[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., KAN., NEB., WYO. CALIF.
Aug. 27 OHIOmother may face death penalty Bellefontaine Mom Indicted for Murder of Sons, Could Face Death Penalty An Ohio woman accused of killing her 3 sons over a 13-month period out of jealousy at the attention her husband paid them has been indicted on aggravated murder charges and could face the death penalty. Aggravated murder charges against Brittany Pilkington in Bellefontaine were announced Tuesday by the Logan County prosecutor. Investigators say the 23-year-old smothered 2 sons, 1 in July 2014 and the other on April 6. Authorities took custody of her 3rd son after he was born 3 months ago, but a judge allowed him to return home because there wasn't conclusive evidence the older boys had been killed. The 3rd son died Aug. 18. Pilkington's mother said Pilkington told her in a jailhouse phone call that she's innocent. Pilkington is jailed on $1 million bond. (source: Associated Press) *** Women on Death Row Brittany Pilkington of Bellefontaine could face the death penalty if she's convicted of murdering her 3 young sons by suffocation, but ABC 22/FOX 45 wanted to find out how her case stacks up against other capital cases in Ohio that involve women. In Ohio, death sentences for female suspects are so rare that there currently is only one woman on the state's death row; 71-year-old Donna Marie Roberts. She was a middle-aged, short lady who had been used to a very privileged lifestyle, said Attorney for the State LuWayne Annos during a 2013 hearing at the Supreme Court. She was describing Donna Roberts' motivation for hiring a hit man to kill her husband to cash in on the insurance money. She never said to the court 'Don't sentence me to death', Annos continued. Roberts was sentenced and imprisoned in 2003, and has remained on death row ever since, even though she tried to appeal the sentence twice. Are you more responsible if you hire it done, or if you do it yourself might be the question there, said Jefferson Ingram, a criminal justice professor at the University of Dayton who studies the death penalty. Jefferson said he believes planning a murder makes cases more likely to be death penalty eligible. A woman who would hire a hitman to take out her husband has clearly done that, she's planned it out ahead of time. But, in the cases of suffocation it's not an instant death, there was planning and ongoing planning while that's going forth so it's difficult to say which one is worse. In another Miami Valley capital case, China Arnold faced the death penalty after she was accused of microwaving her 4-week-old baby, Paris, to death in 2005. Arnold was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the crime, but also appealed the conviction while her family maintained her innocence. Arnold could be seen crying in the courtroom during a sentencing in 2011. Ingram thinks that show of emotion may have helped Arnold escape the death penalty, the same way he thinks it could hurt Brittany Pilkington, who after 2 appearances in court has shown little emotion. Prosecutors described her affect as flat during her interviews, and those close to her report she did not cry at the funerals for her first two sons, Niall and Gavin. [She] doesn't have the demeanor of someone who has some remorse, then that may help get the death penalty, too, Ingram said. Donna Marie Roberts remains on Ohio's death row with no scheduled execution date. Pilkington's case will be heard again in Logan County in September. (source: ABC news) TENNESSEE: Tennessee will keep lethal injections for death row executions, court rules Judge rejects claim from 33 death row inmates and says they did not prove the 1-drug method led to a painful and lingering death A judge in Tennessee has upheld the state's lethal injection process for executing inmates, hours after a federal judge in Mississippi said that state's process may break the law. At issue in both cases is the efficacy of the states' execution drugs. US states have been experimenting with various combinations of lethal injection since a European-led boycott made it difficult to obtain the drugs they require to carry out executions. Tennessee uses a single drug, pentobarbital, to execute its inmates; Mississippi relies on a 3-drug mixture including a pentobarbital or midazolam, sedatives that are followed by a paralysing agent and a drug that stops an inmate's heart. In Tennessee, Davidson county chancery judge Claudia Bonnyman said from the bench that the plaintiffs, 33 death row inmates, did not prove that the 1-drug method led to a painful and lingering death. She also said the plaintiffs did not show during a lengthy trial that there had been problems in states where the method was used. Plaintiffs were not able to carry their burdens ... on any of their claims, Bonnyman said. In Mississippi, meanwhile, US district judge Henry T
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., KAN., UTAH
