[Deathpenalty] [POSSIBLE SPAM] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA., USA
Oct. 2 TEXAS: Is the death penalty about to die?Millions of dollars wasted on capital punishment in Texas. In 2003 there were 28 death sentences handed down in Texas, and last year, only eight. Harris County, which accounts for more than 100 of the 314 people on death row, saw no new death sentences in 2008 or 2009 and only two in 2010. Bexar County has seen only three death sentences since 2007. It looks like Texas is having second thoughts about death sentences, and executions. In 2010, Texas carried out 17 lethal injections, the fewest since 2001. Texas isn’t about to abolish the death penalty, but it may be starting to move away from its infamous grip on the death penalty. There are 3 factors afoot: There is mounting concern about the execution of innocent people. No one wants to see an innocent person executed. With 12 individuals exonerated and freed from Texas’ death row since 1987, we know the system isn’t faultless. Has Texas actually executed an innocent person? No one knows for certain, but death penalty scholars point to 3 executed prisoners who had credible claims of innocence: Cameron Todd Willingham, Ruben Cantu, and Carlos De Luna. The Texas Forensic Science Commission’s April 15 report did not address Willingham’s actual guilt or innocence in the Corsicana house fire that killed his 3 daughters. However, 9 fire experts who reviewed his case concluded there was no evidence of arson. Investigative reporting by the Chicago Tribune on the De Luna case and by the Express-News and Houston Chronicle in 2006 on Cantu threw considerable doubt on the actual guilt of both men. It is immoral to have executed an innocent one. The financial costs of the death penalty are staggering. Fiscal conservatives question whether it is worth the price. The cost of a capital trial, the appeals process, time on death row and the execution itself cost an estimated $2.3 million in 1992, according to the Dallas Morning News. In today’s dollars, that would be more than $3.6 million. In short, millions of dollars are wasted on a capital sentencing system in Texas. The money could be much better spent on improving policing functions, expanding restitution programs and developing more drug treatment programs — all of which would do far more to enhance public safety than having a death penalty. Finally, there is an alternative to the death penalty — a sentencing option that Texas lawmakers adopted in 2005: life without parole. In 2010, Texas juries handed down three life-without-parole sentences in capital cases. The point is, juries don’t have to hand out death sentences. Texas may be the death penalty capital of the United States, but, even here, the tide may be starting to turn. (source: Roger C. Barnes chairs the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of the Incarnate Word; GEORGIA: Troy Davis Mourned as a Martyr by 1,000 in Ga. Sent to death row 20 years ago as a convicted cop killer, Troy Davis was celebrated as martyr and foot soldier Saturday by more than 1,000 people who packed the pews at his funeral and pledged to keep fighting the death penalty. Family, activists and supporters who spent years trying to persuade judges and Georgia prison officials that Davis was innocent were unable to prevent his execution Sept. 21. But the crowd that filled Savannah's Jonesville Baptist Church on Saturday seemed less interested in pausing in remorse than showing a resolve to capitalize on the worldwide attention Davis' case brought to capital punishment in the U.S. Benjamin Todd Jealous, national president of the NAACP, brought the crowd to its feet in a chant of I am Troy Davis — the slogan supporters used to paint Davis as an everyman forced to face the executioner by a faulty justice system. Jealous noted that Davis professed his innocence even in his final words. Troy's last words that night were he told us to keep fighting until his name is cleared in Georgia, Jealous said. But most important, keep fighting until the death penalty is abolished and this can never be done to anyone else. After 4 years of extraordinary appeals, every court that examined Davis' case ultimately upheld his conviction and death sentence for the 1989 slaying of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail, who was shot twice while trying to help a homeless man being attacked outside a bus station. MacPhail's family and prosecutors say they're still confident Davis was guilty. Regardless, questions raised by Davis and his lawyers garnered support from thousands worldwide, including dignitaries such as former President Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict XVI. The night Davis was executed, protests were held from Georgia to Washington, from Paris to Ghana. During a call-and-response litany at the funeral, the congregation chanted in unison: We pray to the Lord for our souls and the soul of Troy Davis, martyr and foot soldier. He
[Deathpenalty] [POSSIBLE SPAM] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA., KAN., CALIF.
