trottie would come from a supply Texas obtained earlier this year and that scientific literature on compounded drugs suggests they lose effectiveness after a week or a month depending on factors like storage and sterility. "All they're saying is: Take our word for it - Sept. 30," Levin said, calling Texas prison officials "untrustworthy." The lawsuit sought a court order identifying the drug source, the compounding date, how it was transported and how it's been stored, and a reprieve for Trottie so the legality and constitutionality of the process can be adjudicated. The arguments were "nothing more than rank speculation," assistant Texas Attorney General Fredericka Sargent said in a court filing. The death penalty has come under increased scrutiny since executions recently went awry in Oklahoma and Arizona, states that use drug combinations for capital punishment. Texas uses only pentobarbital. "Whatever happened in those states has nothing to do with what happens in Texas," Sargent said. At least 1 other appeal to halt Trottie's punishment was headed to the U.S. Supreme Court after the 5th Circuit rejected arguments from another legal team that argued defense lawyers at Trottie's trial were deficient for not adequately addressing his assertion that Titus Canada's death was in self-defense. Trottie didn't deny the shootings but questioned the circumstances that led to his conviction. "I shot my brother-in-law in self-defense and I shot my wife by accident," he told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "There's no doubt I committed this crime. The dispute is the sequence of how it happened." Trottie said Titus Canada fired 1st and he was defending himself. Trottie also said his gun "went off," killing his wife, during a struggle with her and her sister. Johnny Sutton, the lead prosecutor at Trottie's November 1993 trial, said Barbara Canada began recording Trottie's threatening phone calls to her after their breakup. "I had him on tape saying exactly what he was going to do, and then, of course, he did it," Sutton said. (source: ABC news) Texas inmate seeks last-minute halt to execution The U.S. Supreme Court was considering last-minute appeals from a Texas death row inmate scheduled for execution Wednesday, more than 2 decades after he was convicted in the slayings of his former common-law wife and her brother. Willie Trottie, who turned 45 on Monday, has acknowledged shooting Barbara Canada, 24, who had a protective order against him, and her brother, Titus Canada, 28, at their parents' home in Houston in 1993. Trottie said the shootings were accidental and in self-defense, and not worthy of a death sentence. "I'm ready whichever way it goes," Trottie said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "If God says, 'yes,' I'm ready." His attorneys appealed to the nation's highest court, arguing that Trottie's lawyers at his 1993 trial were deficient for not addressing his self-defense theory and for failing to produce sufficient testimony about Trottie's abusive childhood with an alcoholic mother. State attorneys scoffed at the argument, saying Trottie's self-defense claim was absurd and had been rejected in earlier appeals. But Trottie's attorneys are also argued in a separate civil rights lawsuit that the dose of pentobarbital scheduled to be used during the lethal injection Wednesday evening was past its effectiveness date. That could subject Trottie to unconstitutional "tortuous" pain, attorney Maurie Levin said in a lawsuit rejected Tues
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Sept. 10 BOTSWANA/SOUTH AFRICA: Death penalty bungle Botswana citizen Edwin Samotse - now possibly languishing in jail in that country - is the subject of frantic cross-border diplomatic efforts to save him from execution if he is convicted of murder. The Botswana government sought Samotse's extradition after learning he had slipped into South Africa. South Africa refused to repatriate him when Botswana would not give assurances that he would not be sentenced to death if convicted. But, because of what seems to have been a bungle by Home Affairs, Samotse was deported to his home country. Now all Home Affairs can hope for is that its error will not lead to Samotse's death. Department spokesman Mayihlome Tshwete said yesterday that there was as yet no indication that the authorities in Botswana would comply with South Africa' s request that he be returned to this country immediately. "We are fighting for him to be returned [to South Africa] because the way in which he was deported was unlawful," Tshwete said. Samotse had been kept in a Polokwane police station's cells. The Pretoria High Court prohibited his deportation on August 13. "Officials from the Department of Home Affairs, without prior knowledge of the director-general and without any authority, secured the release of Mr Samotse from the Polokwane police station and transported him to the Groblersbrug port of entry between South Africa and Botswana, where they handed him over to Botswana officials," said Tshwete. The circumstances of the officials' unauthorised actions are now the subject of an internal investigation. The officials involved have been suspended. According to the extradition agreement between South Africa and Botswana, South Africa cannot surrender anyone without receiving assurances that Gaborone will not impose the death penalty. But over the years South Africa has had little luck in cases regarding fugitives from Botswana. Botswana law allows the death sentence for murder and treason, as well as for an attempt to kill a head of state and for mutiny. There have been a number of cases over the years involving South Africans that ended with Botswana imposing the death sentence. South Africans Lehlohonolo Kobedi and Mariette Bosch were both put to death in Botswana. (source: Timse Live) IRANexecutions 2 young men hanged in public Hamadan 2 young Iranian men in their 20s were hanged in public on Wednesday in city of Hamadan allegedly for being 'evil', the regime's judiciary declared in a statement. The victims, identified as Vahid Q., 24 and Bahman Moussavi, 22, were hanged in Resalat district of Hamadan. The city's commander of the State Security Forces (police) told state-run IRNA news agency that he hopes "the public executions would be a lesson for other offenders." Meanwhile, according to reports received the authorities in Bandar Abbas prison transferred 2 inmates to isolation to await their execution. Violations of human rights in Iran has taken new dimensions since Hassan Rouhani has taken office as the president of the Iranian regime. Under