NOV. 25 OHIO: Ohio Could Pass the Country's Most Extreme Secret Executions BillA new law could make it almost impossible to know what really happens in the death chamber. The execution of Dennis McGuire on January 16 of this year did not go as planned. Injected with an untested cocktail of drugs, the Ohio death row inmate gasped, choked, and writhed in his restraints. McGuire was declared dead after 26 minutes, having endured the longest execution in the state's history. To a degree of medical certainty, this was not a humane execution, an anesthesiologist testified in a subsequent federal lawsuit against the state's execution team. The lawsuit, filed by McGuire's children, declares the execution method used on McGuire cruel and unusual and seeks to block its further use in Ohio. Yet state lawmakers are now rushing to pass a secret executions bill that would make it harder to know what really happens in the death chamber. If passed, HB663 will drop a veil of secrecy over the death penalty by exempting anyone participating in a lethal injection from public records requests that might reveal their identities or duties. It would apply to medical and nonmedical staff, companies transporting or preparing supplies or equipment used in executions, and the providers of the drugs used in the lethal injection. Introduced just 2 weeks ago in a lame-duck session, the bill sailed through committee and was passed by the state House last Thursday, 62 to 27. The bill now moves to the Senate, which could vote on it as early as the first week of December. Most of the measure's support comes from Republicans, who control both chambers of the legislature. It is not clear whether Gov. John Kasich, a Republican who supports the death penalty but has been generous in granting clemency, will sign the bill if it comes to him. The Ohio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reports that the bill's sponsors have claimed that they have Kasich's support. This is the most extreme lethal injection secrecy bill that we've seen nationwide. After McGuire's botched execution, a federal judge issued a moratorium on capital punishment in Ohio until January 2015. The state's next execution is scheduled for February. This imminent deadline is part of what's driving the legislature's urgency to pass the execution secrecy bill. The European suppliers of the state's preferred execution drug, pentobarbital, now refuse to sell it for use in executions. Lawmakers hope that the promise of anonymity will goad local compounding pharmacies into providing the drug. If it goes into law, the bill would make it exceedingly difficult for the public or the press to investigate executions. Under the law, participants in executions may be sued if they reveal any confidential information or identities. The law also would undermine prisoners' due process rights, according to the ACLU: By exempting the participants in lethal injections from subpoenas and discovery proceedings, the law would make it virtually impossible for inmates' lawyers or courts to depose or question anyone with knowledge of a particular execution or death-penalty protocol. A late amendment to the bill does make limited room for disclosure through private judicial hearings. Thirteen other states have passed or tried to pass these sorts of gag rules. The bills are also growing more broad. The trend we see in the more recent confidentiality statutes is an enhancement of both the breadth and depth of secrecy surrounding execution procedures, notes Megan McCracken, an attorney at the death penalty clinic at the University of California-Berkeley law school. But Ohio's bill goes even further. First, it would void any contract, domestic or international, that would hinder the state's ability to obtain execution drugs. It also extends professional immunity for participants in executions, stating that licensing organizations can not take any disciplinary action against physicians, pharmacists, or other staff. Many professional associations' codes of conduct prohibit participation in capital punishment, and the Ohio State Medical Association has expressed concerns about the bill's intent to statutorily void parts of the medical ethics code. I think this is the most extreme lethal injection secrecy bill that we've seen nationwide, says Brickner. The original version of the bill, sponsored by state Rep. Jim Buchy (R-Greenville), sought to ensure permanent blanket secrecy. An amended version requires individuals and companies involved in executions to opt-in for anonymity, and would make their identities public 20 years after they finish their business with the state. 20 years later is a rather pointless exercise, says Mike Brickner, senior policy director at the ACLU of Ohio. If the company has a 10-year contract, you wouldn't see that information in your lifetime. With 4 botched executions in the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., KAN., ARIZ., CALIF.
