June 28
OKLAHOMA:
Oklahoma County jury chooses death for murder-for-hire mastermind----Fabion
DeMargio Brown, 26, will be put to death for the murders of his estranged wife,
23-year-old Jessica Brown, and her unborn daughter, an Oklahoma County jury
decided Friday afternoon.
The mastermind of a murder-for-hire plot will be put to death for the fatal
shooting of his estranged wife and her unborn child, a jury decided Friday.
Fabion DeMargio Brown, 26, was convicted Thursday in Oklahoma County District
Court on 2 counts of 1st-degree murder and conspiracy.
Jurors returned Friday for the sentencing phase of the trial and chose the
death penalty.
Brown was convicted of murdering Jessica Brown, 23, and her unborn daughter,
Ryleigh, Jan. 11, 2012, in her Midwest City home.
Prosecutors acknowledged that Brown did not pull the trigger. Jurors heard
testimony that he paid a gunman $250 for the crime.
Brown's eyes widened and his head dipped briefly when the judge read the
punishment. He remained silent as he was led from the courtroom to jail.
"Nothing was going to bring my daughter and granddaughter back. Hopefully no
other family will have to go through this at his hand," Jessica Brown's mother,
Judy Richardson, said after the sentence was announced.
The couple's 2 children are in her custody.
"All they know is that dad is in time-out," Richardson said.
"My thoughts always turn to the family on these verdicts and I'm glad the
family finally has this behind them. It doesn't bring their daughter back, but
it does bring them some sense of finality and some sense of justice under the
law," First Assistant District Attorney Scott Rowland said.
"I'm pleased that they finally got that. It's a tragic case all around," he
said.
Defendant was own lawyer
Fabion Brown represented himself during the trial. He asked Friday for a
continuance of the penalty phase and to be represented by attorneys. District
Judge Ray Elliott denied both requests.
Jurors heard from Jessica Brown's sister, who read a statement about how the
family's lives have been impacted by the murders.
Fabion Brown's mother testified on his behalf. She told jurors that his
stepfather was an alcoholic Vietnam veteran who regularly physically, mentally
and emotionally abused her 2 sons.
Fabion Brown also tried to use his Army National Guard and Army Reserve service
to convince the jury to spare his life. He joined the military at 17 and
volunteered for deployment. He said he was stationed in Iraq for just less than
a year.
"I stand before you and ask for a sentence less than death," he said to the
jury.
"He had the opportunity to do so many things. He chose to harass, scare and
assassinate Jessica Brown," Rowland argued in a closing argument.
"He sent a hired killer into the home of his kids and his wife and baby Ryleigh
in the dead of night," Rowland said.
The 3 other co-defendants in the case made plea agreements and have been
sentenced already.
Brodic Lontae Glover, 22, pleaded guilty in August to 2 counts of 1st-degree
murder and accessory to murder. Glover, the gunman, was sentenced to life
without the possibility of parole.
The driver of the getaway car, Laquan Ashley, 19, pleaded guilty in September
to being an accessory to 1st-degree murder and was sentenced to 8 years in
prison.
Fabion Brown's girlfriend, Emily Ann Matheson, 25, pleaded guilty to 2 counts
of 1st-degree murder in November and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Ashley and Matheson both testified against Fabion Brown at trial.
(source: The Oklahoman)
********************
Jury Calls For The Death Penalty For Fabion Brown
A jury calls for the death penalty for Fabion Brown. The jurors decided Brown
deserved the death penalty for orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot to kill his
estranged wife and her unborn baby.
Brown defended himself throughout the trial, but he changed his mind and asked
to have an attorney represent him in the punishment phase Monday morning.
The court decided it was too late in the process to make a change.
In the fight for his life, Brown told the jury he respectfully disagrees with
the guilty verdict. He gave them several things to consider in making their
decision.
Brown asked the jury to spare his life because he served in the military,
voluntarily went to Iraq and suffers from PTSD as a result. He also revealed
that his stepfather abused him as a child and he spent time in foster care.
