Jan. 29
TEXAS----impending executions
Death Watch: 2 More Executions Will Make 3 in 5 Weeks----Executions accelerate
in 2015
Texas has set a brisk pace for executions in 2015: 2 men are scheduled for the
gurney this week, which will bring the tally to 3 in the 1st 5 weeks of the
year. That would have been 4, but Garcia Glen White received a stay Tuesday,
Jan. 27, of his scheduled Jan. 28 execution.
White was sentenced to death in 1995 for the murders of Bonita Edwards and her
twin 16-year-old daughters, Annette and Bernette (see "Death Watch: Homicide,
Drugs, Mental Incapacity," Jan. 23). Earlier this month, his attorneys Mandy
Miller and Patrick McCann had asked the Court of Criminal Appeals to consider
White's "borderline intelligence," as well as the murky situation surrounding
his 1995 confession (which he offered without counsel despite indicating to
authorities that he'd prefer an attorney be present). Miller and McCann also
asked the judges to appoint a special administrator to ensure that the drugs
used to kill White wouldn't cause any constitutionally barred suffering.
Miller told the Chronicle on Tuesday that the CCA did not explain why it had
decided to stay the execution, only providing that a reprieve had been issued.
Said Miller: "That's a good thing."
Robert Charles Ladd is set for execution today, Thursday, Jan. 29. The
57-year-old was convicted of raping and killing Tyler resident Vickie Ann
Gardner in 1997, while he was out on parole for the 1978 murders of Dallas
woman Vivian Thompson and her 2 infant children, Latoya and Maurice.
After being handed his death sentence in August 1997, Ladd and attorney Sydney
Young stayed quite busy trying to spare his life. Ladd was originally scheduled
for execution in April 2003, but he received a last-minute stay after Young dug
up records indicating Ladd had scored 67 on an IQ test when he was 13. (The
U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that anyone with an IQ below "approximately 70" is
mentally incompetent and thus ineligible for the death penalty. Prison testing
conducted in 1978 registered Ladd's IQ at 86.) In the end, the 5th Circuit
Court of Appeals upheld the finding that Ladd was competent, and he was sent
back to death row.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal last October, and Ladd was briefly
scheduled for execution on Dec. 11, 2014. That date got rejected by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice, and on Dec. 4, he received the January
execution date.
Last week, through American Civil Liberties Union attorney Brian Stull, Ladd
filed for a stay of execution on the grounds of mental incompetence.
The state will follow Ladd's execution with Donald Keith Newbury's on
Wednesday, Feb. 4. The 52-year-old made national headlines 14 years ago when he
and 6 other inmates escaped from the John B. Connally Unit 60 miles south of
San Antonio and embarked on a 6-week crime spree through Texas and Colorado.
Newbury - an experienced burglar serving a 99-year sentence for the 1997
robbery and aggravated assault of a woman in an Austin-area hotel - and his 6
cohorts escaped from Connally Unit on Dec. 13, 2000, by overpowering 9 civilian
maintenance supervisors, 4 correctional officers, and 3 unassociated inmates,
stealing their money and clothes, robbing the prison armory, and making off in
a truck owned by the prison. They left the truck at a Wal-Mart in nearby
Kenedy; the next day, they robbed a Pearland Radio Shack.
No one caught a trace of the "Texas 7" for 2 weeks. But on Christmas Eve in
Irving, Texas, an off-duty cop responded to a call reporting that Newbury and
his fellow escapees were in the midst of robbing an Oshman's Sporting Goods.
The cop, 29-year-old Aubrey Hawkins, showed up at the store, immediately came
under fire, and was ultimately shot 11 times. Newbury and company completed the
robbery (reportedly stealing at least 40 more guns in the process), ran over
Hawkins' body with the truck they'd also stolen, and set off for Colorado,
eventually settling into an RV park outside of Colorado Springs. They spent the
first weeks of 2001 posing as a religious group within the area.
Hawkins' murder set off a multistate manhunt. 1 man, Larry Harper, killed
himself when he learned that authorities were closing in on them. 4 of the
remaining escapees were found in the RV park on Jan. 21. 2 days later,
authorities arrested Newbury and 1 other in a Colorado Springs hotel.
Newbury had amassed a long rap sheet before he went to prison in 1997. He was
arrested at the age of 18 for robbery. Awaiting trial in Travis County Jail, he
got in a fight, was sent to a section of the jail for misbehaving inmates, and
became part of a failed escape attempt. He got a 10-year sentence for the
robbery, was eventually released, but stopped reporting to his parole officer
after he decided he might be accused of a robbery committed by his roommate.
