[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KAN.,NEB., ARIZ., CALIF.
Oct. 29 KANSAS: Kansas high court justices defend handling of capital cases 4 Kansas Supreme Court justices facing a campaign to oust them in the Nov. 8 election say the court has decided capital murder cases on legal and constitutional issues while avoiding politics and emotion. Past high court rulings overturning death sentences are at the center of the effort to remove Chief Justice Lawton Nuss and Justices Carol Beier, Dan Biles and Marla Luckert. They face statewide yes-or-no votes on whether they stay on the court for another 6 years. The court's critics are particularly upset about July 2014 rulings overturning death sentences for Jonathan and Reginald Carr. The 2 brothers had faced lethal injection for shooting 4 people in December 2000 after forcing them to perform sex acts and robbing them. Among other things, the court concluded that fairness required the brothers to be sentenced separately. The 4 justices declined to discuss specific cases this week, citing judicial ethics rules, but they provided written answers to questions from The Associated Press. Nuss and Luckert noted that the court has upheld several death sentences, and all 4 said the court is fair and impartial. "I can say that our court sees a great deal of human tragedy, and, as people, my colleagues and I feel enormous natural sympathy for those in pain," Beier wrote Friday. "As judges, however, we have a duty not to be influenced by our feelings. This is one of the great challenges of our job." Nuss and Luckert were named to the court by moderate Republican Gov. Bill Graves, while Beier and Biles were appointed by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. All were retained with at least 62 percent of the vote in 2010. Also on the ballot is Justice Caleb Stegall, conservative GOP Gov. Sam Brownback's only appointee. He joined the high court in December 2014 - after the Carr decisions and others overturning death sentences - and isn't targeted by the ouster campaign. Stegall said courts should not be immune from criticism, "but the judicial function demands that judges stay out of these political arguments." Conservative Republicans and abortion opponents are pushing to remove Nuss, Luckert, Beier and Biles ahead of decisions in pending abortion and school funding cases. But Amy James, spokeswoman for the anti-retention group Kansans for Justice, said she and other murder victims' families and friends don't see criticizing the court's death penalty rulings as "about politics." One of the Carrs' murder victims was her boyfriend, Brad Heyka. "This is an issue that we feel crosses all parties and really doesn't have a party affiliation," James said. Criticism of the decisions in the Carr cases resonates strongly with some voters. Dennis Rees, a 63-year-old retired Wichita executive, cited the rulings after voting against the justices this week. "When people are caught, accused, tried and the matter adjudicated, it is not the business of the Supreme Court to overrule a fair trial," Rees said. Kansas reinstated capital punishment in 1994 but no one has been executed since, with the state Supreme Court overturning death sentences 7 times in 20 years. 5 of those decisions were later reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court, including the Carr rulings. But Luckert noted in her response to AP, "no one convicted of capital murder in Kansas has been let out of prison during that process." The Kansas court has upheld 3 death sentences within the past year. Speaking in general, Nuss wrote that such rulings represent "decisions that were warranted by the law as applied to the specific facts and proceedings in each individual case." Biles said parties in cases and their supporters are expected to sometimes criticize the court's decisions. But he said the justices must make decisions "in a fair and impartial manner." "As a result, we must stay above the fray," Biles wrote. (source: The Republic) NEBRASKA: ebraska Supreme Court rejects appeal of man on death row Jeffrey Hessler lost an appeal Friday that claimed he should not have been allowed to plead no contest to a sexual assault charge later used to put him on death row in a separate murder case. Hessler, 38, has been sentenced to die for the Feb. 11, 2003, abduction, rape and murder of 15-year-old Heather Guerrero of Gering. At the same time that he confessed to Heather's murder, Hessler also told authorities he had raped a 2nd teenage girl, from Scottsbluff, 6 months earlier. One reason the confession to the 1st rape was significant was that it gave the prosecution an avenue to use the case to argue for an aggravating circumstance, an element necessary to secure a death sentence. Hessler's defense team advised him to plead no contest to the earlier sexual assault before his murder trial. They planned to make a double jeopardy argument that they hoped would disqualify the earlier rape conviction as
