[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., DEL., N.C., FLA., ALA., LA.
Feb. 5 PENNSYLVANIA: Trial for New Florence man, accused of killing police officer, begins Monday Jury selection is expected to start this morning in Westmoreland County in the capital murder trial of a New Florence man charged with the fatal shooting of a police officer in late 2015. Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck has said he will seek the death penalty for Ray A. Shetler Jr. if jurors find him guilty of 1st-degree murder. Shetler is charged with killing St. Clair Township police officer Lloyd Reed during a domestic dispute call on Nov. 28, 2015. The prosecution contends Reed, 54, was in uniform when he was shot in the chest by Shetler during an exchange of gunfire after police responded to a call for help from a woman. That woman contended her boyfriend, Shetler, was drunk and abusive and had a weapon. Shetler has maintained that he did not know that Reed was a police officer when fired his gun. After the shooting, Shetler fled and swam across the Conemaugh River before he discarded the murder weapon, prosecutors allege. The trial before Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio is expected to take about 2 weeks. Jurors are expected to be taken to the murder scene during the trial. According to court records, the prosecution said it will ask jurors to sentence Shetler to death because his victim was a police officer. In more than 2 decades as district attorney, Peck has put 5 men on Pennsylvania's death row, which has fewer defendants waiting for execution than it has in recent years. According to the state's Department of Corrections, there are 156 condemned men waiting for execution. No women are on death row. It was just 2 years ago that more than 200 inmates were on death row, but as a moratorium on capital punishment imposed by Gov. Tom Wolf in 2015 continued, the number declined. Some death sentences were commuted to life prison terms while other defendants died in prison. 1 such inmate was Michael Travaglia, one of oldest members of death row who was sent there in 1981 after a Westmoreland County jury sentenced him to die for the 1980 murder of Apollo police Officer Leonard Miller. Travaglia, 59, died in September of natural causes following a lengthy illness. His codefendant, John C. Lesko remains on death row for Miller's shooting. Kevin Murphy, 57, was sentenced to death in 2013 by a Westmoreland County jury for the 2009 killings of his mother, sister and elderly aunt in an automotive glass repair shop the family owned in Loyalhanna Township. Ricky Smyrnes, 31, formerly of North Huntingdon, was sentenced to death in 2013 for his role 3 years earlier in the torture killing of a mentally disabled woman in Greensburg. Smyrnes was considered to be the ringleader of a group of 6 roommates convicted in the 2010 killing of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty. Melvin Knight, 28, formerly of Swissvale, also was sentenced to die by lethal injection for his role in Daugherty's stabbing death but a state appeals court last year vacated that sentence. A new hearing, in which Peck will again ask for the death penalty against Knight, is scheduled for later this year. Last month Peck announced he will seek the death penalty against Rahmael Sal Holt, an Allegheny County man accused in the November fatal shooting of New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw. Pennsylvania has executed just 3 inmates since capital punishment was reinstated in 1978. The last execution was in 1999. (source: Tribune-Review) DELAWARE: Former Carney deputy legal counsel jumps in race for attorney general A 4th person has joined the race for the Democratic nomination for attorney general: Chris Johnson, formerly the governor's deputy legal counsel, recently announced he plans to run for the position. In his announcement speech, Mr. Johnson, 32, pledged to combat inequality and fight for a fairer legal system. "My strategy is to unite coalitions of people who face oppression every day," he said. "I will be the candidate who speaks up for those whose voices have been silenced. "I am not afraid to say that 'Black Lives Matter.' I support the 'Me Too' movement, and am not afraid to say 'Time's Up.' I will stand up for the rights up the LGBTQ community. I will stand with our DREAMers, even if Washington will not. And that's just who I am. Being unwilling to compromise in a world fraught with bigotry, hatred, and injustice, I stand for a bold new vision for Delaware." Mr. Johnson, who resigned his position with Gov. John Carney's office at the end of January, has previously worked for the city of Wilmington's law department. He is the vice chair of the Wilmington Democratic Party and sits on the board of directors for the Delaware Center for Justice and the executive committee of the Delaware State Bar Association. Also seeking the Democratic nomination for AG are three former Delaware Departmen
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., DEL., N.C., FLA., ALA., LA.