While in violation of his parole, Newbury robbed a Chief Auto Parts and went
back to prison on a 15-year sentence. Out on parole after 5 years, Newbury
struggled to support his extended family and began committing robberies again
after losing a job.
At Newbury's trial for the murder of Hawkins, defense attorneys tried to
portray him as a product of his abusive upbringing, citing an absent father,
unloving mother and sister, and other troubles at home. The jury, unmoved,
sentenced him to death, along with the other surviving members of the Texas 7.
2 of the men, George Rivas and George Rodriguez, were executed in 2012 and
2008, respectively.
Attorney William Harris has filed a number of appeals claiming insufficient
counsel during Newbury's trial. In 2012, Newbury won a stay of his original
execution date - Feb. 1, 2012 - after Harris argued that Newbury should be
spared while justices consider an Arizona case that questioned whether death
row inmates are entitled to a certain standard of counsel during initial
appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court also ordered a review of allegations (for all 4
of the remaining Texas 7) in June 2013, but the 5th Circuit of Appeals upheld
the sentences during that review in early July. On Jan. 2, 2014, a final motion
for a stay of execution was denied.
If Ladd and Newbury are both executed, they will be the 522nd and 523rd inmates
executed since Texas reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
(source: Austin Chronicle)
ALABAMA:
Shelby County capital murder case advancing to jury trial April 20
A Shelby County judge this afternoon denied an attempt by defense attorneys to
strike down an indictment containing a capital murder charge against a Chelsea
man accused of killing his grandmother in 2012.
Defense attorneys representing Daniel Scott Gentry, 27, argued before Circuit
Judge William H. Bostick III that their client's indictment should not contain
a capital murder offense based on the allegations in the case.
Bostick denied the motion argued by defense attorney Mickey Johnson of Pelham
as Gentry's case proceeds to a jury trial set to begin April 20. The defendant
continues to face a single charge of capital murder, which carries the death
penalty as a potential punishment.
Gentry in August 2012 pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental
disease or defect to the capital murder charge contained in the indictment
dated June 2012. The indictment accuses him of killing Carrie Elaine Gentry
sometime on March 28-29, 2012.
Carrie Elaine Gentry was a minister who allowed her grandson to live with her
after he underwent drug rehabilitation.
The indictment alleges Daniel Gentry killed his grandmother by possibly
stabbing her with a knife, striking her with a hammer, choking her or causing
her asphyxiation with his hands or other object.
Carrie Gentry had disappeared about a month from her 65th birthday, and divers
on April 10, 2012, located her inside her vehicle in about 40 feet of water in
a Leeds quarry.
Dressed in bright orange Shelby County jail clothes with chains around his
wrists, ankles and waist, Daniel Gentry sat at a table and listened to the
discussion about his case this afternoon. Also representing him is defense
attorney Victor Portella, who also attended the hearing.
Johnson argued the alleged details of the crime do not constitute a capital
offense. "I do not believe ... that there is any part of this particular
offense that would make it a capital offense other than it occurred indoors" at
the victim's residence, he told the judge.
The indictment alleges that Gentry committed murder when he was "unlawfully in
a dwelling of another," which is the crime of burglary.
Because it was inside, "that doesn't make it any more egregious than if it
occurred in a yard," Johnson said.
The prosecution, represented by Stephanie Billingslea and Leigh Gwathney of the
Alabama Attorney General's Office, disagreed with the defense's argument.
"What makes this case a capital is that a murder was committed during the
course of a burglary," Billingslea told the judge.
(source: al.com)
KANSAS:
Abolish the death penalty
There is a long list of reasons why Kansas needs to abolish the death penalty
and there is no sensible reason for us to keep this dysfunctional system. The
last time the state of Kansas executed a person was exactly half a century ago.
Yet the death penalty is still part of our criminal justice system, consuming
millions of tax payers' dollars which could more wisely be spent on pro-active
law enforcement, social and mental health programs that could help prevent
violent crimes. With a human life at stake, it is necessary that death penalty
cases go through a prolonged process of pre-trials, trials, prolonged appeals
and re-trials. This time-intensive process is necessary in order to avoid the
risk of executing an innocent person, but it also costs 4 times more than
trials where life in prison without parole is pursued. In addition, this
lengthy process puts murder victim family members through elongated trauma.