Judy Richardson, Jessica McPherson Brown's mother sat through the trial - and
even took the stand asking for justice, "As long as Fabion can not do this to
another family I do not care what punishment he receives," Richardson said
following the verdict.
"It won't give them [victim's family] closure, it won't bring their loved ones
back, but I hope it gives them some sense of justice," said First Assistant
District Attorney Scott Rowland of Oklahoma County.
The jury unanimously decided death would be the appropriate punishment after an
hour and half of deliberations.
"The jury's verdict were among the quickest I've seen in a death penalty case,"
said Rowland.
Before deliberations, prosecutors again presented pictures to the jury -
pictures of the bullet wounds to the victim's face and autopsy photos of her
unborn baby.
(source: news9.com)
KANSAS:
Suspect assigned Death Penalty Defense Unit at 1st appearance
The man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, her daughter and her daughter's
husband on Tuesday made his 1st appearance in court today.
Vinh Nguyen, 41, appeared before Judge Joe Kisner via closed circuit
television. Nguyen is charged with capital murder and three counts of murder in
the 1st degree.
Tuyet Huynh, 45, her daughter Trinh Pham, 20, and son-in-law Sean Pham, 21,
were found dead in their home in the 2200 block of S. Beech Tuesday morning.
Police said each were shot multiple times.
Judge Kisner appointed the Death Penalty Defense unit to represent Nguyen in
the case.
There were some language barrier issues during the 1st appearance. Nguyen said
he did not understand the charges against him. An attorney will advise him
further on Monday to help him understand the charges.
(source: KWXH news)
NEVADA:
Death sentence overturned in Las Vegas slaying case
The Nevada Supreme Court has overturned the death penalty conviction of a
65-year-old man found guilty in 2010 of raping and bludgeoning a woman to death
with a hammer in 1985.
The court ruled 4-3 that a Clark County District Court judge should have
allowed defense attorneys to argue against excusing a black prospective juror
during Charles Reese Conner's trial in the slaying of 23-year-old Nellis Air
Force Base service member Beth Lynn Jardine.
It will be up to Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson to decide whether
to seek a new trial or a plea deal.
Jardine was an airman second class whose nude body was found in her northeast
Las Vegas apartment.
Conner was linked to the slaying through DNA.
He was arrested in 2007 in Arkansas.
(source: Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA:
Pinyon Pines: Robert Pape's arraignment delayed again
Arraignment has been delayed for a 6th time for 1 of 2 suspects in the nearly
8-year-old Pinyon Pines triple homicide.
Robert Pape, who was supposed to be arraigned Friday in Riverside County
Superior Court, will return to the Larson Justice Center in Indio on July 18.
Also scheduled for that day is a bail hearing for Pape, who has been held
without bail since he and Cristin Smith, were arrested March 11.
Of the previous 5 delays, 2 of them were so Pape could have time to hire a
private attorney. The remaining 3 times were so his attorney, Richard
Blumenfeld, could review the case and its evidence.
Blumenfeld requested the 2 most recent delays because he wanted the Riverside
County District Attorney's Office to provide documents, dispositions and other
information related to the case.
On Friday, Deputy District Attorney Scot Clark said there are a few pieces of
evidence in the case that still need to be released by other agencies, but he
is "confident" the defense will get them in time for the July 18 hearing.
A shackled Pape, wearing an orange jumpsuit, said, "I understand." when his
attorney clarified he had a right to be arraigned Friday, and "Yes." when asked
if he was OK with rescheduling his arraignment to next month.
He remains detained in the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside,
according to Riverside County jail records.
Pape and Smith are suspected of killing Jon Hayward, Vicki Friedli and
Friedli's 18-year-old daughter, Rebecca Friedli, on Sept. 17, 2006, in the
mountain community of Pinyon Pines. Officials found Vicki Friedli and Hayward
inside their home, which had been set on fire. They had been shot.
Rebecca Friedli's body was found in a wheelbarrow about 70 feet north of the
home, but her cause of death hasn't been determined because she was badly
burned.
Pape and Smith are each charged with 3 counts of murder.
Smith, who has pleaded not guilty, was ordered March 26 to stand trial after a
judge rejected a defense request to dismiss charges. His jury trial may begin
as early as Sept. 9.
