[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
August 13 JAPAN: Hanged spree killer still provoking human rights debate Half a century since his arrest in 1969, and 22 years since his execution, Norio Nagayama, a repentant juvenile spree killer who became a prolific writer behind bars, is still provoking debate on issues surrounding capital punishment, poverty and the rights of children. The most concrete legacy left by Nagayama, who was just 19 when he carried out his 4 killings over a period of several weeks, is a fund set up to donate the royalties from his books to poor children in Peru, with the hope that none follow the path he did from a broken family and crushing poverty to crime. But events held around the anniversary each year of his execution on Aug. 1, 1997, by the Nagayama Children Fund to raise further money for Peruvian children have also become a forum for discussions surrounding how society should treat juvenile offenders, drawing lawyers, psychiatrists and others involved in the debate. According to the Tokyo Bar Association, which recently bestowed a human rights award on the fund, it has, through its activities, "raised issues concerning how the judiciary should face juvenile crimes and if the death penalty should be maintained" given the circumstances of Nagayama's case. Born into an extremely poor family in a rural northeastern town, Nagayama was abandoned by his mother at age 5 and also had to overcome both an abusive brother and the death of his gambling-addict father whose life ended in destitution. In 1965, Nagayama moved to Tokyo at a time when Japan was experiencing an era of high economic growth. His killings took place between mid-October and early November of 1968, with Nagayama robbing his last 2 victims of money. When he was arrested the following year, he was still 19 and thus considered a minor under Japanese law. Initially given the death penalty, the Tokyo High Court commuted the sentence to a life term, arguing the government had failed to rescue him from his deprived surroundings and that it would be "unfair to ignore the lack of proper welfare policies and lay all the responsibilities on the defendant." The Supreme Court, however, finalized the death sentence in 1990. At this year's event organized by the fund in Tokyo in late July, with some 200 people attending, the guest speaker was Tadaari Katayama, who lost his 8-year-old son in a traffic accident in 1997. "We have rather taken the side of the perpetrator, while Mr. Katayama has worked on the side of victims," said Kyoko Otani, Nagayama's former defense lawyer who also heads the fund. "I wanted his participation in our event to promote mutual understanding, so each of us could expand the capacities of our activities." A believer, despite his own bereavement, in the need to rehabilitate criminals rather than punish them, Katayama visits prisons and juvenile reformatories across Japan to talk with inmates in his capacity as a victim's family member. "(Criminals) should have opportunities to feel someone's pain, and they should be imprisoned only if they must be isolated in the process of their rehabilitation," he said during the event. "I have been involved in educational programs at detention facilities, with expectations that the inmates will be able to become happy (as a result of rehabilitation)," he said. "It will make me happy, too, if they could lead happy lives." Katayama received the human rights award of the association together with the children's fund, and the lawyer's group praised his effort to promote "restorative justice," which aims to rehabilitate criminals and bring closure to victims through dialogue between them as well as with communities. Those he meets at juvenile reformatories are often the less fortunate, just like Nagayama, he said, adding that he "wonders what society and the older people around them have done for them...I think they must feel lonely." His disavowal of retribution in criminal justice also makes him a firm opponent of the death penalty. "It should not be accepted that the power of the state can be used to forcibly take someone's life...We need to end the cycle of retribution," he said. His stance on rehabilitation, however, particularly as someone representing victims, stands in contrast to growing voices calling for tougher punishments of crimes. While more than 2/3 of states around the world have abolished the death penalty, Japan has been reluctant to follow suit, partly because of high public support for it. A 2014 opinion poll by the Cabinet Office showed only 9.7 % believed the death penalty "should be abolished" while 80.3 % said its existence "cannot be helped". The latest executions came this month, bringing the number carried out under the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office in 2012, to 38. Some proponents of abolishing capital punishment have suggested replacing it with a life sentence