so-called 'moderate' Hassan Rouhani the country has faced highest number of executions in a year compared to any Iranian president for the past 25 years. (source: NCR-Iran) *** 50% increase in the executions during recent 2 weeks The Statistics and Publication Unit of human rights Activists in Iran has publicized a Comparative report on the executions in Iran in the 1st half of "Shahrivar" ( 23rd August- 6th September) this year, against the statistics of executions in the previous month and also same time last year. Finally, they have announced a 50 % of growth in the executions. According to this report, a disturbing trend of execution is expected to be carried out. Execution is a kind of punishment and indeed, execution is the maximum punishment for the convicted individuals. Section Six of Article II of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states "In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime and not contrary to the provisions of the present Covenant and to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This penalty can only be carried out pursuant to a final judgment rendered by a competent court." Iran has not signed the Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, which calls for the abolition of the death penalty and despite international warnings regarding executions and stopping the death penalty, and despite the lack of fair trial standards a large number of criminals and offenders are being executed by hanging in public and in secret. Iran has the 2nd highest number of executions after China. If we want to compare the relative population of the 2 countr
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----COLO., NEV., CALIF., WASH., USA
Sept. 10 COLORADO: Victims Object To Cameras At Holmes Murder Trial Most victims and family members of those killed in the Aurora theater massacre said they don't want cameras in the courtroom during the trial of the murder suspect. CBS4 learned that prosecutors polled the victims and family members of victims. 64 % objected to media cameras during any phase of the trial, while 24 % said that was OK, 6 % took no position and 3% said cameras shouldn't show witnesses. "I actually have an objection to it. It's going to be emotionally devastating to see pictures and videos and anything else that's going to come up," said Jessica Watts, who lost her cousin, Jonathan Blunk, in the shooting. However, she said she didn't see a problem with still and video cameras during opening statements, closing arguments and the verdict - but she stressed witnesses shouldn't be shown. "I don't want to see it necessarily captured and replayed for, you know, public consumption," she said. The media have argued broadcasting the trial wouldn't interfere with suspect James Holmes' right to a fair trial. The prosecution and the defense filed motions saying they want to bar cameras but for different reasons. Holmes' defense said it would violate his constitutional rights, affect the dignity of the proceedings and "provide little, if any, benefit to the public." The Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office said allowing TV cameras and photographers in the courtroom would subject witnesses and victims to potential abuse and humiliation. Holmes faces multiple murder counts and various other charges in the July 20, 2012, slaying of 12 movie patrons. The DA's office is pursuing the death penalty. Holmes' lawyers are arguing an insanity defense. (source: CBS news) NEVADA: Woods is still here to hear apology due her Cathy Woods, now 64, has spent more than 30 years in the Nevada State Prison for killing a young nursing student near the University of Nevada campus in 1976. She's done the time, even though it now appears that she didn't do the crime. On Monday, District Judge Patrick Flanagan ordered a new trial for Woods and released her from prison. She will never get those years of her back. Yet, Woods, who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of the murder for the 2nd time in 1985, just as easily could have ended up the poster woman for opponents of the death penalty. Had Woods been sentenced to death after the sensational trials, it would have been impossible to correct the wrong inflicted on her. She not only would have been wrongfully convicted; she would have been wrongfully executed, a penalty that would have made it impossible to set the record straight and a penalty that would have made it impossible to ever give her back the life that had been taken taken from her some 30 years ago. If ever a good reason was needed to be concerned about the death penalty, this case provides it. It's the one sentence that can't be undone once it has been set in motion. Society can take back a sentence of life in prison; it can't do anything once a prisoner is executed. -- From the day that law enforcement officials announced that the brutal murder of 19-year-old Michelle Mitchell had been solved thanks to a confession made by Woods' at a mental institution in Louisiana, the resolution has seemed unsatisfactory. Over the years, there have been 2 theories about her motivation for the killing. In one, Mitchell was said to have been murdered because she rejected Woods' sexual advances. In another, the murder was planned to create a diversion for a second murder, that of a bartender in what was believed to be an insurance fraud. There also were reports that Woods told investigators that she heard "satanic voices" before murdering Mitchell, who was going for help when her car broke down. Newly tested DNA from a cigarette butt picked off the floor of the garage where Mitchell's body was found now indicates that the actual murder was someone else, a serial killer currently serving time in a prison in Oregon for attempted murder. The DNA also is said to match evidence found at the scenes of several murders in California known as the Gypsy Hill killings. The new evidence was sufficient to compel Judge Flanagan to order a new trial. As the Gazette-Journal's Emerson Marcus reported, even the Washoe County District Attorney's Office told the judge that a new trail was warranted. That's an unusual train of events for Nevada, but it's one that has occurred with increasing frequency around the nation since DNA testing has come into vogue. As the Woods case demonstrates, there's a lot of evidence sitting in lockers just waiting to be tested. Often the DNA tests will prove that law enforcement got it right; sometimes, however, it will prove that they got it wrong and the life of someone on death row is sav
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., OHIO, TENN., MO.