Pape, if convicted, could be sentenced to death because he was 18 at the time
of the killings, officials said.
Smith, if convicted could be sentenced to life in prison because he was 17.
(source: The Desert Sun)
************************
Mistrial in death-penalty phase of killer's trial
Jurors could not agree on a penalty for Arsenio Devo Morgan, who faced a
possible death sentence for killing 2 teens at a 2008 Riverside party in what
authorities called a gang-initiation attack.
The jurors, who had convicted Morgan in the slayings, were dismissed Wednesday.
They were unable to budge from a vote of 8 in favor of the death penalty and 4
for life in prison without parole, Riverside County district attorney spokesman
John Hall said.
Prosecutors are deciding whether to seek a 2nd penalty trial for Morgan, Hall
said Friday. The next court date is July 18 to check the status of the case.
If the District Attorney's Office doesn't pursue the death penalty again,
Morgan faces life in prison without parole.
Morgan, 23, was convicted June 10 of murdering 18-year-old Salvador Soliz and
16-year-old Ramiro Sanchez, both of Riverside, during a party near UC Riverside
on Dec. 14, 2008.
It was Morgan's 2nd trial for the killings.
A previous jury could not reach agreement on his guilt after hearing claims
that Morgan had acted in self-defense. He said he fired into the crowd after he
believed a man at the entrance to the party was reaching for a gun after Morgan
refused to be searched.
In his 2nd trial, Morgan was found guilty in the fatal shootings of Solis and
Sanchez; he also was convicted of 2 death-penalty special circumstances,
including committing the crimes to benefit a street gang.
Before the murder trials, Morgan was serving a 6-year sentence in Delano State
Prison near Bakersfield for armed robbery.
During his 1st murder trial, Morgan testified that he had spent most of his
life in juvenile hall or jail after joining a Moreno Valley gang when he was
13.
When freed after his 18th birthday, Morgan was starting a gateway program at
Riverside City College and had a scholarship to UC Riverside.
But authorities have said that he also was pledging for a Riverside
African-American gang, the 1200 Blocc Cripps.
A jailhouse informant told Riverside police 2 years after the double slaying at
the party on Enterprise Avenue that Morgan had gone to the event as part of a
gang initiation that required him to kill members of a rival gang.
Morgan denied that allegation, saying he walked to the party with a 13-year-old
friend to meet girls.
Sanchez was shot 3 times in the chest. Soliz was hit twice in the abdomen and
once in the back of the head. Neither were gang members, prosecutors said.
(source: The Press-Enterprise)
WASHINGTON:
State Supreme Court upholds killer's death penalty
The Washington Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence for Dayva Cross, who
was sentenced to die for killing his wife and 2 of her daughters in 1999 in
Snoqualmie.
In a unanimous decision issued Thursday, the court dismissed several claims by
Cross, including whether the admission of claims of guilt that Cross made while
he was first in custody violated his constitutional rights and whether he had
ineffective counsel.
Cross was arrested after a surviving girl escaped and called police. He was
sentenced to death in 2001.
There is currently a moratorium on the death penalty in Washington state.
Earlier this year, Gov. Jay Inslee said that he is suspending the use of the
death penalty in Washington for as long as he's in office.
(source: Union-Bulletin)
US MILITARY:
Death penalty suggested in case against airman facing murder charges
An Air Force investigating officer is recommending the death penalty for a
Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, senior airman charged with killing his fiancee
and unborn child.
Senior Airman Charles Amos Wilson III, a support team member with the 461st
Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Robins, was arrested in August and charged
with killing his fiancee, Tameda Ferguson, and her unborn child. Ferguson was
found shot to death at her home in Dawson, Georgia, about 100 miles south of
Robins. She was 8 1/2 months pregnant.
Investigating officer Col. William Muldoon recommends the death penalty in an
Article 32 report completed May 29, senior defense counsel Maj. Will Babor told
Air Force Times.
The report is being forwarded to the general court-martial convening authority,
Lt. Gen. Bruce Litchfield, who will decide whether to refer the case to
court-martial.