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----COLO., UTAH, ARIZ., ORE., USA
August 13 COLORADO: Money well spent? Death penalty stance means big bucks for La Junta DA’s office Prosecuting the death penalty case for an inmate accused of murdering Colorado Department of Corrections Sgt. Mary Ricard and wounding another officer during a Sept. 24, 2012, attack is costing Coloradans big bucks, but taxpayers may never know just how much. And prosecutors’ insistence on pursuing the death penalty - even though Colorado has not executed a criminal since 1997; the governor of the state opposes capital punishment; and Ricard’s family opposes execution for the killer - has added more than $1.6 million to the coffers of the District’s Attorney’s Office in Colorado’s 16th Judicial District in La Junta. Miguel Contreras-Perez, now 40, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Ricard, 55, at the Arkansas Valley prison in Ordway. Contreras-Perez also faces charges of attempted 1st-degree murder and 1st-degree assault in the attack on Sgt. Lori Gann, who survived. The case has been mired down in legal maneuverings for the past 7 years, slowed by competency evaluations and changes in attorneys representing Contreras-Perez. "This case has had so many frustrations from start to finish," said James Bullock, the 16th Judicial District Attorney, who is prosecuting the case. Bullock declined to comment any further as "this case is still currently pending," he said. As a part of that process, Bullock is allowed by state law to bill the Colorado Department of Corrections for the cost of prosecuting Contreras-Perez. A Colorado Open Records Act Request filed by The Pueblo Chieftain on July 23 was fulfilled by the Colorado Department of Corrections and reveals the cost the taxpayers have had to shoulder for the prosecution. From October of 2012 to July 1 of this year, the DOC has paid $1.665 million of taxpayers’ money to Bullock’s office. Billing’s notes indicate the fees have covered attorney, investigator, paralegal and support staff costs as well as supplies, service fees, transcript and postage costs associated with the case. Currently, Denver Attorney David Lane and members of his staff are representing Contreras-Perez, who is held at the maximum-security section of Sterling Correctional Facility in Northern Colorado. The Chieftain also made a Colorado Open Records request with the Colorado Office of Alternate Defense Council on Aug. 5, asking for documentation of the cost to state taxpayers to pay attorneys representing Contreras-Perez. On Aug. 7, Deputy Director Darren Cantor denied the request based on a Colorado Supreme Court rule stating there are exceptions and limitations on access to records, and that agencies must deny inspection if the records have privileged information; confidential legal, commercial, financial, geological, or geophysical data; and confidential personal information. "State lawmakers in 2015 killed a bill that would have made the State Public Defender’s Office and the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel subject to CORA. At the time, reporters were trying to get records from the public defender showing how much that office spent to keep James Holmes from the death penalty," said Jeffrey Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition. Holmes on July 20, 2012, killed 12 people and injured 70 others when he opened fire in an Aurora movie theater. "Since then, the judicial branch adopted the rules cited by Cantor." Although the Chieftain did not seek any personal or confidential information, the request was denied. "Yes, they seem to be interpreting that provision very broadly," Roberts said. Crowley County District Court Judge Michael Schiferl was overseeing the case against Contreras-Perez and agreed to a change of venue last year, so Pueblo District Court Judge William Alexander took over the case last August. Currently, the case is set for a 6-month jury trial starting Jan. 6. Conteras-Perez is scheduled to appear in court today for a status conference. The case involves hundreds of witnesses, 55,000 pages of evidence, hostile witnesses, El Salvadorian witnesses from Conteras-Perez’s native country, who Lane fears may encounter difficulty getting into the U.S. to testify. During a February 2014 preliminary hearing spanning 3 days starting in December 2013, videotaped interviews were played in the courtroom and Contreras-Perez talked of a relationship with Gann. He later recanted his statements. He initially said the relationship involved her accepting love notes from him and letting him touch her without writing him up for breaking the rules. He told investigators that she halted the relationship, but at times would change her attitude and that had confused him. Later, in letters he sent to the district attorney’s office, Contreras-Perez recanted about the relationship and said, "I tried to pass notes a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., TENN., ILL., MO.
