[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., GA., ALA., LA.
April 27 TEXAS: Jury selection continues in Risner capital murder trial The long process of jury selection continued Tuesday in the capital murder trial of a former police officer accused of fatally shooting Little River-Academy Police Chief Lee Dixon. David Gene Risner, 59, of Little River-Academy, faces the possibility of the death penalty in the June 2014 slaying. Jury selection started in early April at the Bell County Justice Center. Attorneys started with a prospective juror pool of 209 and have narrowed down that number to about 45-50 people. Of those, 16 have been questioned and 4 have been struck from the potential pool, Georgetown defense attorney Russell Hunt Jr. said Tuesday. "We're interviewing about 8 people a day," said Hunt, who has been an attorney in several death penalty cases. For weeks, groups of prospective jurors have gathered in the 27th District Court before Judge John Gauntt to fill out multipage questionnaire forms and be interviewed by attorneys in the case. Prospective jurors have been individually interviewed for a various amounts of time, from 15 minutes to more than an hour, so the process has been rigorous, attorneys said. Death penalty cases often take longer to get to a trial setting, Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza said Tuesday. "This process takes a period of time," Garza said. Jury selection is expected to last a few more weeks, he said. Once a jury and alternates have been seated, they will begin to hear testimony in the case, possibly in late May. Dixon went to 103 S. Allison Drive in Little River-Academy to check on a man who reportedly had a gun. The chief told a dispatcher that he didn't need help, but later came back on the radio to ask for assistance just before callers reported a shooting at that residence. Dixon, 54, was killed on Risner's front porch. Risner called 911 and reported that he shot a police officer at his home, an arrest affidavit said. Dixon died from 2 shotgun wounds, an autopsy showed. Risner's case is the 3rd in which Garza has sought the death penalty since he took office in 2001. Denard Manns was executed on Nov. 13, 2007, for the 1998 rape, murder and robbery of 26-year-old Michelle Robson in Killeen. Richard Tabler is currently on death row after his conviction in 2007 for killing 2 men in Killeen on Thanksgiving weekend in 2004. That case is under appeal. (source: Temple Daily Telegram) PENNSYLVANIA: Forensic to the max: A murder case deserves full facts on DNA evidence Courts are reluctant to overturn convictions, even in the face of new arguments and evidence. It is crucial to get things right the first time, especially in murder cases where defendants face the death penalty. Last week, the state Superior Court declined to hear an appeal from Michael Robinson, charged with double homicide. His lawyers were seeking to overturn a decision by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos, denying him information about a computer program the prosecution is using to link his DNA to the case. In light of high-profile cases involving misapplication of forensic evidence, the request was reasonable. Disclosing the information would help to ensure a fair trial. Mr. Robinson faces the death penalty if convicted of the 2013 shooting deaths of Lawrence Short, 29, of Clairton and Tyrone Coleman, 18, of Duquesne. The Allegheny County district attorney's office has linked him to the killings with a DNA program developed by Mark Perlin and his Oakland company, Cybergenetics. On its website, the company says the program, TrueAllele, is especially useful in complex cases and more accurate than human interpretation of DNA test results. Mr. Robinson's attorneys want access to the source code powering the program so they can make sense of Dr. Perlin's findings, test them and cross-examine him. But prosecutors opposed the request, calling the information proprietary and the disclosure unnecessary because the results could be validated by other means. Judge Rangos ruled that the information wasn't material to the defense and that disclosure could hurt the doctor's business. With Superior Court declining to hear an appeal, a question hangs over the case even before a jury has been seated. Computer programs shrouded in secrecy do not inspire confidence in the justice system. Surely the judge could order release of the source code while including provisions to protect Dr. Perlin's intellectual property. Cybergenetics says its program is intended to ???help ensure that the guilty are convicted and that the innocent are freed." In Mr. Robinson's case, that will mean giving defense attorneys a peek behind the curtain. Mr. Robinson's life is on the line. (source: Editorial Board, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) GEORGIA: Georgia inmate in historic death penalty case gains perspective William Henry Furman, a convicted murderer whose objections t