Feb. 5 PENNSYLVANIA: Trial for New Florence man, accused of killing police officer, begins Monday Jury selection is expected to start this morning in Westmoreland County in the capital murder trial of a New Florence man charged with the fatal shooting of a police officer in late 2015. Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck has said he will seek the death penalty for Ray A. Shetler Jr. if jurors find him guilty of 1st-degree murder. Shetler is charged with killing St. Clair Township police officer Lloyd Reed during a domestic dispute call on Nov. 28, 2015. The prosecution contends Reed, 54, was in uniform when he was shot in the chest by Shetler during an exchange of gunfire after police responded to a call for help from a woman. That woman contended her boyfriend, Shetler, was drunk and abusive and had a weapon. Shetler has maintained that he did not know that Reed was a police officer when fired his gun. After the shooting, Shetler fled and swam across the Conemaugh River before he discarded the murder weapon, prosecutors allege. The trial before Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio is expected to take about 2 weeks. Jurors are expected to be taken to the murder scene during the trial. According to court records, the prosecution said it will ask jurors to sentence Shetler to death because his victim was a police officer. In more than 2 decades as district attorney, Peck has put 5 men on Pennsylvania's death row, which has fewer defendants waiting for execution than it has in recent years. According to the state's Department of Corrections, there are 156 condemned men waiting for execution. No women are on death row. It was just 2 years ago that more than 200 inmates were on death row, but as a moratorium on capital punishment imposed by Gov. Tom Wolf in 2015 continued, the number declined. Some death sentences were commuted to life prison terms while other defendants died in prison. 1 such inmate was Michael Travaglia, one of oldest members of death row who was sent there in 1981 after a Westmoreland County jury sentenced him to die for the 1980 murder of Apollo police Officer Leonard Miller. Travaglia, 59, died in September of natural causes following a lengthy illness. His codefendant, John C. Lesko remains on death row for Miller's shooting. Kevin Murphy, 57, was sentenced to death in 2013 by a Westmoreland County jury for the 2009 killings of his mother, sister and elderly aunt in an automotive glass repair shop the family owned in Loyalhanna Township. Ricky Smyrnes, 31, formerly of North Huntingdon, was sentenced to death in 2013 for his role 3 years earlier in the torture killing of a mentally disabled woman in Greensburg. Smyrnes was considered to be the ringleader of a group of 6 roommates convicted in the 2010 killing of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty. Melvin Knight, 28, formerly of Swissvale, also was sentenced to die by lethal injection for his role in Daugherty's stabbing death but a state appeals court last year vacated that sentence. A new hearing, in which Peck will again ask for the death penalty against Knight, is scheduled for later this year. Last month Peck announced he will seek the death penalty against Rahmael Sal Holt, an Allegheny County man accused in the November fatal shooting of New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw. Pennsylvania has executed just 3 inmates since capital punishment was reinstated in 1978. The last execution was in 1999. (source: Tribune-Review) DELAWARE: Former Carney deputy legal counsel jumps in race for attorney general A 4th person has joined the race for the Democratic nomination for attorney general: Chris Johnson, formerly the governor's deputy legal counsel, recently announced he plans to run for the position. In his announcement speech, Mr. Johnson, 32, pledged to combat inequality and fight for a fairer legal system. "My strategy is to unite coalitions of people who face oppression every day," he said. "I will be the candidate who speaks up for those whose voices have been silenced. "I am not afraid to say that 'Black Lives Matter.' I support the 'Me Too' movement, and am not afraid to say 'Time's Up.' I will stand up for the rights up the LGBTQ community. I will stand with our DREAMers, even if Washington will not. And that's just who I am. Being unwilling to compromise in a world fraught with bigotry, hatred, and injustice, I stand for a bold new vision for Delaware." Mr. Johnson, who resigned his position with Gov. John Carney's office at the end of January, has previously worked for the city of Wilmington's law department. He is the vice chair of the Wilmington Democratic Party and sits on the board of directors for the Delaware Center for Justice and the executive committee of the Delaware State Bar Association. Also seeking the Democratic nomination for AG are three former Delaware Departmen
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, IOWA, WASH.