Aug. 29 TEXAS: Roundtable to discuss Death Row minority defendants -- Roundtable to discuss Death Row minority defendants A panel of scholars and legal experts will discuss the impact of the death penalty, particularly on minority defendants at a roundtable to be held 6-8 p.m. at the University of St. Thomas in the Jerabeck Center’s Scanlan Room, 3800 Montrose Blvd. Topics to be addressed include capital punishment, disregard of Geneva Conventions and other accords concerning consulates and detained nationals. Panelists include: Ricardo Ampudia, a journalist, former Mexican Consul General of Houston and author of “Mexicans on Death Row,” which explores the history and ethics of capital punishment and how it affects the sentencing of Mexicans in the U.S. Scott J. Atlas, a former litigation partner with Vinson Elkins, who led the legal team that won the release of Ricardo Aldape Guerra, an undocumented worker who spent 14 years on Texas’ death row. He was the first Mexican National ever released from Texas’ death row. Nicole Casarez, attorney and UST professor, who teaches journalism, media law, public relations and media ethics. Casarez’s affiliation with the Texas Innocence Network has led to investigative work on several capital and non-capital cases, including that of Texas death row inmate Anthony Graves. David R. Dow, founder of the Texas Innocence Network, author of “The Autobiography of an Execution.” The event is free and open to the public, and is followed by a book-signing by Ampudia. (source: yourhoustonnews.com) GEORGIA: Arraignment of Jamie Hood postponed A Clarke County Superior Court judge postponed this morning’s scheduled arraignment of accused cop-killer Jamie Hood. Hood was supposed to have appeared before Judge H. Patrick Haggard to plead guilty or not guilty to a 70-count indictment that accuses him of murdering Athens-Clarke Senior Police Officer Elmer “Buddy” Christian in March and shooting to death another man, Kenneth Omari Wray, in December. Haggard put the arraignment on hold indefinitely after District Attorney Ken Mauldin on Friday filed notice of intent to seek the death penalty for Hood. With the death penalty now in play, the court must follow what’s called Unified Appeal Procedure — a system that sets the order in which trial judges schedules pretrial hearings before arraignment. The process fast-tracks pretrial appeals to the state Supreme Court, such as challenges to the makeup of the jury pool or arguments to suppress evidence. A Clarke County grand jury indicted Hood in June, signing off on a long list of charges, including murder, armed robbery, carjacking and kidnapping. An arraignment like the one scheduled for this morning gives a defendant a chance to hear the charges against him, but most waive that option. (source: Athens Banner-Herald) KANSASnew death sentence Kansas jury recommends death for Kahler An Osage County District Court jury has recommended the death penalty for Kraig Kahler in the slayings of 4 family members. The jury agreed with an assistant attorney general, who on Monday urged them to impose the death penalty, saying each of the 4 slaying victims died in anguish. Kahler’s wife, 2 daughters and his wife’s grandmother “all died with an awareness that gave them the torture of slow death,” said Amy Hanley, the assistant attorney general. They died with the awareness Kahler was armed with a gun, shooting at them and that he intended to kill each, Hanley told the jury. “This is the proper case,” Hanley said, to impose the death penalty, pointing to 2 aggravating circumstances she said justified the death penalty. More than 1 person was killed, and the 4 victims were murdered in a “heinous, atrocious or cruel manner,” she said. “He murdered them all, one-by-one,” she said. The jury began deliberations at 2:30 p.m. on whether to recommend the death penalty or life in prison without parole. On Friday, an Osage County District Court jury convicted Kahler of capital murder, 4 counts of 1st degree murder and 1 count of aggravated burglary, all tied to the Nov. 28, 2009, rampage in a Burlingame home. Kraig Kahler is former director of the Columbia Water and Light Department. Before deliberations Monday, defense attorney Amanda Vogelsberg read 2 notes to jurors from Kahler’s 12-year-old son. “I do not want my dad to receive the death penalty because it would be hard on my grandparents,” the 1st note said. The 2nd note said, “I do not want my whole family gone.” Defense attorney Tom Haney told jurors there were 12 mitigating circumstances that outweigh the aggravating circumstances. Kahler had no criminal history, he was operating under extreme mental and emotional stress, and he had a severe mental illness that impaired his ability to think and control his actions, Haney said. Haney also noted the statement by Kahler’s son, the lone
[Deathpenalty] [POSSIBLE SPAM] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA., MICH., CALIF., PENN.