August 13 TEXAS: DA to seek death penalty for Cedric Marks The Bell County District Attorney’s office will seek the death penalty for Cedric Marks if he is convicted. "We have filed with the district clerk our notice that we will seek the death penalty in the Cedric Marks case, in connection with the murders of Michael Swearingin and Jenna Scott," Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza confirmed Monday. (source: The Temple Daily Telegram) FLORIDA: State seeks death for man accused in Tampa bus driver's slaying The Hillsborough State Attorney's Office filed a notice in the case of Justin Ryan McGriff, accused of slashing the throat of HART bus driver Thomas Dunn Prosecutors will seek a death sentence for a man accused of stabbing to death a Tampa bus driver. The office of Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty late last month in the case of Justin Ryan McGriff, who is charged with 1st-degree murder in the May 18 killing of Thomas Dunn. Surveillance videos captured the attack on Dunn, 46, whose throat was cut as he steered a Hillsborough Area Regional Transit bus along N Nebraska Avenue. Photographs from the recording, which were used as evidence in a pretrial detetion hearing in May, show a man, whom police identified as McGriff sitting in the rear of the bus. He removes something from his pants pocket, according to court testimony, then walks forward and stands behind the driver. "God bless you," McGriff said, according to court testimony. "What was that?" Dunn asked. "God bless you," he repeated. "Thank you," Dunn said. "God bless you, too." After that, McGriff lunged forward, slitting Dunn’s throat, according to police. Dunn steered the bus to the right and hit the brakes as he collapsed. As passengers panicked, McGriff forced his way out the bus door, police said. Officers later spotted him nearby and arrested him. In June, McGriff’s public defenders suggested that he may be mentally ill. One of McGriff’s roommates told police that his behavior in the days before his arrest was erratic, according to a court document. A judge appointed 2 doctors to determine whether he is competent to proceed toward trial. If he is declared incompetent, he would likely spend time in a state hospital before the case against him could continue. Warren, who became the county's top prosecutor in 2017, has been reluctant to seek death sentences in cases where a defendant’s mental health is in question. If McGriff is ultimately convicted of murder, prosecutors will have to prove the existence of at least one "aggravating circumstance” before a jury weighs whether a death sentence is justified. Prosecutors cited 4 such circumstances in Dunn’s slaying, among them that the crime was "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel" and that it was done in a “cold, calculated, and premeditated manner." The law requires that a unanimous jury recommendation to impose a death sentence. Otherwise, the penalty is life in prison. (source: tampabay.com) TENNESSEEimpending execution Lawyers, Advocates Seek Halt to Execution of Stephen West in Tennessee Advocates from a variety of backgrounds are urging Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to stop the August 15, 2019 execution of Stephen West (pictured), saying that West did not commit the murder and urging the governor not to execute a man who is severely mentally ill. In a July clemency petition that is pending before the governor, West’s lawyers argue for mercy based upon his innocence of murder and his debilitating psychological vulnerabilities. Though they concede that West was present at the murders of Wanda Romines and her daughter, Sheila Romines, and that he raped Sheila, West’s lawyers maintain that his co-defendant, Ronnie Martin, fatally stabbed the victims. The petition says that because of the chronic extreme abuse and trauma he experienced as a child, "Steve was not psychologically equipped to deal with the terrible situation he found himself in" and disassociated when he saw Martin killing the women. The clemency petition asks what it calls "[a]n important question"--if Steve did not intend for either victim to be killed, how could he just stand by and watch while Martin did? The answer to this question," the petition suggests, "lies in Steve’s own tragic background." The petition describes the relentless abuse and neglect West endured, which included his mother beating him so hard with a broom that it snapped, his parents denying him food, and ongoing beatings that resulted in his ankles being broken at least seven times. The extreme trauma, the petition says, caused or exacerbated West’s severe mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder. West’s parents retained a lawyer to defend him at trial, but instructed counsel not to discuss or present evidence relating to his famil
