[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., N.C., FLA., ALA., OHIO
October 2 TEXAS: Federal judge raises questions of innocence in condemned Harris County cop-killer The gunshots screeched over the static of the police radio, followed by the last breaths of sheriff's Deputy Barrett Hill. It was the dark, pre-dawn hours of Dec. 4, 2000, and someone had just committed a capital murder. There were no eyewitnesses and no forensic evidence. But 2 years later, Rob Will was sentenced to die for the crime in front of a courtroom crowded with uniformed police officers. Despite the circumstantial case that sent him to death row, Will has always maintained his innocence. His alibi? He says he was handcuffed at the time. Now, nearly 2 decades into the legal wrangling, a federal judge is again questioning whether Will may be telling the truth. In a rare, strongly worded order, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison in Houston last week advanced the condemned cop killer's appeal even while bemoaning his own inability to do more in a case that experts say highlights systemic issues with the death penalty appeals process. "The Court very much wishes it could take up all of these issues," Ellison wrote. "Nevertheless, this Court lacks jurisdiction to explore the troubling concerns that plague Will's capital conviction." The federal judge would like to consider Will's "troubling" innocence claims but he can't because of legal limitations, essentially technicalities. Instead, he can only send the case up to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on the possibility that they greenlight a new appeal - which could ultimately end up back in his court. With allegations of withheld evidence, bad lawyering and vexing legal entanglements, the case embodies "everything that is structurally wrong" with key parts of the appeals process, according to Robert Dunham of the Death Penalty Information Center. "The death penalty is supposed to be reserved for the worst of the worst cases," he said, "but nobody meant that that should be the worst of the worst judicial process." *** On the morning of the murder, 2 Harris County sheriff's deputies responded to a call about 4 men breaking into cars. When they pulled up, Hill and his partner, Deputy Warren Kelly, shined their spotlight on 2 of the thieves standing in a cul-de-sac. The pair took off in different directions, and Hill followed Will, while his partner chased after Michael Alan Rosario. Hill radioed back that he'd gotten "the tall one" and that he was "in custody," but Kelly lost sight of Rosario behind a tree. A few seconds later, he heard the gunshots over the radio. Afterward, Will carjacked a woman and sped away, only to be caught in Washington County a few hours later. It seemed, to prosecutors, impossible that anyone else could be the killer. Will changed his story to his lawyers repeatedly, and Rosario had simply been too far away, they said. But Will had no gunshot residue on him and a footprint at the crime scene didn't match his. And, his defense lawyers would later point out, he had a gunshot wound on his hand that could have come from Rosario's effort to free his friend by shooting off the handcuffs. To the state, that gunshot wound seemed evidence of Will's guilt, an injury sustained while shooting at the deputy. *** For more than a decade, the case has bounced back and forth between state and federal appeals courts, generating a complex paper trail Ellison described as a "procedural imbroglio." And, over time, new evidence emerged: jailhouse snitches alleging Rosario had confessed finally agreed to come forward; jail records about a suspected gang hit Rosario ordered on Will inexplicably appeared in the prosecution's files; and previously undisclosed evidence that could have called a witness into question surfaced. "The Harris County DA's Office has a lot to answer for," Will's legal team, Washington, D.C.-based attorney Jay Ewart and Houston attorney Samy Khalil, said in a statement. "They are playing a game of hide - but Rob Will can never seek - exculpatory evidence. Prosecution by concealment is how innocent people end up on death row." The district attorney's office disputed both the claims of withheld evidence and the possibility of Will's innocence. "The Harris County District Attorney's Office is not hiding evidence in Will's case," said spokesman Dane Schiller. "That claim is a desperate effort to divert attention from the wealth of evidence supporting Will being sentenced to death for the capital murder of Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Barrett Hill." Schiller went on to call it "more than ironic" that Will's attorneys would accuse prosecutors of hiding evidence "because the factual record reflects that Will repeatedly told inconsistent stories" to his trial team. When some of the evidence in question landed in front of a state court in 2013, the Harris County judge deemed it not credible or relevant to the outcome, and instead