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OKLA., ARIZ., NEV., CALIF., ORE., USA
April 27 OKLAHOMA: Thackers' jail letters construed 2 ways Defendant wrote 2 'were together' Jailhouse correspondence between an Arkansas man on trial for murder and his brother contained admissions that bolster the state of Oklahoma's theory that the brothers acted together in a 2010 killing. "They know we were together that night," Elvis Aaron Thacker wrote in a Nov. 15, 2010, letter to his brother Johnathen about what police discovered about the Sept. 13, 2010, murder of Briana Ault at a secluded pond just across the Arkansas state line in Pocola, Okla. The 2 were in jail in Fort Smith after their arrest on a warrant for separate rape and kidnapping charges, along with the attempted capital murder of a Fort Smith police detective helping to serve that warrant. They also were charged in Oklahoma with 1st-degree murder and forcible sodomy in Ault's death. Oklahoma is seeking the death penalty against Elvis Thacker. Johnathen Thacker pleaded guilty in April 2014 to 1st-degree murder and testified that he believes he will be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Elvis Thacker's defense team has spent the past week trying to convince a LeFlore County, Okla., District Court jury of 6 women and 6 men that their client is innocent and that Johnathen Thacker acted alone in Ault's murder. The defense called witnesses who testified that Johnathen Thacker was warped by his horrific upbringing and that he killed Ault and blamed his brother. First Assistant District Attorney Margaret Nicholson contended in her cross-examination of psychologist Jolie Brams, a defense witness, that the context of the letters was not how innocent Elvis Thacker was, but how the brothers would coordinate their stories about the murder. Johnathen Thacker testified earlier in the trial that it was his brother's idea to rob Ault, and that he had no idea that Elvis Thacker was going to kill Ault. He testified that he tried to prevent the murder. Johnathen Thacker wrote to his brother asking him to confess to killing Ault and exonerate him. He blamed his brother for putting him in jail on the murder charge. "'Do the right thing,'" attorneys read from Johnathen Thacker's letter. '"Confess and let me go free.'" Nicholson also confronted Brams with a statement that Elvis Thacker made to nurses and police officers in the hospital where he was recovering from two gunshot wounds he suffered when he and his brother were arrested by Fort Smith police on Sept. 15, 2010. "'I murdered her, yeah, but I'm no rapist,'" Nicholson read from the nurses' records on Elvis Thacker. Witnesses have said that Johnathen Thacker was the more violent of the brothers and lied to put the blame on his brother. Defense lawyers cited the letter that Johnathen Thacker wrote to his brother, calling it evidence that Johnathen Thacker wanted Elvis Thacker to take responsibility for Johnathen Thacker's actions and get him out of trouble, as they said he had been called on to do all his life. Brams testified that by confessing to the murder that he now says Johnathen Thacker committed, Elvis Thacker was doing the only thing he could to gain his brother's acceptance and his mother's approval. She said that because Elvis Thacker got so little love from his mother, he was desperate to maintain his connection with his brother. She testified Monday that Elvis Thacker's mother, Marsha Gregory, threatened to never let him see his daughter again unless he protected his brother and took the blame for Ault's death. Brams had testified that Johnathen Thacker was his mother's favorite, and Elvis Thacker was the family scapegoat. In a separate case, the brothers were charged in Sebastian County Circuit Court with attempted capital murder. Elvis Thacker was accused of stabbing Fort Smith police Detective James Melson when police attempted to serve the warrant on the brothers for kidnapping and raping a woman 11 days before Ault's death. In August 2011, the brothers pleaded guilty to attempted capital murder and kidnapping. Elvis Thacker, now 28, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Johnathen Thacker, now 27, was sentenced to 25 years. (source: arkansasonline.com) ARIZONA: Arizona Faces Drug-Expiration Deadline for Executions Arizona's supply of a crucial lethal injection drug is set to expire as a federal judge decides the fate of a lawsuit that has stopped all executions in the state. State officials currently can't seek death warrants until a lawsuit against the way it carries out executions is resolved, meaning the state's supply of the sedative midazolam will expire without being used. The state's known supply of midazolam expires on May 31. But law requires Arizona to wait 35 days after obtaining a death warrant before carrying out an execution, meaning it would have had to get the warrant by Tuesday. A federal judge is deciding on a request by the state to dismiss th