Oct. 21 TEXASimpending execution Northeast Texas man set to die in burglary-slaying Condemned inmate Joseph Ries looked to the U.S. Supreme Court to keep him from the Texas death chamber Tuesday evening for the slaying of a 64-year-old Northeast Texas man during a burglary almost a decade ago. Ries, 28, faced lethal injection for breaking into the rural Hopkins County home of Robert Ratliff, fatally shooting him as the man slept, then driving off in the victim's car. Ries would be the 12th prisoner executed this year in the nation's most active death penalty state and the 1st of 2 scheduled to die this week. 2 were executed last week and 2 more are set to die next week. Ries' lawyer, James Terry Jr., asked the Supreme Court court to halt the punishment and examine the case, contending among his arguments that Ries' rights were violated because his earlier appeals were handled by an incompetent attorney. Terry also argued Ries' trial lawyer failed to adequately show jurors how Ries was raised by a drug-addicted and alcoholic mother whose parental rights twice were revoked, and how Ries was abused in some of the dozen foster homes where lived. We've got a system that's broken and at every level it's been broken for him, Terry said. He acknowledged the crime was horrible but contended Ries' life had been shaped by the failures of those whose legal and moral duty was to help him. Ries had lived at Ratliff's home in Cumby, about 65 miles northeast of Dallas, but Ratliff kicked him out after he suspected Ries of stealing some items. On Feb. 18, 1999, Ries stole Ratliff's farm pickup for a trip to San Antonio. He and a friend, Christopher Lee White, also 19 at the time, returned 3 days later to take Ratliff's Lincoln Continental because the truck got poor gas mileage. Ratliff wasn't home, so they broke in and stole 2 rifles, drove the pickup into a pond until it sank, then waited behind a barn until he came home and went to sleep. Ratliff was shot, then they drove off in his Lincoln. Ratliff's body was found by a relative. Why Mr. Ries decided to stop and murder him, it's beyond me, said Martin Braddy, the Hopkins County district attorney who prosecuted Ries. That's something only he can understand. He had the keys and he was leaving the house when they killed him. It just seemed so cold and callous and so useless. Ries was arrested by police in Lawton, Okla. He was driving Ratliff's car, which by then had been reported stolen, and was wearing Ratliff's hat. Prosecutors said Ries was the triggerman. A jury in Sulphur Springs deliberated seven minutes before convicting him. We don't have a lot of violent crime here, and so our jurors are not callous to it, Braddy said. I imagine citizens in other jurisdictions see murders all the time, a part of everyday life, but not here. So it probably took some people aback. Ries, who said drug use in high school worsened when he found easy access to drugs while attending Texas AM-Commerce, said he was high when the shooting occurred. I'm not sure exactly what happened, he said recently in an interview outside death row. He said he remembered stealing the pickup, driving to San Antonio and getting high and driving back. The next thing I know, I'm sitting in a car freaking out, he said. I'd killed somebody. He said he was high when he was arrested and when he made a videotaped confession to police. The prospect of death was frightening in a way, Ries said, but added that he'd accepted Christ into his life and was prepared for it. Life is just a bridge, he said. Jurors who decided Ries should die also were told of his auto thefts, property damage, poor impulse control, disregard for rules and anger toward some relatives. White, his accomplice, was tried separately and received life in prison. On Thursday, another condemned inmate, Bobby Wayne Woods, 42, was scheduled to die for the 1997 murder of Sarah Patterson, the 11-year-old daughter of his ex-girlfriend. Her throat was slashed when she and her 9-year-old brother were abducted from their home in Granbury, about 25 miles southwest of Fort Worth. *** High court won't review convictionMan on death row says attorneys were ineffective in triple murder trial The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review the conviction of a Nueces County man on Texas death row for the slayings of a 24-year-old Corpus Christi woman, her young son and her mother. Jose Villegas, 33, was convicted of capital murder for the fatal stabbings of his ex-girlfriend Erida Perez Salazar; her son, Jacob, 3; and her mother Alma Perez, 51. Salazar was stabbed 32 times, her son 19 times and mother 35 times. A television and car also were taken from the home. Salazar's father, returning home from jury duty in 2001, found the body of his wife and had a neighbor call police. He then went back into the house and found his daughter and grandson also dead. A neighbor told police she saw Villegas leaving
[Deathpenalty] [POSSIBLE SPAM] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA., DEL., OHIO