Although such painstaking and lengthy trial processes are designed, in-theory,
to avoid the risk of executing innocent lives, serious mistakes do happen. No
human system is infallible-and in many states flaws and corruptions have cost
the lives of the innocent while leaving murder victim families empty handed.
Since 1973, 150 innocent people have been exonerated from death row. Another 18
people have already been put to death, despite overwhelming doubt of guilt.
Kansas has an effective alternative to the death penalty - life in prison
without possibility of parole. Assessed from every angle, the death penalty is
an ill-advised public policy. By abolishing the death penalty now, Kansas can
ensure the needs of society are met, while avoiding the risk of taking innocent
lives in the future. In order to get an all-rounded understanding about the
death penalty, I invite Kansans to learn the facts from academic researches,
stories of murder victim families, testimonies of innocent exonerees, views of
faith leaders and insights of law enforcement officials. I also ask Kansans to
make their voices heard by contacting their legislators now urging them to opt
for a fiscally responsible public policy and vote yes on the repeal bill
presented this legislative session. Helpful links:
http://ksabolition.org/http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/ Writers contact contact
info. Ewnetu Tsegaw , Wichita (source: Letter to the Editor, The Kansan)
IDAHO:
Unlikely allies align to oppose Idaho's execution secrecy plan
An unlikely consortium of political groups has aligned to oppose the Idaho
Department of Correction's plan to add more secrecy to state executions. The
American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, the Idaho Freedom Foundation and
Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, three groups not always
aligned on policy, have come out against the department proposal, which would
shield from public disclosure the names of execution chemical suppliers.
Members of the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee introduced the bill last
week, and the measure awaits more discussion in that panel.
Kathy Griesmyer, the legislative liaison for the ACLU of Idaho, suggested the
measure flies in the face of public transparency. "To be fully accountable,
Idaho must provide the public, defendants and courts information about the
process to ensure it is humane and in compliance with state and federal laws
and the U.S. Constitution," she told IdahoReporter.com.
"This amendment to Idaho statute not only would shield the identities of those
involved in carrying out state executions, but it would also limit both public
and court access to knowledge surrounding the type of drugs being used and the
source of the drugs," she added.
The legislation would insert into state code legal blocks preventing disclosure
of the names of agency staffers and medical personnel participating in the
execution process. The measure would also give the agency broad power to block
disclosure of "any information" that would prevent the state from carrying out
executions.
Parrish Miller, a policy analyst for the Idaho Freedom Foundation, suggested
the line of code might give the state too much latitude. "It could conceivably
include the time and place where the execution is carried out, and even the
identity of the person being executed," Miller wrote Tuesday. Marc Hyden, the
national policy coordinator for Conservatives Concerned about the Death
Penalty, said politicos on his side of the ideological fence should feel deep
skepticism of the measure.
"Conservatives should always be skeptical when the state attempts to shroud its
activities in secrecy," Hyden wrote in an email. "The people of Idaho deserve
to know where their taxes are being spent and what those funds are purchasing."
But the state agency wants onlookers to know the changes they want only reflect
how its workers already conduct executions.
"We're asking for this change not because the IDAPA rule is inadequate, but
because of the importance we place on this issue," Department of Correction
spokesman Jeff Ray explained.
"Think of it this way: Reporters, in some circumstances, rely on anonymous
sources. The reporters promise the sources their identities will not be
revealed," Ray added. "Likewise, the Department of Correction relies on a team
of dedicated professionals to fulfill legislative and judicial intent in
carrying out sentences of death."
Ray didn't address the need to protect chemical suppliers from disclosure. He
did say the agency has received records requests for that information in the
past, but used state administrative rules to block the queries.
State administrative rules also already protect from disclosure the names of
staffers and medical attendants who carry out executions.
Josh Tewalt, one of the agency's prison administrators, told the Senate panel
the state needs to block disclosure due to recent media attention surrounding
botched executions in Arizona and Oklahoma.
Still, skeptics don???t buy into the agency's pitch.
"It is perhaps unsurprising - in light of these horrific occurrences - that the
companies manufacturing these drugs would want to retreat behind a cloak of
anonymity, but the answer to abject government failure is not to hide the truth
from the public," Miller cautioned.
Hyden warned the measure could lead to some nefarious activities.
"Concealing the source of the death penalty drugs has nothing to do with
national security," Hyden said. "So, there is no reason why the state should
keep expenditures of public funds like this a secret. This form of secrecy in
the hands of the government often leads to corruption and abuse."