Sept. 10 TEXASimpending execution Condemned killer of 2 set to die in Texas Attorneys for convicted killer Willie Trottie are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to save him from the Texas death chamber. The 45-year-old Trottie is set for lethal injection Wednesday evening in Huntsville for the slayings 21 years ago in Houston of his former common-law wife and her brother. Trottie says one shooting was accidental, the other self-defense, and he doesn't deserve a death sentence. His attorneys argue Trottie received inadequate legal counsel at his 1993 trial. Another appeal, a lawsuit, contends the pentobarbital to be used to put Trottie to death likely has passed its effectiveness date and could cause unconstitutionally "tortuous" pain. State attorneys oppose both appeals. They say the pentobarbital Texas prison officials obtained earlier this year from an unidentified compounding pharmacy won't expire until month's end. (source: Associated Press) *** Last Lakewood Villas murders defendant remains jailed 3 years later 3 death penalty cases and an upcoming capital murder retrial have overshadowed the capital murder case of D???Arvis Tyrell Cummings, who has been in the McLennan County Jail for 1,217 days. Cummings, the last of the 3 Lakewood Villas murders defendants, turned 22 last month, the 3rd birthday he has spent behind bars in Waco. McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna did not return phone calls Tuesday seeking comment about Cummings' status. Reyna's 1st assistant, Michael Jarrett, declined comment, saying it is a pending matter. Bill Browning, Cummings' attorney, also did not return phone calls to his office Tuesday. A trial date for Cummings is set in Waco's 19th State District Court for Feb. 16. Browning has filed a motion to move Cummings' trial from Waco because of publicity surrounding the trials of his brothers, Rickey Cummings and Albert Love Jr. No hearing date is set for the change of venue motion, but should that be granted, it would further delay D'Arvis Cummings' trial while Strother searches for another location. Part of the delay in bringing Cummings to trial could be the July resignation of Reyna's former 1st assistant, Greg Davis. Davis was lead prosecutor in the trials of Rickey Cummings, Love and Carnell Petetan Jr., who was sentenced to death in April for the 2012 shooting death of his wife, Kimberly Farr Petetan. With Davis gone and Jarrett focused on the retrial of Edward Graf Jr., it leaves Reyna short on prosecutors with death penalty trial experience. Judge Ralph Strother knows D'Arvis Cummings has been in jail a long time but said he will be afforded his day in court. "Neither side is ready for trial," Strother said. "My court has had 2 other capital murder trials, 1 of which was tried out of (the) county, as well as the normal heavy felony caseload." Cummings, like Rickey Cummings and Love, is charged in the March 2011 shooting deaths of Keenan Hubert, 20, and Tyus Sneed, 17, at Waco's Lakewood Villas apartment complex, 1601 Spring St. 2 other men in the car with them were wounded but escaped the ambush alive. Rickey Cummings was sent to death row after his trial in Waco in 2012. Love, whose trial was moved to Williamson County, was sent to death row in July 2013. Reyna's office has made no official declaration about whether it will seek the death penalty against Cummings. Testimony from the 1st 2 trials indicates authorities believe D'Arvis Cummings did not shoot the men that night but served more in the capacity of a getaway driver after Rickey Cummings and Love fled the area. Rickey Cummings' .45-caliber pistol and his cellphone and Love's cellphone were found in D'Arvis Cummings blue Mercury Marquis shortly after the shootings, according to testimony from the 1st 2 trials. (source: Waco Tribune) FLORIDA: State to seek death for murder suspect // documents Prosecutors in the 14th Judicial Circuit will seek the death penalty for triple-homicide suspect Derrick Ray Thompson, according to court documents. The State Attorney's Office filed notices Tuesday saying that, if convicted, they will seek capital punishment for Thompson, who is accused of the July 21 killing of 66-year-old former BCSO officer and businessman Allen Johnson. The state also filed a notice of aggravating circumstances it will have to prove for jurors to levy death upon Thompson, which includes proving the alleged murder was "cold, calculated and premeditated." Prosecutors in Santa Rosa County also are exploring the death penalty against Thompson and have recently indicted Thompson for the fatal shootings of Milton residents Steven Zackowski, 60, and Debra Zackowski, 59, on July 19. However, since the incidents are 2 separate crimes, the 14th Judicial Circuit's decision to seek Thompson's death does not influence the likelihood of Santa Rosa County's pursuit of capit