Sept. 16 TEXAS: Alleged romantic link raises appeal questions Legal experts have criticized a judge and a small-town Texas prosecutor, calling their alleged sexual affair in the years before trying a death penalty case stupid and a black eye to the system. They say the alleged affair between former Judge Verla Sue Holland and ex-Collin County District Attorney Thomas O'Connell raises ethical questions and could lead to appeals from inmates who claim their trials were tainted by bias. Definitely there are people locked up ... saying: 'Wait a minute. I was convicted in this judge's court,' said Fred Moss, a Southern Methodist University law professor. It's such incredible bad judgment because it throws every conviction into doubt. The alleged affair, an apparent open secret 20 years ago in Collin County legal circles, became part of the public record again last week. Lawyers for death row inmate Charles Dean Hood sought a stay of execution in the nation's busiest death penalty state, arguing Holland was biased because of her relationship with O'Connell. About 30 former prosecutors and federal and state judges signed a letter sent to Gov. Rick Perry by lawyers for Hood, convicted in 1990 of fatally shooting two people in Plano. The letter states that a sexual relationship, which Hood's lawyers say the judge and prosecutor acknowledged under oath during depositions last week, would have had a significant impact on the ability of the judicial system to accord Mr. Hood a fair and impartial trial. Hood received a reprieve, although the alleged affair was not the reason. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals wants to reconsider whether the jury instructions were flawed. The appearance of impropriety is absolutely there and it does affect the integrity of the system, said Rick Hagen, president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. And you can't deny that. Attorneys for Holland and O'Connell declined to discuss their clients' depositions, citing a gag order. In an affidavit, former assistant district attorney Matthew Goeller said it was common knowledge that the judge and prosecutor had a romantic relationship from at least 1987 until about 1993. Hood was tried in 1990. Moss, the SMU professor, said such a relationship, if true, would be so stupid if they were actually trying cases in her court while they were having an affair. What it does is bring the whole system into question, Moss said. It's a real black eye to the system and very unfortunate. It shakes the confidence of the public in the criminal justice system. Bill Boyd, Holland's attorney, said Hood's original court-appointed lawyers were experienced litigators who were in the courthouse every day and heard every rumor or innuendo. He said their decision not to ask Holland to recuse herself is a sign of their faith in her fairness. This wasn't their first rodeo, Boyd said. If there were any hint or suggestion or chance that they weren't going to get a fair trial, someone would have raised it. Neither Holland nor O'Connell have been publicly disciplined by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct or the State Bar of Texas. Hood's lawyers have said in court papers that Holland, while on the state appeals court, recused herself from about 80 % of cases from Collin County. Her attorney said she routinely stepped aside whenever she had any prior involvement in a case, such as being the presiding judge or simply signing a search warrant. Boyd said Holland is embarrassed by the attention brought by the case. O'Connell's attorney, Richard A. Sayles, said the ex-prosecutor regrets the controversy, adding, On a professional level, I don't think he is upset that defense lawyers are trying every possible grounds they have for a stay of execution. O'Connell was the county's elected district attorney from 1971-82 and from 1987-2002. Holland was a state district judge from 1974-96 before moving on to the Court of Criminal Appeals from 1997-2002. Both are retired. McKinney, the county seat, was a small Texas town when O'Connell was first elected, still decades away from becoming a wealthy bedroom community to Dallas. Those small-town roots still show. Boyd, now Holland's attorney, is a former DA who hired O'Connell as an assistant prosecutor. Once O'Connell became the DA, he hired Holland as one of his two assistant prosecutors. She was in charge of juvenile cases before becoming a judge, said John Charles Hardin, a McKinney lawyer since the mid-1970s. County officials say it is impossible to determine how many cases O'Connell prosecuted in Holland's court. O'Connell, as an elected official, had a vested interest in every one of them. But it was unusual for the district attorney to appear in the courtroom. It was very rare for Tom O'Connell to actually try a case, Hardin said. He was an administrator. He ran his office and let his assistants manage the courts. Besides Hood, there are four other death row inmates convicted in Collin
[Deathpenalty] [POSSIBLE SPAM] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA.