Feb. 5 OHIOimpending execution Ohio juror voted for death 20 years ago, now seeks mercy Ross Geiger had doubts about recommending a death sentence 20 years ago for a convicted Ohio killer, concerned about the impact of the offender???s tough childhood on his behavior. But ultimately, Geiger voted in favor of death for Raymond Tibbetts for killing a Cincinnati man he was staying with. Today, Geiger has changed his mind. After reviewing documents made available during Tibbetts' clemency appeal last year, Geiger believes he and other jurors were misled about the "truly terrible conditions" of Tibbetts' upbringing. On Jan. 30, Geiger asked Gov. John Kasich to spare Tibbetts, who is set for execution Feb. 13. "After reviewing the material, from the perspective of an original juror, I have deep concerns about the trial and the way it transpired," Geiger wrote in a letter to the governor. "This is why I am asking you to be merciful." Geiger said he didn't feel like he had a choice at the time. "I felt persuaded the law required me to vote for death in this circumstance," he told The Associated Press. The Republican governor is reviewing Tibbetts' clemency request, said spokesman Jon Keeling. Tibbetts, 60, was sentenced to die for stabbing Fred Hicks to death at Hicks' home in 1997. Tibbetts also received life imprisonment for fatally beating and stabbing his wife, 42-year-old Judith Crawford, during an argument that same day over Tibbetts' crack cocaine habit. The 67-year-old Hicks had hired Crawford as a caretaker and allowed the couple to stay with him. Hamilton County prosecutors have argued that Tibbetts' background doesn't outweigh his crimes. That includes stabbing Crawford after he'd already beaten her to death, then repeatedly stabbing Hicks, a "sick, defenseless, hearing-impaired man in whose home Tibbetts lived," they told the parole board. "In nearly every case this board reviews, inmates assert that their poor childhoods, drugs, or some other reason mitigate their actions," Ron Springman, an assistant Hamilton County prosecutor, told the board in a 2017 filing. "The mitigation in this case does not overcome the brutality of these murders." The parole board voted 11-1 last year against mercy. A message was left with the Hamilton County Prosecutor's office about Geiger's letter. Jurors heard "mostly anecdotal stories" from a psychiatrist called on Tibbetts' behalf about his troubled childhood and poor foster care, Geiger told Kasich. Geiger said he was shocked last month reading testimony presented at Tibbetts' clemency hearing about the conditions Tibbetts and his siblings lived through in foster care. At night, Tibbetts and his brothers were tied to a single bed at the foster home, weren't fed properly, were thrown down stairs, had their fingers beaten with spatulas and were burned on heating registers, according to Tibbetts' application for mercy last year. Geiger told Kasich he was angered to see such material, which jurors had never been presented. During the 1998 trial, Geiger managed people processing health insurance claims. He described himself as a conservative Republican at the time. Today he's a commercial banker who voted for President Donald Trump, "a pro-growth, economic liberty kind of guy." He says he made the decision to write Kasich on his own. He also feels sympathy for Tibbetts' victims, who deserve justice, he said. "In a selfish way this is about my feeling duped by the system," Geiger said. "The state asked me to carry the responsibility for such a decision but withheld information from me that was important." Geiger's letter matters because the parole board wasn't aware of his regrets when it ruled against Tibbetts, said Erin Barnhart, a federal public defender representing the inmate. "Kasich is the only person who has the ability to act on it at this point," Barnhart said. (source: The Republic) ** "The Penalty" tells three capital punishment-related stories. They include that of a recently exonerated death row inmate and a homicide victim's family trying to negotiate the legal system. A 3rd story examines the 2014 execution of Dennis McGuire using a never tried 2-drug process that Ohio has since abandoned. The film follows federal public defender Allen Bohnert during his unsuccessful fight to stop McGuire's execution. Screenings are scheduled in several Ohio cities beginning Monday to include Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton and Columbus. (source: Associated Press) IOWA: State can't be trusted on capital punishment During this legislative session, there has been renewed discussion of bringing back Iowa's death penalty which ended in 1965. There are opponents to bringing back the death penalty who have based their opinions on financial and budgetary concerns, opponents who have religious or moral disagreements to the de