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 29 PAKISTAN: Wife of schizophrenia patient keeps up the fight to stop his execution; Court had earlier ruled that schizophrenia was not an illness With hope in her eyes, the wife of a schizophrenic convict once again knocked the door of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, asking for a review petition before her husband's execution, which is scheduled to be held on November 2. Safia Bano, wife of the convict moved an early hearing application for her husband case on October 31. "Demand that stay for death execution petition may kindly be heard on an urgent basis on October 31 because if the application is not heard on the same day then the petition would become infructuous and the husband of the petitioner would be hanged on November 2 in the early morning," Bano stated in her application. Despite the pendency of review petition, a session court in Vehari issued the death warrant for Imdad Ali aged 50, who was awarded death penalty in 2001 over a shooting case. Imdad, the convicted, has spent 14 years on death row along with 3 years in solitary confinement in jail hospital due to paranoid schizophrenia, a seriously debilitating mental illness which he was diagnosed with in 2013. According to National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a federal agency for research on mental disorders in the United States of America (USA), schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. According to NIMH, people with schizophrenia may seem like they have lost touch with reality and although schizophrenia is not as common as other mental disorders, the symptoms can be very disabling. The medical report of Imdad described him as actively suffering from psychotic symptoms and a psychiatrist at the prison deemed him a treatment-resistant case. However, the top court last week in its 11-page judgment ruled that schizophrenia does not qualify as a mental disorder under the mental health laws - a verdict that cleared the way for his execution. "In our opinion, rules relating to mental illness are not subjugative to delay the execution of death sentence which has been awarded to the convict," said the SC's verdict. Safia Bano, wife of the convict, had moved a review petition against dismissal of her petition. The review petition said that the SC had relied upon the Indian's court judgment, which was not applicable in Imdad's case, adding that Indian courts sought to address as to whether a convict was suffering from any mental disorder. "But in this matter, the question is whether or not schizophrenia falls within the definition of 'mental disorder," it stated. The petition stated that schizophrenia is known to be the result of structural and biochemical changes in the brain and it is classified as a chronic and permanent mental disorder. "Indeed, the petitioner's husband's medical records in prison reflect that he has consistently displayed symptoms of schizophrenia, and is not showing signs of improvement. He has active psychotic symptoms," stated the review petition. It further stated that the mandatory provisions of Chapter 18 and Rule 362 of the Pakistan Prison Rules must be enforced in the case of an established case of mental illness in order to prevent a serious violation of fundamental rights. (source: Daily Times) ** Verdict announced: 2 sentenced to death in murder cases At least 2 men were awarded death sentences in separate murder cases in Dera Ghazi Khan on Friday. The judgment was announced by the additional district and sessions court. According to prosecution, accused Rashid, Nabi Baksh and Abdul Rehman killed Hasnain and Nazo Mai over suspicion of having illicit relations. After the incident, the accused fled the scene but were later arrested by the police. After complete investigation, police submitted a challan in court. Following proceedings, the court sentenced Rashid to death and imposed a fine of Rs0.3 million. However, the court acquitted Nabi Baksh and Abdul Rehman for lack of evidence. Similarly, Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Jehangir Ashraf sentenced a man to death in a murder case. Accused Ramzan and Akhtar gunned down Pervaiz over a dispute over a marriage proposal. The court awarded the death penalty to Ramzan as he was found guilty of the murder and acquitted Akhtar for lack of evidence. Meanwhile, another court awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment to a robber in Dera Ghazi Khan. Accused Akbar Khosa committed a number of armed robberies and was also involved in killing of innocent citizens. The civil magistrate also imposed a fine of Rs0.13 million on him. The convict will undergo an additional six-month jail term if he failed to pay the fine. (source: The Express Tribune) ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., FLA., ALA., OKLA.