Sept. 14 TEXAS: Man receives death penalty for fatal shooting at Hurst Putt-Putt Paul David Storey will die for fatally shooting a Hurst Putt-Putt employee during a robbery 2 years ago. A Tarrant County jury deliberated nearly 90 minutes before deciding Mr. Storey's fate Friday morning, two days after finding him guilty of murdering Jonas Paul Cherry on Oct. 16, 2006, as Mr. Cherry opened the Putt-Putt Golf Games. Mr. Storey, 23, the 1st of 2 men to stand trial in the case, cried Friday when the death sentence was read by State District Judge Elizabeth Berry. Several jurors did, too. It was a fair verdict, said Robert Foran, a Tarrant County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Mr. Storey along with co-prosecutor Christy Jack. What the jurors saw was a man who was executed. The evidence showed that Mr. Cherry, 28, was shot numerous times in the head and legs. This was a senseless offense, Mr. Foran said. He forced a man to his knees then executed him as that man begged for his life. Mr. Cherry's mother, Judy Cherry, told Mr. Storey after the sentence was announced that he did not appear remorseful. You didn't have to kill him, she said. You could have just robbed the place. I don't think you could have chosen to kill a better man. He was not only our son, he was our friend. Mr. Storey's attorneys, William Ray and Larry Moore, had asked the jury to sentence Mr. Storey to life without parole. Mr. Storey, they argued, would not be a future danger in prison. They asked the jury to put away any anger they might have had toward their client and the crime. This thing happened in an instant, and Paul will pay for this decision for the rest of his life, Mr. Moore said. Give him that option. Where is the evidence that he is a continuing threat to society? Mr. Storey, of Fort Worth, was arrested days after the shooting. Some of the most damaging evidence against him came from videotaped statements Mr. Storey gave to Hurst police. He told investigators that he and a friend, Mark Porter, stumbled upon an ongoing robbery after car trouble forced them into the Putt-Putt's parking lot. Mr. Storey later told investigators he destroyed evidence, including tapes he recovered from the Putt-Putt's surveillance cameras. However, the one tape remaining showed Mr. Storey's SUV and a partial license-plate number. Mr. Porter, 22, is also charged with capital murder. He is awaiting trial and could also face a death sentence. (source: Dallas Morning News) Sex scandal hits death row caseTony Allen-Mills A LEGAL scandal over a judge's affair with a prosecutor in Texas has raised embarrassing new questions about the fairness of the state's criminal justice system and its zeal for carrying out the death penalty. Lawyers are demanding a new trial for Charles Hood, a convicted double murderer and death row inmate whose execution has been scheduled and postponed six times, most recently last Tuesday. US legal scholars have been appalled by reports that Verla Sue Holland, the judge who presided over Hoods 1990 trial, was at the time conducting a clandestine affair with Thomas OConnell, the state attorney who was prosecuting the case. Several law professors agreed that however compelling the evidence in the case, it was unthinkable for a murder trial to proceed if the judge and prosecutor were romantically involved. Hoods lawyers announced last week that both Holland and OConnell had admitted to the affair under oath in depositions given to a federal judge. They had an intimate sexual relationship for many years, the lawyers wrote in a reprieve request to Rick Perry, Texass Republican governor. William Sessions, a former director of the FBI, was among a group of 22 prominent former judges and prosecutors who also urged Perry to halt the execution while the affair was investigated. I can't understand how anyone could reach the conclusion that there's no bias, added David Zarfes, associate dean of the University of Chicago law school. Hood had been working as a bouncer at a strip club in Plano, Texas, when he was arrested in 1989 for robbery and the murder of both his boss Ronald Williamson and Tracie Lynn Wallace, a former dancer at the club. For the past 18 years Hood has been exhausting his avenues of appeal. As his latest execution date neared, his lawyers finally tracked down a former assistant prosecutor who claimed the affair was common knowledge at the county bar; but the appeals court dismissed the new evidence as hearsay that could have been presented earlier. As an outcry grew in legal circles, Hoods lawyers urged Perry to grant a reprieve on the grounds that a clandestine affair between judge and prosecutor amounted to a shocking and devastating indictment of the Texas criminal justice system. A federal judge eventually agreed Holland and OConnell should testify under oath. But to the dismay of Hood's lawyers, their statements were ignored when the appeals court
[Deathpenalty] [POSSIBLE SPAM] death penalty news-----TEXAS, GA., OHIO