The defense has objected to the death penalty referral, Babor said.
"The defense is going to take every opportunity we can to ensure that this
[case] is fully investigated and that airman Wilson is given all the rights
afforded to him under the United States Constitution and the Uniform Code of
Military Justice," Babor said.
Wilson and his defense have not entered a plea, Babor said.
Babor said he is concerned that Wilson does not have a fully capable defense
team.
"My concern is that I'm not a qualified death penalty lawyer. [Defense
co-counsel] Capt. Adam Newsome and I are not qualified death penalty lawyers.
To be frank, there's no lawyer in the Air Force who's qualified to defend
airman Wilson," Babor said, though he plans to see the case through.
The death penalty is rare in the military - most death sentences are overturned
on appeal, and the last military execution occurred more than 50 years ago.
The Air Force last carried out the death penalty in 1954. 2 airmen were
executed for the rape and murder of a Guam citizen.
The Air Force is also handling charges against Wilson in 2 other cases that
previously were being handled by civilian authorities.
Wilson faces arson and murder charges in connection with an October 2011 fire
in his rental home that killed Demetrius Hardy, a civilian employee at Robins.
Authorities believe Wilson and Hardy conspired to set fire to Wilson's trailer
to collect insurance money.
In July 2012, Wilson was arrested on firearm and threat charges after an Air
Force technical sergeant said he drove toward her in a pickup truck in a
threatening manner, dragged her by the hair, fired a gun from the window of his
home at her and told her, "I'm going to make you die today."
(source: Air Force Times)
USA:
The U.S. Can't Afford to Continue the Death Penalty
I am not strongly against the death penalty on principle or on moral grounds -
assuming, of course, that it could somehow be narrowly and efficiently
restricted to a very few egregiously deserving and certainly guilty criminals.
I don't even find it particularly appalling (or cruel and unusual) punishment
that a killer may have some few minutes of physical discomfort before expiring
during a clumsily administered execution. My experience as a doctor teaches
that dying is never that much fun, and I don't see why a heinous criminal
should expect a completely free terminal ride when this is not guaranteed to
any of the rest of us.
But I do have a very strong objection to the death penalty based purely on
practical economic grounds. Killing criminals, whether they deserve it or not,
simply costs much more than our society can afford and provides far too little
value in return.
Recently, I have appeared as an expert witness in 2 death penalty cases. Both
trials dragged on for many months, produced thousands of pages of
documentation, and engaged hundreds of witnesses - including a a platoon of
experts arguing for each side.
There seemed to be a limitless budget with no attention to time or money. The
stakes are so high in death penalty cases that every procedural nicety must be
given its fullest possible due. Judges are extremely concerned about being
reversed on a technicality by the appeals courts. This would be embarrassing to
them and require a lengthy and expensive retrial. The safest way for a judge to
achieve an appeal proof verdict is always to allow the defense the greatest
possible leeway. This encourages defense lawyers to pose every possible
objection and to weave every conceivable mitigating theory (however outlandish)
hoping that, with enough stuff out there, something may stick with the jury or
later with the courts of appeal. The fact that defense lawyers are on the clock
(getting hefty hourly fees, usually supported by tax dollars) also provides
them with a strong financial incentive to drag things out as long as possible.
Our adversarial legal process encourages an unenlightened and dispiriting
dueling of expert witnesses. Their opinions are usually tailored to exaggerate
the case for one side or the other - rather than seeking a truth that usually
lies somewhere in between. Often enough, the expert seems to be little little
more than a pliable hired gun.
And what is society's reward for all this effort and expense? Precious little.
In many states and in federal cases, the death penalty has become purely
symbolic. Though offenders are sometimes sentenced to death, they usually wind
up never getting executed; instead they live for decades in expensive death row
cells. And in the states committed to actually following through on the death
penalty, there is no evidence that executions have any more deterrent value
than life without parole.
The price tag for the death penalty can reach tens of millions of dollars in
any given case. Since budgets are always ultimately a zero-sum game, wouldn't
justice be better served and money better spent doing things that might
actually reduce crime?
Increasingly, the death penalty has become an anomaly and an embarrassment.