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TENN., S.DAK., ARIZ., NEV., ORE., USA
October 2 TENNESSEE: One of RICO defendants facing death penalty pleads not guilty Courtney High, 1 of the 3 men facing the death penalty for the 2016 death of a state's witness, pleaded not guilty Monday. During a reading of the charges, Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston said High conspired with 2 other men, Andre Grier and Charles Shelton, to kidnap and kill a state's witness in May 2016. At the time, witness Bianca Horton planned to testify against Cortez Sims, who, at 17, opened fire in a College Hill Courts apartment, killing 20-year-old Talitha Bowman, injuring Horton and a 2nd man and paralyzing Horton's then nearly 2-year-old child. (source: Times Free Press) SOUTH DAKOTA: SD Supreme Court Hears Death Row Inmate's Case The murder of Chester Allan Poage remains one of the grisliest crimes in South Dakota, and now the man convicted of killing him is fighting his death sentence. The South Dakota Supreme Court is hearing Briley Piper's case. Piper and two other men were charged with first degree murder in 2000 for beating Poage to death. Piper pleaded guilty, and a circuit court judge sentenced him to death, instead of a jury. Now his attorney says Piper got bad advice from his previous attorneys. 6 years ago, Poage's mother said the pain of her son's murder is still with her. "You know, my son's life was cut way too short. He was never able to marry and have children, to give me grandchildren. That's something that I can only vision in my mind. What if?" Dottie Poage said in 2012. Now South Dakota Supreme Court justices have a different question to answer. Did Piper have bad legal advice when he said no to a jury trial to decide if he should get the death penalty. "We know Briley Piper did not adequately understand the consequences of his guilty plea when he walked in in 2001," Ryan Kolbeck, Piper's attorney, said. Piper's attorney wants the Supreme Court to remand the case, meaning send it back to court for a new trial. "I know that sounds drastic. I know that sounds crazy in 2018 to go back to 2001, but if due process means anything, if the advisement of rights means anything, that must occur," Kolbeck said. "The torture inflicted on Chester Allen Poage was unprecedented in this state's history," Paul Swedlund, Assistant Attorney General, said. Swedlund is arguing against a new trial, and says there's no evidence Piper was misinformed. "He knew what he wanted. He wanted a court sentencing. He raced into the courthouse to be the first of his trio to plead guilty so he could appear to accept responsibility," Swedlund said. This is the 3rd time Piper's case has been in front of the Supreme Court. He applied for a writ of habeas corpus in 2006, arguing he was not properly informed of his right to have a jury decide whether to impose the death. The Supreme Court agreed and the case went back to circuit court for re-sentencing by a jury. The jury upheld his death penalty. The Supreme Court reviewed this case again In 2011, and affirmed his death sentence. The Supreme Court will decide this case at a later date. (source: keloland.com) ARIZONAforeign national/female facing death penalty 'They're excellent parents': Australian woman facing death penalty in US over death of stepdaughter An Australian woman facing the death penalty in the US over the death of her stepdaughter was let down by the health system, the woman's lawyer claims. Former South Australian resident Lisa Cunningham, 44, and her husband, former police detective Germayne Cunningham, have pleaded not guilty to 11 charges, including f1t-degree murder and child abuse, in the US state of Arizona. Mr Cunningham's daughter Sanaa, 7, died in February 2017, with an autopsy finding the cause of death to be sepsis related to a chest infection, an abscess in her right foot and multiple skin ulcers. It was also noted the child had an unspecified schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Court documents allege the couple shut Sanaa in their backyard, laundry and garage, forced her to sleep outside, restrained her with cable ties and failed to seek medical care. In August the Maricopa County Court ruled that both adults were eligible for the death penalty, remanding them in jail. In an exclusive interview with 7.30, Ms Cunningham's lawyer Eric Kessler said the couple had tried their best with Sanaa but were overwhelmed by her mental illnesses. "Sanaa presented with very difficult medical, emotional and psychiatric issues. They sought professional care in all of those fields. Even when they had limited funds, they nonetheless continued to find a solution for Sanaa," Mr Kessler said. Mr Kessler said the family had been let down by the system. "If even one medical professional or mental health professional had properly diagnosed this child and given appropriate instructions to Lisa and Germayne to deal with Sanaa's tr