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 27 INDONESIA: Bali 9 member Michael Czugaj moved to remote jail after found with traces of drugWe speak to 2 prisoners inside Bali's Kerobokan jail about the legacy of executed Australian Myuran Sukumaran. Bali 9 member Michael Czugaj is among 66 prisoners who have been transferred to a remote jail in East Java after prison authorities said they caught him with traces of the drug ice in Bali's Kerobokan jail. The shock move comes two days before the 1st anniversary of the execution of 8 drug offenders in Indonesia, including Bali nine co-ordinators Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. The future of rehabilitation projects Sukumaran helped establish in Kerobokan jail, including art classes and a T-shirt printing business, are in doubt after the 2 Iranian prisoners he entrusted to take over after his death were also moved. The transfer of 66 prisoners to Madiun Prison in East Java at 4am on Wednesday morning was so sudden that prisoners did not have time to collect clothes or even cigarettes. 7 foreigners were moved, including Czugaj and 6 Iranians. The head of Bali's prison division, Nyoman Putra Surya Atmaja, said prison officers had found traces of used sabu sabu (ice) when they searched Czugaj's cell. "He was heavily addicted to drugs. He admitted to using drugs, but we only found a trace of used drugs," Mr Nyoman said. "Legally we can't charge him with evidence. He said he got it from a visitor. But he never said who. That's why we moved him. So he is kept away from his Bali drug network." Mr Nyoman said the 66 prisoners who had been transferred were those who were "emotionally easy to provoke and who caused disturbances". The transfer comes a week after a riot broke out at Kerobokan jail, with fires lit and prison bars broken after 11 members of the notorious Laskar Bali gang were admitted to the prison. Those involved in the jail rehabilitation projects expressed shock, sadness and anger at the transfer of Iranians Ali Reza Safar Khanloo and Rouhallah Series Abadi, whom Sukumaran had asked to continue running Kerobokan jail's T-shirt printing business and the art room. "In the short term I don't see anyway for the BengKer (prison workshop) to remain viable. I feel really sad," one insider told Fairfax Media. "For them to destroy the BengKer is just mean. What a mess. What a waste of years of effort." The insider said Rahol and Ali, as they are known, had been a calming influence on the jail. Rahol, who helped organise supplies and weekly classes in the art room, recently spoke of how much he missed Sukumaran and still felt his presence in Kerobokan. "His body is dead but still his soul is here," he said. Ali had been experimenting with producing skateboards and bags, as well as T-shirts, in the prison workshop. He had recently designed a T-shirt featuring a striking image of Sukumaran releasing doves of peace from a map of Australia, which he wanted to send to Sukumaran's family to commemorate Sukumaran's birthday on April 17. "They are saying they are transferring the troublemakers - it's just revenge from the warden and chief of security," one prisoner said. "With the workshop I have no idea what is going to happen. What they are doing is totally making me confused. It's like they don't care about the rehabilitation programs." "This is the saddest day. Like we are fighting a losing battle," said another prisoner. However Mr Nyoman, the head of Bali's prison division, said Rahol and Ali were not the leaders of the art room and T-shirt printing businesses. "The leaders are prison guards. Not prisoners.The guards are still there," he said. And Dadang Iskandar, the prison officer in charge of the BengKer, said the programs would continue "just with different members". He said Indonesia always made decisions in the best interests of prisoners: "All the prisoners were transferred with good intentions." April 29 marks the 1st anniversary of the execution of eight drug offenders, including Chan and Sukumaran, on Nusakambangan island, known as Indonesia's Alcatraz. The 2 Australians had been sentenced to death in 2006 for their role in the foiled attempt to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin from Indonesia to Australia. Czugaj is serving life imprisonment. Indonesian President Joko Widodo had refused to grant Chan and Sukumaran clemency, despite claims the Australians had reformed in prison. Their legal team argued that Chan had become a pastor in prison and both men helped establish rehabilitation programs behind bars, including art, yoga, computer and cooking classes. (source: smh.com.au) PAKISTANexecutions 2 murder convicts hanged 2 murder convicts were hanged at the Faisalabad Central Jail on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the Prisons Department said Imran alias Hayat Ali, son of Nawaz, and Tahir, son of Rafiq, residents of Chak 55, had killed 4 of their rivals on February 5, 2
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., LA.