Sept. 13 TEXAS: Man gets death penalty for killing Putt-Putt employee Paul David Storey killed Jonas Cherry during a 2006 holdup at the Hurst Putt-Putt Golf Games and robbed the business of less than $700. He will now have to pay with his life. A Tarrant County jury took less than 2 hours Friday morning to sentence the 23-year-old Fort Worth man to death by lethal injection. That decision came despite pleas from Storey's family, former teachers and friends to spare his life during testimony Thursday. Defense attorneys Bill Ray and Larry Moore also said the former Putt-Putt employees life was worth saving. People make bad decisions, but do they deserve to die? Marilyn Grant asked during her testimony Thursday for her son. They dont. Please spare my sons life. Prosecutors Christy Jack and Robert Foran sought the death penalty against Storey for killing Cherry, 28, on Oct. 16, 2006, at the Hurst business in the 600 block of Northeast Loop 820. Time after time, Foran and Jack reminded the jury of seven men and five women that Cherry, an assistant manager at the Hurst Putt-Putt, begged for his life after giving the robbers the money. The same jury convicted Storey of capital murder on Wednesday. A possible accomplice The man police say was Storeys accomplice, Mark Porter, 22, is also charged with capital murder in the shooting death. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Porter, whose trial is scheduled to begin in the next few weeks. The victim Cherry, a Keller resident and 1997 graduate of Paschal High School, had worked at area Putt-Putt businesses for more than 10 years. Cherry was married with no children. The holdup and killing Storey and another person rushed into the Hurst business on the morning of Oct. 16, 2006, and took Cherry into an office, according to testimony in the trial. After removing surveillance tapes in the office, the robbers ordered Cherry to open a safe and fill a bag with cash. Cherry was shot twice in the head and twice in the legs as he knelt, according to the testimony. The robbers then fled. The arrest Investigators got a lead after they found a surveillance tape that the robbers missed. The images showed a maroon 2-door Ford Explorer leaving Putt-Putt. Hurst police received a tip that the vehicle belonged to Storey. (source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram) GEORGIA: Troy Anthony Davis' execution stands, Georgia parole board says-7 of the 9 witnesses against the convicted cop killer have changed their stories. The Supreme Court is set to hear his appeal, after his execution date. Georgia's parole board on Friday denied clemency for a man set to be put to death for killing a police officer, even though seven of the nine witnesses who testified against him have since changed their stories. Troy Anthony Davis, 38, is set to be executed at 7 p.m. Sept. 23 at a prison in Jackson, Ga. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Davis' appeal Sept. 29. On Friday, Davis' attorney, Jason Ewart, said he would file an emergency stay with the high court, asking the justices to take up the case as soon as possible. It's probably the hardest thing I've ever had to hear, Ewart said of the parole board's decision. The hardest thing I've ever had to do was to tell Troy we're denied. Davis was convicted of killing Mark MacPhail, a Savannah, Ga., police officer, in August 1989. At the time, MacPhail was working his 2nd job, as a Burger King security guard. He was fatally shot after rushing to help a man who had been beaten outside a bus station. Police did not recover a weapon, and prosecutors relied on witness testimony to convict Davis. Since then, most of the witnesses have altered or cast doubt on their versions of events sworn in affidavits. Some said they were pressured by police to make their original statements. In March, the Georgia Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, rejected Davis' request for a new trial after reviewing the recantations. (source: Los Angeles Times) Death Penalty Is Upheld in Publicized Georgia Case A Georgia parole board on Friday upheld the death sentence of a man convicted of killing a Savannah police officer in 1989, despite a group of witnesses who recanted their testimonies against the convict. It was the 2nd time in 2 years that the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency for the man, Troy A. Davis, despite his lawyers claims of police misconduct. Mr. Davis, 39, is scheduled to die by lethal injection in Jackson, Ga., on Sept. 23, unless the United States Supreme Court agrees to hear an appeal. A county jury in 1991 convicted Mr. Davis in the 1989 murder of Mark Allen MacPhail, an off-duty police officer moonlighting as a security guard who was shot to death while responding to a late-night fight at a Burger King in Savannah. Mr. Davis testified he was at a nearby pool hall and left before Officer MacPhail arrived. The prosecution offered no murder weapon, DNA or
[Deathpenalty] [POSSIBLE SPAM] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA., FLA., USA