Oct. 29 GEORGIAimpending execution Man convicted of killing ex to be executed next month A Georgia death row inmate convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend is set to be executed next month, state Corrections Commissioner Homer Bryson announced Thursday. Steven Frederick Spears, 54, is scheduled to die on Nov. 16 at the state prison in Jackson by injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital. Spears was convicted of murder in the August 2001 death of Sherri Holland at her home in Dahlonega. A Georgia Supreme Court summary of the case says Spears killed Holland because he suspected she had been romantically involved with someone else. Spears came up with 4 separate plans for her death and ultimately killed her by choking her, wrapping tape around her mouth and face and putting a plastic bag over her head, the summary says. Spears would be the 8th inmate executed by Georgia this year, the most in a calendar year in the state since the death penalty was reinstated nationwide in 1976. Georgia executed 5 inmates last year and 5 in 1987. Spears, whose relationship with Holland had ended, told investigators that he had told her when they began dating that of she was sleeping with someone else he would "choke her ass to death." He had been hiding in a closet in Holland's house, waiting until he was sure she was asleep before he entered Holland's bedroom at about 2:30 a.m. or 3 a.m. on Aug. 25, 2001, the summary says. He told her to roll over so he could duct tape her hands and feet. Spears and Holland struggled for about five or 10 minutes, starting in the bedroom and continuing into the hallway. He choked her until she lost consciousness in the hallway and then dragged her into the bedroom where he bound her hands and feet, wrapped her face and mouth with duct tape and put a plastic bag over her head, the summary says. Spears placed Holland's head on a pillow, "so her face wouldn't be smashed on the floor," he told investigators. He locked the door, took her purse and left, returning a few minutes later to grab a cigarette case where she kept money. He drove her vehicle to his house, changed clothes and got a shotgun and ammunition. Spears went to a store where he bought fishing supplies, a fishing license, a hat and paint that he planned to use to paint over black stripes on Holland's vehicle, the court summary says. He later ditched her vehicle because he feared it had an anti-theft tracking device. He lived in the woods for 10 days before an officer saw him walking along a highway, asked his name and arrested him. Toward the end of his confession, Spears told investigators, "I loved her that much. I told her I wasn't letting her go, and I didn't." He added that he'd do it again if he had to. (source: Augusta Chronicle) FLORIDA: Bradley attorneys overturn death penalty conviction in Florida A team of attorneys from Birmingham's largest law firm successfully reversed the conviction of Clemente Javier Aguirre-Jarquin - a Florida man wrongfully convicted of murdering 2 women in 2004. The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously vacated Aguirre's murder conviction and ordered a new trial after attorneys Kevin Newsom, Lindsey Boney and Ashley Burkett presented new DNA evidence resulting in the new opinion. The new DNA evidence, coupled with "numerous, unequivocal confessions" from the daughter and granddaughter of the victims, helped the court reach a decision. "The Florida Supreme Court's unanimous decision is a decisive vindication for Mr. Aguirre, who has always maintained his innocence," Boney said. "The court recognized that there is now, undeniably, overwhelming evidence that someone else murdered these women and a whole host of newly discovered evidence showing that Mr. Aguirre couldn't have committed these crimes. We are relieved for Mr. Aguirre, who has suffered for 10 long years on death row for a crime that he did not commit, but there is still work to do to ensure that he is fully and finally vindicated, and ultimately granted his freedom." In the years since Aguirre's 2006 trial, investigators conducted DNA testing on certain crime scene evidence for the 1st time, and none of the approximately 150 items tested contained Aguirre's DNA. Instead, 8 crime-scene bloodstains - found within inches of the victims' blood - revealed the DNA of 1 of the victims' daughter/granddaughter, who has since confessed to the murders on several occasions. Additionally, new forensic evidence has revealed that Aguirre's clothes could not have been worn by the murderer. The Bradley team has represented Aguirre pro bono since 2013. (source: bizjournals.com) New ruling puts Florida's death penalty to sleep The state Supreme Court issued its latest ruling on Florida's death penalty - this time declaring that a jury's decision must be unanimous when issuing the death penalty. In January, the U.S. Supreme