April 27 GEORGIAexecution Georgia executes Daniel Anthony Lucas for 1998 triple murders Daniel Anthony Lucas, who confessed to the 1998 murders of a Middle Georgia man and his 2 children, has been executed by lethal injection. Time of death tonight was 9:54 p.m., not long after the United States Supreme Court said no to Lucas' request for a stay of execution. The court's response came about 2 hours after the originally scheduled 7 p.m. execution time had passed. Lucas, 37, is the 5th inmate Georgia has executed this year. Only twice has Georgia executed as many as 5 people in a year - in 2015 and in 1987. Earlier today, the Superior Court of Butts County, followed by the Georgia Supreme Court, said no to halting Lucas' lethal injection. The Georgia Supreme Court even expressed its displeasure that Lucas' lawyers filed their appeal a mere 31 hours before the slated hour of death: "This Court notes that this successive habeas corpus proceeding was not initiated until the day before Lucas's scheduled execution. Despite this late filing, the Court has fully considered Lucas's application on the merits," the judges wrote. Lucas' lawyers, however, filed that "last minute" court challenge several months after they'd exhausted the usual capital punishment appeals last fall. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected his plea for mercy Tuesday, leaving it up to the courts to delay or stop his scheduled lethal injection for the April 1998 murders of Steven Moss and his children, 11-year-old Bryan and 15-year-old Kristin. Lucas and Brandon Rhode, then 18, were ransacking the Moss house near the Middle Georgia town of Gray when Bryan got home from school. The boy saw Lucas and Rhode through the window, so he armed himself with a baseball bat as he went inside his house. But Lucas and Rhode saw the boy coming, so they had their guns at the ready. First Lucas shot and wounded Bryan. When they saw his sister get off the bus and head up the driveway, the men moved Bryan into another room. They grabbed Kristin when she came through the door and tied her to a chair. They shot Bryan again, killing him. Then they murdered his sister. Their father, Steven, came home soon after his children were murdered. He was also shot and killed. Lucas then shot all 3 several times more to be sure they were dead. Lucas and Rhode were arrested 2 days later and both confessed. Rhode was executed in September 2010. Lucas becomes the 5th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Georgia and the 65th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1983. Lucas becomes the 13th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1435th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. The next scheduled execution in the USA is set in Missouri for May 11. (source: Atlanta Journal Constitution & Rick Halperin) ** 'Beyond Reasonable Doubt' at Synchronicity Synchronicity Theatre is presenting a compelling drama based on real-life events called "Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The Troy Davis Project," written by Lee Nowell and directed by Rachel May, running through May 1. The playwright notes that the play is based on trial transcripts, legal documents, photographs, letters, interviews, blog posts and published articles about the 2011 execution of the African-American Troy Davis, convicted of killing white police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah 20 years earlier. Artistic Director May mentions that the current show, a world premiere, was commissioned by Synchronicity almost four years ago, just prior to the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and other high profile cases. The Troy Davis Case gained world-wide attention; many believed that there was insufficient and tainted evidence; many believed he was guilty. Needless to say, the use of the death penalty was and is supremely controversial. The play is not a biography; it has several fictitious characters but is based on real events. The two acts are played in alternating order each night: Act I shows evidence pointing to Troy Davis' guilt, and Act II points to his probable innocence. But the entire play is shown every night. There is a discussion following each performance, if one wishes to participate. You may be thinking: This will simply be a dreary polemic, but you are mistaken. Of course the play is polemical, but it is also character driven. This is its special triumph. When you???re dealing with the 2 most divisive issues in America, race and capital punishment, there will certainly be passionate controversy. But the playwright is wise enough to show us real human beings, so we have real theatre, not just a policy debate. The audience is not told what to believe; you are free to examine your own convictions, as Ms. May says, "and the very nature of truth." But can you deal with ambiguity? Tennessee Williams once said, "Tru