Already, 140 countries have eliminated it and the biggest sponsors are China,
Iran and us. We are also in the bad company of an assortment of the more
dubious Middle Eastern, African and Asian countries.
Only a few and weak arguments can be raised to support the death penalty - that
it provides society with an opportunity to inflict just retribution, has an
impact on deterrence, promotes a sense of closure for survivors, and is a
bargaining chip to encourage criminals to confess and cop a plea.
Even if you buy into some or all of this, the exorbitant financial cost of the
death penalty makes it unsupportable as public policy. And you also have to
factor in the haunting possibility that the state may sometimes kill an
innocent man.
(source: Allen Frances is a professor emeritus at Duke University and was the
chairman of the DSM-IV task force----Huffington Post)
*************************************
The Death Penalty: Killing in the name of God is the ultimate act of blasphemy
The Death Penalty is one of many signs of a society that is morally
deteriorating, especially a society that proclaims an affinity with God and the
Holy Scriptures. First of all, there's nothing in the Holy Scriptures which
gives moral support and/or credence to the implementation of the Death Penalty.
This is a man-made evil, and it is this spiritual contradiction that will
eventually condemn us all to a spiritual and moral death.
This is a moral and spiritual issue, and being thus, it is imperative for
society at large to analyze the social and moral dynamics pertaining to the
death penalty from a perspective that magnifies and values human life -
humanity - for its social and moral implications are beginning to manifest
within the norm of societal behavior and attitudes.
For example, at every execution there is always a crowd of people who are
proponents of the death penalty standing outside the prison gates cheering the
execution of the condemned. Many of them often have signs jokingly mocking the
human life that is about to be taken in the name of man's warped sense of
justice.
This celebration of death, of state-sponsored homicide, in many instances is
carried out right before the family and children of the condemned. They shout
out, "Kill the bastard!" completely oblivious to the impact their venomous hate
is going to have on these children.
I have witnessed on a number of occasions these proponents of the Death Penalty
direct their venom towards the children of the condemned, children who are
hours away from being without a father. It is unfortunate that most people are
not able to recognize the implications of these confrontations but, more
poignantly, many of them appear not to care as they are caught up in a
bloodletting frenzy orchestrated by the government and law enforcement.
Rather than create laws that are designed to encourage forgiveness, compassion
and fairness, the government chose to orchestrate a social climate that incites
the fallible, primeval nature of mankind when violent aggression was man's
expression of recompense. This is not by accident.
The death penalty is one of many signs of a society that is morally
deteriorating, especially a society that proclaims an affinity with God and the
Holy Scriptures. First of all, there's nothing in the Holy Scriptures which
gives moral support and/or credence to the implementation of the death penalty.
In order for the Death Penalty to become an acceptable practice within a
professedly democratic society that claims to be founded upon the Holy
Scriptures, the government had to reconstruct the societal psychosis in a way
that it would become more susceptible to draconian governmental laws for
dispensing so-called justice.
I realize that the very implications of my accusatorial proclamation sounds
incredible, but allow me to elaborate: A perfect analogy that I believe would
both facilitate and convey my assessment is how the government orchestrated the
social climate in California to help pass the state 3-strikes law. This law was
already lying on the political shelf because the government understood that
most California taxpayers would oppose the implementation of the 3-strikes law,
so they never introduced it at the time it was originally presented to them by
an individual whose daughter was murdered.
But when 10-year-old Polly Klaas was viciously raped and murdered by a repeat
offender, it rapidly altered the socio-political climate.
Via the media, the government and law enforcement bombarded the people of
California with images of this little girl's dead body, and the criminal
history of the sick individual who murdered and raped this precious little
girl. This enraged the people - and rightfully so.
The conditions were now ripe for the introduction of the 3-strikes law. This
law was presented as a law designed to protect our children from sexual
predators, and the people had no reason to disbelieve the government.
But the government and law enforcement knew from the outset this law had
nothing to do with protecting our children from sexual predators. They had
intentionally exploited the violent torture and death of a little girl to
incite and solicit the emotions - the rage - of the people to make this racist
law more acceptable.