Nov. 18 OHIO: Fast-tracked bill would shield execution drug Opponents have lined up to testify against a fast-tracked legislative proposal to shield the names of companies whose drugs are used for lethal injections in Ohio. The bill introduced a week ago and already set for a vote later this week in the House Policy and Legislative Oversight Committee also would bar companies from entering into contracts prohibiting states from acquiring drugs for executions. The bill also prevents information about a lethal injection drugmaker or distributor from being disclosed in court. Such a proposal raises separation of power issues at the state and federal levels and likely would be ignored by a federal judge, state public defender Tim Young planned to tell the committee. The Republican-backed legislation is sponsored by state Reps. Jim Buchy and Matt Huffman and pushed by prosecutors, who say the bill is needed to help restart executions in the state. Buchy has said he believes the bill is constitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and other groups also planned to testify at Tuesday's hearing. Lawmakers are rushing the plan through before year's end even though the state prisons agency first proposed the need for confidentiality almost 2 years ago. Ohio's execution policy calls for the warden over death row to determine a month ahead of time if the state has enough drugs for an execution. The state's next scheduled execution is Feb. 11, when Ronald Phillips is set to die for the 1993 killing of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter. That puts the state's deadline for obtaining its 1st choice - compounded pentobarbital - by early next year. Executions have been on hold since January, when inmate Dennis McGuire gasped and snorted during a 26-minute execution that raised questions about the 2-drug method used to put him to death that had never been tried. Problems with this combo were further underscored in July when an Arizona inmate took nearly 2 hours to die. A federal judge delayed executions because of questions raised by McGuire's death. (source: Associated Press) TENNESSEE: Former death row inmate addresses TN death penalty At a time when more people are questioning the death penalty, Tennessee is trying to push through multiple executions. According to Death Penalty Information Center, there are 9 inmates with scheduled executions in Tennessee and 2 with stays. Monday night, a former death row inmate spoke at the University of Tennessee about how he was convicted of a crime he did not commit. Ray Krone served more than 10 years in prison. In 1991, Kim Ancona, 36, was murdered in a Phoenix, Arizona bar. Investigators pinpointed the murder, kidnapping and sexual assault on Krone. A jury then found Krone guilty of her murder and kidnapping. Once you're arrested, it's really hard to fight that system. It cost so much money that even working for the post office, I couldn't come near affording the $100,000 to defend myself. And being innocent, I thought, 'What do I have to worry anyway? I'll be fine. I didn't do anything,' Krone said. Krone was sentenced to death in 1991. It was not until 2002 that DNA testing proved Krone to be innocent. It's just important for everyone to understand that the justice system isn't perfect and there are people out there that are behind bars for crimes they didn't commit, said Phillip Gaul, a UT senior and treasurer for Young Americans for Liberty at UT. Young Americans for Liberty hosted the conversation. They were joined by Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty and the Knoxville Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The discussion included a growing number of conservatives who are rethinking the death penalty. We do exist to change that narrative because there is a fiction out there that all conservatives support the death penalty. And I'm proof that we don't and we're out there trying to change that narrative, said Marc Hyden, advocacy coordinator for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. It is Krone's hope that a new narrative will form in Tennessee--one that doesn't include the death penalty. Right now, here in Tennessee, they want to rush the executions. Tennessee has had a number of exonerations itself. We don't get it right always, Krone said. We have a problem when we have a punishment, execution of taking someone's life, when we can't actually be absolutely sure. Krone, originally from Pennsylvania, now lives in Newport. He is the director of membership and training for Witness to Innocence. (source: WBIR news) * Supreme Court overturns Dickson inmate's death sentence The Tennessee Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence for an inmate convicted of a 1995 murder and kidnapping. A statement from the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., KAN.