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 27 PERU: Peruvian bishops: death penalty 'unacceptable' The Catholic bishops of Peru have released a statement in opposition to the death penalty, urging all Christians to work for its abolition. "Today the death penalty is unacceptable," the bishops argue. They go on to state that "all Christians and people of good will are obliged not only to fight for the abolition of the death penalty-- legal or not-- but to try to improve prison conditions, in respect for the human dignity of prisoners." (source: catholicculture.org) EGYPT: Ibrahim Halawa: UN intervenes in case of Irish man imprisoned in Egypt The Egyptian government has rejected UN allegations about the treatment of an Irish man imprisoned without trial for more than 2 1/2 years. Ibrahim Halawa was 17 when he was arrested during a siege on the Al-Fath mosque in Cairo in 2013. The 20-year-old could face the death penalty. 3 of his sisters were also arrested at the Al-Fath mosque, but were later released on bail. The family say they were on holiday at the time and had sought refuge in the mosque to escape the violence outside. They deny claims that Ibrahim is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is Egypt's oldest and largest Islamist organisation. The current Egyptian government has declared it a terrorist group, a claim it rejects. Ibrahim Halawa and 492 others have been charged with murder and a range of other serious offences. Their trial has been adjourned 13 times. 1 of his sisters travelled from Dublin to Belfast on Wednesday to meet the family's lawyer. Somaia Halawa said she is deeply concerned about the way her brother has been treated. "He was electrocuted, he was beaten, he was tortured. He never attended a trial, he has no access to a lawyer," she said. Those concerns are shared by the United Nations. It has emerged that officials from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights wrote to the Egyptian government last year. They described Ibrahim Halawa's case as "a matter warranting immediate attention". The letter said he had been shot in the hand during his arrest and did not receive proper medical treatment. It said he was being held in "deplorable conditions", and that prison officers had subjected him to physical and psychological abuse. The UN team also said it was "in contravention of basic guarantees of fair trial and due process of law" that he had not had adequate access to a lawyer. In response, the Egyptian government denied that Ibrahim Halawa was shot in the hand during his arrest, or had been beaten while in prison. It said a medical examination had found "traces of old wounds" but no recent injuries, and described his general health as "sound and stable". The response did not directly address the concerns raised about lack of adequate access to a lawyer. The Halawa family has welcomed the UN intervention. "It is very, very important to our campaign because this just proves what we have been saying for almost 2 1/2 years, and people have been denying that this is actually happening to Ibrahim," said Somaia Halawa. But the family and their legal team said the Irish government should do more. 'Gloves off' "It's got to a stage now where the family believe that it's time for the gloves to come off," said solicitor Darragh Mackin. "It's time to put pressure on the Egyptian government directly and that diplomacy may not work in circumstances whereby it's a grave breach of international law and a grave breach of Ibrahim's human rights as an Irish citizen." The Halawa family saidy they are alarmed by reports from Egypt in recent days that all of those charged may have been declared guilty without a trial taking place. Their legal team said it will be asking the Irish government to seek clarification of the situation. (source: BBC news) ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