As we all know, when humans become emotional, they tend to overlook details.
Now the true intentions of the 3-strikes law have revealed themselves, but the
damage has been done. Even though efforts are being initiated to mitigate the
damage, it is too late.
The death penalty is another example. It is not a deterrent, but a
government-sponsored medium to exact societal revenge, and we as a people are
the primary target of that societal retribution laced with racial hate.
People, I do understand your fear, anger and frustration, but it is these
extreme emotions which often impair our moral vision and corrupt our sense of
spiritual awareness, and the Death Penalty is clear example of that impaired
moral vision.
Once a society loses its moral vision, it becomes subjugated to the plagues of
human atrocity after human atrocity, unable to stop the self-destructive cycle.
What was once unacceptable now becomes the norm. I ask what have your eyes seen
to wish to see no more?
The death penalty is not a deterrent, but a government-sponsored medium to
exact societal revenge, and we as a people are the primary tar???get of that
societal retribution laced with racial hate.
The moral and social ramifications of the implementation of the death penalty
permeate all levels of this society. Even the family of the victim(s) equate
the closure of their personal loss with the execution of the accused. In some
states, the government is making it a victim's right for the family of the
deceased to be present at the execution of the accused; and many of the
politicians are elected into office simply because they advocate for the death
penalty, the legalization of government-sponsored murder.
I ask once again: What have your eyes seen to wish to see no more? Must I dare
ask, are we worthy of the Garden of Eden? Not only did we eat the apple; we
planted the damn tree! It is symbolic of our spiritual and moral demise.
I often wonder, for those who believe in heaven, how does one explain to God
the execution of an innocent person? Or even how does one justify one's thirst
for revenge? Are these qualities of a Christian?
Will this heaven have a death penalty? Will the Prophet Muhammad, Moses and
Abraham be part of the firing squad? Or would Jesus be required to insert the
lethal injection? Oh, I almost forgot; only man has the honor to execute
another human being, for we have yet to provide this human privilege to God and
his Prophets.
I ask for you to open up your Holy Qur'an, Holy Bible or Holy Torah and whisper
to your sense of humanity: What have your eyes seen to wish to see no more? And
what have your ears heard to wish to hear no more?
Has God capitulated his will to man? No! He has not! Mankind has raped our
beloved God of his true virtues. The devil must be very proud of mankind, for
we have mastered the art of killing in the name of God - the ultimate act of
blasphemy!
(source: Abdul Olugbala Shakur--San Francisco Bay View)
**********************
Death penalty could be considered in Telly Hankton case
He was known as the most dangerous criminal in New Orleans and now Telly
Hankton could face the death penalty after federal prosecutors added new
charges to an already sprawling indictment.
Hankton is already serving a life sentence at Angola for murder, but the full
extent of Hankton's alleged reign of terror is detailed in the indictment that
accuses him, along with several family members and associates, of running one
of the city's most violent drug gangs. Among the co-defandants are Hankton's
mother - Shirley Hankton - who is accused of laundering money and covering up
for the gang.
All 13 defendants were in federal court Friday where they all entered pleas of
not guilty to the superseding indictment that hit Telly Hankton with a new
murder charge.
One of the big decisions facing prosecutors is whether to turn this into a
capital case. 5 of the defendants, including Telly Hankton, are eligible for
the rarely-used federal death penalty.
That decision will be made by the United States Justice Department.
"The local office, the Eastern District of Louisiana, works for the Attorney
General of the United States, Eric Holder, and has to get authority from Eric
Holder to proceed in a death penalty case against any defendants," said Chick
Foret, WWL-TV's legal analyst.
Foret said that despite the infrequency of federal capital cases, Hankton's
case is the type that qualifies. The indictment alleges 5 murders, 3 of which
were committed by Hankton.
"If you can't use the death penalty provisions for the person who's allegedly
the most dangerous in the city, when can you use that provision?" asked Foret.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys have been summoned to Washington, D.C. for a
meeting in the 1st week of August.
They'll be making their arguments for and against invoking the death penalty in
the case.
(source: WWL tv news)
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