May 29 TEXAS: HIP HOP ACTIVIST WALKS 1700 MILES TO TEXAS TO PROTEST DEATH PENALTY Andre Lattalade, also known as Capital X, a hip hop artist and activist, will be in Houston on Friday, May 30, as the last part of a 1700 mile walk which started on March 31, 2008. The walk started in New Jersey where the death penalty has recently been abolished. It is ending in Texas, the leading death penalty state in the nation with 405 executions since 1982. Texas currently has 14 (!) executions scheduled, the first one being Derrick Sonnier on June 3. Called the Walk 4 Life, Capital X has walked through 10 of the 12 states with the highest execution rates in the U.S. He is walking to protest the death penalty and to shed light on the inhumane treatment of prisoners on death row. Capital X can be contacted directly at 281-818-8935 and at projectrevolution2010 at gmail.com . On May 30, at 8am, Capital X will begin a walk through downtown Houston (starting at Jackson and Commerce Streets) which will end at KPFT Radio, 419 Lovett Blvd, around 10 am. Also on May 30, at 10pm, a Salute to Capital X Concert will take place at Advant Garden, 411 Westheimer, in Houston. Capital X and several other artists will perform at the concert. On June 3, Capital X plans to protest the execution of Derrick Sonnier at the Walls Unit in Huntsville. (source: TCADP) * No decision on death penalty in capital murder case Prosecutors are nearing a decision as to whether to seek death by lethal injection for a Mesquite man, indicted on a charge of capital murder in connection with a fatal stabbing in Greenville last November. Hunt County District Attorney F. Duncan Thomas said he is leaning toward seeking the death penalty for John William Trotman III, should Trotman be convicted of capital murder, based in part on his conversations with the family members of the victim in the case. I've spoken with them twice and the family thinks the death penalty is appropriate, Thomas said. At this point, we probably will be seeking it. We'll probably make that decision in the near future. Trotman, 26, remains in custody at the Hunt County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond on a charge of capital murder in connection with the Nov. 12, 2007 death of Ryon Rhoden of Greenville. An interim hearing was conducted Wednesday in the 196th District Court, at which time Judge Joe Leonard scheduled another interim hearing for June 25. Trotman has pleaded not guilty. Trotman was arrested following what the Greenville Police Department claimed was a combination robbery and homicide at a residence in the 3700 block of Bourland Street. A capital murder charge is filed when the murder alleged is committed in connection with the commission of a second major felony, such as robbery, kidnapping, rape or another murder. Those convicted of capital murder face a sentence of either life in prison or death by lethal injection. A criminal complaint filed as part of court records indicated Rhoden was at the residence with his sister when Trotman was alleged to have entered the home carrying a knife and demanding money. Rhoden was in the restroom at the time and the sister told authorities she thought Trotman was joking at first. Rhoden came out of the restroom and he and Trotman began fighting, according to the complaint. The sister joined in, but the two were unable to overpower Trotman. Rhoden received several stab wounds, including one to his upper right chest, as well as lacerations. The sister also received several cuts before Trotman left the residence. Rhoden was transported to Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville where he was pronounced dead. The vehicle in which Trotman was riding was later found at his girlfriends house. Blood was found inside the vehicle and on some items of clothing Trotman was allegedly wearing the day of the murder. The girlfriend told officers Trotman threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the incident. Officers took Trotman into custody initially for the offense of terroristic threat/family violence and later charged Trotman with the capital murder offense. (source: The Herald-Banner) GEORGIA: Hope grows to save DavisAdvocates push for commutation of his sentence. Advocates fighting the execution of Savannah's Troy Anthony Davis are seeing a hopeful sign in the State Board of Pardons and Paroles' commutation of another convicted murder's death sentence. Samuel David Crowe was granted clemency May 22 just hours before he was scheduled to be put to death for the 1988 slaying of Joseph Pala. He became just the third person to have his death sentence commuted in 17 years. The move could signal a willingness by the board to halt the execution of Davis, whose backers insist he is innocent; most of the eyewitnesses at his trial have since recanted at least parts of their testimony. I think it's hopeful in that it shows the board was considering the plea for mercy in a very serious