(source: Idahowatchdog.org)
USA:
Boston bombing trial: The media is frustrated by the many restrictions imposed
in the Tsarnaev case
The Boston press corps is frustrated with the U.S. District Court in Boston.
Compared to the U.S. Supreme Court or to courts in many other countries, the
federal court has never seemed particularly accessible to journalists - no
video or audio recording or photography of the proceedings is ever allowed, and
transcripts are quite difficult to get. But local court reporters say they have
never faced the sorts of restrictions imposed by Judge George O'Toole in the
case of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the suspected Boston Marathon bomber. The bulk of
the filings in the case are under seal - including at least 1 defense motion
that was excerpted at length by the Boston Globe before the judge sealed it
last week - and reporters are excluded from seeing or hearing much of the
courtroom discussion that would customarily be public.
The trial is in the voir dire stage, the individual interview part of selecting
a jury. On Wednesday, the Boston Globe filed a motion requesting public - which
is to say, media - access to some of the challenges made to juror candidacies
by the lawyers on either side and the judge's rulings on these challenges. Some
of the process is obvious: Several times a day, the judge will cut an interview
short because it is clear the juror cannot be seated. This happens in 1 of 2
situations. If a juror is so obviously dead-set on voting for the death penalty
or, conversely, if a juror is unequivocally opposed to the death penalty, both
sides may agree on the spot that the person cannot meaningfully participate in
the penalty phase of the trial. (In capital punishment cases, it is the jury
that decides whether a defendant who has been found guilty is to be executed).
Over the last couple of weeks of voir dire the prosecution and the defense have
worked out a system for signaling to each other and then to the judge that they
agree the person is unsuitable for jury and that the interview can be cut
short. Sometimes, it is obvious that serving on the jury would pose an
extraordinary hardship. 1 juror last week said that his employer had agreed to
pay him for three days of his jury service. After he was allowed to leave the
courtroom, defense attorney David Bruck quipped, "It will probably take longer
than that." The judge originally projected that the trial would last 3 to 4
months, but at this point jury selection has been going on for more than 3
weeks and is nowhere near completion.
The court has interviewed 98 people so far, and it would appear that most of
them cannot serve on the jury, either because they hold strong beliefs about
Tsarnaev's guilt or about the death penalty. Each side has 23 peremptory
challenges, meaning it can exclude that many people from the final jury pool
without explanation; this means that in order to seat 18 people (12 voting
members and 6 alternates), the court has to settle on at least 64 suitable
candidates at the end of voir dire. The court has averaged 15 people a day, but
we don't know how many of those have been cleared for the next round; those
decisions are made in camera at the end of each day. If the Globe's motion is
granted, we would learn how far the process has advanced.
In open court, Judge O'Toole has said that he doesn't want to tell jurors
directly that they have been excused because he doesn't want to "coach" other
candidates on how to get out of jury duty in this case. That may be part of the
reason he has closed the afternoon discussions to the press - though he has not
explained this decision. Nor has he explained the decision to exclude
journalists physically from the courtroom.
On the 1st day of voir dire, the ban was total; reporters crowded into 2
smaller courtrooms and watched the proceedings through a video link. The link
proved unreliable, with either the video or the sound, and sometimes both,
disappearing at various times. The camera was placed so high up behind the
juror that reporters could only occasionally glimpse a bald pate or a full head
of gray hair while the juror was sitting down. The reporters complained loudly.
By the following day the court had laid new cable and moved the camera. Now
reporters could tell that all but 1 or 2 of the jury candidates were white and
the majority were middle-aged. But the journalists questioned the restrictions
themselves - after all, even during last year's trial of notorious Boston
gangster Whitey Bulger on the same floor of the same courthouse, the courtroom
was full of reporters for the voir dire.
On day 3, proceedings began an hour late because the judge was apparently
considering the press corps' complaints. Now two pool reporters would be
allowed into the courtroom. Since then, the number has been negotiated up to
three, and the journalists are also gradually eating away at the amount of time
the court spends with the microphones turned off; with every passing day, the
media can hear a little more of the banter. Still, no one has been able to hear
any of the chats that go on between Tsarnaev and public defender Miriam Conrad,
who sits to his right. These conversations are the rare moments when the
defendant does not look bored verging on absent. He appears to joke with
Conrad, and she appears to find his remarks very funny.
(source: Washington Post)
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