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
October 2 SOUTH AFRICA: Death penalty unfair to poor blacks When news of the Dros rape emerged, people started commenting on social networks. Most white folks assumed the perpetrator was a black man, hence they were furious and demanded the death penalty. When, however, it was reported that the alleged perpetrator was in fact white, the tone of their rage suddenly changed. All of a sudden, people who were hopping mad, wanting the rapist hanged, started recommending psychological evaluation. It didn't end there, Afrikaans newspapers started telling all and sundry that the fiancée of the alleged perpetrator is pregnant. I honestly didn't know what to make of that statement. Many black criminals have had their kids born while incarcerated and that has never been an issue. This is exactly why I'm opposed to the death penalty. My feeling is that poor blacks, who are poorly represented anyway, will be killed like flies. Let's first fix the justice system so that no one is above the law. Politicians have brought SA to its knees through unprecedented levels of looting and no one is behind bars. Until such things stop happening, we can't talk about the death penalty. The advent of DNA has showed that the US government has executed innocent people over the years. Sadly, most of them are African-Americans. George Junius Stinney Jr was only 14 when he was wrongly executed in 1944. He was black. Until rich black and white South Africans are made to pay for their sins like everyone else, the death penalty is not required. Richardson Mzaidume Pimville (source: Letter to the Editor, sowetanlive.co.za) ** IFP MP Narend Singh backs death penalty after relatives murder IFP MP Narend Singh, the brother-in-law of Musgrave Gardens widow Shakila Singh, said he believed it was about time the country held conversations about imposing sentences harsher than life imprisonment such as the death penalty, for people convicted of serious crimes such as murder and rape. Singh said the IFP expected Parliament to include the issue for debate at the next sitting after the party launched a motion calling for public engagement similar to ongoing conversations about the issue of the expropriation of land without compensation. Singh said the recent crime statistics were an indication that people needed to start having conversations about alternative punishments, including re-introducing the death penalty. His sister-in-law, Shakila Singh, 57, was found dead in her bedroom with duct tape binding her face and hands, and her feet bound by plastic cable ties, at her home on February 29, 2016. She had been suffocated. Her long-time domestic worker, Nonjabulo Mteki, 33, was convicted of robbery. The killers, Jumar Abdullar, 39, and Kennedy Amon Ngongi, 28, both from Tanzania, were convicted of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances. Singh said the dead woman's family had got justice, albeit delayed, but they were concerned that a sentence of life imprisonment no longer sent out a strong message to criminals. The State alleged that Kenny Osika Oriki, from Nigeria, who ran a foreign exchange agency, had heard through Mteki that Singh owned jewellery and foreign currency. They planned to rob her andMteki would play along during the robbery. Mteki was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for her part in the robbery. Ngongi and Abdullar were sentenced to life imprisonment. Singh said the alarming level of crime showed that although the courts imposed the hash sentence of life imprisonment, criminals continued to commit crime. Women and children were still being raped and murder was escalating, he said. "Serious conversations about the punishment of criminals should take place. Criminals do not fear the law because they know that they will qualify for parole," he said. Singh said hasher punishment for refugees who entered the country and committed serious crimes should also form part of discussions. (source: iol.co.za) NIGERIA: Nigeria at 58 - Lawyers Renew Call for Abolishing Capital Punishments Almost every day in Nigeria, someone is sentenced to death. Many are wrongly condemned or imprisoned due to poor legal services. It is estimated that about 2,359 condemned prisoners are on death row across the country while about 650 Nigerians are on death row or facing capital charges in China, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietman, most of them for drug offences. The death penalty, according to experts, has been usually justified on two penological grounds, namely, that of elimination and deterrence. The experts, made up of professors of Law who gathered recently at a round table on revisiting death penalty in Nigeria, organised by the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), said African countries have been pursuing the easiest course, which is the elimination of the offenders from society. Nonet