Dec. 5 OHIO: Proposal To Abolish Death Penalty Appeals To Cost-Conscious There's another bill in the Ohio House of Representatives to abolish the death penalty. Democratic State Representative Nickie Antonio is one of the bill's sponsors. She says the death penalty needs to be banned because it currently is levied disproportionately upon African Americans and poor Ohioans. And she says it costs many times more to prosecute death penalty cases. This isn't the 1st time a bill to scrap the death penalty has been introduced but Antonio is hoping majority Republicans will embrace it this time around because it is fiscally responsible and respects life. Antonio - It's important for us to focus on the political reality of the state of Ohio. The death penalty is expensive. So if we have fiscal conservatives among us - this is the bill for them. This should be a bill they can support. We have people who believe in the sanctity of life. This is a bill that they should definitely support. Even the most conservative among us should support this bill then. Antonio notes those convicted in wealthier counties are more likely to receive the death penalty than those who commit the same crimes in poorer counties. Antonio's bill would allow for a sentence of life in prison for the most heinous crimes. Her bill is supported by some faith leaders but so far, no Republican has signed on to the legislation. (source: WCBE News) ** State Rep. Dan Ramos opposes death penalty Rep. Dan Ramos, D-Lorain, said he understands that some relatives of homicide victims want to see the killers executed. Nonetheless, Ramos supports abolishing the death penalty contending it is inhumane, unequally applied and too expensive. Ramos on Tuesday joined anti-death penalty advocates in Columbus to support a bill replacing Ohio???s death penalty with life in prison without parole. The bill is expected to be formally introduced later this month. Noting the 143 people sentenced to death who were exonerated since 1973, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, Ramos said the death penalty has the potential to execute innocent people. The center said states with the death penalty have higher murder rates than states without it, which Ramos said proves it is not a deterrent to murder. Ramos said the death penalty is unequally applied in Ohio where 47 people have been executed since 2003. The last Lorain County resident executed was Daniel Wilson in 2009 for the 1991 murder of Carol Lutz. Ramos said 62 % of death penalty candidates come from seven of Ohio's 88 counties. He said counties with larger prosecutorial staffs tend to seek the death penalty disproportionately. Ramos said about 25 % of death row inmates are from Hamilton County, but just 9 % of Ohio's murders occurred there. It is clear that it is being applied unequally, Ramos said. The geographic area or the socioeconomic background you come from shouldn't determine whether you're sentenced to death or to life in prison. Ramos said death penalty cases cost taxpayers millions of dollars and the length of cases, which can take a decade or more, traumatize homicide victims' families. They have to keep reliving it, he said. 3 people have been executed in Ohio this year and the next execution is scheduled for January, according to Ricky Seyfang, an Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman. New drugs will be used for the lethal injection because death penalty states like Ohio have had difficulty buying pentobarbital. Drug companies have balked at selling it for executions. Ramos said the negatives of the death penalty outweigh the positives and support for it is decreasing. An October Gallup poll found 60 % of Americans support the death penalty, the lowest level since 1972. However, Dennis Will, Lorain County prosecutor, said he supports the death penalty in particularly heinous cases. He said the issue is being studied by a task force of academic experts, defense lawyers, lawmakers and prosecutors, but it is ultimately up to the Legislature. The legislature needs to debate this openly, vet it fully and then make a determination, Will said. Whatever they arrive at we will enforce. (source: Chronicel-Telegram) *** Death specs added in nearly 30-year-old Cleveland killingSuperseding indictment issues in case against Hernandez Warren A 58-year-old Cleveland man now faces the death penalty in the murder nearly 30 years ago of a 14-year-old girl. The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office announced the new indictment of Hernandez Warren today in the death of Gloria Pointer, who disappeared on her way to school in early December of 1984. She was to get an award for perfect attendance that day. Warren is accused of aggravated murder, rape and kidnapping. He was jailed in May after old DNA samples from the crime scene matched Warren. (source: WKSU