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Feb. 5 BOTSWANA: Rising murder cases scornful of death penalty Cases of murder in Botswana are escalating despite the intervention of law mechanisms in the form of the death penalty. Botswana is the only country in Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) that still upholds and practices the death penalty as other member states have either abolished the exercise in law or in practice. Indications suggest that the executions are in practice bearing no fruits as citizens continue to kill each other for various reasons - including trivial ones. Statistics turned up by WeekendPost indicate that murder has been escalating since 2015 through to 2016 and recently 2017. According to the Botswana Police Service Annual Report for the year 2016, a total number of 278 murder cases were recorded in 2015. In 2016 the number escalated to a whooping 305 murder cases registered. Police records further indicate that during 2017 a total number of 70 murder cases were recorded from January to March, 81 from March to June and 51 from June to September summing to 202. The recorded cases from September to December were however not immediately availed to this publication upon request. It is also still unclear how many cases have gone un-recorded between the years or in cases of when the victims have gone missing without a trace. Botswana Police Assistant Public Relations Officer (PRO) Jayson Chabota stated to this publication in an interview on Wednesday that "during the festive season police operations that ran from 18th December 2017 to 3rd January 2018, recorded a total of 22 murder cases". According to Chabota, this shows a glaring increase as compared to 20 cases registered during the same period in 2016. When asked on the reasons for these growing murder cases, the Police mouthpiece pointed out that "most murder cases were as a result of killings related to love affairs and misunderstandings that erupted at drinking places." A highly regarded lecturer of Social Work at the University of Botswana (UB) Kgomotso Jongman hinted that death penalty is not a deterrent all. "We have reached a state of hopelessness where nothing matters. Death penalty is supposed to be a deterrent but when people got nothing to lose it's not a deterrent anymore," he said. Take an example of a 19 year old in Mogoditshane who was on bail owing to murder, he went on and killed another person again, he highlighted while adding that "he knows he is going to be killed anyway". Jongman's sentiments were also shared by Keletso Tshekiso; a reputable Counselor serving as the Publicity Secretary of the Botswana Counseling Association who was firm that capital punishment is proving to be counterproductive. She explained that "in punishment, the stimulus propelling the undesired behavior decreases the likelihood of repetition of that behavior in future. So you can't punish a dead person because they won't feel anything. In short you are just eliminating that individual. It may not be considered as punishment by another person until they too face death sentence. So to many, 'capital punishment is just an angry law' which eliminates the murderers (perpetrators) and not murder (action)." In addition, the professional Counselor noted that there are quite a number of reasons while people kill, like social influences, issues of power relations, cognitive and intellectual impairment and added that the reasons keep on increasing. Some human rights renowned local attorneys such as Uyapo Ndadi of Ndadi Law Firm, Tshiamo Rantao of Rantao Kewagamang Attorneys and Martin Dingake of Dingake Law Partners continues to call for the abolishment of the capital punishment. When sharing his legal thoughts to WeekendPost on Thursday, Ndadi said: "I do not know what plays in the mind of a murderer, but I doubt if a murderer thinks of the consequences at the time. He continued: "the proponents of capital punishment argue that it serves as a deterrent, does it? NO!!!" On the other hand, he stated that he knows that it is wrong and barbaric to kill, and to him it doesn't matter under what circumstances, unless of course it is in self defence. "It doesn't matter to me whether the killing is as a result of death penalty or crime, it is wrong. The argument that a punishment must fit the crime committed holds true but not to the extent of repeating the crime," he pointed out. "That is why we do not rape people who rape, steal from those who steal, beat up those who beat others (even their spouses and partners) for we know it is wrong to do so. But why do we find it okay to kill?" he asked. The esteemed human rights attorney highlighted that he is aware that the Court of Appeal has declared death penalty in Botswana to be constitutional. "I have a problem with that because any person has a right to life and dignity. The right to life must be preserved by government as well. No one should be licensed
